This is a very big gathering of geeks who are passionate about open source software, and it's (as a professor of mine once commented about a term paper that I wrote on an extremely arcane topic) a very interesting kind of thing, if you're interested in that kind of thing.
And of course, I am interested in that kind of thing, especially in the exhibit hall. It's fun to wander around, and learn and about products and services about which I would otherwise be ignorant.
Kudos to the LinuxWorld organizers for setting up a "Dot Org Pavillion" there, so that various not-for-profit open source projects could strut their stuff.
I had an interesting time, wandering from booth to booth in the "Dot Org Pavillion," making small talk and asking leading questions, such as:
What kinds of resources and assistance
do you make available to the over-extended, techno-phobic social
workers* in the nonprofit sector?
What kind of relationship do you have with the Nonprofit Open Source Initiative? How about the Nonprofit Technology Enterprise Network?
Unfortunately, when I asked these questions, I received a lot of blank looks. What kind of relationship do you have with the Nonprofit Open Source Initiative? How about the Nonprofit Technology Enterprise Network?
I did my best not to be daunted - since one of my self-appointed tasks is to bridge as many of these gaps as I can. I therefore ventured another question, wherever possible:
Would you like me to help you get in touch with or find ways to work with some of these organizations?
I received a few enthusiastic responses (notably the friendly folks at LinuxQuestions.Org), but on the whole the folks staffing the booths in the LinuxWorld "Dot Org Pavillion" had other priorities. That's a disappointment.
And now I'm asking myself a few questions:
Could I have approached these folks in a more engaging way?
Are there other folks in these organizations - other, that is, than the ones staffing the booths - who would be interested if approached?
Should NOSI and N-TEN being doing a better job of making the case for service to the nonprofit community?
Should the techno-phobic social workers of this world be taking the lead in doing outreach to the open source software community about the importance of the work that the nonprofit sector does, and the need for the open source community to support it?
Are there other folks in these organizations - other, that is, than the ones staffing the booths - who would be interested if approached?
Should NOSI and N-TEN being doing a better job of making the case for service to the nonprofit community?
Should the techno-phobic social workers of this world be taking the lead in doing outreach to the open source software community about the importance of the work that the nonprofit sector does, and the need for the open source community to support it?
These are not merely rhetorical questions; I would be most interested in feedback about how to build better bridges between the nonprofit world and LinuxWorld.
* I hope that the social workers who read this will not be offended if I use them as a paradigmatic example of nonprofit professionals who do a whole lot with very few resources, low pay, and little recognition. Moreover, the most experienced social workers usually have the least amount of training in information technology; this means that they may end up feeling ignorant about the latter at a time in their careers when they are otherwise masters of their profession. They deserve respect for much-needed work done under difficult conditions, and support in coping with a swiftly-changing world of technology.
