Atlanta/Georgia — The Peach of Our Guild
Profiling the best of Georgia, and Prospecting for the Savviest of the Peach Nation
The Grey Swan Guild welcomes Atlanta/Georgia as our 28th Feature City this month.
Importance:
- the 24th-largest American state in area
- the 8th most populous of the 50 United States
- Its 2020 population was 10.9 million in 2022
- Atlanta, a “beta(+)” global city, states capital and its largest city of more than 6 million people, 8th most populous metropolitan area in the United States
- Atlanta Known for: Martin Luther King, Street art, Hip hop, Coke, Diver food, Bankl of America Plaza, City Forest, The Varsity restaurant, College Football Hall of Fame, Swan House, Woodrow Wilson, Ludacris, Usher, Ryan Seacrest, Ed Helms, DeForest Kelley
Major Seven Metro Areas in Georgia (2021 population in parentheses):
- Atlanta (6,089,815)
- Augusta (611,000)
- Savannah (404,798)
- Columbus (328,883)
- Macon (233,802)
- Athens (215,415)
- Gainesville (203,136)
Georgia/Atlanta History:
Georgia:
- Founded in 1732 as the Province of Georgia
- First settled in 1733
- Became a British royal colony in 1752
- The fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution On January 2, 1788
- Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) expanded in 1980 the busiest and most efficient airport in the world
Atlanta:
- Originally founded as the terminus of a major state-sponsored railroad, but it soon became the convergence point among several railroads, spurring its rapid growth
- Most of Atlanta was burned during the American Civil War, depleting the city of a large stock of its historic architecture
- Economy is diverse, with dominant sectors in industries including transportation, aerospace, logistics, healthcare, news and media operations, film and television production, information technology, finance, and biomedical research and public policy
- Site of the 1996 Summer Olympics, the 26th summer Olympiad, marking the 100th anniversary of the modern Olympics
Headquarters of Firms:
Atlanta: Coca-Cola Company, Home Depot, UPS, Delta Air lines, Newell Brands, NCR, Chick-fil-A, Southern Compnay (Utility), Arby’s, Equifax CNN, Georgia Pacific , Mailchimp, American Cancer Society, Earthlink, Cox Communications
Augusta: Clubcar, Cushman
Savannah: Gulfstream, TMX Finance
Columbus: AF-LAC, Synovos, Char-broil
Top Startups in Greorgia/Atlanta:
Aveanna Healthcare, Buckle, CharterUP, Flourish Software, Greenzie, SAFETRIP, Sifted, SimpleShowing, Instacart, Mailchimp
Top Universities of Georgia:
Georgia Institute of Technology (Atlanta), University of Georgia (Athens), Emory University (Atlanta), Georgia State University (Atlanta). Kennesaw State University (Kennesaw), Georgia Southern University (Statesboro), Savannah College of Art and Design (Savannah), Augusta University (Augusta), University of West Georgia (Carrollton), Mercer University (Macon)
Top Incubators and Accelerators of Georgia:
Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC), Techstars Atlanta, COX Enterprises Social Impact Accelerator, CREATE-X, Atlanta Ventures, ShelterTech, Flashpoint at Georgia Tech, The Points of Light Civic Accelerator, Comcast NBCUniversal SportsTech, Engage, The Farm Accelerator
State Symbols of Georgia::
- Amphibian: Green Tree Frog
- Bird: Brown Thrasher
- Butterfly: Tiger Swallowtail
- Fish: Largemouth Bass
- Flower: Cherokee Rose
- Fruit: Peach
- Insect: Honeybee
- Motto: “Wisdom, Justice & Moderation”
- Seal: Great Seal
- Song: “Georgia on My Mind”
- Tree: Live Oak
- Vegetable: Vidalia Sweet Onion
- Wildflower: Azalea
State and City Rankings of Georgia & Atlanta:
Georgia:
#1 US State — Overall Cost of Doing Busineess (Area Development 2021)
#6 Best State for Doing Business (CNBC 2021)
#14 Natural Enviuronment (US News and World Report, 2023)
#15 Infrastructure (US News and World Report, 2023)
Atlanta:
#65 Best City (World’s Best Cities)
#15 Connectivity (World’s Best Cities)
#24 Global HQs for Fortune 500s (World’s Bext Cities)
#1 Best Place in the U.S. for Creatives (Workamajig)
#2 Best City for Liveability in the U.S. (The Economist)
What Does Grey Swan Guild Want — It Takes a Village to Make Sense of the World
We would love to generate 50 active Georgians and Atlantans as a contributing part of our Grey Swan Guild (and hopefully a few that can play captain).
Why Do We Exist?
From the start, our Guild makes sense of the world, both the current big challenges and next Grey Swans.
What Do We Do?
What can easily get missed in browing across media and the ‘web is the composit of what we do. based on the mission above. We do:
- Content, media and publications: a magazine, podcast and book publishing arrm
- Events & experiences: marquee, premiere, salon, atelier and general assembly events with monethly new member regattas, town halls and craft-building education events
- Intelligence and foresight: in the guise of Weathervanes Intelligence and Radar Collection
- Experiments and ventures: we now have eleven ventures on the go that cover off everything from a consultancy to a design shop
- Global community and network: now close to 10,000 member across 100+ countries with Platinum Swans on the way in 2024
- Learning and craft-building: deeper Guild Masterclasses and monthly craft-building events
Thirty Levers to Participation:
No matter your incentive, passion or benefit sought, the Grey Swan Guild stokes the many aspects of your particpation. Whic one is yours?
Okay, what to do now — Grey Swan Guild’s Seven Steps to Guild Heaven
Kick Our Tires — visit our website an social media greyswanguild.org and social media (LinkedIn, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Medium)
Sift Through Our Missives — read our Medium page greyswanguild.medium.com/
Attend an Event — our next one is November 14th LinkedIn live on Multidisplinarity: https://www.greyswanguild.org/calendar
Respond to a Weathervane: feedback and chip in your thoughts to one fo our major intelligence waves: https://bit.ly/uncertaintyweathervane
Join us officially as a Deeper Member: profiling what you do and what you love, so we cqan match you to our best stuff bit.ly/greyswanmemberprofile
Become a Global Sensemaker: a global group that love scratching below the surface bit.ly/lofsenseform
Lead/Contribute on a Project or Venture: building and collaborating on key projects, big experiements and initiatives with impact bit.ly/joincygnusventures
Atlanta/Georgia Summary Town Hall Video
November 1st, we convened a Town Hall — this segment is a video summary of our content:
The Who of the Grey Swan Guild:
We are a composite sketch of the world embracing professions and disciplines that have a penchant for stepping up, stepping out and stepping back.
The 50 Shades of Grey Swan Thinkers:
Academics, Anthropologists, Architects, Artists, Catalysts, Change Agents, Collaborators, Consultants, Creators, Critical Thinkers, Culture Shapers, Curators, CxOs, Data Scientists, Designers, DO-ers, Economists,Editors, Digital nerds, Entrepreneurs, Event Procducers, Experience Developers, Futurists, Growth Hackerss, Historians, Humanists, Innovators, Journalists, Leaders, Marketeers,Movemnet Builders, Podcasters, Policy makers, Polymaths, Psychologists, Rainamkers, Researchers, Scientists, Sensemakers, Sociologists, Strategists, Storytellers, Tech Geeks, Thought Leaders, Urbanists, Venturists, Visionaries and Visualizers.
