The document introduces the concept of "cloud alchemy" which refers to using online collaboration tools to think together and grow a collective intelligence on the internet, or "the global brain." It encourages the reader to participate in cloud alchemy by introducing ideas and connections between people. It provides 16 points on how to effectively engage in cloud alchemy by fostering online relationships and communities through blogging, multimedia, playing, and focusing on meaningful connections over metrics. The goal is to orchestrate new areas of the global brain and collective intelligence through online collaboration and relationship building.

1. Cloud Alchemy:
the ultimate collaboration
a manifesto
for the
conscious
web citizen

2. Cloud alchemy is a form of expression which has emerged
through tools of online communication.
These tools allow us to think together.
Since Peter Russell introduced the idea of "the global brain"
in 1986 (with his video by that name),
we have been growing a collective thinking organism,
a neural net that exists in "the cloud."

3. The neural net is the Internet.
The cloud describes
the exchange of digital information.
The alchemy is YOU:
~> what you can do
when you recognize value
in the work of others,
and you use your skills to
expose that work to more players.
exponential
Done well, you are literally
orchestrating vital new brain areas:
global brain areas

4. There is room here for a very great intelligence.
In fact, that's what is emerging: the collective intelligence
fed by you.
In this manifesto I encourage you to work toward that spark.
Be aware of its potential. Learn cloud alchemy
and participate in the introduction of one brain area to another.

5. Try this on:
What if...
YOU benefit from the energy of the connection you provide.
YOU learn to join thoughts effectively.
YOU are the agent of change.
I'd like to tell you more about how it can work... Ready?

6. HOW TO ENGAGE CLOUD ALCHEMY
(and change the world, in sixteen points)
1. Know that you are the catalyst.
Be the agent of connection. Include yourself first by using a simple blog as
your front porch. Learn to invite people over! Build a trusting web family
through your blog and its media extensions.
2. Realize your value.
Recognize that you are the connection for your web family through your
online conversations. Your audience relates to your words. Restate what
you learn in their language. Offer your experiences.
3. Tell the world good things.
Remember that you can share many kinds of information. A call to action
about a serious situation is one kind of sharing. Another, just as important,
is to announce positive acts large and small.
4. Make it a high priority.
Make new habits of consistent connection. Carve out room for
communication. Fostering meaningful connections can be easy and quick
with modern tools. Do what you can when you can. Don't see it as a big
time sink.

7. HOW TO ENGAGE CLOUD ALCHEMY
(and change the world, in sixteen points)
5. Help lots of people now. Ask yourself: What is the best way I can
help the most people, rightnow? The answer to this question is your own
north star. Progress steadily toward it.
6. Live up to your promise. What are you promising your readers
when you blog? Revisit, often, the spark that began your online journey. If
your perspective shifts, make that known in your material.
7. Serve your immediate community with offerings from afar. Reach
beyond your environment with the long arms of technology, and bring
energy back to your own community. You will find things others will miss.
Encourage that exchange.
8. Tolerate evolution. Keep adding skills. Remain open always to
evolving tools. Learn about them organically through friends and trusted
connections. Visit new sites, and try to understand what the developers
intended. Often the new tools will be better than the familiar ones you're
using.

8. HOW TO ENGAGE CLOUD ALCHEMY
(and change the world, in sixteen points)
9. Be multi-human. Remember we have human bodies. We want more
than text. Be inclusively multi-dimensional. Use multi-media regularly.
Bring your voice, music, and imagery to your readers. Be wild-animal
creative.
10. Be the bridge. Offer to create visibility for someone else. Digital
communication does not work for everyone (not quite). Some people have
offerings the world needs, and it will be up to you to bring them forth.
11. Be intergenerational. Venture younger and younger and older
and older to make new connections. Older minds + younger minds =
cultural depth, vibrance, and prospering.
12. Be sticky. Stick to the connections you begin to foster. Introduce
people to each other, then remain in the conversation. Come back and
check on your community. Are they starting to recognize each other? Can
you add to that process?

9. HOW TO ENGAGE CLOUD ALCHEMY
(and change the world, in sixteen points)
13. ROI means people: Relationships first. That's the investment. Well-
tended relationships will lead to meaningful and prosperous numbers.
Did I mention relationships?
14. FOCUS. Eliminate distraction. Work hard to focus on the step
you're on right now. Your effectiveness depends upon your ability to work
undistracted at least part of every day. Realize single-tasking has multiple
outcomes. Smile about that.
15. Play hard. Play is the fuel of increasing intelligence. Play is the
super-charging, star-bursting powerplant of this cultural evolution. Play
leads to discovery and enthusiasm and healthy brain growth. If playing
has become unfamiliar or less than frequent, begin a new habit today.
Relax, feel friendly toward technology, and explore with an invested
curiosity.
16. One last point: See #14.
Begin.

10. Thank you for reading my manifesto.
I hope you’ll find your way into
the web-based conversation,
make some very fine friends,
and discover your voice.
Come say hi to me on Twitter.
I’ll do what I can to light your way.
Suzanna Stinnett / @brainmaker
See these examples of cloud alchemy on Great Adaptations.org:
Alchemy Lab #1
A thinking heart
Alchemy Lab #2
The global brain is pulsing
Cloud Alchemy(c) and Alchemy Labs(c) 2009 Suzanna Stinnett
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