I remember taking trips, as a kid, to my mom’s hometown in Iowa. It was a small farm town and it had the feel (as you can imagine) of movies that you’ve seen. Everyone knew everyone, and your business always ended up in the town paper, so you did your best to “keep your nose clean” to avoid embarrassing yourself and your family.

I grew up in Arlington, TX. It’s the largest city in the nation without public transportation, home of the Texas Rangers baseball team, the new Cowboy’s Stadium and Six Flags amusement park. We had a 3-bedroom home, modest, nothing over-the-top, but a solid middle-income family home. I’d venture to say the typical US setup, but what is typical really?

The past two years I lived in the suburbs of Philadelphia, first living in the small town of Blue Bell, stock full of gated communities and fancy retirement homes. I also spent a very large portion of my time in NYC, which you know is a booming city of movers and shakers, high-rises and small apartments.

Why the heck am I talking about the history of my dwellings? No, it’s not the beginning of a metaphorical look at my past. Alternatively, it is a look at the future. Communities (primarily online) are all the rage today. They have been for quite some time. Social media/networking sites have become the mainstream and new media and the social web is finally moving under the larger umbrella of just “business” rather than some new-found source of wealth and glimmer.

We are all a member of some type of community or another. Whether it is our neighborhood, building, church, softball league, office or online site, we are destined to form niche communities as we go through life. Just as our “real” lives polarize into various communal groups and organizations, is it really a surprise our online behaviors are taking the same shape and progression?

The real questions are what kind of community do you live in? What kind of community have you helped to form, and what kind of community do you strive to grow? Is it a small farm-like town where everyone is close and nothing is a secret? Is it a booming metropolis of contemporary strides blended with constantly evolving infrastructures and gentrification? Or, does it reside somewhere in between?

This has been something on my mind lately as I have thought about the type of community I hope to help grow both personally and professionally. The essence of being personal and remaining in-touch with each member, while maintaining positive growth does no come easy and I definitely do not claim to have it figured out. But, I do have a vision. I know what I envision my personal social graph to look like. I know what I have planned for Spych. However, these are merely blueprints for the community members to fully-shape and mold into brilliant existence. The community decides, and always wins.

The small Iowa town stays small, humble and closely connected. The booming metropolis continues to boom and evolve. Those who are initially planted in a community, eventually decide that their community is satisfactory, or they leave and find a more suitable one that fits their personal palate. That is, unless there is a catalyst for change, something that disrupts the natural community and helps to shape it into a new entity. Sometimes it may be a newly discovered resource, other times it may be a social or political uprising. Regardless, that catalyst can come from anything or anyone, and it is rarely predictable.

The future of the web will follow this trend. Though I see us all becoming more connected in one aspect, I also see a sense of need for further community segmentation. There will be great ease of entering and exiting communities and the ability for one voice to make a difference will continue to grow.

What kind of communities do you live your life in? What kind of community are you trying to grow within your business? Do you seek something different? Are you looking to change communities or are you going to change the community?

No, its not a blonde, brunette or even a red-head...its not a world-class restaurant or even a favorite bar. It's a sense of community, a sense of passion and a community's commitment to a common goal. That is why weeks after the inaugural FutureMidwest Conference in Detroit (Royal Oak) Michigan, I am still wildly inspired.

I sat here tonight putting the finishing touches on a plan for a strategic development session I'm facilitating tomorrow, on the subject of cause-marketing, and it hit me that the most appropriate example I could show these students is the phenom that is FutureMidwest. So all of my new Michigan friends, tomorrow a new set of passionate students will know the FutureMidwest movement and they too will be moved by what you and your community are achieving. I should be sleeping at 2AM, but I thought it was time to share my #FMW10 experience....here goes:

I boarded the plane from a speaking engagement for QRCA Seattle at 11:30PM and arrived in Chicago at 5:30AM to catch another plane to Detroit at 7:30AM , finally arriving in Michigan around 10AM. Honestly, I didn't have any expectations, positive or negative. In fact, I didn't really know enough about the Detroit area to have the stereotypical assumptions. All I knew was that a newly formed friend, Damian Rintelmann, pitched a solid idea to me and I was more than happy to see a new place and meet some new people.

Dave Benjamin picks me up at the airport and already I sense a buzz in the air. I began to filter through the Twitter streams and could see the immense back-channeling that occurs with any successful conference (success factor 1). I take that back, getting a chance to meet an awesome dude like Dave is (success factor 1)! Dave is a great guy and doing big things. Ladies, watch out he will someday be the guy that pulls up in the Aston Martin and points to the Royal Oak Music Theater and says "that is where it started".

After finally taking a shower and changing clothes I made it over to the conference site and got checked in. As i walked up to the theater it first really hit me...this is something special. No fancy convention center, no 5-star hotel, but a classic theater with a light up marquee that screams get ready to get your face rocked off!

So, I arrived right at lunch time...my favorite time! I got the chance to meet some awesome people like Adrian Pittman, Shauna Nicholson, Nikki Stephan, Shelli Gutholm, and Kaylee Hawkins. Not to mention seeing Dave Murray again, who I met down at SXSWi this year. Immediately, I felt like I had known everyone there for years and was surrounded by this humongous aura of Detroit-bred pride and passion. It's pretty hard to describe the type of production Adrian, Dave, Ken, and Damian put together. Everything from the sound and lighting to the little effects of having the Great Voice from above (Shauna) throwing some curveballs at presenters.

I got mic'd up and ready to take the stage and then it hit me....this ridiculous rush of needing to give the audience the same type of energy they were exuding onto the stage, and I couldn't help but run up on stage and try to rock it out. So I gave it my all, and had some of THE most fun I have EVER had presenting. The crowd kept the energy high and I felt like I could really just get up there and be me. If you have ever presented, you know what a great feeling that is. Actually, it is pretty symbolic of my experience overall in Detroit.

I was met with a ridiculously appreciated embrace from the crowd, and couldn't help but laugh and smile uncontrollably when I had the chance to read the social stream. I went and sat down for an interview with Nikki and then got to do my favorite part....meet new friends! Though that specific presentation was by far one of my favorites to give, the conversations, jokes, paper rock scissors competitions and stories that followed through the rest of the evening made the experience something unforgettable.

The truth is, Detroit has been rocked hard as of lately. Probably harder than you know, if you are not familiar with the area. But, the REAL truth is that it is changing. Not changing because of a governmental push to gentrify the city, or a local newspaper's initiative to bring new life into the city. It's a movement by the people sitting in the audience of the Royal Oak Music Theater cheering on their friends and colleagues as they all reach toward achieving a common goal. A common goal of change, innovation, rejuvenation and saturation of talent and newly-kindled spirit. It WILL happen. You will look back and see that something truly monumental started right there at FMW10.
It's happening....Are you on board? I am...

Super shoutout and thanks to:
Damian Rintelmann - Thanks for making it happen!
Adrian Pittman - You are THE Man!
Dave Benjamin - Dude, what can I say - he freaking took me to the airport at 4AM!!
Dave Murray - You make the world a happier place my friend!
Nikki Stephan - One of the coolest chicas you will find in Michigan....Promise!
Shauna Nicholson - my nemesis...I mean my friend!! Thanks for breaking the ice!!
Kaylee Hawkins - Thanks for sticking it out and partying like a rock star!
Jane Fader - You are one of the most spirited people I have met!!!
Shelli Gutholm - Gather the troops for a Dallas trip!!
Brandon Chestnutt - next year - FMW high-5 video! Do it!
Becky Johns - Photo-shoot! Let's do it!
Henry Balanon - no hard feelings about SXSWi :) we're all good!
Hannah DeMilta - Great to see you again!! What city is next?
Jacki Halas - Thanks for keeping the conversation going after the conference!
Scott and Scott and the Daggerfin Team - You guys are seriously Rockin' it - I would love to work with you guys on some projects!
EVERYONE else that I #failed to mention specifically!! Please forgive me :(

Thanks for showing me what Michigan is REALLY about!