commonspace

Bliss

Train 49, en route to Toronto

A dark, quiet train. An empty inbox. And an iPod full of the music you grew up with ...

... that is the definition of bliss.

Exactly what's needed

Cleveland, USA

It was great to see Bev Collins' eyes light up. "We need this," she said over and over. "This is exactly what we need."

Bev's friend Karin Delgadillo was providing a demo of the Somos@Telecentros sustainability toolkit – a well produced CD filled with materials designed to help people who work in telecentres. The toolkit includes all the stuff you would expect, like examples of telecentre business plans and curriculum that telecentre operators can use to train local people. It also includes things you don't see often: an easy to use interface with audio narration, information on how small produce produces can apply Excel to their work; plain language information on open source software.

The amazing bit in all of this was not the CD (although it really is great). Nope. The amazing bit was that a unilingual telecentre manager from Powell River, British Columbia (Bev) was totally lit up watching her Latin America friend (Karin) show off Spanish-language telecentre materials from Ecuador. "Sure, there is stuff we'd want to change and add if we were to translate Karin's CD," Bev said later. "But so much of this is exactly what we need in British Columbia."

Huddled up around the laptop with Bev and Karin, the lessons for telecentre.org were clear. We need to help telecentre leaders from around the world get in the same room with each other so they can look into each other's eyes (and laptops) to do this kind of sharing. Also, we need to help good ideas and materials like the Somos toolkit travel more widely by promoting them and helping with distribution.

Luckily, it's exactly this kind of work that we want to do.

re: connecting

Cleveland, USA

One of the biggest treats at CTCNet was being reminded what a big, open heart Karin Delgadillo has. Karin and I worked together years ago at APC, often doing good work together, sometimes sparring ... but always finding a reason to laugh and smile (where is the burrBON?).

Talking with Karin in Cleveland reminded me that, even though we often come at things from a different angle, we share values in common – a deep belief in networks, a commitment to building on what has come before,  a willingness to learn as much from failure as from success. These are things that matter, alot.

Since leaving APC, Karin has done amazing work with Chasquinet and Somos@Telecentros in Ecuador. She really has become a leader in the telecentre arena. Hopefully, reconnecting will give us a chance to work together again in the name of telecentres everywhere. As Karin says often: "Only one is nothing. Together we are everything."

WSIS in America

Cleveland, USA

Sitting in front of a couple of dozen American community technology activists at the CTCNet conference in Cleveland this past weekend, I quickly realized that it's tough to talk about WSIS in America.

Of course, the tough part was not explaining what WSIS is, or why it matters at an abstract level. Nor was the problem talking about the differences between the policy side of things (the summit) and the opportunity to network with others doing community technology work (the platform). People in our WSIS workshop got all of this, and engaged in a lively dialogue.

 

The tough part was creating a strong feeling that international connections matter – that there is something to learn from other countries, and that US CTC's are part of a larger global movement. At least, that's how it felt sitting on a panel at the front of a large room (actually, a large hallway).

Much of this flows from the fact that the US has such a rich history of community technology itself. There is so much to be gained from connecting and learning across the country, so why look elsewhere? But another factor is that the international connections just don't exist in a big way – there are few relationships or information channels that put the wisdom, learning and passion of the global telecentre movement on the American community technology radar.

The good news is that this is slowly starting to change, and it is looks like CTCNet is leading the way. They are putting a good deal of effort into the Telecentres of the Americas Partnership (TAP) – a coalition of telecentre networks from Canada, Latin America, Puerto Rico and the United States. TAP has the potential to create exactly the kind of connections that are needed – connections aimed at building relationships, telling stories and sharing tools that telecentre people use to do their work. It's these simple, practical things that make a movement work.

Convene. Connect. Catalyze.

Gatineau, Quebec

"Do you mean knowledge sharing? ... or convening? Shouldn't this part of the program be called 'convening'?" These were some of Rich Fuchs' first words at the telecentre.org team retreat last week. And, they were very helpful words.

In the end, telecentre.org wants to create stronger telecentre networks, stronger telecentres, stronger communities. These are the goals.

But, of course, reaching goals happens one step at a time. And, convening telecentre leaders is definitely the right first step (and is also something we need to keep doing). Being in the same room is key to building the relationships, sharing the knowledge and generating the new ideas that will eventually make telecentres stronger. It is key to creating networks that are real, and rooted.

Reminding ourselves of this – and tweaking the language in our program vision – was a good way to start a two day retreat with our new telecentre.org team. It not only gave us clarity, but also gave us metrics to measure ourselves against. Things like: "Are we a group of people who can convene telecentre leaders in a way that will let them drive the process?" and "Do we really believe in the power of networks generate good ideas and address the needs of their members?"

Happily, the answer to both of these questions was a resounding 'yes' from all of my new telecentre.org colleagues. More importantly, it was not just a mumbled verbal 'yes'. It was a loud YESSSSSSSSS WE BELIEVE IN NETWORKS expressed with our bodies, our words and our laughter as we tried out network building techniques we'd learned in the Aspiration workshop a few days earlier.

Hearing this loud noise and watching it all unfold before my eyes, my heart lit up like a Christmas tree. telecentre.org has a team that believes networks, and can make this work. I am overjoyed. :-)

Building networks with conversation ... and passion

Ottawa, Canada

My friends Allen Gunn (aka Gunner) and Katrin Verclas at Aspiration know a ton about running events to make networks work. They are amongst the best I have ever seen.

From the SummerSource camp Gunner did with Tactical Tech two years ago to last June's advocacy software developers (AdvocacyDev) workshop to the Penguin Day series, they developed a powerful approach to putting passionate people into a room to define where they want to go together. The AdvocacyDev workshop alone has catalyzed dozens of other projects, follow-on workshops and informal clusters of folks doing stuff together -- all of which are aimed at moving the field of advocacy software development forward.

As telecentre.org wants to do the same thing – bring together passionate people and then help them work together on concrete projects – we thought that we should do something to learn from Aspiration. With this in mind, we held a workshop in Ottawa last week to train the telecentre.org team (plus others from Bellanet and IDRC) in the Aspiration event methodology. Unsurprisingly, this was both transformative and fun – it gave us skills and attitude that will help us in our role as convenor.

Now, the trick will be to apply what we have learned. We're starting by planning our WSIS telecentre.org event using the Aspiration approach – envisioning it as an open conversation that will get people charged up and lead to concrete, network-based action. Also, we're working with Aspiration to evolve the facilitation toolkit they are developing at facilitation.aspirationtech.org, with the idea that we want to help our partners in the telecentre world gain from (and contribute to) these materials as well. It should be an interesting journey.

PS. Thanks to John Stahl for the nice Katrin and Gunner pic.

Holiday (is not a Madonna song)

Toronto, Canada

This past Monday, I did something extraordinary – I took a day off. I was hankering for a chance to hang out, to reconnect with where I live and who I am. So, I just did it.

There were lots of nice bits. Sunny Toronto tree lined streets. A slow, winding tram ride. A patio lunch with a friend. However, the best bit was coming home to watch a movie – a documentary about the Ramones called End of the Century.

My teenage years were spent in a small Northern Canadian mill town, with a shaved head and a lot of punk rock music. Watching End of the Century reminded me why. Punk rock, and the Ramones in particular, said: no matter how geeky / outcast / unimportant you feel, you've got something to contribute and something to say, so say it. Say it proud and loud.

This message led lots young kids to pick up guitars, drum sticks and microphones – a good thing for their self esteem, and the world. For me, it was the typewriter and the photocopier. I took my cue from of punk zines like Maximum Rock N Roll to create my own pre-desktop-publishing publications about stopping the arms race and promoting alternative media. Guitars. Photocopiers. Same thing.

As the credits rolled on End of the Century, I reflected on why this felt so good. Was it just sentimentality? Nope. It's gratitude. Gratitude that I still get to play in the realm of helping people find a voice, and the self esteem that comes with this.

I thought back 10 days earlier in the northeast Delhi Datamation telecentre. One of the things that thrilled me most about that experience was seeing the pride and excitement on the face of girls who'd been able to make their own wedding invitations on the centre computers. The computers – and the encouragement of the teachers – let them make something that mattered. No matter what the rest of their lives looked like, they were creators.

This is what has always excited me about working on communications at the grassroots – the smile and passion that comes with finding a voice. Sure, an electric guitar, a photocopier and a computer are different devices. But, put in the right hands, they create the same smiles, and the same sense of passionate confidence in young hearts.