Foundation:Planning:HybridSummit
More and more, we see new organizations that mash up public benefit missions, market strategies and web-like organizing structures. Mozilla. Miro. Wikipedia. Kiva. And many others. For lack of a better term, we call these mission+market+web hybrids.
On June 16, 2009, a dozen of these organizations will gather in Mountain View California for an informal Mission+Market+Web Hybrid Summit. The goal is to swap stories, strategize and better understand what makes hybrid organzations hum.
A select group of journalists and foundations will be invited at the end of the day as a way to share what we learn at the event.
What, where and when?
Mission+Market+Web Hybrid Summit - June 16, 2009
- 9:30 - 3:30 - Hybrid orgs gather, swap ideas and strategize
- 3:30 - 5:30 - Lightning talks and idea sharing w/ journalists and foundations
- 6:30 - 8:30 - Dinner hosted by Mozilla
The organizers will also hold a small session with foundations on the following day to help them think through ways to better engage hybrid organizations.
Tentative location is the Mozilla offices in Mountain View.
What's a hybrid organization?
We are talking about public benefit organizations born from the web that sit at the intersection of the sharing and market economies. They typically ...
- Put mission first in everything they do, but especially in their decisions about products and services.
- Use market strategies to reach scale and have impact. They often compete with dominant commercial players -- or whole industries -- as a way to create massive social impact.
- Are born from the culture of the web, with participation, openness and networks at the core of how they operate.
At this stage in the game, a hybrid org is a 'know it when you see it' animal. There is no clear and simple definition. But there is an important story to tell. Which, in part, is the reason we need a summit.
Why get together?
We're all in the midst of inventing a new kind of organization. This is exciting. It also means there are no road maps. We want to gather hybrid organizations to:
- Learn how each other works, and gather stories that make sense of the world we're building.
- Swap skills and techniques that are working (and aren't), from revenue models to community management to organizational structure.
- Figure out lightweight ways to share ideas and grow the hybrid org concept on an ongoing basis.
- Share our story with journalists to to help them understand why this strange new type of organization is neither a company nor a traditional charity.
- Discuss our thinking foundations who want to understand how to invest in organizations with the potential for vast social impact and long-term sustainability.
It's pretty much guaranteed that everyone will leave with new friends and new ideas.
Who have we invited?
People we've invited (most of whom have confirmed) ...
- Alberto Ibarguen. Knight Foundation
- Charles Best, Donors Choose
- Erik Moeller Wikimedia
- George Conrad, Grameen / MIFOS
- Jessica Flannery, Kiva.org
- Jake Shapiro, Public Radio Exchange
- Jeff Weiner, Donors Choose
- Jim Fruchterman, Benetech
- John Lilly, Mozilla
- Liz Allen, Public Library of Science
- Mark Surman, Mozilla
- Mike Linksvayer, Creative Commons
- Mitchell Baker, Mozilla
- Nancy Lublin, DoSomething.org
- Nicholas Reville, Miro / Participatory Culture Foundation
- Premal Shah Kiva.org
- Stephen DeBerry, Kapor Enterprises
- Tiffniy Cheng, Miro / Participatory Culture Foundation
... a few more invites are still pending.