Category Archives: Uncategorized

Upcoming ActivateHub Hackathon at Engine Yard - Sunday June 30

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Event Details
10am to 6pm at Engine Yard.  Event description on ActivateHub and on Calagator.  Please RSVP via EventBrite so we can plan accordingly!
Thanks to Engine Yard for being rock star hosts!!
Non-Tech Tasks and Tech Tasks are outlined below……
Tech Tasks for the Day
Priorities to Actually Launch Alpha include:
*  Limit event list to show a maximum of 5 events per day, with a “Show More” option to see full event list for the day
*  Same story as above, but on the calendar view. Our Full Calendar jquery plug-in, viewable at sanfrancisco.activatehub.org   Optionally, build a better calendar view from scratch, likely in Angular.
*  Fix tagging system 1. Enable both “Topic” and “Type” tags at every stage of import.
*  Fix tagging system 2. Ensure events associated with an organization are automatically tagged with Topics associated with that organization.
*  Ensure organizations enter contact info.  Likely twice – publicly viewable volunteer contact, and web master or other contact info for ActivateHub administrator.
*  Ensure duplicate imports are not occurring from Google calendar feeds.
 
Other Tasks to Include:
*   Fix UI – top nav bar needs some redesign.
*   Fix venue listings.  Venue listing should show events occurring at that venue.  Venue imports that match existing venues should not create duplicates.
*   Enable a view screen for past events, not just future.
*   Social media sharing and exporting of events, importing to personal calendars.
*   Embed codes.  Organizations should be able to filter the calendar by topic, and embed this filtered view in their site.
*   Enable comments on events.
*   User log-in – required for editing or deleting events.
GitHub Repo activate/ activation_calendar
Pivotal Tracker (kind of a mess right now, apologies)
Non-Tech Needs
* Documentation!  Photos / video / blog posts.
* Word press site that needs much love, including recap of the day, team bios, and a few extra pages.
* Wire frames:  screen shots of the site dolled up to reflect immediate changes and future visions
* Social media:  both to  promote Activate, but more importantly, we stealth pull FB feeds from fake FB & Gmail accounts, more of which need to be set-up
* T-Shirts, Buttons, Stickers:  the day I get a co-founder, we’ll launch an Indie GoGo. I’d like to know I already have designs and a source selected for these items.
*  Research. Part of the expected revenue will come from selling a replica event aggregator site and set-up service to Universities, cuz every college campus should have an automatically populated event calendar of student groups and campus life.  But I need to research this market size and any competitors more thoroughly.
* Organizing Gmail, ‘cuz my lists are crazy and I need help. And because, why not.
This is a super exciting project, garnering a lot of interest that extends far outside of Portland.  And of course, we believe it will have far-reaching social impact, and, ya know, save the world.  We’re excited to meet you and hope you can learn, have fun, and be a part of the movement!

Use Cases - Who Benefits from a Community Civic Calendar?

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So… who uses this calendar, and how does it benefit them?

The Armchair Activist:

You like learning about issues, via documentaries or science expos or debates.  You really like things that are educational, especially if they include beer, music or fire.   You might even occasionally volunteer or sign a petition, but have no interest in paying for a membership or receiving an endless stream of non-profit newsletters to your e-mail inbox.  You just want to go out and do!  Great.  Stop researching.  One simple & comprehensive source for edutainment that falls outside of the typical movie and music listings is here!  You don’t even have to pick a single issue to care about, just select an event type (butt on bike, hands in dirt, mind engaged, meet the director, tour, debate, rally) & go out and get engaged in your community!

 

The Serial Activist:

Your going to change the world… as soon as you can get off the computer!  Stop spending hours wading through websites to find the nearest rally, debate, protest or town hall; they are all listed in one place.  What?  We are suddenly declaring war on another nation or a natural disaster has pummeled another city?  End the frustrating feeling of “how can I help?” and easily find actions in your area.  Don’t relegate yourself to one or two causes if you care about them all!  Easily stay abreast of a wide variety of issue-related events, without choosing a hundred different news feeds to subscribe to.

 

Organizations:

Welcome to your new, hyper-effective marketing tool!  And it’s free!  And if it you use it as recommended, you won’t even half to remember to visit some external website to add your events.  With thousands of users who may never have thought to visit your website, traffic to your website and attendance at your events is sure to increase.  We expect this to result in increased memberships, but it will certainly help your metrics for your next funding round!

With one comprehensive source for all events filterable by topic, you can easily find (often unexpected) allies and consolidate resources.  Simplify selection of which date is clear and free and appropriate for scheduling your next big fundraiser. The option exists to embed the calendar in your personal website either filtered specifically for your organization, or by topic.  Embedding the filter by topic option enables you to inform your members (and your staff) of events outside of your organization that are relevant to your issue, without doing any additional research.  As we grow, we will integrate social networking components that enable feedback about your events from attendees, and will keep the conversation going long after the seminar ends.

As this resource becomes available in each city, it will facilitate organizing and collaborations on a regional & national level.   If YOU want to be part of the Beta test group and embed the calendar on your organization’s website and be a part of the magic that makes this resource a reality, please contact me at [email protected].

 

Business Owners:  

With thousands of users anticipated in each city, each of them the type who give a sh*t, your green product or socially responsible service or charity-contributing company will find a uniquely large, yet targeted, audience.  We expect our users to return to the website several times a week, ingraining your logo into their minds.  Unlike most websites, this site enables users to engage in their community and create new experiences, which means our sponsors are affiliated with the kind of emotional connection that advertisers often seek to fulfill through experiential event marketing.

 

Investors:

Did I mention this will be huge?  The one resource of it’s type in every city?  It will be an immensely popular stand alone site, plus be embedded as an i-frame into thousands of organization websites.  It will integrate a social networking component.  It’s a tech start-up meets social capital.  We’ve mapped out 5 separate potential revenue streams.  It has high returns written all over it.   [email protected]

 

Political Analysts & Market Researchers:

We expect to capture a lot of useful data about civic engagement, event organizing, geographic political interests, and analyzing what motivates people to take action.