Transcript of NPC Meeting for May 4 2012

NONPROFIT COMMONS MEETING
May 4 , 8:30am PST

Plush Nonprofit Commons Amphitheater
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Plush%20Nonprofit%20Commons/88/126/26

AGENDA

• 8:30am Introductions
• 8:40am TechSoup Announcements
• 8:45am Mentors Central: Sister Abeyante on Evernote
• 8:55am Discussion about new NPC Survey
• 9:30am OpenMic/ Announcements

INTRODUCTIONS

[08:31] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): looks like folks are rezzing in so we can get started
[08:31] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Hi folks, I’m Rik Panganiban, community manager of the Nonprofit Commons, the worlds largest and best virtual community for nonprofits!
[08:31] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Thanks for coming to our Friday morning meetup
[08:32] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): I’m joined up here on the green stools by Glitteractica and Bulaklak, my colleagues at TechSoup
[08:32] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Also Alebez is in the audience from our team at TechSoup
[08:32] Glitteractica Cookie: Bonjour
[08:32] alebez: Good morning everyone
[08:32] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): As always we begin our meetings with introductions
[08:32] bulaklak: Salut
[08:33] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Please type into the text chat (if you wish) your real life name, location in the world, organization, URL and twitter handles
[08:33] HB Eternal: Harold W Becker, The Love Foundation, Florida, http://www.thelovefoundation.com @lovefoundation
[08:33] Buffy Beale: Buffy Bye, Bridges for Women, Victoria BC Canada, http://www.bridgesforwomen.ca @bridges4women
[08:33] Zinnia Zauber: Renne Emiko Brock-Richmond, Sequim Humanities and Arts Alliance, Sequim, Olympic Peninsula, Washington. http://www.sequimartsalliance.org http://www.facebook.com/sequimartsalliance @renneemiko
[08:33] Chayenn: Monique Richert, Protect Yourself 1, Inc. Baltimore Md, protectyourself1.org, facebook.com/PY1US, @PY1US
[08:33] Gentle Heron: Virtual Ability, Inc. www.virtualability.org and we noted that a couple of folks attended our Mental Health Symposium (and Coughran’s presentation) due to our blog posts: http://blog.virtualability.org
[08:33] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): this is for us now and for our transcript later
[08:33] Brena Benoir: Brenda Bryan, Preferred Family Healthcare, Kirksville, Missouri, www.pfh.org, @brenabenoir
[08:33] Sister Abeyante: Sister Patrice Colletti, SDS Milwaukee, WI *** @SisterAbeyante http://4equalrights.blogspot.com/ *** @TechTips4Usds http://techtipssds.blogspot.com/ *** as well as a volunteer with Virtual Ability, Inc. http://www.virtualability.org
[08:33] Ethelred Weatherwax: Dave Dexter, Neenah Historical Society, Wisconsin USA
[08:33] alebez: Ale Bezdikian, TechSoup, SF, Ca. @TechSoup, @alebez
[08:33] bulaklak: Michael DeLong, online community manager, TechSoup, San Francisco, United States, www.techsoup.org, @TechSoup @MichaelDeLongSF
[08:33] Zotarah Shepherd: BEACH College, Santa Rosa, CA
[08:34] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): I’m Rik Panganiban, in Oakland CA, working for TechSoup.org, http://nonprofitcommons.org , @betterverse @npsl
[08:34] Katherine Cunningham (kcunning): RTI International. www.rti.org RTP, USA
[08:34] Glitteractica Cookie: Susan Tenby, Onlien community and social media director, techSoup Global. Logging in today from Santa Ynez california, @suzboop @techsoup
[08:34] Kali Idziak: Jessica Dally, Community Voice Mail, Seattle, WA @jessicadally @cvmnational
[08:34] DyVerse Jeffery-Steele (dyverse): Ricky Davis unemployed rl @dyverse_steele hiv/aids and chronic illness peer support online DJ
[08:34] DyVerse Jeffery-Steele (dyverse): San antonio
[08:34] Par (parhelion.palou): Henry Higgins, TechSoup contractor & generic volunteer, north of Baltimore MD, no URLs or twitter
[08:34] bulaklak: Michael DeLong, online community manger, TechSoup, www.techsoup.org @TechSoup @MichaelDeLongSF, San Francisco
[08:34] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): there’s nothing generic about you, Par!
[08:34] Jen (jenelle.levenque): Bruce Hestley, Transgender American Veterans Association, Akron, OH, http://www.tavausa.org
[08:35] Ronnie Rhode: Denise Harrison, The Garden for the Missing, http://www.gardenforthemissing.org/ and SLURL http://slurl.com/secondlife/Remora/203/148/21, Project Jason, assistance for families of the missing, http://www.projectjason.org.
[08:35] Coughran Mayo: Dick Dillon, Innovaision, LLC, St. Louis MO @coughran, @innovaision and come see my new facebook page! https://www.facebook.com/Innovaision
[08:35] CarynTopia Silvercloud: Caryn Heilman, Topia Arts Center, www.TopiaArts.org in the Berkshires in NW MA, @topiaartscenter
[08:36] Sarvana Haalan: Sally S. Cherry, Baltimore, MD @CherryNetwork, @SarVana
[08:36] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): great anyone else?
[08:37] Red (talkwithmarie): Marie C (aka Red), Girls Project, greater Boston, @talkwithmarie
[08:37] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): fantastic

TECHSOUP UPDATES

[08:38] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): let’s kick it off with some updates from TechSoup, the managers of the Nonprofit Commons
[08:38] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Bulaklak?
[08:38] bulaklak: Hello!
[08:38] bulaklak: I hope everyone is well today.
[08:38] Sarvana Haalan: Hello
[08:39] bulaklak: Our founder and co-CEO Daniel Ben-Horin, whom some of you may remember having come to speak here last year, has a new piece up on the Huffington Post
[08:40] bulaklak: It’s quite interesting, discussing how the International Olympics Committee (IOC) has attracted the ire of internet activists with its draconian squeezing of London in the upcoming 2012 Olymics
[08:40] bulaklak: It’s well worth a read, and even more worth a thoughtful comment
[08:40] bulaklak: Please take a look at that here
[08:41] bulaklak: http://huff.to/IJZ3Fv
[08:41] bulaklak: We also have a webinar coming up on May 10 in conjunction with our donor partner SAP, where you can learn all about creating effective reports with the data your org already is collecting
[08:42] bulaklak: Register for that free webinar here https://cc.readytalk.com/r/sw02e2jy87xs
[08:42] Sarvana Haalan: awesome
[08:42] bulaklak: And lastly, we have another great episode of Nonprofits Live coming up
[08:42] bulaklak: This one may be of particular interest to all you
[08:42] bulaklak: It will cover the topic of gaming for good
[08:42] Glitteractica Cookie: It’s a shame In Kenzo isn’t here to talk about it
[08:42] bulaklak: That is on May 16
[08:43] bulaklak: Yes, InKenzo is our emcee for these events, as you all probably know
[08:43] Glitteractica Cookie: we are picking up where we left off with the games for change/serious social gaming community
[08:43] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): 3 of my favorite people are speaking!
[08:43] Buffy Beale: cheering for Ink!
[08:43] Glitteractica Cookie: Barry Joseph , Ben Stokes and whom?
[08:43] Coughran Mayo: Will Jane McGonigal be there?
[08:43] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Josephine dorado
[08:43] Glitteractica Cookie: LOL… I wish Coughran
[08:43] Glitteractica Cookie: Oh yes, Josephine!
[08:43] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): although Jane is cool too
[08:44] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): ah there she is
[08:44] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): hi In K!
[08:44] Glitteractica Cookie: Jane McGonigal is usually pretty diffcult to pin down
[08:44] bulaklak: Please register for that here: http://www.eventbrite.com/event/3437432453
[08:44] Coughran Mayo: could always ASK Jane, who knows?
[08:44] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): we were just bragging about your NP live event!
[08:44] Glitteractica Cookie: Um, I have ASKED Jane
[08:44] Glitteractica Cookie: she hasn’t responded to any of the emails I have sent her for teh past few years
[08:44] InKenzo at Amoration (in.kenzo): Hi – Evonne @amoration from SF today
[08:44] Glitteractica Cookie: she also charges a lot of $$ to speak
[08:45] bulaklak: Jane is busy speaking at the Herbst Theater for the City Arts and Lectures series on PBS =)
[08:45] bulaklak: At any rate, I think ours is a great lineup
[08:45] bulaklak: And I am really looking forward to it!
[08:45] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): In Kenzo, anything else folks sholud know about the next NP Live?
[08:45] InKenzo at Amoration (in.kenzo): May 16th at 11AM – come ask your questions of the experts!
[08:45] InKenzo at Amoration (in.kenzo): I’m inviting some fun people for the chat audience this time
[08:46] Glitteractica Cookie: Tell the nice avatars a little more about the content of the event, In Kenzo
[08:46] InKenzo at Amoration (in.kenzo): For this episode of Nonprofits Live we will focus on gaming and play with youth (and youth of all ages 🙂
[08:46] InKenzo at Amoration (in.kenzo): games for causes
[08:46] InKenzo at Amoration (in.kenzo): organizations creating experiences
[08:46] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): wow nice
[08:46] InKenzo at Amoration (in.kenzo): platforms for change via play
[08:47] InKenzo at Amoration (in.kenzo): Barry Joseph, Josephine Dorado, Ben Stokes are all joining us live
[08:47] InKenzo at Amoration (in.kenzo): and some special guests
[08:47] InKenzo at Amoration (in.kenzo): a great place to ask your questions on gaming
[08:47] InKenzo at Amoration (in.kenzo): and other nonprofit technology needs 🙂
[08:47] InKenzo at Amoration (in.kenzo): RSVP via Eventbrite to get the link sent to you….
[08:47] bulaklak: http://www.eventbrite.com/event/3437432453
[08:48] Glitteractica Cookie: it shuold be a good one.
[08:48] bulaklak: Chayenn is here, right?
[08:48] Glitteractica Cookie: yes
[08:48] bulaklak: I hope she can come to this event!
[08:48] Gentle Heron: /me nudges Chayenn.
[08:48] Chayenn: i will
[08:48] InKenzo at Amoration (in.kenzo): we use the hashtag #NPlive – for 5/16 11AM we’ll also use #gaming. Join us there in Watchitoo!
[08:48] Glitteractica Cookie: we hope all of you will
[08:48] bulaklak: Cheynn spoke at the last Games for Health conference and mentioned TechSoup =)
[08:49] Zinnia Zauber: Awesome!
[08:49] InKenzo at Amoration (in.kenzo): great!
[08:49] Glitteractica Cookie: we are going to remount nonprofitgames.org an effort we were trying to get off the ground a few years back
[08:49] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): nice
[08:49] Chayenn: and will at the aids2012.org in DC
[08:49] InKenzo at Amoration (in.kenzo): please join us on the event
[08:49] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): ok anything else from TechSoup?
[08:49] Chayenn: PY1 has a NGO booth at the world aids conference
[08:49] InKenzo at Amoration (in.kenzo): we love your participation :){
[08:49] bulaklak: Yes, I owe you some pamphlets and things for that
[08:49] Glitteractica Cookie: there are still some flip video cameras available on TechSoup and some new Dell data phones, if you all are interested
[08:49] Chayenn: yes please
[08:50] bulaklak: And that’s all I got for today. Everyone have a great Friday! And an even greater weekend! See you next week.
[08:50] InKenzo at Amoration (in.kenzo): thanks MDL!
[08:50] Panny Bakerly: Sorry I’m late.
[08:50] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): np, panny

MENTORS CENTRAL

[08:50] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): we are just at our next item: Mentors Corner
[08:50] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): I mean Central
[08:50] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Who speaks for the Mentors today?
[08:50] Zinnia Zauber: Yes! Today we have Sister Abeyante!
[08:51] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): woo hoo!
[08:51] Zinnia Zauber: She has a lot to share with us today!
[08:51] Sister Abeyante: Hi All- should I put my avi on a stool up front?
[08:51] Zinnia Zauber: Please
[08:51] Glitteractica Cookie: yes
[08:51] Gentle Heron: Go for it, Sister.
[08:51] Sister Abeyante: Thanks!
[08:51] Sister Abeyante: And hi everyone.
[08:51] Sarvana Haalan: Discuss NPSL at a local Meetup last night
[08:52] Sister Abeyante: Let me know when to start, please.
[08:52] Buffy Beale: Hi Sister 🙂
[08:52] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): go for it!
[08:52] Sister Abeyante: Ok. Great!
[08:52] Sarvana Haalan: Hello Sister
[08:52] Sister Abeyante: Hello, everyone. This morning I’ll be sharing briefly about Evernote, a powerful free tool I have been using to organize information for several projects.
[08:52] Sister Abeyante: Since organizing information is probably part of all of our jobs, I hope this introduction to Evernote is helpful in your own work.
[08:53] Sister Abeyante: I’ll present in text. But, (and this is cool!) if you prefer a voice translation, please copy/paste the following link into your browser on your computer, put on your headphones, and then minimize the browser window so you can see Second Life.
[08:53] Sister Abeyante: Now, the product you’llbe using is still in beta, it’s not yet perfect.
[08:53] Sister Abeyante: But, fun to try if oyu have audio and flash on your computer.
[08:53] Glitteractica Cookie: I love evernote
[08:53] bulaklak: Ooh, I love Evernote!
[08:54] Sister Abeyante: If the link I paste doesnt work for you- don’t sweat it. Everything will also be in the chat stream
[08:54] Sister Abeyante: LINK>>>>
[08:54] Sister Abeyante: http://secondlife.mitsi.com/cgi/llspeaker.plx?PrimKey=9bb0fa48ae24690bdc…
[08:54] Sister Abeyante: The link is from a free Second Life text-to-voice translator called “Ferd’s Chat to Speech v1.6 Universal Web Translator “ [free at Phaze Demesnes (209, 200, 23)] that provides alternative access to chat.
[08:54] Sister Abeyante: I’ll also do a “shout out” for SpeakEasy, the free Second Life HUD that allowed me to prepare this text-based presentation in advance, and now present it to you merely by clicking.
[08:54] Sister Abeyante: (In other words, I’m not typing madly into the chat stream. I’m sitting back and enjoying my own profound words! Ha ha!)
[08:54] Gentle Heron: HINT FOR LINK- You need to press “start”
[08:54] Coughran Mayo: I need that one
[08:54] Sister Abeyante: ah- thanks, Gentle.
[08:54] Zinnia Zauber: It is really cool!
[08:55] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): (a commercial in the middle of a presentation. nice!)
[08:55] Sister Abeyante: Also hint for link- you can minimize your browser after you start it.
[08:55] Sarvana Haalan: IBelieve it or not… I have never used Evernote… LOL, LOL
[08:55] Sister Abeyante: Oh, Rik- it’s part of the presentation.
[08:55] bulaklak: Wow, this is kind of cool. The pronunciation is really smooth, too.
[08:55] Sister Abeyante: 🙂
[08:55] Sister Abeyante: I’ve put both the SpeakEasy HUD and a copy of these notes from the presentation into the dispenser up here. Please, help yourself.
[08:55] Sister Abeyante: The dispenser is to your right.
[08:55] Sister Abeyante: Anyway, let’s talk about Evernote, a tool for info-maniacs like me- and like you.
[08:56] Sister Abeyante: ** Evernote is a well-developed commercial product that can be used for note taking and archiving of information from almost anywhere into a single place. From there, you can organize it and share it with others to collaborate.
[08:56] Sister Abeyante: Using Evernote, my notes, web clips, file attachments, images, and even written text are available on my laptop, desktop(s), mobile smart phone, and any computer connected to the internet.
[08:56] Sister Abeyante: Yes, Evernote even uses basic OCR (optical character recognition) to convert handwritten text to searchable text.
[08:56] Sister Abeyante: ** Evernote is a desktop client (Windows and Macintosh operating systems).
[08:56] Sister Abeyante: It is also a browser-based program, running in common browsers.
[08:57] Sister Abeyante: It has mobile versions (apps) for multiple mobile operating systems.
[08:57] Sister Abeyante: And, there’s even a portable version that can be run off your flash drive or U3 drive.
[08:57] Sister Abeyante: ** I’ve only used the Evernote free version- it’s been more than adequate for my needs over the past several months or so. Here’s the link. http://www.evernote.com/evernote/
[08:57] Sister Abeyante: The free version allows you to “synch” things to the Evernote server up to a particular data limit per month. I have not yet maxed that out.
[08:58] Sister Abeyante: Evernote is also available in a premium version which offers fewer restrictions.
[08:58] Sister Abeyante: ** Since some of you are wondering- let me briefly address the limits here.
[08:58] Sister Abeyante: With the free account, you can save massive amounts of information: 100,000 notes,
[08:58] Sister Abeyante: 250 synchronized notebooks, unlimited non-synched notebooks, 10,000 tags, and 100 saved searches.
[08:59] Sister Abeyante: ** I have found Evernote to be very user friendly, with a fast-reading online “Getting Started” guide, and a Knowledge base for FAQs.
[08:59] Sister Abeyante: I found it very intuitive.
[08:59] Sister Abeyante: ** So, what can you do with Evernote?
[08:59] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): 100,000 notes! wow
[09:00] Sister Abeyante: (By the way, if your audio via the text-to-chat starts repeating itself? It’s just because we are maxing it out… try turning it off with the STOP then back on_)
[09:00] Sister Abeyante: anyway…continuing on…
[09:00] Sister Abeyante: You can collect and store “Notes” which are any single digital item you wish to save.
[09:00] Sister Abeyante: You can organize them into “Notebooks”, which are containers for the notes that you set up.
[09:01] Sister Abeyante: You can organize the Notebooks into “Notebook Stacks” if you wish.
[09:01] Sister Abeyante: You can also tag items with multiple topical tags to allow you to sort and search across Notebooks.
[09:01] Sister Abeyante: And, best of all for me, you can synch all this across all your computers, phones, and other devices.
[09:01] Sister Abeyante: ** Here’s a quick screenshot to show you how intuitive this is.
[09:01] Sister Abeyante: On the left is a list of current Notebooks.
[09:02] Sister Abeyante: On the right is how the items in each notebook are displayed. The ones you see are for a project I am working on looking at deployment of information and communications technologies in developing countries.
[09:02] Sister Abeyante: I have circled where you can “Tag” items with tags that you designate, to make searching easier across Notebooks.
[09:02] Sister Abeyante: ** So far, I have found Evernote to be very versatile. You can use this program to gather and organize on an ongoing basis.
[09:02] Sister Abeyante: I guess this list could be endless in this day of information super-access!
[09:03] Sister Abeyante: Any Evernote users here who would add something to this list?
[09:03] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): the multi-platform capabilities are what make it work for me
[09:03] bulaklak: I agree that the cross-platform syncing is one of the best features
[09:04] bulaklak: I also like that you can embed photos and audio!
[09:04] Gentle Heron: I liked it because it was simple enough even *I* could figure out how to use it.
[09:04] Sister Abeyante: /me nods
[09:04] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): also you can scrape websites and save it to evernote
[09:04] Sister Abeyante: ** While I have not yet used this feature much yet, it looks like Evernote is also well designed for collaborative sharing of information.
[09:04] Sister Abeyante: ** For me, Evernote is becoming a project powerhouse- organizing web clippings as I discover them, allowing me to add comments to what I clip,
[09:05] Sister Abeyante: allowing me to add PDFs and other documents as attachments, and allowing me to grab photos or images pertinent to my projects.
[09:05] Sister Abeyante: ** How can you get started? Here’s the link to the site. http://www.evernote.com
[09:05] Sister Abeyante: Follow the steps to download the program and create a free account.
[09:05] Sister Abeyante: ** Here’s the link to the “Getting Started” guide,
[09:05] Sister Abeyante: http://www.evernote.com/about/getting_started
[09:05] Sister Abeyante: That’s all I used to get going, and it worked!
[09:06] Sister Abeyante: So.. have fun with this tool! I hope it makes your work more productive and fun, as it did mine!
[09:06] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): awesome presentation!
[09:06] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): we have time for questions
[09:06] bulaklak: Very cool! And I loved the voice stream.
[09:06] Eliza (eliza.madrigal): thanks! I’ve wanted to know about this… someone mentioned it the other day for the first time
[09:07] Sister Abeyante: /me nods… the voice stream even works if there’s no audio/voice enabled on a sim.
[09:07] Hour Destiny: You can also get Evernote as a mobile app.
[09:07] Gentle Heron: Note: We’re working on a way to re-embed the stream into SL, so it will work in SL voice…. avoiding the drag on Ferd’s servers of us each and every one working directly on our own!
[09:07] Sister Abeyante: Yes- mobile on all platforms- and synching across platforms is one of its strenghts.
[09:08] Sarvana Haalan: ello, I recent shared info about TechSoup at a local Meetup and in a recent article… http://bit.ly/HXZmJS Tech Social Change;
http://exm.nr/Kns2L7
[09:08] bulaklak: I’ve heard really good things about its website and blog, although I haven’t spent much time there. Has anyone else?
[09:08] Sarvana Haalan: sorry… wrong window
[09:08] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Sister Abeyante, what are other comparable products to Evernote people might consider as an option?
[09:09] Sister Abeyante: There are other notetaking products out there.
[09:09] Sister Abeyante: I’ve only tried this one so far- and liked its ease of use and
[09:09] Sister Abeyante: robust ability on the free version.
[09:09] Sister Abeyante: So… I’ve stuck with it! LOL
[09:09] Sister Abeyante: What about the rest of us here- others you have found like it?
[09:10] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): I suppose Google Docs is one
[09:10] Jen (jenelle.levenque): What is “stacking notes?
[09:10] Sister Abeyante: Not sure if it has all the same capacities.
[09:10] bulaklak: Microsoft has OneNote. Does anyone use that?
[09:10] DyVerse Jeffery-Steele (dyverse): Microsofts one one sounds similar
[09:10] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): right
[09:10] DyVerse Jeffery-Steele (dyverse): one note
[09:10] DyVerse Jeffery-Steele (dyverse): I have used it as a student
[09:10] Sister Abeyante: “Note stacks” are collections of notes- kind of like organizing all your folders on your desk in your office into file cabinets.
[09:11] Sister Abeyante: Actually, it’s “notebook stacks”- so picture a pile of notebooks! hahaha
[09:11] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): sounds like my office
[09:11] Par (parhelion.palou): They should’ve called them “notebook piles”
[09:11] Sister Abeyante: Ok- any other comments or questions?
[09:11] Hour Destiny: There are mindmapping programs/apps like www.mind42.com
[09:12] Sister Abeyante: Yes! I love mindmapping!
[09:12] bulaklak: Cool, thanks Hour!
[09:12] Hour Destiny: I do use OneNote. I like it better than Evernote myself.
[09:12] Sister Abeyante: I use CMAPS constantly, too- but for different purposes.
[09:12] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): mindmapping is a whole other discussion that we should ahve
[09:12] DyVerse Jeffery-Steele (dyverse): pinterest can be used as a way to collect notes on websites with pictures since you can write notes on the pictures and include urls
[09:12] Gentle Heron: /me agrees with Par… the archaeology method of dating files on my physical desktop.
[09:12] Sister Abeyante: Ok…well thanks for letting me share a bit about this free version of Evernote.
[09:12] Gentle Heron: Thanks also for sharing the two nifty tools you used, Sister!
[09:13] Eliza (eliza.madrigal): Thanks Sister
[09:13] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): awesome lesson today from the Mentors, thanks so much sister abeyante
[09:13] Gentle Heron: That really was a triple treat presentation!
[09:13] Sister Abeyante: Oh, you’re welcome-
[09:13] Sister Abeyante: Always good to share “what works” with others! LOL
[09:13] Hour Destiny: OneNote is also available on the iPhone, since I see it installed on mine.
[09:13] bulaklak: Thanks, Sister Abeyante!
[09:13] Sister Abeyante: /me smiles.
[09:13] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): ok well we had schedules a talk today from the founder of Kids4Horses VW
[09:13] Panny Bakerly: Does anyone know the differences between Evernote and Onenote?
[09:13] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): unfortunately she has a personal crises and can’t be joining us today
[09:14] Eliza (eliza.madrigal): sorry to hear
[09:14] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): she sends her regrets and hopes to join us soon
[09:14] Buffy Beale: cheering Sister, great job and aww that’s too bad Rik
[09:14] Hour Destiny: http://www.google.com/search?q=differences+between+Evernote+and+Onenot

DISCUSSION ON NEW NPC SURVEY

[09:14] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): But that leaves me some time to talk about the survey that several have probably already received about the NPC
[09:14] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): here’s the link
[09:14] Hour Destiny: http://www.google.com/search?q=differences+between+Evernote+and+Onenote that is
[09:14] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): http://app.fluidsurveys.com/s/nonprofitcommonssurvey/
[09:14] Zinnia Zauber: Thank you, Sister! Great tool sharing!
[09:15] Sister Abeyante: You’re welcome.
[09:15] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): have folks filled out the survey yet?
[09:15] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): it should only take a few minutes of your time
[09:15] Gentle Heron: How were we supposed to hear about the survey, Rik? This is the first time I’ve heard of it.
[09:15] Hour Destiny: Likewise.
[09:15] HB Eternal: I did already
[09:15] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): sorry we distributed via email to our member groups, via FB, Twitter, the blog, and email
[09:16] Gentle Heron: I must not be in any of those groups.
[09:16] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): anyway you can do it later today
[09:16] Sister Abeyante: (Hate to interrupt- but I found an answer to a question asked earlier comparing various noteclipping apps: http://www.ppcsoft.com/blog/iknow-onenote-evernote.asp)
[09:16] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Basically its a way for the managers of the NPC to check in to make sure that we are serving our community, and how we can do our job better
[09:16] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): (thanks, sister)
[09:17] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): But I thought we might spend some time this morning, if that’s okay, discussing some of the relevant questions as a group.
[09:17] Buffy Beale: great idea
[09:17] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Firstly, What activities / services at the Nonprofit Commons do you find the most valuable for you and your organization?
[09:18] Buffy Beale: having the free office space for one
[09:18] Red (talkwithmarie): i secodn that buffy:)
[09:18] Hour Destiny: I would say this meeting.
[09:18] Buffy Beale: the weekly meetings are key though so I really appreciate these
[09:18] Buffy Beale: me too Hour
[09:18] Zinnia Zauber: Networking and education and social ties
[09:19] Red (talkwithmarie): networking opps
[09:19] Gentle Heron: For me, the office space isn’t useful. It’s the networking with other nonprofits that helps my organization.
[09:19] Sarvana Haalan: networking
[09:19] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Gentle, we appreciate the honesty. It’s good for us to know what ISN’T useful too!
[09:20] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): on a related note: What services / activities do you wish that the NPC provided more of?
[09:20] Coughran Mayo: I like that Wharf Ratz thing, but maybe that’s just me
[09:20] HB Eternal: we like the meetings and also our office space as we often gather in it spontaneously and hang out with discussions
[09:20] Gentle Heron: (((Coughran)))
[09:20] Red (talkwithmarie): and monthly common party, wharf weekly get togethers
[09:20] Zinnia Zauber: I think office space is important and needs to be engaging and active.
[09:20] Dancers Yao: The office space helps us as a place to bring people to learn about our org and other NP groups
[09:20] Zinnia Zauber: Wharf Ratz and CommonGround are team building events.
[09:21] Panny Bakerly: Like to have more of those.
[09:21] Hour Destiny: Some sort of “wizard” to help organizations find what they’re looking for.
[09:21] Sarvana Haalan: Who is that Big Guy always hanging out at the Wharf? lol, lolThe Wharf Ratz and CommonGrounds are great events for networking and just getting to know members better…
[09:21] Gentle Heron: Hour, there are TP boards listing all the NPC members.
[09:21] Buffy Beale: yes the events are important
[09:22] Buffy Beale: But I see Hour’s point Gentle
[09:22] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): so do folks wish we had MORE events here?
[09:22] Zinnia Zauber: Yes!
[09:22] Sarvana Haalan: Yes
[09:22] Red (talkwithmarie): yes!
[09:22] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): What could we do to make the NPC even better?
[09:22] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): and more helpful for your group?
[09:22] Buffy Beale: they’re listed according to office but no quick way to find if you know the name
[09:23] Red (talkwithmarie): also more trainings outside of weekly mtg. (skill-building and relevant)
[09:23] Hour Destiny: Yes, but one doesn’t necessarily know what those organizations do/provide. A way to only show what one is looking for could be quite useful.
[09:23] Buffy Beale: Hour there’s a little symbol but it’s not that easy to figure out
[09:23] Gentle Heron: Hour, I think that’s the idea behind the offices.
[09:23] Sarvana Haalan: and maybe more mixed reality events… the SF online meetup got the attention of several local colleagues
[09:23] Ethelred Weatherwax: It would be nice if Tech Soup folks would show up at NPC events besides the Friday meetings
[09:24] Buffy Beale: and a grand signature event would be good, like our anniversary
[09:24] Gentle Heron: Red, there are already SO MANY skill trainings in SL, what could NPC offer that would be UNIQUE and USEFUL?
[09:24] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Ethelred, I hear you. Evening events are hard for many of us to attend on staff.
[09:25] Hour Destiny: I know of many nonprofits that are leery of Second Life. What can be done to remove that fear/concern?
[09:25] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): On a more personal note: What would you like to learn or develop in the coming year, related to your nonprofit?
[09:25] Zinnia Zauber: Encouraging inclusive images on the NPC website about all the different orgs here. Photos would be nice.
[09:25] Gentle Heron: Hour, that could be a unique NPC topic that could be addressed.
[09:25] Buffy Beale: or even to promote to bring in more
[09:25] Zinnia Zauber: It makes what we do here actual.
[09:25] bulaklak: That’s a great question, Hour.
[09:25] Sarvana Haalan: LOL, LOL… I working as hard as I can in my local area…
[09:26] Hour Destiny: Finding the “pain points” of nonprofits and addressing them.
[09:26] Buffy Beale: Often I attend TechSoup online events and it would help if the NPC was promoted there
[09:26] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Hour, we do our best to present SL as a place where “real world impact” happens.
[09:26] Red (talkwithmarie): my idea of training is the “10 minute” or so tip sharing thats done weekly where im at ease and dont feel like a newbie because im learning in the company of people i know or may relate to some of the nonprofit challenge questions I may have. Just a thought. not a necessaity
[09:26] Buffy Beale: or a big splash on the TechSoup website
[09:26] Gentle Heron: /me thinks Red just voted for Mentor Corner!
[09:26] Sarvana Haalan: I had an interesting discussing with MD Commission for NonProfits… many see it as a “gamr” so more education is needed
[09:27] Sarvana Haalan: *game
[09:27] Sister Abeyante: I am wondering if there’s a way to get the word out about upcoming NPC or Techsoup events…about a month in advance. I only seem to find out about them a day or so ahead… at the most, a week ahead.
[09:27] Hour Destiny: Game or XXX content, yeah. 🙁
[09:27] Gentle Heron: Coughran, you ought to present your 8 points here.
[09:27] Zinnia Zauber: Yah!
[09:27] bulaklak: True, Buffy. We have been doing more cross-promoting of the NPC blog recaps of this meeting on the TechSoup blog.
[09:27] Buffy Beale: That’s great bulaklak it all helps 🙂
[09:28] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Sister Abeyante, we do promotions for our major events like our annivesary, TS Digs, the winter faire. But otherwise we don’t get much traction from promtions that are more than a week ahead.
[09:28] Coughran Mayo: I only present my 8 points when I am getting paid to do that
[09:28] Sarvana Haalan: I posted NPSL events on my Facebook page mainly to show local folks what is going on inworld
[09:28] Sarvana Haalan: lol, lol
[09:28] Zinnia Zauber: Are these Friday meetings posted in the SL Events?
[09:28] Buffy Beale: lol C
[09:28] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Zinnia, yes, usually
[09:28] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): but no one responded to my last question yet:
[09:28] Sister Abeyante: Well, Rick- then how would someone schedule in advance so they can attend and get the ADA access needed to participate?
[09:28] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): What would you like to learn or develop in the coming year, related to your nonprofit?
[09:28] Sister Abeyante: *Rik
[09:29] Zinnia Zauber: I know that several of us do posts on social media sites to help promote what is happening.
[09:29] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): (but that’s a good point, Sister.)
[09:29] bulaklak: That is a point well-taken Sisater Abeyente. Some of that has to do with us actually moving the production cycle of the events up, so they are booked further in advance. We are slowly moving the needle on that but it takes time! It’s a switch and it takes time to get everyone on board with thinking long-term.
[09:29] Buffy Beale: I would like to learn about some of the other virtual worlds
[09:29] Sarvana Haalan: How to conduct a live stream or mixed reality event? I was asked if our local meetups would be live. The local organizer would like to make that possible.
[09:30] Buffy Beale: that’s a good one too Sar
[09:30] Sarvana Haalan: 🙂
[09:30] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Good one, Sarvana. We have learned a lot of hard lessons from doing those.
[09:30] Gentle Heron: I doubt that’s a 10 minute skill development, though.
[09:30] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): What would other people like to learn or develop for themselves?
[09:30] bulaklak: I think Alebez would agree with me on that one. =)
[09:30] Zinnia Zauber: Many events are planned in advance, so how can TS help with them?
[09:31] Hour Destiny: I’m learning 3D game design. I think that could be very useful for nonprofits.
[09:31] Sarvana Haalan: There is a videographer in th egroup but with no vw experience… they should be applying for New Tenant membership once their equipment is upgraded
[09:31] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Zinnia, I’m sorry I don’t understand your question?
[09:32] Zinnia Zauber: bulaklak mentioned something about planning ahead
[09:32] Zinnia Zauber: So, I was thinking how can TS help share these plans earlier.
[09:32] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): ah gotcha
[09:33] Sister Abeyante: /me agrees with Zinnia about planning ahead.
[09:33] Zinnia Zauber: I have to plan things years in advance for the work I do.
[09:33] Hour Destiny: Also, http://www.sandboxgamemaker.com/ “Platinum Arts Sandbox Free 3D Game Maker is fun, free, open source and makes it easy for kids and adults to make their own games!” might be useful.
[09:33] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Any other personal goals that people would like to share?
[09:33] Zinnia Zauber: So, I think if we could share with the world what we do here it could create more engagement.
[09:33] Sister Abeyante: /me considers that most nonprofit folks have to plan to attend things weeks or months in advance- it might increase particiaption if theres a way to plan ahead.
[09:33] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): It’s good for us to know how the NPC might help nonprofits and their staff / volunteers become better at their jobs
[09:34] Sister Abeyante: RE: Planning ahead for parrticipation- “Just in Time” doesnt apply if one doesnt have time enough to manage time. LOL
[09:34] Gentle Heron: Also, Rik, since for many (most?) of us here, this is in addition to/outside of our “real” nonprofit jobs, even if NPC is your job at TechSoup, we have to figure ways to squeeze NPC into our already full schedules.
[09:34] Zinnia Zauber: Very often people who are not in SL ask me about what we do here because I post it on Facebook. How could we capture what we do here to share with those who can not attend?
[09:34] Sarvana Haalan: I have created a “Events and “Virtual Happenings” board on Pinterest… http://bit.ly/H3Ea7b
[09:35] Gentle Heron: cool Sarvana!
[09:35] Sarvana Haalan: I have been posting pins about NPSL
[09:35] Zinnia Zauber: Awesome Sar!
[09:35] Sarvana Haalan: it is a great tool for nonprofits
[09:35] Red (talkwithmarie): yay Sar!
[09:35] Coughran Mayo: /me likes Sarvana Pinterest boards!
[09:35] Sarvana Haalan: Thanks
[09:35] Hour Destiny: Does Pinterest still require invites?
[09:35] Zinnia Zauber: (note to self: Ask Sar to do a Mentor Central about Pinterest.)
[09:36] Buffy Beale: it’s a great one Sar good job
[09:36] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Gentle, I hear you. But everyone here has personal goals they have for themselves, I would thnk.
[09:36] Buffy Beale: lol Z good catch!
[09:36] Sarvana Haalan: Please… the nonprofits in my Facebook network sees the “Likes”
[09:36] Zinnia Zauber: All this before my first cup of coffee! lol
[09:36] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): I for example would like to be better a video production and mobile app development
[09:36] Sarvana Haalan: slow but steady climb up the hill… LOL, LOL
[09:36] bulaklak: Here is a link to the Upcoming tech events calendar that you can add any event to and it feeds onto the TechSoup site in several places: http://forums.techsoup.org/cs/p/events-from-our-community.aspx
[09:36] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): and get better at integrating science content into my projects
[09:37] bulaklak: I also would like to know more about video production, especially editing.
[09:37] Jen (jenelle.levenque): There are so many great tools out there. I’m absolutely innundated with accounts and passwords and requests for more registrations
[09:37] Red (talkwithmarie): I would like to learn to do machinima (basic) in sl in order to produce short interviews via sl. I know there are many resources and experts among us and in sl but it hasnt happened yet (or havent found a way to make it happen)
[09:38] Jen (jenelle.levenque): Anyone got any ideas on how to get a handle on it?
[09:38] bulaklak: And it’s been years since my last HTML brush-up, so I’d love to learn HTML 5 and brush up on XML, also
[09:38] Sister Abeyante: Jen- do you mean like a way to organize accounts passwords etc?
[09:38] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Jen, that’s tough
[09:38] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): I have the same issue
[09:38] Jen (jenelle.levenque): Yes
[09:38] Sister Abeyante: I use LastPass
[09:38] Jen (jenelle.levenque): I’m also using 3 different computers for various things
[09:38] Sister Abeyante: Free- versitile- accessible from any computer via the internet.
[09:39] Jen (jenelle.levenque): The last thing I want is all my accounts in the cloud somewhere
[09:39] Sister Abeyante: KeyPass is one you can put on a flashdrive and take with you. Also free
[09:39] Par (parhelion.palou): Trust the cloud … what could happen? 😉
[09:39] Sarvana Haalan: I am up on html it’s th eother languages that I have no clue about. smiles
[09:39] Par (parhelion.palou): /me likes KeyPass
[09:39] Jen (jenelle.levenque): hehe
[09:40] Sister Abeyante: KeyPass Portable App- runs from a flash drive. As secure as your pocket or purse. LOL (Actually, it is password protected)
[09:40] Hour Destiny: bulaklak: http://www.w3schools.com/html5/default.asp
[09:40] Sister Abeyante: (but easier to lose than “the cloud”)
[09:40] Par (parhelion.palou): Use a decent pass phrase and nobody will get your passwords from KeyPass
[09:40] bulaklak: Thanks, Hour
[09:40] Sister Abeyante: Exactly ,Par- I meant losing the flash drive itself. HAHA
[09:41] Coughran Mayo: I always use “password” it’s so easy to remember
[09:41] Hour Destiny: http://www.w3schools.com/xml/default.asp
[09:41] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): ok this is getting too specific
[09:41] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): trying to keep on general ideas about NPC and how it can help our community and you
[09:41] Zinnia Zauber: Besides talking tech, I think NPC could be a resource for people to understand more the laws that gover what nonprofits can do.
[09:41] Sister Abeyante: Well, it looks like “password management” is a need though.
[09:41] Jen (jenelle.levenque): Maybe a presentation on how to organize tools and registrations
[09:41] Gentle Heron: /me was reminded recently to LIE (yes lie!) when setting up answers to security questions like “mother’s maiden name” or “street you lived on as a child” since those are now so easy for the Bad Guys to discover online.
[09:41] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Cool, thanks Jen
[09:42] Sarvana Haalan: ditto
[09:42] Gentle Heron: That’s a good topic, Zinnia, the legal business of being a nonprofit. Also, not a ten minute one.
[09:42] Zinnia Zauber: Yes
[09:42] Jen (jenelle.levenque): Then you have to remember which lie you told
[09:42] Jen (jenelle.levenque): /me lol
[09:42] Red (talkwithmarie): hehe
[09:42] Hour Destiny: Don’t ever use information about yourself that you or someone else has posted online ever.
[09:42] Gentle Heron: /me nods to Jen.
[09:42] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Ok thanks for brainstorming with us,
[09:43] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Do please take time to fill out the questionnaire
[09:43] Jen (jenelle.levenque): I have a book on Nonprofit governance from the Bar Association
[09:43] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): http://app.fluidsurveys.com/s/nonprofitcommonssurvey/
[09:43] Gentle Heron: Genealogy and personal location and number info has already been posted. Bet on it.
[09:43] Sarvana Haalan: What about “Privacy” I have discovered that many npos doe not understand th steps to “protect” their sites
[09:43] Sister Abeyante: Well, if we are talking presentations- someone could do one on “how to create an easy and secure password and remember it”
[09:43] Jen (jenelle.levenque): Bought one for each board member
[09:43] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): I’ll also email and Group post it again to the SL groups
[09:43] Sarvana Haalan: Please do… awesome!!!!
[09:43] Hour Destiny: Use passphrases, not passwords.
[09:43] Sister Abeyante: “Free online survey tools”
[09:44] Jen (jenelle.levenque): What makes a good survey?
[09:44] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): last call for suggestions and ideas before the Open Mic!
[09:44] Jen (jenelle.levenque): How to design a good survey
[09:44] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): cool
[09:44] Sarvana Haalan: What about a Facebook Mentors Group?
[09:44] Gentle Heron: Jen, we should get the folks from RTI to speak to that topic, designing survey questions that get the data you need
[09:44] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): thanks everybody. Awesome ideas and participation
[09:45] Zinnia Zauber: I suggest that we have another brainstorming session so more NPC peeps can be part of.
[09:45] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): RTI does want to come back, so that makes sense
[09:45] Jen (jenelle.levenque): Sounds good Gentle
[09:45] Zinnia Zauber: Lots of great ideas here and more to come!
[09:45] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Zinnia, this isn’t the last time we’ll bring this up
[09:45] Sarvana Haalan: Thanks for asking for our input!!
[09:45] Zinnia Zauber: Super!
[09:45] Jen (jenelle.levenque): Just stick around for the Mentors Meeting
[09:45] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): we’ll do an initial data analysis and bring it up again here
[09:45] Jen (jenelle.levenque): Right after a word from our sponsor
[09:45] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): ok lets move on
[09:45] Sarvana Haalan: lol, lol

OPEN MIC

[09:46] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Who has announcements for the Open Mic?
[09:46] HB Eternal: raises hand
[09:46] bulaklak: I do!
[09:46] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): woah
[09:46] Gentle Heron: /me raises hand.
[09:46] Jen (jenelle.levenque): Raises Hand
[09:46] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): okay who else?
[09:46] Sarvana Haalan: Atlantic Tea is my sponsor … lol, lol
[09:46] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): HB you are up
[09:46] HB Eternal: We had another amazing virtual version of Global Love Day here in SL this week on May 1. It started with venues from Australia in the morning and ended with our own beach party on one of our sim locations. We have had 2 more CNN iReport articles written about us again (7 so far since we came to SL)
[09:47] HB Eternal: http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-784045 http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-781218
[09:47] Sarvana Haalan: great
[09:47] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): congrats!
[09:47] HB Eternal: In RL this was our 9th year celebrating our humanity each May 1st with events held around the world and over 375 proclamations from governors, mayors and councils
[09:47] Brena Benoir: Great job HB!
[09:47] HB Eternal: We love being out in SL and NPC – and appreciate all the support
[09:48] Chayenn: Yes great HB
[09:48] Zinnia Zauber: Awesome HB!
[09:48] Gentle Heron: Congrats HB.
[09:48] Sarvana Haalan: Have a good discussion with some local nonprofits at a local meetup… was asked to present again…Direct them to the NPSL website
[09:48] Robo Mirabella: you go HB – love is all there is!
[09:48] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): ok Bulaklak you are up
[09:49] bulaklak: The 1440 Foundation is awarding up to three $25k prizes Up to three winners take home $25k apiece for the best new ideas to develop and share self-awareness, authenticity, trust, and empathy through technology.
[09:49] Red (talkwithmarie): ooh
[09:49] bulaklak: Find out more about that here: http://on.fb.me/IvhmOT
[09:49] Sarvana Haalan: nice…
[09:49] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): sweet
[09:50] bulaklak: I also just wanted to reiterate in response to the event promotion topic that came up before: please feel free to add events to this Upcoming stream that is featured on TEchSoup in several places
[09:50] bulaklak: http://forums.techsoup.org/cs/p/events-from-our-community.aspx
[09:50] bulaklak: Thanks!
[09:50] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): thank you
[09:50] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Gentle, you are up
[09:50] Gentle Heron: I have two announcements this week.
[09:50] Gentle Heron: This Saturday at 12:30pm SLT, Slatan Dryke (member of several mentor groups in SL) will present about Second Life Terms of Service and Community Standards.
[09:50] Gentle Heron: You’ll want to attend and get updated, since you signed these legal documents when you created your account, and it’s likely that their wording has changed since then. (You are legally bound to the current wording, whether you have read it or not.)
[09:50] Gentle Heron: Yellow Hibiscus Cabana, Virtual Ability Island
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Virtual%20Ability/44/138/23
Send me an IM if you want a notecard reminder.
[09:51] Coughran Mayo: /me raises hand
[09:51] Gentle Heron: ALSO

Please note that Wednesday May 9 is Global Accessibility Awareness Day.
[09:51] Gentle Heron: Global Accessibility Awareness Day is a community-driven effort. Its goal is to raise the profile of digital (web, software, mobile app/device, touch screen kiosk, etc.) accessibility and people with different kinds of disabilities.
[09:51] Gentle Heron: There are awesome events scheduled all over the world. What can we each do here in SL to increase awareness of accessibility?
[09:51] Gentle Heron: How about talking up this new text-to-speech tool Sister shared today? It’s so helpful for people with dyslexia, visual impairment, or those of us who have attention issues with plain text.
[09:52] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): good suggestion. the space is yours to use of course
[09:52] Gentle Heron: Let’s expand the accessibility conversation!

http://www.facebook.com/globalaccessibilityawarenessday
[09:52] Gentle Heron: (done, thanks)
[09:52] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): thank you, gentle
[09:52] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Jen?
[09:52] Jen (jenelle.levenque): June is Pride month. There is an event here put on by Second Pride that will be hosted on 6 sims from June 22 through July 6. More information in our office (#1) or contact me directly.
[09:52] Sarvana Haalan: I will blast it out… 🙂
[09:53] Jen (jenelle.levenque): Any monies over expenses will be donated to a charity
[09:53] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): wonderful Jen
[09:53] Jen (jenelle.levenque): Last year it was RL but this year they plan to use it for SL based organizations
[09:53] Sarvana Haalan: great…
[09:54] Gentle Heron: Jen, are the RL and SL Pride events linked?
[09:54] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): It’s been awhile since we’ve had an update on the LGBTQ communities in SL at the NPC
[09:54] Jen (jenelle.levenque): Also, there will be free space for nonprofits to display
[09:54] Buffy Beale: that’s great Jen
[09:54] Jen (jenelle.levenque): No this is the only international pride event
[09:54] Sarvana Haalan: any graphics available for the mentioned events?
[09:54] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Would be good to have a weekly NPC meeting forcused on that
[09:54] Jen (jenelle.levenque): Lot of Europeans involved
[09:54] Jen (jenelle.levenque): Chair is a former US Marine
[09:55] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Jen, maybe you and 1-2 other people could talk about it here?
[09:55] Jen (jenelle.levenque): I have a box in my office
[09:55] Jen (jenelle.levenque): Be glad to
[09:55] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): pick a date in June and get back to me
[09:55] Sarvana Haalan: what is the LM for your office?
[09:55] Jen (jenelle.levenque): If anyone thinks of some questions that would be appropriate, please send them to me
[09:56] Jen (jenelle.levenque): http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Plush%20Nonprofit%20Commons/9/34/27
[09:56] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): great
[09:56] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Okay last one from Coughran
[09:56] Coughran Mayo: Zinnia and I are both presenting at the Federatl Consortium of Virtual Worlds in two weeks http://www.ndu.edu/icollege/fcvw/index.htm
[09:56] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): go ahead sir
[09:56] Sarvana Haalan: Thanks
[09:56] Jen (jenelle.levenque): Office #1 in the SW corner of Plush
[09:56] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): congrats! I’m jealous
[09:56] Coughran Mayo: I believe most of this conference can be accessed online
[09:56] Sarvana Haalan: yep
[09:57] Coughran Mayo: instructions at the website
[09:57] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): tell those cats we want them to come talk at the NPC some time
[09:57] Zinnia Zauber: I am excited that several of my students and fellow grads from U of WA will be presenting as well,
[09:58] Zinnia Zauber: I hope you guys can join us online.
[09:58] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): you guys will be great
[09:58] Sister Abeyante: Zinnia, does that Consortium only focus on SL, or other VWs as well?
[09:58] Zinnia Zauber: All VWs
[09:58] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): lots of VWs
[09:58] Coughran Mayo: all 10 million of them
[09:58] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): exactly
[09:58] Par (parhelion.palou): even the VW Beetle
[09:58] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): ok I think we are at our time
[09:59] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): but thanks for another stimulating NPC meeting
[09:59] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): check the blog for the transcript of this session if you missed anything
[09:59] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): otherwise, we’ll see you soon here at the NPC!
[10:00] Zinnia Zauber: Mentors Meeting in 5 minutes.
[10:00] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): take care all
[10:00] Zinnia Zauber: Go get your refuel!
[10:00] alebez: have a great weekend, all.
[10:00] Buffy Beale: Bye all have fun
[10:00] Jen (jenelle.levenque): Right Zinnia
[10:00] Eliza (eliza.madrigal): Thanks everyone, informative meeting much appreciated

Written by: rikomatic

Fill Out this Survey on the Nonprofit Commons and You!

We have created a short survey that we would request that all organizations that are in any way involved with the Nonprofit Commons to fill out.  This includes people who regularly attend our weekly meetup, volunteers, groups that come to give announcements, and of course our tenant nonprofits.  We need your input to make sure that we are continuing to serve your diverse needs.

Click here to complete this short survey today.

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Written by: rikomatic

Transcript of NPC Meeting with Elizabeth Dean of RTI April 27 2012

NONPROFIT COMMONS MEETING
April 27 , 8:30am PST

Plush Nonprofit Commons Amphitheater
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Plush%20Nonprofit%20Commons/88/126/26

AGENDA

• 8:30am Introductions
• 8:40am Elizabeth Dean on Virtual Worlds for Social Research
• 8:55am TechSoup Announcements
• 9:05am Mentors Central
• 9:30am OpenMic/ Announcements

INTRODUCTIONS

[08:30] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Hi all welcome. Let’s get started as people are rezzing in.
[08:31] Zinnia Zauber: Good morning!
[08:31] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Our guest has to leave a bit early, so I’m rearranging the schedule a bit.
[08:31] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Welcome to the Nonprofit Commons weekly meetup in Second Life
[08:31] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): I’m Rik Panganiban, community manager here, working for TechSoup.org
[08:32] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): It’s great to be herre with you all thismorning.Joining me are my colleagues Glitteractica and Bulkalkak
[08:32] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Let’s begin, as we always do, with introductions
[08:32] Jen (jenelle.levenque): Bruce Hestley, Transgender American Veterans Association, Akron, OH, http://www.tavausa.org
[08:32] Zinnia Zauber: Renne Emiko Brock-Richmond, Sequim Humanities and Arts Alliance, Sequim, Olympic Peninsula, Washington. http://www.sequimartsalliance.org http://www.facebook.com/sequimartsalliance @renneemiko
[08:32] Panny Bakerly: Jeanne Booth, Freeport Historical Society, Freeport, NY www.freeporthistorymuseum.org; @FrptHisSoc
[08:32] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): please type into the text chat your real life name, organization, location in the world, URL and twitter handel, if you like.
[08:32] Em Ellsmere: Tina Walker, The ALS Association, Wash DC, http://www.alsa.org, @alsassociation
[08:33] Chad Mikado: Chad Gobert; National Service Inclusion Project; UMass Boston; www.serviceandinclusion.org
[08:33] Glitteractica Cookie: Hi, I’m Susan Tenby, Online Community and Social Director, TechSoup Global, San Francisco, CA USA @suzboop @techsoup
[08:33] Zotarah Shepherd: BEACH College, Santa Rosa, CA
[08:33] Ethelred Weatherwax: Dave Dextrer, Neenah Historical Society, Wisconsin USA
[08:33] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Rik Panganiban, Nonprofit Commons, TechSoup, Oakland CA, http://nonprofitcommons.org , @npsl @betterverse
[08:33] Ozma Malibu: Sandra Sutton Andrews, Floaters Org, Arizona, Mexico and On the Road
[08:33] Gentle Heron: Virtual Ability, Inc. www.virtualability.org You can learn more about this weekend’s Mental Health Symposium at our blog: http://blog.virtualability.org/
[08:33] Serene Jewell: Kathleen Watkins, Web Developer, Hypergrid Adventurer, San Francisco, CA
[08:33] bulaklak: Michael DeLong, Online Community Manager, TechSoup, @MichaelDeLongSF, www.techsoup.org @TechSoup
[08:33] Frances Meriman: Elizabeth Dean, RTI International, http://www.rti.org/
[08:33] Frances Meriman: @surveypost & @lizfrances
[08:33] alebez: Ale Bezdikian, Online Community Coordinator, TechSoup, SF, Ca. @TechSoup, @alebez
[08:34] jacmacaire Humby: Jacques Macaire HUMANBE http://www.humanbe.com ACTION TANK and Council on Sustainable Development France and International @Humanbe
[08:34] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Frances, come on down as we finish introductions
[08:34] Rhiannon Chatnoir: /me is Joyce Bettencourt in RL, chief creative of VesuviusGroup.com, co-founder of AvaCon.org (organizer of the yearly SLCC conference), Boston area, MA, @RhiannonSL & http://joycebettencourt.com
[08:34] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): you can sit next to glitteraactica
[08:35] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): welcome Rhiannon!
[08:35] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): any more intros?
[08:35] Red (talkwithmarie): Marie C.-talkwithmarie, aka Red., Greater Boston, Girls project/Girl TV/Talk!withmarie, http://youtube.com/girltvlive, http://youtube.com/talkwithmarie, @talkwithmarie
[08:36] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Let me introduce Frances Meriman
[08:36] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): aka Elizabeth dean , a program manager at RTI.
[08:36] Frances Meriman: Thank you Rik! This all came together pretty quickly so please ask questions as we go.
[08:37] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): I wanted to ask her to speak briefly about their work doing surveying using virtual worlds and other online media.
[08:37] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): After Frances, we’ll do the regular TechSoup update and Mentors Central
[08:37] Frances Meriman: My colleage Katherine Cunningham has been recruiting for a survey in world the past few months. Some of you may have met her. I’ll give a broader overview of what we’ve been doing at RTI in the past few years.
[08:38] Gentle Heron: /me knows KCunning

ELIZABETH DEAN OF RTI RESEARCH

[08:38] Frances Meriman: Sorry to interrupt, shall I get started Rik?
[08:38] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): yes of course
[08:38] Frances Meriman: RTI has sponsored several research and development initiatives to derive best practices for survey research in Second Life. Our staff have tested a variety of survey methods in the virtual environment, including respondent recruitment techniques, in-avatar interviewing, and self-administered kiosk surveys.
[08:39] CarynTopia Silvercloud: Caryn Heilman, Topia Arts Center, www.TopiaArts.org in the Berkshires of NW, MA @topiaartscenter
[08:39] Frances Meriman: Here are some details about how we do surveys.
[08:39] Frances Meriman: • Respondent recruitment methods include classified ads within Second Life, online user forums and blogs, word-of-mouth referrals, and networking among targeted groups. Other recruitment strategies include interactive kiosks avatars engage to receive more information on how to participate in a survey. Interested participants can also receive a link to an eligibility survey they can complete in their private web browser.
[08:39] Frances Meriman: • In-avatar interviewing involves an RTI staff avatar conducting a scripted interview in the RTI virtual interviewing facility, much like an in-person interview.
[08:40] Frances Meriman: • Self-administered kiosk surveys are also hosted in the virtual interviewing facility where an avatar interacts with an automated survey interface delivered at a kiosk.
• RTI is also conducting studies on the utility of virtual worlds for conducting cognitive interviews between avatars representing the interviewer and the respondent, recruiting and gaining survey cooperation from hard to reach populations, and measuring sensitive behaviors.
[08:40] Frances Meriman: Here is the link to our facility. http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Labro/127/159/42
[08:41] Frances Meriman: We blog about our research in Second Life on our blog SurveyPost. https://blogs.rti.org/surveypost/
[08:42] Frances Meriman: At SurveyPost, we blog about using other new forms of communication to enhance survey research methodology.
[08:42] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): So what have you found to be the most effective methods of surveying in Second Life?
[08:43] Frances Meriman: Well, a combination of methods. The most useful for us has been targeted networking and recruitment of specific groups to complete external web surveys. That is the work Katherine Cunningham has been working on.
[08:44] Frances Meriman: We have been looking for residents with different health conditions to complete that survey.
[08:44] Frances Meriman: I am leading a different project right now which is really interesting.
[08:45] Frances Meriman: In survey research, one method we use to pretest surveys is called cognitive interviewing. Usually it involves face to face interviews with research participants who basically test out yoru questionnaire for you.
[08:45] Frances Meriman: They answer questions, and the researcher asks things like, “How did you determine your answer?” and “What was unclear about that question.”
[08:46] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): so a survey and meta-survey
[08:46] Frances Meriman: Yes! And we are typically limited to people in our regional area to test our questions.
[08:46] Frances Meriman: I live & work in Durham NC so there can be a regional bias or limitation.
[08:47] Frances Meriman: But with this current research, we are recruiting SL residents from all over the world to participate in teh cognitive interviews in world.
[08:47] Frances Meriman: We are also doing some interviews via video Skype and in person in our lab in NC as comparison groups.
[08:47] Frances Meriman: The work is just in the data collection stage, so I can’t really say anything about different findings across groups.
[08:47] Zotarah Shepherd: Are your findings being published in a journal?
[08:47] Ozma Malibu: fascinating
[08:47] Frances Meriman: Some of our previous research has been published in journals.
[08:48] Frances Meriman: let me get the links for you
[08:48] Zotarah Shepherd: Thank you
[08:48] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): How does recruitment in SL compare to recruiting for real world respondents?
[08:48] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Do you pay people in Linden Dollars?
[08:48] Frances Meriman: a body image study of avatar interviewiers in JVWR: http://journals.tdl.org/jvwr/article/view/621/495
[08:49] Zotarah Shepherd: Thank you
[08:49] Frances Meriman: SSCR: survey recruitment methods in SL: http://ssc.sagepub.com/content/early/2011/05/23/0894439311410024.full.pd…
[08:50] Frances Meriman: Our early research paid people in Linden Dollars. That was during the SL boom in 2008-2009.
[08:50] Frances Meriman: The cognitive interveiwing research is paying people in Amazon gift cards – so it is similar to RL lab research in that way.
[08:51] Frances Meriman: I think Katherine’s study is also paying in Linden dollars. It just depends on the burden associated with the interview.
[08:51] Frances Meriman: here is one last publication: http://www.rti.org/pubs/rr-0014-1012-murphy.pdf
[08:51] Zotarah Shepherd: Thank you
[08:52] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): For our nonprofits interested in surveying our members or the public, do you have any advice on how to conduct an effective survey strategy?
[08:52] Frances Meriman: I have about 4 minutes. Any specific questions? I apologize for the rush job on this, it was very last-minute. Do other participatns in hte NPC conduct research? Or are people here service providers?
[08:52] Frances Meriman: There are two posts on our blog about this.
[08:52] Ozma Malibu: Hi Frances, I just retired as an edtech researcher at ASU
[08:52] Serene Jewell: Are you doing research in virtual worlds other than Second Life?
[08:53] Frances Meriman: https://blogs.rti.org/surveypost/2012/03/13/how-to-grow-your-virtual-rol…
[08:53] Gentle Heron: Those are not mutually exclusive, Frances (research and service provision).
[08:53] Frances Meriman: https://blogs.rti.org/surveypost/2012/02/09/5-tips-for-recruiting-resear…
[08:53] Frances Meriman: That is absolutely true Gentle Heron! 🙂 One of the reasons my research career is satisfying!
[08:53] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): great. we’lll post those to our blog later
[08:54] Gentle Heron: Service provision is improved by a little customer surveying!
[08:54] Frances Meriman: Serene – we are not doing research in other VWs yet but I am trying to understand how the other VWs work so we could consider that.
[08:55] Frances Meriman: Basically our view (amongst the RTI researchers who blog) is that social research should adapt to emerging communication technologies.
[08:55] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Frances, I know ou have to rush. But we’d love to have you back to talk more about your methods and findings
[08:55] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): We all want to know more about our target populations and constituents as nonprofits
[08:55] Frances Meriman: I would like to see us have an approach to virtual world/virtual reality data collection that includes other platforms that SL.
[08:55] Frances Meriman: That is a great point Rik. Do you meet every Friday?
[08:55] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): let’s thanks Frances for her time though.
[08:56] Zinnia Zauber: Thank you, Frances! This is great and helpful for us.
[08:56] CarynTopia Silvercloud: thanks frances
[08:56] Serene Jewell: This is great info. Thank you for your time and all the links.
[08:56] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Frances, yes we do
[08:56] Ozma Malibu: Thank you, Frances! And, it was great to meet you.
[08:56] jacmacaire Humby: Merci Frances!!! 🙂
[08:56] Zotarah Shepherd: Thank you Frances Great work!
[08:56] Frances Meriman: thank you so much for having me. Goodbye!
[08:56] Gentle Heron: /me applauds Frances and RTI.
[08:56] Jerry Buchko (jerrybuchko): very interesting, thank you Frances!
[08:57] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Ok that was a stimulating way to kick off our meetup today

TECHSOUP UPDATES

[08:57] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Now let’s move on to TechSoup updates
[08:57] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Bulaklak?
[08:58] bulaklak: Hi, folks!
[08:58] Glitteractica Cookie: hi
[08:58] bulaklak: So first up today, I’d like everyone to put on their thinking caps.
[08:58] Panny Bakerly: „ã°
[08:58] Gentle Heron: /me waves to Bulaklak.
[08:59] bulaklak: Today is Day Two of a two-day “sprint” to dream up some creative app ideas to solve food access and civic engagement issues
[08:59] bulaklak: What we would love is one of the following:
[08:59] bulaklak: If you are on Twitter, please tweet out your bright idea and tag it with #appitup some time today
[09:00] CarynTopia Silvercloud: oh, how fun
[09:00] Glitteractica Cookie: For example, the documentation of urban blight in a point/click/fix type of app
[09:00] bulaklak: If you are not on Twitter and you have a bright idea rigth this minute, please start shouting them out popcorn style and I will collect the ideas now
[09:00] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): so iOS and Android apps?
[09:00] Glitteractica Cookie: or matching food sources from restaurants and grocery stores to shelters in need
[09:00] Glitteractica Cookie: yes Rik
[09:00] Glitteractica Cookie: and also windows OS app
[09:00] bulaklak: If you don’t have a bright idea now but one comes to you some time today, please email them to community@techsoupglobal.org and put App it Up in the subject line
[09:01] Glitteractica Cookie: it’s not really the OS we are asking you to concern yourself with
[09:01] bulaklak: Okay…smartypantses start your engines
[09:01] bulaklak: Whose got ideas?
[09:01] Glitteractica Cookie: we want your ideas to send to the hhackers
[09:01] Ozma Malibu: I asked a class of young children about food access & they said: better delivery system (they thought a pipeline might work but were open to other ideas)
[09:01] Glitteractica Cookie: so, Ozma, we are looking for a more specific type pf idea
[09:02] Ozma Malibu: 🙂
[09:02] Glitteractica Cookie: or you can just tell us the need, and we will try to brianstorm
[09:02] CarynTopia Silvercloud: for small towns suffering with truck traffic, it might be nice to aggregate deliveries of restaurant supplies
[09:02] Glitteractica Cookie: Great idea Caryn
[09:02] bulaklak: Cool, Caryn
[09:02] Jerry Buchko (jerrybuchko): app(s) that help teach & link to urban farming/homesteading & cooperatives content
[09:02] DyVerse Jeffery-Steele (dyverse): an app to find farmers markets
[09:03] Glitteractica Cookie: We were talking about having a way to document graffitti in neighborhoods and have ppl sign up on an app to paint over it
[09:03] Ozma Malibu: for hungry and homeless, a system of getting food where it’s needed within a city for instance.
[09:03] CarynTopia Silvercloud: for the farmer’s market app having recipes and info on the foods in season at the moment would help
[09:03] Jerry Buchko (jerrybuchko): @DyVerse, wonder if it would be possible to find local farmers via Square?
[09:03] Buffy Beale: whispers Buffy Bye, Bridges for Women, Victoria BC Canada, http://www.bridgesforwomen.ca @bridges4women
[09:03] Glitteractica Cookie: maybe an app to report potholes in streets
[09:03] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Monterrey Bay Acquarium has a sustainable seafood app
[09:03] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/seafoodwatch/web/sfw_iphone.aspx
[09:04] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): for potholes in the UK: http://www.fillthathole.org.uk/
[09:04] Ozma Malibu: getting food where it’s needed could definitely use an app in which those with donations could say so. that kind of thing.
[09:04] DyVerse Jeffery-Steele (dyverse): an app to find local resturants that serve sustainable green meals
[09:05] jacmacaire Humby: Great!
[09:05] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): a more general reporting app is seeclickfix http://mashable.com/2011/06/29/seeclickfix/
[09:05] Zotarah Shepherd: Food banks work in this area also food stamps EBT cards that work like credit cards available at most food stores. Not for restaurants or cooked items which might be harder for homless who have no way to cook. ‘
[09:05] Jerry Buchko (jerrybuchko): @Ozma, or also maybe one that updates in real time the status of other resources as well, e.g. beds open at shelters & qualifying requirements, food shelf status, etc.
[09:05] CarynTopia Silvercloud: with that in mind with the app for sustainable meals if it can calculate the impact of going local in terms of saved gas, emissions, etc. that would be cool – and a metric for green economy value
[09:05] Glitteractica Cookie: yes Rik, but Marnie mentioned that the FIX part of see click fix isn’t really working
[09:06] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): ah!
[09:06] Ozma Malibu: Ah Jerry that would be so useful yes.
[09:06] Glitteractica Cookie: Caryn and Jerry, YES
[09:06] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): too bad, I liked that app
[09:06] Rhiannon Chatnoir: nod
[09:06] Glitteractica Cookie: they are looking at it, but it’s not really effective
[09:07] bulaklak: Great! You guys are full of good ideas. I’ve tweeted some of these out from @TechSoup with the #appitup hashtag
[09:07] bulaklak: If you think of more, please tweet them out and tag them #appitup or email them to community@techsoupglobal.org and put App it Up in the subject line
[09:08] DyVerse Jeffery-Steele (dyverse): a city tour walking app that shows the routes how many calories you would loose and uses gps to give facts about buildings and historic areas you pass
[09:08] CarynTopia Silvercloud: for those sensitive to hazardous chemicals (MCS, on chemo, elderly and children), it might be nice to have an app that could connect people with spaces that are clear or with people who are naturally nontoxic
[09:08] Jerry Buchko (jerrybuchko): @Ozma, and perhaps include educational content that would also be relevant, especially to those who may not find resources, e.g. content & tips from others about good & safe locations to sleep & weather the cold, foraging, etc
[09:08] Red (talkwithmarie): ooh cool idea @Dyverse
[09:08] bulaklak: That’s neat, DyVerse. Augmented reality
[09:08] Jen (jenelle.levenque): I apologize, but I have another meeting to get to RL
[09:08] Glitteractica Cookie: remember, these are for mobile devices and folks with limited tech/internet access
[09:08] Red (talkwithmarie): tc Jen
[09:09] Jen (jenelle.levenque): I love brainstorming
[09:09] Glitteractica Cookie: Jen– please send us your ideas
[09:09] Jen (jenelle.levenque): Apps might not be appropriate for a homeless person with no phone, but could be very useful to service providers to connect them with other services
[09:10] Jen (jenelle.levenque): So a food pantry might know where empty beds were at another provider
[09:10] Jerry Buchko (jerrybuchko): @Dyverse, yes & gps could be used for navigation maps to identify resources
[09:10] Serene Jewell: How about a project that collects anonymous stories from hungry people about what it is really like to be hungry and where they try to find food and why it’s not working and what needs to change.
[09:10] Jerry Buchko (jerrybuchko): @Glitteractica, would assume app could also go cross platform so could be accessed via public libraries as well?
[09:11] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Locavore app for iOS http://www.getlocavore.com/
[09:11] Red (talkwithmarie): how about train and bus stations?
[09:11] Jerry Buchko (jerrybuchko): does anyone know if there are pay as you go smartphones?
[09:11] Glitteractica Cookie: Jerry yes, but remember that often homeless folks are not allowed in public access lbs, and if they are they are limited to one hour sessions
[09:11] Jerry Buchko (jerrybuchko): free wifi is pretty broadly available
[09:12] Glitteractica Cookie: anyway, that is not really what we are discussing. I just wanted to make a point, that we are not necessarily looking for augmented reality, since it’s not going to help those in immediate need
[09:12] Jerry Buchko (jerrybuchko): can often pick up a signal in the parking lot of a coffee shop
[09:12] Glitteractica Cookie: we are looking for IDEAS to solve prblems
[09:12] Glitteractica Cookie: that is what I’d like to have you all focus on
[09:12] Hour Destiny: Ideas is one of my main strengths. 🙂
[09:12] Glitteractica Cookie: and we are fcosuing (at this time) on food and civic actions
[09:13] Serene Jewell: How about an app that lets people chip in to provide shelter and food for one particular person for a month.
[09:13] CarynTopia Silvercloud: if there is a site for carpooling that is like air b and b that has info about the person, if there were a localization connection in real time for people near each other it might be good
[09:13] Glitteractica Cookie: Hour — I mentioned you in the meeting yesterday
[09:13] Glitteractica Cookie: i knew you’d have ideas!
[09:13] Glitteractica Cookie: Serene… great idea!, Caryn… awesome!
[09:13] Hour Destiny: I’m all ears, so to speak. 🙂
[09:13] Ozma Malibu: yes Jerry and often someone in a group has a way to connect. I know a kid who uses a phone to find the best place to stand when hitchhiking
[09:13] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): INBloom helps you find organic, sustainable businessses http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/inbloom-preview/id486125682?mt=8
[09:14] Glitteractica Cookie: i love serene’s idea about carpooling a la Air BNB
[09:14] Glitteractica Cookie: Rik– fantastic
[09:14] Glitteractica Cookie: you guys are so full of great app ideas
[09:14] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Avegodriver does taht http://itunes.apple.com/ie/app/avego-driver/id369681885?mt=8
[09:14] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): “make your car into a bus”
[09:15] Serene Jewell: That was Caryn’s idea about carpooling fyi
[09:15] Hour Destiny: I’m currently working on an app that’ll function as a “second memory”.
[09:15] Glitteractica Cookie: Oh great idea Caryn… 😉
[09:15] Ozma Malibu: Hour, what does the app do?
[09:15] DyVerse Jeffery-Steele (dyverse): an app that gives the homeless population in the city or area you are in through gps and local ways to help and/or volunterr
[09:16] CarynTopia Silvercloud: cool rick, does it rate the passengers and offer any kind of insurance?
[09:16] Glitteractica Cookie: DyVerse… such a gr8 idea
[09:16] Jerry Buchko (jerrybuchko): @Ozma, Yes I think that social componet in an app could be very powerful, so allowing the homeless community to also contribute to the sharing of resources & useful info via the app
[09:16] Ozma Malibu: DyVerse. very nice.
[09:16] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): caryn, no idea. but seems well recommended
[09:17] Jerry Buchko (jerrybuchko): yes, like that idea DyVerse
[09:17] CarynTopia Silvercloud: cool with definitely check it out
[09:17] bulaklak: Okay, great. Thanks, everyone.
[09:18] bulaklak: Remember if you think of something else later, tweet it out with the tag #appitup or email it to us at community@techsoupglobal.org
[09:18] Ozma Malibu: DyVerse, the reason I like it so much is that In any situation, people can help, and helping others is the best and quickest way to improve one’s own life.
[09:18] Jerry Buchko (jerrybuchko): how about a smartphone recycling/donation program?
[09:18] Serene Jewell: How about an app that sends you an alert when there is an urban blight cleanup project in your area that needs volunteers.
[09:18] Glitteractica Cookie: Jerry, say more on that one plz?
[09:19] Jerry Buchko (jerrybuchko): people cycle & upgrade smartphones as the newer & better ones come
[09:19] Jerry Buchko (jerrybuchko): so why not start a program that takes donations and then dirstributes to those who might be able to use them
[09:19] Glitteractica Cookie: oh yes, gr8 one
[09:19] Hour Destiny: Most organizers or personal assistants uses a calendar or a list. My app is more like a mindmap or a radar that changes as you move around and/or time passes.
[09:19] Jerry Buchko (jerrybuchko): especially pay as you go smartphones
[09:20] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): (we should probably warp up this section. We still ahve mentors Central)
[09:20] jacmacaire Humby: An app to let us know if any product or service is eco!! 🙂
[09:20] bulaklak: Okay I have one more announcement from TechSoup!
[09:20] Glitteractica Cookie: Great brainstorm, folks!
[09:20] Jerry Buchko (jerrybuchko): awesome idea jam!
[09:20] bulaklak: In the same vein, TechSoup’s Glenn Fajardo wrote a great piece on the Stanford Social Innovation Review
[09:21] Serene Jewell: Many of these app ideas revolve around matching need with resources in a geographical way.
[09:21] bulaklak: He attended a gathering of the *Weekend Movement in Malaysia
[09:21] bulaklak: Please read about it here: http://bit.ly/IdE6Up
[09:21] bulaklak: The *Weekend Movement does much the same as what we were jsut brainstorming
[09:21] bulaklak: They address civil society issues in brainstorms and fix problems quickly
[09:22] bulaklak: So that’s the TechSoup news for today
[09:22] bulaklak: Thanks, all
[09:22] CarynTopia Silvercloud: nice
[09:22] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): awesome
[09:22] Jerry Buchko (jerrybuchko): awesome
[09:22] Hour Destiny: http://www.mind42.com is useful for brainstorming via mindmaps.
[09:22] jacmacaire Humby: For those who is interested to make an app to make our project of ECCOPLANET http://www.eccoplanet.com let us know..
[09:22] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Always good to do those idea jams “in avatar” on occasion here

MENTORS CENTRAL

[09:23] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): ok so lets move on to Mentors Central
[09:23] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): who speaks for the Mentors today?
[09:23] Zinnia Zauber: Thank you! Today we have Rhiannon, Ozma, and myself sharing about project teamwork.
[09:23] Ozma Malibu: We’re going to talk about a project we just finished outside the NPC: one that demonstrates three members of our very own NPC mentor team working together, each contributing different skills: Rhiannon, Zinnia and Ozma. It’s a good example of how mentoring works. The skills were:
[09:23] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): sweet
[09:23] Jerry Buchko (jerrybuchko): also, an open source collaborative mind-mapping tool In the same vein, TechSoup’s Glenn Fajardo wrote a great piece on the Stanford Social Innovation Review
[09:21] Serene Jewell: Many of these app ideas revolve around matching need with resources in a geographical way.
[09:21] bulaklak: He attended a gathering of the *Weekend Movement in Malaysia
[09:21] bulaklak: Please read about it here: http://bit.ly/IdE6Up
[09:24] Ozma Malibu: (sorry, trying to hurry..)
[09:24] Ozma Malibu: OK, again -We’re going to talk about a project we just finished outside the NPC: one that demonstrates three members of our very own NPC mentor team working together, each contributing different skills: Rhiannon, Zinnia and Ozma. It’s a good example of how mentoring works.
[09:24] Jerry Buchko (jerrybuchko): (yes mee too, got rushed … my bad)
[09:24] Buffy Beale: cheering!
[09:24] Ozma Malibu: Teamwork! Ozma: design the project, write the grant proposall
[09:25] Ozma Malibu: Rhiannon: along with my colleague Amulius Lioncourt, help design and build out the overall virtual experience for participants. And, additionally I helped with graphics/web/video support and documenting the project
[09:25] Ozma Malibu: Zinnia: help orient, train and was often the front line of onboarding and troubleshooting for all project participants
[09:25] Ozma Malibu: The project was funded by the Helios Education Foundation & titled IDEAL-ITQ.
[09:25] Ozma Malibu: And: Purpose of the project: to take existing, innovative, face-to-face science courses and put them online for rural teachers, using appropriate technologies for each area. SL was used for Science Inquiry, which is collaborative and hands-on (and obviously wouldn’t work well in something like Blackboard.)
[09:26] Ozma Malibu: Now I turn this over to Joyce!
[09:26] Ozma Malibu: Rhiannon that is.
[09:26] Rhiannon Chatnoir: either works.. and thanks
[09:26] Rhiannon Chatnoir: I will talk a bit about the overall virtual experience and some of the choices we made there…
[09:26] Rhiannon Chatnoir: The project had five key discipline areas: Science Inquiry (Problem Based Learning), Physical Science, Life Science, Earth and Space Science, Technology & Engineering
[09:26] Rhiannon Chatnoir: For IDEAL-ITQ, the Moodle based online courseware was also organized via these five areas.
[09:27] Hour Destiny: Why not MIT OpenCourseWare at http://ocw.mit.edu/index.htm ? There are free science courses there.
[09:27] Rhiannon Chatnoir: We had a key infographic we were using that was in essence a central sphere, with 5 smaller, color coded spheres spoking off of it.
[09:27] Rhiannon Chatnoir: We decided it was key to carry over this structure to the virtual experience and made the overall virtual build have a central meeting/gathering area, with five breakout meeting spaces.
[09:28] Second Life: Grace Cuthbertsson is online.
[09:28] Rhiannon Chatnoir: i moved the graphics over to show this evolution
[09:28] Rhiannon Chatnoir: .. and we can chat more on questions at the end, but am sure Ozma can ansewr that better then
[09:28] Rhiannon Chatnoir: Each break out area was color coded to coincide with the Moodle web experience so participants could login to SL and meet in their corresponding color area, there were also private meeting spaces assigned to each colored area, in the sky.
[09:28] Rhiannon Chatnoir: This unity in user experience design helped ease the jump from the web to Second Life.
[09:29] Rhiannon Chatnoir: … now will turn it over to Zinnia to talk on her part of things 🙂
[09:29] Zinnia Zauber: thank you
[09:29] Zinnia Zauber: Effective virtual world mentoring requires two main themes for me. 1. Encouraging an individual to express their best self through intent, action, and appearance. 2. Building an environment where participants actually feel like they are a unique and vital part of a community.
[09:29] Zinnia Zauber: On this project, I created two sets of slides for participants to review before logging in.
[09:29] Zinnia Zauber: The goal was to introduce them to Second Life before they entered and taught them how to befriend me once they entered. That way they knew they were not alone and would have a helpful guide to light the path for them.
[09:30] Zinnia Zauber: Assurance is key.

You can view those two sets of slides here: http://www.slideshare.net/renneemiko
[09:30] Zinnia Zauber: I gave the participants several times to meet with me for their introduction and custom avatar creation. We know that our avatars are an important expression in virtual worlds.
[09:30] Zinnia Zauber: Because most of our participants were science teachers, I created lab coats for them. This piece of apparel created unity and identity for them.
[09:30] Zinnia Zauber: But, it is important for them to also have unique appearances. As part of my skill training in Second Life always involves shopping to customize their avatar’s look.
[09:30] Glitteractica Cookie: This is fantastic Zinnia
[09:30] Zinnia Zauber: Once the participants feel comfy in their new virtual skins then they become bold and curious to learn more skills and explore more places in virtual worlds.
[09:31] Zinnia Zauber: Which was great because then I got to teach this group even more skills!
[09:31] Zinnia Zauber: It was great because they lead what they wanted to learn.
[09:32] Zinnia Zauber: That let Rhiannon to continue…
[09:32] Ozma Malibu: back to Rhiannon!
[09:32] Rhiannon Chatnoir: thanks.. another key area was making sure we shared what we were doing…
[09:33] Rhiannon Chatnoir: It is hugely important to share work with stakeholders, those who would be interested and your community at large.
[09:33] Rhiannon Chatnoir: During the project, we took lots of snapshots documenting the development of the project and it’s use

– building out the project: http://www.flickr.com/photos/joystudios/sets/72157629545268576/

– presentations: http://www.flickr.com/photos/thevesuviusgroup/sets/72157627533621594/
[09:33] Rhiannon Chatnoir: and will see some of those to our side, in the flickr show on a prim 🙂
[09:33] Rhiannon Chatnoir: We also documented fully via machinima capture the end problem based learning project presentations that took place in Second Life

– Roller Coaster Physics presentation: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4U9hC69kPE

– Geoliteracy – the Grand Canyon presentation: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ladDYLMwh58
[09:34] Rhiannon Chatnoir: those are links to the full, almost hour long presentations each.. if want a full view of the resulting end work that came out of this project from the participant teachers
[09:34] Rhiannon Chatnoir: and from all of this documentation, along with writing an accompanying concise/informative script, we created a 1 minute digital story of the overvall project.
[09:35] Rhiannon Chatnoir: Beyond the importance of sharing all of this media back with all of the stakeholders; project leads, participants and the grantees, we also took part in events such as Tech Soup’s digital storytelling contest. This helped to further hone the end story of the project and was a great opportunity to share, outreach, get more people aware of our work.

Look for synergy like this to share your message and work!
[09:35] Rhiannon Chatnoir: I will change the web on a prim to be our end digital story – a quick minute long video and we can take questions if there is time still
[09:36] Ozma Malibu: Questions?
[09:36] Serene Jewell: Wow. That was a great presentation.
[09:36] Ozma Malibu: Or the video first, Rhiannon?
[09:36] Buffy Beale: Fantastic work!
[09:36] Ozma Malibu: anyway…@Hour, good question, thanks. We were looking appropriate technologies for the various areas of science and also forming a community of science teachers so we chose technologies that we thought would ensure the continuity of the community. For content did use parts of one MIT course in a physical science course, along with google maps. We also used some Pearson content. But for the inquiry & problem-based learning, SL worked far better than anything else because the students got to learn by doing, and doing together.
[09:36] Gentle Heron: Great teamwork, gals.
[09:36] jacmacaire Humby: Great!!
[09:36] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): weshould do the video and then wrap. but great stuff!
[09:36] jacmacaire Humby: Bravo 🙂
[09:36] Ethelred Weatherwax: It’s great to hear about the exciting projects being undertaken by our NPC residents
[09:37] Zinnia Zauber: Thank you, Gentle! That is what it is about teamwork!
[09:37] Gentle Heron: Hear Hear, Ethelred!
[09:37] Ozma Malibu: we really did learn a lot about using SL properly in a course
[09:37] Rhiannon Chatnoir: and the video is up on the web on a prim now
[09:37] Jerry Buchko (jerrybuchko): awesome project
[09:37] Zinnia Zauber: We all have different skills and superpowers. This project let all of us use ours and in turn helped others to shine.
[09:38] Rhiannon Chatnoir: gives a good idea on how to create a overall message about your project that can combine the work you do in real life and here in second life
[09:38] Ozma Malibu: and this really is how mentoring works – teamwork – you can be a mentor!
[09:38] Rhiannon Chatnoir: http://youtu.be/-VyWMRmTyT4 if want to watch it later
[09:38] Buffy Beale: Will you be doing this again or was it a one time only?
[09:38] Ozma Malibu: well, we had some funding for this, but we are working on a second proposal
[09:38] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Awesome guys. This was more of a featured presentation than Mentors Central!
[09:39] Zinnia Zauber: Thank you, Rik! We have a lot to share and want to encourage folks.
[09:39] CarynTopia Silvercloud: nice to see how teamwork can produce great results
[09:39] Serene Jewell: What kind of feedback did you get from the participants?
[09:39] Gentle Heron: Rik, this kind of presentation would make a good “feature”.
[09:39] Rhiannon Chatnoir: aww thanks – we tried to make it as quick we could though.. thanks RIk, Glitter, etc 🙂
[09:40] Jerry Buchko (jerrybuchko): @Gentle, Agreed
[09:40] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): In the future we’d love to feature these kinds of elaborate multi-media projects more. So if you need more time and promotion, just ask
[09:40] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): but we should wrap for now and move on
[09:40] Buffy Beale: thanks for sharing
[09:40] Ozma Malibu: and thanks, team!! Zinnia and Rhiannon are the best of the best, seriously..
[09:41] Serene Jewell: Great work.
[09:41] Zinnia Zauber: It was a honor to work with you guys!

OPEN MIC

[09:41] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): ok who has items for the Open Mic ?
[09:41] Em Ellsmere: raises hand
[09:41] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): please put up your paws and I’ll call on you
[09:41] Gentle Heron: I do also.
[09:42] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Em go ahead, and then Gentle
[09:42] Em Ellsmere: thanks..
[09:42] Em Ellsmere: Next week starts ALS Awareness Month in May. There will be a variety of activities held in SL, including events with the Flying Tigers at Amelias on May 4 & 6, a hunt starting on May 1 that includes gifts from 20 quality shops; and my yearly candlelight vigil, though this year I have a booth outside my office where people can light candles all month long.
[09:42] Em Ellsmere: woud love to see you all joining in when you have time
[09:42] Em Ellsmere: ty 🙂
[09:43] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): thants great Em
[09:43] Buffy Beale: sounds fun Em
[09:43] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Gentle, you are up
[09:43] Gentle Heron: This weekend, please consider attending the VAI Mental Health Symposium- TOMORROW SATURDAY April 28 8am-5:30+pm
Find the full schedule on our blog: http://blog.virtualability.org/
[09:43] Gentle Heron: 8- Cognitive Rehabilitation
9- “Vodka and Saliva”
[09:43] Gentle Heron: 10- Pathways to Mental Health
*11- Why Virtual Counseling Is Advanced Telemedicine (keynote by Coughran!)
[09:43] Gentle Heron: 12- Counselor Education in Second Life
1- Neurobiology of PTSD
3- Mental Health & Peer Support
[09:43] Gentle Heron: 4- Mental Health Isn’t All Mental
*5- Mental Health & Minority Communities (presentation by DyVerse!)
[09:43] Gentle Heron: 5:30+ Celebration: Music & Dancing

Please join us for discussion and fun. Details in notecard that I can give you if you IM me.
[09:44] Gentle Heron: And, now that we in the Northern Hemisphere are getting into sun season, it’s time to think about protecting ourselves from melanoma. Please consider attending a fun and informative session by a Mayo Clinic surgeon today at noon.
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Mayo%20Clinic/34/195/28
Learn Not to (sun)Burn!
[09:44] Gentle Heron: (done!)
[09:44] Zinnia Zauber: Awesome!
[09:44] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): great! we posted this to the NPC blog too
[09:44] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): ok anymore announcements?
[09:45] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Do you guys agree I should have Frances back to talk more about how SL can be used to survey our members and the public?
[09:45] Buffy Beale: sure Rik
[09:46] Serene Jewell: yes
[09:46] Rhiannon Chatnoir: i have one quick
[09:46] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): go Rhiannon
[09:46] Gentle Heron: Please do invite Frances back. She has a lot more to share.
[09:46] Rhiannon Chatnoir: There have been a group of educators and edu techs exploring/learning together in a post VWBE online open courseware class that just wrapped up looking at virtual worlds and games based learning.
There will be two followup courses coming up. One a machinima camp: http://bit.ly/P2PUmachinima and also a ARG workshop: http://bit.ly/P2PU-ARG
[09:46] Zinnia Zauber: Wonderful!
[09:46] Rhiannon Chatnoir: a couple of of from nonprofit commons are part of this… so join us if interested
[09:46] Buffy Beale: ohh nice one Rhi
[09:47] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): thank Rhiannon
[09:47] Rhiannon Chatnoir: … oh.. and I am wearing rigged mesh feet here in SL (has toes!)
[09:47] Rhiannon Chatnoir: 😛
[09:47] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): ok that’s it for today I think
[09:47] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): lots of great intel for this morning
[09:47] Buffy Beale: lol wiggle your toes
[09:47] Rhiannon Chatnoir: sadly cant.. but intrigued by the detail to avatars rigged mesh can give
[09:48] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): I hope you have a great Friday and a restful weekend
[09:48] Rhiannon Chatnoir: wont see it unless you have a mesh enabled viewer 🙂
[09:48] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Mentors meeting after this?
[09:48] Rhiannon Chatnoir: thanks Rik
[09:48] Zinnia Zauber: Mentors Meeting in 5 minutes
[09:48] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): cool
[09:48] Zinnia Zauber: go get that refill
[09:48] Jerry Buchko (jerrybuchko): woot! back in 5
[09:48] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): I have to bounce I’m afraid
[09:48] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): but it was great seeing everyone again
[09:48] Buffy Beale: have a great weekend everyone
[09:48] Zinnia Zauber: See yah Rik!
[09:48] Jerry Buchko (jerrybuchko): bye Rik
[09:49] Zinnia Zauber: Take care everyone!
[09:49] Em Ellsmere: bye everyone
[09:49] Zinnia Zauber: Mentors in 4 minutes
[09:49] Serene Jewell: Great information everyone. Thanks for sharing and doing the wonderful work you do.
[09:49] Serene Jewell: Bye for now.

Written by: rikomatic

How Kids4Horses Is Helping Kids and Horses through Virtual Worlds This Friday May 4

At this Friday’s Nonprofit Commons meeting, come meet Ms. Ilene Morris , the founder and director of Kids4Horses, a nonprofit that uses virtual worlds to help ill and special needs children, while also assisting abandoned horses. Come learn about their creative model to help multiple causes through virtual world technology.

Also this week for Mentor’s Central, Sister Abeyante will be presenting how you can use Evernote to support your nonprofit goals.

Join us on Friday May 4 starting at 8:30am PT. See you at the Plush Nonprofit Commons amphitheater.


NONPROFIT COMMONS MEETING

May 4 , 8:30am PST

Plush Nonprofit Commons Amphitheater

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Plush%20Nonprofit%20Commons/88/126/26

AGENDA

  • 8:30am Introductions
  • 8:40am TechSoup Announcements
  • 8:45am Mentors Central: Sister Abeyante on Evernote
  • 8:55am Ilene Morris, Founder & Executive Director of Kids4Horses
  • 9:30am OpenMic/ Announcements

Written by: rikomatic

Elizabeth Dean on Virtual Worlds for Social Surveying at the NPC this Friday April 27

This Friday April 27, come learn about how virtual worlds are being used for new forms of surveying , social science data gathering, and health communications. Elizabeth Dean , a researcher and program manager at RTI International will talk about how her research firm is exploring Second Life , World of Warcraft, and other online worlds for potential in social science research. Learn more about their perspective on virtual worlds survey “laboratories” on their blog.

As always, we have news from TechSoup.org, knowledge from our Mentors Team, and open mic announcements! Join us on Friday April 27 starting at 8:30am PT. See you at the Plush Nonprofit Commons amphitheater.


NONPROFIT COMMONS MEETING

April 27 , 8:30am PST

Plush Nonprofit Commons  Amphitheater

AGENDA

  • 8:30am Introductions
  • 8:40am TechSoup Announcements
  • 8:45am Mentors Central
  • 8:55am Elizabeth Dean on Virtual Worlds for Social Research
  • 9:30am OpenMic/ Announcements

Written by: rikomatic

Virtual Ability Announces Mental Health Symposium on April 28 in Second Life

Virtual ability island

Virtual Ability, Inc. announces the 2012 Virtual Ability Mental Health Symposium, to be held Saturday, April 28, in Second Life. This symposium offers a variety of perspectives for thinking positively about mental health. 

Alice Krueger, president of Virtual Ability, Inc., noted, “A symposium is a formal meeting where individual presentations are followed by discussion. We intend these sessions to encourage audience participation with the presenters and especially with the content the presenters share. Mental health is too important a topic to ignore.”

The symposium’s keynote presenter is Dick Dillon of Innovaision, LLC. Dillon’s topic is “Why Virtual Counseling Should Be Viewed as Advanced Telemedicine.” He will explain why using virtual worlds for counseling allows better service than “real life” counseling.

Among the interesting topics at the symposium, MermaidSue Bailey, a counselor from the United Kingdom who conducts an active Second Life support group for people with disabilities, will lead a discussion of the importance of peer support for mental health. Roberto Salubrius, a former medical student misdiagnosed with agoraphobia, will use the story of his life to explain why mental health issues aren’t all mental. 

Presentations will take place at various locations in Second Life, including the Sojourner Auditorium on Virtual Ability Island (teleport link).

The full schedule of confirmed presenters is posted inworld and online. For the most up-to-date information, please see the Virtual Ability blog. 

Written by: rikomatic

SF / SL Online Community MeetUp with Marc Siegel of Simraceway on April 25

Next Wednesday April 25, starting at 7pm, the Nonprofit Commons will again be the virtual host for the mixed-reality “Online Community Meetup.”  This month we are featuring Marc Siegel of  the Simraceway race car driving game.  Learn about his approach to online community management and chat with your virtual neighbors.  We will be viewing a live stream video feed from San Francisco.   I’ll share your questions and comments with the speaker and the audience in SF.
 
Join us on Wednesday April 25 at the Plush Nonprofit Commons in Second Life.  
 
More details after the jump….

SF Online Community MeetUp with Marc Siegel of Simraceway

Wednesday, April 25, 2012, 7:00 PM

 

SF Online Community MeetUp is the free monthly gathering of online community managers, enthusiasts, and innovators to meet and discuss tools and strategies for building and managing effective communities.

Our guest speaker this month is Marc Siegel of Simraceway (race car driving game). He’ll lead a discussion on the human-centered aspects of community management: making people feel welcome, organizing volunteer leaders, and responding in ways to encourage (not squelch) dialogue. Marc will also speak about using community to build great products and the role played by analytics.

Here are all the ways you can take part in the event! Feel free to participate in any and all of these ways:

Follow the action on Twitter: hashtag#octribe.

Participate virtually in the Nonprofit Commons in Second Life (slurl to location in Second Life): http://bit.ly/nonprofitcommons. You can see a step-by-step guide for how to participate in Second Life.

Join the San Francisco Online Community Report MeetUp group on Facebook

Thanks to our generous sponsor, the Iron Cactus, for providing refreshments.

Written by: rikomatic

Transcript of NPC Meeting with Namaara MacMoragh of Etopia April 20 2012

To mark the occasion of Earth Day, the Nonprofit Commons welcomed Namaara MacMoragh, owner of the Etopia Eco-Community in Second Life, to our weekly meetup on April 20, 2012.

Read on for the full transcript of the meeting….

NONPROFIT COMMONS MEETING
April 20, 2012, 8:30am PST

Plush Nonprofit Commons Amphitheater
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Plush%20Nonprofit%20Commons/88/126/26

AGENDA

• 8:30am Introductions
• 8:40am TechSoup Announcements
• 8:45am Mentors Central: Harper Beresford with a Review of the Fashion for Life event in SL.
• 8:55am Etopia Island owner Namaara MacMoragh
• 9:30am OpenMic/ Announcements

INTRODUCTIONS

[08:21] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): morning folks!
[08:21] Chayenn: Bonjour Rik
[08:22] HB Eternal: Howdy Rikster
[08:22] Lissy Waydelich (lissy.racer): Good Morning
[08:26] Red (talkwithmarie): hey everybody:)
[08:27] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): is someone taking my picture? Is there anything in my teeth?
[08:28] jacmacaire Humby: Hi everyone…
[08:28] DyVerse Jeffery-Steele (dyverse): I think i see a piece of sourdough toast points at it
[08:28] Red (talkwithmarie): oh oh
[08:30] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): whispers: Good morning everyone, and welcome to the Nonprofit
[08:30] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Commons!
[08:30] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): I’m Rik Panganiban, community manager here from TechSoup.org
[08:31] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): It’s great to see everyone here today.
[08:31] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): As you should know, its EarthDay in a couple of days
[08:31] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): So we’re excited to have Namaara of Etopia coming to speak to us.
[08:31] Red (talkwithmarie): yay!
[08:31] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): But first, as always we introduce ourselves
[08:32] Red (talkwithmarie): Marie C.-talkwithmarie, aka Red., Greater Boston, Girls project/Girl TV/Talk!withmarie, http://youtube.com/girltvlive, http://youtube.com/talkwithmarie, @talkwithmarie
[08:32] Ronnie Rhode: Denise Harrison, The Garden for the Missing, http://www.gardenforthemissing.org/ and SLURL http://slurl.com/secondlife/Remora/203/148/21, Project Jason, assistance for families of the missing, http://www.projectjason.org.
[08:32] Chayenn: Monique Richert, Protect Yourself 1, Inc; Baltimore MD, protectyourself1.org, facebook.com/PY1US ; @PY1US
[08:32] HB Eternal: Harold W Becker, The Love Foundation, Florida, http://www.thelovefoundation.com @lovefoundation
[08:32] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Please type into the text chat your real life name, location, organization, URL and Twitter handle — if you like!
[08:32] Em Ellsmere: Tina Walker, The ALS Association, Washington DC, http://www.alsa.org, @alsassociation
[08:32] Gentle Heron: Virtual Ability, Inc. www.virtualability.org
[08:32] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): This is for our meeting today and our records for later.
[08:32] Sister Abeyante: Sister Patrice Colletti, SDS Milwaukee, WI @SisterAbeyante http://4equalrights.blogspot.com/ as well as a volunteer with Virtual Ability, Inc.
[08:32] Panny Bakerly: Jeanne Booth, Freeport Historical Society, Freeport, NY www.freeporthistorymuseum.org; @FrptHisSoc
[08:32] bulaklak: Michael DeLong, TechSoup, www.techsoup.org, @TechSoup @MichaelDeLongSF
[08:32] Jen (jenelle.levenque): Bruce Hestley, Transgender American Veterans Association, Akron, OH, http://www.tavausa.org
[08:32] Zinnia Zauber: Renne Emiko Brock-Richmond, Sequim Humanities and Arts Alliance, Sequim, Olympic Peninsula, Washington. http://www.sequimartsalliance.org http://www.facebook.com/sequimartsalliance @renneemiko
[08:32] Brena Benoir: Brenda Bryan, Preferred Family Healthcare, Kirksville, Missouri, www.pfh.org, @brenabenoir
[08:33] Ozma Malibu: Sandra Andrews, Floaters Org, Arizona, Mexico & On the Road, @ozma
[08:33] alebez: ale bezdikian, online community coordinator, techsoup, @alebez, @techsoup
[08:33] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Rik Panganiban, Oakland CA, Nonprofit Commons / TechSoup.org, http://nonprofitcommons, @betterverse @npsl
[08:33] jacmacaire Humby: Jacques Macaire HUMANBE http://www.humanbe.com Action Tank and Council on Sustainable Development France and International @Humanbe
[08:33] Glitteractica Cookie: Susan tenby, Online Community and Social Media director, TechSOup, SAn Francisco, CA usa @suzboop @techsoup
[08:35] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): anyone else?
[08:35] Kali Idziak: Jessica Dally, Community Voice Mail, Seattle, WA @jessicadally @cvmnational
[08:35] DyVerse Jeffery-Steele (dyverse): Ricky Davis San Antonio Online DJ, Peer support for chronic illness www.restorecenterforhealthyliving.com
[08:36] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): welcome all
[08:36] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): And if I wasn’t clear, you don’t ahve to be with an organization. We still would love to know who you are!

TECHSOUP.ORG UPDATES

[08:37] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): And now lets get an update from TechSoup.org, the founder of the Nonprofit Commons
[08:37] Lissy Waydelich (lissy.racer): hello im not with a group or organization
[08:37] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Lissy, that’s fine. Who are you and where are you from?
[08:37] bulaklak: Hi, all! Happy Friday, if it is Friday in your area.
[08:37] Glitteractica Cookie: And how did you hear about NPC? What brings you here?
[08:38] Lissy Waydelich (lissy.racer): this is only my second day back at sl after a yeear off , im looking for a group i would like to devote my time to
[08:38] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): great thanks for coming!
[08:38] bulaklak: Welcome, Lissy!
[08:39] Lissy Waydelich (lissy.racer): ty
[08:39] bulaklak: So…as Rik mentioned this Sunday is Earth Day. TechSoup honored this day this week with our latest episode of Nonprofits Live hosted by InKenzo
[08:39] Jerry Buchko (jerrybuchko): welcome Lissy 🙂
[08:39] Buffy Beale: whispers Buffy Bye, Bridges for Women, Victoria BC Canada, http://www.bridgesforwomen.ca @bridges4women
[08:39] bulaklak: We talked all about green tech with guests from the San Francisco dept. of the environment and 350.org
[08:40] jasminia Jinn: got it
[08:40] bulaklak: The recording is up: http://bit.ly/HPAjMK
[08:40] bulaklak: Please watch it to learn all about current green tech issues
[08:40] bulaklak: These are a team effort, of course, produced by TechSoup
[08:40] bulaklak: with InKenzo as our bubbly emcee
[08:41] Jen (jenelle.levenque): Welcome back to SL Lissy
[08:41] Buffy Beale: yay InK!
[08:41] Lissy Waydelich (lissy.racer): thank you
[08:41] bulaklak: We also have a webinar coming up on April 26 about finding funders for your cause
[08:41] bulaklak: You can RSVP here: http://bit.ly/IRT2Rj
[08:42] bulaklak: This is in partnership with the Foundation Center
[08:42] bulaklak: Who do amazing work
[08:42] bulaklak: That’s about it for today
[08:42] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): I’m sure we could all use help finnding more funders!
[08:42] bulaklak: Thanks all and have a great weekend!
[08:43] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Folks it really helps the NPC when you attend other non-SL webinars and trainings, soI highly encourage you to take advantage of them
[08:43] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Ok so lets move on to the mentors

MENTORS CENTRAL

[08:43] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Who speaks for Mentors Central today?
[08:43] Zinnia Zauber: Harper Beresford, the lead of Fashion for Life, is joining us today for Mentor Central. Fashion for Life is the fashion arm of the Relay For Life movement in Second Life supporting the American Cancer Society.
[08:44] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): awesome!
[08:44] Buffy Beale: cheering!
[08:44] Gentle Heron: YAY Harper!
[08:44] Harper (harper.beresford): Hi, everyone! 🙂
[08:44] Zinnia Zauber: Thank you Harper for being here!
[08:44] Harper (harper.beresford): Thanks for inviting me, Zinnia 🙂
[08:44] Jerry Buchko (jerrybuchko): very cool!
[08:44] Brena Benoir: Woohoo Harper
[08:44] Zinnia Zauber: my pleasure!
[08:44] Second Life: Orson Winterwolf is offline.
[08:44] Harper (harper.beresford): As Zinnia said, I was the lead for Fashion for Life, which is the opening event for the Relay for Life season in SL 🙂
[08:45] Harper (harper.beresford): This year we raised as of today: 5,431,850 L
[08:45] Harper (harper.beresford): for the American Cancer Soceity
[08:45] Namaara MacMoragh: wow! that’s great
[08:45] Harper (harper.beresford): Fashion for Life is a 10 day event across 10 sims
[08:45] Jerry Buchko (jerrybuchko): woot!
[08:45] Harper (harper.beresford): where SL content developers donate content which is sold with all proceeds going to Relay for Life as well as selling their own content
[08:46] Harper (harper.beresford): it’s specifically content that is worn on avatars–hair, skins, dresses, accessories, etc
[08:46] Harper (harper.beresford): everyone who works on the project does so on a volunteer basis–builders, organizers, etc
[08:46] Harper (harper.beresford): and designers participating donate on a leveled sponsorship basis
[08:47] Second Life: Charles2 McCaw is online.
[08:47] Harper (harper.beresford): our aim for Fashion for Life is encompassed in our mission statement, which you can find on our website
[08:47] Harper (harper.beresford): http://www.fashionforlifesl.org/
[08:47] Harper (harper.beresford): “Simply put, our mission is to maximize donations to the American Cancer Society via the SL Relay for Life while creating a great sales environment for in-world avatar content (including lowered lag). Our goal is provide complete transparency in financial and operational actions to all residents. And to have fun doing this!”
[08:47] Second Life: DASH (dash.renoir) is online.
[08:47] Harper (harper.beresford): When we adhere to the mission,we find we are very successful and get a lot of fun out doing Fashion for Life.
[08:48] Harper (harper.beresford): This year we received additional sponsorship from Dream Seeker Estates Corporation, who underwrote all our sims
[08:48] Harper (harper.beresford): which was a very generous contribution
[08:48] Harper (harper.beresford): we were also assisted in promotion by Linden Lab
[08:49] Harper (harper.beresford): So I have explained, I think, what Fashion for Life is.. I feel like I have said about 2 minutes worth of stuff but do you have questions?
[08:50] jasminia Jinn: How old is the organizatin
[08:50] Harper (harper.beresford): Relay for Life is a branch fo the American Cancer Soceity specifically
[08:50] Harper (harper.beresford): Fashion for Life has run for 6 years in Second Life under various names
[08:51] jasminia Jinn: 🙂
[08:51] mdubensky: It seems like a lot of work for only 10 days, why don’t you have it year round?
[08:51] Harper (harper.beresford): we took the “For Life” moniker last year so we could differentiate ourselves from other RFL activities in SL
[08:51] Harper (harper.beresford): the Relay for Life season in SL extends from March to July
[08:51] Harper (harper.beresford): in part because people get worn out with RFL constantly being in place here
[08:51] Harper (harper.beresford): and because the people who run these things volunteer also need a break
[08:52] Em Ellsmere: how many staff/volunteers do you have?
[08:52] Harper (harper.beresford): so we coincide with the general fund raising season for RFL
[08:52] Harper (harper.beresford): for Fashion for life, we had me as lead, two folks to assist and 10 builders
[08:52] Harper (harper.beresford): all volunteer
[08:52] Zinnia Zauber: Building those connections with RL and SL, how do people know the money that is earned goes to the actual American Cancer Socieity?
[08:53] Harper (harper.beresford): That’s a great question. The Relay for Life board in SL has set up very rigorous standards for us to follow
[08:53] Harper (harper.beresford): this includes using THEIR scripted vendors in world, which are carefully vetted by the in world board members and even more importantly, Jeff Montague, who represents the American Cancer Society
[08:54] Harper (harper.beresford): so all activities of money, logo usage, etc, are monitored by him
[08:54] Harper (harper.beresford): and i will be frank, he looks
[08:54] Harper (harper.beresford): he is very particular about our adhering to their standards of PG content, money handling, etc
[08:54] Zinnia Zauber: That is great!
[08:54] Harper (harper.beresford): when we did fashion for life, we used a specific separate avatar to gather monies, which was only accessible by Harper’s driver and Jeff Montague
[08:55] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): This is a great example of a community widefundraising effort for a good cause
[08:55] Buffy Beale: It sure is, maybe he can come give us some tips here too
[08:55] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): I wish all funderaisers in SL were so rigorous
[08:55] Harper (harper.beresford): those monies were then turned over to the RelayforLife AmericanCancer avatar via a kiosk
[08:55] Harper (harper.beresford): it was the only way i was going to personally volunteer my time for any fund raising in SL
[08:55] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Great idea, Buffy. We’d love to have Jeff here to talk about it
[08:55] Harper (harper.beresford): i have been always critical of how fund raisers are run in SL
[08:56] Harper (harper.beresford): and when I got the opportunity to be associated with them, I asked Jeff many question
[08:56] Harper (harper.beresford): s
[08:56] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): ok we should move on I’m afraid….
[08:56] Em Ellsmere: thank you Harper
[08:56] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): but thanks so much for the report Harper! and all the work taht youdo!
[08:56] Harper (harper.beresford): thank you! 🙂
[08:56] Jerry Buchko (jerrybuchko): thanks Harper!
[08:56] Buffy Beale: thanks Harper it’s a great event and become a signature one for SL
[08:56] Brena Benoir: Thank you Harper!
[08:56] Gentle Heron: Great info Harper, and a great cause.
[08:56] Harper (harper.beresford): visit our website at http://fashionforlifesl.org 🙂
[08:56] Zinnia Zauber: This is great, Harper!
[08:56] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Namaara can you come down please?
[08:57] Zinnia Zauber: I think we need to have you join us again sometime for more info!

ETOPIA ECO-COMMUNITY

[08:57] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): We are happy to have back Maraara MacMoragh to the NPC
[08:57] Namaara MacMoragh: 🙂
[08:57] Buffy Beale: Cheering for Namaara!
[08:57] Brena Benoir: Good idea Zinnia!
[08:57] Zinnia Zauber: Rah Namaara!
[08:57] Namaara MacMoragh: good morning
[08:58] Namaara MacMoragh: hehe… I have a gift giver I couldn’t rez
[08:58] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): In honor of Earth Day, we asked Namaara to come talk with us about Etopia Eco-communities
[08:58] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Namaara, give it to me and I can rez it
[08:58] Namaara MacMoragh: Sure… Rik thanks
[08:58] Gentle Heron: YAY Namaara, and welcome.
[08:59] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): take it away!
[08:59] Namaara MacMoragh: First, I want to say WOW! Harper that was a great report and success for your fundraising.
[08:59] Harper (harper.beresford): thanks 🙂
[08:59] Namaara MacMoragh: I want to say thanks to everyone for this opportunity to share with you. I love having the opportunity to
share more of the work we’re doing at Etopia.
[08:59] Namaara MacMoragh: Last month we collaborated with Virtual Ability to sponsor
music, networking opportunities, and presentations about Brain
Injury. It was very successful and the Brain Energy Support
Team (http://brainenergysupportteam.org) raised $L 8,000 in
individual donations. I also made new friends and learned a lot.
[09:00] Gentle Heron: /me smiles.
[09:00] Namaara MacMoragh: I see my chat is giving those symbols
[09:00] Namaara MacMoragh: hang on a sec I can fix that….
[09:00] Zinnia Zauber: Rah BEST!
[09:01] Namaara MacMoragh: hehe… that didn’t work
[09:01] Namaara MacMoragh: anyway… please hang in there and I’m open to questions too
[09:02] Namaara MacMoragh: about last month… it was so much fun
[09:02] Namaara MacMoragh: To me that’s what the collaborations, presentations… events…
bring to individuals… the opportunity to learn and build
community.
[09:02] Namaara MacMoragh: And that’s what Etopia is about.
[09:02] Namaara MacMoragh: WilliamTheWise Goodman founded Etopia in 2007 with a vision
of bringing into SL awareness of real world environmental issues
and demonstrating that there are solutions. In 2009 I purchased
the sims from him and began a movement toward expanding the
ideas to embrace things that I was also engaged in
professionally and personally; cooperatives, nonprofits, and organizational sustainability.
[09:03] Namaara MacMoragh: There’s a Buddhist concept “esho funi” which is oneness of self
and the environment. This is the mantra, actually motivation, for developing Etopia for the future.
[09:03] Namaara MacMoragh: The core of Etopia is “Sustainable Living” in all its aspects and
this year, our 5th year in SL, we are celebrating that idea by
embracing our residents and their real world contributions as
part of our SL community. And April 22nd is not only our 5th
birthday, but it’s (not coincidently) Earth Day.
[09:03] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): wow, congrats!
[09:04] Namaara MacMoragh: (note to self… sloppy chats are good reason for using presentation HUD)
[09:04] Namaara MacMoragh: Yes, we’re so excited to be around for 5 years
[09:04] Gentle Heron: /me smiles at Namaara!
[09:04] Jerry Buchko (jerrybuchko): 🙂
[09:04] bulaklak: happy birthday!
[09:04] Buffy Beale: wow, 5 years is a lifetime!
[09:04] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): that’s like20 years in the real world
[09:04] Second Life: Naring’nari (joey.aboma) is online.
[09:04] bulaklak: lol Rik
[09:04] Namaara MacMoragh: It certainly feel like a long time, but we’re aware it’s a flash in the pan.
[09:04] Second Life: Etopia Birthday & Earth Day Gift owned by secondlife:///app/agent/e87973b9-4e5f-41f9-b9a4-3efa6d1d8b43/about gave you ‘! Etopia Birthday & Earth Day gift’ ( http://slurl.com/secondlife/Plush%20Nonprofit%20Commons/117/125/22 ).
[09:05] Namaara MacMoragh: I see so many great sims going away and I’m determined to stay.
[09:05] Namaara MacMoragh: We have so much to offer and so many great folks we collaborate with.
[09:05] Namaara MacMoragh: But let me continue… hehe…
[09:05] Namaara MacMoragh: Earth Day marks the start of what’s considered the “modern”
environmental movement in 1970. I don’t know how many of you
were around then, but I was a teenager and by 1973 I was an
environmental activist turning my parents’ back yard into a demo
project of things I was learning from Mother Earth News.
[09:05] Namaara MacMoragh: There was a lot going on in 1970 besides the breakup of the
Beatles. In America the hippies really! brought the idea of
environment to the forefront of our thinking (right after protesting
Viet Nam). Actually, there was a book by Rachel Carson
published in 1962, Silent Spring. That book, about watershed
issues, and Carson’s activism raised awareness about the need
for environmental stewardship and concern for public health.
[09:06] Namaara MacMoragh: The Earth Day Theme for 2012 is “Mobilize The Earth.” You can
find out more at http://earthday.org Even the EPA has a web
page celebrating Earth Day at http://www.epa.gov/earthday
[09:06] Namaara MacMoragh: Am I moving too fast?
[09:06] Namaara MacMoragh: My RL avi has had too much coffee this morning.
[09:06] Harper (harper.beresford): lol
[09:06] bulaklak: hehe
[09:06] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): I’m fine. Others?
[09:06] Second Life: David Burden (corro.moseley) is offline.
[09:07] bulaklak: Good pace for me, thanks!
[09:07] jasminia Jinn: OK
[09:07] Namaara MacMoragh: great…
[09:07] Namaara MacMoragh: There’s also a lot going on all over SL this weekend (especially
Etopia).
[09:07] Sister Abeyante: /me scrolls back easily if needed.
[09:07] Namaara MacMoragh: 🙂
[09:07] Namaara MacMoragh: Etopia welcomes environmentalists, educators, nonprofits, and
others to share their message and engage in sustainable
community building.
[09:07] Jerry Buchko (jerrybuchko): yup, keeping up 🙂
[09:07] Namaara MacMoragh: For example Calicann set up a Humane Education shop on our
Etopia Island Plaza and is also hosting drumming circles in our
Forest.
[09:08] Namaara MacMoragh: We are proud to also be home to Options Senagal. Options
Senegal is the technical training, product supplier and support
center and on-going sales, marketing and customer service
organization for Ecolign Economic Interest Groups (GIEs) in
Senegal. Their focus is economic development that is
environmentally-minded.
[09:08] Namaara MacMoragh: You can read more about their build at Etopia here:
http://optionssenegal.com/2012/03/29/meet-avatar-jasminia-jinn/
[09:08] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Wow, fantastic!
[09:08] Namaara MacMoragh: Jasminia is here today.
[09:08] jasminia Jinn: Hi all
[09:08] bulaklak: How have you made your message easily shareable? Do you have a specific strategy around that?
[09:08] Namaara MacMoragh: Jasminia will be hosting a tour and presentation about the
project on Sunday, 4/22 at 1pm SLT. Details are on the event
card included in the Etopia gift (big birthday box up front here).
[09:08] Glitteractica Cookie: Good question Bulaklak
[09:09] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Perhaps Jasminia could come back another time and talk more about that?
[09:09] jasminia Jinn: Sure
[09:09] Namaara MacMoragh: Wonderful!!
[09:09] Second Life: jasminia Jinn is online.
[09:09] Namaara MacMoragh: Did I mention Jasminia will be hosting a tour and presentation about the
project on Sunday, 4/22 at 1pm SLT. Details are on the event
card included in the Etopia gift (big birthday box up front here).
[09:09] Gentle Heron: YAY Jasminia!
[09:10] Namaara MacMoragh: We have a presentation by Windy Schor on Monday about Wind
(you should see our turbines). We also have a water
reclaimation plant, peak oil display, and Food Cooperative.
[09:10] Namaara MacMoragh: Speaking of Cooperatives, I’ll be talking about Co-ops and
economic empowerment on Sunday morning at 10:30 SLT.
[09:10] Namaara MacMoragh: Etopia is not only educational, it is fun. We really! are about
community and showcasing the work our residents and friends
are doing in the real world that impact not only the environment,
but our work and our lives.
[09:10] Namaara MacMoragh: There’s soooo much more I could share, but I’ll stop here and
ask that you visit us as part of your exploration of Second Life.
[09:11] Namaara MacMoragh: Are there questions or more comments?
[09:11] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Can you tell us any tips about how you have lasted this long, despite all of the challenges of Second Life?
[09:11] Buffy Beale: Question: Do you have a presence in any other grids or do you focus on SL?
[09:12] Jerry Buchko (jerrybuchko): @Namaara, Can you share a slurl for the Sunda Co-Ops talk?
[09:12] jacmacaire Humby: Do you accept exchange with other SIM like Eco Commons?
[09:12] Namaara MacMoragh: I will admit I’ve invested quite a bit in fees out of my consulting work. But we’ve been around mostly because of the folks that live and work at Etopia. We have fun and work together to keep Etopia vibrant.
[09:12] Namaara MacMoragh: Other grids…
[09:13] Namaara MacMoragh: we’re working with Anya from Fearless Nation to work out mutual presence and at some point there may be an Etopia on SpotOn3D
[09:13] Namaara MacMoragh: slurl for the co-op presentation is in the notecard in the gift
[09:14] Namaara MacMoragh: Yes I would be open to exchanges with other sims like the EcoCommons
[09:14] Jerry Buchko (jerrybuchko): awesome, thanks!
[09:14] jacmacaire Humby: 🙂
[09:14] Namaara MacMoragh: SL is a great collaboration platform.
[09:14] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): for those who ask about how virtual worlds can help protect the earth, what do you tell them?
[09:14] Namaara MacMoragh: We support one another and spread the word aobout our work.
[09:15] Namaara MacMoragh: I avoid the mercury discussion and focus on the diminished travel costs and carbon footprints from that perspective
[09:15] Namaara MacMoragh: I also focus on productivity and quality of the time spent working and personally
[09:15] Namaara MacMoragh: Did that answer the question Rik?
[09:15] Namaara MacMoragh: And did I get everyone’s questions?
[09:15] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Well I mean from a larger climate change perspective
[09:15] bulaklak: What is the mercury discussion?
[09:16] bulaklak: With respect to SL?
[09:16] jacmacaire Humby: What is the aim of Etopia? Profit or Non profit?
[09:16] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): i.e. we have presidential candidates who as part of their platforms deny that climate change exists
[09:17] Namaara MacMoragh: To be honest my background, Rik, is in organizational sustainabilty. Global warming and the bigger conversations are handled through the many presentations our more knowledgable folks do.
[09:17] Namaara MacMoragh: Also the mercury issue is about the content in computers and it’s affect on the earth via land dumps etc
[09:17] Namaara MacMoragh: Etopia is not a nonprofit corporation.
[09:18] Namaara MacMoragh: It’s an extension of a vision of an urban development firm (WilliamTheWise is Zev Piass in real life)
[09:18] bulaklak: Ah, got it. Thanks, Namaara!
[09:18] Namaara MacMoragh: and my own vision of how we can live and work together
[09:19] Namaara MacMoragh: (whew… I think I’m caught up now)
[09:19] Delia Lake: I did a presentation on mercury for Global Kids in January here in sl. I believe it is posted on their website, and I also have a copy of the slideshow on the platform at the Center for Water Studies if anyone is interested
[09:19] Gentle Heron: /me is glad Delia and Namaara coexist.
[09:19] Namaara MacMoragh: We would love to have you present at Etopia if you’re interested Delia.
[09:19] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Well that’s already a powerful contribution to the public discourse, if we can model better ways of liing on the earth
[09:19] Namaara MacMoragh: thank you Gentle… me too.
[09:19] Delia Lake: sure, Nam, I’ll give you a copy
[09:19] Namaara MacMoragh: Be sure to get a gift and visit us at http://etopiaisland.org.
[09:19] Delia Lake: and ty Gentle 🙂
[09:20] Namaara MacMoragh: Is there anything else?
[09:20] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Delia reminds me that there are probably other groups that wor kon environmental issues here with us today
[09:20] Buffy Beale: Great job Namaara for a worthy issue
[09:20] Namaara MacMoragh: I’d love to chat with all of you and see how we can collaborate.
[09:20] jacmacaire Humby: Thank you Namaara… 🙂
[09:20] Namaara MacMoragh: Thank you all for having me here today and visit us.
[09:20] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Who elsse is here representing an environmental cause or development issue?
[09:20] Namaara MacMoragh: 🙂
[09:21] jacmacaire Humby: Come to visit us in Eco Commons..
[09:21] Namaara MacMoragh: I love EcoCommons
[09:21] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): thanks again Namaara, as always
[09:21] Namaara MacMoragh: I walk through now and again when I’m not cleaning up Etopia
[09:21] Namaara MacMoragh: lol
[09:21] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): we admire what you and your team does at Etopia so much!
[09:21] Namaara MacMoragh: Thank you Rik… I’m always happy to be here
[09:21] Zinnia Zauber: Awesome!
[09:21] bulaklak: Great presentation! I learned a lot.
[09:21] Namaara MacMoragh: whether I present or not 🙂
[09:21] Gentle Heron: Great work Namaara.
[09:22] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): If I wasn’t active at theNPC, Etopia is where I would be
[09:22] Namaara MacMoragh: wow! Rik, that means a lot
[09:22] Namaara MacMoragh: I love working with TechSoup and NPC
[09:22] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Delia, can you remind folks about the work that your group does?
[09:22] Red (talkwithmarie): ty Namaara! super work!
[09:22] jacmacaire Humby: and Eco Commons Rik 🙁
[09:22] Namaara MacMoragh: It was one of my first places when I entered SL in 2008
[09:23] Namaara MacMoragh: ty Marie
[09:24] Delia Lake: yes. I’d be glad to do that
[09:24] Zinnia Zauber: Awesome!
[09:24] Delia Lake: my focus in sl is Water and other issues of basic sustainability
[09:24] Namaara MacMoragh: We have a great water reclaimation plant
[09:25] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): I think water is pretty important! It’s a principal ingredient of coffee!
[09:25] Namaara MacMoragh: absolutely Rik
[09:25] Gentle Heron: also the principal ingredient in human bodies.
[09:25] 01 Hifeng: xD *sips her coffee*
[09:25] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): that too!
[09:25] Delia Lake: I manage the Center for Water Studies here in sl. the Center is a public space were we have discussions and presentations about water and also a number of teachers use the site for classes over the years
[09:25] Namaara MacMoragh: agreed Gentle
[09:25] Namaara MacMoragh: I think we can work together for sure Delia.
[09:26] Delia Lake: there are 7 realistically portrayed water ecosystems there
[09:26] Delia Lake: with notecards that have information
[09:26] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): nice! What is the SLURL of those?
[09:26] Second Life: Ronnie Rhode is online.
[09:27] Delia Lake: I’m also involved with the Abyss which is a project started by NOAA and now managed for JAMSTEC which is the Japanese marine and earth sciences agency
[09:27] Namaara MacMoragh: I’ll include the slurl and this message in my Earth Day talks, too Marie
[09:27] Namaara MacMoragh: oops, Delia
[09:27] Namaara MacMoragh: (embarassed and confused apparently)
[09:27] Delia Lake: this is the Center lm
[09:27] Delia Lake: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Better%20World/48/28/21
[09:28] Delia Lake: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Second%20Earth%203/128/128/21
[09:28] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): great!
[09:28] Delia Lake: the second is Abyss
[09:28] Delia Lake: I am particularly interested in collaborating with others in sl
[09:28] Second Life: Petlove Petshop is online.
[09:29] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): thats what we’re here for, Delia
[09:29] Delia Lake: and am very much committed to inventing ways that we can transfer knowledge and engagement between sl and rl organizations
[09:29] Red (talkwithmarie): ty Namaara:) would love those too.
[09:29] jacmacaire Humby: Don’t hesitate Delia.. You know me.. 🙂
[09:29] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Any other eco-focused groups want to mention whaat they are doing before wego to Open Mic?
[09:29] Delia Lake: imo, we all need to develop a better WaterSense
[09:30] Second Life: Ronnie Rhode is offline.
[09:30] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): here’s a list of EarthDay 2012 activites in SL for your reference: http://www.betterverse.org/2012/04/earth-day-2012-events-in-second-life….
[09:30] Jerry Buchko (jerrybuchko): oh cool!
[09:30] Buffy Beale: thanks Rik, nice one
[09:30] Namaara MacMoragh: thanks Rik
[09:31] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Ping me if I forgot any
[09:31] jacmacaire Humby: Thanks Is Eco Commons do something?
[09:31] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): I stole it from Carl Icann
[09:31] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Jac, only if someone organizes it
[09:31] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): but not that I know of
[09:32] Gentle Heron: Say it this way, Rik. I’m crediting Carl Icann for the original list. (Never admit theft! It’s creative recycling!)
[09:32] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): haha , sure Gentle

OPEN MIC ANNOUNCEMENTS

[09:32] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): ok lets move on to open mic
[09:32] Jerry Buchko (jerrybuchko): lol 🙂
[09:32] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Who has something to announce to the community?
[09:32] 01 Hifeng: can i announce something? 😮
[09:32] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): please put up your hand or say ” me me me!”
[09:32] Namaara MacMoragh: creative recycling… love it
[09:32] Gentle Heron: I do! Two short, one long… uhhhh, what is that in Morse code?
[09:32] Jerry Buchko (jerrybuchko): being good stewards of content 😉
[09:32] Zinnia Zauber: hand up
[09:33] 01 Hifeng: I’m Kesja Plecha, president of Blueberry Dreams Foundation
[09:33] 01 Hifeng: we’re doing immunity and cancer research
[09:33] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): hifeng, go ahead
[09:33] 01 Hifeng: we’re looking for volunteers
[09:33] 01 Hifeng: especially someone good with people that could manage events to some extent
[09:33] Sarvana Haalan: i DO
[09:33] 01 Hifeng: venue owners who would like to organise fundraiser at their place
[09:34] jacmacaire Humby: Hand up
[09:34] 01 Hifeng: content creators, etc
[09:34] Second Life: DASH (dash.renoir) is online.
[09:35] 01 Hifeng: we’re just starting in sl as foundation
[09:35] Second Life: Oronoque Westland is offline.
[09:35] Buffy Beale: Welcome!
[09:35] 01 Hifeng: i was here earlier though, before Blueberry Dreams was founded
[09:35] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): we would love to have set up anoffice at the NPC if you are interested
[09:35] 01 Hifeng: anyone interested can im me 😉
[09:36] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): talk with the mentors about it, if you want to know more after thismeeting
[09:36] 01 Hifeng: ah, yes, i should do it
[09:36] 01 Hifeng: ok
[09:36] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): or email me at rik@techsoup.org
[09:36] 01 Hifeng: ok
[09:36] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Ok Gentle, you are up!
[09:36] Gentle Heron: I do! Two short, one long… uhhhh, what is that in Morse code?
[09:36] Gentle Heron: My first announcement is WOO HOO THE TECH FINALLY WORKS!
[09:36] Gentle Heron: Hey! Listen to that!: Text to Voice in SL
PRESENTER: Akanil
SATURDAY April 21, 7pm PDT/SLT
Yellow Hibiscus Cabana, Virtual Ability Island
[09:36] Gentle Heron: An intro level workshop to learn how to use Ferd’s Chat to Speech v1.6 Universal Web Translator.
This award winning product uses a web browser to interface with SL, so you hear a voice translation of what is typed into the chat stream.
Get a free copy of the HUD!
[09:36] Buffy Beale: Cheering for you Gentle!
[09:37] Gentle Heron: ***
[09:37] Gentle Heron: And another WOO HOO about tech: The latest SL viewer (and Firestorm too) now interface well with Dragon NaturallySpeaking speech-to-text software. We’ll have a couple of events in May around that technology.
[09:37] Jerry Buchko (jerrybuchko): Wow! 😀
[09:37] Gentle Heron: (that one is a MAJOR victory for accessibility, by the way)
[09:37] Gentle Heron: ***
[09:37] Delia Lake: wow, that’s great!
[09:37] Zinnia Zauber: Awesome!
[09:37] Sister Abeyante: Cool- text to speech AND speech to text!
[09:37] Buffy Beale: That is a huge gain, well done!
[09:37] Gentle Heron: Now the long announcement, and I hope you’ll be patient with me, but I’m very excited about this!
[09:37] Jerry Buchko (jerrybuchko): (now start working on voice to chat 🙂
[09:37] Zinnia Zauber: It is super exciting!
[09:37] Buffy Beale: Now to educate everyone about the emoting and long character chats…
[09:37] Gentle Heron: Virtual Ability, Inc. announces the 2012 Virtual Ability Mental Health Symposium, to be held in SL on Saturday, April 28.

Our society too often takes mental health for granted and too frequently stigmatizes people with mental health issues. Saturday’s 2012 Virtual Ability Mental Health Symposium offers a variety of perspectives for thinking positively about mental health
[09:37] jacmacaire Humby: Great Gentle!!
[09:38] Gentle Heron: The symposium’s keynote presenter is Dick Dillon of Innovaision, LLC. Dillon’s topic is “Why Virtual Counseling Should Be Viewed as Advanced Telemedicine.” He will explain why using virtual worlds for counseling allows better service than “real life” counseling. You all know him from NPC!
[09:38] Gentle Heron: (Coughran in SL)
[09:38] Gentle Heron: Featured presenters include Dr. Tina Garcia, Frank Hannah, Dr. Marty Jencius, Anya Ibor, and DyVerse Steele.
[09:38] Delia Lake: excellent!
[09:38] Buffy Beale: Yay C!
[09:38] Gentle Heron: Dr. Garcia, a lawyer with TBI, will discuss cognitive rehabilitation and brain injury. Hannah, a retired clinical mental health counselor, will share a method for developing and maintaining positive self-concept and optimum mental health. Dr. Jencius runs the Counselor Education in Second Life yearly SL conference.
[09:39] Gentle Heron: Ibor, executive director of Fearless Nation PTSD Support, will explain the neurobiology of post-traumatic stress disorder. Steele, a peer support leader for HIV/AIDS and diabetes, will offer information about mental health and minority communities. You know both Anya and DyVerse from NPC as well!
[09:39] Gentle Heron: MermaidSue Bailey, a counselor from UK, will lead a discussion of the importance of peer support for mental health. Roberto Salubrius, a former medical student misdiagnosed with agoraphobia, will explain why mental health issues aren‚Äôt all mental. The audience will be invited to think about the nature of self in the context of a reading from Paul Brok’s book “Into the Silent Land.”
[09:39] Gentle Heron: So please mark April 28 on your calendars now, to save some time to spend learning more about mental health. (WHEW done!)
[09:40] Delia Lake: what are the hours on April 28?
[09:40] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): thats fnatastic. Please post to the GoogleGroup about this too!
[09:40] Gentle Heron: first session is at 8am SLT, last one ends at 5:30 pm SLT and after we will probably have a dance (we like to dance)
[09:40] Delia Lake: ok. ty
[09:41] Gentle Heron: Thanks Delia for asking.
[09:41] Jerry Buchko (jerrybuchko): I’m hoping this will be too enticing to my colleagues to pass up… I’ve got a shot at finally convincing them to come inworld 😉
[09:41] Red (talkwithmarie): woot!woot! Gentle:)
[09:41] Gentle Heron: We’ll have the schedule up on our website.
[09:41] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Ok zinnia you are up
[09:41] Zinnia Zauber: Thank you!
[09:41] Zinnia Zauber: The Federal Consortium for Virtual Worlds Conference is in Washington DC May 16 – 18.
[09:41] Buffy Beale: Gentle, the SL Text to Voice translator is huge I hope you let Lindens know!
[09:41] Zinnia Zauber: I will be teaching a workshop there on May 16 called “Authentic Avatar – Inspiring Trust With Your Virtual Identity”. There will be several of our NPC peeps and partners there as well, like Coughran.
[09:41] Zinnia Zauber: Please check out the website to find out how you can attend the workshops and lectures virtually or in person. http://www.ndu.edu/icollege/fcvw/index.htm
[09:42] Zinnia Zauber: Thank you!
[09:42] Buffy Beale: Yay Z, that’s a great conference!
[09:42] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): congrats, Zinnia
[09:42] Ronnie Rhode: Yay Z:)
[09:42] Zinnia Zauber: Thank you! I am really excited!
[09:42] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Ok Saravana?
[09:42] Jerry Buchko (jerrybuchko): Sounds like a great talk Zinn! 🙂
[09:42] Sarvana Haalan: I will be presenting a Virtual Worlds 101 presentation at a local Meetup in May… http://bit.ly/HXZmJS
[09:42] Zinnia Zauber: thanks Jerry!
[09:42] Sarvana Haalan: NPSL will be presented to th eattending nonprofits
[09:43] Sarvana Haalan: it’s theTech and Social Change Meetup
[09:43] Sarvana Haalan: that’sm it
[09:43] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): thats great Sarvana. Where will this be?
[09:43] Jerry Buchko (jerrybuchko): very cool, Sarvana
[09:43] Gentle Heron: Great networking Sarvana.
[09:44] Sarvana Haalan: Baltimore, MD… looking into th epossibility of streaminh
[09:44] Glitteractica Cookie: Thanks for representing us Sarvana. Let us know if we can give you any TechSoup/NPC collateral to hand out
[09:44] Sarvana Haalan: *streaming
[09:44] Sarvana Haalan: will do
[09:44] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Ok Jac you are up!
[09:44] jacmacaire Humby: Thanks
[09:44] jacmacaire Humby: for those interested, I invite you to open discussions with year questions and answers based around case studies of recent sustainable development strategies at 10 am SL (PDT) or 19:00 CEST on 25 April 2012 at ARCHI21 World (222,41,23)
[09:44] Buffy Beale: Great going Jac!
[09:45] jacmacaire Humby: You are all welcome.. 🙂
[09:45] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): that’s great Jac
[09:45] Gentle Heron: Jac’s work is so inspiring.
[09:45] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): ok and last but certainly not least, Mr. Bulaklak!
[09:45] Jen (jenelle.levenque): Send out a notice Jac
[09:45] jacmacaire Humby: :))
[09:45] Jen (jenelle.levenque): I need to be reminded
[09:46] jacmacaire Humby: I will do..
[09:46] bulaklak: Hello again! TechSoup’s founder and co-CEO Daniel Ben-Horin, whom I am sure some of you remember coming to speak here last year, has been writing some interesting pieces on the Stanford Social Innovation Review
[09:46] bulaklak: One piece explored the generation divide in social innovation, looking at scrappiness vs. strategic thinking
[09:47] bulaklak: Beth Kanter picked up the story and asked Daniel to continue the discussion on her blog
[09:47] Jerry Buchko (jerrybuchko): Intriguing! 🙂
[09:47] bulaklak: Please read that summary here and chime in if you have an opinion on the topic
[09:47] bulaklak: http://www.bethkanter.org/scrappy/
[09:47] Glitteractica Cookie: Internally at TechSoup me and my team are considered “scrappy”
[09:47] Glitteractica Cookie: we would love to hear your comments on his blog
[09:48] bulaklak: It’s about the pace the younger generation wants to move at, making change happen now
[09:48] Buffy Beale: lol Glitter
[09:48] Glitteractica Cookie: I am way bigger of a proponent of scrappy innovation than strategic innovation
[09:48] Glitteractica Cookie: NPC was all about scrappy skunkworks
[09:48] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Is’nt “Scrappy Skunkworks” a band from the 80s?
[09:48] Buffy Beale: It seems with any tech one has to plow through the naysayers
[09:48] bulaklak: lol Rik
[09:48] Glitteractica Cookie: it should be, Rik
[09:48] Buffy Beale: *new tech
[09:49] Jerry Buchko (jerrybuchko): yes, we’d like it done yesterday, thank you kindly 😉
[09:49] Glitteractica Cookie: anyway, please comment cuz I’d love to see NPC members represented in that dialogue, for obvious reasosns
[09:49] Buffy Beale: ok sounds good
[09:49] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): ok well as always you leave the NPC with lots moreevents, links and news than you came with. So I’m calling this a win.
[09:49] Buffy Beale: Rik I wanted to make one comment
[09:50] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): ok go ahead buffy
[09:50] Buffy Beale: and thank Zinnia and Brena so much for their decorating at the Common Ground party last night
[09:50] Zinnia Zauber: Thank you Buffy!
[09:50] Red (talkwithmarie): oh yes! so gorgeous!
[09:50] Zinnia Zauber: We have a great team!
[09:50] Red (talkwithmarie): im still in pink:)
[09:50] Zinnia Zauber: Next month our color is Aqua!
[09:50] Buffy Beale: was amazingly brilliant and everyone who missed it please try to get to the next one and join the fun
[09:50] Namaara MacMoragh: (quietly) gotta run… thanks again … see everyone soon
[09:50] Namaara MacMoragh: 🙂
[09:51] Buffy Beale: great job you guys made me laugh!
[09:51] Buffy Beale: thanks
[09:51] Buffy Beale: out
[09:51] Red (talkwithmarie): awesome you two creative mentors:)
[09:51] Zinnia Zauber: Thank you Buffy!
[09:51] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): let’s thanks Namaara for coming to talk with us again!
[09:51] Glitteractica Cookie: thanks Namaara, great stuff
[09:51] Second Life: Kali Idziak is offline.
[09:51] Buffy Beale: Cheering for Namaara!!
[09:51] Zinnia Zauber: Rah Namaara!
[09:51] Buffy Beale: oh, and also to thank Par I’m sure he had a hand in things too for last night
[09:52] tharciene: sim
[09:52] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): and thanks to all of you for all that you are doing to make the worldabetter more sustainable place
[09:52] Glitteractica Cookie: thanks all, I guess that is a wrap?
[09:52] Glitteractica Cookie: see you all next week
[09:52] Lissy Waydelich (lissy.racer): I am so glad i stumbled across this meeting , its been great , nice to meet you all
[09:52] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Everyone celebrate EarthDay in your own way
[09:52] Zinnia Zauber: So happy to have you join us Lissy!
[09:52] Buffy Beale: nice to see you Lissy and welcome back to SL
[09:52] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): I’m going to hug a tree
[09:52] Lissy Waydelich (lissy.racer): thank you 🙂
[09:52] Buffy Beale: lol Rik
[09:52] Zinnia Zauber: Mentors Meeting is at 10! Here!
[09:52] Buffy Beale: Have a great weekend everyone
[09:52] Buffy Beale: Happy Earth day to youuuuuu
[09:53] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): if you are new or just want some advice, the Mentors are here right after this meeting
[09:53] Zinnia Zauber: Please get your refill and see you in a moment!
[09:53] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): otherwise, have a great Friday everyone!
[09:53] Buffy Beale: ok Z back shortly afk
[09:53] alebez: thank you everyone! have a beautiful weekend.
[09:53] Second Life: alebez is offline.
[09:53] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): excuse me while I harvest the avatar list
[09:53] Red (talkwithmarie): have a great weekend:)
[09:53] Zinnia Zauber: Take care everyone and see you soon!

Written by: rikomatic

A World in Every Classroom: Noble VW to Provide Immersive Learning for 38,000 Students in Metro-Atlanta

NobleVWWhat if every student and teacher in a district had access to a unified virtual space filled with engaging educational experiences, designed just for them?  This is not science fiction, this is being built in the Metro-Atlanta area today.

On April 13, the Nonprofit Commons hosted Steve Mashburn and Snoopy Pfeffer to talk about the Noble virtual world being created for metro-Atlanta schools.  Steve Mashburn is the coordinator of online education for Forsyth County Schools in Georgia, and Snoopy Pfeffer is the founder and CEO of Dreamland Metaverse, an OpenSim hosting provider.

I was inspired by how articulately Mashburn connected the Noble Virtual World initiative with their larger vision of 21st century citizenry, a “blended learning” approach, and re-defining what “school time” means.  And rather than a one-size-fits-all approach, they seem to understand that different students , different teachers, and different classrooms have different needs and interests.

Read to find out more about this very interesting educational virtual world project….


 

Snoopy and Mashburn on Nobel VW Project

 

Mashburn began by explaining what the Forsyth County School district includes.  Metropolitan Atlanta region consist of 13 counties plus the cities of Atlanta, DeKalb, and Buford. Forsyth County is on the extreme north part of the metro region. The Forsyth County School system includes 38,000 students and more than 3,000 full-time teachers. They operate 35 schools — 19 elementary schools, nine middle schools and five high schools.

TECHNOLOGY FOCUS

NobleVW2Forsyth County Schools is dedicated to improving student achievement through technology-enriched learning opportunities. “Our vision,” wrote Mashburn, “is to use classroom technology to engage students in asking questions and choosing tools to facilitate real world problem solving.”

Interactive digital whiteboards have been installed in all classrooms across the district. Beyond hardware, Instructional Technology Specialists are assigned to each school to work with teachers to model teaching and learning strategies for technology integration. Teachers are provided on-going professional development to experiment, initiate, and create new models of teaching and learning for dynamic and changing curricula.  A learning management system (LMS) brings together teachers and students in an online environment. 

They are committed to a “blended learning” model, where online learning and traditional classroom learning happen in a coordinated fashion. According to Mashburn, this is not an alternative way to do school, but the “very future of education itself.”

They view virtual worlds technology as “the next logical step” beyond learning management systems (LMS) toward more interactive and engaging tools. They are using a phased approach, where a small group of teachers will pilot the use of virtual worlds, and slowly create demand among students and parents.  They predict this will be more effective than mandating it for every teacher and classroom at the same time.

 

VISION FOR NOBLE VIRTUAL WORLD

NobleVW3The district has a larger vision of developing 21st century citizens through virtual world learning experiences.  Different forms of learning will be possible, from students working alone, in collaboration with each other, and with teachers. “Our learning model enables all students, with a diverse range of personality traits and learning styles to be successful,” wrote Mashburn.  

They view virtual worlds as a means for engaging students in a different way with the real world, and allowing them to construct their own knowledge in a shared space. The emphasis will be less on “doing” assignments and more on “being” different roles. Students will — through their avatars — “be” :

  • scientists who do experiments to solve a problem,
  • engineers who use math concepts to construct a bridge,
  • graphic designers who use color theory to design a business logo.

Mashburn sees virtual world learning as going beyond traditional online learning — even game-based learning which is always pre-set and calculated.  In his view, the virtual world allows for more unexpectedness, spontaneity, and teachable moments that make learning and teaching enjoyable.

“At the heart of it,” summarizes Mashburn, “avatars in a virtual world are people interacting with other people.”

VIRTUAL WORLD PROVIDER

Snoopy Pfeffer introduced the company Dreamland Metaverse, which offers hosting on the OpenSim platform for various customers, from educational institutions to Fortune 500 companies. They offer both OpenSim regions and entire grids.

Building upon the OpenSim foundation, Dreamland Metaverse creates additional functionality for their customers, such as the Forsyth Country Schools.   Much of this functionality for the schools focuses on creating different levels of access for students, teachers and administrators.  While students are locked to the Nobel virtual space, teachers and administrators can travel to other OpenSim worlds to network, get resources and experience other virtual environments.

For more info about the Noble Virtual World see http://www.forsyth.k12.ga.us/Page/34932.  You can find more information about Dreamland Metaverse at http://www.dreamlandmetaverse.com.

Written by: rikomatic

Etopia Eco-community at the NPC this Friday April 20 for Earth Day!

As you probably know, this Sunday, April 22 is Earth Day 2012! To mark the occasion, the Nonprofit Commons welcomes Namaara MacMoragh, owner of the Etopia Eco-Community in Second Life.  

Since 2007, Etopia has been showcasing how we can live more sustainably through the virtual world. Namaara will provide an update on what’s new with this ground-breaking online community and how we can all celebrate and protect the planet on Earth Day and beyond.

Also during “Mentors Central” Harper Beresford will provide a review of the “Fashion for Life” event in SL. Plus we’ll have updates from TechSoup and the every popular community Open Mic. To participate, come to the Plush Nonprofit Commons amphitheater in Second Life on Friday April 20, starting at 8:30am PT.

 


 

NONPROFIT COMMONS MEETING

April 20, 2012, 8:30am PST

Plush Nonprofit Commons  Amphitheater

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Plush%20Nonprofit%20Commons/88/126/26

AGENDA

  • 8:30am Introductions
  • 8:40am TechSoup Announcements
  • 8:45am Mentors Central: Harper Beresford with a Review of the Fashion for Life event in SL.
  • 8:55am Etopia Island owner Namaara MacMoragh
  • 9:30am OpenMic/ Announcements

 

More about Namaara MacMoragh

Namaara MacMoragh, aka Gloria Kraegel is President and Lead Consultant with GReat Kreations in Washington USA. During the last 30 years she has helped nonprofits throughout the United States build capacity and create systems that meet their organizational objectives. For the last five years she has been forging virtual connections and systems as part of her collaborative work with colleagues and clients around the world on issues of organizational sustainability and continuance. Gloria has  brought her work into Second Life as Namaara MacMoragh, owner of the sustainability-themed sims that make up the Etopia EcoCommunity. You can learn more about Etopia at http://etopiaisland.org.

Written by: rikomatic