Dear Friends of Noneck,

If you haven't heard, in two short months, I will depart from my beloved city of New York to explore this planet. On 7 July 2007, and traveling for seven months, my feet will wander the earth, while I contemplating seven topics of freedom. On the way, I'll be documenting the experience on the "Luck of Seven" travel site (Lo7). While on the way, I'll be blogging on seven topics of freedom: free culture, free and open-source software, couchsurfers and bloggers, agents of progressive social change, happenstance, and our environment.

Yesterday, I sent out a message to my beloved donors, facebook and flickr friends. Much to my surprise, several previous donors chipped in a few extra bucks, forwarded my email around the globe and blogged about the Lo7. Luck of Seven is now at 24% of the way to fundraising USD$ 7,777. THANK YOU!!!

With 07/07/07 quickly approaching and my first month planned out, I see a wealth of opportunities to explore, BUT I can't do it alone.

1. A small donation of USD $11.11.
Thank you donors!! In return, I promise you an autographed copy of the book. In the meantime, luckofseven.com will continue to tell the story though rich media. < http://luckofseven.com/donate >

2. Spread the word and connect me with your other friends.
There is nothing more important to me than my friends. Though my past years of traveling and countless workshops, I know that we can make this a better place. Regardless if it's just a smiling face, a pint of beer or a hard floor to sit on, I want to visit your friends and say hello. Forward this message to your friends! Then, if you have a blog or social networking site, spread the word. I really need the link love ;)

3. Organizational sponsors for equipment and travel.
In Prague, Transitions Online has asked me to teach on new media journalism to former Communist countries. While "on the way," I look forward to teaching, conversing and interviewing citizens of this earth. If you know of an organization that might be a good fit, please don't hesitate to forward this email or make a formal introduction. I'm quite keen on helping organizations adapt technological frameworks for their own uses, elevate the seven topics of freedom, and share my experiences as an organizer. Otherwise, I'm looking for sponsors to acquire equipment: an HD Camcorder, a GPS device, an GSM cell phone, etc... I have a list and would love to entertain any ideas. Have your people call my people!

... and with that, I hope you place your luck on seven and at least give a donation.

be seeing you...
noneck noel

i've wrangled a few friends (nancy, mbh and philip) and together we're going to host a little session on politics and social media at podcamp nyc. i promise you my friends will delight the ears, tickle the mind and empower your inner podcast. join us this saturday at the new yorker hotel for a crash course on all things in the social media sphere. too boot, podcamp nyc is free, and runs from 8:45 am to 6:00 pm. there should be over 500 people in attendance, register and find your 10 reasons to attend podcamp nyc!

Technorati Tags: barcamp, matt browner hamlin, nancy scola, podcamp, Social Media Club

my buddies at Assignment Zero are inquiring about "unconferences." DrupalCamp, Barcamp, PodCamp, Social Media Club, RootsCamp, FOOCamp, and Penguin Day are just a few of the examples they list. personally, i can attest to the value of peer to peer knowedge sharing, and "unconferences" are just the beginning. take a few minutes and tell Assignment Zero your opinion of unconferences and it's variants.

this article is cross posted on the barcamp blog.

Technorati Tags: barcamp, drupalcamp, newassignment.net, podcamp, Rootscamp, Social Media Club

if you're looking for boiled down comments on the value of face to face conversations and how they support your constituency, check out this creating passionate users blog post. i've written before how online connections must meet physically, but in this post, kathy sierra lays out 10 universal components that are golden rules in building ANY constituency. fast companies' friends network is one the best examples of a physical medium using online tools to promote a disaggregate support network. heath row's journeys in 1999, 2000, and 2001 provide tangible experience supporting user networks. also, you should note that one of the best examples of diy face-to-face organizing is Four Eyed Monsters - check out henry jenkins' take on their impressive work.

1) Put together a "How To Start A Local User Group or Club" document. (noel's note - FastCompany.com has an interesting FAQ that should be a good start.) Include tips on things like finding a space, topic ideas, and getting speakers.

2) Offer free materials for the user groups User group meetings often start or end with prize drawings; give the user group leaders plenty of swag for the meetings. It'll make the leaders look good, etc.

3) Treat your user group leaders like royalty Sun puts JUG (Java User Group) leaders on a pedestal--helping them promote their groups, giving them special receptions at the annual JavaOne conference, etc.

4) Instead of a traditional user group, provide guidelines for a Study Group (noel's note - one really good example of this is the Drupal Dojo - a weekly user let training session.) Collect advice and lessons from other existing groups. Provide a list of suggested books to read, and 6-months' worth of topic plans.

5) Hold a very low-cost annual weekend conference. (noel's note - couchsurfing.com has historically set up "collectives" around the world to help maintain their website.) Make it ridiculously easy for people to get there. Find sponsors to help. Even better if you hold several mini-conferences a year, in different locations.

6) Encourage users to start a local BarCamp (or other *Camp). (noel's note - there are many examples of *camps - check out rootscamp or drupalcamp) Direct your users to the BarCamp Wiki where they can learn how to do it.

7) Utilize monthly meetings. There are many examples - Social Media Club's wiki, Drupal's Groups, NextNY.org's wiki, Frak Party, or Meetup.com. (original PSU's recommendation - Use Meetup.com as a resource!)

8) If you already have online user forums, enlist moderators to try to form an offline meetup. This is often one of the best places to start.

9) Hold special cocktail receptions/parties for user group leaders at industry conferences in your domain.

10) Advertise/promote your user group events on your main page! Remember, passionate users MUST connect with others who share that passion, so this is not a nice-to-have... it's an essential part of any product, service, or cause for which people are passionate.

Technorati Tags: couchsurfing, coworking, drupalcamp, economy 2.0, fast company, four eyed monsters

over the past month, i've heard a number of books mentioned, sadly there is only one that i haven't read. ;) honestly, it's one of those books that i should be pinched for not reading. Dream: Re-imagining Progressive Politics in an Age of Fantasy has been tossed around since last December's rootscamp, and after hearing it mentioned at SXSW and in Salzburg, I'm delighted to have an opportunity to hear author and activist Steve Duncombe!

my good friends at the Change You Want to See are turning this up a notch... forget your laptops and bring your notebooks, by the end of this session your world will change.

...Change You Want to See is thrilled to host author and activist Steve Duncombe for a presentation and discussion of his acclaimed manifesto Dream: Re-imagining Progressive Politics in an Age of Fantasy. Beyond talk, this is also an applied strategy session – irrigate the irrational, practice your “spectacular vernacular”, exercise your imagination as we craft a creative street action in support of the Coalition of Imakolee Workers' campaign against McDonald's.

Tuesday, March 27, at 7:30pm
The Change You Want to See Gallery, Convergence Stage and Coworking Facility
L to Bedford, G to Metropolitan, J/M/Z to Marcy
84 Havemeyer St, Brooklyn NY 11211

BYOB encouraged, as brainstorm and beer are like butter and bread.

Technorati Tags: coworking, not an alternative, steve duncombe

it's been a while since i've seen a steady paycheck. as of this morning I will start to see one again. after the new york state senate and trellon debacle, i really didn't want to find myself in a world dependent on other people's whims. now after 140 days from my last employer, countless conferences and after digesting a gazzilion journals and books, i have found my calling.

this week, i embark on a research project with NewAssignment.net investigating open-source journalism. this project will take the tools built for assignment zero and migrate them to a multi-story/social networking system. picture NYtimes.com or any other online publication giving ANY reader the ability to comment on EVERY article and asking them to dawn a series of tasks to enhance articles. i originally pitched this idea to a few print publications, but they didn't bite. then after some pro-bono advice to David Cohn and a recommendation from Fred Benenson, Jay Rosen gave me a call.

honestly, i'm overwhelmed by the opportunity to change our perception of participatory culture. after last week's salzburg seminar, the world of web 2.0 died. no longer should we view participatory culture through the eyes of one's web browser. if you think i'm crazy just look at twitter and google's mobile apps... our new world is about convergence - convergence in the mind, convergence in data, convergence in action, convergence in governance and in policy. as these four principles converge on each other, i promise you a resuscitation of a true democracy. bringing profound change into the hands of everyone.

Technorati Tags: assignment zero, economy 2.0, freedom, newassignment.net, open government, salzburg seminar, twitter, web 2.0

for those of you who are at SXSW interactive and Barcamp Austin 2, TODAY (saturday) at 3.30, we'll be meeting to talk about the coworking movement. please spread the word to your fellow attendants...

Saturday, 10 March @ 3.30 pm
Barcamp Austin 2
508 East Sixth Street, Austin, TX

Technorati Tags: barcamp, barcamp austin, coworking, SXSW, SXSW interactive