NoteBored, my reach exceeding my grasp?

Louisa May Allcat: Notebored's mascott

My daughter, Megan, asked me today what my favorite quote was.  The first one I always go to when asked that question is part of a poem by Robert Browning "A man's reach should exceed his grasp, else what is heaven for?"  Dictionary.com translates this to mean: (Cultural Dictionary)

 

Words from a poem by Robert Browning, suggesting that, to achieve anything worthwhile, a person should attempt even those things that may turn out to be impossible.

I'm excited for what's coming in January.  NoteBored will return from the ashes, but it's going to function differently than it has in the past.  (Though, the graphic design is more in line with the orginal version.)  This time, instead of paying for server space, domain names and fancy forum software, I'm making better use of free programs that are out there.  All powered by Goggle.

I'm building a website that will act as an umbrella to pull all the other disparate programs offered by google together into one website to enhance our community.  I guess it's my version of a content managment system.

We'll use Groups, as our conversation forum.  I've found a way to nest the website that holds all the group conversations inside one of the pages at NoteBored so that you don't have to go to the groups home web page (a separate url) if you don't want to - but now, because groups is essentially designed to work through e-mail you can easily continue a conversation throughout the course of the day from your data plan pone if you like.  Doing it this way has some limitations, but I've read that google plans to make the "group" program more versatile with the ability to create folders (or categories within your forum) to help keep conversations straight.

Shared Docs will become the meat and potatoes of NoteBored.  To be honest, I still have a bit of a learning curve to  the google docs function and how I want to structure it so that we have less clutter and better results.  But the benefit of using "Docs" as the workshop is that each person retains their own work, since the creator of a document is the owner and has the ability to share or unshare rather than loosing control of a copy that is hosted on another's server space.  And yes, there is a way to pull that inside the NoteBored website too, so that all those documents, and the conversation forum are still under one "roof" contributing to keeping all of us in community. 

Google+ will allow us to put notebored people in a "circle".  From what I can see Google+ is essentially the same as facebook.

Instant messaging and live chat functions are embedded right into the the email program, so you can have private conversations and live conversations while still being part of the community.

Google Calendar is easily embedded into NoteBored as well.  I can create several calendars if I want, and you can look at them stacked on one another or peel them apart and only look at what you want.  For instance, I can create a calendar for scheduled NoteBored activities.  (our virtual Christmas party, flash contests schedule, member birthdays) and another calendar for submission deadlines on various other publications.  It's a powerful program, with such a smooth and clean interface that it looks deceptively simpler than it is.

I can create forms that will allow me to make applications to join the community, and those same forms can be used for moderating writing contests, because they time stamp entries and funnel all the results to one document (a spread sheet).

There's also photo software that will let me publish a directory of sorts, for those in the community who are interested in promoting themselves as authors.  A small picture of themselves with a three or four line bio will ping on search engines and bring their names higher up in a google search - more visibility if you are a struggling writer wanting to make yourself known.

So I look at all these programs, I see how seamlessly the fit together - designed so that they would fit together, (most of which translate well to a mobile device) and wonder, why on earth would I want to pay hundreds of dollars to recreate the same basic thing?

There is a catch though.  There's almost always a catch.  In my case, it means I'm going to have to learn my way around these programs or hunt down a google guru who can help me trouble shoot issues when they arise.  Being able to huddle these programs into one website does not mean that I can problem solve each component.  While I know my way around some of them, I haven't used all of them.  I will need to create some tutorials quite literally while I learn them for myself and pray that I can trouble shoot for others or at least point them in the right direction!

But that is just the actual building of the site... there are other changes coming to NoteBored too.  I'm using the building of a website in order to get to what I'm really after, and that is the building of a community.  Part of doing that means that I have to establish the rules that govern it.  Here's what I mean:

An application  / sponsor form is the first step.  It's my gate keeper.  A typical writer's forum allows anyone to register with the idea that if you offer crits you will get your work critiqued in return.  Many people show up, some are only looking, some are looking for trouble or for ego strokes.  Most abandon the site and you end up with an inflated membership that doesn't reflect your true community.  An application weeds out anyone who isn't seriously interested. 

Also, we are a going to a co-op format and you must have a sponsor to get in.  No worries if you don't have one.  All who are not charter members MUST first be sponsored and then take their turn in sponsoring someone else. 

What does a sponsor do?  First they communicate with the newbie one on one, through whatever means works for them, to show them the ropes on our unusual google programs vehicle for community. 

Second, they are the first ones in line to offer crits for their work and respond to their posts.  A big brother sort of thing to ensure that no one falls through the cracks.  Notice I said "in line?"  This doesn't mean that they will be the only ones to help the newbie with comments, but they will have an advocate from the very beginning. 

After the probationary period is over (when presumeably they've made their own friends in the group and asked the majority of their orientation questions) then they are no longer a newbie and responsible now for taking on a newbie themselves.  Sometimes we will get a lot of newbies, and everyone will have their own.  Or things will be slower and a newbie might be assigned several people to watch out for them.  It all depends.

Code of ethics/conduct Boy this sounds so official and scary!  But it's not.  Mostly it's a document that states really clearly what the expectations are for behavior and the conditions under which we all agree to live by. 

Every community has them no matter if they are spoken or unspoken.  I want ours to be very clear because NoteBored, by design, takes on people of all ages.  We will have young people in our community who will need to be protected and nurtured.  That means that the community will be policed by it's members and the rules enforced, resulting in banning if problem situations cannot be resolved. 

My hope is that we will have enough people in the community that a group of individuals who have marvelous people skills will make this their own passion too.  The idea isn't to be autocratic and demanding but to train up people who are vastly different in age, culture and experience levels to use each other's strengths and make us a strong and diverse community.  But that has to be modeled and it has to be communicated in order to bring peace.  It also takes someone who is willing to hold a firm line in order to protect the integrity of the site and the welfare of the younger ones we've invited.

Editorial board eventually we will want a place to publish our community work.  We aren't there yet, and I won't be the one at the steering wheel for it, but hopefully some will rise from our ranks who have this passion and will help mold what it will look like.  Will we have an Ezine?  An Anthology?  A chapbook? I can't wait to find out!

Officers.  I touched on this a little, but I'll go into better detail here.  The idea of having officers within the community is so that specialization can push our boundaries outwards while maintaining structure within.  No one person can do it all.  I need people who are really, really good at the things I'm not, in order for this dream to become a reality. 

• I need administrators to help as gatekeepers, run forums, assign sponsorships and such. 
• I need a google guru team that can help us over the tech hurdles.  
• I need security officers who will resolve conflicts that arise.
• I need mentors and moderators to help newbies in the art of writing. 
• I need more experienced writers who relentlessly pursue excellence in their writing, and challenge others to do the same. 
• I need an event team that will facilitate for the community in things such as: conventions, contests, deadlines, reunions, lectures. 
• I need a community oriented team who will promote fun like word games, virtual parties and those who welcome the stranger. 
• I need reporters who will write articles about us to the writing community at large and articles that are about all those other arms inside our community I just talked about, who can keep us all connected.

Once your sponsorship has ended and you have served at least one term in sponsoring another, AND you have served for a time on one of those teams I just spoke about (in apprenticeship) you are eligible for... 

Elections.  Wouldn't it be awesome if we had so many people contributing to make this community operate - and so many people who wanted to serve, that we had to have elections to keep it from being an insider's clique? 

So now I come full circle, and I ask this humbling question: Is my reach exceeding my grasp?  Am I dreaming too big?  Am I setting myself up for failure assuming that more people will want this too, that they will indeed catch my vision and help carry the load into the future? 

This is a consumer-driven society that craves instant satisfaction, sound bytes, texting short-cuts and fluff.  We like things to come easy, and building this kind of community takes WORK.  It takes commitment to other people in order for it to function the way I envision it; rich in the building up not just NoteBored's corporate functionality - but into the lives of individuals, helping them find their own voice and encouraging them to use it!  Can you see it too?  Can you envision a small community in a little corner of the web, committed to enabling people to communicate their thoughts and ideas clearly?  Do you see the power it?

The word was spoken, and the world began.

The word became flesh, and lived among us, using stories to convey the vision of the kingdom of heaven.

We were made in His image, designed so that we crave communication and fellowship, ...stories.

Stories are what bind us together.  You see it everywhere from the drawings on caves, telling stories of hunts and families - to facebook and it's new timeline profile, telling the electronic version of an individuals story.

I'm afraid that in our race for instant communication on a global level (twitterspeak, facebook, texting, IM'ing), we've forgotten how to really communicate.

Is my reach exceeding my grasp?  Maybe.  But my desire to reach out and build into another individual, helping them find their voice and explore platforms from which to speak is just as powerful for me on my end is it is for them on theirs.  It's not just the art of writing I am interested in.  If that were so, then I wouldn't bother trying to create a community, I'd just keep submitting my work and focus on my own skills.  But I get such pride and excitement out of watching the people I helped build into on a personal level or offered critiques on their work, get published; knowing that NoteBored was instrumental in their growth. 

This is my vision, that far-off thing I am reaching for.