Week 30 Update

Hello dear readers!

Yet another week has passed here at the Open Forum Foundation with some progress towards completing the fiscal sponsorship agreement and solidifying partnerships. I’m working on Memoranda of Understanding with Lucas Cioffi at DeepDebate.org, David Stern at MixedInk, and Ryan Ozimek at PICnet, as well as Lou Klepner at Gateway to Gov, who has also agreed to be our fiscal sponsor. These organizations are primarily technology focused, but all with a political bent or direct applicability to Project One.

At the same time, I have met with Tim Hysom from the Congressional Management Foundation and believe that our organizations will be able to work together on this project as well (this will be slow to develop however – they run trainings for the incoming freshman Congressman, and this will take most of their resources over the next couple of months). They are well-respected on Capitol Hill and focus on research, trainings, and consulting with Congressional offices to improve their management capabilities. I’m very excited at the possibility of working with them, so I’ll keep you informed as that comes along.

Finally, I’m continuing to reach out to new people and make new contacts, but with a much stronger understanding of how to proceed now. I have been emotionally struggling with wrapping up these little details and preparing for the fundraising push, and think I’m about to get through it! I now grasp on a deeper level what I have logically understood: I am working on very important stuff! And while our society tends to look at making money as the main indicator of success, achieving acceptance of Project One will be a huge accomplishment with ramifications that reach wide and deep.

I am currently devoting my life to this project, and in order to succeed it must have money. This can not be accomplished through hopes and dreams, but only through effective application of a fairly large amount of cash. I need to find those people that have spent their lives focused on making money and also see the importance of what I’m doing, and make a deal with them; “You have succeeded in one measure of success. Now contribute that to the greater good, and together we will solidify the ability of every individual to have a legitimate voice in their government.”

While asking for money often feels bad in some way, I am seeing that in fact there is no shame in asking for money if you intend to do something valuable with it. It is not begging, nor is it borrowing, nor is it stealing. On the contrary, it is a contribution to society that falls outside the norms of Adam Smith’s invisible hand of the market.

Soon I will have the opportunity to put this into play. To meet with individuals who have the ability to share their resources with the Open Forum Foundation so that we can accomplish what we set out to do. I’m not quite ready at this moment, but I will be soon.

And I’m excited about it.

Weekly Updates
Wayne Moses Burke
November 12th, 2008 12:20 am
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