Several weeks ago, Ivan the Great (or someone of similar status) suggested I contact the two known OLPC forums and see if we could integrate, merge or collaborate somehow. One is the quickly growing OLPC News forum (alas, I received no reply from Wayan) and the
<a href="http://olpchelp.org">olpchelp.org</a> site.<br><br>I don't want to have scattered groupings of user communities, but am having trouble seeing a clear path to reconcile. Ads, hosting and differing visions are all open questions. Thoughts? Suggestions?
<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">---------- Forwarded message ----------<br>From: <b class="gmail_sendername">Harrison - Schaaffe</b> <<a href="mailto:peter.harrison@bigfoot.com">peter.harrison@bigfoot.com</a>><br>Date: Jan 1, 2008 11:52 AM
<br>Subject: Re: OLPC Help - The One Laptop Per Child XO Forum Community Contact Us Form - Site Feedback<br>To: "Michael Burns @ OLPC Help - The One Laptop Per Child XO Forum Community" <<a href="mailto:maburns@gmail.com">
maburns@gmail.com</a>><br><br><br>Michael,<br><br>I'm very interested in combining.<br><br>I had ambitions of growing the forum so that it could pay for itself, and<br>possibly give me a token income, but that may take a little time.
<br><br>I have merged forums in the past. The technical challenges are minimal. The<br>problem is getting the members of each to agree to it. The OLPC is in its<br>infancy, so I think there won't be too much problem with the members. They
<br>are all interested in getting as much help as they can.<br><br>Another area that could present a problem is the forum category names. I've<br>tried to keep them simplified to attract the less technically savvy. You
<br>seem to have sections targeting educators We could discuss this too.<br><br>Your forums seem to be linked to a university. Would they need to approve<br>this too?<br><br>The one area where I'd be least flexible would be in the name of the forum.
<br>OLPC Help is what people are looking for and I'd really like the name to<br>remain.<br><br>I don't think OLPC news would want to merge. His forums are growing quite<br>rapidly and he doesn't need to integrate with smaller groups. Have you
<br>approached Wayan Vota over there about it already?<br><br>Once again, I am very interested. You just need patience and people posting<br>in every forum category every day for it to eventually be successful. Active<br>
administrators also make a big difference.<br><br>My cell number is (408) 315-4982 and home is (408) 850-2579. Call me any<br>time today and after 6:30 on weekdays.<br><br><br>Regards,<br><br>Peter & Diana<br><br><br>
----- Original Message -----<br>From: "Michael Burns @ OLPC Help - The One Laptop Per Child XO Forum<br>Community" <<a href="mailto:maburns@gmail.com">maburns@gmail.com</a>><br>Sent: Sunday, December 23, 2007 7:39 PM
<br>Subject: OLPC Help - The One Laptop Per Child XO Forum Community Contact Us<br>Form - Site Feedback<br><br><br>> The following message was sent to you via the OLPC Help - The One Laptop<br>> Per Child XO Forum Community Contact Us form by Michael Burns.
<br>><br>> --------------------------------<br>><br>> Hi, I am the admin for the olpc community support forum at<br>> <a href="http://olpc.osuosl.org/" target="_blank">http://olpc.osuosl.org/</a><br>><br>
> Since we both are running similar forums, I was wondering if we could<br>> collaborate. It seems sub-optimal to have 3 forums (hosted at olpcnews,<br>> olpchelp and osuosl, respectively). Ideally, a combined community will be
<br>> much more effective and vibrant than than multiple smaller pockets of<br>> users spread across separate forums.<br>><br>> Cheers!<br>> Michael Burns<br>><br>> --------------------------------<br>
><br>> Referring Page: <a href="http://www.olpchelp.org/forums/search.php?searchid=610" target="_blank">http://www.olpchelp.org/forums/search.php?searchid=610</a><br>> IP Address: <a href="http://71.237.146.57" target="_blank">
71.237.146.57</a><br>> User Name: Unregistered<br>> User ID: 0<br>><br><br><br></div><br><br clear="all"><br>-- <br>Michael Burns * Student<br>Open Source {Education} Lab