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- Playing With Networking (Weekly Recap July 19, 2025)
Playing With Networking (Weekly Recap July 19, 2025)
When Disasters Build Communities: Stories, Standards, and Strangers Who Save Us
Matt Zeigler
July 19, 2025
Let's connect some dots from this week's notes...
This week's posts reveal a fascinating pattern about how adversity creates connection. Whether it's a 1972 flood that reshaped an entire valley's creative DNA, a marine with a knife navigating chaos in a Philadelphia hotel, or the simple recognition that competence is actually an act of kindness toward others, the thread runs clear: our most meaningful communities and strongest bonds often emerge from shared struggles, unexpected encounters, and the choice to show up for each other when it matters most.
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On to the recap...
Sometimes the most extraordinary stories come from the most ordinary encounters. Bones' tale of surviving a race riot in a Philadelphia hotel, being saved by a knife-wielding marine, and hiding in a stopped elevator reveals how strangers can become unlikely heroes in moments of crisis. His story connects to larger themes about urban experience, random kindness, and how single traumatic events can shape our entire worldview about places and people.
Quote from the Personal Archive - as Bones told it in the tire shop
"The marine gets us to the elevator bank and he presses the button to call it. I have no clue where he's taking me but he hits the button for an upper floor and then the door close button. The doors close out the sheer chaos in that lobby. You've never seen nothing like that."
The brutal math of creativity reveals both challenge and opportunity: 86% of Americans say arts improve their communities, 79% attend cultural events, but only 13% of artists earn full-time livings from their work. Rather than crushing creative spirits, this gap should reframe our understanding of success. The quality of human expression has nothing to do with commercial viability, and that separation actually liberates us to create meaningful work regardless of market forces.
Quote from the Personal Archive - liberating creators from commercial pressure
"Art is expression. And, commercial viability has nothing to do with the quality of human expression. They are detached, and that's a good thing. As a creator, it changes who you are competing with and why."
The deeper dive into Bob's philosophy reveals three crucial frameworks that extend far beyond sports: accountability creates consequences that drive performance, shared live experiences create irreplaceable community bonds, and cross-generational wisdom flows both ways. His love of promotion and relegation systems shows how real consequences eliminate the "idiot owner" problem, while his relationship with his grandchildren demonstrates how the best intergenerational connections involve mutual learning and playful competition.
Quote from the Personal Archive - Bob on accountability in sports and life
"I love promotion and relegation. Why? Accountability. One of the great frustrations with American sports is the idiot owner. Now, to be sure, owners in other countries are idiots, but there are consequences when there's promotion and relegation, there are consequences to being an idiot."
Larry McMurtry's observation that "incompetents invariably make trouble for people other than themselves" cuts to the heart of why skill development isn't just personal improvement - it's social responsibility. When we flip the script, competence becomes a form of kindness that reduces friction and burdens for everyone around us. In a world drowning in unnecessary complexity, choosing to be genuinely good at what we do is an act of community care.
Quote from the Personal Archive - reframing competence as kindness
"In a world of frictions, competence is kindness. Practice to gain it. Then, practice it."
Bob Seawright's insights about moving from three TV stations to infinite streaming options reveal how much more has changed than just our entertainment choices. The shift from monocultural to micro-cultural experiences means we've lost common ground, but gained the opportunity to build deeper community assets through shared participation. Whether it's grandparents and grandchildren bonding over Premier League matches or families creating traditions around sports fandom, these "least important most important things" become the foundation for lasting connections.
Quote from the Personal Archive - Bob on building community through participation
"If we accept there's no fandom without participation, then it becomes the responsibility of the community to make participation more appealing than at least some of the other options, no matter how infinite the number."
Sometimes the most profound cultural movements emerge from the mud and wreckage of disaster. This deeply personal exploration of how Hurricane Agnes reshaped the Wilkes-Barre music scene reveals how generational trauma can become generative force. From the Café Metropolis to the Church of Christ United, the communities that emerged from the 1972 flood created spaces where "people from other places would come and show us how other things could exist" - and where locals learned to take those lessons back out into the world.
Quote from the Personal Archive - reflecting on generational trauma as creative force
"Disaster is now and always will be part of my community's DNA. We can't escape the stories, at least not yet. Because even in the places where we grew up - the Café Metropolis, the Church of Christ United, and all the people and places surrounding them - we all emerged from the same cultural necessity."
Where Else I Showed Up This Week
Dave Nadig and I dove deep into Neil Howe's generational theory on Excess Returns, exploring how demographic cycles shape markets and culture. It's fascinating stuff that connects perfectly to this week's themes about how shared experiences across generations create lasting bonds and community assets:
Personal Archive Prompts
What disaster or difficult experience in your community's history still shapes its character today?
HOW MIGHT YOUR DAILY COMPETENCE REDUCE FRICTION FOR THE PEOPLE AROUND YOU?
What creative work are you not pursuing because you're waiting for it to be commercially viable?
WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU PARTICIPATED IN A SHARED LIVE EXPERIENCE THAT CREATED LASTING BONDS?
What accountability structures in your life create real consequences that drive better performance?
How are you creating opportunities for cross-generational learning and playful exchange?
WHAT STRANGER'S KINDNESS IN A DIFFICULT MOMENT STILL INFLUENCES HOW YOU SEE THE WORLD?
As always, I did my part, now it's your turn to write some reflections in your own Personal Archive.
(then, be sure to let me know where you're keeping it, I'm in search of the others too)
ps. Claude helped me organize and synthesize these thoughts from the week's posts. If you are curious how I use AI, read this post: Did AI Do That: Personal Rules