Learning Communities

It’s indeed rotten news that Fast Company’s parent company, Gruner & Jahr, has put it up for sale. A magazine is one of those places – like a school, or town square (or an event like Doors of Perception) – that create far more value than is often apparent. That’s because they enable encounter and interaction that would not otherwise occur. This is expecially true of Fast Company. Just this afternoon I met a bunch of interesting new new people in Milan only because Heath Row, who runs Company of Friends, connected us to each other. The challenge we all face is the lack of business models to make these interstitial places sustainable. We’re all supposed to be entrepreneurs and social innovators, so let’s get inventing.