Archive for June, 2008

Was anybody else outside last night? It was really nice out. Like ninety-three (93) nice. Hey, for these few months we’ll take what we can get…

And with heat like this in our little concrete jungle, it’s nice to know that there are people working hard to create spaces where it’s comfortable to hang out in this heat. Spaces like the Downtown Civic Space Park, which will serve as the Downtown Phoenix Campus student union. The entire project is funded by a city bond that you (if you live here) voted for in 2006, so the space is open to everyone, not just ASU students.

The park will be finished in the spring of ‘09, but until then you can track construction progress with a “Dean’s Eye View.” We installed a webcam here on the 6th floor to get a good look at the park. Besides a live feed, the camera also takes a still shot every fifteen (15) seconds, so when it’s all finished, we’ll have a nifty little time-lapse movie put together.

The City of Phoenix also has a camera, but they only take a still shot every half hour. Not nearly as fun, but the different angle is worth a look. And if you want to see a mock up of what it will look like finished, check out these mock ups.

Hey, speaking of parks, the voters of Phoenix recently passed (overwhelmingly) a thirty (30) year extension of the Phoenix Parks and Preserves Initiative. It’s only a one-tenth of one percent ($.001) sales tax allocation, but that little bugger has raised over $200 million to construct and refurbish the parks of Phoenix. This is all important because the City now wants to hear what you have to say about it before they make any final decisions in regards to where the money goes. They are holding a series of public meetings to hear from residents. For more information, call 602-262-6862.

Enjoy your weekend. It’s supposed to get down to eighty (80) the next few nights. Break out the cashmere…

Cheers,
Sam
“We need to be really bothered once in a while. How long is it since you were really bothered? About something important, about something real?”
Ray Bradbury
(In Fahrenheit 451)

I have so many links of so many stories I want to write about. But I’m done feeling useless. Done feeling stressed out about it. I’ve started to catalog them, and forward date the posts. I feel like I can breathe again. I don’t think you know how much pressure you put me under, Constant Reader…

In the meantime, I have some news. There is now an official club on campus called ASU For Dan Saban. We have a blog, a Facebook page, and an email (asufordansaban [at] gmail [dot] com).

Looking forward to catching up a bit!

Cheers,
Sam
“Atheism is a non-Prophet organization.”
George Carlin

Thanks to Netflix, this is my new favorite show. Tina Fey is funny (read: understatement of the decade)…

Intergenerational conversations have been all the rage lately. You know, trying to create and cross bridges between generations in the workplace. During these conversations, the term “social network” comes up at least fifty (50) times a minute. Ok, so it’s not that much. But roll with me, here. My beef with the term is not its definition, it’s the perceived definition (in some circles, we call this connotation).

For some reason, when people use the term, and hear the term “social network,” they are thinking about things like Myspace, Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn. But social networks are so much more, and they happen in so many places. In fact, one could argue that social networks have been around since the dawn of civilization. Or more accurately, social networks are responsible for the dawn of civilization. That’s right. Tom didn’t invent the concept. Social networks happen in your apartment complex, in your church, in your sewing circle, on poker nights, and in professional settings.

And hey, speaking of social networking in professional settings, you should think about coming to one or both of these:

1) The Young Nonprofit Professionals Network of Phoenix invites you to an evening with Herb Paine, Executive Director for the Arizona Humanities Council. Herb will be address the growing generational gap in today’s workforce, specifically in the nonprofit sector. The event will take place at United Way’s offices in Phoenix (1515 E Osborn RD, Phoenix, AZ 85014). More information and RSVP here.

2) IGNITE Phoenix, a non-traditional networking group that meets to support smart growth in our city. This month’s meeting will be taking place Tuesday, June 24 from 5:30PM to 7:30PM at Chez Nous (915 Grand AVE, Phoenix, AZ 85007), with Amina Uben (owner of Chez Nous) speaking. More information and RSVP here.

So, this month consider kickin’ it old school with some real life social networks…

Cheers,
Sam
“If Al Gore invented the Internet, I invented spell check.”
Dan Quayle

On Thursday (6/19), I and two hundred (200) of my closest friends will be at the County Board of Supervisors meeting to hold said community leaders accountable for the current sheriff’s actions. After all, they are our employees, right? If you would like to join us, the meeting will be held at 205 W Jefferson at 9:45AM. If you have any questions, or would like any more information, feel free to email me at samuel [dot] richard [at] asu [dot] edu.

I am going to commit myself to working on a campaign this summer and fall. And not the one you might think. I’ll be volunteering for Dan Saban, an American Lawman. Mr. Saban is running against Joe Arpaio, an Arizonan Embarrassment, for Sheriff of Maricopa County. A few things led up to this decision, but I think none more so than my deep-seeded pursuit of justice. But like I said, there are other reasons, too.

A few years ago, I worked on Howard Dean’s campaign until he screamed. It was pretty much over for him after that. I also grew up as a Boy Scout, where civic engagement and always being prepared (read: keeping band-aids in my wallet) are highly respected. In tenth (10th) grade, I was able to go to Washington, D.C. with the Close Up organization. I came back with a tie full of little red and blue elephants on it, convinced that Conservatism would save the state of our Union. Three weeks later, after a ten (10) minute conversation with a family friend, I threw that tie away and have since been exploring liberal ideals. But like my good friend Stephen says, “Truth has a well-known liberal bias,” so maybe it was inevitable considering my interest in non-fiction…

All that to say, I believe that a change is necessary in the Sheriff’s Office. And I’m going to do something about it, hoping for change. Weird, right? Maybe Mr. Saban will pay attention to those 40,000 outstanding warrants on his desk, and heck, he might even shed some light on some shady dealings in Honduras and China…

Not that my endorsements have any clout in the real world, but you can consider this my official endorsement for Dan Saban. See you in November, Joe.

Here’s a cool time-lapse compilation of the Downtown Phoenix Public Market swiped from my friends over at the Downtown Voices Coalition. I’m the one the blue shirt.

Cheers,
Sam
“I always wanted to be a farmer. There is a tradition of that in my family.”
Bjork

It’s going to be hot today. But it’s still a great day for a bicycle ride to the baseball game. It also saves money on gas and parking…

Cheers,
Sam
“When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the human race.”
H.G. Wells

The second to last day of my trip to DC was probably my favorite. It was Lobby Day, and about one hundred (100) of us met with our respective local Representatives and Senators (read: their staff). We met with John Shadegg’s office, Raul Grijalva’s office, Jon Kyl’s office, and Ed Pastor’s office (pictured). And about now, you’re thinking, “That’s great, Sam. But why were you meeting with them?!”

Good question. We were on the Hill to build momentum and gain energy for proposed legislation tentatively titled the Nonprofit Capacity Building Initiative (NCBI). Sounds like a lot of letters, and potentially boring. But I promise you this legislation is exciting, and could potentially impact your daily life in fantastic ways. Basically, the NCBI would set up an equivalent to the Small Business Administration. This is important because eighty-one percent (81%) of nonprofit organizations have operating budgets of under one million dollars ($1,000,000). And that means that any “back office” type work greatly diminishes the amount of money and energy an organization can use towards the furthering of their mission. So get excited.

On varying degrees, all four of the meetings we had were met with positive remarks. Understandably, Grijalva’s and Pastor’s people were most excited about it. And while the other meetings were productive, they were a little more reluctant due to all the hub-bub over PAYGO. The National Council of Nonprofit Associations is asking for $25 million fronted by the Government with another $25 million in matching dollars funded by private foundations. That might sound like a lot, but the Small Business Administration had a budget of $678 million last fiscal year. There is plenty of work left to do to move this bill further along the process, but the Lobby Day was a huge first step. Be certain that I’ll provide you all the updates you can handle…

After all of those meetings were over, I headed over to 11th and K streets, where my bed for the night was. It was my first experience in a hostel, and I was very pleased. Super cheap, great conversations with people from all over the world, and a wealth of information on local sights and eats off the beaten tourist path.

I was leaving the next day in the early evening, so I knew that most of my afternoon was going to be spent traveling to, and waiting at the airport. Before I left Phoenix, I made sure that I knew the tour schedule of the NPR Headquarters, and made my reservation. It was pretty cool to see where Morning Edition, All Things Considered, and Talk Of The Nation are produced, but none of the three were on air when the tour happened, so no picture with Neil Conan…

I learned so much, met scores of amazing people, and have a storage closet full of stories and experiences because of my week in the Capitol City. Thanks for reading along, and living vicariously through my trip!

Cheers,
Sam
“The traveler sees what he sees. The tourist sees what he has come to see.”
G.K. Chesterton

This marks my one hundredth (100th) post. That’s a lot of rambling. To celebrate, I’m going to throw myself a party. Just kidding. Why would I do that? Someone else is going to do all the work. Or I’m not really going to celebrate it. Haven’t decided yet.

One thing I have decided though, is that I’m going to catch up. My friend Adam says he’s about four (4) days ahead in posts. I’m about eight (8) days behind that. I haven’t even finished up writing about my DC trip, I have a really cool idea brewing about Doctors Without Borders, and then there’s all these current events. One way bloggers catch-up a bit is to do something called a “link dump.” This is where, instead of lengthy post of stuff they came up with themselves, they will just post a conglomeration of links they have stumbled across and are collecting dust on their bookmark bookshelf. Some of you might argue that most of my posts integrate this technique with my gratuitous linking. To you, I say, “::silence::.”

I have some dumping to do. And it’s Wednesday, also known as (aka) “hump day”, so I concocted a clever title.

The Hump Dump

Animated street art by Blu. It’s about a seven (7) minute video, but worth every second. Sent to me by my cousin Matt. Pretty fun stuff.

The big-cactus-bloom-in-the-sky has already won awards. Boston area artist Janet Echelman designed the thirty-eight (38) foot tall sculpture that will be part of the new Downtown Civic Space, which is part of the Downtown Phoenix Campus of Arizona State University. Authorities are already on the lookout for David Ortiz jerseys…

The Phoenix Suns Charity gave over $1 million last year to the community, including a $100,000 grant to Valley of the Sun YMCA to continue a $4.3 million renovation of its Chris-Town facility. Oh yeah, and we have a new coach, too.

Last year, the IRS received over 85,000 applications for new nonprofit organizations. I’m a big fan of minimalizing duplication, so that wasn’t a very exciting number for me. The good news, however, is that the ASU Lodestar Center is partnering with the Lodestar Foundation to offer a $250,000 Collaboration Prize. If you know of any two organization like have like-minded interests and could serve their communities better by joining forces, here is a great opportunity to fund that conversation.

The Morrison Institute will be holding another edition of Forum 411: Engaging Arizona’s Leaders today. The topic is Immigration: From Global to Local to Kids, and is produced in collaboration with Community Outreach & Advocacy for Refugees (COAR). The event is today at 4PM.

I’ve talked about it before, but I am a big fan of the responsible use of technology in the Nonprofit Sector. Things like embracing Web 2.0, using New Media to be more effective message-bearers, and exploring Open Source programs and operating systems to cut down on administrative costs and increase efficiency. Well, check this out. Oxford Archeology has recently switched all of its servers over to Ubuntu, and transitioned into using the Open Office software package. The effect? A 20% decrease in IT costs over the last two years…

Cheers,
Sam
“I am who I am because of who we all are.”
Meaning of the Zulu word, Ubuntu