Montreal In The Media Because Of One Man, One Blog And One Red Paperclip

The story of Kyle MacDonald is a brushfire in the Blog world. The Montreal-based twenty-six year old decided to set-up a Blog to see if he could trade up his one red paperclip for a house by leveraging the online world.
So far, he’s managed to secure an apartment – rent-free – in Phoenix.
This is another story in a long-line of online ideas like The Million Dollar Homepage and Dress Kevin. It’s more sociological than reasonable, but people are becoming famous (everyone gets their fifteen minutes) and rich by leveraging the power of online communities.
According to the ZDNet article, Blogger Asks, ‘Wanna trade a paper clip for a house?’, here’s how MacDonald and his one red paperclip got to where he is:
– Paper clip for a fish-shaped pen.
– Fish-shaped pen for a clay doorknob with a funny face on it.
– Clay doorknob for a camping stove.
– Stove for a generator.
– Generator for an “instant party.”
– Instant party for a snowmobile.
– Snowmobile for an all-expenses-paid trip to Yahk, British Columbia.
– Yahk trip for a panel van.
– Van for a recording contract.
– Recording contract for the year of free rent in Phoenix.
Here’s a telling quote from the ZDNet article:
“When I met with Kyle (I found that) he’s just a young enthusiast, and I wanted to contribute to helping him,” said Bruno Taillefer, who traded a van for the trip to Yahk, B.C. “It has everything to do with his personality, and his drive. Not anybody could do this. He’s the type of guy I wanted to get involved with as soon as I met him. I really wanted to help him get his house.”
What’s that saying? May you live in interesting times?
Here is the full article: ZDNet – Blogger Asks, ‘Wanna trade a paper clip for a house?’
You can catch Kyle’s progress here: One Red Paperclip.
Final note: Kyle, if you’re around, I’ll trade you a cup of coffee for some in-person conversation.