Local innovators, join me in geeking out over new ideas for Coachella Valley

Eric Cunningham
·3 min read

“First, what problem do you solve?” Every entrepreneur has heard this question. Especially ones that go on “Shark Tank.” It makes sure whatever endeavor you’re endeavoring on isn’t a solution in search of a problem.

And that’s great for a small business. But sometimes this mindset itself is a problem.

It frames all activity as reactive, not proactive. An idea must be born from a problem, never creative or generative or cockamamie for its own sake.

But not everything good solves a problem. The Statue of Liberty doesn’t solve a problem. The Olympic Games don’t either. And what problem did landing on the moon really solve?

The Mona Lisa, Nazca lines, having a baby, “MacBeth,” the St. Louis Arch, the invention of the high-five – humans just love to create.

We do it on a local scale, too. Rancho Mirage’s world-class Observatory doesn’t solve a problem (other observatories exist!), but people still travel from all over to see it.

Sunnylands, the Palm Springs Walk of Stars, the Children’s Discovery Museum of the Desert, the Cathedral City Dinosaurs, The Living Desert, the Rancho Mirage Writers Festival, Desert X, the Coachella music festival, and every house with an adorable mid-century modern look – if they all vanished tomorrow, we’d survive.

But everyone in the Coachella Valley would be worse off.

They are what make us more than just some city in a desert.

So, I’m getting a group going. A group of folks who geek out over generating ambitious ideas for small cities. A non-governmental, non-judgmental, pan-9-cities new idea factory. 

New ideas like what? I’m glad I asked.

(Clears throat)

  • Let’s build a spaceport.

  • Let’s build a literal “Playground of the Presidents.”

  • Or get Blue Zone certified.

  • Let’s get scientists to whip up a Coachella Valley “climate adaptation plan.”

  • Let’s break a random Guinness World Record.

  • Or plant 10,000 palm trees.

  • Put some young brainiacs together and rebrand the area as the "Silicon Desert."

  • We could host a TEDx Conference.

  • Or a marathon.

  • Or, who knows, we could get truly ambitious and (whisper) become the official Pickleball capital of the world. 

Those are just where we start. Big ideas for small cities. Some might say, “cockamamie ideas.” Lots of ideas, because 90% will never come to fruition – and that’s a good thing. It means we’re trying an idea that’s ambitious for a city our size. Maybe not divert-the-Mississippi-River ambitious…but still pretty ambitious.

This group isn’t here to solve vital problems. We’re providing something that’s, well, a little extra. An extra project or two to add to the Coachella Valley. Bam. There’s the name, “The Extra Project.” Done, wow we’re moving fast.

We’ll meet up at a bar, pitch each other our cockamamie ideas, brainstorm next steps, then work with relevant groups to make them cockamamie realities.

So, if you read this and thought “that’s my kind of nerdy” and want to swing by the next meeting of this casual think tank, please do!

We meet next at Luchador Brewery at 68510 E. Palm Canyon Drive in Cathedral City on Tuesday, Nov. 14 at 6:30 p.m.

You don’t need to come with an idea to be a part of it, but you do have to be able to say “cockamamie” with a straight face.

Hope that’s not a problem.

Eric Cunningham is a resident of Rancho Mirage and the founder of TheExtraProject.org. He can be reached at cunningham.eric@gmail.com

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This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Local innovators, join me in geeking out over new ideas for Coachella Valley