OSEMidMO/mtg minutes

First Official OSE MidMO meeting
10/23/08 Gwynn Hall Room 106 7:00

First, we threw around some concepts about OSE goals and ideas about flex fab, open sustainability and other such things.

Then, we got down into the nitty gritty of getting a workshop going. Ideas about opening it in the new "space", in a garage, or in Kat's backyard were considered. However, this project has been set aside pending the more conceivable enaction of the following project.

Columbia Exchange Circle
Kat's friend Kip has undertaken a project, among other projects, of assembling a skillbase in his neighborhood of benton stephens in the intent of establishing a fundamental base for a local living economy. The premise is that by gathering information about different skills that the community has to offer, and uploading them to a database that can be accessed and utilized for trading, training and other capacity developing enterprises, that this can eventually provide a robust foundation for a localisation project.

OSE's goal in implementing this project is twofold:

One, for assisting in a localisation project and bringing about full documentation to bolster a knowledgebase at somewhere like Catalytic Communities for such said projects. We will be using a similar project undertaken by students at Northwestern University which had a similar bent.

Two, for building a base of local collaborators in open design projects, first by educating them about the facets and benefits of open design and knowledge access, and eventually collaborating on open technologies for the open design base currently being developed worldwide. The initial focus could be on building capacity for more design work, so machines that could be used in these designs, and collaborative systems and taxonomies for developing these on a local, appropriate and sustainable level.

This project has been designated under the title of CEC - "Columbia Exchange Circle", and will form a subcommittee given the breadth of the project. '''Talk circulated about an informal meeting on sunday evening. Interested parties should reply to this message or participate on the talk page for CEC''' established @ http://openfarmtech.org/index.php?title=OSEMidMO/CEC. Its easy to register, and openfarmtech is an awesome website.

There were few actual deliberations, most of the talk was brainstorming and connecting the project to OSE MidMO's goals, which are quite congruent.

I determined a taxonomy of stakeholders for the project:

Web Programmers/Designers Community Organisers NGO's, nonprofits, small businesses General Public Skill Collectors - Collect a database of skills Skill Traders - People who are interested in trading different skills Skill Gatherers - Those who are actively seeking new skills to bolster their personal knowledge and capacity Skill Holders - Those who already have skills in different areas, from singing and playing guitar to woodworking Skill Documenters - Document the skills, pending the skillholders' approval, for open documentation to be added to a local, regional and global knowledgebase Skill Givers - People who are willing to disseminate their skills to the community via workshops and apprenticeship-like training

this, of course, is rudimentary and hypothetical

Next steps:

Developing a Cohesive Vision and a base of stakeholders and possible collaborators for the initiative

Developing an Action Plan and delegating tasks, building a base of collaborators and a task force.

Kip spoke of this as happening conceiveably on a neighborhood by neighborhood basis, as he has already undertaken it in Benton Stephens. Further implementation can happen in east campus, north of town, etc. very easily. The implications of building such a skillbase would be paramount, and would provide an important network within which to articulate a robust LETS (Localized Exchange Trading System) for our town, and possible a local currency.

Visioning is very important, where stakeholders can participate in a process to determine the intended organisation, intent and image of such a project. Issues such as inclusion, access, and structure need to be addressed in the meeting on sunday. Again, for more information or to get involved, please contact Kat Erdel (kat_the_vegan4life@yahoo.com) or post on the talk page: http://openfarmtech.org/index.php?title=OSEMidMO/CEC .

Items on the Agenda which were not addressed, but will be addressed at the next meeting:
- general mission and goals for OSE MidMO

- Image and Web development for an overworked OSE and Factor E Farm, including writing copy and making brochures and info packages.

- Fundraising via LOI's (letters of interest) for OSE, sent to NGOs, Foundations, and other groups

- Planning events, such as the presentation Lonny will be giving on the 23rd, and other presentations on campus, and a possible regional OSN unconference here in columbia (a lot easier than it sounds)

- Networking to develop service learning projects and foster researchships in open design, variously at Factor E, in development situations, and here in Columbia.

We will be repeating the time and place for the meeting next week. See you all there!

p.s. (For a living meeting minutes document, a collaborative Fire Room version will be availalable at http://openfarmtech.org/index.php?title=OSEMidMO/mtg_minutes)