This is my first visit to the Pacific coast area of the United States, and I was seeing just one part of this area. If California were a country, it would rank among the world leaders economically. California is a large, unique and varied state. The state is known for its diversity in ethnicity, natural environment and climate.
I visited the Silicon and Sonoma Valleys, the centers of major California industries. Silicon Valley is well renowned for its cutting edge high technology, Defense R&D, and internet-related businesses while Sonoma Valley is known for its wineries and cutting edge research and development of unique wines and grapes.
Both regions, once considered the pastoral backwater of the nearby urban industrial areas of San Francisco and Oakland, are now the epicenters of their primary industries. Many people with entrepreneurial ideas came to and continue to come to these regions to pursue the American dream and from those dreams we’ve gained California wines, Apple computer, and the Internet boom (and bust).
On my two day visits to Silicon Valley, I was introduced to organizations which represent the driving forces of Silicon Valley’s dynamic evolution: Applied Materials, and Stanford University’s Hoover Institution on War, Revolution, and Peace. In Sonoma Valley, I visit the Jordan Winery.
By the end of the field study, I was able to draw comparisons and contrasts between the two regions and those of previous field studies. During this study, I understand the conditions by which each industry was able to develop and flourish in each region; the relationship between academic-driven R & D and industry; how the high-technology and wine industries contribute to California’s economy; and how the characteristics of the ‘California culture’ differ from those of the other US regions as I previously visited.
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