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NetSquared is an initiative of TechSoup
NetSquared enables social benefit organizations to leverage the tools of the social web.
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- International Network of Victims of Terrorism and War
International Network of Victims of Terrorism and War
Voting Summary (Elevator Pitch):
The INVTW seeks to unite victims of political violence, war and terrorism to amplify the voices of victims speaking out for nonviolence and to create grassroots structures which support a culture of peace and common security.
Supporting organization:
9/11 Families for Peaceful Tomorrows
URL:
http://www.peacefultomorrows.org
City:
NY
State/Region:
NY
Country:
USA
Project Vision Statement & Potential Social Impact:
The International Network seeks to unite international victims of political violence, war and terrorism to speak out for peace in their own communities and with the support of those who have gone through similar experiences regardless of nationalism. By encouraging dialogue connecting victims families we seek to support a culture of peace, and a end to a culture of the cycle of violence.
We seek to build a membership organization that uses is web-based, with regional groups, user created project pages, blogs, shared media.
Sustainability (financial) model:
We seek to solicit donations from members and supporters of the global north.
Forther funds for the building and maintenance of the organization would come from foundation grants, of which already exist (but not for the technology component).
Potential obstacles:
Language is a barrier - how to have a social networking website, list serves, etc. where people can communicate in 'real time' - and still make sure that functions are in place for translation. Overcoming a barrier for domination by English speakers is an issue, but major announcements would be translated into a selection of languages designed to reach most particiapants.
Technology, Usability is an issue. Making this easy as possible is paramount.
Issues of Moderation. There are many challenging aspects of what decides to become public or highlighted information. Technology via voting, ranking could be employed.
Resource Needs:
We need webdevelopers to help to make this happen, provide us a route to having an integrated eCRM/list-serve/membership system/online donations system. We currently use a CMS for our main website, and are looking into using drupal, civicspace, etc.
Planning is in the first stages.
Key Milestones:
Planning is in the first stages. We have a list serve, but would like to implement functionality common to social networking sites, develop a model to enable collaboration, understanding, working together - empowerment.
- find a firm/consultant to work with
- map out community functions
- wireframe website
- develop community functions backend
- test usability with current members/ QA
- get current international network members writing and materials represented on the webiste
- PR campaign to announce International Conference network website.
- Launch Website
- Moderate website - make sure member moderators are doing their job.
Project Summary:
The International Network of Victims of Terrorism and War seeks to unite international victims of political violence, war and terrorism to speak out for peace in their own communities and throughout the world with the support of those who have gone through similar experiences regardless of nationalism, religion, race or borders. By encouraging dialogue in connecting victims families from different cultures we seek to support a culture of peace, healing, and to end the cycles of violence.
We seek to build a membership organization that is interconnected utilizing the best practices in web communication -effective use of CRM/membership database, and a decentralized network.
* enabling membership in creating blog entries that are available to the public, as well as a shared space where network members may post information, news that is only available within the private group.
* members may create projects, collaborate both within a specific region or geography, or link with other victims families based on the issues that they are concerned with. For example, Those who lost family in 9/11 may want to connect with those who lost family in Iraq or Afghanistan. Those who lost loved ones in a bombing may want to work on issues related to mass bombings and connect with others who are victims of bombings. Victims families may want to meet perpetrators families to persue restorative justice.
* Money pooled could go towards member's projects as microgrants. Donations pages for certain
* Media Sharing - video, photography, essays could be hosted and shared.
Comments
Excellent
I think this is a really strong proposal. Having visited your website, you might want to include a few screenshots -- you can really tell a lot of work is going into building this community.
While I think the underlying theory is there, you might want to list a few specific aspects of your community-building approach for NetSquared folks who are looking for that kind of technology. For instance, are you going to be soliciting user-generated content from the members/communities in the Global South? How is your international conference integrated into the structure of the organization and the site? What is the model for expanding and empowering the communities in the Global South, and reaching out to the third-party allies in the Global North?
Again, I think this is a good proposal and an excellent project, but it could benefit from a fuller explanation of the empowering aspects and technology (either existing or wished-for) that could help you implement it.
--ivan (quixotic1.com/Genocide Intervention Network)