HumidCity

I fired up the laptop to rant and rail about the things that are destroying my city. Before I could I got diverted by an email detailing a venomous online postfest on another blog I read. Reading through it was enough to force a resolve on my own part, to make this a positive post. With that in mind I am going to give a little detail on an organization I am working with here in the city called ThinkNOLA. I have been asked about them a few times lately and figured presenting the data here would enlighten a lot of people.

Capacity Building : We are trying to teach nonprofit organizations how to publish information so that people can find it, and how to use the Internet as office space.

Think New Orleans shows organizations how to share information with their constituents, we show how to lead discussions in public forums that attract participation, we show how to organize events with calendaring tools and authoring tools, how to create living documentsthrough collaborative authoring in a web accessible forum.

With the Internet Workshops, Think New Orleans creates a collaborative environment where nonprofit and neighborhood organizations can share knowledge, publish information, and develop skills and strategies to employ the Internet in the rebuilding or New Orleans.

I have been working a lot with a great new nonprofit (waiting on the 509A-educational nonprofit to go through) called ThinkNOLA. Last week we launched our first workshop, Web Publishing 101, aimed at bringing the tools of the internet to community and civic organizations here in the New Orleans area.

We are organizing local bloggers and other web based publishers and activists in order to create a positive force for improving our battered city. With this in mind we have formed a group of blogging “elves,” people who are actively assisting those new to the medium in getting their information out.

We are also launching a New Orleans Wiki, an interactive information base where people can go to find important community information and resources as well as being able to easily add their own. In the words of Alan Gutierrez, the man behind ThinkNOLA and the NOLA Wiki, “…nine months later, I see that there is still a online civic resource that is neighborhood focused, and in the hands of the citizens. Please help me build the Think New Orleans Wiki. A web site that any citizen or friend can edit.”
What we need now is help. People with time they are willing to contribute to help us as Elves, to help with the Wiki, to help us use this technology as a force with which to build community where we need it most. If you are willing to assist us please leave a note in the comments section here and we will contact you.

Thanks in avance to everyone willing to join us as we do our digital best to rebuild New Orleans. Get wired!