Hey there geeks! pursuant to my lightning talk this last time @ PPUG, which was somewhat impromptu i.e. I only got the info that very day, here's more of the deal on my Red Cross connection:
(a) read both blog posts if interested in an idea of the current status quo (fucked up): http://worldgame.blogspot.com/2009/04/ppug-2009414.html http://worldgame.blogspot.com/2009/04/frustrated-with-red-cross.html (b) I'm staying in touch with the Red Cross CTO plus have forwarded more details including some emails to our combined PPUG & OS Bridge leadership, namely Jason and Michelle, Selena and Audrey, though I'm thinking they're all too crazy busy to do much about it, just wanted to scattergun across skill set communities, with Michelle strong in Django, Jason in everything Python, Selena in PostgreSQL and Audrey in Rails. Yes, I'm cluing the Rails community as I'm looking from over the shoulder of Red Cross CTO towards Cubespace as this bevy of relevant webapp developers, not differentiating much further than that, all comers welcome (Perl Mongers, let's get on it). I do favor Django though, have been consistently suggesting it both around Ecotrust (which already uses GeoDjango) and around Center for Outcomes Research and Education (Providence, more into MUMPS, not atypical in hospitals). I also forwarded the data to Mosaic Consulting whom I contract with for HR (human resources) consulting, in case this gets to the resume stage or we actually want to offer Red Cross a coherent development plan. Fred Meyer Trust is a puzzle piece. I'll be happy if we get that far, as I think the promise of open source is it actually strengthens NGOs, nonprofits, those glue organizations that serve community. It's not just that the tools are powerful, but that we think more the way they do, in terms of freely sharing our liberal arts (cite R0ml Lefkowitz et al). This has always been the hype, plus it's real on the ground in a great many cases, however Portland, with a reputation as a FOSS capital (CSM:2005) stands to improve its reputation as such if its signature nonprofits aren't wallowing in licensing fee hell paying like double for only half the result. As an erstwhile consultant with Free Geek (CollabTech chapter) I know that serving in the nonprofit community is difficult, frustrating, often uphill work but is also potentially rewarding and great for your resume if you wanna be a USA senator someday (OK, most of us don't). I've played (and been paid) in this sandbox for years and have treasured working with some really dedicated people doing obviously important and interesting things. If you've not worked with nonprofits before, I suggest trying to find out more at OS Bridge. Or talk to me sometime (4dsolutions.net), maybe after a PPUG meeting, or talk to Jason (idealist.org). Kirby PS: and again with the Pycon slides, which went by kinda faced on the remotely operated white screen: http://www.flickr.com/photos/17157...@n00/sets/72157616066135225/ re my workshop: http://worldgame.blogspot.com/2009/03/urner-workshop.html _______________________________________________ Portland mailing list [email protected] http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/portland
