Liveblogging from the social impact track of feedback session 1:

• evaluators
  
  • Tesse (I may have spelled this incorrectly - I can't find it on the attendee list)
  • Jonathan Peizer
  • Haney Armstrong
• projects
  
  • Maps 2.0
  • Grassroots.org
  • Family Farm
  • TakingITGLobal

• Maps 2.0
  
  • Tesse
    
    • her personal connection - background in redistricting; this technology would have really
    • questions:
      
      • tools are only as good as data that can be geocoded; how do you integrate less formal data?
      • application of analysis of information into stories, strategies for action
      • are these tools available for non-English speaking populations, and people w/ disabilities?
      • partnerships with nonprofits which will help to build user communities?
  • Jonathan Peizer (disclosure: affiliated w/ Aspiration)
    
    • when people see visualizations, they respond to them more powerfully
    • if you build it, will they come? GIS has been around for a long time. GIS corporations have been providing donations of excellent software
    • what are the outreach & training services that you will be providing
  • Haney Armstrong
    
    • how to show different sectors that they could benefit from this? have a contest w/ a couple sectors, to get people to create sample demos for each of those sectors
  • answers:
    
    • forming subcommunities of practice
    • developing user base: depend on partners (including Aspiration & HumaniNet) & their
    • it's been mostly a "pull" relationship - distinctions they thought were important (e.g. large vs. small projects) weren't actually as important - everyone involved in horizontal information sharing between disparate practitioners has found it useful
    • "accidental techies" issue: take the compentency that the experts have, match them with the real-world applications that "accidental techies" envision
    • if you build it, will they come?
      
      • early adopters who are convinced of its utility will share it because there's a huge demand
  • questions from the floor
    
    • convincing people who could conceivably benefit from it, but it would never occur to them to do it the first place
      
      • maybe some would be convinced by high-profile examples like Google Maps/Darfur
    • correlation doesn't imply causation: potential for people to do the wrong thing or draw the wrong conclusions because they don't understand how to read the data. how do you educate users about that?
    • communities have already formed in this space w/o much support from them - esp. in humanitarian aid situations. Groups already want to know things like how can information be kept current minute to minute.
    • Esry GIS - no formal partnership, but will be meeting with them soon

• Grassroots.org Toolbox
  
  • Tesse
    
    • connection between virtual & physical worlds of leadership & organization; where does grassroots.org see themselves in this?
    • what about those that need to build their capacities & capabilities around the tech tools?
    • how to develop communities of users?
  • Jonathan Peizer
    
    • partnerships with the many other nonprofit toolbuilders out there?
    • free services, but they need to be subsidized; many of the services are subcontracted. How do they fit into with all
      
      • free services to whom?
  • Haney Armstrong
    
    • assuming there's more demand than they have a budget for, how to manage who to help? Suggestion: set up a 3rd party filtering nonprofit to review the nonprofits asking for technical assistance to see who has the most pressing needs, is the most deserving
  • answers
    
    • there's a huge gap at the bottom of the market in the nonprofit world ---> place for low cost and free services
      
      • there are organizations that have no budget for technology
      • target grassroots organizations w/ no budget for tech, no IT staff
      • aren't providing customized services
    • actively go out and seek nonprofits & show them why having
  • questions from the floor
    
    • how many organizations can they serve?
      
      • 800-900 organizations w/ free webhosting
        
        • sustainable: TerraNet (partner) does it for free
    • what happens if they're unable to support
      
      • very careful about scaling up their services
    • CMS - will they create a network to help different organizations work together?
      
      • haven't really hashed that out yet - it's in the future
      • reason it will take a while: everything has to be automatically configurable
    • DreamHost? fairly lost cost, powerful hosting provider
      
      • DreamHost will host nonprofits for free
      • but difference is grassroots.org is trying to integrate a bunch of tools
      • an organization that has tech staff can go with DreamHost instead of Drupal; but organizations w/o tech staff need training in how to use Drupal
    • tools/methodology to measure social impact?
      
      • none existing; the groups they are working with do such different things
      • what they use now is qualitative - testimonials
      • want to get $ amounts on what their clients think they're saving in staff hours
    • international?
      
      • right now they're focusing on US & Canada b/c they have systems for determining what are charitable organizations
      • have partners to tell them which are charitable organizations in other countries; looking for additional partners

• Family Farm
  
  • Tesse
    
    • what is the socioeconomic profile of their consumer base? might it be benefiting low SES families who otherwise struggle w/ access to healthy foods?
    • what is the profile of the family farms & their workers? how are they benefiting from higher wages; do they have the potential for owning their farm?
    • work done in organizing around food policy & health policy: explain
  • Jonathan Peizer
    
    • to what extent is this just a food label or is there housekeeping? any health or safety indication you may be missing by going direct?
  • Haney Armstrong
    
    • recognition for people who have recruited friends
    • open up a contest for people to post their menus, reward people who post popular ones. Eating locally & in season means you need lots of recipes
      
      • utility - draws more people to the site
    • tour of the farms in the summer: "good food feast"
    • form alliances with other food outlets - certification process for restaurants, produce stores, caterers
  • responses
    
    • it's hard being a small grower; value of your work isn't always appreciated. Been getting better w/ awareness of organic, local food
    • food access: "food deserts" in poorer areas - lack of supermarkets. They've strived to address this by lobbying for legislation to create a local food system: very concerned with food access (Illinois).
  • questions from the floor
    
    • any negotiations going on with In&Out or McDonalds?
      
      • Chipotle (owned by McDonalds) really went in this direction of local & sustainable food;
      • also partnering w/ a small chain in Seattle, another in Chicago; but significant
    • connecting with networks that are influencing chef's buying habits? yes
    • educational plans to influence behavior of youth in schools? haven't approached
    • strategies to include people using WICs stamps, etc? haven't approached
    • what are the 3 biggest impacts that locally
      
      • environmental - cuts down on food miles --> carbon footprint
      • jobs & economic development
      • food access - esp. for communities that don't have access to healthy food currently
    • how will distribution scale? when organic networks try to scale (specifically in the trucking element) there's a threshold that's hard to surpass
      
      • right now, farmer's markets & CSAs are the most common distribution scheme; not necessarily the most effective
      • issue: aren't warehouses in farming areas anymore ---> many more trucks bringing stuff
      • could try to piggyback on other distribution infrastructure (e.g. Whole Foods)

• TakingITGlobal
  
  • Tesse
    
    • examples for network to be able to take aggregate action?
    • how does leadership emerge through this network? how is it evidenced? is it explicit, organic? how is the impact seen?
    • goals for growth, scalability
  • Jonathan Peizer
    
    • unclear what they do from the website through the "about" page - need to rewrite it
  • Haney Armstrong
    
    • branding issue - "taking IT Global" sounds like information tech
    • look at what features help communities organize around their own issues --> helping them form subcommunities
    • is there a way to create a franchise of internet cafes?
    • working a deal with recycled hardware that goes to developing countries - including their
  • answers
    
    • before youth attended this commission, they used the site to
    • aggregate action - international UN policy actions
      
      • facilitated Youth Caucus on Information Society; got 10 young people on official government delegations
    • youth getting involved
    • focus of their social impact: intervening on preventable social problems (e.g. new HIV infections)
    • evaluation: surveys indicate that they have helped to enable youth
    • working with educators in the US for engagement
  • questions from the floor
    
    • are doing consulting for other groups; have they partnered w/ other groups or brought in consultants?
      
      • have done so; can do more partnerships as they grow and issues become more complex
    • Internet Access Center - have been in discussions with World Computer Exchange (either a sticker or a copy of their site on a CD)
    • partnering with places that provide internet access (telecenters.org) so they can be
    • is there an opportunity for youth to share their digital media on the site? have integration with web2.0 services (e.g. flickr feeds); want to strengthen this
    • there was a huge
      
      • platform was redeveloped so they could handle this
      • created an editorial process to verify translators
      • people will translate blogs, etc.