One Cool Free Idea

When I signed on to be one of Andrew Wicklander’s first followers, I promised I’d help spread word about the project, as well as execute on some portion of it. Working with folks you meet via the interweb is endlessly intriguing, but you don’t always have the same kinds of dialogue you might if you were sitting around having coffee.  So I decided I wanted to know a little more about our fearless leader, Andrew. He was kind enough to oblige, and here’s our conversation.

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DW:  So what was it that attracted you to the First Followers thing in the first place?

AW: I liked the whole first follower idea, but what really drew me in was Andrew Dubber’s post about his ideas. I don’t really know what it was, I just thought it would be really cool to actually make some unknown idea real.

DW:  Would you say you’ve always considered yourself a “pioneer” of sorts?

AW: No. I have a sort of independent streak I suppose, but I think of pioneers as people who have taken significantly greater risks.

DW:  Can you give me ten words that best describe you?

AW:  Nothing is more important to me than my family. Period.

DW:  (Man, how can you not love that?) So who was your first follower, and what made them sign on?

AW:  Joanne Frederick was the first person to sign on, and a few others joined up within a few minutes. It’s funny, everyone pretty much said something to the effect of “I’m not really sure why I’m here, but it sounds like it’ll be fun.” Since then, some have decided to stick around which I’m really happy about, and some ended up losing interest.

DW:  So you picked Dubber’s “30 day Numberless Calendar” which came in on day 5 of that Andrew’s 30 days of ideas. What was it about that idea that grabbed your interest?

AW: There were a lot of reasons why I liked it. First, I think the idea of just doing something that you’re interested in - anything - for 30 days is a great idea. It’s simple, but the idea behind it is really powerful. I also liked that the people who joined the project would be able to easily continue to be a part of the project if they wanted. And then I think it also pushed me to learn Ruby on Rails which is something I’ve been thinking about for a little while, and this kind of helped push me over the edge.

DW: How many hours do you figure you’ve put in on this so far?

AW: I honestly have no idea, but if I had to guess I would say somewhere around 40 or 50.

DW:  When can folks outside your group sign on to beta test the application you’re developing? And what do you want them to “do” once they’re on board?

AW:  Well, I’m not committing to anything other than something is going live on May 1st. I hope that I’ll be able to open it up to early project makers a week or so before that. And you know, it’s funny that you ask what I want people to ‘do.’  One of the reasons I liked this idea so much was because anyone could easily be involved. They would just have to do something for 30 days, or interpret it some other way and then do that thing. I’m actually really surprised at the amount of direction it seems some people were expecting.

From the software side of things, I’m hoping that people will be able to link to photos, music, writings, or videos they may have made during the course of their project.

DW:  If you could envision some outcome for the project, what would it look like?

AW:  I would obviously love it if a lot of people found it inspiring and useful. But, the reality is that at the end of this I will have met some new people that are really talented and interesting, and will have learned enough Ruby on Rails to make a decent website. So, I’m actually already happy with what looks like will certainly happen.

DW:  Have any of Dubber’s subsequent ideas really grabbed your attention? Would they be contenders for your group?

AW:  One of his “stupid ideas,” that I thought was hilarious, was the USB powered electric toothbrush. First, because everything should be USB powered, and second because so many people would find it funny that I actually think it would sell.

DW:  Have you had any contact with Derek Sivers, who started this whole first follower thing?

AW:  Derek mentioned it on twitter a couple times, and that’s what really got more people involved. I also emailed him with a couple questions about the project and some thoughts I was having, and he was kind enough to give me his opinion on them.

DW:  Are there any cool things you’ve been tracking/watching nowadays? (stuff, trends, ideas, people)

AW: It may not be very cool, but I keep a pretty close eye on what’s going on at the local government level around the country. I don’t think most people realize how messed up the budgets of the states and cities are, and something is going to give eventually. Who knows what it’ll be, even today I got a letter from my daughter’s school that they may have up to 37 kids in a classroom.

I’m in to mobile computing, and how geo-location is going to impact things.

I’m very much looking forward to the iPad.

I’m very interested in what’s going on with China, the internet, and Google right now - along with what it means from a larger perspective.

Other than the new people I’ve met in the first followers party of course, the newest person I’ve been following lately is a guy named Nate Kontny. He blogs at http://blog.inklingmarkets.com/ and he’s had some great posts lately.

DW:  One of my favorite quotes is “allow the path to determine the destination.” Does that apply here?

AW:  Oh yeah, absolutely. It just seemed like this would be a fun thing to do, and so far, it certainly has.

If there’s anyone out there that wants to do something for 30 days like Andrew talks about in his idea, I’d love to have them get going on it so they can post it to the site when it’s ready. And thanks again to everyone that ended up joining up - the energy they’ve brought to the project is really great.

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Deb’s Endnote: Dubber’s hope was that the “30 day calendar” would ‘help people achieve their goals, form new good habits, or just do something interesting.’ Well, IMHO, it’s already working.  I met a cool guy named Andrew who’s delivering on his personal goal of learning some new stuff; and I’m being forced to work toward one of my goals - getting some new music up and out. (30 musical sketches is my 30 day project). I have some other friends who have also taken on 30-ish day challenges. My writer friend is trying a new genre for 30 days. Another is trying 30 days of yoga and meditation. And my current favorite motherlode project is one photographer’s look at the sky for 365 days - a project dedicated to art, learning, determination, processes, patterns and obsession. That project is attracting massive interest….hey, who said “new” had to be complicated or technical?

I’m going to put out 30 bits of sound that no one has ever heard before. What’s it going to be for you?