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- 2006 Remote Conference
- Remote conference session with Edward Vielmetti
Remote conference session with Edward Vielmetti
May 31, 16:04:56 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: Hi everyone!
May 31, 16:05:00 PDT> *teck*: hello!
May 31, 16:05:16 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: As a small matter of
introduction on the topic, there's a weblog I've been keeping since
about the first of the year on http://vielmetti.typepad.com/superpatron
May 31, 16:05:46 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: I've been a patron of public
libraries and school libraries for what, maybe 35 years
May 31, 16:06:30 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: but only in the last few
months did I figure out how to align that long standing interest with
something that looks like a career (& without being a "librarian" per se)
May 31, 16:07:16 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: my position at the UM school
of information has a big piece with a Kellogg Foundation funded project
called the Community Information Corps, which prepares students for
public interest careers
May 31, 16:07:53 PDT> *gabber721*: what is your position?
May 31, 16:08:39 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: Emily, I'm a research
associate there - the sort of position you land in when you don't have a
PhD but you have too much experience to go there as a student :)
May 31, 16:08:53 PDT> *enochchoi*: Has that helped you do more with the
mashups you were showing off at MashupCamp? with Amazon, etc?
May 31, 16:09:04 PDT> *TuesdayGutz*: yesterday a speaker said theres a
great void between the academe and non-profits
May 31, 16:09:53 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: Enoch, there's a lot of
interest in rapid application development - answering the question of
how you can get a system up quickly that answers a basic need and that
lets you start to turn a prototype into something real
May 31, 16:09:55 PDT> *TuesdayGutz*: that the academe is there to
provide help but non-profits dont know how they are going to make a
connection to the academe
May 31, 16:10:15 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: tuesdaygutz, there are some
structural problems of academia vs. non-profits
May 31, 16:11:00 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: the academics are working in
semester long pieces and often don't have the extended commitments to
projects that non-profits deal with
May 31, 16:11:22 PDT> *TuesdayGutz*: and needs a mediator? like Kellog?
May 31, 16:11:55 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: often too there's the usual
mismatch of language, what gets called what and how things are described
to various people depending on levels of trust
May 31, 16:13:02 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: the Michigan program for
masters students puts quite a few people through a "practical
engagement" program, where the students do real work in real places for
a semester or more - this is from a tradition of placing students into
real librarian jobs
May 31, 16:13:39 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: a non-profit I work with had
some tremendous success with this, but it depends on having projects
that are the right size
May 31, 16:13:58 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: foundations play an
interesting role
May 31, 16:14:51 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: I was at a non-profit
conference here where there were a lot of representatives from
foundations in speaking roles and the non-profits in the "audience"
May 31, 16:15:08 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: it was a weird power dynamic
May 31, 16:15:12 PDT> *TuesdayGutz*: how do you think this void can be
filled? should there be a foundation/body where academe and non-profit
meet to help each other?
May 31, 16:15:51 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: there are a couple ways to
address this, tuesdaygutz, not sure what is best
May 31, 16:16:40 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: you could continue the process
of engaging students in the day to day work, so that someone would
graduate with a grounded sense of reality in how non-profits behave in
their communities
May 31, 16:16:54 PDT> *Corey*: Maybe changing the scope of the projects
so they fit both parties' needs better would help
May 31, 16:17:14 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: there's a crying need for good
project management!
May 31, 16:17:19 PDT> *MJanofsky*: Nancy-you still here?
May 31, 16:17:38 PDT> *MJanofsky*: (or Alex S.)
May 31, 16:17:47 PDT> *Emily*: why is there a need for good project
management?
May 31, 16:18:06 PDT> *Alex*: I'm still here
May 31, 16:18:46 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: think about how students get
evaluated often - many times solo projects, they end at the end of a
semester, traditionally collaboration is "cheating", late nights pulling
things together at the end
May 31, 16:18:51 PDT> *MJanofsky*: could you ping me with contact info
for Nancy? I don't know if she caught my question for it
May 31, 16:19:50 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: now think about what you need
to do when you engage with a larger group, and where there may not be
such an easy description of what the "end" is and where the success
criteria are ambiguous
May 31, 16:20:14 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: having strong information
handling and project skills pay big dividends in that world
May 31, 16:21:13 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: the net can be a big help in
this of course, because it's possible to collect up project resources
from all over and have some kind of shared online space for project
management
May 31, 16:22:02 PDT> *Corey*: What tools have they been using so far?
May 31, 16:22:20 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: here are some examples
May 31, 16:22:54 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: there have been U Michigan
students who have gone off on international programs paired with folks
from the Ross School at Michigan
May 31, 16:23:37 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: the SI people were doing
things like keeping blogs of their experiences as they went and photo
blogs with Flickr to capture a stream of consciousness and keep people
engaged
May 31, 16:24:17 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: in some cases all you need is
a simple little private wiki to throw notes in and have a little bit of
shared context
May 31, 16:25:25 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: if there's software to be
developed, a source management tool like GForge can be very handy to
keep people on track
May 31, 16:26:22 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: the key is not any one tool
(quite a few will work) but rather a commitment not to devolve to
sending huge Word documents around in email as you main way of reaching
shared understanding
May 31, 16:27:20 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: another interesting issue of
student placements in non-profit organizations is the amount of time it
takes to learn existing practices vs. wanting to bring in some
innovative practices of your own
May 31, 16:28:01 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: e.g. places where the systems
technology is relatively old by net terms, but it's well understood and
where people who are relatively non-technical can cope well with it
May 31, 16:28:48 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: you see this in libraries
especially - it's hard to deal with existing library circulation systems
in many ways because replacing them involves wholesale retraining of staff
May 31, 16:29:38 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: so i have some questions for
you all
May 31, 16:29:55 PDT> *Corey*: a quiz! :)
May 31, 16:30:13 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: what kinds of experiences have
you had with student internships (undergrad or graduate) where things
have worked exceptionally well?
May 31, 16:31:04 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: in what ways do university
involvement in projects lend unique advantages to non-profit
organizations, and can you play to those strengths?
May 31, 16:31:55 PDT> *Corey*: One of my first jobs with a nonprofit was
with a group that leveraged college stundent volunteers and employees
for a cross country awareness campaign for people with disabilities
May 31, 16:32:04 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: i ask these because I'm
relatively new to the university environment, and there are a bunch of
things about it that would drive me bonkers if it was a company
May 31, 16:32:36 PDT> *Corey*: a little different than what you are
thinking of, but it worked ideally for that project
May 31, 16:32:55 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: corey, so you worked with a
bunch of different universities all at the same time, or was this aimed
at recruiting people one at a time?
May 31, 16:33:25 PDT> *Corey*: we recruited from universities all over
the country and the students then worked in small communities
May 31, 16:34:06 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: was your project timed around
the academic year?
May 31, 16:34:07 PDT> *Corey*: one of the challeges was keeping
consistency from year to year with the projects
May 31, 16:34:26 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: yeah, I can imagine that
consistency problem
May 31, 16:34:48 PDT> *Corey*: they were summer projects
May 31, 16:35:49 PDT> *Corey*: what are the things that have been
challeging for you?
May 31, 16:36:05 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: my sense is that there's an
enormous reservior of good will to be tapped into from students, but
that the career path from initial enthusiasm to long-term engagement is hard
May 31, 16:36:38 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: the biggest challenge has been
a sea of new faces, and trying to figure out how to introduce myself to
them.
May 31, 16:37:01 PDT> *Emily*: do you think nonprofits would let
students do projects remotely?
May 31, 16:37:22 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: when I worked for a silicon
valley company, there was a standard protocol for introducing yourself,
and you could count on how to describe yourself to your peers. not so
easy now.
May 31, 16:38:40 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: Emily, I think that remote
work can be a big part of it, with some caution
May 31, 16:38:40 PDT> *Corey*: There was a study that came out recently
that MTV helped conduct that called that an "activation gap"
May 31, 16:38:58 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: it depends on how the
non-profit itself is organized and whether it has a piece or core
function of being virtual and not totally beholden to in-person meetings
May 31, 16:39:10 PDT> *Corey*: the gap between youth's enthusism and
commitment
May 31, 16:39:10 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: good phrase, Corey
May 31, 16:39:35 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: at some age you are trying out
various versions of yourself and haven't settled on a single image you
want to present, so the commitment reflects some internal choices and
uncertainty
May 31, 16:40:09 PDT> *Emily*: I guess for example, a technology project
that could be done virtually
May 31, 16:40:09 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: (or to put a positive spin on
that, if you're young at heart you might have a series of commitments)
May 31, 16:41:15 PDT> *Corey*: I wonder what the most important factors
are that make a technology project a good cantidate for remote projects?
May 31, 16:41:17 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: Emily, for instance, the
mysociety folks from the UK seem to have the remotely coordinated
virtual projects pretty well understood
May 31, 16:42:04 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: here's their volunteer task
list: http://www.mysociety.org/volunteertasks.cgi
May 31, 16:42:41 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: they have projects broken down
into skill sets needed to do them, and managable chunks of work that
could be taken as individual efforts, and then people can pick and
choose where they'd like to contribute
May 31, 16:43:07 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: it takes a certain
organizational mindset (e.g. an open source perspective) to approach
things that way
May 31, 16:43:08 PDT> *Emily*: I like that idea
May 31, 16:43:32 PDT> *Corey*: I like that too. It reminds me of the
amazon.com mechanical turks projects
May 31, 16:43:39 PDT> *Corey*: but for volunteers
May 31, 16:43:55 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: you might not know exactly
what will get worked on next, but if you have enough of a flow of people
and ideas you should get good results
May 31, 16:44:41 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: i would bet dollars to donuts
that you could replicate that structure for civic projects or for
community projects and get some good results
May 31, 16:44:54 PDT> *Emily*: I am thinking an idea like this could
work in the nonprofit sector
May 31, 16:46:06 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: yes, emily. think also about
what it does - it exposes the vision of the organization in such a way
that you can get an immediate grasp on what it thinks is worthwhile
May 31, 16:46:44 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: and then you have some
sensible way of talking about "this is what we aim to do" along with
"this is what we have done"
May 31, 16:47:06 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: maybe I should write up my own
todo list and ask for volunteers to do it :)
May 31, 16:47:28 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: here's another question -
May 31, 16:47:45 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: how do non-profits share
innovations they have in process or organization or the way they do things?
May 31, 16:48:19 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: the superpatron weblog I run
for library / patron stuff tries to collect good ideas from that world
and tell stories and share them
May 31, 16:49:04 PDT> *Corey*: would anyone who hasn't gotten to
contribute yet, like to answer?
May 31, 16:49:08 PDT> *Emily*: is that the blog you shared before?
May 31, 16:49:13 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: but there's no reason that an
audio for the blind organizaton shouldn't be able to pick up a great
idea from a food for the hungry organization if they had the right forum
May 31, 16:49:18 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: yes, emily, that's the one
May 31, 16:50:17 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: it might be "sharing best
practices", but that sounds pretty sterile
May 31, 16:50:50 PDT> *Corey*: Edward, I personally think in the past,
much inovation travelled with the professionals between jobs and
organizations, I think that is changing some now
May 31, 16:51:33 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: ah, corey, so individuals took
their tools with them from job to job and brought their innovations with
them as they went
May 31, 16:51:53 PDT> *Corey*: That why much technology develops within
niche markets
May 31, 16:52:09 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: the phrase I guess I've heard
is "capacity building"
May 31, 16:52:38 PDT> *Corey*: individuals tend to specialize within the
sector and many will stick with the tools they know?
May 31, 16:53:29 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: so you go from being an
executive director of a children's museum in one city to the same role
in another city, but your niche of program ideas and foundations and
funding sources stays the same
May 31, 16:54:05 PDT> *Corey*: I've seen that happen a lot
May 31, 16:54:31 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: what has been interesting
about the superpatron blogging I've done is that as a library patron I
bring in a totally different perspective than many of the librarians out
there
May 31, 16:54:40 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: and of course a blog is a nice
format for that
May 31, 16:55:10 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: imagine for a moment what a
children's museum blog might look like if it was written by the kids or
the parents
May 31, 16:55:37 PDT> *Corey*: has writing the blog changed your role
and perspective as a patron?
May 31, 16:55:44 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: yeah, it has
May 31, 16:56:17 PDT> *Corey*: I guess that's part of the two-way
communication of blogging?
May 31, 16:56:20 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: people are suggesting all
kinds of cool ideas from all over the place (tool libraries that lend
tools, book lending by mail, library catalogs like LibraryThing not run
by libraries at all)
May 31, 16:56:45 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: many organizations go to great
effort and little success in hearing from the people who use their services
May 31, 16:57:35 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: the ann arbor district library
started including patron comments right in the catalog and the director
has her own blog - some items have dozens or hundreds of comments
May 31, 16:57:40 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: try getting that from a
suggestion box
May 31, 16:58:10 PDT> *Corey*: have you been able to gather much
information about your audience? Where the suggestions and comments come
from?
May 31, 16:58:38 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: I know that the librarians at
my library and at other libraries in town read my blog
May 31, 16:58:46 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: (which makes it fun to go there)
May 31, 16:58:54 PDT> *Corey*: :)
May 31, 16:59:21 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: there has been some uptake
from systems vendors and other people in the business of supplying to
libraries
May 31, 16:59:43 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: i know that library school and
information school students read it because I get their comments and links
May 31, 17:00:33 PDT> *Corey*: so it sounds like all constituient groups
around libraries are involved.
May 31, 17:01:03 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: it's not hard to imagine
transplanting that model to any place where you can identify a person
who's being served by the non-profit and who is passionate about the
organization and its mission
May 31, 17:01:21 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: & where you can organize
something that cuts across geography in such a way that you can bring in
ideas from all over and mix them around some
May 31, 17:02:26 PDT> *Corey*: I agree, or getting several people who
are touched by the organization's work
May 31, 17:03:47 PDT> *Corey*: well, it looks like we're getting close
to the end of our hour. Does anyone else want to squeeze in a question
or comment for Edward?
May 31, 17:04:14 PDT> *Alex*: I realize we're at the end of our session
May 31, 17:04:22 PDT> *Alex*: and at the end of our fabulous day!
May 31, 17:04:28 PDT> *MJanofsky*: Awwwwww.........
May 31, 17:04:35 PDT> *Corey*: Thank you for the time Edward, I enjoyed
hearing about your blog and some of the links your shared.
May 31, 17:04:35 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: Thanks Corey for leading the
discussion
May 31, 17:04:48 PDT> *MJanofsky*: Thanks to all of our speakers today,
they have been FANTASTIC!
May 31, 17:05:01 PDT> *Alex*: Thanks to all of our speakers and moderators
May 31, 17:05:05 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: It was good to get some
questions & it got my mind to thinking about where you could go next in
a couple directions
May 31, 17:05:12 PDT> *enochchoi*: Thanks to you guys for organizing!
May 31, 17:05:13 PDT> *Alex*: and to all the participants whose
questions and comments have helped to make this such a fantastic event
May 31, 17:05:14 PDT> *Corey*: Thank you to everyone at NetSquared!
May 31, 17:05:32 PDT> *MJanofsky*: I think we are forgetting one
specific thank you...
May 31, 17:05:39 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: Looking forward to the next
one of these!
May 31, 17:05:43 PDT> *Alex*: I'm really blow away by how great this has
been -- you've all helped me live up to my blogged dream to make the
folks at the live conference envy those of us who connected online!
May 31, 17:05:49 PDT> *Corey*: Being able to get involved online has
been great
May 31, 17:05:52 PDT> *MJanofsky*: THANK YOU ALEXANDRA for making this
chat possible!!!!!!!!!!!
May 31, 17:06:01 PDT> *Alex*: Thanks, Michael. It's been really fun.
May 31, 17:06:18 PDT> *MJanofsky*: It has been.
May 31, 17:06:20 PDT> *Alex*: The transcripts of yesterday's session are
now online
May 31, 16:05:00 PDT> *teck*: hello!
May 31, 16:05:16 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: As a small matter of
introduction on the topic, there's a weblog I've been keeping since
about the first of the year on http://vielmetti.typepad.com/superpatron
May 31, 16:05:46 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: I've been a patron of public
libraries and school libraries for what, maybe 35 years
May 31, 16:06:30 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: but only in the last few
months did I figure out how to align that long standing interest with
something that looks like a career (& without being a "librarian" per se)
May 31, 16:07:16 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: my position at the UM school
of information has a big piece with a Kellogg Foundation funded project
called the Community Information Corps, which prepares students for
public interest careers
May 31, 16:07:53 PDT> *gabber721*: what is your position?
May 31, 16:08:39 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: Emily, I'm a research
associate there - the sort of position you land in when you don't have a
PhD but you have too much experience to go there as a student :)
May 31, 16:08:53 PDT> *enochchoi*: Has that helped you do more with the
mashups you were showing off at MashupCamp? with Amazon, etc?
May 31, 16:09:04 PDT> *TuesdayGutz*: yesterday a speaker said theres a
great void between the academe and non-profits
May 31, 16:09:53 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: Enoch, there's a lot of
interest in rapid application development - answering the question of
how you can get a system up quickly that answers a basic need and that
lets you start to turn a prototype into something real
May 31, 16:09:55 PDT> *TuesdayGutz*: that the academe is there to
provide help but non-profits dont know how they are going to make a
connection to the academe
May 31, 16:10:15 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: tuesdaygutz, there are some
structural problems of academia vs. non-profits
May 31, 16:11:00 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: the academics are working in
semester long pieces and often don't have the extended commitments to
projects that non-profits deal with
May 31, 16:11:22 PDT> *TuesdayGutz*: and needs a mediator? like Kellog?
May 31, 16:11:55 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: often too there's the usual
mismatch of language, what gets called what and how things are described
to various people depending on levels of trust
May 31, 16:13:02 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: the Michigan program for
masters students puts quite a few people through a "practical
engagement" program, where the students do real work in real places for
a semester or more - this is from a tradition of placing students into
real librarian jobs
May 31, 16:13:39 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: a non-profit I work with had
some tremendous success with this, but it depends on having projects
that are the right size
May 31, 16:13:58 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: foundations play an
interesting role
May 31, 16:14:51 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: I was at a non-profit
conference here where there were a lot of representatives from
foundations in speaking roles and the non-profits in the "audience"
May 31, 16:15:08 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: it was a weird power dynamic
May 31, 16:15:12 PDT> *TuesdayGutz*: how do you think this void can be
filled? should there be a foundation/body where academe and non-profit
meet to help each other?
May 31, 16:15:51 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: there are a couple ways to
address this, tuesdaygutz, not sure what is best
May 31, 16:16:40 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: you could continue the process
of engaging students in the day to day work, so that someone would
graduate with a grounded sense of reality in how non-profits behave in
their communities
May 31, 16:16:54 PDT> *Corey*: Maybe changing the scope of the projects
so they fit both parties' needs better would help
May 31, 16:17:14 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: there's a crying need for good
project management!
May 31, 16:17:19 PDT> *MJanofsky*: Nancy-you still here?
May 31, 16:17:38 PDT> *MJanofsky*: (or Alex S.)
May 31, 16:17:47 PDT> *Emily*: why is there a need for good project
management?
May 31, 16:18:06 PDT> *Alex*: I'm still here
May 31, 16:18:46 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: think about how students get
evaluated often - many times solo projects, they end at the end of a
semester, traditionally collaboration is "cheating", late nights pulling
things together at the end
May 31, 16:18:51 PDT> *MJanofsky*: could you ping me with contact info
for Nancy? I don't know if she caught my question for it
May 31, 16:19:50 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: now think about what you need
to do when you engage with a larger group, and where there may not be
such an easy description of what the "end" is and where the success
criteria are ambiguous
May 31, 16:20:14 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: having strong information
handling and project skills pay big dividends in that world
May 31, 16:21:13 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: the net can be a big help in
this of course, because it's possible to collect up project resources
from all over and have some kind of shared online space for project
management
May 31, 16:22:02 PDT> *Corey*: What tools have they been using so far?
May 31, 16:22:20 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: here are some examples
May 31, 16:22:54 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: there have been U Michigan
students who have gone off on international programs paired with folks
from the Ross School at Michigan
May 31, 16:23:37 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: the SI people were doing
things like keeping blogs of their experiences as they went and photo
blogs with Flickr to capture a stream of consciousness and keep people
engaged
May 31, 16:24:17 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: in some cases all you need is
a simple little private wiki to throw notes in and have a little bit of
shared context
May 31, 16:25:25 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: if there's software to be
developed, a source management tool like GForge can be very handy to
keep people on track
May 31, 16:26:22 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: the key is not any one tool
(quite a few will work) but rather a commitment not to devolve to
sending huge Word documents around in email as you main way of reaching
shared understanding
May 31, 16:27:20 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: another interesting issue of
student placements in non-profit organizations is the amount of time it
takes to learn existing practices vs. wanting to bring in some
innovative practices of your own
May 31, 16:28:01 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: e.g. places where the systems
technology is relatively old by net terms, but it's well understood and
where people who are relatively non-technical can cope well with it
May 31, 16:28:48 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: you see this in libraries
especially - it's hard to deal with existing library circulation systems
in many ways because replacing them involves wholesale retraining of staff
May 31, 16:29:38 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: so i have some questions for
you all
May 31, 16:29:55 PDT> *Corey*: a quiz! :)
May 31, 16:30:13 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: what kinds of experiences have
you had with student internships (undergrad or graduate) where things
have worked exceptionally well?
May 31, 16:31:04 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: in what ways do university
involvement in projects lend unique advantages to non-profit
organizations, and can you play to those strengths?
May 31, 16:31:55 PDT> *Corey*: One of my first jobs with a nonprofit was
with a group that leveraged college stundent volunteers and employees
for a cross country awareness campaign for people with disabilities
May 31, 16:32:04 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: i ask these because I'm
relatively new to the university environment, and there are a bunch of
things about it that would drive me bonkers if it was a company
May 31, 16:32:36 PDT> *Corey*: a little different than what you are
thinking of, but it worked ideally for that project
May 31, 16:32:55 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: corey, so you worked with a
bunch of different universities all at the same time, or was this aimed
at recruiting people one at a time?
May 31, 16:33:25 PDT> *Corey*: we recruited from universities all over
the country and the students then worked in small communities
May 31, 16:34:06 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: was your project timed around
the academic year?
May 31, 16:34:07 PDT> *Corey*: one of the challeges was keeping
consistency from year to year with the projects
May 31, 16:34:26 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: yeah, I can imagine that
consistency problem
May 31, 16:34:48 PDT> *Corey*: they were summer projects
May 31, 16:35:49 PDT> *Corey*: what are the things that have been
challeging for you?
May 31, 16:36:05 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: my sense is that there's an
enormous reservior of good will to be tapped into from students, but
that the career path from initial enthusiasm to long-term engagement is hard
May 31, 16:36:38 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: the biggest challenge has been
a sea of new faces, and trying to figure out how to introduce myself to
them.
May 31, 16:37:01 PDT> *Emily*: do you think nonprofits would let
students do projects remotely?
May 31, 16:37:22 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: when I worked for a silicon
valley company, there was a standard protocol for introducing yourself,
and you could count on how to describe yourself to your peers. not so
easy now.
May 31, 16:38:40 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: Emily, I think that remote
work can be a big part of it, with some caution
May 31, 16:38:40 PDT> *Corey*: There was a study that came out recently
that MTV helped conduct that called that an "activation gap"
May 31, 16:38:58 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: it depends on how the
non-profit itself is organized and whether it has a piece or core
function of being virtual and not totally beholden to in-person meetings
May 31, 16:39:10 PDT> *Corey*: the gap between youth's enthusism and
commitment
May 31, 16:39:10 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: good phrase, Corey
May 31, 16:39:35 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: at some age you are trying out
various versions of yourself and haven't settled on a single image you
want to present, so the commitment reflects some internal choices and
uncertainty
May 31, 16:40:09 PDT> *Emily*: I guess for example, a technology project
that could be done virtually
May 31, 16:40:09 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: (or to put a positive spin on
that, if you're young at heart you might have a series of commitments)
May 31, 16:41:15 PDT> *Corey*: I wonder what the most important factors
are that make a technology project a good cantidate for remote projects?
May 31, 16:41:17 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: Emily, for instance, the
mysociety folks from the UK seem to have the remotely coordinated
virtual projects pretty well understood
May 31, 16:42:04 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: here's their volunteer task
list: http://www.mysociety.org/volunteertasks.cgi
May 31, 16:42:41 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: they have projects broken down
into skill sets needed to do them, and managable chunks of work that
could be taken as individual efforts, and then people can pick and
choose where they'd like to contribute
May 31, 16:43:07 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: it takes a certain
organizational mindset (e.g. an open source perspective) to approach
things that way
May 31, 16:43:08 PDT> *Emily*: I like that idea
May 31, 16:43:32 PDT> *Corey*: I like that too. It reminds me of the
amazon.com mechanical turks projects
May 31, 16:43:39 PDT> *Corey*: but for volunteers
May 31, 16:43:55 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: you might not know exactly
what will get worked on next, but if you have enough of a flow of people
and ideas you should get good results
May 31, 16:44:41 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: i would bet dollars to donuts
that you could replicate that structure for civic projects or for
community projects and get some good results
May 31, 16:44:54 PDT> *Emily*: I am thinking an idea like this could
work in the nonprofit sector
May 31, 16:46:06 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: yes, emily. think also about
what it does - it exposes the vision of the organization in such a way
that you can get an immediate grasp on what it thinks is worthwhile
May 31, 16:46:44 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: and then you have some
sensible way of talking about "this is what we aim to do" along with
"this is what we have done"
May 31, 16:47:06 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: maybe I should write up my own
todo list and ask for volunteers to do it :)
May 31, 16:47:28 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: here's another question -
May 31, 16:47:45 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: how do non-profits share
innovations they have in process or organization or the way they do things?
May 31, 16:48:19 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: the superpatron weblog I run
for library / patron stuff tries to collect good ideas from that world
and tell stories and share them
May 31, 16:49:04 PDT> *Corey*: would anyone who hasn't gotten to
contribute yet, like to answer?
May 31, 16:49:08 PDT> *Emily*: is that the blog you shared before?
May 31, 16:49:13 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: but there's no reason that an
audio for the blind organizaton shouldn't be able to pick up a great
idea from a food for the hungry organization if they had the right forum
May 31, 16:49:18 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: yes, emily, that's the one
May 31, 16:50:17 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: it might be "sharing best
practices", but that sounds pretty sterile
May 31, 16:50:50 PDT> *Corey*: Edward, I personally think in the past,
much inovation travelled with the professionals between jobs and
organizations, I think that is changing some now
May 31, 16:51:33 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: ah, corey, so individuals took
their tools with them from job to job and brought their innovations with
them as they went
May 31, 16:51:53 PDT> *Corey*: That why much technology develops within
niche markets
May 31, 16:52:09 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: the phrase I guess I've heard
is "capacity building"
May 31, 16:52:38 PDT> *Corey*: individuals tend to specialize within the
sector and many will stick with the tools they know?
May 31, 16:53:29 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: so you go from being an
executive director of a children's museum in one city to the same role
in another city, but your niche of program ideas and foundations and
funding sources stays the same
May 31, 16:54:05 PDT> *Corey*: I've seen that happen a lot
May 31, 16:54:31 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: what has been interesting
about the superpatron blogging I've done is that as a library patron I
bring in a totally different perspective than many of the librarians out
there
May 31, 16:54:40 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: and of course a blog is a nice
format for that
May 31, 16:55:10 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: imagine for a moment what a
children's museum blog might look like if it was written by the kids or
the parents
May 31, 16:55:37 PDT> *Corey*: has writing the blog changed your role
and perspective as a patron?
May 31, 16:55:44 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: yeah, it has
May 31, 16:56:17 PDT> *Corey*: I guess that's part of the two-way
communication of blogging?
May 31, 16:56:20 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: people are suggesting all
kinds of cool ideas from all over the place (tool libraries that lend
tools, book lending by mail, library catalogs like LibraryThing not run
by libraries at all)
May 31, 16:56:45 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: many organizations go to great
effort and little success in hearing from the people who use their services
May 31, 16:57:35 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: the ann arbor district library
started including patron comments right in the catalog and the director
has her own blog - some items have dozens or hundreds of comments
May 31, 16:57:40 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: try getting that from a
suggestion box
May 31, 16:58:10 PDT> *Corey*: have you been able to gather much
information about your audience? Where the suggestions and comments come
from?
May 31, 16:58:38 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: I know that the librarians at
my library and at other libraries in town read my blog
May 31, 16:58:46 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: (which makes it fun to go there)
May 31, 16:58:54 PDT> *Corey*: :)
May 31, 16:59:21 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: there has been some uptake
from systems vendors and other people in the business of supplying to
libraries
May 31, 16:59:43 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: i know that library school and
information school students read it because I get their comments and links
May 31, 17:00:33 PDT> *Corey*: so it sounds like all constituient groups
around libraries are involved.
May 31, 17:01:03 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: it's not hard to imagine
transplanting that model to any place where you can identify a person
who's being served by the non-profit and who is passionate about the
organization and its mission
May 31, 17:01:21 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: & where you can organize
something that cuts across geography in such a way that you can bring in
ideas from all over and mix them around some
May 31, 17:02:26 PDT> *Corey*: I agree, or getting several people who
are touched by the organization's work
May 31, 17:03:47 PDT> *Corey*: well, it looks like we're getting close
to the end of our hour. Does anyone else want to squeeze in a question
or comment for Edward?
May 31, 17:04:14 PDT> *Alex*: I realize we're at the end of our session
May 31, 17:04:22 PDT> *Alex*: and at the end of our fabulous day!
May 31, 17:04:28 PDT> *MJanofsky*: Awwwwww.........
May 31, 17:04:35 PDT> *Corey*: Thank you for the time Edward, I enjoyed
hearing about your blog and some of the links your shared.
May 31, 17:04:35 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: Thanks Corey for leading the
discussion
May 31, 17:04:48 PDT> *MJanofsky*: Thanks to all of our speakers today,
they have been FANTASTIC!
May 31, 17:05:01 PDT> *Alex*: Thanks to all of our speakers and moderators
May 31, 17:05:05 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: It was good to get some
questions & it got my mind to thinking about where you could go next in
a couple directions
May 31, 17:05:12 PDT> *enochchoi*: Thanks to you guys for organizing!
May 31, 17:05:13 PDT> *Alex*: and to all the participants whose
questions and comments have helped to make this such a fantastic event
May 31, 17:05:14 PDT> *Corey*: Thank you to everyone at NetSquared!
May 31, 17:05:32 PDT> *MJanofsky*: I think we are forgetting one
specific thank you...
May 31, 17:05:39 PDT> *Edward Vielmetti*: Looking forward to the next
one of these!
May 31, 17:05:43 PDT> *Alex*: I'm really blow away by how great this has
been -- you've all helped me live up to my blogged dream to make the
folks at the live conference envy those of us who connected online!
May 31, 17:05:49 PDT> *Corey*: Being able to get involved online has
been great
May 31, 17:05:52 PDT> *MJanofsky*: THANK YOU ALEXANDRA for making this
chat possible!!!!!!!!!!!
May 31, 17:06:01 PDT> *Alex*: Thanks, Michael. It's been really fun.
May 31, 17:06:18 PDT> *MJanofsky*: It has been.
May 31, 17:06:20 PDT> *Alex*: The transcripts of yesterday's session are
now online
