Tampa Bay, July 21, 2015
Today I had the privilege of being interviewed about AlligatorZone by City of Tampa Councilwoman Lisa Montelione, who represents District 7, for a television series of the Tampa Bay Community Network, a community TV station.
Picture credit: VRS
Having interviewed many guests on camera with no preparation, including for a live TV program that I used to produce for another community TV station, I didn’t realize how difficult it is to be the person being interviewed. There were things I wished I could have said before the camera stopped rolling. There were unfinished thoughts. There was a call for action I wanted to mention and, finally managed to squeeze in at the end – but we don’t know if it will make the editor’s cut. On the bright side, there was nothing I said that I later wished I could have said differently or better. This article is about the unfinished thoughts from the studio interview, especially those about our dreams and aspirations for AlligatorZone. Here are notes (in bold) from this morning, taken as I gathered my thoughts before I went to the studio.
AlligatorZone is a product show-and tell by entrepreneurs in one’s local area.
Pictured above: @pantelligent (at AlligatorZone in Mountain View, California)
Pictured above: @lubotics (at AlligatorZone in South Tampa, Florida)
Pictured above: @ugot2play (at AlligatorZone in South Tampa, Florida)
Pictured above: @padgoround (at AlligatorZone in South Tampa, Florida)
Pictured above: @grabitinc (at AlligatorZone in Santa Clara, California)
It is a way for entrepreneurs to force themselves to learn to use simple language in explaining what they do.
Pictured above: @bioscanr (at AlligatorZone in South Tampa, Florida)
Pictured above: @biobots (at AlligatorZone in Wayne, Pennsylvania)
I’ve been told that there’s something magical that happens in AlligatorZone. I think that is because kids are innately makers. They like to tinker around and discover the world around them. And I think entrepreneurs are kids at heart. When you put the two of them together in a room, there is this refreshing honesty in the conversation that ensues. We have stayed away from video-recording the actual AlligatorZone session, as we are still trying to figure out the best way to retain that magic without losing those heart-warming moments.
Pictured above: ScrapOnSpot (at AlligatorZone in South Tampa, Florida)
Kids at AlligatorZone ask entrepreneurs existential questions. They want to know why an entrepreneur is doing what she or he is doing. It makes the entrepreneurs really rethink their raison d’être and, figure out how to express it in simple words.
Pictured above: @wazinit (at AlligatorZone in South Tampa, Florida)
I have seen entrepreneurs do a double-take and start rethinking their messaging, their strategy, their tactics and approach to critical matters such as privacy, their business model and their distribution model.
Pictured above: @mentorem (at AlligatorZone in South Tampa, Florida)
From a child’s perspective, they learn about problem solving. They get to meet someone right in their neighborhood, who is using cool technologies that they may have seen in movies or on a TV show, and see how it could be used to solve problems and make the world a better place.
Pictured above: @lubotics (at AlligatorZone in South Tampa, Florida)
For the parents and grownups in the audience, they get to live the thrill of the entrepreneur’s creative journey, even if vicariously for the hour. They also get to meet with other like-minded families who invest time and energies into bringing their kids and teens to the library. We see these joyful gatherings of the community at the end of every session of AlligatorZone.
Pictured above @GrabitInc (at AlligatorZone in Santa Clara, California)
Our dream for AlligatorZone is three-fold.
1. Go To (Every) Town with AlligatorZone:
We are developing a model for AlligatorZone to be taken to any public library that is willing to embrace the program as a family event with entrepreneurship education and entertainment as a goal. That means the spark of innovation has a fighting chance to ignite every curious child’s mind in any small town, in every nook of the world where children can gather safely to learn and have fun. We are piloting a teen leadership program working closely with Radnor Memorial Library in Wayne, Pennsylvania as the first step towards realizing this vision. Stay tuned for details.
2. AlligatorZone Becomes Business As Usual:
We would like to see AlligatorZone become a necessary refueling stop for every startup founder and entrepreneur who has just bolted out of the gates. The product has to have been launched for it to be in AlligatorZone. It is not a place for testing out ideas. It is where you would show an actual product or an offering and have an honest conversation. However, for startups to make this a part of their business process requires a shift in culture. Often startup founders think they are doing the kids a favor by showing up at AlligatorZone. It is mostly the opposite. Similarly, we hear of investors who tell startup founders to imagine presenting to 3rd graders. Guess what? At AlligatorZone, they don’t have to pretend – they can actually present to kids aged 7 and older, and even their accompanying families. They get to present their offerings to a broader audience. Making such an audience a priority requires another shift in culture, where AlligatorZone becomes part of a startup’s pitch-practice, and preparation for a product-launch or a road-show to raise capital. A startup founder in Silicon Valley, Vinit Patil of SKUE.CO (formerly Pricerie before it pivoted) blogged about his experience at AlligatorZone. It was titled: The toughest audience to pitch? It’s not VC’s.
Pictured above @skueco (at AlligatorZone in Palo Alto, California)
3. As American As Apple Pie AlligatorZone
It would be nice to see AlligatorZone enter pop-culture. We would like to see AlligatorZone become the catalyst for local inspiration that is accessible to youth, and for local entrepreneurs to stay approachable by young people. This requires a shift in culture among the leadership in industry. It is the best investment they can make for their future. These kids are their future consumers, their future employees, and the future caretakers of our planet. Our vision for AlligatorZone is to make such alternate experiential learning environments a part of pop-culture. AlligatorZone ought to become like Apple Pie.
Pictured above: @braigolabs (at AlligatorZone in Palo Alto, California)
The video is expected to be ready in a few weeks. There was a green screen so who knows if the interview will show the backdrop of one of AlligatorZone’s many locations where libraries have warmly welcomed and supported our endeavors, or if it will be held against the backdrop of the stars in the sky, representing the many stars that we hope to see surfacing in the years to come from among the several kids and teens participating in AlligatorZone in a neighborhood library.
Many thanks to Sean Murphy of skmurphy.com for interviewing me for a podcast, which served as a great dry-run for this TV interview! Watch this blog for a transcript of that podcast.
Hope to see you soon at another session of AlligatorZone. Check out the running calendar at http://AlligatorZone.eventbrite.com.
Bookmark www.AlligatorZone.org, follow updates at http://www.twitter.com/alligatorzone and like us on www.facebook.com/AlligatorZone.org.
