Social Entrepreneurship - Change.org: SoCap08: Africa at the "unconference"

SoCap08: Africa at the "unconference"

Published October 16, 2008 @ 10:58AM PT

Day three of the Social Capital Markets is an "open space" environment, which basically means that all of the content is suggested and facilitated by the conference attendees themselves. The 50 or so sessions - ranging from "How to Measure Impact" to "Legal 101 for Hybrid Enterprises" - demonstrate the diversity of the environment.

Facilitator Jerry Michalski got us started by moderating the content brainstorm and providing a shape and context to the event. While the guiding prompt to the day was ostensibly "What's the single best thing that could happen for you, your organization, or your industry," the topics have really reflected the full range of questions driving this formative stage of the financial market for social value.

I convened ("covenved" is a better description than "ran" or even "facilitated," as open space conversations quickly become just that - conversations) a session for anyone who worked or simply was interested in Africa.

About half the group was working in Uganda, doing everything from e-learning technologies to broadband infrastructure to small and medium enterprise development. People speculated that the close relationship between the Ugandan and US governments might account in part for the variety of activity.

The conversation quickly turned to the macro level, with many in the group sharing how both trade and aid in Africa have changed in the last decade. The two big changes most often cited were the increasing influence of China around the continent, and the growing broadband infrastructure and other technology challenges.

Most felt that the opportunities of new technology in particular have significant potential for positive impact on African economies. Particularly, they felt it would open up significant opportunities for entrepreneurs to develop new, technology based businesses. Check out Ushahidi and Afridex for examples.

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I am just sorting through the aftermath of SoCap08 and so far, I am wondering if there was a missing thread at the conference. Nan Lin's network theory of social capital is an excellent way to tie the social capital movement into the dramatic changes in media that we are witnessing.
Was there an understanding that social capital is the currency that is going to dominate the new media paradigm? The stability of all future earnings from all corporations are exposed to these dynamics. I would love to see you review http://socialcapitalvalueadd.com/about-scva.In my eBook, I make that case that since broadband internet connections became more prevalent than dial up in 2004, the dominant media paradigm is shifting away from broadcast towards the Individual as Medium. Increasingly perception and therefore stable future earnings emanate from IAM instead of broadcast or offline word of mouth networks. Whereas time on broadcast networks can be easily rented with financial capital (i.e. the 30 second television or radio spot), access to social media networks will only be granted through social capital.

That is what I mean by social capital becoming the dominate currency.

Does that make sense to you?

Do you think that this dimension of the social capital revolution/discussion was missing from SoCap08 and can I quote your related perspective and/or insights? I am writing a related blog post right now and have already linked to your post.

Cheers,
mc

Posted by Michael Cayley on 10/20/2008 @ 01:12PM PT
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Hi Michael, thanks for your thoughts. I *do think that the double entendre of "social capital" in the title was something that could have been explored more, but I think that in some ways, its more subtle even than the shift you're talking about above.

I think that the importance of social capital is that it dictates authenticity and engagement as fundamental factors of consumer relationships as well as social relationships. When the power dynamic shifts between producer and consumer and their dollars can be about more than getting the most adequate product or service, the currency of social capital is increased dramatically.

I think that people recognize this but there's a language waiting to emerge of social capital in the context of consumer relationships. Thoughts?

Posted by Nathaniel Whittemore on 10/20/2008 @ 03:51PM PT
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Author Biography

Nathaniel Whittemore: Evanston, IL; Nathaniel is the founding Director of the Center for Global Engagement at Northwestern University, which works annually with hundreds of students in dozens of countries around the world through curricular programs and student project incubation.