Our Wiki Whiteboard

This page is where we can collect ideas from everyone in the group. Click EasyEdit to add text, tables, photos, etc.

You are so nice. I feel terrible that I stressed so many people out waiting so long. I just thought we were going to hear from some other people -- I thought there were more 12 credit students. Also I should make it clear that Cassie contributed too but had trouble getting on the site, so she helped with resources via email.

Thank you for the soft purple pillow Laura--it is perfect for me. You are so much fun to be around.

I'm going to bed now.

Kari

Kari !
it's 0632 in the morning, really ... you can stop now, it is beautiful ! Have you slept at all ?



0543 and all I can say is WOW ! I'm going to try to be at class early to get the coffee on and hopefully have a tray of breakfast snacks ready
Looks like the midnight oil was burned up!!! - Laura




Not sure where some of this data can go. Darcy

Does preservation pay?

Grays Harbor County is in great need of economic growth and job opportunities. We need to restore these historical buildings so future residence can enjoy the benefits that come from it. One issue that arises when historical preservation is discussed in the public eye is whether or not the cost will exceed the benefits. By most accounts, it is more efficient and profitable to preserve a historical building than to construct a new one. This however is hard to demonstrate because many of the benefits are priceless or immeasurable. Some of the positive externalities of historical preservation are memorial power, beauty, attachment, social gathering and other priceless qualities. These are all qualitative which is harder to determine and interpret than standard quantitative data. Applying only the quantitative measures of historic preservation does not express the full value of preservation as a public good or cultural expression. Historical preservation consists primarily to maintain and create cultural values. These cultural values can’t be dismissed just because they are hard to measure.

Many other states have proof that historical preservation has economic benefits. According to recent studies, historic preservation activities have generated more than $1.4 billion of economic activity in Texas each year. Rehabilitation of historic properties in Georgia during a five-year period created 7,550 jobs and $201 million in earnings. Each dollar of Maryland's historic preservation tax credit leverages $6.70 of economic activity within that State. In one year, direct and indirect expenditures by heritage tourists in Colorado reached $3.1 billion. [*] Heritage travelers spend more, do more and stay longer than other types of tourists.[†]

Hey Kari, keep intouch with Tom and Rae... looks like things are pulling together nicely... This is where we might have two projects going

so get some sleep too

New You Tube video for consideration, Kari see if this is along the lines of something you can use




Hi Rae, I saw where Kari has added a blip of info on the Leadership blog, just click in resent posts, looks like she has the main work in progress and will post it when she has it ready to go, I'm going to go browse pictures and stuff for now and if I find something, I'll be putting them here at the top of either this page or the Research page, I'm going to stay off of the Tom's Take and the Rough Draft page so those editing can work with all the prior info now that we are down to the last few hours. I'll use Blue to emphasize anything new I might find - Laura


Hello everyone, I'm here and ready to help with what ever it takes to get this ready for class tomorrow. Kari are you editing? Are we using Tom's Take? Rae


Friday! finally! If I can help with anything, just let me know, I'll be hitting the sack at about 9:00 tonight so I'll keep checking back periodically, looks like lots of neat info to use -- Looks like we have a title and a conclusion now so cool ! - Laura

Things are looking great! I went in a couple times today and added a thing here or there or correct punctuation. Looks like it is coming together nicely.

I have more info......My son, Ben Winkelman is a city councilman in Hoquiam and an initial member of the Hoquiam Business Association who commissioned the Berk and Associates Report for the city's Economic Development Plan which you can view at: http://www.cityofhoquiam.com/hometown/hh_draft_12.06.07.pdf
He was very excited to hear about our project and is anxious to see what we come up with. There are people with dollars who are looking for the right ideas. I told him about the Safeway idea and he let me know that the gas station across the street is also available and there is a view of the waterfront from the back of LaVogues which may also be available soon. Hoquiam just recieved a designation of Historical Preservation District which they fought hard to obtain. One of the benefits is that you can write off expenses incurred for capital improvements if you agree to keep the building in the original era. John Larson of the Polson Museum had access to pictures from the Jones Photo Collection where he can find pics from the old buildings so you know what it originally looked like. (especially helpful for the LaVogue building maybe). They are actually looking for members to form a Group Think Tank (guess they don't know it is a commons) to meet and submit ideas to the Developer's Forum Committee. He also suggested we take a look at the Farmer's Market Building along the waterfront. I don't know where that is but it is within a block or two of the Safeway store. They are looking for wild and crazy ideas and we might just have some for them! Does anyone live in Hoquiam that would want to run past there and check it out? To find out zoning issues or to get direction, to talk to zoning and planning people, or the GH Economic Council, Brian Shay would be our contact but Ben would be happy to direct anyone to the right person for answers to any questions. This site has the info about the historical preservation district:
http://www.cityofhoquiam.com/hometown.php
He is going to tell his team what we are doing and he is excited to see what ideas we may be dreaming up and knows they will be too. So maybe this won't just be an exercise but actually be an instrument to bring about some positive changes in our area. He wants to see it when we are ready to show it!

Kari and Tom and anyone else editing.......feel free to add that info anywhere you wish or it fits.



Kari, I noticed on the rough draft page you asked me if it was ok to cut and paste from my information. Please feel free to do what you need to with my information. Carla

THANK YOU for editing - I added my document as an attachment - I was afraid to cut and paste and mess up the formatting on the page. Please feel free to edit as you see appropriate. Stacy



Hi everyone,
Added some thoughts on including historical markers and information with the renovation of buildings and also a little about helping smooth transitions when communities start recycling existing buildings.

I want to say that I am thrilled with all the work you guys have done and I appreciate all the contributions. Let me know what else you need help with.

Brenda


Hi everybody, I made a page using all the contribution on the rough draft page, and included some of my own material. I did some rough editing too. Still need a title and conclusion, and any other material thought pertinent. I lose my Internet connection tomorrow afternoon, so make whatever changes you want, use as much or little as you want, and post it on whatever page seems right. Everything isn't just miscellaneous anymore, it's confusing too! Tom

Hey Laura--my number one --- oh never mind. I'm so glad you posted I was just going to get started on some editing and wanted to make sure that someone else wasn't doing the same thing I was at the same time. We could get a real editing war going here. I'll move my stuff over to the other page. Is there anything on this page we don't want moved over? I don't know if not everyone has everything they want moved over, if they intentionally don't want some things moved over? If there is anything on this page that shouldn't be included in the final document (or at least considered) about the contributor make the text red or add a note not to move it. It looks like the most active people, except me have moved their stuff over. In addition to the excellent resources Carla included in her document we will add a resources section on the bottom of other resources--things like the Dept of Ecology, Historic Society, etc. --Kari0

I think what you did for the rough draft looks great! I will have my portion on the Elma Theater complete by tomorrow night. Stacy


Thats a good idea, but we need to decide on one building project don't we? or are we going to
combine all the articles as a rough draft and maybe title the changes of Aberdeen or something
that, I don't know but let me know cause now I am comfused. - Connie

About the finished product. Rick wants it to look as if it was all written by one person. I'll volunteer to do some editing. A single document with ideas that flow and work together. We need to think of a title and rough outline once we get over thing over on the RD page. --Kari

I posted this on the rough draft page but I'm also posting here just to be safe - I've attached my rough draft at the bottom of the rough draft page on the research I did on public and private partnerships in the US regarding the restoration of buildings and communities. I'm hopeful despite the different turns we've taken that this still can be worked into our paper. Carla


March 19th, I put a small but hopefully attention grabbing paragraph on the research page with URL and a video for the Oly ReStore topic for the final project. Looking back at the wording of the assignment, I tend to be focused on the way in which we have collaborated and drawn our information from the modern modes of information. Am I way off track if I assume we have an Introduction, a body with topics and a conclusion to ways in which these sources of information are accessible to a group of people who might want to recycle a building in their own community. Someone help with an Intro paragraph.... this is as far as I could get at this point..... thanks- Laura

" Grays Harbor provides visitors a wonderful gateway to our coastal community. The local history of the area can not be missed as a traveler arrives at the city limits with the welcoming Rotary log building and waterfront park. along the way there is a variety of statues and sculptures that remind us of our rich timber history and we have panoramic view of the fishing industry from the bridges. Sadly, the buildings in our community do not reflect the pride we take in our community. From the wilting General Store in Oakville, to the lemon eyesore of the Mork hotel in downtown Aberdeen and the now nearly condemned Elma Theater, there is a need for our aging buildings to either undergo massive reconstruction or demolition. A few of the local buildings are so rich in local history that community members may feel strongly attached to them almost like members of their family. And some of the community movie theaters are rare historical gems that reflect the beauty and grace of a time when people gathered in a common area "

From here we could lead into our areas of individual interest, with a paragraph or two and the links and widget that support the subject

would anyone have an idea for the conclusion ? thanks- Laura



I've been looking over this whole group of ideas and I think that we should all just write what we have been working on. No ones ideas are better or more important than the other. It is all interesting to me. Crowdsourcing is frustrating to me because it seems to lack structure or maybe I just do not know how to behave in this structure. Maybe we could each add to our written portion how this event has felt socially to us and some type of Wikipedia paper on how the process works might happen on Saturday. Thanks for listening.-Rae


Ok, so I got on a roll and added some pics of the Elma Theatre too. I have class evals in Oly tomorrow night so I hope when I get home and look you guys will have added all kinds of info to the rough draft!
So were you thinking that it would be good to make the Safeway store an Art Museum or a kids hands on or ? I am real curious about that store and what it could have in it. It has been an auction house and some kind of little race track inside since it has been a safeway. My husband says that he thinks it is not a free standing roof and has some support poles within the store. That's all for tonight. It's 12:04 and I have to get some sleep! Gail

I started the rough draft by putting the Safeway store and Hoquiam pool pictures in since that was what I have. I think that Rae's ideas for what we should investigate are great. My suggestion is to add whatever you can think of to the rough draft and edit as we go. Rae is right.....we only have a small bit of time to get this thing done! (this paragraph actually comes after the rest my comments but I am too tired to figure out how to move it. Pathetic, I know!) Gail

I think the Safeway store may be a great place to work on in Hoquiam. We also could use the Hoquiam pool. We bought the Hoquiam Aquatic Center a couple of years ago and we could use that if we want too. We have our business in part of it, but haven't developed the rest yet. I have access to the info we may need there. We have considered a community resource as one of the possibilities but not sure what kind of direction.

Looks like we are looking at several spots....the Children's Hand On Museum in Oly, Hoquiam Safeway, Old Theatre in Elma, etc. I think we should post one that we are interested in on the rough draft page. Then all add to them. If someone doesn't have a pet project, they can just add on their thoughts to those posted. No one will be left out because they don't have the technology for pics, etc. I think that the more info and ideas the better. I especially like the idea about the courts-especially juvenile. I may be able to get some insight on that from my son who is an attorney and a city councilman in Hoquiam. Daughter in law is on the planning commission too. I will start working on them!!

I also have taken my grandkids to the Oly Hands On. It is a great place for kids 2-7 or so. Lots of hands on activities. I think they have some other programs there because I have seen school buses there. It was great fun. Gail

Rae: Thanks. I've even been to that place! That pole is a real eyesore too it looks like miniature cell tower. I wonder what it is for? Are you referring to the "Hands-On Children's Museum"? I used to do their grant writing. I just threw away their newsletter yesterday, aargh. They tend to cater to a very local and young audience (or used to) and always claim to be broke. I think if we got one art supervisor as from the college to work with art teachers from the local schools (all age groups could be represented). An idea I also think would be cool would be a program for juveniles in diversion (in the juvenile court system) to contribute and receive credit for their work by the courts. Juvenile courts may even have money to a put in for their assistance. It's also a good place to do a project because it looks like a well lit area with a lot of room in the abandoned parking lot to set things up.

These are the two buildings that I think should be developed in Hoquiam. The building with the mural on the side is LaVogues and the building with the parking lot is the old Safeway. The mural on the side of the building has a huge chunk out of it (note the gray patch on the sky). Maybe someone could find an artist to repair it or repaint another mural. Maybe it could be part of what the artists using the commons can take on. Maybe we could research and write about how not for profits run, how a board of directors works, ideas for getting renovation money, Kari's idea about how the art commission distributes funds, the idea about using recycled materials to fix up the place, what about list of groups that might help do some of the work. Rick said we could be as creative a we wanted with how we do this. Would everyone please just pick a topic and write what you are going to do underneath this. Someone could check out how the children's art museum in downtown Olympia works. I think they have some type of art projects for kids. How about what type of insurance a project like this would need. What type of degree would the person running this program need to have. How about using some of that history on why people aren't volunteering anymore and why this might not work because of lack of people willing to volunteer. Are their art groups in the community that could be asked to help? Please pick something, write about it and post your info on the rough draft page. Make something up if you don't like any of my ideas. - Rae

1. How about seeing if an art instructor at GHC would supervise the artistic process in cooperation with the local schools and juvenile court.
2. On the topic of recycled buildings in my community - I'm going to write about the Elma Theater - history, what it was originally built for to what it is used for today,funding sources etc.. Seems like every community has a recycled theater, 7th Street in Hoquiam, Raymond, the D & R, Olympia has 4th Street or is it State Street (?) Theater etc. Perhaps others can pick a building in their community, or incorporate the topic of recycled materials that could be used, renovation money, volunteers, community support then tie it all into one project. ?? Stacy
3.
4.
5.

Our rough draft is due in 2 days, the final project is due in 4 days and we haven't significantly moved forward. Someone idenitfy any piece of property, so we can brainstorm on what to do with it and get a draft up. I'm going to try to get to the Peace Rally tomorrow at Zalasco Park--though I'm not sure I can swing it. If we have a building identified maybe I can stop by the courthouse to get information about the property. If I don't make -- I'm sure the information we need can be obtained by phone and possibly online.

One idea that keeps popping into my mind. Last year we read Amazing Grace by Jonathan Kozol. He described how in the Bronx they took an ugly eyesore (a tenement maybe) and painted one side of it so it looked like a completely different place from the freeway. That wasn't exactly my idea but we could take an old eyesore and have it painted with a scene of Lady Washington in the harbor or a historic mural around the entire building. If its a field we want to beautify we could look at gardens and a public art piece. I'm not in Aberdeen so I can look out my window to see what needs to be done. Gail and Rae seem to know a lot about the area though.

Kari

Brainstromings.....

Rae: Whenver there is a major construction for a school or State building like the new additions at GHC, 1% of the total cost goes into an art grant fund run through theWashington State Arts Commission Art in Public Places Program. Its like most grants in that the competition is tough and its a time consuming process. Grants and civic groups are what usually pay for public arts and some restoration projects. I go to National Brownsfields Conferences from time to time. They have them several times a year usually in the worst cities-- but they are dedicated to environmental clean up, restoration and building community. Their conferences are a meeting place between those with ideas and those with funds. Historic societies sometimes invest in old buildings when they have funds. Civic groups (like the Lions club) will often take on paying for small projects like public art work, and painting or keeping up eyesores--they typically don't have the funds to take on huge renovations. The large projects like turning old mills into malls and office buildings are usually funded by private investors who do it for profitable purposes (it was a real big business in New England in the 80's). I believe we can be as creative as we want about how we are paying for our project since its just for the purposes of the class. We can pretend the Chamber of Commerce, Lions, Historic Society, WA State and Brownfields all funded our project. Also local businesses will often donate goods and money. Corporate businesses have foundations to fund local projects and causes. Wal-mart for example gives less than most similar businesses (like Kmart) but they do give locally. They require that the project be sponsored by a local employee. Many other corporations do this too. Those are major considerations when building a board for nonprofit organizations or committees for projects -- along with those knowledgeable about your purpose, they seek those with the ability to get funding. There are other ways of getting money too like writing letter campaigns sent out to residents (since postage is expensive, this is list usually targeted to residents with money and a heart for philanthropy. To solicit and accept funds for a project the group has to either be a Federal (all have to be state) nonprofit organization or what is commonly done is have a nonprofit with similar goals partner with you or sponsor your group so you can use their Federal number. That is done frequently and works well -- since its time consuming obtaining Federal status and usually there are other groups already established that will embrace others who share their goals. Kari

The city of Hoquiam has been slowly but surely in favor of revitalizing the down town area. There are 2 buildings there that I would like to see made into an art commons. I will post my idea in the research area for you all to review. I included some pictures that I took yesterday(they didn't load, if you want to see them I'll need some help with the format). It seems like the Aberdeen area is in to much turmoil right now for a fresh idea. I am not sure how not for profit would work in this area or if the government would help support something like this. I know that the Aberdeen and Hoquiam got art funding when the prison was built. I also saw on television that in Denmark that social groups qualify for government support for their activities. They showed a miniture train group as an example. Perhaps we could research that. Rae


The Morck renovation project has been put on hold, one of the major investors (Former Harborite and Bellevue businessman John Yonich) has filed a lawsuit against Chester Trabucco. Yonich is unhappy with how long the project is taking and how Trabucco is managing the progress and how the funds are being spent. Yonich is also the one who recently purchased the D & R Theatre and is in the process of renovating it. I agree we should pick a building or two (maybe the Morck & D & R) since they both are in the process of being recycled. Maybe we could start with their historical value, what they were used for origninally, progress towards the current state? I think Laura's information on the ReStore will make a great addition to the project as well. Carla's piece on what her community is doing towards recyling buildings will also tie into this project and be a great contribution. Stacy

Laura I love those places. There used to be one towards the pier behind downtown Olympia I that loved going to. I built an aviary out of what I bought there for under $50.00. Salvage is big business in big cities. That's a business I've always thought would be cool to be involved in. --Kari

Answered my own question with just a little more browsing, the store is called the "ReStore" and it is ran by "Habitat for Humanities" So I still like the idea of the recycling but will go deeper on what limitations there are to materials and what structures are "Beyond the point of reclaiming" Laura

In downtown oly area, I found a place that sells recycled parts of homes and buildings, banisters, doors and windows, etc. I was able to find a stairway for my own house for under $100 very nice wood that would have cost me way more to build. I like the idea of showing how older buildings have been remodled but also the ways in which the reusable materials can be made available. I'de like to go to that buisiness for my starting point and find out how they come by those items and see if that info is usable for us also. I'll try to do this today Saturday the 15th. I even found arched windows from St Martins College, glass intact. Laura

I was so shocked to see bright lights driving into Aberdeen and couldn't figure out what it was until I noticed the DNR--I'm so glad they did something with it -- one of grandfather's owned a movie theatre and I love the architecture of the old ones. I think it would be nice to have a river front walk, with benches -- isn't there a little playground around there too? When staying at the Guest House Inn I noticed kids were drinking and partying in the surrounding property which doesn't give it a safe feel -- like a well lit walk way would. The County orCity Clerks office should be able to direct us to the appropriate source for property ownership. Do you know what they are going to do with the Morck Hotel? Kari

In downtown Aberdeen the Morck Hotel is being renovated and so are the theaters. Maybe we could take a look at other towns that have been renovated and make suggestions to what type of business works there. I think we could also look at the river front area. Maybe the walk behind Walmart could continue over the bridge and down the river front. I think it is an unsafe area right now and in the past homeless people have built makeshift homes in the bushes there. How do we find out who owns the property?-Rae

Since I'm one of those individuals who doesn't live in Grays Harbor I was thinking maybe I could do a piece on what is occuring in other parts of the US regarding different approachs being used to cleaning up buildings/neighborhoods. Do you folks think that might fit into our paper? Carla

Carla that would be a great piece by knowing other communities have done we can get ideas for what would work in ours.-Kari

Ok, looks like we are going to recycle buildings! I think our next step is to figure out what we want to do now. In my head I am envisioning that we each pick a building, take a picture and post it. Then research possibly how many square feet, how the inside may be structured, what surrounds it, etc. and come up with uses to rehabilitate and make it useful to the community again. We can then be adding ideas to everyone elses buildings and come up with even more ideas. That's my vision....what's yours???

That sounds great to me. Or we could choose one building or space as a group and go through all the steps of planning, getting permission to get it fixed, changed, etc. I'm trying to figure out a way the people who live so far from class could participate. Flcker.com has many pictures of Aberdeen buildings and areas. Or perhaps we could each just choose a place in our own community that we like to see fixed. --Kari

This is a great idea but some of us don't have cameras to take pics so I think a group idea such as Kari's is a good idea cause it helps everyone involved. - Connie

Ok, I will make a list to vote on..................Could you put your top three in order of preference please.
I can tally them up Thursday night and then we will have a decision on Friday. I hope I didn't miss any ideas. If so, add them on. Please put your votes in right after mine so I don't miss any when I am tallying.

Mortgage Ins
Electoral College
Music
Recycled Buildings
Car Insurance
College Career Offerings
Random Knowledge Blog

1. My vote is: (Gail) Recycled buildings, electoral college, college offerings.
2. My vote is: (Kari)Recycled buildings, Random Knowledge--keeping in mind civic involvement, Electoral college (one thing to consider about the Electoral college is there is something like 220 groups on Facebook alone on abolishing it--Feinstein started a movement in 2004-but I haven't heard anything about it in years. Rev. Jesse Jackson started another movement in 2007 that I haven't heard much about, either--so there is a lot of easily available research out there to draw on. Most efforts in the past have been dropped because its such a massive undertaking to amend the constitution).
3. I would be interested in the electoral piece or even the ideas on mortgages or car insurance.
4. My vote is: (Stacy) Music, Recycled buildings, college offerings.
5. My vote is: (Carla) Electoral college, college offerings and recycled buildings. I would be perfectly fine with the building project the only thing is I don't live in Grays Harbor or even drive through the area other than to come to class. So I'm hopeful if we pick that project it would contain components that would allow me to contribute despite my lack of knowledge of the Grays Harbor area.

6. My vote is: (Connie) Recycled buildings, College Career Offerings, and Random Knowledge.
7. My vote is: (Rae Ann) Random knowledge, recycled buildings, car insurance.
8: My vote is: (Brenda) Electoral College, Recycled buildings, college offerings.
9. My vote is: (Laura) Recycled Buildings, music, college offerings. Whoops, didn't get in until Friday morning 0430 hours, what ever the team
selects, I'm cool with :)
10. My vote is: (Cassy) Recyled Buildings, Electoral College, College Offerings.
11. My vote; (Marla) Recycled Buildings, Car Insurance, Electoral College.

Another idea which I'm not sure is an exact fit but what if we had a project on the degrees offered by WA universities and/or community and technical colleges and provided information on the degree programs offered, the graduation rate, demographic information, projected salary for those completing the program, etc So for example if you were interested in getting an accounting degree you could go online find the colleges who offer the degree, the graduation rate for that program, make up of the students in the program, projected salary information for those completing program, etc. Then we create a space where folks who are in the program or graduations could rate instructions, instruction, the campus, or just provide information to others who might be interested in the program.

I'm also for the idea of voting on a topic by tomorrow because I'm getting a bit anxious on being able to provide enough time to the project. Carla

I thought it was interesting that you picked this picture Cari. That building was being renovated and lived in by a couple who moved here from Seattle to do it. But it burned when the building in the next block burned to the ground last year and I guess they have given up...or maybe haven't figured out how to start again..... I like this idea and I also like the one about the electoral college. I would like to dump that whole process. Gail

I like all the suggestions so far. Theideas that came to my mind in keeping with the metaphor of the village "commons" and how lovely they are in NE is that we identify one or several visible eyesores in the area and think of ways for their use as if we were going to promote them to the city council. Things like landscaping with a request for proposal for local artists to be commissioned for public art. If the municipalities are willing to work with the ideathere are probably groups that would pitch in to make it a community effort. We can see in many areas of Grays Harbor and every where else where this has been done but there are still some ugly lots and horrid buildings clearly visible in high traffic areas. I suspect these ugly buildings have owners waiting for an offer on commercial property. The city can require that buildings be torn down. Even just painting the buildings to look like they did in their prime (like a mural) but some of these buildings look like they were always ugly. They could be used for a youth artistic graffitti project through parks and recreation in cooperation with jr and sr high students.I'm referring to buildings that are not restorable (because I love the restoration of anything that can be salvaged). I'm surprised the city allows these buildings to stand because they serve no useful purpose and in addition to being an eyesore there are a safety risk. "Squatters" start fires which can destroy other valuable structures around them and its a hiding place for illegal activity and gatherings. If we did this the scope of our project would be identifying these areas (which are places you probably drive past every day if you live in Grays Harbor). Then develop ideas of what we would like to see on those spots-- gardens, playground, public art??? The city and town ordinances and the process for doing this should be easy to research to include in our final document. In the end we could use photoshop to mock up a photo of a finished product if we wanted to be that ambitious. All we would have to do is identify, decide on a resolution and document the process.

Or it could be as simple as getting the county or civic group (I think the Lion's Club does it for Raymond--but I'm not positive) to spruce up the entrances to the city and county. For example "Entering Grays Harbor (or Aberdeen)" signs should be kept mowed and weeded for an area around the signs at the very least. Even something more like some landscaping, planting some bulbs. I'm sure the state, county, city all have rules about how close things can be to markers and of course nothing can obstruct it's view but you could give it a little nicer backdrop. KariO

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Thanks for the project schedule! On Wednesday do we want to make a list of the suggested topics and vote on them. Then on Thursday we can tally the votes and start our research and development? Just thought we might want to have a process in place. Brenda

Last night I thought about topics we might think about. Like...what information are people interested in....and how we can help....and what is already out there....a few that popped into my mind were...education, health care, and volunteerism. Perhaps the last one is more mine than anyone else's....but hey...just some ideas.
Casi


Hey ya'll...I got my computer back finally, and am able to participate. I'll have to catch up over the weekend. See you all tonight...and this weekend.
Casi

Brainstorming Topic #1:
I think that the website that Rae Ann found Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_development_theory and Rick's idea of collaborating on a document that explores possible civic applications of these new ways of collecting, analyzing, and distributing knowledge. would be a good idea

HEY I just figured out how to post on here...I am so computer unsaavy it's not even funny. Cassy

Connie

Date: 2/8/08

I agree that we can use these ideas for a team collaboration project. Does anybody have any ideas what kind of civic applications we want to include? What kind of knowledge manipulation are we talking about specifically? One idea I had was to combine the results we all posted for the IQ/Personality Tests from last quarter into a segment informing readers about the pitfalls of such tests, their usefulness, and their more common applications. Any other ideas?

So far I like the idea of what we found out about the tests that we did last quarter.
Connie

I am not sure that I am doing this correctly but I will give it a shot... I think we are supposed to come up with a topic and then all contribute to it to make a new whole about a social change of behavior and what may happen because of it? There is lots of research on recycling so that may work well. I am curious about the storage of materials on cd's, tapes, dvds, etc. and not the written page also. I am wondering about all the pictures that I am storing on CDs. How many times in my lifetime am I going to have to move them to the newest medium in order for my kids and grandkids to have access to them in 100 years?
Gail

Brainstorming Topic #2:

Date: Feb.24,2008 I think Gail's comment about trying to keep up is a true statement of how our society is operating today. Our ability to change and adapt to new ideas, concepts, and technology has been greatly enhanced by our Internet connection with the world. New ways of making things better are emerging and the elimination of some of the costs for labor has enabled the processes to move forward at a much faster pace. But what is the long term cost? What about those who choose not to keep up? Not everyone owns a computer. Will junk mail stop?(wishful thinking)
Rae Ann

Good questions....
There is one that I am on....I can't think of the name right now but it is something like "free2u" and another one that I think is called "freecycle" and another that does things less than $50 but don't remember the name. I have used them a few times and it works fairly well. The real names are on my computer at home I think. I'll try and look soon and post them.
Gail
Feb.25,2008
I posted in the assignment section the info Rick posted on the leadership site. After re-reading it I think we are supposed to be developing an idea for crowdsourcing that could be used by the government. Maybe there could be an Information Services crowdsourcing site for the software that is used in this state. It could be set up to help other users and to fix problems. Or what if people all over the state took photos of the parks in their area and posted them on the site so others could go on and find some nice places to go. We have less than 30 days to complete this assignment do you think we should set a timeline for brainstorming, research, and rough draft?
Rae Ann

I agree Rae Ann we need to make a timeline for this so we can get going on this project.

Connie

Yes a timeline is a great idea. I found wiki has a (blog?) page on Government crowdsourcing on http://www.openinnovators.net/e-government-2-0-wiki-citizen/ - I'm as confused as others as what exactly we are researching. I like the idea of an Information Services crowdsouring site, it would be a beneficial tool for many to utilize.
Stacy

3-9-08 After getting a better idea of "The Commons" I've removed my older comments to save space and was just going to address 3 threads Saturdays conversations sparked 1) Music 2) Food 3) recreation . I don't use the internet much except to surf around so these happen to be three areas that make the internet fascinating to me. I just don't know if a civic application to either of them would make them options for the project. Maybe by the end of the weekend the rest of the class will add enough ideas that we will see a common interest for all of us to tackle for the final project. -LJ
3-9-08 An idea I had this morning was a common area where people could post what they pay for the products of car insurance. I feel like I never have all the info I need in this area to make a smart buying decision. Maybe by having collective data I could be sure of getting good rates. One other area that I am under educated in is home re- finance and loan information. Or even how to negotiate buying a car.-Rae

3/10/08 I like the idea of posting what we pay for various car insurance products. I thought also about everybody posting what their hidden or mandatory fees are for various services we all use (cell phones, utilities, credit cards, etc.) We could from their research those fees through the web to see what they actually are, and maybe what we can do to mitigate them if we choose. Tom

3/10/08 What if we created a blog called "What do you know about_________?" Then people could post what they needed to know and others could answer them. There would need to be a system to look up the underlined items and for storing data so that it could be found later but it might be of value to organizations. For example if you wanted to know what skin cancer looked like you could post the question and someone like a doctor could post a picture. The questions could be nested in some types of catagories like, computers, medicine, artwork, music ect. It could be used internally in a large business with branches or externally for research or for data that could help out software customers. It could be used to help develop policies so that more than just a few people have input. - Rae I removed my comments that I didn't think fit the new vision of this assignment. -Rae