TITLE: Serendipitous Connections
AUTHOR: Eugene Wallingford
DATE: October 13, 2010 10:20 PM
DESC: 
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BODY:
I'm in St. Louis now for
<A HREF="http://strangeloop2010.com/">
   Strange Loop</A>,
looking at the program and planning my schedule for the
next two days.  The abundant options nearly paralyze me...
There are so many things I don't know, and so many chances
to learn.  But there are a limited number of time slots in
any day, so the chances overlap.

I had planned to check in at the conference and then eat
at
<A HREF="http://www.pastahouse.com/">
   The Pasta House</A>,
a local pasta chain that my family discovered when we
were here in March.  (I am carbo loading for the
<A HREF="http://www.cs.uni.edu/~wallingf/blog/archives/monthly/2010-10.html#e2010-10-08T15_53_04.htm">
   second half of my travels</A>
this week.)  But after I got the motel, I was tired from
the drive and did not relish getting into my car again
to battle the traffic again.  So I walked down the block
to
<A HREF="http://www.bartolinosrestaurants.com/bartolinososteria.htm">
   Bartolino's Osteria</A>,
a more upscale Italian restaurant.  I was not disappointed;
the petto di pollo modiga was exquisite.  I'll hit the
Pasta House tomorrow.

When I visit big cities, I immediately confront the fact
that I am, or have become, a small-town guy.  Evening
traffic in St. Louis overwhelms my senses and saps my
energy.  I enjoy conferences and vacations in big cities,
but when they end I am happy to return home.

That said, I understand some of the advantages to be
found in large cities.  Over the last few weeks, many
people have posted
<A HREF="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NugRZGDbPFU">
   this YouTube video</A>
of Steven Johnson introducing his book, "Where Good Ideas
Come From".  Megan McArdle's
<A HREF="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704631504575531790397679612.html">
   review of the book</A>
points out one of the advantages that rises out of all
that traffic: lots of people mean lots of interactions:

<BLOCKQUOTE><EM>
... the adjacent possible explains why cities foster much
more innovation than small towns:  Cities abound with
serendipitous connections.  Industries, he says, may tend
to cluster for the same reason.  A lone company in the
middle of nowhere has only the mental resources of its
employees to fall back on.  When there are hundreds of
companies around, with workers more likely to change jobs,
ideas can cross-fertilize.
</EM></BLOCKQUOTE>

This is one of the most powerful motivations for
companies and state and local governments in Iowa to work
together to grow a more robust IT industry.  Much of the
focus has been on Des Moines, the state capitol and
easily the largest metro area in the state, and on the
Cedar Rapids/Iowa City corridor, which connects our
second largest metro area with our biggest research
university.  Those areas are both home to our biggest
IT companies and also home to a lot of people.

The best IT companies and divisions in those regions are
already quite strong, but they will be made stronger by
more competition, because that competition will bring
more, and more diverse, people into the mix.  These
people will have more, and more diverse, ideas, and the
larger system will create more opportunities for these
ideas to bounce off one another.  Occasionally, they'll
conjoin to make something special.

The challenge of the adjacent possible makes me even
more impressed by start-ups in my small town.  People
like Wade Arnold at
<A HREF="http://www.t8webware.com/">
   T8 Webware</A>
are working hard to build creative programming and
design shops in a city without many people.  They
rely on creating their own connections, at places like
Strange Loop all across the country.  In many ways,
Wade has to think of his company as an incubator for
ideas and a cultivator of people.  Whereas companies
in Des Moines can seek a middle ground -- large enough
to support the adjacent possible but small enough to
be comfortable -- companies like T8 must create the
adjacent possible in any way they can.
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