There’s a new wave of people rising up in their communities, taking risks, and building ideas. It’s more than the tech entrepreneurs or the businessmen and women.

It’s the placemakers.

Social Tilt, an event designed and hosted by Scott Meyer and Greg Tehven, brought placemakers from across the nation to Brookings, SD, on Wednesday.

The Placemakers

A placemaker, Meyer explained, is “anyone who wants to make their community a better place to live and work, and is trying to make that place special.”

“The goal of Social Tilt is to get placemakers together to share secrets,” Meyer said. “Secrets like how to get people excited, how to get them to participate, how to get them to care.”

It’s no easy task.

Placemakers need the help of entrepreneurs, city leaders, artists, and every single person who makes up that community, Meyer said.

A handful from each of these areas was present for the event, which involved a walking tour through downtown Brookings and featured short talks from a variety of speakers.

Jim Gartin, President of the Greater Fargo-Moorhead Economic Development Corporation, encouraged other city leaders in the room to practice “economic gardening.”

“The idea is that, you gotta take care of your own,” he said. “Grow opportunities from within your market, instead of spending all that time chasing smokestacks. If you do it internally, those dollars stay within your system and revolve around. And then they’re involved in the cultural aspect as well as a business aspect.”

Creating community over business was a reoccurring theme throughout the event. Tom Stellman, founder and CEO of TIP Strategies in Austin Texas, works with small cities across the nation to help them with economic development. He has found that without strong community, a strong economy cannot exist.

The Mayor of Brookings Tim Reed held a similar sentiment.

“It’s about grabbing hold of what your community can do, and making the most of it,” Mayor Reed said.

The Secrets of Placemaking

So how does one create community?

This is what people like Scott Meyer and Greg Tehven are trying to figure out. This is why they’re after these “secrets” that they learn from others and bring to their own communities.

Secrets like starting an Empty Buildings Tour, as Deb Brown did in Webster City Iowa. By touring the empty buildings of their downtown, she was able to bring light to their potential; now, 10 of the 12 buildings are filled with new businesses.

Secrets like getting local entrepreneurs to meet each other and share what they’re doing, by giving them a platform with lots of free coffee. Nate Olsen shared how he did this in Kansas City, by starting an event called 1 Million Cups that now exists in over 70 cities around the nation.

Or secrets like infusing art into the city, as Brookings has done by getting permission to license walls of old buildings, and bringing in muralists to convert them into one-of-a-kind masterpieces.

John Machacek, Senior Vice President of the EDC, said that these are the events that open his mind.

“For me, this is like a mental recharge,” he said. “And hearing all this makes me feel good about what we’re doing in Fargo.”

For this being the first public Social Tilt event, Meyer said he thought it achieved its goal.

“I think we attracted people who are curious,” he said. “We need to learn from other communities, so having diversity of attendees was fantastic.”

Brookings, SD, is rather small. Population sits around 23,000. Yet this event brought in people from around the nation. Social Tilt was followed by the third annual TEDxBrookings. There’s live music, a new coworking space, art galleries and new breweries (sound familiar, Fargoans?).

What’s happening in Brookings and Fargo are part of what Meyer calls  “a new wave,” a wave of building community, shifting culture, and inspiring people to be placemakers.

“I think every industry, and every size of community has a chance to survive and thrive,” Meyers said. “But only if people care.”

Photos by Marisa Jackels and Scott Meier.