Notes on Workshop by Ron Lichty

these are notes taken at the April 7-8, 2003 workshop at Stanford University.

Attendance as the meeting opened, plus a few later arrivals (apologies for misspellings, and to those arriving later I didn't capture): Tom Munnecke Sergio Lub, designer, Friendly Favors, & jewelry designer Victor Grey, programmer, Friendly Favors Mark Roest, OneVillage Clare Hedin, OneVillage, study of consciousness Bruce Seely, SW designer, friend of Joy Tang Jack Park, Topic Maps, Nexus Wiki Ralf Muehlen, sw developer, Zope, Uplift Network Shawn Murphy, Nooron.org (online digital ecosystem) Allan Saxon, programmer, Votary (polls, wisdom, based on Friendly Favors)

Aldo de Moor, professor of the evolutionof virtual communications, Netherlands

Joy Tang, AIDS relief, at one point at Cisco

Howard Liu, math, AI, programming, knowledge representation

Nipun Mehta, CharityFocus.org

Nancy Glock-Grueneich, educator

Bruce Baumrucker, videographer

Ron Lichty, community, ex-Schwab ex-Apple technology change leader

4/7 topic was Pattern Languages (previous day)

Sergio Lub presented Friendly Favors - social networks & complementary currencies - what the system offers Uplift Network/Giving Space,starting from his personal history and what it is that makes social networks resonate for him.

Sergio - born in Argentina of russian parents.He and his wife have 13- and 16-year-olds in schools in Canada.Jewelry making has provided personal economic freedom since he was 16.Escaped death squads in Argentina through risks of friends hiding him until he could be secreted out of the country to the US. Friendly Favors: for people who believe the universe is a friendly place. (-Albert Einstein)

"Free interactive tools for those envisioning a world that works for all" now interconnecting over 130 groups into a "web of trust"

7 steps:

1) Participants Directory: blind storage of information, spam free, search engine free 3 levels: Participant, Sponsor, Coordinatoreach level can refer others to their and lower levelsreferrals increase community trust listings with photo are the besteven helps plan carpools to events (4 in carpool this morning) Sergio demo'd the directory, entering Clare and Ron

2) Inventory of participants' resources lists resources participants have expertise with

3) Public Reputation and Web of Trust most people trust around 100 people (Sergio: 300) Imagine if we could trust our friends' friends (10,000 more people!)

4) Giving space "A community is a group of people doing favors for each other" --Bernard Lietaer, inventor, Euro; author, "The Future of Money" Ross Jackson: Gaia.org -> sustainability

Conditions for a Giving Space grow an online directory & an inventory of resources into a Web of  Trust

5) Mutual Credit System including LETS: Local Economic Trading Systems

6) Community Currency Thanks Yous are, on Friendly Favors, a unit of currency Where unemployment exceeds 15%, emergency currencies emerge Jim Kouzes (Tom Peters Group): The new currency will be social  currency

7) More Balanced & Conscious Life

Aldo de Moor presented his work. professor, Tilburg U, The Netherlands You don't declare a community - it emerges. PhD work was in Empowering Communities How to get virtual communities to emerge and grow - the mechanisms: Social norms, Acceptable social behavior, Set bounds Europe: normative behavior is considered an ideal (unlike US)

Action norms

Conversation norms

RENISYS method

cascade pattern of changes, in resolving work breakdowns evaluation is important - appreciates what Shawn is doing

I X E -> Initiation Execution Evaluation

Tom led discussion: how to create massively cascading internet  firestorm of uplift. Constraints & bounds Express the positive values to keep it in bounds

Tom:

Uplift Patterns & Uplift Tapestries - "The Algebra of Uplift" (Patterns: from architect Christopher Alexander Changed from "Giving Space" to "Uplift Network" to acknowledge: It's not just about giving money, Be a penpal, buy Fair Trade, send words of encouragement, Money can be a problem Or at least it is not the answer Discover these in a virtuous environment Establish person-to-person relationships. Proposes "Philo" currency: love of humankind Hello Jerusalem: "a hotline for peace", Israelis and Palestinians call in to get one-on-one conversations Can we do an "Uplift Hotline"?

Need mutuality, reciprocity, scalable small things, Imagine Chicago includes multi-generational connections

"Imagine Community"?

Uplift Tapestry - "A sort of Periodic Chart of Uplift"

Women's empowerment: 1 of 7 will then go to another village and teach Need Pattern Weavers

Need to identify successful projects, find the patterns beneath them, fill in the tapestry

Tom (Joy?) proposes the first project focus be HIV/AIDS orphans in Africa

Tremendous opportunity for uplift Connect helpers & community doers

Mutually uplifting Can it be self-organizing? self-propagating?

Will propose to Blue Oxen group (Eugene Kim, Chris Dent: BlueOxen.net )

Aldo & Jack Park also involved there Launch later in the evening

Tom and Joy lead brainstorming

Bruce: "Strawberry plant" model: sends out shoots that then take root

Allan: it's like being parents for a community

Will require different approaches

Aldo: 4 properties: goals, activities, requirements, resources

Sergio: Don't create dependencies (a la feeding programs)

must inventory the needs

must inventory the resources

Joy: Bring your hearts

Joy presents AidsReliefFoundation.org (oneVillage Foundation) Busyness of life causes us to forget one another's needs & essence 5 million orphans Field agents in the communities "Radio Pattern": radios into villages & provide a way for their voice to be heard

Orphanages are a disservice to the child & the village expecting to provide care for its own

Tom: Avoid unhelpful help

Sergio: alternative currencies

Must complete the circle to make resources flow

could set up circle now, with ThankYous currency

need: trusted person in community

internet location that will take ThankYous

Assignment to all:

Make a connection with a trusted person in Africa, to bring into next month's meeting.

Ron Lichty

Email: RonLichty@sbcGlobal.net