In 2009, OTA was built with two primary objectives:
1 — Connect the creatives and community builders of South DakOTA, North DakOTA and MinnesOTA with the belief that a deeply connected, regional, creative ecosystem would bear fruits of innovation, talent retention and improved quality of life for all people in the region.
2 — Celebrate the region in a manner that places it and its talented inhabitants at the table with other world-class leaders and amid conversations that truly matter on a global level.
To achieve this, we held a series of events for over 3,000 people with notables like Stefan Sagmeister, Aaron Draplin, Baratunde Thurston, Candy Chang and David Oyelowo sharing wisdom. We produced 20 micro-documentaries featuring regional standouts like Joe Hubers, Ashley Morken, Joe Riis and Molly Yeh. We completed long-form features and dozens of individual spotlights. We spearheaded one of the planet’s first substantial analyses of the emotional connections that influence creatives in community, drawing the praise of leading network theorists, sociologists and social networks.
And, to a large extent, nobody knew it beyond the 2.9 million people who call this region home.
‘The medium is the message’
Though we have begun to bear the much anticipated fruit within the region of our first objective, we have seen only extremely isolated success in our second aim. While individuals have become part of that conversation as a result of our work, the inclusion does not yet include the region as such.
It was clear we needed to be bold.
So, we’ve spent weeks searching for a place to pull up our chair and contribute in a bigger way. We explored all options — events on the coasts, a syndicated column on a major platform, everything. None of them felt like a conversation. None of them felt like anything more than ‘pay to play’ options that would have only a limited impact. In the end, we were just looking for a place that felt like us — focused on people, conversation, networks and ideas. Time and time again, we kept coming back to one place.
If the medium is the message, then there is simply only one medium that our message can resonate with — Medium. As the founders have noted, “Medium is not a publishing tool. It’s a network. A network of ideas that build off each other. And people.”
In the coming weeks, we’re going to bring much of our past — and all of our future — content to Medium. Our website at WeAreOTA.com will be a place to see the full body of work, but Medium will be a place to engage.
We hope you’ll make yourself at home. Highlight what resonates. Ask questions. Agree enthusiastically. Disagree respectfully. Like. Share. Enjoy.
I think you’ll find that it is a lot like OTA. And, feels a lot like home.
