It was no surprise to hear terms like social media, technology and crowdsourcing thrown around at FUSE. But we were pleased to hear John Winsor's talk on the factors driving areas like crowdsourcing.
Winsor, who co-authored the book Baked In with Alex Bogusky, claims we've entered an age of the co-creator. The evidence for this includes:
1. Transparency: it's flattening organizations and making walls porous.
2. Independence is freedom: the rising digital workforce that has access to the latest creative tools and can work from anywhere at any time.
3. The rise of the curator class: a new generation of social and creative directors and editors.
4. The death of the middleman: accelerated by the changes in the economy.
Another speaker at Fuse, inventor and futurist Ray Kurzweil (check out Kurweil's Ramona chatterbot feature) described co-creators as people who seek collaborative problem solving. This ranges from more outspoken responses to service, to arriving at a physicians office with thoroughly researched conclusions (or hypotheses). Even if a co-creator is wrong, they expect to be heard and they expect to solve issues in collaboration with another.
What are your thoughts on co-creators? What are the immediate implications in your business or industry?
