Month 2 of working at Aspiration has been a lot more comfortable. Getting used to all of the things that I had to work with during the first month made everything seem new and crazy. But, now that I'm used to working with all the software, the people and the mission, it's been nice. Aspiration is getting ready for our second annual Nonprofit Development Summit in November. It's basically an event to bring people concerned with nonprofit software together in one place to hash it out. A lot of organizations are supporting us by giving us money, like Google, or facilitating discussions/presentations (like Drupal and Joomla). Right now we're still in the early stages but part of my job has been talking to people in the nonprofit industry (especially people on the west coast) and check out their interest in the Summit and whether or not they would like to present or lead a discussion. That's pretty low-key at the moment but I'm sure once the end of October/beginning of November hits, it's gonna be like a cat in a dryer.

At the same time, I am working on a couple of websites for the organization. First, there is a wiki that I'm putting together for the Summit and second, we are putting together a Joomla!-based website for a new aspect of our organization called Answr.net (it will be another resource for nonprofits). I don't know much about Joomla so i've been learning as I go which I love. It's fun to just figure stuff out on your own, you know? But then you run into a brick wall and curse the day you burned your "So You Want to Learn Joomla!" book....

So, i've been splitting up my time talking to people, fleshing out wikis, playing around with Joomla and keeping the balls rollin here at Aspiration.

Speaking of Joomla, a couple weekends ago I went to Joomla! Day at Google in Mountain View. Joomla Day is a chance for people to get together and discuss Joomla with lead developers and also just general users. I was there as a "Joombie" because i had never used Joomla before. The only thing i knew about it was that my boss has a lot of Joomla swag. Regardless it was super interesting and Google was a fun to run around in. Everything is free which is a little unnerving. I walked in and there was this vending machine with Naked juice but it didn't take any money. It just opened. Free Naked juice. weird. That stuff is usually like $3 a pop. The cafeteria was completely open too. Free salads, entrees, Ben and Jerry's, cappuccino... Also, the toilets had remote controls! but I won't get into that unless you ask me.

Oh, and I got business cards which are pretty sweet. I give them out to anyone that will take them. I think that's all for me. Garcia out.

Comment from Josh King on October 5, 2008 - 6:58pm

Hey Matt,

I don't know how much you know about Drupal, but how would you characterize the usability of Drupal vs. Joomla? I know very little about Joomla but I've always wanted to mess around with it when I get the chance.
--
In Solidarity,

Josh King
--
CTC*VISTA Leader

Comment from Matthew Garcia on October 6, 2008 - 5:14pm

Hey Josh,

My experience with Drupal is very low (but I'm going to Drupal Camp this Saturday so that might change soon...) but the popular comparison is that Joomla is more user-friendly but at the same time more basic. But only slightly so.

The Drupal vs. Joomla conversation came up a lot at Joomla Day but the vast majority of people said that it was really a tossup and a matter of different "flavors." Some of the lead developers at Joomla day also do development work for Drupal and they would always say that "eh..... it depends...." So maybe i'll have a better answer for you after this weekend (since one day in Drupal camp will impart onto me years worth of experience. obviously).

Matt

Well, things have been interesting here, to say the least. The non-profit I work for is in the middle of restructuring its relationship with the radio station whose license it owns, but which is operated by the volunteers at the station. We lost our Station Manager over the controversy that led to the restructuring so I have been working out of the radio station so as to help answer phones, get mail, put us back on the air when we fall off for whatever reason etc. This has put me in an awkward position which I won't go in to in any detail, but it has also given me the opportunity to learn more about how radio works and how stations operate: everything from receiving the satellite feed for Democracy Now and getting it on the air to testing microphones for a phone interview which accidentally went live on air (and yes, I was singing "hello"!).

Aside from being on air more and working with Cool Edit Pro and recording equipment particular to our station, I have been cultivating a group of volunteers to get them involved with the station and the Journalism Project. I had to kind of restart this process after the drama occurred between the station and the non-profit.

I have also been working on a few grants in partnership with other non-profits in the area. These relationships are promising as they are mostly directed towards youth, some "youth at risk," to build media literacy curriculum and get them civically engaged. I also will be beginning training sessions at a public housing development here on how to use Audacity.

I have been building relationships with a few oral history projects in Asheville that are telling stories about urban renewal, immigration, and over development in our area. I want these groups and their work to be heard on our station, but because of the politics involved with the non-profit and the station at the moment, I don't know exactly how this will all unfold.

On other notes, I have been training at a place called URTV, a public access tv station where I am learning how to use video cameras and editing programs. Coming up I will be taking a special seminar on preproduction preparation from a woman who is a well known documentary film maker (sorry, I don't have her name).

Also, I just returned from Hickory, NC where I was at a festival for Black Mountain College. If you are interested in art, poetry, and innovative educational philosophies, you should check out http://www.bmcproject.org/. I was there audio recording the event and doing interviews with contemporary poets and historians. It was pretty amazing.

In the meantime, I am trying to "do what I do," as they say, and where all of this will land, I don't have total control over.

Peace,

Abigail

As a special BONUS Field Report, I decided to write about some money management tools/tips I came across recently. As a VISTA, money can be tight. If mismanaged, then money can be REALLY tight. If you're like me, than you were probably used to subsisting at a certain standard of living before becoming a VISTA (or not). You're suddenly having to figure out other ways to get to work, find the best deals on food and sacrifice things you thought you'd never live without. Having to reorganize your spending and budgeting habits can be pretty stressful.

Comment from Morgan Sully on March 13, 2008 - 3:10pm

For more tips on budgeting and living on a VISTA Stipend, check out Danielle Martin's excellent post here:

Surving on a VISTA Budget: http://ctcvista.org/node/57

You'll also find the PDF of the post below it to download.

Treat people with "Dignity and Respect" even if you don't agree with them or like them. The golden rule is similar "Treat people the way you want to be treated" Every see the Disney movie Bambi? "If you don't have anything nice to say then don't say any thing at all" Oh and the Bible "Do unto others as you would want other to do unto you" I keep going with the Universal quotes of how we are all suppose to respect each other but that would bore you read part two of the drama.
Good Morning to all

I would like to inform everyone that I Loveta Wynn has been part of the digital divide for almost a week or so I have been unable to check and receive emails from my personal laptop. Apparently it has this crazy virus and it takes about 40 minutes or so to connect to the web so with all of the pop ups and warning signs it is very frustrating to sit still and wait patiently. I said all of that to say that my emails are delayed and I honestly apologize for not using other forms of communication.

I honestly did not think it was that big of a deal but now I see that some parties involved are tripping and watching my every move as if this was a work study program.

For what it is worth I am not completely satisfied with my position as a vista I have not received a written apology from Victoria Edwards for embarrassing and insulting me at the Collins Center on Friday August 15 2008. I was offended and I want justice to be served.

I am deeply sadden that all of my efforts I put fourth to in my first month of service has been overlooked and unrecognized as me “sitting here with nothing to do” from here on out I will document the entire task that I complete. (I find that strange based on the stories from the past vista’s they seem to have had little or no supervision and they were trusted and encouraged to do a good job by the end of there service.) So my next question is why is there all of this unnecessary drama going on that hasn‘t occurred before while having vista volunteers? I just remembered that I am doing work for 2 vistas so is that worth anything?
So when I have down time I have to work on another project I am only getting 11,000 for the year I will do what I can because I am all about solutions and creating social change but I will not over work myself on projects for anyone. I am demanding the same respect and courtesy given to all vistas who paved the way for me to be here today.
Why is there so much drama when I have only been hear for 1 month working I thought I was still feeling my way and learning the ropes. With all of this pressure it makes me unsure about my choices.

July 14, 2008- My first day at the Collins Center Evelyn got me all set up with my personal cubical and office supplies and email. Victoria introduced me to some professionals in the office she also had me read a book “Digital divide and social inclusion” I read the whole book. Who reads a whole book in 8 hours? I felt like I was studying for my final exam or something. I didn’t complain or show disrespect I simply did it. I thought it was over the top. But Victoria told me that Kevin made her do the same thing. Paid 12 dollars to park

July 15, 2008- I met with Phil Bacon I did a short interview and he gave me tips to survive to survive in the business world and how to conduct myself while being at the Collins Center (take the initiative and give help where help is needed sort of like Victoria. Paid 10 dollars to park

July 16, 2008- I went to Collins Center for half the day then went over and met Diego for the first time I met his volunteer staff and I introduced myself. I also did community service I gave a volunteer a ride to a few places in the neighborhood because it was raining and because I felt like it was the right thing to do. Paid 8 dollars to park

July 17, 2008- I went back over to Diego’s observed the CTC and the students to get a better ideal of how I fit in. Victoria showed me where to park in Overtown it was Noon and you all know that it is absolutely hot during that time of the day. Well we were walking and Victoria got us lost so we walked in circles downtown from Overtown to the Collins Center in the hot sun. I was pouring with sweat and I had a heat head ache. If you are not from Miami you have to get use to this heat.

July 18, 2008- Thank God its Friday had a meeting with Victoria and Diego and two volunteers we talked about the Club house closings and I suggested that we do a press release to get it out to the media. Victoria said I will do it and also interview the volunteers. I drove

July 19, 2008- Saturday I went to tax training with Kevin and Victoria I was kind of cool I learned about Miami-Dade property tax stuff. I was surprised that Kevin knew all of the answers as much as the facilitator.

July 21, 2008- Week two Victoria asked me to run the CHW meeting on the upcoming Wednesday. She double booked herself of the Knight Foundation “Trabian Shorter” meeting and the CHW meeting which were held at the same time. I agreed to help her out……it seemed like the right thing to do. After all I wasn’t doing anything according to the emails I read. Victoria agreed to do the power point and all I had to do was present it.

July 22, 2008- Good morning Loveta your cell phone is officially turned off. Victoria emailed me the power points I read them and familiarized myself with the information I would be presenting the next day. How hard could a power point be? I did a few in school and I got a good grade. Towards the end of the day I presented it to Victoria and she wasn’t quite pleased with what I had accomplished. So as I am presenting it to her on
the third power slide she say oh no this is how you say it. She got frustrated and started reading the slides out loud and very loudly when she was done she said like this I said in the nicest way I could Victoria you do the power point I was going to help you out but since it isn’t up to your standars you do it. She said no it’s fine the way you want to do it It’s just I double booked myself I am so stupid and I hate when I do that….Blah Blah Blah. As you can see I wasn’t the happiest Vista. I was salty and offended. I didn’t care anymore it was 5pm time to go.

July 23, 2008- It was Ms. Joyce’s Birthday. She looked like a Princess in all white and he diamonds were blinging (shining). We went to a Spanish restaurant I had plantains and red beans and rice. I felt like this was the start of something great you know being introduced to new cultures and foods. Ms. Joyce drove us to the CHW meeting I watched and listened I also passed out papers to everyone in the meeting.
July 24, 2008- Rushed to a grant writing workshop with Victoria I drove it was on Biscayne we went Victoria felt like it was a waste of her time and she wanted to leave. I’m not sure if it could help me or not because we arrived late and we left early. I did not agree with leaving early but I did it. I felt like that was a waste of my time walking from Collins Center to Overtown to get the car then drive in the horrible traffic up and down Biscayne. Not only is it a waste of time I have to use my gas and my energy its too hot for all of that.

July 25, 2008- I read volunteer information I was feeling depressed and I was officially broke by this time no money in my pockets. Oh I met Mark for the first time and we had lunch to get to know each other. It was disaster to me mark wanted to know more about me and where I come from and after talking to him I became extremely depressed and emotional I was crying non stop. I was feeling as if I had again poured my heart out to someone who will never understand. As soon as I feel that I have a grip on life someone who appears to empathic to the poor wants to know details and while explaining I realized that they can see that I am weak and they are not helping me overcome any these adversities that I spoke about.

The only thing I remember was from that lunch date is Mark telling me to sell my car and take the bus, forget about my cell phone and use the Collins Center phone and email to communicate with the outside world. Oh and to create a budget for the money I hadn’t received yet. Now to someone who had support and money in the bank that sounds Ideal but for me a “ Po black Gurl” trying to make it is unrealistic advise for my life at this time. Oh and Mark told me that if “I didn’t do a good job then I wont receive a good job at the end” Real encouraging huh?

July 26, 2008- Attended a commuity Summit with Kevin and Victoria it was nice and informative. Now I know that Miami-Dade is in as bad shape as every other city it just looks so beautiful. I met some really nice people I hope to network with.

July 28, 2008- Yes!! Pay day I got 450 dollars now. I felt like new money I was so tired of not having things I need. Appropriate comfortable work clothes and much more my favorite a full tank of gas. Worked at Diego’s

July 29, 2008- Worked at Diego’s I filled in for Diego on the conference call while he taught his class. The Conference call was long and boring I felt like all of the professionals wanted to all get a chance to talk about there view of digital divided and social inclusion. There went any solutions offered to this problem they keep talking about. They just schedule another time they can sit and talk. Blah Blah Blah.. I took notes and passed them along to Diego.

July 30, 2008- I worked at Diego’s

July 31, 2008- I drove Victoria to the Club house and met with Sidney I also helped do Tech Atlas on a few pc’s.

August 1, 2008- Victoria kicked me out of my cubical so she can work from my pc and hers at the same time. I wasn’t happy about that but I was just following along. She also made me work on the website that was due like 4 months ago. I asked her why is she rushing me to do it. She said because it was due a while ago and she needed to finish the report. Blah blah blah.
I finished that site in like 2 hours as I was working in Victoria’s cubical she kept coming over to me stopping me to check her email and send emails. I began to get mad I was salty because according to my Vista training in Boston I was told that I don’t pick up the slack I’m not an intern so I will not receive intern responsibilities. I felt like she was pressuring me because she finished projects at the last minute and now she is pressed for time. I was salty so I wanted to wait for the right time to say something. The rest of the day I just hung out with Victoria and spent time getting to know her as a person. Oh I sat around listening to Victoria and Evelyn talked about who had HDHD the worst between the two of them. I checked my email and talked to my mother on the phone. You know doing regular stuff people do when they have an office/desk job.

August 2, 2008- I started grant writing training at Miami-Dade College from (9am-1pm) I was very cool I learned a lot and met a lot of good contacts.

August 4, 2008- Worked at Diego’s

August 5, 2008- Worked at Diego’s had a meeting St. Vincent De Paul. Met with Victor Martell and Diego about writing a grant for “SVDP” and YETEC the meeting went great I looked great and Victor Martell liked me and wanted to hear what I had to say.

August 6, 2008- Came to the Collins Center to do some work (you know Diego doesn’t have any resources and without phone or internet it is very difficult for me to think and really do work as far as research and writing goes.) Took the train to meet a volunteer that was coming to the volunteer orientation that Victoria postponed until Aug 16, 2008. On the way Victoria realized that once again she forgot to do something which was bringing the volunteer information for the Volunteer. Thank God that I had all of that information in my binder so I gave it to her and she appeared to be prepared for the meeting.

So what I had originally planned to do I had to put it on hold to do this Victoria stuff and everyday I come into the Collins Center it is like that.
Example: if I get here at 9am I am dripping with sweat I like to cool off and check all of my email accounts I also read my horoscope. Not with Victoria standing over my shoulders or looking at me through the window that’s by our cubical. When I come in she will say ok so I am going to give you 5 mins then we will go over…I stopped her and said no I’m gonna need more than 5 mins to get myself together. At that point I really don’t even want to here anything that she has to say. I’m thinking how could you be so inconsiderate just give me a chance to get settled. But I would never say it to her because I’m thinking that’s just Victoria she doesn’t’ know any better. (Now how could that be a true statement if she is a college grad?) It’s not true, that’s when I realized that she thinks I work for her something as if I am her personal assistant or something.

August 7-8, 2008- Worked at Collins Center researched volunteer management information for Victoria. When I found information I though would be helpful to include for the Volunteers Victoria told me that she already read most of the information and she didn’t need what I found for a the project and I should just read for my own understanding. So just imagine how a person might feel after that? Well let me tell you I felt like what is it all worth?
I stayed late and invited Kevin and Victoria over Sat. to help me write a grant.
August 9, 2008- Kevin and Victoria came over to help me write the grant come to find out I didn’t have enough information from Diego to even start the grant.

August 11, 2008-AT the Collins Center check my email and saw that I have fallen further into delinquency with my phone company. I was sad Victoria told me she was gonna help me find a second job on the beach because that is what she had to do for a little while. So we took our lunch break early to do that. I got all my resumes together and we walked to my car and drove to the beach. I didn’t get a chance to change my clothes so I didn’t find a job because I wasn’t looking slutty enough. I had on my Vista polo shirt and black work pants and penny loafer’s not proper attire for south beach. We got lost and Victoria gave me 10 dollars for gas because I was hot and salty. When we got back to Collins Center Victoria asked me to drop her off at the door because she had a lunch date at 2pm. “truth is she didn’t want to talk that long hot walk from Overtown to Collins Center” So I dropped her off and I parked and when I started walking back It started pouring on me. I was salty and wet so by the time I got back to me car hit had stopped raining and I was hot wet and sticky. So I went home to change and vent.

August 12, 2008- At Collins Center filled in for Diego on the phone conference can you believe that there were only a few people who called in. Shortly after it started we receives several emails from people who were on last time saying they couldn’t make it. “I told yall it was boring and a waste of time and to prove it most of the people did not participate.
She also put a work plan together for me when I received the email I was very upset it was a list of stuff to do and times to complete them. I was like is she serious. I had already made my mind up that I wasn’t going to do that stuff.
Then we have a meeting she then tells me Mark and Donna are getting a divorce. Now whose problem is that? I felt like that was a waste of time. Why would I want to be caught in the middle of some grown people drama I didn’t come here for that. I don’t care one way or another if they stay married or get divorced. That’s just how I feel I expressed that the best way I could.

Mark came by and told Victoria that here work plan was oppressive and it should be monthly. Now why would she create on in the first place is my question. I don’t work for her.

Here is the work plan:
Work Plan August 12, 2008

1. Digital Divide Phone Conference at 11 a.m.
2. Call Program Directors and make sure they’re coming to the conference, tell them to bring a job description for the volunteer position they’re looking for along with handouts (optional) and a quick description of their CTCs and what they need volunteers to do
Program Directors Below:

Jonathan Fried (305) 281-9377
Diego Barrera 305-984-9165
Anthony Dawkins 305) 962-3517
Selene Echavarria (305) 278-7740
Oscar Ramirez 305-557-5251

Google 3 sites about Volunteer Management esp. Volunteer Orientations 30 minutes

Edit Victoria’s PowerPoint 30 minutes

Add all of the Miami-Dade Libraries 1 hour and a half
Broward CTCs and Palm Beach CTCs on the website

Are you serious who times people when they give them work to do?
I was very salty when I received it.
August 14 2008- Congratulations I made it today is my 1 month anniversary as a vista
went to the Collins Center first to type up research and job description for Diego. I put on my new dress. Diego told me I have to make a good impression we had a meeting with Green Family Foundation. It was awesome I met Ms. Kim and Kevin Koster they were great we shared ideas and planned to meet again. This was the highlight of my stay hear. I was finally feeling like I was fitting in and finding my place here.

August 15, 2008- The honey moon is officially over. I was so excited to tell Victoria about what happened at the meeting. I told her that the Green Family Foundation liked me I told her how cool and down to earth they were. I was so happy that I was blessed with an opportunity to meet with funders it’s like being behind the scenes of the non –profit world. I feel that I will end up in a position of power like that. I could totally do a job like that. They inspired me so much.

I so started doing my field report for CTC Vista as I am doing it Victoria keeps coming into my cubical asking me to do stuff like call subway and see what time they are open, find icebreakers for the volunteer meeting tomorrow and listen to her menu and follow the list of task she wants me to complete. I said ok I called subway they open at 9 I went on line and found two easy icebreakers. I waited from 10am to 2pm for her to email me the papers she wants me to staple and put together for the meeting tomorrow. She asked me to pick up the projector from Diego’s and bring it to the meeting.

As I was leaving Victoria asked me where was I going I told her I was done for the day. I had also received some very disturbing news about my family and I was in tears I was trying to hold them in until I got outside but she started following me and yelling my name. I was freaked out. As polite as I could be trying to hold my face up say so my tears wouldn’t fall out of me watery eyes I told her I will see her tomorrow. That wasn’t enough for her she followed me onto the elevator and was shouting at me telling me I had to stay because she still had things for me to do that are due tomorrow. I told her politely that she had all morning to email me papers to staple but she chose not to and wait to the last min as always. She said I was on my lunch break I said and me too. As I walked into the garage she grabbed my arm I snatched it back and said don’t touch me. I do not work for Victoria and I am gone for the day I will see you tomorrow. She grabbed me again and said I hope that when you get a job that you don’t screw it up blah blah blah I walked away and told her to contact Donna if she has a problem with me. She screamed I’m calling Mark. I told her to call her mother.

I couldn’t believe that she insulted me I have more education, training, and experience than she does I will never take orders from someone who can even remember how to get back to the Collins Center when we are 4 blocks away. I have never insulted Victoria I always give her compliments. I honestly do not appreciate the way she behaved I have never insulted Victoria even when I felt like she really has severe HDHD. What gives her the right to dictate to me and insult me I very uncomfortable around her. I fell like she wanted a reaction out of me that I was unable to give she put her hands on me during a heated argument provoking me to get “Street On Her” I’m deeply offended that she would even try me like that.

August 16, 2008- I get to me meeting dripping with sweat with the projector and they don’t even need it. How professional are we really. I didn’t receive a thank you or anything.

August 18, 2008- Rain Storm everything was closed. I didn’t know until I got to Diego’s and saw the signs. I went in anyways and typed my new revised work plan that Donna and I went over.

August 19, 2008- Rain Strom everything was closes

August 20, 2008- Went to Diego’s worked a lot on media and party planning for CTC graduation. I cut my foot also I was walking with a slight limp.

August 21, 2008- It was raining I drove to Overtown UI started walking it was very painful on my foot it was still raining so I turned around and went to Walgreen’s to get peroxide to fix my foot.

August 22, 2008- I tried to turn pc on and it saw such a long process I forgot about the breakfast with Mark.

August 25, 2008- I apologized for not using other forms of communication.

Now who keeps a daily timeline?
Now can you believe that the person I sent this time line to completely disrespected my work by writing over it in all CAPS and inserted comments that were rude to me.
Please read the next field report to read what the guy wrote.

Comment from Mary Chant on September 19, 2008 - 3:32pm

This sounds like a bad situation and I am particularly concerned about Loveta's personal safety in her workplace:

"As I walked into the garage she grabbed my arm I snatched it back and said don’t touch me. I do not work for Victoria and I am gone for the day I will see you tomorrow. She grabbed me again and said I hope that when you get a job that you don’t screw it up blah blah blah I walked away and told her to contact Donna if she has a problem with me."

Is the CTC Vista leadership looking into this?
The idea that a coworker was physically aggressive with a Vista is very disturbing to me. Having worked in a business atmosphere for years, I am aware that this type of behavior is subject to zero tolerance.

I hope I can assume that, for Loveta, myself, and all the other Vistas in the field, I can expect the same kind of protection under the law in my Vista position that I would expect in any other workplace environment.

Please post or communicate what the Vista policy is on workplace violence. I would also like to know how this serious situation is being addressed and what support a Vista has a right to expect RE: personal safety in the workplace.

Month two is in full effect and the list of things to do keeps growing and growing. Not sure where I left off last month, but here's what's been going on.

We've been working on raising public awareness about the Digital Television Transition that will happen in Feb. of next year. The DTV transition is when the nation's over-the-air television signal will switch from analog to digital. While the transition can potentially open up a channel for new innovations in wireless broadband (potentially because the FCC hasn't decided yet), the pressing issue is making sure that those who receive over-the-air television are ready for the transition. The government has tried it's best to spread the word, but there are growing fears that many people will lose their signal because they don't have a digital converter box. That's where we've been stepping in. We've jumped in on the efforts to spread the word about the transition and have held a few events around New York City. We have one coming up this week in Harlem. Also, we've worked in partnership with other public interest groups to make sure that the government allows for the unused spectrum (known as white spaces) to be a public resource that can be used for wireless broadband technology.

Locally, we've been following the New York City franchise agreement with Verizon. Verizon has just been given allowed to offer FiOS services in New York City and while the new service is welcomed competition to incumbent cable duopoly, the agreement process was rushed and left very little time for public input. We worry that the agreement made very little effort to protect the public interest and provides little for consumer protection, which means that while the new competition will bring some immediate drops in service costs, the consumers will still have to struggle with irresponsible and negligent practices on the part of service providers. PPH has been working to try and make sure the public is aware of the process and we've advocated for another public comment period where New Yorker's can learn about the new FiOS deal and voice their opinions about what they want from the new service provider.

The next few months are going to be busy. We're getting ready to start a new round of community journalist trainings. I'm excited about it because I'm going to get a chance to do the trainings my self. Also, I'm going to be doing my IST which is going to rock. I was able to find a 12-week feature article writing workshop. It's going to help with the monthly articles that we publish for Gotham Gazette and it'll give me a good excuse to practice my writing. Other than that, all is well out here in the big city. Till next time.

Comment from Jules Goins on September 16, 2008 - 10:20am

The community journalism trainings sound great. If you don't mind sharing the training materials, I would like to learn more about it.

Also, good look with the workshop you found. Sounds like that will be good too.

I wish I could have FiOS. Stupid Comcast and their download limit.

Comment from Morgan Sully on September 17, 2008 - 4:26pm

Totally seen ads for this transition in the local post office, but not something widely publicized at all. Totally seems like a huge move by the telecommunications industry that could limit people's access.

Those community journalist trainings seem like a really great antithesis to any cynicism or ignorance (present party not excluded!) that's out there.

Any chance PPH would be interested in becoming a NAMAC Member? PPH seems super cool and could be a great asset to our membership. Many of our orgs are media/public media related, but I think could stand to be a bit more informed about issues out there (our policy and advocacy area of the website could use some love).

One of our co-directors actually wants to push outreach towards a more politically active member-base.

P.S. Are you connected to Joshua Brietbart? I just found that he's connected to NAMAC via the Ethos Group via Sascha Meinrath via Helen De Michiel (co-director at NAMAC where i work).

How's things in NY?

I'm still working on updating the service listings in our database. I now have help from 2 workers from the Goodwill, Leslie and Ipo. They are checking the web links to make sure they work and are current and passing the updates to be made onto me. They are also looking for new resources to add to the database since they're both used to searching for social services online. It's been fun working with them.

Comment from Morgan Sully on September 2, 2008 - 9:11pm

Cool deal. Does this mean you're supervising them too? It's always nice to have some help with large (tedious) tasks.

Have you seen Firefox's LinkChecker add-on? You can quickly install it in Firefox by clicking this link:

http://www.kevinfreitas.net/extensions/linkchecker/

Then, it highlights all bad links in a page so you can speed up the tedious task of highlighting bad links.

Hope that's useful!

This first month at California Community Technology Policy Group (CCTPG), which is a program under Community Partners (CP), was a welcoming experience. The people at CP are very warm and since most are not part of CCTPG, it has been great getting to know more about their work. Not only that, my supervisor has allowed me to go to non-CCTPG meetings so that I can get a good feel for CP. This of course, has helped me adjust to the work setting and to culture of CP.

At CP, we have had many people leave and find new jobs and so it has been very busy in recruiting for the open positions. On this note, my supervisor has been with CCTPG for less than a year and so he as well as I has been striving to make sense as to what direction CCTPG needs to go. He came to CCTPG with the database problem on his plate and so far, it’s been clearing up because he is understanding what needs to be done.

CCTPG is staffed by three people, including myself, and so recently it has been getting a bit busier. One of the things I have been working on is website issues. Our website is based on Drupal and there are some database issues that need to be fixed. I was assigned with the task of looking for a Drupal consultant. We have been looking for a few weeks and we have had some good candidates. However we might change the website platform to Joomla! (I like how they added the exclamation point at the end, you know it makes me wanna shout! Shout!...) since CP’s website is also based on it. Also, we have been working on a huge California Wireless Report with case studies on cities that have applied wireless in their communities (i.e. Anaheim). I have been editing and looking over the report. It should be out soon. I will post as soon as it comes out.

Just to give you a bit of a background on what CCTPG does: our basic push is for policy that will fund CTCs, education tech, and other technology that will contribute to workforce development and close the digital divide. We have state wide coalition, which I am attempting to manage by setting up meetings and clarifying what policies to push for (this will be one of my main jobs this year).

On other issues, my commute from my apartment to work is very enjoyable. I get to sleep in the train, read, talk to interesting people—sometimes I get to meet visitors from other countries. My supervisor is very understanding of my situation and so on the first week he declared “Edward you will not go hungry” and that same week he invited me out to lunch a couple times.

Finally, to stay updated with the newest tech/programs, I have been reading CTC emails and checking out TechCrunch. Hope all is well CTC VISTA peeps!

I am working on a software system that can be deployed in web servers for online publications.

The system supports the publication of editions on given dates. An edition contains articles, which can have been written by various authors. Editors can plan the edition up until its publication date and upload the articles in their final versions. From the publication date on, the public can read the edition.

When the public first visits the web site, they see the current edition. If they choose, they can navigate to an index of past editions.

Readers can also see an index of the topics covered. Editors can highlight for the readers, those articles that they think especially worthy with respect to a given topic.

To justify public support via CTC VISTA for this development, let me point out its usefulness for publications covering the problems and questions surrounding the making and carrying out of public policy. Owing to online publishing's lower cost relative to the print media and television, and its better support for reader participation, it can improve the level and quality of democratic participation.

Comment from Morgan Sully on August 26, 2008 - 9:33pm

Is there a staging server I could check it out on? I'd be interested in checking it out. You can send it to me via email if you like too.

http://www.main.nc.us/aew/WordPlay-08172008.mp3

or go to:

http://aew.main.nc.us/

and listen to it on my (makeshift/practice) blog.

peace,

abby