The seminars have all been pretty hit or miss for me. The ones that I like the most have been more interactive where the speaker asks direct questions that spark conversations with them. My favorite by far was Naom from Fresh Corner Cafe mainly because he introduced the idea of LLLC. I had never heard this term before but for anyone who is reading this that does not know it basically is a business that tries to maximize their profit, social impact, and minimize their environmental impact as opposed to an LLC that generally just attempts to maximize profit. This was a totally new concept to me and I found it very interesting because I have been having a hard time adapting to a not for profit. It was just hard for me to get used to because they do a lot of good community work and they know their neighborhoods better than any other organization could, but the thought of relying on tax grants or foundation support really bothered me. My immediate thought was that if they had good plans for housing and other community improvements, they should be in charge of it. They could be subsidized, but from what I have seen they lose a lot of their negotiating power when all of their money is donated. Their vision for the community gets distorted and changed by the people donating and even though they know the community better, they lose control of their own projects. When Naom introduced the idea of an LLC though it really resonated with me though because he has a core goal of supporting the community but is totally self funded. He can go in whatever direction he chooses to because of this, which as he described in the seminar, he has done. When one plan does not work, he is not stopped by funding or grant guide lines, he can just adjust his business plan to match the community needs. Over all I have appreciated the seminars but this was by far my favorite.
