Forum Activity for @gregbloom

Using a listserv or group to create "community"?

Tips, Tools, Strategies, and Technology

In my experience the answer is yes of course, but these tools are also really limited in ways that are really inhibitive for diverse communities. Given a community with many groups and interests contained within it, a simple listserv is insufficient to encourage interest-specific development. Ideally there would be functionality for a given community group to contain subgroups that can discuss among themselves without noising up and being diluted by the main listserv. But most commonly available and accessible tools don't offer that kind of tiered subgrouping functionality.

I've seen some packaged services (like Wiggio?) but in my experience, asking someone to register for a site and then pick a set of groups is a non-starter for 95%, everyone other than the already-engaged -- so Google groups is the easiest option to include 'anyone who shows interest' (even moreso than yahoo, which requires an id to sign in). But just try creating a tiered group system in google groups -- it's impossible to really manage well given that people are going to end up in one place and not another, message the wrong group about a given topic, etc.

Would love to see how folks in this space deal with subgrouping effectively.

Community Technology Asset Mapping

Tips, Tools, Strategies, and Technology

I think this is a more general (and basic ABCD) question, but: I'm interested in the format of the output on exercises like these. Do you just craft a document that can be referred to as the work continues, or can your mapping exercise yield a functional database of resources, skills, needs, etc?

Community Technology Asset Mapping

Tips, Tools, Strategies, and Technology

I'm working on an initiative with very similar parameters, and also have been preparing for a big asset mapping exercise. I would really like to collaborate on it!

For me, a key framework here comes from understanding that, in order to bridge the digital divide so to speak, a person has to take four distinct steps to move from offline to online. Those steps are: access to internet bandwidth/service, access to hardware (computers), access to training/support, and finally, exposure to valuable content.

Your document here does ask about each of these points, but it may be worth clarifying a bit with them in mind. For instance, the important asset of Training Opportunities is nodded to in the general section of 'People' -- but it may merit its own section and specific questions (where can you go to learn basic skills? Intermediate and advanced? where can you go to get your computer fixed? etc). That would allow the People section to be just about community leaders and other resourceful individuals.

Also, you may want to add a question to the Computers section that's specifically asking where people can get low cost / refurbished hardware.

Finally, regarding the final section ('Online Presence' - in the 'digital bridge' terms, i guess you could say this is where 'valuable content' comes from) I'm mindful of the fact that an organization can have an 'online presence' that's not very present and not really valuable. Also, I'm mindful of the fact that the best community information isn't necessarily going to be provided by organizations. You might want to ask a further question of: what are some valuable sources of local information that can be found online? Where are the virtual hubs of our local community?

I would really like to hear more about your initiative and ask some questions of my own! ~greg

Software for asset mapping?

Tips, Tools, Strategies, and Technology

Also, i would love to read more about the Star Raft!

Software for asset mapping?

Tips, Tools, Strategies, and Technology

Thanks for the responses! The Brain was indeed on my list ( the only nonhierarchical option i had found in fact) so i will give it a try.Still, i suspect that the practice of using it, and the framework that you call a 'pattern language', is more imprtant than the software itself.Do you have a writeup of that taxonomy and how it's used, or is it just embedded within your maps? Are there resources that anyone can point to for developing community asset map taxonomies, and the practical aspect of how to develop and hone them over time?

Software for asset mapping?

Tips, Tools, Strategies, and Technology

Hi folks - I'm curious to learn what people use for asset/network-mapping -- beyond just, you know, big post-it sheets and text lists.

I've been using Freemind for basic mind-mapping, but the challenge there is that all information is structured hierarchically. If anyone else uses mindmaps for asset mapping, can you share some tips for how you deal with the multiplicities of relationships among nodes?

And if you have alternative recommendations for ways to store large sets of data such that the relationships can be 'read' visually and otherwise - please share!

updated by @gregbloom: 04/08/20 05:18:10PM