I’m glad *completing* the Issue Entrepreneurship project wasn’t the point, because I feel like I didn’t even really get it off the ground! I kept waiting to post an update, waiting for bigger news to relay, hoping a breakthrough in involvement was just around the corner.

But that never happened. From the time of my last update, I sent out an email to a handful of Exchange/International Student Affairs offices at various Universities explaining my idea and asking others if they’d like to be involved in these initial stages. I got no response. Not one.

I realize now that this is the equivalent of the marketing cold-call, and everyone hates cold-calls. In retrospect, I should have done more and better research on existing communities that may have an interest in this topic. Even though I couldn’t find a community specifically of exchange alums from different schools, maybe I could find a different community– one aligned close enough that the goals and aspirations of the members are such that this topic, while different, is still of interest to them.

I guess my point is that it would be easier and likely more effective to tap into an existing community, one that may have similar goals and interests, and then to draw off a group with enough specific interest in this, what would initially only be tangential to the original group.

Of course, this doesn’t all have to be “in retrospect”. Instead, it can be “in this iteration.” As I learn more what works and what doesn’t, about what galvanizes people and how these new technologies can be used to rally support and build communities, I can move this project on to further iterations. This class may be coming to a close, but I feel like the project is only beginning.