Newsletter #2

Well, the time has finally come for the second Open Forum Foundation newsletter. A lot has happened since the last one. Since my background is in the realm of business development, I sometimes feel as though I am stuck in some form of continental creep, people that I meet that are more familiar with the nonprofit world are quite impressed with the speed at which things are coming together.

A Realization

I have come to the conclusion that the keys to Project One’s success are flexibility, and the understanding that solutions are about people and not about technology. By building relationships with the end users, we can create a solution that actually meets their needs and is brilliant. If we start with the creation of technology, independent of its brilliance, it may never be accepted. Flexibility will allow us to bridge the diverse needs of different groups and make it all come together in a seamless interface. Our focus must remain on the needs of the end users and not on our own pre-conceptions.

Status

We are dangerously close to being an official organization and having the ability to accept donations. We have a founding board and expect to incorporate and begin operations legally within the next week. By the end of the month, we expect to have a fiscal sponsorship contract signed. That means that November will be, in large part, about fundraising! If you have any tips you’d like to share about how to do this or recommendations of individuals or foundations that may be interested, please take a moment to send them to me at wayne@openforumfoundation.org.

The founding board is Patrick Benz, Kristen Guskovict, Carolyn Kissane, Shadee Malaklou, and Ellen Williams – all amazing people. You can read about them on the Who We Are page. We are also reaching out to two more potential board members, but these things take time!

September and October were excellent months for community building. I am making and strengthening connections around Capitol Hill, with advocacy groups, with programmers, and with experts in dialogue and deliberation. I have to acknowledge that I have not been pursuing designers as much I probably should be, so if you know anyone that may be interested, send them my way (of course that holds true for any of the above categories).

I am about to establish a formal partnership/support program for Project One. I have made a great number of connections with people that are too busy to be actively involved, but would be happy to consult or advise on specific, relevant issues. Consequently, I’m going to establish a means by which their support can be publicly registered on our website and we can keep them all organized to take advantage of their expertise while minimizing their time commitment.

Well, I think that’s all the news that’s fit to print. Please pass this on to anyone that you think may be interested and keep sending in the good feedback.

Thanks,
Wayne

Monthly Newsletters
Wayne Moses Burke
October 15th, 2008 11:43 am
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