Edge City Monthly #2 — April 2024
Announcing the Edge City Fellowship; Edge Esmeralda updates
April 18, 2024
This is a monthly update for our earliest supporters. We promise to keep it short and sweet!
Hello friends!
Timour from Edge City here 🌞 I hope you are having a wonderful day.
Well, plans are well and truly in motion for our June event, Edge Esmeralda. It’s looking like it’s going to be very special. Sneak peeks below!
Remind me, what is Edge City?
Edge City creates “popup villages” around the world that convene people working at the frontiers of tech, science, and society.
We aspire to be a ‘society incubator’— a lab of experimentation for new ideas, tech, culture, social tech, and organizations, all dedicated to accelerating human flourishing.
Asks
- Invite people to Edge Esmeralda — our popup village happening June 2-29 in Healdsburg, CA. If you know any folks who would be a good fit for this event, you can send the Edge Esmeralda application, launch tweet, or event website.
- Nominate for the Fellowship — If you know any brilliant and ambitious young folks aged 18-21 who would benefit from joining our Fellowship community, please share this thread with them. More info below!
- Finalize the flow — If you applied and have received your acceptance, please purchase your tickets and accommodation!
The Latest
Edge City Fellowship
We announced the Edge City Fellowship this month.
We will pick ten ambitious 18-21-year-olds to attend one of our popup villages this year. They will also have access and mentorship from the Edge City community, which includes some of the leading innovators in the world.
We’re big believers that young folks often need more than just money — they need an empowering community and mentorship to shape their ideas and work.
If you know someone who could be a great fit, please have them apply here: fellowshipapp.edgecity.live
Edge Esmeralda
Lots of updates for our June event that we’re sharing via our substack. As a reminder, you can check out the site here!
TLDR:
- Map: We released a map of the locations throughout the town of Healdsburg. The two main clusters of locations are linked by a 6-minute bike ride along the bike path next to a river that we’re calling ‘Serendipity Lane’ because this is where you’ll run into friends or take walks with new connections.
- Programming: We shared the programming calendar to give you a sense of when the various programs are happening!
- Families: We’re welcoming families, and we will have family adventure days on Saturdays and learning days on Sundays, when community members can sign up to teach kids a class.
Popup cities as crucibles for innovation
I spoke with Zac Williamson, the founder & CEO of Aztec, about creating safe spaces for frontier ideas, early forms of scenius, and how popup cities can act as incubation hubs for emergent industries.
Check out a brief clip here:
Read & Listen
Read: Arnaud Schenk — On trust infrastructure
Trust is a fundamental aspect of human society. In this great piece, Arnaud explores how zero-knowledge cryptography can help us regain control over our data and thus create more meaningful connections, allowing us to reclaim our ability to build trust in the process.
Listen: 80,000 Hours Podcast — Laura Deming on the science that could keep us healthy in our 80s and beyond
A thoughtful discussion about longevity and healthspan. Laura touches on age-related health decline and why it may not be inevitable, how ending aging is primarily a social challenge and some of the recent breakthroughs in anti-aging drugs for animals. We look forward to Laura’s ‘Replacing Aging’ track at Edge Esmeralda.
Matt argues that advancements in technology often inadvertently erode traditional communities and the bonds that hold them together. And it is equally important to innovate on social technologies vs. just software and hardware. So, we need to thoughtfully experiment with new forms of communities while learning from past mistakes. Required reading for anyone building a new type of community!
Concept Art
How it feels to live in an Edge City village ❤️
Thanks for reading and see you soon!
Timour + the Edge City team.