I thought in my first blog post for CCE I should give props to Richard for helping me get to this point. I first met Richard in 2003 when he came to speak in Tampa, Florida for the first time. I had read TROCC at the suggestion of my wife (at the time), Michelle Bauer, who was the executive director of the Tampa Bay Technology Forum. They were part of a unique coalition of groups that brought Richard to Tampa. Also key in the process were the Tampa Chamber of Commerce, the Arts Council, and Workforce Tampa. Getting these four entities to agree on one speaker truly was historic!
TROCC and Richard’s talk got me excited about ideas in a way that I had not been excited by ideas since college. It spoke to how I worked, how I thought about my life and my community. I suspect I am not alone in this capacity. I got to know Richard and his former associate Rod Frantz and we became friends, conspirators, and colleagues. Creative Tampa Bay was founded in 2004 and took up the mission of developing the creative economy in the region. I became its second president and within two years I had the honor of sharing a stage with Richard in Perth, Australia, where we talked about the impact of his work on communities like mine.
Richard’s work shifted the direction of my own work and has led me to other incredible thinkers and practitioners in this arena such as Charles Landry, John Howkins, and Carol Coletta. In true creative class fashion, I have been able to create my own career and am doing work I love. Richard had a direct influence on that, and for that, I will always be grateful.
