OCTOBER COLLABORATORY NOTES

JTM COLLABORATORY MTG 10/26/10

Present: John Hamer, Brian Glanz, Mike, Jeff Vander Clute, Matt Rosenberg, Peggy Holman, Lisa Youngblood-Hall

Mike & Peggy – reported on meeting with Lisa Verhovick at Gates Foundation RE: funding. The Collaboratory is not a good fit for their regular strategies – most interested in CCC in relation with the Seattle Center Foundation; Lisa ‘s involved in the Next 50 celebration at the Center and want the Gates foundation to be a player;
Maybe a family grant of some sort re: Collaboratory? They are willing to set up a private meeting with Bill Gates Sr.;

  • Collaboratory needs to decide what the focus might be
  • Need strong sense of what we’re planning

Mike – Based on their reaction I think the Collaboratory is the first thing they want to know about and the Civic Communications Commons as well; mapping might be a potential as well

Matt – we need to find ways to communicate; I (Transparency Initiative) need Funding too – I’ve recruited a board; going to become a 501c3.
The tricky part is if I’m out there pitching for funding and you guys (Collaboratory) are out there pitching as an umbrella group looking for funding, how do we distinguish between the 10 initiatives and not make it look like we’re tag teaming them.

Jeff – where JTM Collaboratory fits is catalyzing – spotting orgnizations that have potential; cross pollinator, not necessarily spearheading 10 initiatives; it seems JTM’s role is as a unique catalyst bringing them to the light of day andgetting them started;

Matt – that’s not me; I don’t want to be “under” anything with my fate determined by an umbrella organization.

Mike – it’s not JTM’s desire to “own” these initiatives – It’s to nurture and then let them go.

Matt – I need self-determining ability.

Peg – You have that. JTM is about loose connections; creating diversity, building resources and support.

Mike – the Collaboratory is connective tissue in an ecosystem; we’re trying to help people survive and thrive

Matt – Certain initiatives might have common ground and can work together; I’ve already gotten the support I needed, met a key board member through JTM;

Mike – We come together and go out aways, then come together as needed; but funding is a tricky issue.
John – Funding is tricky and key – But any ecosystem is competitive.

Peg – and cooperative…

John – But matt is right – if I’m looking to Gates for money, and JTM is looking for money, and Matt is going to them for money they’re going to feel like they’re being pecked to death. We want to be aware of what we’re all doing and… we need to be realistic.

Lisa – It’s sounds like you are all saying the same thing.

Peggy- We’re modeling and making it up as we go along;

Brian – The website is infrastructure oriented; it’s within JTM; I’m curious what else comes under JTM?

General – The Collaboratory, maybe microfinance

Mike – if we can come up with a technical solution in the spirit of abundance; if we can share our solutions … we need to solve common problems

Peggy – if we do our work well, we’ll grow a bigger pie.

Matt – I think money should be put towards funding infrastructure, instead of giving salaries to JTM members; the money could be used to start up a new initiative.

Jeff – The point of leverage; there needs to be an iniative focused on fertilizing and catalyzing;

Mike – Lisa (Gates) talked about how difficult it is to fund things that permeate across a landscape; and I said we’re dealing with hubs and links versus hierarchies; We don’t understand hubs and links very well, and that is the niche of the Collaboratory and that’s the difficulty for funding it – but that’s a fundamental SHIFT in how we regard this work and collaboration in general.

Mike – Creating abundant journalism – to look at the ecosystem; better needs assessment; inspire conversation between journalism groups already vested in creating news in the community and figure what we’re not doing, where is there duplication of effort? How /where can we build better networking?

John – we have a map of abundant journalism and where do we cross where do we connect?

Mike – Civic Communications COmmons might connect to mapping in considering how do you get communities to generate and sustain the information flow themselves?

John – Rotary is an example; they’re a hub we can hold up as a model;

Peggy – We’re in an interesting place. 10 months after the Seattle January conference the iniatives have grown enough that their edges are rubbing against each other;

QUESTION: Peg – Collaboratory needs to create a blog; should we post our notes there for transparency? Should we do it in a private session? There’s an aspect we want private and an aspect public;

General response – should probably be closed to Collaboratory members?

Mike – re the website; say Seattle chapter NABJ needs a site – can that be done?

Brian – Yes.
Conversation re: fees for publishing arm of JTM for blogs etc;

LISA – the UWA paid students’ fees for access; could be a publishing coordination program;

JOHN CONTACT MELANIE BROWN re 501c3 info and resources; Matt – your board members are resources

LISA – we acquired status in AUG 09 pro bono – I could talk to the guy who did that for us;

PEG\\ – What did you have to provide?

LISA- Budget, mission statement, types of activities that support our mission;
LISA WILL CONTACT

Mike – Seattle foundation; if we have an area like building on transparency, if they have someone interested they play matchmaker; we need to get in front of them and get them interested; media literacy

Peg – is the Collaboratory a fit with their healthy communities initiative?

Mike/John – Yes, I think so.

Mike – Crosscut has general information needs and giving, but that’s small potatoes compared to what we could do; I’m trying to open the conversation with Norm.

JEFF – Competition – Cooperation – collaboration – co-creation
We’re evolving as a species through this spectrum of possibilities

Peg – JTM is a jump starter for co-creation and give people a first time experience of that.

John – this is the history of the world;
PEG – Knight Challenge grant category on community – is there any chance or fit?

MIKE – I think the Civic Communications Commons is a really good fit there;

John – after the gridiron the Mapping Initiative is as well;

Mike – There are 3 pilots: 1) arts and culture, driven by erosion of traditional journalism coverage of that area; 2) gardening and food – a vibrant community here but not well integrated and connected; 3) news and information pieces – how do you get more journalism going to serve communities? Those 3 project areas would be done in 2011 with a technical support to help them share info; an experimental way to create community conversation

Peggy – Is the Collaboratory a good fit?

General consensus: No

JEFF CAN CONNECT WITH JOHN AND JACOB RE A JOINT GRANT PROPOSAL BETWEEN CCC AND MAPPING for the Knight grant on community
Mike – I have a follow-up on people in the philanthropic world – Carol Lewis Philanthropy NW; and Ken Bunting

PEGGY – follow-up with Rob Glazier via Dave Messerschmidt

LISA – sounds like the 501c3 status is really up

Peggy – We have a fiscal agent. But it would be better to go in-house

Gridiron dinner – announcement to general Seattle JTM list?
General consensus: No

LISA – create a list with an offering of a newsletter; a membership that offers special opportunities like this dinner special etc. –
Ties in with website

PEGGY – Lisa Skube – RJI fellow – wants to do a session on her initiative and gather feedback; She we do a broad-based invite for mid-November; there is huge overlap with JTM; she’s thinking internet based
Peggy – Get info sheet from her on her initiative

Mike – She works with Janet – I think it would be good for her to get feedback from another group;

Peg – get the word out to the Seattle list; get word out to ethnic groups locally
Lisa – I can help get the word out; are you familiar with SEABEEZ –connecting mainstream journalists with community journalism groups of color; developing hubs – Bay area BEEZ and LA BEEZ
CATE- contact the groups of color about this and get an invite out to the whole Seattle list

John – Tom Rosensteele – town hall meeting DEC 16th on his book BLUR – can we get him and do something?

QUESTION: Maybe the Collaboratory should be a co-sponsor or co-presenter? Presentation table in the lobby? What he’s writing about is a lot of what we’re doing here.
Setup breakfast?
SEND OUT WORD TO LIST???

MIKE – will talk to Rosensteele to see if he has some extra time;

Lisa – Elliott bay books?

John – WNPA – reach out to Roland Thompson exec dir of ALLIED; this group if we ignore that would be a big mistake; need to add to bus plan

Mike – Allied Daily Newspaper, bigger dailies; AND WNPA organization

Jeff – a whole system would include more way of interacting with the community; journalism is important, but what about rideshare, food growing, success stories in the community; engaging the community. Is it CCC? Or the Collaboratory?

Peggy – The CCC

WASH DC Site Jim Brady, Steve Buttry; Complete Community Connection; TBD.com
Matt – that’s the kind of stuff the local blogs have, but they’re missing the meaty news; blogs aren’t doing well on the non-local level; we need to keep looking at how we can combine these local and non-local media efforts

John – Jim Brady reached out to the Wash Post … it would be great to get him out here to talk about his CCC and our CCC

RE: Collaboratory Business Plan

Matt – the Business Plan looks good

Peg – looking at Jeff’s letter it looks like I want to use a lot of this in the Executive Summary

JOHN – will send Peggy a few tweaks on the verbiage for mapping and TAO

Mike – we need some “handout” material and make available on website;

Peg – it is the basis for proposals and for the 501c3; is this getting us on the same page as a basis;
PEGGY will clean up and finalize.

CATE – Take happiness index out of initiative list

MAPPING: How is the conversation sustainable and who might come to the conversation

Share