Billy Pulpit: Big, bold and Philly born
Please note: This article is published as an archive copy from Philadelphia City Paper. My City Paper is not affiliated with Philadelphia City Paper. Philadelphia City Paper was an alternative weekly newspaper in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The last edition was published on October 8, 2015.
Photo by B. Krist for Visit Philadelphia™
Philadelphia was once the city of “firsts,” teeming with the energy and entrepreneurialism that established the nation’s first hospital and first zoo. Philadelphia built its City Hall to be the tallest building in the world. But our atty-tude has long since become content to lag. We have become a city that constantly tests new ideas by asking, “Where else has this worked?” instead of boldly stating, “We will show the world the way.”
I propose that Philadelphia establish two incentive prizes. One would be for the next big thing created here that would be a first in the world. The other would be for something that would be an international superlative — the world’s largest hover-port, to suggest just one idea.
Incentive prizes have facilitated and encouraged creative thinking and great advancements for centuries. Recently, the Ansari X Prize offered $10 million to the creator of the first craft to take passengers into space, return them safely and then do it again a few days later. The winning technology is being used today by Virgin Galactic, which is building a spaceport in New Mexico for commercial space tourists.
Such prizes reward far more than the victors. The lucrative bounty has the potential to jump-start investments by competitors that dwarf the amount of the prize itself. And the knowledge gained by all participants in pursuit of the prize creates important advances beyond those put forth by the ultimate winner.
In Philadelphia, we could create two programs funded, perhaps, through a partnership involving local government, corporate, academic and philanthropic entities to establish a $1 million prize for the next significant “Philadelphia First” and another prize for the next “World’s Greatest in Philadelphia.”
The prizes would be awarded through a juried and time-certain process to create an exciting race to the finish that will result in something to shape the future of our city — and our world.
Philadelphia used to be a city where new ideas were launched, and then spread to the rest of the world. It is time to inspire — and incentivize — bold thinking again. Who will join in?
