I can ask for help when it involves community efforts like demoCampGuelph or our park. Historically I have a barrier, however, when it comes to efforts I make money at and that’s a line I’m not sure should exist.

A great friend of mine owns a restaurant here in Guelph called The Cornerstone. Their wood floors are crap, they won’t serve me meat and their windows are often made of wood instead of glass. Even with all those warts, it’s still the first place I think of for a coffee or a pint.

Why? Well because The Cornerstone is mine, or more importantly it’s ours. From day 1, or technically day -234, Mark has engaged his friends and his community to help design and build his restaurant. Many of my friends spent late nights painting, sanding and doing whatever it took to open the doors 8 years ago. To this day, on the few holidays they’re closed you’ll find Mark and a gaggle of locals fixing up all the things you can’t when you’re open 7 days a week.

There’s some talk in Guelph these days about tech, about business and about whether the two can build a home here. Some hope organizations like Communitech come to town, others feel we need a clubhouse like the accelerator center and others are firing up their own efforts to help. Clearly I don’t know the answer, I do know that any tech-biz success in Guelph is a success for us all. I have no idea what I’ll be doing next year but the truth is I may be working for steal the deal, well.ca or bootcampmedia so it’s only in my best interest to see them succeed.

More success = more jobs = less people commuting = more time with families and friends = more better Guelph.

We all need to start talking and sharing more if we hope to pull this off, and believe me I’m speaking mostly to myself when I say that. I’ve met and know a lot of you and the honest truth is we have the skills to pull this off and doggone it, I like me. We have more personalities and brains in this town than is required to do this. Realizing that this is less about our companies and more about our community will allow us the humility to seek out the help we need, and offer ours to others.

My Offer: If you’re willing to share what you’re up to then let’s talk. It doesn’t have to be technology related. Great ideas often come from someone who doesn’t spend their days in your sandbox. You never know, I may be able to help your landscaping or bread baking business grow this year. It may be as simple as offering ideas and feedback or I may be able to do some real work for you.

My Request: I need your help. My day job is building products at Brainpark and I want it to thrive, grow, provide jobs and ultimately be a success story for our community. If you’re willing to help with that, in anyway, please let me know.

This entry was posted on Monday, March 1st, 2010 at 10:47 am and is filed under Guelph Tech. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.