The heart of a community is often not found in the leaders who are 'in power' - it beats strongest within the individuals from the community, and it beats loudest when those individuals come together as we have seen with the Immigration Protests today. This is something that is easily lost as we go through our daily lives, because those in power are the face of the community, while the heart beats away in relative obscurity, often far from the spotlight of MSM (MainStream Media). This is another reason why Blogs and all this Web 2.0 stuff is so important - it becomes a vehicle for discovery, conversation and connection.

Today I wanted to take a moment to honor two of the biggest hearts I have found so far in New Orleans during our efforts to organize our event down there. Meet Blake Killian and Chris Schultz from HuckaBuck.com. Yes, they are sponsors of BrainJams New Orleans, but I can assure you I am not saying this because they are sponsors, I am saying this because because they conduct themselves with true passion for their community and their work. They understand the power of community and want to help this conversation happen as much, if not more, than I do. They have given us no money, though they would pitch in if we needed it. Instead they gave something more important to our mutual cause - they gave their time, they gave their brain power and they gave us quite a bit of their attention. They are coordinating logistics with Kristie, they are contributing ideas to planning and they talked the LTC into donating the space so we would have money for food. They have also given us emotional support when we were unsure if we would be able to do this.

Then they went further. They included promotion for our event in their launch advertising - everything from a corner of their half page ad in the local alternative weekly paper, to mentions on the flyers they are handing out at JazzFest and now, even on their home page! Not their advertising - their LAUNCH advertising. That is friggin huge! I honestly don't know if I would have done what they did if I were in there position.

Which is why I am writing about it today - these are two special people who care about their community. Chris and Blake are role models for a better New Orleans. These are the sort of people whose hearts make up the community - so I wanted you to know their faces too. We have never met in person, but have become fast friends and collaborators. I am really excited about getting to meet them finally and getting to hang out after the BrainJams event. This is the power of social media technology - to be able to have great conversations with great people.

This is why we started BrainJams, to make sure this sort of thing can happen more often for more people. Thanks to Blake and Chris for standing out and stepping up as shining examples of how we can make things happen when we connect our shared passions for a common purpose. The only power we need to do what we dream is the power inside us all - there is nothing more you need to have before you begin your journey, you just need the desire to take that first step.