After 4,000 people in a small Virginia city decided to take little strips of fabric to use as conversation starters about issues they care about, we started thinking pretty hard about what it is OrangeBand was tapping into.  We're thinking OrangeBand is filling a need for three main areas, all of which seem to be waning in today's society:

1. Civil Discourse (respectful conversation) 

The first message we shared about OrangeBand is that we were trying to get people talking about issues they care about and, in the event they met someone with whom they disagreed, differences of opinion were an opportunity to learn from each other (as opposed to yelling, cursing, hitting, or otherwise disrespecting each other).  That is quite a simple concept, but it certainly resonated with thousands of people.  The polarization of politics, the Crossfiresque "debate" shows, the media stories about the extreme fringe perspectives, and the base mentality of most popular entertainment have created an environment were quality discourse is the exception rather than the rule.  We'll be exploring these concepts more in the Blog.

2. Social Capital (community)

Dr. Robert Putnam published a book called Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community a few years ago.  In it he defines the concept of social capital as the fabric in a community formed by the personal relationships between people.  Communities that have a higher state of social capital are healthier because the relationships build trust and lay a foundation for collaborative action.  With statistics as dazzling for their depth as their implications, Putnam describes how the state of social capital - our connectedness with each other - has plummeted over the last 30-40 years.  Reading this book produced a paradigm shift (an "ah hah!" moment) in the OrangeBand team, as we realized that it isn't just the opportunity for civil discourse the people were appreciating about OrangeBand, it was also the relationship-building aspect of a quality conversation about an important issue.  If I ask you, "Wow, hot day, huh?" that's a different level than if I ask you, "So, what do you care about enough to bring into conversation today?"  Of course, disguising that question as, "What's your OrangeBand?" makes it a bit easier to start that kind of conversation.  More in the Blog.

3. Civic Engagement (citizenship)

Coming full circle now, we thought about a third major area of decline in our society: civic engagement (Putnam outlines this as well).  Call it getting involved, citizenship, or civic responsibility, either way Americans are falling off in their participation in this democracy.  What's interesting, though, is it's hard to start a conversation about OrangeBand (i.e. talking) without it quickly moving to issues concerning civic engagement (i.e. action).  In fact, many of the people attracted most to OrangeBand are naturally active in their communities.  How do civil discourse and social capital connect?  Well, our feeling is that if we're in a community of people that know and trust each other AND we can talk respectfully about the things we're most concerned, that's a good foundation for getting involved.  We'll explore this more in the Blog, too.

* Somewhere in all this fits education.  It's not just enough to know and trust people and to be respectful.  We have to know what we're talking about and base our perspectives in some kind of "facts" or set of premises.  Equally important is knowledge of the decisionmaking processes in which we may participate to make change - and an understanding of how to best influence the most appropriate decisionmaking process for our desired ends.