Recently, I was invited out to beautiful Victoria, B.C., to attend Transmission Global Summit, a conference on the future of the entertainment industry in a digital world. While I was there, I did an on-stage interview with Angel Gambino. Angel is a serial entrepreneur with a history in digital media, from BBC to MTV to Bebo. Currently she is an advisor to wireless music system manufacturer, Sonos. I wanted to talk to her about another project, though. Angel is co-founder of Rosa Parks, an ambitious plan to re-invigorate the Corktown neighbourhood in her native Detroit (the first building they purchased is on Rosa Parks Blvd in Corktown) Angel and I talked about what it takes to create a creative hub in an area, and what physical communities can learn from online community-building.
You can hear the full, uncut interview below, or download the MP3. [runs 33:38]
Play audio:
Those interested in exploring more about creative clusters and how physical spaces can be re-energized might want to check out Spark’s special on Building Creative Hubs, and my full interview with Mark Surman on the topic.
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An inspiring story; thank you Norah (and Angel) for bringing it forward
LCA
Leo, thank you for your feedback. Much appreciated! Although we find it hard to share all our news in a timely fashion you can receive sporadic updates at facebook.com/2051rosaparks and http://www.2051rosaparks.com. Feel free to share ides and links there too! Warm regards, Angel @gambino
Great interview: a perfect companion to the creative cities stuff a few weeks back. I love everything Angel is doing and has to say. The one nit was when she said 'there aren't people developing real estate who come with this digital mindset'. The whole co-working trend around the world was started and is run by people with this mix of digital / local / physical mindsets. Lots to mine from that experience to feed into ambitious Rosa Parks plan for Detroit.
Thank you for your feedback and support! I am glad you only have one nit, because after I listened I had several! You are absolutely right about co-working innovators. When I made that comment, I was specifically thinking of retail and also owner/developers as opposed to companies leasing space which includes many of the co-working spaces. I am actively following several of these organizations in the US, Europe and South America. As and when you come across them, please do let me know! Warm regards, Angel @gambino