Dinner last night at reSET
From HotDogma! The Belief Blog –
I went to dinner last night in downtown Hartford, at 99 Pratt Street in one of those old city buildings that used to Be Something, and now is Something Else.
(That weird photo on the right is the ceiling in the foyer. I walked through the open front door and was immediately swept back to Old Hartford, where offices line long halls and the names of the businesses are painted on serious glass doors.)
I walked by a funky-cool architecture studio, where a man was working late. I saw a hat shop I intend to revisit (though I don’t wear hats), and made it to reSET, a program of the Social Enterprise Trust. reSET is:
a COMMUNITY of entrepreneurs, educators, innovators, investors and policy makers. As citizens, we have committed to help make our communities healthier, safer places to live through business. We believe that it is possible to generate both purpose and profit through commerce, and that when we do so, we are able to lead more fulfilling and fully-integrated lives.
They talk a lot about urging for-profit organizations to do the job — improving the world — that you normally think falls to non-profit groups, like the one I work for, Partnership for Strong Communities.
I love the idea. My job, as an older type person, was to talk (and listen) to the 10 or so young adults there. I went because Jamie Daniel, of The Connecticut Forum, asked me to, and I had so much fun at the Forum I figured this would be cool, too.
I was right. We sat in a conference room on the second floor, in the middle of reSET, which is opening up big with an incubator space, where people can come collaborate, shoot ideas back and forth, and get to know with whom they’ll be working to make the world better.
Kind of like last night.
I didn’t prepare anything, but I was asked what kind of problem am I trying to solve, and I talked about homelessness and the lack of affordable housing in the state. I talked a few numbers — though not many — and I realized as I was talking that the problem I thought was all-consuming to me — What Does Susan Do Now That She’s Grown Up? — was no longer interesting, even to me.And that was a surprise. I grew up in my old job and I thought when I left it, there wouldn’t be much more than a quiet march to the grave. I’d be “formerlyoftheHartfordCourant” for the rest of my days. There is some truth to that. Without a three-times-a-week bullhorn, one’s voice does tend to fade. But so what? As I was talking, I could hear myself getting louder and talking faster, though I resisted pounding the table.
OK. I may have pounded it once.
And then the conversation took off, and we covered everything from fundraising (it’s hard, in a melted economy) to being true to one’s self (what else is there?) to online trolls (don’t feed ‘em, don’t read ‘em) to why Hartford is on the verge of something big.
Yeah. I know. People like me are always saying that, but as I listened to the conversation flying around the table, I couldn’t keep a little spark from glimmering. Yeah. What if Hartford is on the verge? You should visit reSET, at 99 Pratt St. Bring your ideas. Bring your heart. Be prepared to change and be changed. It’s that cool.
