Ryan Rogers wants to start a revolution in Salem.

Speaking over lunch in the basement Venti’s, using short, deft hand movements as punctuation, he talks about this, and with his close cut hair, goatee and dark sweater he might pass as a 60’s radical or perhaps a beat poet.

“When we use the word revolution, it is intended to be a little bit incendiary, we are not in your face, but we don’t want to be complacent either," Rogers said. “I believe it is a revolution of spirit, of change, and of ideas. It is about pushing yourself.”

By his own admission, he tends toward verbose, but he is well spoken and his words are full of passion.

Often called the ‘Culture Shock Dude,’ Rogers is one of the main authors of Culture Shock and the Cherry City Revolution, groups that, by their own definition, maintain a primary focus to stimulate community growth in the Willamette area.

They present themselves as non-partisan, welcoming people of all political, social, religious, or personal backgrounds. They have an open call to anyone interested in bringing Salem together, and in their own words, “celebrating the beauty, talent and greatness that already exist here.”

Rogers sees the groups as this and more.

“We want to transform the community,” he said. “To create a space where people really have the ability to transform their own lives and to transform and support each other. I believe in that.

“I believe we have grown very disparate from each other, isolated; interactions are done through Facebook and MySpace. We tend to have passing acquaintances more than real friendships and I want to encourage the space between us to become more vital, more connected," he said.

According to Rogers, the impetus that ignited Culture Shock began on the campus at Willamette University. The original notion was to create events the heirarchy within Willamette and between Willamette and the Salem community. After graduation he stuck with Salem to see if the idea would stick with a larger crowd.

Rogers said that the present configuration of the group, with Carlee Wright as associate director, Jeremy Crofoot as partnership director, and as Rogers' puts it, “Leslie Venti and a ton of other people in Culture Shock and Derby who make this all possible,” were moving in the right direction.

Rogers speaks of the many different projects the group has undertaken, such as the 13 nights of Halloween, The Cherry City Derby Girls, Stereo Salem, and many others as examples of the evolutionary metamorphosis of the idea behind the group.

“We have done things they do in Portland and other cities, such as the zombie walk, the roller derby, and a recent showing of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, and some things we do to keep pace with other communities, but what we really want is for people to hear about things in Salem and have people want to come here. We want to put Salem on the map.

According to Rogers, Culture Shock and its ancillary projects continue to become more involved in the community. He said that, at this time the sole focus is Salem and the Willamette area, but that he also hoped that would bring a future exponential growth.

“We have many things that define us as a community, and we look for things that will spark involvement in those things. We can look towards other communities for inspiration, but we do not want to copy them," he said.

“We want people to say guess what that started in Salem, or Wow did you hear what happened in Salem?"

Rogers said that there were many ways to become involved. There are different levels of membership and partnership programs. The groups are planning multiple new projects and welcome involvement.

For more information, you can contact them at www.cultureshockproject.com, info@cultureshockproject.com, www.myspace.com/salemcultureshock, and www.facebook.com/salemcultureshock

A 2010 kick-off event is planned for 7 p.m. Jan. 25 at the Grand Theater in downtown Salem. He said there would be live music and refreshments, but that it would also be a community brainstorming session. Anyone interested in learning more or becoming involved is welcome to attend.