Great question.
(Okay, I was the one who posed it.)
The answer: Nothing...
And everything at the same time.
When we co-founded The Garage coworking space in Rapid City, South Dakota, nearly two years ago now, we hoped that it might become a place for community. For conversations. For collaborations.
A place for people to come together. To enjoy one another. To meet new friends. To do good work. To dream up new possibilities.
One of those possibilities has been transforming the coworking community space by day into an intimate, sorta-kinda-underground concert venue on some evenings. This past weekend, we kicked off the second year of The Garage Concert Series with a sold out performance by Mason Jennings.
And when I use the word "we" I mean our Rapid City community--not Numad specifically. I mean people like Jason Alley of Jackalope Studios, who nearly four years ago first wanted to bring Mason to Rapid City (or is it "Rap City," Jason?). This weekend, it happened. Because of Jason.
I'm talking about Andrea Schaefer of Barefoot Dance Studios, who was generous to not just lend her theater's chairs for the evening, but also lent her passion that fuels so much of what is happening in our East of 5th District. I'm also talking of people like Scott Sumner of Sumner Law, who does so much behind the scenes every single day--including for this concert. The Garage would not be the place it is without him.
Then there's people like Joe Gibson, The Garage's Chalk Artist in Residence, who unannounced came in prior to the concert and designed chalk art specifically for the concert. How cool is that?
There were many others who put up lights, painted walls, took tickets, poured beer... many who I personally have not had the pleasure to meet yet, but cannot wait for the chance next time I'm in town.
Here's the thing:
At Numad, our work is more than just fundraising or media relations or graphic design. At its core, our work is about community. Our hope is that, through philanthropy, community is developed... by the community--whether in Rapid City or Boston or New York City or Rockford or the Quad Cities or someplace yet to be discovered.
If there's some way we can support that--to be part of that--we welcome the invitation. We'll offer our crazy ideas. And we'll do whatever we can to make it successful.
Indeed, there's nothing quite so thrilling as getting 150 people together in an old motor service building who bring positive energy and good intentions to the space. From my home in Boston, some 1,899 miles from the Mason Jennings concert this past weekend, as I got texts with photos and audio recordings with music from the show, I felt that energy.
And I can't wait to see what the community does next.