As we prepare for the Community Network Builders Convening on November 14 and 15 (sponsored by the Knight Foundation), the design team seeks to create a virtual space via a blog to begin building relationships among those who will be attending and to establish a learning environment from the start. The purpose of this "test blog" is to experiment with how this might work and to learn how easy or hard it is for others to contribute. This blog will enable the design team to decide whether to create one to be used by those who will be invited.
Bill Traynor and I (Frankie Blackburn) just returned from a two day retreat with the great people who help steward the NC3 network in Louisville, Kentucky. (By the way, NC3 stands for Network Center for Community Change). This wonderful and more relaxed time gave me a chance to gather some real content for this test blog, similar to the type we will seek from all of the participants. On this test blog, you will see Anthony Smith's story - a lead organizer for NC3 - in response to the question: "What was your experience with neighborhood networks when you were a teenager?" His answer was quite different than I expected. Take a moment to hear what he has to share!
In addition to finding time to chat with Anthony, I asked the Executive Director of NC3, Dana Jackson, to tell me one story of a "close call"....a time when they made significant progress with a network building strategy but fell short of a real success. Listen to her account of a lesson learned in the blog too.
In addition to finding time to chat with Anthony, I asked the Executive Director of NC3, Dana Jackson, to tell me one story of a "close call"....a time when they made significant progress with a network building strategy but fell short of a real success. Listen to her account of a lesson learned in the blog too.
