SI Camp, rebellion, and Web0.0

Had a fantastic weekend at www.sicamp.org - basic concept was to throw a bunch of geeks and aspiring social entrepreneurs in a building for a weekend to see how far you can get in 48 hours toward using the web to create social value. 6 projects were selected aheadbof time, and they all looked interesting but you know how it is, when you have your own idea waking you up nights, you don't really want to focus on anything else.

So at lunch on saturday i had noticed that several geeks and other people were still floating and hadn't chosen a project to work on yet. I asked the organizer permission to be cheeky, stuck my hand up, and announced i was creating a 7th project and would love some help. I was approached by Angel, a spanish guy with mad Druple skills (i pretended i had heard of Druple before in my life) and we found some space to get working.

The best thing about working with Angel was that he wasn't just a coder; by talking me through the ideas he actually brought out new questions and ideas. Knowing no other way to 'build' a website i set to work with flip chart paper, scissors, markers, and blue tack, building giant mock ups that had components i could rearrnge and change. Once the front pageof the app was 'built', web 0.0 style, angel got me to walk through all the inputs and pages that a user would interact with to get to that stage. Then he started coding while i moved on to mocking up my paper app in photoshop to get some look and feel. Soon a stream of smart people started trickling through to see what the camp was calling the 'rebel' team. We got amazing support and critical thinking from a digital lawyer, marketing and user experience experts, html designers, and more. We worked past 10 pm saturday, and came back bright and early sunday, amidst a london snowstorm with flakes the size of half dollar coins - on my way in i saw a south east asian family taking pictures in the snow in what looked like their first time experiencing a real snowstom. We had until 2pm to ramp up to the pitching to judges.

At 2, we were told we were welcome to pitch but ineligible for the 2k prize money, due to our 'rebel' status. This elicited sympathetic groans from our competitors, which i thought was a great proof of the collaborative spirit of the weekend. Nonetheless the 5 minute pitch, in which i told a user story and walked through the mockups and various apps we had in mind, was great practice and we received really positive feedback from judges and competitors alike about the quality of the idea and presentation.

i've come away frm the weekend simultaneously exhausted and energized, with a stack of business cards and a much clearer picture of what i want to do, and how difficult but ultimately rewarding it will be to accomplish. Long story short, the event was an inspired idea executed well, and i feel ready to get a move on. Big thanks to sponsors NESTA, young foundation, and office of the 3rd sector, and the hard working team that ran the show.

spec'ing a website and other nightmares

i'm spending the weeknd at a web-based social innovation boot camp - see www.sicamp.org. Perfect opportunity to meet loads of geeks and show them my quite sad 10 page powerpoint website spec and ask them how on earth to get started. Great opportunity to learn and meet but what i'm finding most of all is how not-easy and nonlinear the process of spec'ing and launching a web-based service is.

Do you go quick and dirty to save money and time, spend a few K to get smething up, get reactions from people, and see if there's traction? Pros are quick and cheap, get out to users fast, don't do too much without their input. Con is that if it takes off in 6 months you will have to scrap and rebuild.

And then what kind of geek do you get? How do you know if s/he is any good? His input will have a major impact on the site. It feels like getting married. Or at least agreeing to go on a long road trip with a complete stranger and no air conditioning in the car. What if the other person litens only to meatloaf (the singer, not the meal) and sucks at map reading?

And all of this is supposed to take place sprinting alongside me doing user interviews, focus groups, and strategizing. And of course, i haveno proof until it's up and running that it's a good idea and well executed.

Back to camp now...
JS.

Test post from my phone

If this works, i am a tech genius (well, sort of).

Social change and the internets

Looks like I'm taking a dive back into start-up mode. How do I know this? There are lots of signs, including the facts that I'm working on a business plan, clearing out my schedule, and have gotten a bit of seed money to do so. But the real sign, the oh-shit-yikes-hooray sign, is that I haven't slept through a whole night in about a week. Love the ideas that keep you up at night. Now I just have to find time to (BTW I published this post and THEN realized I hadn't finished the sentence that precedes this parenthetical. Which in the words of Lisa Simpson, seems apt. APT! So I'm leaving it.)

If you're curious, oh 3 loyal readers, the basic idea is, like all ideas, not new. Our society is aging. The demographic chart looks like a dude with a spare tire for a waist. The big bump is still ahead of us. This affects old people, certainly. It affects us young people because the world we also happen to inhabit has always been defined by the Boomers, and now it will be defined by their aging - from automobile design to our ever-dwindling claim on social security benefits. Loads of stuff going on to address that aging process, as well as to support the aging themselves and those who care for them. But what about the rest of us....?

I guess that's all I'll say for now...never good at keeping secrets but I'll try. Anyway, this means that if this really does get going, this blog is going to be taken over, along with my brain and my life, by this idea. One that still involves social change, entrepreneurship, and impact, but which will probably be seen through the lens of what I am trying to do now. I'm a bit of a Web2.0 virgin so I'll probably write about that a bit too.
xJ.