Alan Gutierrez

Xy and Editor B tell us about the Lafitte Housing Projects.

In about an hour, and for the rest of the day, I’m going to be thinking about what it means to be indivisible.

We are standing in line for $40-90 billion. We can’t get the $40-90 billion until we have a plan. That plan depends on neighborhood control of the planning process. Basically, the money waits until we have some idea of how it will be spent. Karen Gadbois said yesterday, this money has come to the city on the backs of people who have lost their homes, which sums it nicely. I ask you to help me wrap my head around this planning process, where it’s at, what it means, and alert me to the many ways in which I’ll be relieved of the burden of self-determination by those that are old hands at spending money that begins with a ‘B’.

That said, there are people that want to talk to me about a web site for their civic organization, where branding or identity is the crucial component. While they are building their brand, let us pray that someone in that community is building a knowledge base, so that when the billions roll in, they have something to drop on the Mayor’s desk.

People don’t care about your splashy intro, logo.

They don’t want your identity.

They want your knowledge. If you have a nonprofit that is worth it’s salt, one that has information that is worth sharing, you need to put it where people can find it.

If not, fine. A nice flashy splash screen is good.

It tells us immediately that there is nothing there.

Those of you know him from the comments as Dave. He lives in Ann Arbor and writes at Suds and Soliloquies. He will be arriving in New Orleans on July 12th and he will be here for the first Stormhoek sponsored, New Orleans Geek Dinner. Say, hello to Dave!

The workshops are a success. They are the backbone of Think New Orleans. In essence, they fill the gaps that others attempt to fill with software development. They fill the gaps nicely, since it turns web publishing into a social event familiar to New Orleanians. The Open Door Workshops will futher develop the networking aspect of the workshops. People can come together and collaborate on web publishing projects. Shoulders to look over.

Collaborative authoring is one focus of Think New Orleans.

Bart Everson has been using the New Orleans Wiki to write the Mid-City Recovery Plan. Many hands make light work, and when all residents can write, edit and review the plan, one would hope that it can get written faster, and with broader support for the final draft.

Think New Orleans wants to assist neighborhoods and citizens in planning and reconstruction. When time comes to persuade the City, to influence the process in favor of the will of the citizens, there is a lot to be said for a thick document, written by residents, reviewed by residents, with a lot of signatories.

Collaborative authoring is one way to lend weight to your neighborhood’s proposal. The kind of weight that makes a nice thud when it his mayor’s desk.