How Blogs Led WRI, IFC, Grameen and More to Go from Talk to Action

Every so often, something happens that makes the thousands of blog postings, discussions, links, questions, and counter-opinions come together and take a community from talk to action. That's precisely what happened last night over souvlaki sandwiches at Zorba's Cafe in northwest Washington DC .

About 25 individuals -- total strangers in real life but close friends through months spent trading the latest cutting-edge knowledge on the 'nexus of private enterprise and development' -- came together to do what everyone said blogs could do: bring a very diverse community together and tap their individual strengths for action on a common cause.

So there we were, 25 people brought together through blogging from DC-based organizations as diverse as the Grameen Bank, the World Resources Institute, the International Finance Corporation, the World Bank Group, the Emerging Markets Private Equity Association, and more. I'm sure I'm missing a few, but no worries --they'll track back and let me know.

Sure, our organizations already share a common interest and a lot of dedication to furthering the role of the private sector in development. Beyond that though, the NGOs, international public institutions and think tanks, and the associations of private investors represented at the table, usually work in parallel in terms of agendas, constituencies, resources or even, attention spans. Not last night. Last night, something happened and the blogosphere worked in exactly the way everyone said it could. It brought together a community of people who care about development, and care about the role the private sector can play to achieve it.

To be fair, kudos go to Rob Katz at WRI's Nextbillion.net for initiating the meeting and the idea of a network from its first incarnation in NY at Columbia University. But we did the rest together, moved to the next steps, and agreed to be part of WRI's International Private Enterprise Group's DC chapter. I've linked to the blogs and websites of most of the organizations I mentioned. They're all doing fantastic work on the same subject individually. Now we're hoping to bring our work closer together and maybe move it forward.

So that's the story. If you're ever in the Washington DC area on the third Wednesday of a given month, stop by Zorba's Cafe. Or blog any one of our community members -- we're all working together on the same thing.