Exploring together opportunities for income generation like NOW
I start this thread as a container of the conversations related to the material conditions of the existence of our crew. When I say "container" I mean that its purpose is to "contain" the discussion of the particulars of the (financial) needs of the members of the crew so they do not "spread" over other conversations related to the needs of sustainability of the digital space. In the future the creation of the generative space could address the needs of income of the members of the crew, but we are not there yet. In other words, the design of the generative process and the digital space should be informed but not subordinated to the current needs of the crew. We are back somehow to the distinction of two different generative processes, the one we are experiencing as a crew and the one of the digital space.
Until now, we have been lucky to self-sustain/fund our participation here with incomes out of this crew. It is true that I (and probably the rest of us) have been modulating our participation in accordance with the pressures of the work that generate incomes. However, we cannot take for granted that the need for an income will not jeopardize our participation in the crew.
Of course, an option can be to just be absent until we can self-fund again our staying here. But another more interesting option is to make solidarity happen in our micro-dimension and explore together ways of getting the income needed for making everyones' participation possible.
I have been re-posting job offers at Discord that could be interesting to members of the crew and that is OK. This thread is for bringing this spirit further and exploring together if by sharing and combining knowledge, skills, contacts, and the ripened fruits of our work here we can address the changing needs of the personal incomes that make possible our participation in the crew. This kind of support is critical to our crew because sharing/mutualizing things that affect the material conditions are barely possible because of the remote element of the equation.
The same situation we are in will likely be similar to crews forming in the digital space so all learnings in this aspect could/should be translated into design features of the digital space.
Ronen Hirsch Thu 25 Nov 2021 7:55PM
Regarding point 4 - I am curious @Robert Damashek about your experience of revisiting your network:
was actual mapping (as in graphically/visually using a tool like Kumu.io) a part of the experience you had a couple of years ago or did you use some other tools such as a document/spreadsheet?
If it did not include graphic mapping, reflecting back on what you did do a couple of years ago, do you feel that visual mapping would have made your effort more effective?
If so, how?
Robert Damashek Thu 25 Nov 2021 9:20PM
@Ronen Hirsch When I did my actual mapping, I was using a freelancing company’s tool that used a spreadsheet metaphor, and it didn’t have an explicit visualization component. Instead it focused on analyzing the depth of a freelancer’s experience and comparing that with active opportunities. It also generated excellent reports that were useful for resumes.
Given that exercise and my subsequent use of the knowledge I gathered for research in conjunction with LinkedIn, I do think that the visual mapping of relationships would have been extremely useful in that research to help identify existing or new relationships and potential consulting opportunities.
That’s why I think it would be helpful to the crew to do the same for potential crowdfunding opportunities.
Ronen Hirsch Sat 27 Nov 2021 7:40PM
@Alex Rodriguez if your response to the Kumu.io proposal includes "I don't mind anyone playing with this in sacrificial spirit", should it not be an "abstain" instead of "object"?
In my mind "object" is a blocking signal that indicates that you are not OK with this moving forward.
What I hear you saying is that you are not interested in investing in this, but that you are OK if others want to move forward with it without you. Is my understanding correct?
Robert Damashek Sun 28 Nov 2021 4:26PM
Thank you @Ronen Hirsch for trying to clarify the response from @Alex Rodriguez . I was unclear how to proceed with an outcome from this poll, particularly because the crew had already approved the poll submitted by @Jennifer Damashek to map out our networks in support of identifying potential connections for either generating income or crowd funding. If this is indeed a block, then does someone want to submit a proposal for an alternative way of capturing the map? I’m definitely not stuck on using any specific tool. Kumu came up in a meeting @Jennifer Damashek and I had with an acquaintance from another solidarity community, and I was every impressed with the usefulness of the map he had built for that community. In fact, developing these kinds of maps is one way he makes a living as a consultant. After I tried Kumu out and figured out the import mechanism, I personally found it really easy to use. I would just like to move forward with gathering the data and building our network map.
Alex Rodriguez Sat 4 Dec 2021 2:02AM
Hmm, it seems that we aren't all on the same page about what the signals in Loomio polls mean. I voted "disagree", not "object", because I wanted to signal that although I wasn't personally sold that this was the best tool for the job, that I did not intend to block it moving forward. Had I objected, I would have voted "block." In any case, I think it is important that we establish some protocols for how we make decisions moving forward. This seems especially relevant to our scope this cycle around working with money.
Robert Damashek · Thu 18 Nov 2021 10:09PM
Here are a few points in response to comment by @Ronen Hirsch and @Josh Fairhead.
My proposal is really just an experiment to allow us to get to know each other better, while exploring the circles, resources and connections we have to help with steps like the crowdsourcing initiative the crew discussed today. In that regard, it might help us shape our outreach communication.
Since Kumu is entirely data-driven, no one needs to actually look at the visual relationships if they don’t find that helpful. Kumu has an option to both view and edit the data directly, as well as doing so visually.
In addition to CSV/Excel and Google Sheets integrations, Kumu has a JSON-driven import/export mechanism import into Kumu (used internally for backup and transfer), so it’s possible that an Obsidian linkage could be established.
I want to state that gathering this data for myself, at least in terms of projects and connections was a lifesaver in one instance a couple of years ago when I got let go from a large consulting firm and had to free lance it for a bit. That’s why I had the data for the Kumu test handy, and it was easy to reformat it to import into Kumu. Just to note - we’re not stuck with Kumu as the data can be exported in the same ways discussed above.
I fully agree with Ronen that the network mapping has to be collaborative and the content will evolve dynamically. In fact, I have envisioned the identification of dynamic correlations and potential connections/collaboration opportunities as a valuable service in and of the digital space that we could approach at some point through integration with AI. @Josh Fairhead and I discussed this a little in our visit earlier this week.
The free version of kumu fully supports team collaboration, editing and extension. What it doesn’t support is automatic notification of changes. Jennifer and I had hoped to build this collaboratively, but if anyone is hesitant at using kumu, we can take the raw data (perhaps through a spreadsheet or form) and put it into kumu.
I hope this helps clarify the proposal’s intention.
Thanks,
Robert