Here's a wrap up of a session from yesterday, with an overview of three N2Y3 featured projects. Each were incredibly interesting for me to listen to, and I hope the notes I took are helpful for all of you out there. If you need some clarification (the notes are a bit rough), feel free to contact me at director at knowledgeaspower dot org.

Sorry for the delay folks, there's so much here at N2Y3 it can be a little distracting.

I've cut-and pasted my notes from the session, which aren't pretty, but they get the job done. If you have questions about my notes, or want me to clarify something, let me know.

I can be reached via director at knowledge as power dot org, and you can find my work at Knowledge As Power where we help individuals become effective citizens in the legislative process.

Seattle residents typically skip work after 3 pm in August. We head for the beach, the mountains, or some place that gets hotter than 75 degrees in Summer. Since a lot of us are out of town, I thought I'd shake up August's Net Tuesday; I'm throwing out our standard format (one presentation by a non-profit, one by a technologist). I bring you one of my favorite ways to share information: the Speed Geek.

Faster than Ruby on Rails, the Speed Geek goes something like this...

“What community do you serve?” This is one of the first questions I’m asked by foundations when I make a call and ask for a meeting. I stifle a sigh and say, “Washingtonians--anyone who wants to be involved in the legislative process. In particular, though, we’re building services for citizens who are currently disengaged from the legislative process.” I know this isn’t the answer people entrusted with millions of dollars want to hear.

They want, “We serve a very specific community of ‘X-type’ people, and each year, ‘X-number’ of them walk through our doors, and with your contribution, we’ll serve ‘X-number’ of people.” They want me to say that Knowledge As Power will only help women, or young people, or Latinos, or the elderly, or Seattle residents. That just isn’t true, and it isn’t a mission worth pursuing. I wouldn’t waste foundation’s money repeating the same work of other worthy organizations.

But I understand where they’re coming from---it’s a place where finite resources meet infinite problems. Books, HIV medication, after school facilities, volunteer hours, bus passes, trees --- there is only so many that can be bought, built, or provided. And after entire careers engrossed in the cost-benefit ratio of real world non-profit services, I understand why dismayed foundation officers say, “Knowledge As Power sounds really unique, and interesting, but I just don’t think it fits what we look for.” Because, really, they look for project’s who’s capacity for change can be measured or appreciated easily; you can see where your money is going. Online, that’s not so easy.

It was like a quarter-life crisis, but without the John Mayer theme song. I'd done everything I was supposed to do, and now, there were whole new questions. I realized I couldn't answer all these questions on my own; I needed a mentor (or two).

I was wrestling with new questions regarding direction, business planning, and management of Knowledge As Power. KAP is a small non-profit I founded nearly two years ago with a mission of including citizens in the legislative process by providing legislative information online. In the last two years, with a small board, a lot of boot-strapping, volunteers, and a lot of determination, we now have an alpha, were a 2006 Echoing Green Finalist, got 501 (c) 3 status (it only took the IRS 11 months to approve us!), interns, contractors, a few donations, and some press

Seattle's Net Tuesday is off to a great start. June's Net Tuesday was a great success, brining in over 30 attendees at our first event, and garnering a bit of press coverage, too.We've got even more up ourselves for July's Net Tuesday. Hosted again at the very lovely McLeod Residence in Belltown, we've got a promising slate of presenters.