Entries Tagged 'community' ↓

FreeBirthdayTreats

FreeBirthdayTreats.com is a great example of a niche website that has maximal utility with minimal complication. I call sites like these Nichepedias — they have a very useful database for a very specific action or set of knowledge. The question is, how long do such sites exist before they are gobbled up by the larger compendiums of niche information? What meta-database of niche database sites is currently in greatest use? The birthday treat niche is not important enough for Mahalo and not a google-friendly search; you have to think up a question before you can search for it.

Much is made of social media and its collaborative and informational benefits. I love talking about the wisdom of the crowds and any form of collective intelligence online. But there are times where the objective is too niche for the crowd to care much about it, like where to go for a free birthday ice cream. Then again, what would this website look like if it were turbocharged by the community-at-large? Perhaps we just mash it up with Yelp and Google Maps and call it day? Continue reading →

Schwaggin’ Wagon is back! We are donating completely to Operation Gratitude this time and we will be at both  Twiistup 4 and Mashable’s Summer Mash LA to collect unwanted schwag. It all gets sent to the troops overseas, rather than the back of your closet or a landfill.

We are dedicated to highlighting Green and Eco-Conscious products and services for the LA area and around the U.S., in addition to our usual goal of raising awareness of Schwag-wastefulness. Here’s an excerpt from my post on The Schwaggin’ Wagon blog (consider this a cross-posting of sorts):

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Did you ever think you’d hear us say we are The Schwaggin’ SUV? For this Tech-Event-Week in Los Angeles, we are proud to team up with Eco-Limo to create the Schwaggin’ Eco-Wagon! We will be ridin’ around Los Angeles in a Bio-Diesel Ford Excursion SUV, compliments of our sponsor, Eco-Limo.

Why are we so pleased at this sponsorship/partnership? It’s not because they were chosen to service the Academy Awards for the last four years. It’s that Eco-Limo is one of only 6 companies in California featured on Google’s Google Green site, and last year they received the Grand Prize in Sustainability by the City of Santa Monica, recognized as well by the California State Senate and Assembly! In short, they rock the eco-world. They are exactly what we were looking for in terms of transportation.

Continue reading →

Recently I started working at Blankspaces. This is a coworking office environment designed for freelancers and independent professionals who work solo, but who want to do so with others in an office environment. This can be a temporary, or somewhat more permanent solution to the isolation of working from one’s home. It’s a fantastic idea that embodies the best aspects of collaborative work and the potential for cross-pollination of ideas.  The proximity encourages conversations that might only arise seldomly at a cafe or cocktail party, thereby increasing chances of serendipity in one’s business and life.

Blankspaces is the paradigmatic example of the intersection between physical and online space–they have an online community that compliments and augments the offline community. Some of my graduate school work looked at examples of synchronous and asynchronous online/offline collaboration; I’ve been looking for more examples ever since. Continue reading →

It is not often that I tell people they “must read” something. Bill McKibben eloquently tells us in this article why it is necessary for us to act now to make sure our governments collaborate on climate change agreements in the next 3 years.

I will say this at the outset– I believe him. I believe the scientist Rajendra Pachauri who McKibben quotes as giving humanity a hard deadline of 2012 — if we do not begin actions to lower emissions before that date, we will set off irrecoverable chain reactions in the environment.

The goal is to roll back our CO2 emissions from 385 to 350ppm (parts per million).

A few of us have just launched a new campaign, 350.org. Its only goal is to spread this number around the world in the next 18 months, via art and music and ruckuses of all kinds, in the hope that it will push those post-Kyoto negotiations in the direction of reality.

If ever there were a time for me to proclaim “this is the paradigmatic example of why social and collaborative media are crucial,” now would be it. If you’ve ever asked, “what’s the point of Web 2.0?”, here is Continue reading →

Consulting to businesses on how they will incorporate Web 2.0 strategy and outreach via social media is a highly rewarding endeavor. I get to witness, first-hand, the means by which businesses are coping with this fundamental shift in our culture, our economy, how we make decisions, and how we market our goods and services to each other, among other transformative practices. I’m particuarly fond of assisting startup companies as they grapple with what creates community and fosters collaborative behavior among their users. Continue reading →

When we first created this show, we had visions of promoting it by tapping into the natural fanbase of hackers, geeks, and enthusiasts found all over the Internet. The uber-talented cast–Chris Nickerson, Luke McOmie (Pyr0), and Ryan Jones–have friends far and wide both within the hacker community and beyond. That alone, with almost no effort, was enough to gain fan interest and much press when the show premiered last year. Within a few days we had a wikipedia entry, we were rising up on Digg, and other kinds of social and collaborative media were used to embrace the show, primarily because it struck a nerve with actual security professionals. They are so used to inauthentic portrayals of hacking, that when they find something real, they love it. Continue reading →

Before you read any further, you might as well find out what The Schwaggin’ Wagon is all about.

It is gratifying to have an idea come to fruition in just a few short days. Were it not for Marjorie Kase of Blogger Reps, David Preciado of Social Rocket, Andy Sternberg of Netzoo, Kyra Reed Author of Blog 101 Book, and Daniel Hartman Esq. and others, there is no way the event that is this wagon would be in existence. Continue reading →

I recently returned from Sacramento, where I attended my cousin’s memorial (there was no funeral). I will never forget this event; 500 people came out to honor Harvey Rose, M.D. While this is not a personal blog, there is insight to be gained from the life of Harvey Rose, especially with respect to human interaction and the medical field in the U.S.

Perhaps we are forced to scour the Internet in the role of personal medical researcher more often than we would like; is medical research our part-time job? We spend more time harnessing the collective intellect of the English-speaking world on medical topics precisely because most doctors do not have the dedication or encyclopedic knowledge of Harvey Rose. I appreciate the use of community knowledge to help us understand our own medical conditions–in fact it is a crucial step since no doctor can keep up with the world’s research–but what happened to doctors embracing their oath to us, assisting their community of patients with even a fraction of what Dr. Rose gave to his?

Harvey Rose embodied the term community. He was a pain physician who fought for patients rights in the State of California at great personal cost. His stand for those patients ultimately culminated in the creation of the Patient’s Bill of Rights. Back in the ’80s the principle governing body of doctors wanted to pull his medical license in their blind quest to quash narcotics, just for his daring to prescribe pain medication to patients with unremitting chronic pain.

It was remarkable to watch patient after patient tell the audience that Harvey Rose was their hero, and that he saved their lives. Over time, the blog in which I am now posting will certainly evangelize the prospect of online communities making a difference in people’s lives, however it will not do so by covering up how important local community is, along with professionals who care enough to call their patients every night with their test results. Harvey Rose was such a man. He cared for his patients unlike any doctor I have ever known, and he helped make this country a better place to live. He will indeed be missed by the world at large and by Kari, Dianna, Nathan, and the rest of his family and friends. I will miss him. Click the above link to read the obituary from the Sacramento Bee.

Update: The Journal of Practical Pain Management has published a definitive obituary of Harvey. This is a must-read to get the full sense of his contribution to this world.

Freecycle.org is starting to gain more momentum. They are one of a number of online forums that facilitate the exchange of…well…..stuff — keeping all sorts of items out of landfills by providing an opportunity to give it away for free to someone else in your community. It’s a more efficient structure than leaving it on the sidewalk or having a garage sale. My question is… why are they still using Yahoo Groups as their primary means of interaction? This site is in dire need of some Web 2.0.

They are likely on a shoestring budget, therefore if you are willing to help them implement tags and their own online social apparatus, perhaps they would welcome the help.

Other than the obvious Craig’s List, what are your experiences with competitor sites that facilitate the exchange of goods and services? Which ones are most useful?