A Tale Of Two Resorts

Orlando, Florida and Carolina’s Outer

Banks are two areas on the east coast

where people go to enjoy the weather,

vacation and be entertained.

Orlando, with a major airport, Walt

Disney, Universal Studios, SeaWorld,

Legoland, and the Magic playing at

Amtrak Center, is an implementation of

big companies. Most worker are

corporate employees.

Legend has it that Nags Head was

named for lights hung on mules' heads

by “wreckers” who would lead ships to

be shipwrecked near shore where the

economically challenged could loot the

ships of their valuables.

Home Depot came to OBX less than

ten years ago, and competes with much

older hardware and lumber recyclers

providing construction materials.

At the Outer Banks (OBX), instead of

hotels, most visitors rent houses. Chain

franchises compete with local

restaurants. There is little corporate

overlay, most people work by

themselves or in small crews.

Contractors performing maintenance on

houses change every year, and we find

competent help by asking neighbors.

The New Work Model

Please, somebody tell me what to do!

Guys saying that will be unemployed.

It used to be that you did what your

boss asked and the boss would get you

paid. That hasn’t been true for 20 years.

Increasingly, staff jobs, and the

“professions” of the ’60’s are being

done by software. Figure that ten

positions then is two positions now,

and the repetitive, billable work is done

online by the customer.

Clearly, we need a new understanding.

We know the job prospects for

someone who can’t read.

What are the job prospects for someone

who doesn’t know how to find and use

the opportunities in the new economy?

How can you learn what you need to

know?

Mary Meeker’s 2009 Web 2.0 Summit

presentation, slides 31, 32, 62, shows

how there were a million mainframes in

the ’60’s, ten million minicomputers in

the ’70’s, a hundred million PC’s in the

’90’s, a billion desktop/cellphone users

in 2000, and predicting 10 billion

mobile consumers in the next decade.

The New Opportunity

Ten billion addressable customers

connected to you through your

browser!

Those southern boys coming north to

Detroit after WWII knew how to dirt

farm. They had to learn how to build

cars.

This isn’t about computers. The

internet breaks down the old barriers of

distance. But you have to design your

offering for that market.

For the past 15 years, we have been

learning this new model. Did you ever

call 1-800-GOOGLE for support?

There is no one there.

Consider the difference between the

Microsoft (paid consultants) and the

open source development paradigm

(just do it).

Technology is how you do things. That

is what is changing.

Look at buying books, cupcakes, shoes,

zip cars, clothing, even air travel. New

companies are undermining entrenched

providers. The best way to predict the

future is to invent it.

At Global StartUp Weekend,

Washington DC had the third most

startups of any city in the world. Were

you involved?

New Organization

Last week, I figured out I was working

with 15 people in 9 distinct ventures,

some paid, some under development.

It’s not a pyramid, it’s a hub and spoke

system, some projects I am dominant,

others I play a supporting role. The

model is Open Source Leadership.

I was leading BlogLab, when we got

into a conversation about monetizing

blogs. I asked if there was an example

of monetization without blogging? Got

a good one. That video paid for his

kid's college education. The lesson,

monetizing is not connected to

blogging, it is connected to monetizing.

One of the participants described it as

lightning fortune. Reminded me of the

sculpture in Sweet Home Alabama.

William Gibson wrote, “The future is

already here, it’s just not evenly

distributed.”

Descriptions abound when you know

what you are looking for.

Reamde – Neal Stephenson

Makers – Cory Doctorow

All of William Gibson

Tell us what you learned at

http://bit.ly/DirectEconomy

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The Direct Economy

How To Profit From The

Most Lucrative Market In

The History Of The World!

Dick Davies

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