I've been spending the morning setting up my new EVO and checking out the Android Market applications. However, this post is not a review of my new HTC phone. While I was adding the Yelp app I decided to head over to Yelp.com and look at what's been going on. I saw this discussion headline:

Orlando Art Scene 1 hour ago

...and I just had to read it and leave my two cents.

There was a comment by Colleen B, the local community manager for Yelp. Then there was a comment by Neon F, whom I know to be Neon Forest, a new art gallery opening up down the street from me next week.

At the end of Neon's post, there was this line:

Orlando Art Fair 2011, who's on board? I'll help get it organized...let's see who's really motivated

Ouch. One of my pet peeves is people who say "hey, let's start something huge and complicated!" It's one reason why I tread lightly before agreeing to work with a startup company, and why many of the emails I'm sent about building some crazy website go into the Archive bin pretty quickly.

Then I started Trolling. I probably was too extreme in my commenting, but I tried to add some positive stuff in there too:

Please don't start any more big festival events, Dustin. ( I assume you're Dustin, anyway )

I think there are enough nascent efforts that just need some support and people to shout about them in bullhorns.

Before I go on, I want to say I'm very glad you're opening a gallery in this neighborhood. The Orange/Michigan/SoDo/Conway area really needs some more culture and nightlife.

I think one problem our scene has is that people decide to start something new without really taking the time to become involved with all the other events that are out there.

The problem with starting YET ANOTHER new thing is that in order for these large events to be successful, they require more than one person to be involved. A micro-scene. At this point, so many people have started their own scenes, they are all spread too thin.

The only way to make sure people aren't spread too thin, without any of these events dying off, is to add new people into the system. One great way to get new people involved is by having events that are so large and well-established that the word of mouth brings in all kinds of new people, particularly the haters and out-of-towners Colleen mentioned in her original post.

::phew:: Sorry about that. I think you hit on a sore spot.

I'm really looking forward to coming to your gallery. I'll be out of town for the opening, but I'm not far away. I am pretty close by.

Too harsh?

I would just really like if there were fewer people saying "I'm starting" or "I just started" or "can you help me with"; I'd rather hear "we've been doing" or "can you give us some help with?".

It's not to say I've never wanted to start something new, or big, or complicated, or naive, but I just hope my comments can make more than a few people pause and think about exactly what it is they're committing to.