Hello from a Former VISTA!
What up VISTAS-
Danielle Martin kindly asked me to be a 'guest blogger' to write a
little bit about my experience as a CTC VISTA and/or my experiences
post-VISTA. I guess I'll start with an introduction and what my
background is with the Project...
I am a media artist and community organizer living in San Diego. I like
to figure out creative ways to use my skills to organize communities
online.
In 2006, while completing my year of service with AmeriCorps, I
developed the capacity of two community technology programs in San
Diego.
One project I worked on was with the San
Diego LGBT Center. While there, I developed extensive
'train-the-trainer' curriculum to assist with the Center's Digital Storytelling Project.
This included rewriting their manual, developing an innovative
do-it-yourself cd-rom 'toolkit' for trainers and community activists,
and providing ongoing curriculum and technology assesment to the
Center's IT Manager.
My work with the San Diego Community Technology Coalition
included a complete overhaul of the organization's community web
portal. This included installation and configuration of their
administrative CRM (constituent relationship management) system (using
the EXCELLENT CivicSpace platform based on Drupal
- the same 'content management system' used for this site) consultation
and implementation of appropriate site features, as well as research,
development and staff training on use of the portal.
I am still closely involved with the SDCTC and currently wear many hats
for the them including Web Content Manager, Online Outreach
Coordinator, and general Technical Question Answerer.
I also work for the Media Arts Center of San Diego at
their Digital Storytelling Station
helping people tell their stories. It's an awesome organization that
has many projects in community-based media and coordinates the annual
San Diego Latino Film Festival.
I also co-founded and help organize a node of Share,
a global network of artists that provides infrastructure and support
for new media communities worldwide. I'm currently talking
with the director of MACSD to see if we can combine the efforts of the San
Diego node of Share with those of MACSD into a 'New Media
Coordinator'. I don't
think I would have the confidence or knowledge to pursue this (my
dream) had I NOT been a VISTA - negotiating the creation
of a new position with the director of a prestigious media arts org?
Sweet.
When not regularly contributing content to the SDCTC, I can be found
performing interesting electronic music in cafes, galleries and bars in
and around San Diego. You can read also more about me here.
Anyway, that's all from me for now. How are YOUR VISTA years going?
Signing off,
Morgan
*******Morgan's Tip of
the Week:
BLOG YOUR VISTA EXPERIENCES!
Why is this cool? Because:
a) keeping track of the important work you do is good for the
betterment of humanity - no joke, I'm a storycollector for a living.
Stories are have a curious tendency to elicit authentic connection to
each other like that - important for the kind of work COMMUNITY
technology center VISTAs are doing
b) you get highly ranked in search engines. This is just
simply nice for your ego - they even call self-searches 'ego
searches':)
and c) something the CTC VISTA orientation doesn't really mention, but
you can think of your blog as a RESUME for future work. I didn't find
this out until later, but timely record of all your accomplishments,
failures and things you learned looks GREAT to employers (and you can
always edit it to put your ‘best’ face forward).
