Canadian blogger Kyle MacDonald made international news headlines when over the course of a year he swapped items online starting with a paperclip and ending up with a two-story farmhouse in Saskatchewan, Canada.
Whilst working on applying for jobs, Kyle saw a paperclip holding his CV together. He thought back to his childhood and a game of swapping old possessions for bigger and better things. It being the age of the internet Kyle started a blog with a picture of the paperclip, the offer to exchange it for anything, and the stated aim that he'd only stop swapping 'until I get a house. Or an Island. Or a house on an island.'
With this single, unremarkable red paperclip, Kyle started exchanging first for a novelty pen, which became a door handle, which eventually became a role in a Hollywood film which he finally swapped for a house. There were fourteen exchanges on the way taking in the unusual and the esoteric including a generator, a snowmobile, a recording contract, and an afternoon with Alice Cooper.
The remarkable story generated huge amounts of publicity with Kyle appearing on television and radio programmes around the world. It also resulted in the successful book One Red Paperclip.
Kyle tells the story of his adventure which saw him travel around Canada and America, meeting interesting people and seeing the value different things have to different people. He touches on the power of the internet as a collaborative tool breaking the restrictions of geography, background and income; connecting people, matching needs and finding common links that previously would never have been thought of.
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