This post is based on an X/Twitter thread that I wrote to begin the Morazán Monday weekly posts, which you can find here.

Welcome to #MorazanMonday, a weekly post about Ciudad Morazán / Bootstrap City. This week’s post is special not only because it’s the first thread, but also because it is a behind-the-scenes look at the Morazán community and a time when I failed it.

For those that don’t know, this week is Morazán week, a holiday week in Honduras dedicated to Francisco Morazán, a Honduran general, politician, and hero. To celebrate the holiday, I hosted a Mr. / Ms. Morazán competition to honor the amazing men and women of Ciudad Morazán!

The contest was held in the resident-only Telegram group. Each entrant was asked to include a photo and describe why they embody the values and promise of Ciudad Morazán. The community would then judge which entrants they preferred by liking posts with their favorite emojis

Well, it turns out that using a malleable real-time voting mechanism is a recipe for disaster. Pretty much everything that could have gone wrong did go wrong and it was all my fault.

As the clock ticked down, I saw that the race was neck and neck and that for once, my vote mattered. I thought there would be no harm in using my vote to create a tie and thus have an excuse to do an exciting run-off vote on X. To ensure that no matter what happened, both of the finalists would come out ahead, at least financially, I decided to give both of the finalists the 1500 HNL prize money (2nd place was supposed to get 1000 Lempira).

What was I thinking? An argument started over who should be the real winner. An event I had created to unite the community was quickly evolving into a source of division. And I had only myself to blame. As I watched the train wreck unfold, I realized that my desire to have an exciting contest that would get lots of views on X led me to harm the community I love.

Realizing this, I apologized to the community and asked them to help me figure out how to best right my wrong. The community of Morazán did not disappoint. In real-time, the critiques evolved into suggestions on how to best do a run-off. And both of the Ms. Morazán finalists offered to give 1st place to the other!

• 

• 

Candidate 1 on the left is a high-energy and fun-loving member of Ciudad Morazán. She was one of the first to enter the competition and encouraged others to follow her lead. She is proud to live in a safe, clean, and green city and wants to protect and grow the Ciudad Morazán community

Candidate 2 is a Colombian. She likes Morazán because it has fresh air, tranquility, and is comfortable. She’s grateful to Massimo for building Ciudad Morazán as it offers hope and safety to its Honduran & foreign residents. She believes Morazán is the future and that dreams do come true.

Clearly, both of these lovely ladies deserve recognition! But which of them would you have crowned as 2023’s Ms. Morazán?

Seeing the community gracefully come together to solve the mess I created warmed my heart! More importantly, it has motivated me to be a better person and a better neighbor.

In closing, I want to say thank you to Morazán for being an enteral well of inspiration and wisdom. I dream that one day you may inspire and transform millions of others, as much as you have me. Happy Morazán week everyone!