Tag Archive for 'opensource'

Great reads from around the web on July 19th

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I come across so many great conversations, ideas, and resources all over the web every day. Here are some of the most interesting things I’ve found recently (as of July 19th). You can join the conversations in the comments, or click through to the original posts to find what others are saying.

To follow more of the things I find online, you can follow @amysampleward on Twitter (which is just a blog and resource feed), or find me on Delicious (for all kinds of bookmarks).

  • Blood and Milk » Blog Archive » Ushahidi, Twitter, and the future of foreign aid – Alanna's post is a great example of the power of networks, social media, and open systems. As she notes, her example has luck but it is an example of a growing model of a changing world. What do you think?
  • Net2 Think Tank Round-up: Age Segmentation in Social Networking | NetSquared – "For this month's Net2 Think Tank, we asked you to share your thoughts and best practices for using social media with or for a particular age group. We are hoping to understand what tools or practices appeal to different age groups online and how organizations can best target their efforts to those audiences. This round-up is a summary of the responses we received from the community and it will hopefully serve to help you re-think the ways that you're targeting your limited audience." Add your thoughts or blog posts in the comments!
  • Marketing for Nonprofits: Want to Build Community Online? Become a Bridge Builder. – "Marketing online, in particular, is much more than putting up a static website to announce your gala or ask people to volunteer. It's about having a CONVERSATION with people who care about your work and can help you reach your goals. OK, you've heard this before. But the real question is, HOW do you become a community manager and/or how do you find the right person for the job? What is the skill set you should be looking for?"
  • Social Spaces – I'm really excited to see Social Spaces, a project fueled by a friend a colleague, take off! Social Spaces is project which studies positive community projects and aims to test if these types of projects can be stimulated elsewhere through spreading ideas and practices. It is currently focused on 5 main areas: Hand Made – Portraits of Emergent New Culture, Traveling Pantry, Community of Practice, Organizational Workshops, and Research. Check it out!
  • Don't focus on technology, focus on behavior — SocialFish – This presentation by Paul Adams, Senior User Experience Researcher at Google, reposted on the SocialFish blog, nails home a point I feel like I talk about it every day: it's not about the technology, it's about the people! Great slides.
Published on July 19, 2010 by Amy Sample Ward. 2 Comments

Interview: John Brennan of OpenAction

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I recently had the opportunity to connect with John Brennan, the driving force behind OpenAction.org, which empowers individuals and organizations by helping them tell the world about the positive impact their actions have. You can learn more about John and OpenAction in the interview below.

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John has spent time working for Microsoft, doing R&D for the defense industry and was part of a few past startups that didn’t quite reach “critical mass.” In June 2009, John decided to sell nearly everything he owned and set out for New York City (via San Diego). With over a decade of web development experience, John channeled his skills into building something with social value. John is currently working on OpenAction, a platform that connects people to the projects they care about. It’s a sustainable solution to help create and strengthen the emotional connection between organizations and donors. The team also hopes to incentivize organizations to share knowledge and give beneficiaries a direct voice.

Where did the idea for OpenAction begin?
That’s a funny story actually, but I suppose many entrepreneurs have similar stories. Last March I met Joe Solomon and the Social Actions team through twitter. I remember leaving for Vegas and making a promise to Joe that I would submit a mashup to the 2009 Change the Web Challenge. The mashup was a map showing where people were volunteering in near-real-time. It ended up winning the competition, $5,000 and lots of exposure.

I’ve always done side projects part time, but never had the courage or funds to go at it full time. The community showed me a need for what I built, so I used this momentum as an opportunity to take what I built to the next level.

I left my 9-5 in San Diego on June 4, set out on a month long road trip with my brother across the United States to New York. On July 5 the real fun began.

How was the project developed?
Some of the foundation was built in April 2009, but the majority of the product development started in August 2009. I spent the first few months asking questions and listening to what NGOs had to say about how they did their job and what could make it easier.

I’ve spent the past few years working with the semantic web, referred to as “web 3.0″, that focuses on open standards and linking data. Many of us are aware of open source software and open architecture, but open philanthropy doesn’t exist yet. Once NGOs standardize the way they publish project data on the web, “apps” can be built on top of this data. Much like Apple did with the iPhone.

I also knew it needed to be both top-down and bottom-up. The problem with developing a standard is that it is only as useful as those adopting it. So that’s where OpenAction comes into play. Essentially, we give organizations a simple tool to manage project information, like photos and videos. The real value to organizations is that they now have a dynamically updated map they can embed on their web site. Instead of paying a web developer to add new project data, they can do it using a few simple form fields. This might put my developer friends out of a job (laughs), but it’s all about becoming more efficient.

Our application also automatically generates RSS feeds for their supporters to stay engaged throughout the life of the project. It’s similar to how one subscribes to a blog. The project updates themselves can displayed in a timeline, so people can easily follow the project’s progress as it unfolds before their eyes.

What’s next for OpenAction?
Our organization helps people find and connect with projects they care about. It makes sense to let these people connect to others working in the same space. So we are starting to map social entrepreneurs with the hopes that they might be able to make more of an impact working together than apart. This is actually how my partner and I connected several months ago. We were both doing similar, but separate mapping initiatives. We decided we’d be stronger together — and we were right.

So if any of your readers work with social entrepreneurs, or are such, I would love to connect with them as well. After all, while we might see different paths to the same goal, the goal is usually the same: positive impact on the people and the planet.

What else are you working on?
Working on trying to find time to sleep.

Do you have any lessons learned or stories you can share with other social entrepreneurs?
This is probably my sixth startup, but first as a “social” entrepreneur. So for brevity I will keep to the last year, and maybe save the rest for a separate blog post one of these days.

I would say, don’t go at it alone. This is so important. You really need to have someone that is as involved in the idea as you are. Not only to give more proof that the idea has legs, but it gives you someone to bounce ideas off all the time. And unlike friends, this person will understand the problem space. Simply put, startups will inevitably have ups and downs, and having someone else in it with you is just good for morale.

Tapping into the (right) community is also an important lesson I learned this time around. In past startups I would use friends and family to measure early success. Sometimes they were the target audience, but that was often due to the lack of product focus. I love thinking about the famous stories of Davy Crockett here. Not the tales itself, but the method used. He claimed to have killed that infamous bear, and all the towns people believed it as if he went to each and every person to spread the word face-to-face. Having a conversation with every townsperson would be a nearly impossible feat. Davy Crockett was, however, an expert story teller and community builder. Instead, he spent his time talking to the heads of each village. The key here, I believe, is to empower your community and let them be your biggest advocates.

A third, and final lesson is often used by web developers, but can easily be applied to social entrepreneurs. It’s the KISS principle. “Keep it simple stupid” — enough said. Don’t over engineer or over think a problem, let the market and your audience dictate your next move.

How can people follow your work and OpenAction?
We are actually going to be on OpenAction ourselves, to sort of practice what we preach. Things have just been super chaotic as of late. I would say the best way is to follow me @worldlyjohn and my partner Mike @wanderingwenger.

To learn more and check out OpenAction for yourself, visit:
http://openaction.org

Published on January 27, 2010 by Amy Sample Ward. 0 Comments

Great reads from around the web on December 15th

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I come across so many great conversations, ideas, and resources all over the web every day. Here are some of the most interesting things I’ve found recently (as of December 15th). You can join the conversations in the comments, or click through to the original posts to find what others are saying.

To follow more of the things I find online, you can follow @amysampleward on Twitter (which is just a blog and resource feed), or find me on Delicious (for all kinds of bookmarks).

  • FT.com / Weekend columnists / Tim Harford – Perhaps microfinance isn’t such a big deal after all – "Last December, I showed some unwitting prescience by worrying about a backlash against microfinance, the practice of providing small loans – or perhaps savings products or insurance – to poor people. I fretted that there was little compelling evidence that it worked. A year later, the evidence is arriving and the backlash has begun. The Boston Globe published an article in September, subtitled, “Billions of dollars and a Nobel Prize later, it looks like ‘microlending’ doesn’t actually do much to fight poverty.” " – I'm interested to hear what you all think about this issue, especially now during the 'giving season.'
  • Open Source Is Dead! Long Live Open Source! | NTEN: The Nonprofit Technology Network – "That's right, I said it. Promise to read the rest of this before you send me hate mail, though. What I mean is that open source, as we knew it, is dead. For the last decade, what we've been talking about when we say "open source" is "open code" — a set of zeroes and ones that we can configure to our heart's desire."
  • Net2 Think Tank Round-Up: Best of 2009 | NetSquared, an initiative of TechSoupGlobal.org – Check out the diverse submissions to the December Net2 Think Tank that simply asked for the best blog posts of 2009! I'm sure there are some resources, conversations and pointers in here that are new to everyone.
  • What Matters Now eBook – Get the ebook now for free! "We want to shake things up. More than seventy extraordinary authors and thinkers contributed to this ebook. It's designed to make you sit up and think, to change your new year's resolutions, to foster some difficult conversations with your team."
  • Orchestras and Social Media Survey: Key Findings and Full Report | Dutch Perspective by Marc van Bree – "In short, the survey found that social media activities, familiarity and usage seem to be widespread among orchestras. Managers find social media important and organizations are generally enthusiastic. However, the efforts are far from organized and strategic. It seems many orchestras are dipping their feet in the social media pool, but do not have the policies, budgets, and metrics in place to effectively use the tools at their disposal, even if they do recognize the need for checks and balances."
Published on December 15, 2009 by Amy Sample Ward. 15 Comments

Great reads from around the web on November 25th

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I come across so many great conversations, ideas, and resources across the web ever day. Here are some of the most interesting things I’ve found recently (as of November 25th). You can join the conversations in the comments, or click through to the original posts to find what others are saying.

To follow more of the things I find online, you can follow @amysampleward on Twitter (which is just a blog and resource feed), or find me on Delicious (for all kinds of bookmarks).

  • E-Commerce News: Customer Loyalty: If You Build a Branded Online Community, Will Customers Come? – "Despite the enormous popularity of peer-to-peer social networking, the adoption cycle for branded online communities has been relatively slow. That a growing number of consumer brands are transforming their existing static Web sites into interactive online communities is a trend that is not only recent, but also rapidly accelerating." What do you think? Do you have a branded online community for your organization or project? How did you ensure participation and membership?
  • ProjectRSS for describing projects (part of the Open Philanthropy effort) – I've recently come across this project from John Brennan (@worldlyjohn on Twitter) and am interested in what you all think about it! "Open source software exists in the computer industry. Open architecture exists in the construction industry. Yet only recently has there been a push for standards in communication of the philanthropic industry. The time is now. Open Philanthropy is about sharing. Open Philanthropy is about community. Open Philanthropy is about working together to increase the size of the proverbial pie (not the piece)."
  • The Report | Think Social – "This is a first draft of a longer effort dedicated to the study and advancement of developments in social media in the public interest that enable people to write history by acting online. It features concept definitions and examples for ten trends that we believe are shaping the use of social media in the public interest. We have compiled this list through interviews with public- and private-sector leaders; analysis of initiatives, organizations and government programs; reviews of industry and mainstream news coverage; and submissions from thousands of online participants."
  • Five Social Media Fundraising Trends for 2009 – Beth's Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media – "Over the past six months, I've been collaborating on a book with Allison Fine, titled "The Networked Nonprofit" and we've been sifting through stories, research, and seeing many patterns. So for this post, I'd like to share 5 fundraising trends that we saw emerging in 2009 related to fundraising and social media and that will most definitely continue to have impact in 2010."
  • Miro Community – "Miro Community lets you bring together all the videos about a topic, a community, or product into one elegant website, no matter where the videos are hosted." GetMiro.com is an open-source, non-profit video player and podcast client, check out the tool here: http://getmiro.com
Published on November 25, 2009 by Amy Sample Ward. 0 Comments

Mozilla Service Week Starts Today!

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mozilla service weekThat’s right: Today is the first day of Mozilla Service Week!  This week, thousands of volunteers have signed up and over 10,000 hours have been pledged to make a difference in our communities, our world, our Web. This week is about using the Internet to make life better, and its not too late to get involved!

Learn more about Mozilla Service Week and get involved!

What is Mozilla Service Week?

This week – September 14-21, 2009 – we’ve asked individuals to step up and make a difference by using the Web to better their community. We’ve looked for people who want to share, give, engage, create, and collaborate by offering their time and talent to local organizations and people who need their help, and its not too late to get involved.

Mozilla believes everyone should know how to use the Internet, have easy access to it, and have a good experience when they’re online. By utilizing our community’s talents for writing, designing, programming, developing, and all-around technical know-how, we believe we can make the Web a better place for everyone.

Get involved!

There are many ways you can get involved with the Mozilla Service week, whether you are a techie or not, have a project or want to join one.  There are two main ways to dive in:

Find a Project
You may already have an idea of how you want to help, and that’s great. If you are looking for inspiration, search for opportunities on Idealist, the partner site for Mozilla Serive Week. You might find a local opportunity, or you could also find a way to help across the miles by simply helping out with a tutorial or offering advice.

You can also visit other volunteer sites to search for your special project: View other Partners.

Learn more about finding a project, here.

Create a Project
The Mozilla community has a history of changing the world – and the Web – in all kinds of amazing ways. Now’s your chance to take action! If you have something in mind, go for it! Here are some ideas to get you started:

  • Teach senior citizens how to use the Web.
  • Show a non-profit how to use social networking to grow its base of supporters.
  • Help install a wireless network at a school.
  • Create Web how-to materials for a library’s computer cluster.
  • Refurbish hardware for a local computer center.
  • Update a non-profit organization’s website.
  • Teach the values of the open Web to other public benefit organizations.

Learn more about creating a project, here.

Published on September 15, 2009 by Amy Sample Ward. 0 Comments

Interview with Jeff Robbins – Drupal & The Future!

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Originally posted on the NetSquared blog.

Jeff is part of a team excited about the future of the web with Drupal.  You may have heard some of the early news already, but more is sure to come.

What’s in the works?  “…an easy-to-use platform for groups, individuals and businesses to create powerful dynamic social websites. Historically, these sites required huge time commitments and expert developers; this platform will allow users to harness the power of Drupal and its wealth of add-ons with a streamlined point-and-click, drag-and-drop interface. With these tools, even newcomers will be able to build feature-rich multi-user websites that go beyond the boundaries of simple blog sites.”  -Lullabot news

I recently connected with Jeff to get the complete story.

lullabot logoJeff’s background, in his own words

Over the last couple decades, Jeff has had a varied connection with the world of the web, including projects with O’Reilly in the early 90s (like buildling the Global Network Navigator, the first website with ads), starting Liquid Media (web design company), performing and making music with Orbit (band, member), and serving as the defacto ‘tech guy’ for A&M Records.

After the band’s contract ended eight years ago, Jeff jumped into the world of web 2.0 by building websites with his wife; clients included bigger and bigger names (like Ringo Star!).  The team was using WordPress and Movable Type for the client websites when they decided on Drupal for a specific project.

The same thing that has happened before

As Jeff worked through this new project with Drupal, he experienced the state many have before: “starving for Drupal information” in a sea of praise for the platform and the many, many options available.  This is when Jeff reached out to the Drupal community for help and connected with Matt Westgate.

The two wanted to start a company that would provide the help so many people need, including Jeff, when starting a project with Drupal to avoid getting overwhlemed.  And thus, Lullabot was born with a central focus on empowering people with workshops, podcasts, as well as hiring people who are involved in the Drupal community as experts to help out.

What is Drupal?

According to Wikipedia, “Drupal is a free and open source modular framework and content management system (CMS) written in the programming language PHP. Like many modern CMSs, Drupal allows the system administrator to create and organize content, customize the presentation, automate administrative tasks, and manage site visitors and contributors.”

Jeff describes Drupal as a blogging software on steroids.  A blogging platform specializes in one type of content (blog posts), whereas Drupal can handle any kind of content and has the capacity to build things that aren’t content management-based, like e-commerce systems.

So, where did the idea come from?

Jeff and Matt attended N2Y2 in San Jose, CA.  The pair entered the conference with the goal of better understanding what was going on in the nonprofit community and how they could help.  What they found, though, was a huge community of people who had already been told they should use Drupal for their project or website but had no resources on how to do it, told they should get an ‘expert’ to do it so they don’t ‘screw it up.’

After scratchy voices and lots of new connections, they realized there was no good way to help individuals individually—it was a problem that needed to be tackled at the platform level.  As Jeff explains, “Drupal is the promise of modular ease, but it isn’t actually that easy.”

So, Jeff wrote an article about how Drupal will save the world.  He said, “wouldn’t it be great if…” as a way of brainstorming how to tackle the platform level of the problems and confusions he was seeing people experience, like: wouldn’t it be great if there was some entity that could give the Drupal community a chunk of money (Jeff suggested $50,000) to work on the platform for a year with the specific goal of making it easier to use.  They didn’t get the money, but they did get interest and ideas.

Drupal will save the world

Jeff then attended O’Reilly’s Foo Camp where he presented on how Drupal will save the world, talking about the ideas he, Matt and others had been thinking about and discussing.  This is when Google’s Jeffrey Veen posed the question of whether people even need to install the software or not—why can’t they just do all that they need to on a website?  Jeff couldn’t come up with an answer of why they shouldn’t.

Together with Ed Sussman, formerly of Mansueto Digital and FastCompany.com, the idea emerged to form a business out of this idea.  The team grew to include Karen McGrane from Bond Art + Science, who’s experience includes designing the current version of NYTimes.com.  The team began working away on this new project to allow users to build Drupal sites via the web in an easy-to-use, drag-and-drop, type fashion.  They were working quietly, experimenting internally, until Friday the 10th when Ed announced he was leaving to come head up the project.

What now?

There is no name yet, and it is still quite early, but the group is in progress with the idea, and with the process of finding investors and hiring developers to make Drupal easier to use.  They want to build something that is more feature rich than Ning but faster and open source.  It is a graduation from the blog, though it’ll have an import fundation so you can move over whatever content you have elsewhere.  It will also be optimized to run larger scale website than most blogging software as it assumes a higher ‘high end.’

Who is it really for?

There are a lot of different groups, and everybody needs a website!  Jeff asks the question, “what website would you build if you could?” and says there are endless options.  People who are building websites, web designers, and the like will probably be interested first, for natural reasons; but Jeff hopes the tool is for everyone!

And for the future…

Jeff compares speculation of the future to the developments in the past: it used to be about code, functionality was held very close to the chest for developers and companies.  Social networking helped change that as companies began building the same applications for people to select friends on their platforms, and once the same features were being reproduced everywhere, the magic was gone.  What’s magical now, is how we assemble features, which tools are put together and how.  While there is definitely still skill involved, it becomes less of a hurdle and more people can start doing larger things online.  The building blocks are out of the way!

Do It With Drupal logoDo It With Drupal

In addition to this new project, Lullabot is organizing its first large-scale Drupal event — a 3-day learning conference called Do It With Drupal. The event is happening at the Marriott in the French Quarter of New Orleans, December 10, 11, and 12th. Speakers include many “big names” in both the Drupal world and online community building experts. There will be sessions on building and nurturing online communities from Flickr’s community manager Heather Champ and author Tara Hunt. Sessions will be given on Drupal building blocks such as Views, CCK, and Organic Groups, from the programmers who wrote them. jQuery author John Resig will be speaking as well as Lockergnome’s Chris Pirillo. There are also some fun sessions such as a look at clone sites of YouTube, Flickr, and Twitter, all built in Drupal.

Do It With Drupal is meant to be an easy on-ramp into the Drupal community and all sessions will be geared at attendees with a wide range of Drupal experience. If you’ve ever felt that drowning-in-Drupal feeling, this event could be of great help!

Check out Do It With Drupal for more information and registration.

Published on October 24, 2008 by Amy Sample Ward. 1 Comment

connec+ipedia public launch!

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connec+ipedia is public! I’m happy to announce that a project I have worked on for the last 18 months and that others have worked for even longer is now ready for your eyes and minds:

“What if there was a place where we could all exchange what we learn as we go about our daily business? What if nonprofits could see the data and information that foundations use in their due diligence process? What if organizations and people could easily determine which foundations’ interests match their project goals? What if foundations could quickly see what groups are working on an issue they are investigating? And so on…

Well, we are building such a place. A place where people and organizations can connect about subjects and places. A place called connectipedia…”

connec+ipedia is, in my opinion, an awesome new tool that will change the way many people think of wikis.

Reason #1 – The Wiki Way
It is a wiki, yes. But it is a wiki that has database capabilities and functions in a more complete definition of the wiki way. What’s the wiki way? Well, as Ward Cunningham (the man who invented wikis and who spoke at our public launch event on Tuesday) explains, what makes wikis really different is that they incorporate what isn’t yet created. You can make links to topics that don’t exist. A link to something that doesn’t exist? Yes. Exactly. A way to create a placeholder and a reminder that there is more needed here or this item is important but not fleshed out yet. By clicking on that link, you are redirected to create that page. When you incorporate database functionality into a wiki, the opportunity to further this idea is even greater.

Reason #2 – Nonlinear
I have seen many examples of wikis that try to be very linear. What do I mean by this? Well, they want to create a wiki that is very structured (traditional) and appears like a standard website, as far as navigation tabs, site map, layout, etc. connec+ipedia is nonlinear. It has content divided by People, Places and Things. But, content also exists in the intersection of these categories. So you can go to a card for after school programs, but you could also go find after school programs + Portland, OR, and so on.

Reason #3 – Community
Wikis are inherently a community of users (regardless of size). connec+ipedia takes this to a new level. It exists to connect you to information, not store the information. So, with so many links to organizations and projects, the community creates a pull for those who are linked to but not using the tool to engage, at least so far to make sure their information is correct! Many nonprofits and foundations (public and private) from around the region are already listed in connec+ipedia. It has the unique capacity for connecting topic areas with funders who support them and organizations doing the work. It is encouraging to the community grow to use the site in this way and ensure that information is correct – keeping people connected!

I invite you to check it out! connec+ipedia is free, open source tool. It runs on WagN which you can learn about here.

Published on June 12, 2008 by Amy Sample Ward. 0 Comments

CMS Survey from NTEN

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Last week, NTEN released the Content Management System Satisfaction Report (which you can download from their website).  Over 650 people fully completed the survey which covered over 27 different systems.

What I found most interesting was the impact of open source systems on the field:

  • Just over 25% of respondents said open source was in the top 3 of priorities when choosing an CMS
  • Over 1/3 of survey respondents reported using an open source tool already
  • Open source tools (including Drupal, Joomla!, Plone) were given some of the best over all grades by respondents

If you want to find out more about open source solutions, check out the Nonprofit Open Source Initiative.  You can download the report here.

What are you currently using for CMS?  Do you have an CMS or in-house technology staff who manage the website?  If you could ask one question and get a truthful answer in your CMS search, what would you ask?

Published on June 2, 2008 by Amy Sample Ward. 0 Comments

Catching up

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After over two weeks of wonderful vacation without internet access, it seems there is much I missed!  Here is a quick list of some things to check out.  Let me know what I left off!

  • Yahoo! Green Award
    Yahoo! is looking for innovative “green mashups” that will inspire people to use social technology to help the environment. Yahoo! will review the project submissions included in the “Environment” Cause Area of the Project Gallery on the NetSquared web site. Following the NetSquared Conference (N2Y3), Yahoo! will make their final selection.  For more information go to:  http://www.netsquared.org/mashup/yahoogreenaward
  • More talk about Twitter
    Here is a BusinessWeek article about Why Twitter Matters – Be sure to check out the slide show (link at end of article) for more great commentary.
  • Get with open source
    The Nonprofit Open Source Initiative has a great webinar coming up about choosing and using FOSS (free, open source software).  More information is available on their site; you can register with NTEN.
  • Collaboration gets rewarded
    The $250,000 Collaboration Prize from the Lodestar Foundation will reward collaboration between two or more nonprofit organizations working together on the same issue/project.  “The Prize also seeks to build an information base of effective practice models that can be studied and used by academics, nonprofit leaders and grantmakers to inspire and advance their work.”  You can find out more from their site.
  • Myanmar and GIS
    I love seeing Google Earth and mapping technologies at work, and thanks to Brett for pointing me (in my backlog/overwhelming state of emails and RSS) to Direct Relief International’s layer in Google Earth.  Check it out.

I’m sure there is so much else to add to this list.  Leave a comment with everything I missed!

Published on May 19, 2008 by Amy Sample Ward. 2 Comments

Net Tuesday Portland tackles Twitter and beyond

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Last night, we held the second Net Tuesday meetup here in Portland. It was a great event with very engaging conversations (one great aspect of having such a new group is that there are still enough people to have long, engaging, changing group conversations!).

I started the meeting with a Twitter overview, as it came up in the January meeting as something people have heard about but not many had experienced. Here is the short slide show, really used as a jumping off point for conversation based on each slide (not a text-heavy person!).

My awesome co-organizer then launched from my presentation forward into a broader discussion of all the various forms of and relating to “micro-blogging” which was a great conversation, but lead into an even greater one on open source alternatives for micro-blogging and design work.

We even talked about the Net Squared Mashup Challenge as we had many questions about the challenge and what mashups were and could be. We had some great ideas for proposals (so I’ll let you know if and when those go up!). We also had with us the father of a current proposal – Howard from EcoTrust is part of the Portland Net Tuesday group and we think you all should check out the mashup proposal from EcoTrust on mapping watersheds – you can read about it here!

If you are in the Portland area, we’d love to have you join our group online to stay connected, and come meet up with us at our next meeting: March 25th at 6 pm! We have a great thing going, so far, and would love to have you on board to make it even better!

Thanks to those who came last night and created such dynamic conversations and offered experiences, ideas, and questions!

Published on February 27, 2008 by Amy Sample Ward. 0 Comments