By Saba Long
Four months ago, two Atlanta technology leaders, Scott Henderson and Rhonda Lowry, organized Core Reaction, a regional collaborative focused on helping the greater Atlanta area to thrive, play and grow.
Moving swiftly from ideation to sustainability, 13 teams ultimately transitioned to six final projects that are now in the early stages of public use.
Profiled below are three of the six ventures. If a project interests you, contact the team directly to become involved.
Atlanta Untold
Co-founded by the folks behind Choose ATL, this project sets the tone for what Core Reaction is focused on – highlighting what makes the greater Atlanta area home and supporting its people and places.
The Atlanta Untold team, much like nearly all of the Core Reaction participants, identifies Atlanta as the region – not just the urban core.
Atlanta Untold will tell the story of the Georgia Tech cyber security professor who offers national security advice to the White House. Or the high school sculptor on the precipice of Art Basel stardom.
To tell or suggest a story that you think is worthy of inclusion, email the Atlanta Untold team.
Mentor Match CEO Chats
Project lead Kim Crayton is passionate about helping young people ages 16-25 develop career and business skills.
Recognizing the growth and impact of metro tech CEOs, Mentor Match CEO Chats are monthly workshops similar to a day in a business school class. Small groups of young people meet with a tech CEO and are presented with a business challenge.
The CEO, with the help of facilitators or coaches, assists each team in developing a practical solution and ultimately selects a winning team.
The first workshop is scheduled for Thursday, January 30 at Atlanta Tech Village.
Walk Atlanta
It is unlikely that you noticed the ancestral totem sculpture in John Calhoun Park on Auburn Avenue while driving. The same goes for a number of public art installations and local markings that enhance the culture of Atlanta neighborhoods.
The team behind Walk Atlanta is curating self-guided walking tours to include videos, photos, maps and historical tidbits available via Android or iPhone.
If you want to suggest content or sign up to be a beta tester, contact them.
Some of these ideas are not new. Atlanta was given a free gift from the TED Community, called The City 2.0. It was a free website that allowed the community to engage in dialogue and create citizen-led experiments on what the future Atlanta should look like. I even penned an op-ed in the Atlanta Business Chronicle in March 2012 about this opportunity, but Atlanta chose to ignore it. Why do we think Atlanta Untold is going to work now?
I am working on a new idea for Atlanta, and I hope to be able to bring it to our city very soon. It has to do with addressing the bottom of the pyramid – a segment that is unfortunately growing in Metro Atlanta, and Georgia as a whole.
Reinvent_ED I look forward to hearing more about your idea, it sounds compelling.
As for The City 2.0, I helped organize a simulcast at the Georgia Tech Auditorium in collaboration with TEDxAtlanta, Midtown Alliance and Hypepotamus. The TEDxPeachtree team did the same. I don’t think anyone ignored it, in fact I heard some great feedback. Perhaps the website that TED provided didn’t meet people’s needs, or perhaps it was best served as a “warm up” as many of the concepts help stimulate thinking for Core Reaction, but whatever the case I don’t think it was ignored.
The Untold Atlanta team is very open to input. I’m sure they’d be happy to hear your concerns and even better, suggestions toward success.