Devon Zuegel

And I think those learnings that we're getting from Edge Esmeralda, which is a prototype for the permanent community that we're building, we will then transplant and end up putting in the permanent village that we're building.

And I think those learnings that we're getting from Edge Esmeralda, which is a prototype for the permanent community that we're building, we will then transplant and end up putting in the permanent village that we're building.

One of the ways that we organize Edge is that it's basically a giant unconference. And for anyone who's not familiar with what an unconference is, instead of having the central organizers create a schedule and assign slots for speakers, we instead create a container for things to happen. So we provide the venues, any of the AV equipment, and we invite people to

One of the ways that we organize Edge is that it's basically a giant unconference. And for anyone who's not familiar with what an unconference is, instead of having the central organizers create a schedule and assign slots for speakers, we instead create a container for things to happen. So we provide the venues, any of the AV equipment, and we invite people to

But then those people end up filling the slot and saying, hey, I want to do a presentation on the neurotechnology research that I'm doing, or I want to run a yoga session. So it ends up leaning into that peer-to-peer concept I was talking about. People end up populating the schedule themselves.

But then those people end up filling the slot and saying, hey, I want to do a presentation on the neurotechnology research that I'm doing, or I want to run a yoga session. So it ends up leaning into that peer-to-peer concept I was talking about. People end up populating the schedule themselves.

And what that means is that there were a lot of surprises, a lot of things that we didn't even intend to have happen, but were awesome. I think one of the activities that

And what that means is that there were a lot of surprises, a lot of things that we didn't even intend to have happen, but were awesome. I think one of the activities that

I enjoyed seeing really blossom at the event was my friends Anson Yu and Nick Foley ended up working on these solar A-frames over the course of the month, where basically Nick had been wanting to work on this project for a while, I think, but had just never done it because life is busy. And he texted the group chat where all of the attendees were and he said, hey, I'm going to be building solar.

I enjoyed seeing really blossom at the event was my friends Anson Yu and Nick Foley ended up working on these solar A-frames over the course of the month, where basically Nick had been wanting to work on this project for a while, I think, but had just never done it because life is busy. And he texted the group chat where all of the attendees were and he said, hey, I'm going to be building solar.

these solar a-frames which are basically camping shelters with solar panels on them and so they have electricity does anybody want to help and a ton of people raised their hand and he ended up having a whole crew of people help build this a-frame out in the redwoods over the course of edge esmeralda and we had no intention for that to happen but it was one of the coolest activities and by the end of the month it ended up growing and expanding and they built a whole campsite

these solar a-frames which are basically camping shelters with solar panels on them and so they have electricity does anybody want to help and a ton of people raised their hand and he ended up having a whole crew of people help build this a-frame out in the redwoods over the course of edge esmeralda and we had no intention for that to happen but it was one of the coolest activities and by the end of the month it ended up growing and expanding and they built a whole campsite

And we ended up having a solar powered night market by the solar A-frames where people cooked food and there was a fun party and it felt very solar punk out in the woods. And so that was one of the many surprises that happened during Edge.

And we ended up having a solar powered night market by the solar A-frames where people cooked food and there was a fun party and it felt very solar punk out in the woods. And so that was one of the many surprises that happened during Edge.

Absolutely. That's one of the most important parts of this project. And I think of that as really a big trust building exercise. I think that this is a place where we've taken a unique approach. So to set a little bit of a backdrop, often in California, there's a lot of challenges to development.

Absolutely. That's one of the most important parts of this project. And I think of that as really a big trust building exercise. I think that this is a place where we've taken a unique approach. So to set a little bit of a backdrop, often in California, there's a lot of challenges to development.

People tend to react, frankly, pretty negatively to people coming in and trying to build new buildings and new infrastructure for a variety of reasons. And the We've taken a different tact. Basically, instead of coming in as a developer first and saying, hey, we want to bulldoze this and turn it into a big parking lot, we first come in as a community organizer, people who bring people together.

People tend to react, frankly, pretty negatively to people coming in and trying to build new buildings and new infrastructure for a variety of reasons. And the We've taken a different tact. Basically, instead of coming in as a developer first and saying, hey, we want to bulldoze this and turn it into a big parking lot, we first come in as a community organizer, people who bring people together.

And we've had opportunities to build trust and local relationships through Edge Esmeralda. And really, our goal with that is to show the local community that we're committed partners. And we haven't even closed on the land yet. To tell you just how early we are on the process, we haven't even purchased the land yet.

And we've had opportunities to build trust and local relationships through Edge Esmeralda. And really, our goal with that is to show the local community that we're committed partners. And we haven't even closed on the land yet. To tell you just how early we are on the process, we haven't even purchased the land yet.