The Open Source Tour

by, Dr. Bill Thomas

Not too many people know this about me but during the 1990’s I started, built, ran and sold a software company. The name of the company was “Rumpelstiltskin” and we used the tag line: “We spin data into gold.” This was in the very early years of the internet. I had a CompuServe email address (look it up kids) and the development software we used was buggy as all get out. It was around that time that I first became aware of the open source movement. For those not familiar with computer history, a few creative computer programmers decided to open up the source code of projects they were working on and let lots of people participate in the creative process.

Many minds are more powerful, creative and insightful than one mind.

Here I am 25 years later heading to Northampton, Mass., in a 37 ft. tour bus to kick off the Age of Disruption Tour. Looking back at the enormous amount of work that goes into envisioning, planning and executing the tour I wonder…why not make it an “open source” project? We have the tools, the knowledge, the insights and, most importantly, the relationships that enable us to SHARE the creative process. All we need to do is invite you.

We will be visiting 30 cities this year and convening well over 100 live local events. Now, you can be part of it. We will begin posting our planning documents, our hopes and dreams on the tour website at www.drbillthomas.com/open-source-tour-portal/ for you to read, share, reflect on and improve. If we are going to really change aging, we will be needing all of the brainpower we can get!

You are officially invited to become part of the Tour.

If we are coming to a city near you and you would like to be part of the sponsor team we are assembling in that city, drop us a line. We need you. We need your ideas, your enthusiasm and your wisdom.

If you would like to participate as an individual, you can help…

• Professionals minimize infections among older people in our Disrupt Infections workshop.
• Start a meaningful conversation about how we can change aging in your community by helping us organize a ChangingAging Lunch.
• Bring a better understanding of ageism and the unique value of elderhood to your community through our Aging Reconsidered workshop.
• Stage a performance of Life’s Most Dangerous Game, a 90 minute journey through a new vision of aging that draws on music, art, storytelling, neuro-science and literature.

If we’re NOT coming to a city near you (sorry folks, we can’t visit every city every year!) drop us a line and invite us.

Let’s do this TOGETHER.