How're Google Groups Working Out For Ya?
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Chris Collins
Apr 16, 2008, 10:44:59 PM4/16/08
to BarCampBirmingham
Just a thought. I've been noticing that there's still some activity
happening in the Google Group after Barcamp. Which begs the question:
'Does Birmingham need another online community?'
My kneejerk reaction is 'NO' because of the great work that everyone
is already doing with the IPSA org and forum, Google Groups, etc. But,
thanks to Brit, I was recently turned on to Community Server. And,
thanks to Henry, I was recently turned on to Birmingham Startup.
So I guess my question is this: What would happen if we created a
community based platform for Birmingham that centered around designers
and developers, linked up all the relevant organizations and
activities, and allowed us to treat it like a media lab of sorts,
which could allow for unprecedented communication, collaboration and
experimentation to expand its capabilities?
Would anybody use it?
Do we, as designers and developers, already have all the tools that we
need?
One of the biggest problems I can see, is who's going to administer it
long term. So one of the biggest solutions has to be how to make it
(almost) self-moderated.
I'm talking about first writing a business plan, with your help, from
which a communication driven, self-sustaining (either financially or
otherwise) website could emerge. It would probably need to contain a
well designed forum, and some well written content. It might also need
a wiki. And the ability to make friends might be nice :)
This website could be attractive, as a collaboration community, to
designers and developers outside of Birmingham. It could also
aggregate and support all the other cool activities and organizations
involving technology in Birmingham. It could help us cultivate the
talent and culture we have here in Birmingham.
But I can't do it alone. In fact, my experience has been such that it
won't work without a passionate, and experienced team. And quite
frankly, I'm just not that good. But I think it can work.
My initial thought was that if enough team members were on board with
the idea, we could use Birmingham Startup as a vehicle to get it
moving. Later on, we might compete in Alabama Launchpad, or write a
grant.
So I guess, VOTE TODAY, for your choice of 'I'm on board', 'Naw
thanks, I'm cool', or 'Chris, shut the hell up'.
You Decide 2008.
I digress.
happening in the Google Group after Barcamp. Which begs the question:
'Does Birmingham need another online community?'
My kneejerk reaction is 'NO' because of the great work that everyone
is already doing with the IPSA org and forum, Google Groups, etc. But,
thanks to Brit, I was recently turned on to Community Server. And,
thanks to Henry, I was recently turned on to Birmingham Startup.
So I guess my question is this: What would happen if we created a
community based platform for Birmingham that centered around designers
and developers, linked up all the relevant organizations and
activities, and allowed us to treat it like a media lab of sorts,
which could allow for unprecedented communication, collaboration and
experimentation to expand its capabilities?
Would anybody use it?
Do we, as designers and developers, already have all the tools that we
need?
One of the biggest problems I can see, is who's going to administer it
long term. So one of the biggest solutions has to be how to make it
(almost) self-moderated.
I'm talking about first writing a business plan, with your help, from
which a communication driven, self-sustaining (either financially or
otherwise) website could emerge. It would probably need to contain a
well designed forum, and some well written content. It might also need
a wiki. And the ability to make friends might be nice :)
This website could be attractive, as a collaboration community, to
designers and developers outside of Birmingham. It could also
aggregate and support all the other cool activities and organizations
involving technology in Birmingham. It could help us cultivate the
talent and culture we have here in Birmingham.
But I can't do it alone. In fact, my experience has been such that it
won't work without a passionate, and experienced team. And quite
frankly, I'm just not that good. But I think it can work.
My initial thought was that if enough team members were on board with
the idea, we could use Birmingham Startup as a vehicle to get it
moving. Later on, we might compete in Alabama Launchpad, or write a
grant.
So I guess, VOTE TODAY, for your choice of 'I'm on board', 'Naw
thanks, I'm cool', or 'Chris, shut the hell up'.
You Decide 2008.
I digress.
Chris "Mojo" Denbow
Apr 16, 2008, 10:47:24 PM4/16/08
to barca...@googlegroups.com
Is "sign me up" an option?
henry.mcbride
Apr 17, 2008, 12:15:26 AM4/17/08
to BarCampBirmingham
chris,
I think if it is thought through and done right it will be a great
idea. I am willing to help out if needed.
Henry
On Apr 16, 9:47 pm, "Chris \"Mojo\" Denbow" <mojoden...@gmail.com>
wrote:
I think if it is thought through and done right it will be a great
idea. I am willing to help out if needed.
Henry
On Apr 16, 9:47 pm, "Chris \"Mojo\" Denbow" <mojoden...@gmail.com>
wrote:
> Is "sign me up" an option?
>
> On Wed, Apr 16, 2008 at 9:44 PM, Chris Collins <Chris.Collins....@gmail.com>
>
Brit Mansell
Apr 17, 2008, 6:09:28 AM4/17/08
to BarCampBirmingham
It would be great to have one website to visit versus several.
Plus, the online collaboration aspect could yield a whole new
community, one that doesn't even exist at the moment.
.b
Plus, the online collaboration aspect could yield a whole new
community, one that doesn't even exist at the moment.
.b
knewter
Apr 17, 2008, 10:55:01 AM4/17/08
to BarCampBirmingham
I like the idea, though I don't have the time to get nivolved. Might
I suggest LovdByLess, by Allan Branch and the folks at Less
Everything, as a starting social network for such a site? Given the
content-emphasis, something like Wordpress MU plus that social
networking addon for MU that recently got a lot of press (forget the
name) might be fitting as well. But I personally would just throw up
a MediaWiki, LovdByLess, and link the two and be done with it.
Meh, $0.02
I suggest LovdByLess, by Allan Branch and the folks at Less
Everything, as a starting social network for such a site? Given the
content-emphasis, something like Wordpress MU plus that social
networking addon for MU that recently got a lot of press (forget the
name) might be fitting as well. But I personally would just throw up
a MediaWiki, LovdByLess, and link the two and be done with it.
Meh, $0.02
Jeremy Flint
Apr 17, 2008, 11:01:03 AM4/17/08
to barca...@googlegroups.com
The nice thing about using Google Groups is that you don't really have to even visit the site to participate. You can just set it to email you whenever someone posts a message and follow along that way.
- Jeremy--
jeremy flint
www.jeremyflint.com
www.kinetic.com
- Jeremy
jeremy flint
www.jeremyflint.com
www.kinetic.com
Jason McCay
Apr 17, 2008, 11:14:07 AM4/17/08
to barca...@googlegroups.com
I agree with Jeremy...the mailing list aspect of Google Groups is one of the nicer features...and the support and archive of conversations is something that out of the box social frameworks and wikis generally do not provide.
Also, as much as we have multiple groups in Birmingham that we are interested in, we also have multiple social networks that we already use. So, this would just add to that list, instead.
It might be good to have a general web site that gives designers and developers a path for how to get involved, but it might not need an entire social network to accomplish that.
Also, as much as we have multiple groups in Birmingham that we are interested in, we also have multiple social networks that we already use. So, this would just add to that list, instead.
It might be good to have a general web site that gives designers and developers a path for how to get involved, but it might not need an entire social network to accomplish that.
Curtis Palmer
Apr 17, 2008, 11:39:17 AM4/17/08
to barca...@googlegroups.com
To supplement the Google Groups, would love to have y’all set up a SIG on www.BirminghamStartup.com, the social network (based on NING) for Birmingham’s entrepreneurial efforts (including, but not limited to, the upcoming startup weekend project). curtis
Jeremy Flint
Apr 17, 2008, 11:46:47 AM4/17/08
to barca...@googlegroups.com
If we are speaking specifically of BarCamp, its Google Group is already supplemented with the Wiki on BarCamp.org.
Yan Zhu
Apr 17, 2008, 11:47:16 AM4/17/08
to barca...@googlegroups.com
I would like to get involved.
In my opinion, it needs to be simple, useful, and non-intrusive to begin with.
yan
On Thu, Apr 17, 2008 at 10:39 AM, Curtis Palmer <cur...@curtispalmer.com> wrote:
Scott Schablow
Apr 17, 2008, 1:01:51 PM4/17/08
to barca...@googlegroups.com
Chris,
I thinks this would be a great asset to online professionals in the area. I'm up for helping when and where I can. One way to fast track the project is to use an existing platform that already has the aforementioned tools in place. I have dappled with Ning and KickApps, but there are others such as JotSpot and Drupal. Using one of those, it could be up in a matter of days. Thoughts?
Scott Schablow
I thinks this would be a great asset to online professionals in the area. I'm up for helping when and where I can. One way to fast track the project is to use an existing platform that already has the aforementioned tools in place. I have dappled with Ning and KickApps, but there are others such as JotSpot and Drupal. Using one of those, it could be up in a matter of days. Thoughts?
Scott Schablow
Chris Collins
Apr 17, 2008, 11:47:27 PM4/17/08
to BarCampBirmingham
Chris - "Sign me up" is in fact an option. I believe it's in paragraph
4 section b, as a footnote.
Henry - you rock!
Brit - You're already thinking outside of the box. That's what I'm
talking about ;)
Thanks knewter, your two cents is appreciated and will be considered.
Jeremy - I agree that Google Groups is a great tool. If we already
have the tools in place, then great! We won't have to create that
aspect of the site. But let's also share these tools with as many
people as possible to endorse such products as a community. And what
other great tools could we make useful in one site? As you already
know, there is a great beauty and strength, in being in and of,
Birmingham. Where medicine, science and technology merge.
Jason - You might be right. Another social network might not be the
way to go. Especially if those needs are already being filled, or we
risk alienating people who just don't want to be part of just another
social network. If it was, it would have to be damn compelling. But in
this case, I think it's more important that we should focus on
communication as a personalized function of collaboration, and attempt
to design around that.
Curtis - Thanks for the invite. I'm already a member and think
www.birminghamstartup.com is a very cool and much needed site. I'm not
sure what a SIG is, but it sounds dangerous. Depending on how this
project picks up, we might just have to move the proceedings to the
forums over there, to get everyone thinking about optimizing
communication. I'd like a quick headcount in the Google Groups first.
Yan - I agree with you whole heartedly.
Scott - I've had some experience with Drupal, and been wanting to play
with KickApps but not had the opportunity. I'm thinking that whichever
platform was used, it would need to have an 'inspired feel' in ease of
use. And I agree that it would need to be quickly deployable as a
functional, collaborative work in progress.
Thank you all for responding within 24 hours of this post. This
discussion is by no means closed. Please continue to cast your vote if
you have not already.
I would say this about the potential for this project: A majority of
the people in the design and development community must be behind this
idea for it to work. We would need to market it in such a way that it
becomes a household name to people outside of this community, if only
as a reference for information seekers.
There were at least 60 people at Barcamp this year. None of us have
spare time on our hands. But, I feel that if we can find 10 people
with good, but open, ideas about how they would want this to work in
Birmingham, we can put together a team that would truly make this
project a worthwhile and enjoyable experiment.
What do you think?
On Apr 17, 12:01 pm, "Scott Schablow" <scottschab...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Chris,
> I thinks this would be a great asset to online professionals in the area.
> I'm up for helping when and where I can. One way to fast track the project
> is to use an existing platform that already has the aforementioned tools in
> place. I have dappled with Ning and KickApps, but there are others such as
> JotSpot and Drupal. Using one of those, it could be up in a matter of days.
> Thoughts?
>
> Scott Schablow
>
> On Wed, Apr 16, 2008 at 9:44 PM, Chris Collins <Chris.Collins....@gmail.com>
4 section b, as a footnote.
Henry - you rock!
Brit - You're already thinking outside of the box. That's what I'm
talking about ;)
Thanks knewter, your two cents is appreciated and will be considered.
Jeremy - I agree that Google Groups is a great tool. If we already
have the tools in place, then great! We won't have to create that
aspect of the site. But let's also share these tools with as many
people as possible to endorse such products as a community. And what
other great tools could we make useful in one site? As you already
know, there is a great beauty and strength, in being in and of,
Birmingham. Where medicine, science and technology merge.
Jason - You might be right. Another social network might not be the
way to go. Especially if those needs are already being filled, or we
risk alienating people who just don't want to be part of just another
social network. If it was, it would have to be damn compelling. But in
this case, I think it's more important that we should focus on
communication as a personalized function of collaboration, and attempt
to design around that.
Curtis - Thanks for the invite. I'm already a member and think
www.birminghamstartup.com is a very cool and much needed site. I'm not
sure what a SIG is, but it sounds dangerous. Depending on how this
project picks up, we might just have to move the proceedings to the
forums over there, to get everyone thinking about optimizing
communication. I'd like a quick headcount in the Google Groups first.
Yan - I agree with you whole heartedly.
Scott - I've had some experience with Drupal, and been wanting to play
with KickApps but not had the opportunity. I'm thinking that whichever
platform was used, it would need to have an 'inspired feel' in ease of
use. And I agree that it would need to be quickly deployable as a
functional, collaborative work in progress.
Thank you all for responding within 24 hours of this post. This
discussion is by no means closed. Please continue to cast your vote if
you have not already.
I would say this about the potential for this project: A majority of
the people in the design and development community must be behind this
idea for it to work. We would need to market it in such a way that it
becomes a household name to people outside of this community, if only
as a reference for information seekers.
There were at least 60 people at Barcamp this year. None of us have
spare time on our hands. But, I feel that if we can find 10 people
with good, but open, ideas about how they would want this to work in
Birmingham, we can put together a team that would truly make this
project a worthwhile and enjoyable experiment.
What do you think?
On Apr 17, 12:01 pm, "Scott Schablow" <scottschab...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Chris,
> I thinks this would be a great asset to online professionals in the area.
> I'm up for helping when and where I can. One way to fast track the project
> is to use an existing platform that already has the aforementioned tools in
> place. I have dappled with Ning and KickApps, but there are others such as
> JotSpot and Drupal. Using one of those, it could be up in a matter of days.
> Thoughts?
>
> Scott Schablow
>
Brit Mansell
Apr 18, 2008, 3:52:48 AM4/18/08
to BarCampBirmingham
I would love to use LovdByLess for something like this, but the
absence of an integrated forum is a big strike against it seeing our
needs. Is there any way to EASILY integrate a forum with LovdByLess?
absence of an integrated forum is a big strike against it seeing our
needs. Is there any way to EASILY integrate a forum with LovdByLess?
Chris Collins
Apr 18, 2008, 9:51:40 PM4/18/08
to BarCampBirmingham
There might be a way for LovdByLess to be integrated with Basecamp, or
the one of the other 37signals products.
I'm also interested in somehow integrating social bookmarking.
BTW, here's an interesting article... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collaborative_software
cc
> > > > > > I digress.- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -
the one of the other 37signals products.
I'm also interested in somehow integrating social bookmarking.
BTW, here's an interesting article... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collaborative_software
cc
>
> - Show quoted text -
Brit Mansell
Apr 22, 2008, 4:56:19 PM4/22/08
to BarCampBirmingham
http://grou.ps/bham/home
Take a look at that and let me know what you guys think. This software
has gotten a lot of press in the past few days. The functionality
looks to be right up our alley.
.b
On Apr 18, 8:51 pm, Chris Collins <Chris.Collins....@gmail.com> wrote:
> There might be a way for LovdByLess to be integrated with Basecamp, or
> the one of the other 37signals products.
>
> I'm also interested in somehow integrating social bookmarking.
>
> BTW, here's an interesting article...http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collaborative_software
Take a look at that and let me know what you guys think. This software
has gotten a lot of press in the past few days. The functionality
looks to be right up our alley.
.b
On Apr 18, 8:51 pm, Chris Collins <Chris.Collins....@gmail.com> wrote:
> There might be a way for LovdByLess to be integrated with Basecamp, or
> the one of the other 37signals products.
>
> I'm also interested in somehow integrating social bookmarking.
>
Brit Mansell
Apr 24, 2008, 12:59:54 AM4/24/08
to BarCampBirmingham
Chris
May 2, 2008, 2:22:27 PM5/2/08
to BarCampBirmingham
I think my kneejerk reaction was correct. There doesn't seem to be
enough demand to warrant the attention just yet. However, I'll look
forward to further face-to-face discussions of similar concepts and
models with those who have stated their interest.
In the meantime, I would like to encourage everyone to continue their
efforts to make Birmingham better as a community, join Birmingham
Startup, www.BirminghamStartup.com (starts TODAY!!!), and check out
Scott's upcoming "un-presentation" on Social Media next Friday,
courtesy of IPSA, http://www.ipsaonline.org.
Thanks to all who posted.
cc
enough demand to warrant the attention just yet. However, I'll look
forward to further face-to-face discussions of similar concepts and
models with those who have stated their interest.
In the meantime, I would like to encourage everyone to continue their
efforts to make Birmingham better as a community, join Birmingham
Startup, www.BirminghamStartup.com (starts TODAY!!!), and check out
Scott's upcoming "un-presentation" on Social Media next Friday,
courtesy of IPSA, http://www.ipsaonline.org.
Thanks to all who posted.
cc
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