Going global

What have you been doing your whole life that you would be willing to post on an Internet contest where random judges (anyone who is an Internet user or knows someone who is) would determine you deserve to be judged best? While grading papers this afternoon and preparing the lesson plan for my next class (Intro to Computer Programming), I jumped over to YouTube and listened to the YouTube symphony orchestra perform at Carnegie Hall.

I don't know how many of you performed in your local grade school or home school band / orchestra but if you did then you've experienced some of what the folks in the YouTube video went through. Except in your case you probably auditioned in front of judges who may or may not have been hidden behind screens in the room with you. Then, you received notice (either on a piece of paper in the audition location or through remote notification (phone/email/etc.)) that you had been selected as a member of a regional band/orchestra. Some weeks or months later, you joined the other members for some number of hours of practice. Then, you performed a few pieces for friends, family and community attendees of the concert by your select group. In my day, family members could buy LP records of their child's concert (long since surpassed by audiocassette, video, CD and/or DVD by now). I'm sure my parents still have a record or two of my baritone horn playing with other less-than-great band members.

I haven't been intimately involved in concert performances in a long time, either as participant or audience (perhaps last when I took a music appreciation course at UAH and attended a few concerts as class requirements around the turn of the century). Therefore, I don't know if this Internet judging is the first time or a common occurrence. What I do know is that it's a great indication of the positive outgrowths of virtual communities.

What if we could do this in every aspect of our daily lives, finding the truly global expert for something? How many of us already seek global expertise not through word of mouth from our friends, family and neighbors but through our fingers, bypassing the old method of the telephone book, and using the electronic search engine of our choice? What if we could get a multivote on everything we needed or wanted?

This is not an earth-shaking idea. It's just little ol' me finding interesting tidbits to pass the time as I work on schoolteacher stuff. I'd like a multivote on the best BMW mechanic in the area, if anyone is up for it - don't think it's worth shipping my car or the global expert around the world to get them together! My Bimmer's making funny noises and needs some TLC from someone with expertise in German car care.