One of my most often repeated themes is that Austin is the creative capital of the country. I didn’t make it up. I took it from Richard Florida’s book, “Rise of the Creative Class.” According to Florida, Austin comes out ahead of all the other U.S. cities for having the right mix of technology, talent and tolerance in our community. We have an abundance of techies of all kinds. We have very talented artists, musicians, actors and creatives. Combine that with some of the most tolerant people anywhere in the world, and you have Austin.
This past week we held the first organizational meeting of the Austin Interactive Initiative, an economic development initiative that a group of us are starting and hoping to recruit others to join. The purpose of the Aii is to find ways to let the world know just how much talent there actually is here in Austin and what a great place to business it is. Ultimately we want to convince outside entities to always have Austin on its short-list when consdering where to search out smart and talented people and companies for their interactive needs.
Of the many, really outstanding people who attended the meeting, in my view one attendee really epitomizes the qualities of tech, tolerance and talent that make us the creative capital – Courtney Ryan Buie.
Courtney has been an active member of the Austin music scene for years, she’s been highly involved with SXSW and has her own production company, Slip Productions. Courtney is an interactive marketing expert for FG SQUARED, putting her squarely in the mix of techies who are an important component of the interactive scene of Austin and critical to the economic development efforts taking shape in this space.
I’ve had the opportunity to spend some time getting to know Courtney. She really fits my image of what makes Austin’s creative talent so unique because of her empathy and tolerance. Courtney combines an ability to be truly good at business and still be a kind and generous person with a sincere and deep concern for others.
Many of us in Austin refer to our home as the “Oasis of Texas.” The reason that’s so true is because of the many, many people who could easily live anywhere else in the world and succeed wildly, but choose to stay in Austin and then are part of making it the great and very creative place that it is. For me, Courtney is individual proof that we are a collection of some of the smartest, most talented people anywhere.
Note – Courtney has a very special, four-legged friend who is battling cancer and needs our help. His name is Booker and you can read all about him by going to http://slipaustin.tumblr.com for info or paypal to crcooper@usa.com. Any help you can provide would be great.
