Preserving the past, investing in the future

Posted on July 30, 2012 by Jen Clessas

Anyone who knows me, knows that I am a patriot. I love America. Don’t get me wrong, I love traveling the world, being introduced to new cultures and food, but I always love coming home. Obviously, I know that my country has it’s many, many problems, but I still love it. Well, one thing I LOVE about Colombia, is most everyone I’ve met here is a Colombian patriot. They love their country, the way that I love mine. And there is such a rich, indigenous history, of which there are still many artifacts.

These pictures are of artifacts taken at the Museo del Oro (Museum of Gold) in Bogota. Colombia has taken good care of the artifacts, and the museum is curated very well, and is quite beautiful. The best part is that it is free on Sundays, which is great for both tourists and locals. In fact, the great majority of visitors to the museum are Colombians, curious to learn more about their historic past. It’s beautiful to see both small children and adults excited to learn about their history and I wish I saw that same excitement in my countrymen.

Not only do Colombians seem to relish learning about their history, but as well, are emotional when speaking about the future of the country. A common sentiment here is, “The war is now over, but we still have not won our independence.” Those of you that know your Colombian history may be confused by this statement, since Colombian won it’s official independence in 1824, and the world has yet to acknowledge that Colombian has been in a civil war for the last 50 years, calling it rather an “armed conflict.” In Colombian reality, the country was in a war, and the country has now experienced a period of peace they haven’t seen for 30 years.

With this new found liberty and freedom, there is also a movement (especially among the youth) that Colombians are ready to begin investing again in their country. The daily threats of robbery, kidnapping, and violence is all but gone, and so the people of Colombia are ready and excited to rebuild. You can clearly see the entrepreneurial spirit alive in the country and this, I believe, is going to lead Colombia into a new “golden age.”

Catalizadores del cambio

Posted on July 19, 2012 by Jen Clessas

Working at the Hub has been great. I have been working with a Colombian and another American colleague in strengthening the support services that the Hub offers to its entrepreneurs; we have called these groups “catalizadores del cambio” (or catalysts of change). In the last 2 weeks we have set up meetings with Graphic Designers and publicists, lawyers and accountants to put together a brochure of services that can be offered for those working in the Hub.

The meetings were a great way to showcase not just the Hub itself to a greater audience, but also how programs are developed. In the meetings, we asked the professionals of individual fields in attendance to co-work to create the program with us. It has been really great to see people who had not met previously to come out of their shell and work together to create a project. These meetings are co-run with a Hub host.

The Art of Hosting is a central concept to making the Hub network work. The host of the house not only welcomes entrepreneurs to the working space, but also creates opportunities for networking and brings innovators together to work on similar projects. We will also rely on the hosts to assist in selling the services that we are currently developing with the designers, lawyers and accountants.

Working at the Hub has definitely given me a new view on co-working and co-creation. It can be a slow process and sometimes painful, but the product that is birthed from the co-creation is generally one that pleases everyone in the organization and one that is fully developed. I plan on bringing these lessons back to my group projects at MIIS for sure! Look out future classmates…

Street art in Bogota: Graffiti or Artists without an Outlet?

Posted on July 7, 2012 by Jen Clessas

So, like most big cities, there is quite a bit of graffiti in Bogota. In fact, pretty much every building is covered in it. What surprises me about the graffiti in Bogota is that much of it is artwork. Some of the street artists are commissioned by the building’s owner to spray paint images on the store fronts, and some is simply beautiful vandalism. But when I see vandals spray painting beautiful murals, my reaction is not anger.