by Dr. David Fialkoff, Editor / Publisher

My friend Veronica introduced her friend Kena to Lokkal, and then to me. Kena is an energetic forty-something Mexican business woman who is quite conversant with the world of publishing and publicity.

Kena put a lot of energy into organizing a school. But then, last fall, when her partner in that enterprise went off and did it on his own, that she was left looking for something else to do.

We met twice in mid-December; the second time for four hours. Then we put everything on hold for the holidays. This week, the first in January, she came over for one of my serious brunches: eggs with pesto, goat cheese, olives, sun-dried tomatoes, smoked trout and more (my barter with Luna de Queso has me eating like a rich man) and for a serious discussion about how we could start working together.

Amid the brass tacks of that conversation, Kena told me that, now, for the second time, the woman who reads Tarot for her has seen me in the cards, an older extranjero who will be her business partner. The spirits are conspiring on my behalf.

During our four-hour meeting before the holidays, I complained how isolated I am, working away on Lokkal (localism, local internet). In my own defense, if you thought that you had a plan to robustly reinvent the Yellow Pages (redistributing wealth and rebuilding community), you might be monomaniacal, too. I repeated that Veronica had told me that I needed to get a life, to get out and socialize more, to find a girlfriend. (Kena is very happily married.)

When I told Kena this she turned up her nose, shook her head and dismissed the idea. "You are doing something very important; something that gives you a reason to get up in the morning."

Since Veronica and I ceased being a couple three years ago (exactly three years ago, just after New Years) I've entirely devoted myself to work. Some people paint; I publish. And with so many irons in the fire, I really haven't had time for a girlfriend.

But now, with the imminent launch of Lokkal's digital map (move over Google Maps), things are all in place. With the prototype here in San Miguel fully functional, with some wind under its wings, Lokkal will fly off to replicate in Queretaro and New Orleans, and, quite rapidly, dozens of other cities. They say it takes six or seven years to grow a business, and that's about how long it's been.

They also say that equations in physics are more likely to be true if they are simple, elegant. Lokkal is simple and elegant. We can do San Miguel better than the global corporations. Thank you Google and Trip Advisor, but we'll present our own city to the planet. Homegrown community is as authentic, and important, as it gets.

Marx wrote, "Seize the means of production." Lokkal invites us to "Seize the means of communication." It's an information economy; let's control our information.

It's only been a few days since our meeting, but Kena is off like a house on fire; she's printed a hundred stickers to put up around town; she's created a beautiful information kit for potential advertisers; she's reanimating Lokkal's Facebook page; and as soon as her son-in-law comes through with his old phone (now in Leon) she'll start a WhatsApp group.

Who knows, if it's in the cards, maybe she'll even find me a girlfriend.

So far it's been a great year.

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Dr. David Fialkoff presents Lokkal, our local social network, the community online and off, Atención robustly reborn for the digital age. If you can, please do contribute content, or your hard-earned cash, to support Lokkal, SMA's Voice. Use the orange, Paypal donate button below. Thank you.

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