I applied for a TED fellowship recently. It was actually really hard. You’ll laugh when I tell you I spent three and a half days on it, but there it is. Well, I guess I spent part of that time tweaking some of my websites, since I put them in the application.

There were six questions. I found them hard, but also the length limits hard. Four had 1500 character limits (not words, but characters). The other two had 2250 character limits.

The good thing was I found some ways to make the case for some of my work very compactly.

I’ve been a TED.com fan for years. It would be great to get to go to the event. But regardless, applying was a good experience. And I can probably use this work elsewhere somehow.

I think I’ll post my answers here. I don’t see how it could make any difference, or effect the results either way.

I think I’ll put two questions per blog post. Since there were six questions, there will be three sets of two questions each. Otherwise, you would probably die of boredom. I’d hate to be responsible for that.

OK, here goes.

ONE
If a friend were to describe your accomplishments in up to three sentences, what would he or she say?

David integrated a diverse array of knowledge and experiences, with the aim of developing new ways of dealing with the challenges of our times, which often involve contexts, environments, and sets of relationships. The result was the proximity-focused ProxThink framework, featuring: 1) a new structure for thinking, 2) patterns and tools for creativity and innovation, and 3) a new growth model for people who share a proximity. He then combined the ProxThink growth model with existing technology and networks to create a sustainable proximities approach, and applied it to business models, downloadable content, and climate change (see response to next question).

TWO
What other achievements (not only academic) would you like to share?

Several achievements relate to the ProxThink sustainable proximities approach.

For the ProxThink website, no available business models were a good fit with a proximity-focused approach. I decided to use the structure and patterns of ProxThink to come up with something new. What emerged took two related tracks. The generalized processes became the ProxThink growth model. The specific implementation of the processes became a Proxri Deal for users of the site. The essence of a Proxri Deal is this: “As you find our relationship rewarding, proxri with the proximity in mind.” To fully understand proxri, you’ll need to visit the site.

After creating the Proxri Deal, I realized three things: 1) The Proxri Deal could be adapted by other people, so I offered it as a set of standards. 2) The Proxri Deal was born on and highly appropriate for networks. This became the seeds of the sustainable proximities approach, which combines the growth model with existing technology and networks. 3) I could apply this approach to other areas I’m passionate about: art and climate change.

So I created Artdown, a new approach to downloadable art as well as digital content of any kind. Currently it is a proposal, standards and a prototype website. And I created Proxearth, an effort to create more sustainable proximities on Earth (both more sustainable and more of them). Currently it is a proposal, specific guidelines for what people can do right now on the Internet, and a Proxearth website.

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OK, those are the first two questions.

I couldn’t put links in the answers, so I guess I won’t here either. They let me provide three links separately, each with a short note. Here are those three links:

The ProxThink site mentioned above. Also click “What is ProxThink?” on the home page for more options.
http://proxthink.com

The Artdown site mentioned above. Also click the About page for more details.
http://artdown.com

The Proxearth project mentioned above, including the full Proposal and What You Can Do.
http://proxthink.com/climate-change/index.php

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I’ll try to post the next two questions in the next week or so. But I’m looking for work and/or new ProxThink clients, so it’s a little crazy. Until then, cheers!