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My Slate V2
On the day before nominations ended, I posted my ten choices of the time. Little did I know that 50 projects would come in on the last day. Also, I've been reading the arguments advanced in the various slate posts and been influenced thereby.
In an email, Siegfried Woldhek of Nabuur just wrote to me:
"What an interesting experiment this is turning out to be. Implicitly at least three new criteria were added to the official, sensible list.
- The size of the mailing list
- The activism of the inner circle
- The 2.0 savvy"
And, he is clearly correct in stating that. So we are observing a very dynamic process with thousands of votes being cast in what is clearly not an apples:apples fashion. Well, it's a great fruit salad. We will do our best to make this process beneficial to many more projects than the 20 who get the most votes. And we will try to develop subcategories next year that will enable easier comparison and voting.
I'm going to vote for these ten. Since I could easily 'support' about 40, let me make transparent the criteria I decided to base my voting upon:
1. I ranked social impact, sustainability and technology, in that order, as my decision-drivers.
2. I tried to vote for projects that didn't have a large installed user base they could rally for support. I figured that since I only have ten votes, I'll spend them they are most needed and figure the projects that have a web-savvy posse to draw on will do well in this vote without me (and some of the best projects are in that group, for sure.)
My votes go to:
China Digital Times
http://www.netsquared.org/projects/proposals/china-digital-times
Information may want to be free but a lot of entrenched interests would prefer it otherwise. China is on the forefront of digital censorship issues, and this seems like an important project in that context.
The CTC Vista Project
http://www.netsquared.org/projects/proposals/ctc-vista-project
Voluntarism takes many forms. The government's VISTA program is a tremendous potential resource for social justice organizations. This project links the resource to the web in ways that can be built upon.
The Nata Village Blog: A unique opportunity to witness the battle to control the spread of HIV/AIDs in an African Village
http://www.netsquared.org/projects/proposals/nata-village-blog-unique-op...
It is hard to compare this project to many of the other, more techically sophisticated ones. But given the context, the need and the potential for replicating, it gets my vote.
The REAL hot 100
http://www.netsquared.org/projects/proposals/real-hot-100
This project seems to me to have a great plan/methodology for tweaking the zeitgeist in an effective way.
Maps 2.0 - Geospatial Tools for Nonprofits and Humanitarian Relief
http://www.netsquared.org/projects/proposals/maps-2-0-geospatial-tools-n...
Really impressive vision, use of tools and existing collaboration
Open Source, Open Standards Video
http://www.netsquared.org/projects/proposals/open-source-open-standards-...
I want this to work so badly I'll vote for it. The planning is impressive.
And these from my original post stay on the list:
Building a Community of Modern Abolitionists
http://www.netsquared.org/projects/proposals/building-a-community-of-mod...
Not your U.S. Civil War genre John Brown. This is a remarkable melding of a sustainability model with a fierce social vision.
moulin wiki offline wikipedia
http://www.netsquared.org/projects/proposals/moulin-wiki-offline-wikipedia
This is the most counter-intuitive, spot-on project. Brilliant.
Reversed Rural Electrification
http://www.netsquared.org/projects/proposals/reversed-rural-electrification
This is a huge idea with a lot of thought behind it.
Social web-tools for developing countries: Yankana.org
http://www.netsquared.org/projects/proposals/social-web-tools-developing...
A very smart project based on recognizing that the social web has a different entrace ramp in different cultures.
- Daniel Ben-Horin's blog
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- Thanks, Joe!
1 week 7 hours ago - Late to thank you for this incredible post
3 weeks 5 days ago - Thank you!
3 weeks 6 days ago
GiveWell
Hi Daniel,
I would appreciate some input on how it is that GiveWell fell off your list. I know there is a lot of competition, but as someone who believes GiveWell to be the best existing opportunity to make the world a better place (by helping the lion's share of the world's well-meaning capital find a home), I'd like to know what keeps you from agreeing.
As you can see, I've been straightforward with anyone who's asked for my honest view of their project. I'd appreciate if you would do the same.
Thanks,
Holden
Holden, I tried to be
Holden, I tried to be transparent! There are way more intriguing, high potential projects than 20, let alone the 10 I am allowed to vote for. I put Givewell in my original list because I thought highly of it, and I still do, and hope you end up as one of the 20.