Learning by experience

Following on from the last post I have been thinking about we discussed last night regarding the project pitch idea for the new website and how we tap into what we have learnt so far. I've tried to sum up the initial stage in its most simple form in the diagram below:

Essentially initial idea process for ARKADE worked a bit like this:

1. Laura had an idea
2. We all liked the idea
3. We decided to invite other people to 'get involved' and pitch further ideas
4. Everyone discussed and voted on their favourite ideas
5. We asked everyone to sign up and volunteer time or resources
6. We set a date
7. We had lots of meetings with lots of different people to evolve the idea and problem solve as we went along

OK so it wasn't quite that straight forward but what was apparent that if its a good idea with integrity people want to get involved. What was amazing was the number of people turning up every week - voting with their feet if you like and the amount of time and resources people gave. So I guess I feel the website should have a similar process, something informal, inspirational and above all else fun!

Now the serious bit......so we have a democratic and organic process and we want to evolve it to create opportunities for other people to pitch projects. ARK may potentially invest money and will have a staked interest so how do we manage this pitching process without shutting down creativity? What processes and criteria do we need to put in place?

If anyone has any examples of similar projects we can learn from please let us know.