Original Research

(Somehow I clicked on the wrong button last night, and this was saved as a draft, not published. Here is my delayed post:)

I got home from recent Changes Camp about half an hour ago, although many of the attendees are continuing the fun: they have a pizza dinner planned, and at Evan Prodromou's suggestion they'll probably head over to the Lucky Lab afterwards and have a few beers.

I can't write about today's session until I discuss a few things I forgot to mention about yesterday's session:

1. During the "Art of Community" session, Julie Caldwell told a very insightful story related to the creation of her park in her home town in Nevada. She spent a long, steady effort reaching out to the local Native American community, first starting with one member, who after a year or so introduced her to the group's chief. Then after a number of different activities (which included cooking up a meal for one of their traditional ceremonies) which proved her sincerity towards them, she won their trust and brought them into the process of creating and maintaining that park.
   
   The point is that community outreach is not a single act, but a long, steady process.
   
   
2. At another session, one of the group noticed that three of us all had Nokia 770s. Although Wikis and communities aren't always thought of as cutting-edge technology, this embrace of mobile computing shows that some of us early adopters are interested in this area.
   
   
3. I met another Wikipedian, Simon Koldyk, who hails from Vancouver BC. I'm always surprised whenever I meet another of us -- even though I know I shouldn't be.
   

Geoff

Tags: recentchangescamp, rcc2007

Labels: portland tech, Recent Changes Camp