Designing Creative Communities: Your Town Is Your Canvas. Learn How To Make Your Mark

We all want to be a part of a thriving community. But few of us know how to meaningfully contribute to the places where we live, work, learn and play.

Whether you dream of launching a community innovation center, want to enhance your town with colorful murals, or are simply looking to strengthen relationships with your neighbors, Designing Creative Communities is the guide for you.

Award-winning community builder, Spud Marshall, coaches emerging leaders and community members alike through a simple process for how to transform your town into a creative place to call home. Filled with stories from Spud's work over the past decade, Designing Creative Communities teaches you how to actively create change and have a lot of fun along the way.

The book will introduce you to the CANVAS Framework where you'll learn how to:

• Chart your path (and avoid getting an RV stuck in the mud).
• Ask probing questions (by jumping into an inflatable ball pit on the street).
• Name early adopters (and create a secret society).
• Visualize a prototype (while ensuring that bees don't escape into your home).
• Articulate your story (using a giant blue chameleon car).
• Sustain efforts with partners (without harming a single piano).

About the Author
Marshall, Spud: - Spud Marshall is a serial social entrepreneur, creative community builder, and lover of fog machines. He is the founder of My Creative Community, which supports groups in designing engaging experiences for their communities. He serves as a facilitator, coach, and consultant alongside organizations ranging from the Sullivan Foundation, Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center, and Pennsylvania Council on the Arts to Teach for America, the American Planning Association, and Johnson & Johnson.In addition to his community consultation work, he founded 3 Dots Downtown, a community arts and innovation event center, where he served as the Innovation Director. He is also the founder and chief catalyst for the co.space, a 20-person intentional community for young changemakers, which has been listed as one of the top disruptive innovations to emerge in higher education. Prior to those efforts, Spud founded New Leaf Initiative, which currently serves as a dedicated co-working space and innovation incubator.He has been honored as a Knight Foundation Emerging Cities Champion, listed as one of the top millennial civic leaders in the country, and been featured as one of the Foremost Under 40 Business Leaders in central Pennsylvania. Spud has a Masters in Strategic Sustainability Leadership and a pretty spectacular failure resume (reach out if you're interested). He currently resides in State College, Pennsylvania with his wife, loyal dog, and curious cat. To view his most recent projects and to explore ways to partner with Spud, visit www.mycreative.community. You can also reach him by emailing spud@mycreative.community.