The Friction Point · Ecosystem Growth · Substack
How to Know It’s Time for a Regional Hub
Early community energy, consistency, and ownership can signal when a regional hub may be developing.
Read the publicationMy career has taken me from hotels, restaurants, and retail to social impact projects, major events, campaigns and movements, institutional partnerships, and global technology communities.
That experience has given me an end-to-end understanding of how complex projects function across departments and teams, institutions, regions, and global communities. I bring that perspective into a project, working across those environments to build relationships, bring in resources, and create the momentum it needs to move forward and grow.
The projects below show that range in practice, across different environments, disciplines, and stages of growth.
Helped reposition a distressed hotel during the 2008 financial crisis into a transitional housing model, contributing to an effort that raised $3 million in 30 days.
View ProjectContributed to a multi-institutional digitization project with UC Berkeley, UCLA, the California State Library, and the Internet Archive, preserving more than one million pages of California civic history.
View ProjectBuilt Open Library’s communications program during rapid global growth, developing pathways that helped connect readers, volunteers, contributors, and teams around a growing open-source community. In recognition of his contributions, Nick earned the title of Communications Lead Emeritus.
View ProjectHelped bring together 500+ participants for a five-day global convening, working across partners, speakers, volunteers, vendors, and attendees while addressing barriers to participation across regions.
View ProjectHelped develop an interactive global experience with 14 partner organizations, bringing different contributors together around a shared vision for the future of open access.
View ProjectSupported a global advocacy campaign spanning media, partners, and public engagement, helping move the conversation around digital preservation and earning formal recognition in the U.S. Congressional Record.
View ProjectDeveloped by Nick Norman, the Relational Infrastructure Framework for Complex Projects helps teams identify and anticipate friction that may emerge around trust, relationships, participation, coordination, and influence as projects grow.
Explore the FrameworkSelected Publications
The Friction Point · Ecosystem Growth · Substack
Early community energy, consistency, and ownership can signal when a regional hub may be developing.
Read the publication