Conversations with fellow solopreneurs almost inevitably steer to side projects. Everyone seems to pursue an endeavor that’s to some degree related to their core business and that takes time away from it, but does not generate revenue.
At the reception following last week’s ReVisioning Value 2010 conference, the topic of side projects came up as I talked with Elizabeth Hoffecker Moreno, of Social Innovation Partners. She said people like us embark on side projects because they typically involve something they’re passionate about. Revenue may or may not come later, but whether or not it does is of little concern at the outset. People embark on such projects with intrinsic goals in mind, they do them for the sake of doing them. Side projects happen because they’re driven by passion. Side project is, therefore, an incorrect term: side projects should henceforth be called passion projects.
Since then, I created a Passion Projects page and navigation tab on this website. You see, I just doubled the number of my passion projects.
Passion project #1: Beyond 2020 Sustainability Unconference
As many sustainability- or business-related events as there are in town, Renee Spears and I agreed that something was missing. Networking events tend to be “boring”, to use Renee’s term, and professional development ones (conferences, panels, workshops) put participants in passive, consumption mode. We wanted to learn from and interact with other business people; build a stronger sustainability community out of the many sector- or initiative-specific ones; bridge conversation and action by discussing what sustainable businesses can do and then do it; and enjoy ourselves at the same time. Why not adapt the open-space based unconference model used by the local tech community for local, sustainability-minded business people?
The Beyond 2020 Sustainability Unconference was born, and we love it. The 3rd one takes place today, from 5 to 8 pm PST, at KEEN here in Portland, Oregon. (If you’re in town, you can register online until 3 or so, and we’ll welcome your registration at the door as well.) Our theme today is “Collaboration for Sustainable Business”.
Passion project #2: “The Portland Bottom Line”
I’ve enjoyed participating in three crowdcreation — crowdcreation being a type of crowdsourcing — projects: “Connect! Marketing in the Social Media Era” (no longer available, I’m not sure why); “Age of Conversation 3: It’s Time To Get Busy!”; and “the3six5 project”. At the same time, I’d long felt that Portland’s sustainability-minded small businesses and their sustainable practices have been a tad overlooked in the touts (and taunts) of my adopted city as a mecca of sustainability. Why not showcase what Portland’s small businesses have done by way of sustainable practices with a crowdsourced book of our own?
“The Portland Bottom Line: Practices for Your Small Business from America’s Hotbed of Sustainability” was born. I tested the idea during my session at the 2nd Beyond 2020 back in January 2010, and at the event’s closing debrief I committed to creating a plan for getting the project off the ground. Well, here we are on the day of the 3rd Beyond 2020: A team of collaborators has planned out and launched the project, the call for contributors to “The Portland Bottom Line” is open, and we’re planning to publish the book in November 2010.
Passion projects redux
Passion projects
- sprout at intersections of things
- cross pollinate and remix
- work best in collaboration (which was another topic of my conversation with Elizabeth and again very much timely, what with today’s unconference theme)
- create value without aiming to capture it – they’re expressive as opposed to instrumental
- find their way in schedules because it’s true that work stretches (and shrinks) itself to the time allotted
- bring enjoyment and satisfaction
What’s your passion project?
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Image credits: naoK (passion flower) and Kelly Quashnie (cover of “The Portland Bottom Line”)
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Great and interesting blog!
We also think that the topic of sustainability in marketing is very important and we also believe that one way to regain trust is through communication.
Every year Berghs School of Communication has an end-of-the-year exhibition and this years theme is Sustainability. Therefore we are questioning companies and organisations about how sustainable they act in comparison to how they communicate. This is our way of taking a stand against companies and organisations that are taking advantage out of the word sustainability.
If this sounds interesting please visit our website, and don’t hesitate to contact me.
Best Wishes.
Canan Yasar
StudentbyrĂĄn 2010
@Canan: Thanks for sharing.
Thank you for writing this. Here is mine. http://janepell.wordpress.com/2010/04/30/a-year-of-produce-april
@Jane: Thanks for sharing. Vegetable consumption data visualization, how awesome is that. I see a calendar in your future.
Love it! Glad to have helped spark something! Now I need to document my passion projects too…I think the act of writing them down and presenting them as you do is important, so they begin to feel like an integral part of one’s work as opposed to something that’s relegated to spare moments and napkin notes.
@Elizabeth: Thanks again. I look forward to reading about your passion projects. They ARE an integral part of life!