Howdy!

In this update from the Innovation Pipeline, I shall attempt to convey my knowledge of legal matters pertaining to business and municipal government. That was a joke. It was a joke because my knowledge of these matters is incredibly slim and thus this blog post should probably end right about now.

I shouldn’t poke fun at these matters. They are very important to the success of any entrepreneurial endeavor. What I can poke fun at, however, is how far out of my comfort zone I found myself recently. I was able to meet with an attorney who is helping with an MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) for the Innovation Pipeline. The first time I heard this term thought to myself, “MOU. MOU? C’mon think back to the law class you just finished last semester. You learned legal things in that class. Think, woman, think!!”

I eventually remembered what MOU means, and by that, I mean my boss explained it to me. In fact, several people have explained many things to me throughout this internship. I’m intrigued by the amount of information folks here keep in their back pockets. I mean, when you can sit down at a budget meeting and figure out the numbers, read through multiple legal documents and understand them, remember which commercial code concerns you may need to address, and understand the multiple steps of a city restoration project, all while maintaining responsibility for your own specific job, it comes across as pretty nifty.

As for meeting with the attorney, it was pretty fun. Nothing says I’m a clueless cool intern like reviewing legal docs with people who actually know what they’re talking about. In all honesty it was an insightful look into how community members and entities come together to build something like the IP. And I didn’t have to make any real decisions. It was more of a “take notes and report back what needs to be done” kind of meeting. Slightly intimidating, but hugely beneficial.

That is probably the take away from today’s post: although some situations can thoroughly freak us out, sometimes being uncomfortable is the best way to learn.

That’s all for now,

Megan