Hacking for Good

The sucess of an open source ecology is based on a bunch of things. One of those things is raw innovation. 100 programmers in a room building "stuff" is a fountain of innovation.

CivicSpace exists to harness that innovation and make sure the largest possible audience of civic organizations can access it. So naturally we are involved with Silona's grand plan.

We need nonprofits to participate so the coders don't go creating things *they* think would be cool. We need experienced Drupal/CiviCRM coders so that hackers move the ball forward rather than building code we can't utilize in the community. Visit the wiki and participate!

*The League of Technical Voters is sponsoring a programmer lock in!*

*What:* We are going to lock in 100 programmers for 48 hours developing Open Source Software for non-profit organizations.

*When:* October 13-15th 2006

*Where:* Austin Texas at Ventana Del Sol

*Why:* To make the world a better place, have a great time, andlook cool doing it. To top it off, Austin Texas is great in October!

*How:* http://lotv-lockin.pbwiki.com/ Sign up, catch up, and pipe up! Password is: transparency

*The Madness*

We are going to have 5-15 minute events happening every 3-4 hoursto keep all the programmers motivated. Everything from surprise gueststo various styles of performers (like firespinning at 2 am.) We willkeep everyone fed all 48 hrs (not just pizza) and hydrated (not justcoke). However, we aren't promising showers or beds. This event isonly for the most hardcore programmers out there, 'cause this is gonnabe intense.

-------------------------------
FAQ
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- How the hell is this gonna work?
We are using Drupal and php. We'll have a list of modules andfeature sets that people will grab and run off to develop. We willalso have a few optional speakers and tutorials on getting started inDrupal if you are new to the environment.

- Why Drupal, you may ask?
Mainly because of the supportive community, modularity and featurerich pre-existing code base. We have a large set of features that wewill have to implement or fix in a short amount of time. If you wannaprogram in something else... lets talk about version 2.0. When theLOTV site reaches the amount of traffic that will break version 1.0, weshould have the resources to build the next one.

- Why php?
'Cause we are using Drupal... duh...

- Nothing will work and you guys suck.

So who pissed in your wheaties this morning? We don't honestlythink that at the end of 48 hours everyone's code will miraculouslywork. We just want to get this organization kick started and createsome useful tools for other Non Profits... and maybe raise a littleawareness about Open Source Software and Non Profits. No other groupsout there understand more about collaboration than Non Profits. Socome on out and save the world for 48hrs! It may make you less grumpy.

- Who is this League of Technical Voters?

Our primary goal is to involve more technical people in thepolitical process, especially in relation to the use of technology bygovernment. We plan on doing this through tying together blogging,social networking and community management tools. We aim to rule theworld and make the world rule! Join us!

http://www.leagueoftechvoters.org

Can the grassroot be in control?

Jon Lebkowsky offers another piece of the CivicSpace value proposition in a Web 2.0 recap/rant. The quote is from "Web 2.0 Social Web: who is in control?" by Donna Bogatin, ZDNet.

The relationship between Web 2.0 Social Web property owners and Web2.0 Social Web user contributors, in fact, is inherently symbiotic.While each side needs the other, however, the relationship is not oneof equals; Social Web contributors are dependent upon the“free” infrastructure graciously offered by Web 2.0properties.

Part of the CivicSpace value proposition is that CivicSpace pushes the control of the infrastructure of the social web further out to the edges.

CivicSpace On Demand will provide an instant website, online community, central CRM database, online donations and email newsletters. Rather than rely on News Corp (MySpace), you can actually operate your own social web. We want to give the grassroots some control over the social web and empower them to use it for social change purposes.

The holy grail of this line of thought is identity owned by the user-- software like Flock and various identity efforts are pushing toward this. Until then, we are happy to provide a little more disruption in the system by trying to push power and control out to the edges of the network.

Can the grassroot be in control?

Jon Lebkowsky offers another piece of the CivicSpace value proposition in a Web 2.0 recap/rant. The quote is from "Web 2.0 Social Web: who is in control?" by Donna Bogatin, ZDNet.

The relationship between Web 2.0 Social Web property owners and Web2.0 Social Web user contributors, in fact, is inherently symbiotic.While each side needs the other, however, the relationship is not oneof equals; Social Web contributors are dependent upon the“free” infrastructure graciously offered by Web 2.0properties.

Part of the CivicSpace value proposition is that CivicSpace pushes the control of the infrastructure of the social web further out to the edges.

CivicSpace On Demand will provide an instant website, online community, central CRM database, online donations and email newsletters. Rather than rely on News Corp (MySpace), you can actually operate your own social web. We want to give the grassroots some control over the social web and empower them to use it for social change purposes.

The holy grail of this line of thought is identity owned by the user-- software like Flock and various identity efforts are pushing toward this. Until then, we are happy to provide a little more disruption in the system by trying to push power and control out to the edges of the network.

Computers and previous thingamabobs...

This quote from Wendell Berry keeps re-surfacing in my life:

Computers make people even better and smarter than they were made by previous thingamabobs. Or if some people prove incorrigibly wicked or stupid or both, computers will at least speed them up.

When we think of tools like CivicSpace... platforms for social change, we need to remember that they are neutral... social change for good, social change for bad. People often ask if CivicSpace is going to take a position on what is good or bad. As a business, I think that Google's "Do no evil" motto is a nice thought, but making money is almost by definition an amoral activity. So I doubt CivicSpace will take a position on what is good or bad.

What we will do is build a community around what we think is good. That requires partners, friends and supporters in an ecology based both in values and in economic exchange. Sitting down with venture investors and others, it amazes me how many people don't get our CivicSpace Associate model.

We're building a community of stakeholders. Sure, there is an economic component... as much as I am a Utopian at heart, I'm going to get my people health insurance. That community is what tips the scales and makes sure the technology powering social change is in the hands of folks doing what the community thinks is good. And hopefully their energy and commitment will allow those doing good with the technology to far outstrip others.

I would love to see an investor look at the associate model as a way to reach more customers rather than "limit" the market. A way to do more good, rather than "limit" revenue opportunities. A way to build a stronger ecology, rather than a weaken the defensibility of the business.

I'm a business person that understands the power of networks and community and how a small slice of a huge pie can be far better than a "defensible" market position. This is either naivety or sitting on the edge of a significant disruptive innovation. Time will tell.

 

CiviCRM 1.5 Skypecast July 06, 12:00 PST

CiviCRM Community Skypecast will provide an overview of the new features in CiviCRM 1.5. July 06, 12:00 PST

Learn about features coming in v1.5. Ask questions, and sharefeedback, ideas, tips for using CiviCRM with other users, developersand folks from the CiviCRM core development team. (CiviCRM is the firstopen source and freely downloadable constituent relationship managementsolution. CiviCRM is web-based, internationalized, and designedspecifically to meet the needs of advocacy, non-profit andnon-governmental groups.)

technorati tags:civicrm, civicspace