As a veteran of Brighton Citycamps 1, 2, 3 (plus some halves), here are some observations on the latest incarnation (predictably called Citycamp 4), and introduce, for discussion, my vision for taking Citycamp into the future. This year’s Citycamp consisted of a Friday conference (which I didn’t attend) and a “camp” on Saturday . I use “camp” loosely (I was thinking “thing” but that just seemed rude!) but with the event being condensed (from a weekend) into one day, there was no camping. And although billed as an unConference, it isn’t. I like to think of Citycamp as an unProtest: there are those that protest about things they don’t like, and the others who try to change things.
I didn’t pitch any ideas (along with other veterans) but instead chose to help out on other projects. I worked mainly with Bike Hub (refurbishing and selling unwanted bikes) who were pitching an idea, BikeBank, to make it easier for people to donate their bikes (rather than leave them locked up and rusting on the street). The reason imho that this is a great Citycamp project is that it solves a well-defined problem, results are measurable and achievable within a reasonable time for a small budget. And it obviously struck a chord with the judges in that it won a prize. With all the great things that come out of CityCamp it is therefore slightly disappointing to see fewer people each year and fewer of the faces that have been the movers and shakers in the past. This has led me to think how we can maximise the energy we see at Citycamp and how we cultivate ideas . My vision is to see Citycamp as a continual process working in the following way.
Germination. Rather than wait until March every year, let’s “post” problems online – rather like FIx My Street (street light not working – inform council – replace lamp) for the less tangible. In the case of Bike Hub, it would be “how can we get more bikes donated to us?” (There might be a separate problem – I can never find anywhere to lock up my bike, because too many people are dumping them). Some problems will have ready answers e.g. if they have been solved before, but others will be genuinely new and original. Ideas would be posted to a Quora-like site (possibly use Pubble), where the problem can be aired in public, and then “qualified” – by qualification I mean that the problem needs to be solvable within a budget of £1000, be specific for Brighton and Hove (although successful projects could be taken up by other areas – indeed should be encouraged) and be measurable in outcomes. As such solving world hunger would not be applicable here. A set of tools such as special versions of the business canvas/hypothesis generation would be developed to assist this process, and regular workshops would be run (see below) for those interested in being a part of the scheme. Learning techniques such as these, plus project management, are valuable for anyone thinking of running their own startup. It would also be interesting to get schools and colleges involved in this. too.
Cultivation. Once our idea is qualified (and not sure exactly who or how this is done) we move to the cultivation stage. During this phase, the idea is given flesh. People can vote support for the idea, make comments, and a team to solve the problem can be formed.There could also be a Kickstarter element where money is pledged (I, personally, would put money into a fund (e.g. £5 per month that could be directed towards projects I liked). There is an existing mechanism for nurturing projects called Ideascale which is used by Ordnance Survey in their Geovation Challenges (slight difference here, which could be adopted here: they specify certain challenges such as “how can we encourage more people to exercise”). At this end of this stage, the problem posed should have generated traction to go forward to stage 3 …
… the Citycamp day challenge (Fertilisation)- which is rather like our existing yearly event. But as the idea is fully formed, the process might be more like what we saw with Good for Nothing where people come together to code, design or generally put the project together. Any money still needed would be awarded from the CItycamp fund. At this stage the project is ready to go and conquer the problem. Citycamp days would be held whenever a project (or may a small group) had reached this stage. At these days, newcomers can get involved and be shown how the process works.
But that’s not the end (Harvest?) – for a project to be deemed to be successful it needs to meet the goals that have been set – this could either be to do a certain number of things, or to become sustainable in the way it is implemented. And the final part of the process will be to make sure that the goals are met. This can be in the form of mentorship, or going back to the hivemind for extra help, or a number of other ways of making sure that the project is a success. And can also be tied in with the Citycamp monthly meetup.
And that’s not the end of it either. Two years ago I pitched the House of Games, partly as a way of encouraging community projects (and partly as a new political movement!). I had thought that the way to get started was to create mini-Citycamps in distinct areas of Brighton and Hove (maybe by postcode). At the time I didn’t put 2 and 2 together, but I think within what I am proposing, I can resurrect the House of Games. Players are awarded points and badges for taking part, getting projects funded, being funders, completing projects. And once you have reached a certain stage, you move up a rung – to the £5000 project (and so on – 10k, 20k).