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Please find a summary below of one of the sessions at this year’s PSFK Conference.

“Do you really need a power-drill or do you need a hole in the wall?”

What She Said:  Did you know that 80% of the things we own get used less than once a month?  Using this insight, Mickie Krimmel, who has been building online communities for almost a decade, founded NeighborGoods, which allows neighbors to share their things with each other.   Not only is this a more efficient use of resources (since that power-drill sits in your garage for most of its life, costs you money, and ultimately ends up in a landfill) but it ends up building communities.  By letting your neighbor borrow your yes, let’s say power-drill, you then learn his name, feel more connected, and build some trust (i.e: social capital). In fact, the Department of Homeland Security has found that the greatest predictor in how a neighborhood recovers from a natural disaster isn’t based on the aid that was received or even the damage that was done….but the social capital that existed in that neighborhood.

What We Heard:  The sharing economy is here. For all the criticism of the online world isolating individuals and making them less social, here’s a great example of an online engagement that drives a more connected and engaged citizenry. More brands should think about how to enable sharing for their consumers, both as a way to add real value to their lives and as a means for reaching a new audience. (See Code + Construct post on collaborative consumption here and on the rise of online peer-to-peer rental communities here ).

Talk by Mickie Krimmel, NeighborGoods.