The idea of migrating villages onto Facebook has been brought up before. If I recall correctly, not many people were in favor of the idea. Personally (and leaving the whole web hosting situation aside for a minute), I don't think that the community feel that has been achieved here on Nabuur will easily transfer to Facebook. Each Village would have to have its own group or 'fan page', leading Villages to be scattered about all over Facebook. There is no way that I know of, and correct me if I'm wrong, that the Villages could be housed under one primary group and continue to maintain their own separate discussions without it turning into one giant mess.
Also, a few other things:
- Facebook is censored in some parts of the world. If Nabuur wants to expand into other regions, we need to make sure that all countries can have access. Also, some existing Nabuur users (who are based in the regions that Facebook is not accessible in) would be left out of the community.
- The 'Discussion' options on Facebook can be clunky. Many non-profits and community groups have tried to carry on coherent discussions but they end up using external platforms for their chatter. I know that the Nabuur set-up is not ideal at the moment, and much improvement needs to be made, but local reps and volunteers still find their way to posting in the discussions. Something is working. :)
- In line with the logistics of carrying on discussions, there is no option on Facebook to include an attachment to a posted message (in the discussions tab - not the 'wall'). Things like project plans, budgets, building specs, photos, etc. (i.e. much necessary documentation for many projects and villages) would not be able to be attached to a message.
Last week I wrote that a way is found to hand over the governance from the present board and myself to a new group.
I am happy to inform you now that a group of persons has been invited and has accepted to steer the future developments of NABUUR. They are from various parts of the globe with lots of experience and contacts in many different areas. Some are old hands from NABUUR, others are from other backgrounds in IT and social network sites. They share a passion to let people work together online for the benefit of communities in developing countries. All in all it is a group that is very well equipped to ensure that NABUUR’s services improve and become available to many more Local Communities.
The members of the group are:
· Nonhlanhla Dube
· Anders Pedersen
· Jennifer Wells
· Denis Marsha
· Tobias Eigen
· Romina Oliverio
· Pelle Aardema
· Rolf Kleef
· Tchitula Teuns
The group has agreed to look into the strategic questions and select a supervisory board from among themselves, to whom the present board will then hand over responsibilities. I know that the group will want to communicate with the users on the site and expect that you will see their first message soon.
I agree with your observations. The Nabuur Website is unique in its on way in purpose and in design.
And I think creating an individual separate fan page for every single village in the facebook format would spread the individual village within the spectrum of the large facebook platform thereby scattering everything.
This is how villages will have to navigate on facebook:
step 1 - open the page www.facebook.com/nabuur
On the top of this page you will notice - Wall, Info, YouTube, Boxes, Notes, Discussions, Get started!, NABUUR villages.
step 2 - clicking on "NABUUR villages" opens a page which has links to all the villages. So far this page has 6 villages listed. These are "Profile" pages, and not the "Fan" pages (your message mentions Fan pages, which are totally different from Profile pages on facebook)
step 3 - by clicking on any village on this page, it opens the profile page of the village. The top of the page shows - Wall, Info, Discussions, Photos
If all villages migrate to facebook, the number of villages that appear on the page at step 2 will increase from 6 to 288 (the total villages listed on nabuur as of today). Any village can be clicked from the page at step 2 - this will open the village profile as on step 3. All villages appear on one page (step 2 above), and a full-blown profile of each village is just another click away (step 3 above). I believe facebook involves fewer clicks than nabuur to navigate to the profile of any particular village. This explains that there is no scattering of villages on facebook, since all 288 villages will be tied down to one page on facebook, and that each village gets enough space and features to put on the profile.
Discussion platforms - facebook is used by well over a 100 million people. It is widely accepted. The choice here is between a stable and free platform on facebook versus nabuur which risks going off the internet by Dec 2010 unless funds are pumped in for website hosting. I am sure the villages would get round to the facebook style of discussions once they migrate.
The same adaptability will have to occur with attachments on facebook - where the village will have to mention in the discussion that the attachment can be picked from the wall (where it is possible to attach).
I agree with you about censoring - though I am not aware of the regions where facebook is censored at present, however censoring is a reality which might affect any site including nabuur in future due to legal or other issues.
Thanks for the added explanation. Now I understand how you're envisioning villages on Facebook.
I agree with you that it takes less clicks to arrive at a specific village on Facebook, and I appreciate that you're searching for options to avoid Nabuur being taken offline. Nobody wants that to happen.
But I'm still hesitant with the idea of migrating the community over to Facebook. I really don't see that FB would make it easy to participate in discussions. You're right in saying that FB is used by millions of people, but I can't imagine that many of these users are using the platform to work on full scale project plans that involve teams of volunteers. The Nabuur set-up allows for more flexibility and options when it comes to discussions. Options such as archiving closed discussions, structuring clusters of discussions into projects, setting order to tasks, labeling tasks with statuses, etc. are functionalities not available on FB at this time.
I realize I'm focusing on this one aspect alone, but as you've seen, the discussions are the 'living room' of a project - that's where everyone congregates, and where the major action can be found. It needs to be fully functional as well as provide an instant snapshot of a project to those who may just happen to wander in. FB can't deliver on that.
I dug around for an example of an organization on Facebook with considerable discussion topics on their page and found the TED page. All those messages look difficult to navigate (to me, at least) and I wouldn't know where to begin to keep track of what is what. There is not even a search option. Like I said earlier, the current project room on Nabuur needs tweaking but I'm not sure that the FB options are any better.
Maybe others have a different opinion - would love to hear them. :)
The "TED page" in your message is again a "Fan" page - it is not a "Profile" page. As mentioned in my last message, nabuur will need to work on the "Profile" pages for villages. Profile pages allow a lot more features as compared to Fan pages on facebook. If you go to the profile page of any of the 6 nabuur villages on facebook, you will also notice a Search box at the page top, whereas the Search box does not exist on Fan pages, as you have rightly noticed. I guess a different perspective of facebook will emerge if you can set aside the Fan pages for a while, and examine the facilities offered by the "Profile" pages on facebook.
Facebook is basically a networking site, and is fast approaching the status of the topmost networking site globally, based on recent media releases. Networking is all about discussions and the living room. Facebook sets the trend now.
You have also mentioned the following issues in your post:
Full scale project plans involving teams of volunteers - theoretically, facebook will not impose any limit on the number of volunteers who discuss any task - they could be in millions, if nabuur can get so many people to discuss any task. All project plans on nabuur are as attachemnts, in addition to text in the thread. All this is possible on facebook.
Archiving - any discussion stays on facebook, unless the village itself deletes it.
Structuring clusters of discussions into projects - facebook allows a "Group" to be created by any "Profile" (village). For example, if a village has 10 projects, this village could create 10 Groups with each group labeled as a different project. Each group then allows multiple discussions which are specific to that project. All such groups will appear under the profile of this particular village. Similarly, other villages can create their own groups (projects). Nabuur does the same.
Setting order to tasks, labeling tasks with statuses, etc. - these are all non-issues on facebook - there is enough flexibility for all this and plenty more.
Other positives are:
- facebook is lightning fast - the nabuur site could not be tweaked in the good times, and one should not expect this to improve during the bad phase.
- facebook will throw up all relevant advertisements on any page that opens - this will open the world to all villages, who might perhaps get things moving through the advertisements.
- facebook provides a potential of several million facebook users to get to the village pages through the internal facebook network.
I can understand that there must be compelling reasons for nabuur to continue with the existing site, since a change to any state-of-the-art environment is obviously not on the agenda, despite the looming threat of going off the internet.
Nevertheless, we are well aware that, not only are there very few active villages on nabuur, there are also very few active neighbours on nabuur. Seeking opinions of the few active neighbours might not create the total perspective which is required in the existing situation. My attempts at projecting facebook as a potential host for nabuur is only one of the options, and other options could also be explored.
A follow-up to Siegfried's message about NABUUR's future.
We're in quite a deep transformation of how NABUUR operates as an organisation, and so it's going to be "more of a rough ride" for a while still, before we found a stable new way of working together.
The NABUURCamp in February was productive and positive, and I think everybody left full of energy. But the online discussions after the Camp mostly turned counter-productive and divisive, with ideas scattered around but not a lot of (visible) progress, and several people feeling demotivated and disconnected. And we've had a few meet-ups in The Netherlands to do some technical work.
In the meantime, many of you did continue the work you do for local communities and projects, and maintained the relations developed through NABUUR. Also, several people have continued keeping the platform running, answering emails, supporting local reps and volunteers, managing the NABUUR page on Facebook and LinkedIn, the twitter stream, and trying to work towards an improved platform. And we spoke to quite a few people who like NABUUR's work and wouldn't like to see it disappear. But mostly low-profile, "behind the scenes".
So about two weeks ago, Pelle and I said to Siegfried we're too stubborn to let it go, and are ready to take over formal responsibility (with others). That would allow the current board to "close the NABUUR past", the formal aspects of the NABUUR operation until the end of 2009, and open "the NABUUR future" as all-volunteer platform, with enough resources to keep t running for the rest of 2010.
Siegfried contacted several people who, in the last 6 months or so, have helped nurture and support the people who keep things running: to jointly sketch a clearer path ahead, and possibly join the board. You saw who has accepted this challenge. (Further introductions will follow later.)
We've set up a private discussion list for this group, to have a high-trust environment, and the group decides (for now, at least) who will be able to join. At the same time, we want to be open and transparent towards the whole community, keep you informed of what happens, and involve you in key decisions. Of course, we'll also take stock of what has been suggested and said in the various discussions so far.
But please give us a bit of time to get settled.
Hopefully, this will let most of you keep doing the things that makes NABUUR such a special place:
- a meeting place for villages and volunteers
- a match-maker for skills and resources to get projects done
- a social community of great and deeply committed people
I hope you all see this is as a step towards a new operational model for NABUUR!
The major components on the Nabuur Website are the Villages(Projects), Local Representatives,Facilitators,Neighbours and it is on that basis that anyone Power Center be it
the "Old" or what is proposed as a "New Group" is being recognised.
The Old or New derives its Mandate and Credibility from the above components.
There has been hesitance for sometime to come out boldly with the announcement of handover.
For a long time now no one was certain about the the direction and future of Nabuur until recently
when the new group of nine(9) was proposed.
In that period of silence it became contentious to move all Nabuur Villages to Facebook.
This had genuine concerns and fears for which there are advantages and disadvantages in this.
Some people saw it as Nabuur losing its relevance which is true.
Then the big question of the day is: What prevents NABUUR from being a transparent and credible institution?
I and probably many others would like to be informed about the composition of the "Old" Board which
proposed the "New Group".
Realistically, there is absolutely nothing new!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We are now moving from Point A to Point B before the "Transition from Nabuur to Nabuur Global".
Logically, we should know the composition of Team A (Old) if it exists or existed and then transfer to
Team B (New) of 9 .
Short of that, you should all know that we are still maintaning the statusquo and that is we are still
working behind an iron-curtain with no transpareny and accountability to stake-holders.
Being a Consultant on Social Development and a Stake-holder, I can assure you that we are still rotating around the same power axis(center).
June 1, 2010, was meant for effective hand-over from the Old Managers to the New Managers but todate
things are still dragging on. The Big Question is:Why?
What has been suggested is that hand-over to a new group will be done sometime. When?
After June 1, 2010 the other question is: Who has the powers to select,elect or even appoint any
"Interim Boards" be it Supervisory(Trustees) or the Executive Board?
Is there a Binding Legal Constitution?
What is the Formulae or Criteria for selection,election or even appointment?
I hope the issues of democracy and good governance are taken in consideration.
We should all remember, if the issue of transparency and accountability are not addressed, one will
use one hand to hand over power and then use the other hand to take it away by dictating terms as it
has been pre-determined. In the end, it will be the same cycle and the same self-style of management
with no meaningful impacts but wastage of time and limited resources.
Ordinarily, when there is hand-over of any office, the old guards cease to dictate terms of operation but leave the process to evolve without undue influence.
The new development leaves alot of suspicion now that we have no legally binding constitution to follow.
Who has the powers to ensure that there is a bottom-up approach for mutual realtionships other than that of "Servants-Master" relationship?
We should know where we are coming from and then determine where we are heading.
The Following Statistics can bring out clearly the whole picture of Nabuur Scenario reflecting
the distribution of Villages (Projects) on Nabuur Website around the globe:
CONTINENT: NUMBER OF VILLAGES:
AFRICA: 230
ASIA: 46
SOUTH AMERICA: 10
EUROPE: 1
NORTH AMERICA: 1
From the above statistics and what I know, Nabuur can not exist witout the Villages(Projects),
Local Representatives of Villages,Facilitators of the Villages and Neighbours.
Being a Local Representative in Africa, I feel that Africa and Asia have been marginalised
whereas they are the major stake-holders. This is the fact of the matter and there should not be
any contentions. The big question in relation to this is: What population density in terms of numbers do
Africa and Asia represnt compared to the rest of the world? The obvious answer is that Africa and Asia as continents have the highest population densities suffering from poverty and underdevelopment.
That is why those projects hosted on Nabuur Website lobbying and expecting funding.
In other words, there is no business without those projects mentioned above.
The Managers just come in as "Tools" to organise and perfect the system to perform to the expectations of the Major Stake-holders mentioned above and not to dictate terms to stake-holders.
Today, the major concerns for Nabuur transforming to Nabuur Global are:
1- Having in place a Legally Binding Constitution(Acceptable to Majority Stake-holders)
as has been outlined above by Africa being the major stake-holder if you like with
International instruments other than being governed from one country.
2- Addressing the issue of transparency and accountability.
3- Recognising that Most Villages(Projects) are in Developing Countries and should be highly
represented on Boards because the matters for interventions directly affect them.
The pertinent questions are:
- How many people do represent African Villages on NABUUR Boards?
- How many people do represent Asian Villages on NABUUR Boards?
- How many people do represent South American Villages on NABUUR Boards?
- How many people do represent Europe on NABUUR Boards?
- How many people do represent North America on NABUUR Boards?
4- Recognising the Roles of Facilitators and Local Representatives of Villages(Projects)
as Prime-Movers of Nabuur Affairs.
5- Identifying Sources of of Funding and Amounts received say that from "HIVOS".
As long as the above concerns are not addressed, "Honestly", it is better for Nabuur Managers
(Old/New) to advise the Villages hosted on Nabuur Website to migrate elsewhere or better still
advise them to set their own websites to fundraise for their village projects.
Suggesting a hand-over to a new group is not a lasting solution with "STRINGS attached "BEHIND THE IRON_CURTAIN". The world is now a global village with diversity of ideas,innovations,cultures and resources.
Great am anew member here, actually I have found it very interesting in joining you, people, Ibelieve in team work so that we bring the developents in the village and its environments. as per networworking is concern I believe facebook can be the best to get in tourch with the village team.
Folks
I also came late to this whole discussion. Its good to see that people have decided that Nabuur is far too good an idea to let it die, and that some quiet heroes are standing up to make sure it continues.
Keep up the good work!
Just a quick update to let you know what's happening with the discussions regarding NABUUR's future.
The inception of this group came right at the height of summer for many of us. For some folks, this means vacations and time off (which had been previously scheduled). Those who were, or currently are, on holiday are slowly starting to trickle back, and are eager to resume discussions.
Rolf asked for your patience in granting us a little time to get settled - we're slowly getting there! Please give us a few more days and we'll make sure to post an update.
We know that regular and transparent communication is key to this process. You can surely expect more of that coming your way very shortly.
Dear all,
It’s been a while since the last update regarding NABUUR’s future.
Here’s an update of the current status. We’re aiming to post a weekly update from now on.
Status update
Earlier this summer Siegfried announced a group of 9 people (strategy group) who agreed to look into NABUURs future since the current board is stepping down, with regards to the major changes NABUUR is undergoing.
Due to the holiday season the discussion amongst this group has not taken off very fast, but at least some important progress has been made.
The strategy group has come to consensus about a plan for the coming time, in a form that would allow us to work step-by-step: do a board transition, develop a strategic plan, establishing a new organisational form, implement that.
As a change of NABUUR’s constitution also means going through a formal trajectory, including the associated costs, we also agreed that it would be best to only change the constitution when we have a good image of the future ahead, and have an interim board for a restricted period of time and with a clear agenda in the meantime.
The current NABUUR constitution demands at least four people to take up the formal positions in the supervisory board and the board of directors. From the strategy group four people have stepped up to join a new interim board:
- Denis Marsha, Uganda
- Romina Oliverio, Canada
- Rolf Kleef, the Netherlands
- Pelle Aardema, the Netherlands
In its meeting of 1 September 2010, NABUUR’s Supervisory Board “concluded that this creates the conditions for a transfer of responsibilities and authorities so that local reps, neighbours and facilitators can have more influence on the strategy and the day to day operations.
The members of the Supervisory Board have therefore decided to vacate their position and to nominate these four persons as member of the Supervisory Board.
The director also vacates his position and the Supervisory Board recommends that rather than formally appointing a new director now, it might be preferable to ask one of the four new Supervisory Board members to act as interim director in the coming months.”
What’s next
The Dutch based members of the strategy group aim to meet up in the last week of September, hopefully with the online presence of Denis, Romina, Tobias and Jennifer.
The Supervisory Board has proposed a number of dates for the official handover. We’re trying to establish a time and date where Rolf and Pelle can meet with the board, while Romina and Denis can be present online.
In the meantime we’ll be going through the formal paperwork (administration, archives, accounts, etc.) with Siegfried.
If all goes well, the new interim board could be in place by half October and start working on its agenda for the coming months:
- Develop a strategic/business plan.
- Discuss and develop the needed organisational form.
- Arrange for the selection/election of a more permanent board
Once an agenda is set in place and the works starts, the group will post weekly updates and get the community's feedback on what is at hand as is needed. While there will be a formal board in place, the new NABUUR will be inclusionary and make sure that the community's voice is in the lead.
If you’d like to get in touch about these changes, just post here or get in touch with me directly via pelle@nabuur.com or skype: pelleaardema
We’re looking to appoint spokespersons for different issues (village orientation, website issues, social media) pretty soon. In the meantime, please stick with the contacts that you have and post website issues in the site feedback thread.
Best regards, on behalf of the Nabuur strategy team,
Good to read the update above. Earlier in this thread there was an issue about continuity of hosting of the nabuur website beyond December 2010. Could you also share the present status on this matter, please?
Last week I announced we'd write a weekly update, so here we go:
- the NL based members of the strategy group (Nonhlanhla, Tchitula, Rolf, Anders and myself) are meeting on Tuesday (28 September) in Amsterdam. It's short notice, but of course others are welcome too. We're proposing Indian restaurant Ganesha very close to the Central Station, from ca. 18:00. http://www.iens.nl/restaurant/27703/amsterdam-ganesha-indian-restaurant
- Rolf, Romina, Denis, Siegfried and myself are still working out a date for the official handover from the current board to the new interim board. It includes physical transfer of archives etc, so our options seem to be October 13 and 28 for Pelle and Rolf, and hopefully Denis and Romina can join online.
One person needs to be the director, for signing things etc on behalf of NABUUR, and someone in The Netherlands seems best for that. Between Rolf and me, we think I have most of the knowledge of the previous situation.
- I've started gathering information on a liability insurance for the new Nabuur board. Our aim is to have future boards covered by such an insurance.
Vijay, you're right that you ask about the hosting situation. Earlier on Siegfried mentioned that payment of the webhosting is secured untill the end of the year.Looking at the current hosting contract, I don't think we'd be able to pay that from our own pockets (ca.570,- eur/month(?)) Easiest would be if we could get support to keep the site running for a bit longer. We're looking at the possibility of asking Hivos (a long time NABUUR supporter) for continued support.
Another option is to try and find a cheaper hosting solution before the end of the year (either with the current supplier, or somewhere else). I've sat down with Frans to discuss the server configuration that we have now and to discuss what would minimally be needed. I'm also asking around for cheaper (or sponsored) options, but nothing concrete yet. Any ideas are appreciated.
I'll be back with an update on the meeting (hopefully on Wednesday) and try to pop in a bit more frequently, so that your questions don't go unanswered for too long.
Also, don't hesitate to email me at pelle@nabuur.com if you have urgent questions
Hi Vijay,
The idea of migrating villages onto Facebook has been brought up before. If I recall correctly, not many people were in favor of the idea. Personally (and leaving the whole web hosting situation aside for a minute), I don't think that the community feel that has been achieved here on Nabuur will easily transfer to Facebook. Each Village would have to have its own group or 'fan page', leading Villages to be scattered about all over Facebook. There is no way that I know of, and correct me if I'm wrong, that the Villages could be housed under one primary group and continue to maintain their own separate discussions without it turning into one giant mess.
Also, a few other things:
- Facebook is censored in some parts of the world. If Nabuur wants to expand into other regions, we need to make sure that all countries can have access. Also, some existing Nabuur users (who are based in the regions that Facebook is not accessible in) would be left out of the community.
- The 'Discussion' options on Facebook can be clunky. Many non-profits and community groups have tried to carry on coherent discussions but they end up using external platforms for their chatter. I know that the Nabuur set-up is not ideal at the moment, and much improvement needs to be made, but local reps and volunteers still find their way to posting in the discussions. Something is working. :)
- In line with the logistics of carrying on discussions, there is no option on Facebook to include an attachment to a posted message (in the discussions tab - not the 'wall'). Things like project plans, budgets, building specs, photos, etc. (i.e. much necessary documentation for many projects and villages) would not be able to be attached to a message.
Just some thoughts.
Best,
Romina
Dear all,
Last week I wrote that a way is found to hand over the governance from the present board and myself to a new group.
I am happy to inform you now that a group of persons has been invited and has accepted to steer the future developments of NABUUR. They are from various parts of the globe with lots of experience and contacts in many different areas. Some are old hands from NABUUR, others are from other backgrounds in IT and social network sites. They share a passion to let people work together online for the benefit of communities in developing countries. All in all it is a group that is very well equipped to ensure that NABUUR’s services improve and become available to many more Local Communities.
The members of the group are:
· Nonhlanhla Dube
· Anders Pedersen
· Jennifer Wells
· Denis Marsha
· Tobias Eigen
· Romina Oliverio
· Pelle Aardema
· Rolf Kleef
· Tchitula Teuns
The group has agreed to look into the strategic questions and select a supervisory board from among themselves, to whom the present board will then hand over responsibilities. I know that the group will want to communicate with the users on the site and expect that you will see their first message soon.
Warm regards,
Siegfried Woldhek
executive director
Hi Romina,
I agree with your observations. The Nabuur Website is unique in its on way in purpose and in design.
And I think creating an individual separate fan page for every single village in the facebook format would spread the individual village within the spectrum of the large facebook platform thereby scattering everything.
Jeremy Ecle
Hi Romina,
Thank you for sharing your thoughts above.
This is how villages will have to navigate on facebook:
step 1 - open the page www.facebook.com/nabuur
On the top of this page you will notice - Wall, Info, YouTube, Boxes, Notes, Discussions, Get started!, NABUUR villages.
step 2 - clicking on "NABUUR villages" opens a page which has links to all the villages. So far this page has 6 villages listed. These are "Profile" pages, and not the "Fan" pages (your message mentions Fan pages, which are totally different from Profile pages on facebook)
step 3 - by clicking on any village on this page, it opens the profile page of the village. The top of the page shows - Wall, Info, Discussions, Photos
If all villages migrate to facebook, the number of villages that appear on the page at step 2 will increase from 6 to 288 (the total villages listed on nabuur as of today). Any village can be clicked from the page at step 2 - this will open the village profile as on step 3. All villages appear on one page (step 2 above), and a full-blown profile of each village is just another click away (step 3 above). I believe facebook involves fewer clicks than nabuur to navigate to the profile of any particular village. This explains that there is no scattering of villages on facebook, since all 288 villages will be tied down to one page on facebook, and that each village gets enough space and features to put on the profile.
Discussion platforms - facebook is used by well over a 100 million people. It is widely accepted. The choice here is between a stable and free platform on facebook versus nabuur which risks going off the internet by Dec 2010 unless funds are pumped in for website hosting. I am sure the villages would get round to the facebook style of discussions once they migrate.
The same adaptability will have to occur with attachments on facebook - where the village will have to mention in the discussion that the attachment can be picked from the wall (where it is possible to attach).
I agree with you about censoring - though I am not aware of the regions where facebook is censored at present, however censoring is a reality which might affect any site including nabuur in future due to legal or other issues.
Vijai
Hi Vijay,
Thanks for the added explanation. Now I understand how you're envisioning villages on Facebook.
I agree with you that it takes less clicks to arrive at a specific village on Facebook, and I appreciate that you're searching for options to avoid Nabuur being taken offline. Nobody wants that to happen.
But I'm still hesitant with the idea of migrating the community over to Facebook. I really don't see that FB would make it easy to participate in discussions. You're right in saying that FB is used by millions of people, but I can't imagine that many of these users are using the platform to work on full scale project plans that involve teams of volunteers. The Nabuur set-up allows for more flexibility and options when it comes to discussions. Options such as archiving closed discussions, structuring clusters of discussions into projects, setting order to tasks, labeling tasks with statuses, etc. are functionalities not available on FB at this time.
I realize I'm focusing on this one aspect alone, but as you've seen, the discussions are the 'living room' of a project - that's where everyone congregates, and where the major action can be found. It needs to be fully functional as well as provide an instant snapshot of a project to those who may just happen to wander in. FB can't deliver on that.
I dug around for an example of an organization on Facebook with considerable discussion topics on their page and found the TED page. All those messages look difficult to navigate (to me, at least) and I wouldn't know where to begin to keep track of what is what. There is not even a search option. Like I said earlier, the current project room on Nabuur needs tweaking but I'm not sure that the FB options are any better.
Maybe others have a different opinion - would love to hear them. :)
Romina
Hi Romina,
The "TED page" in your message is again a "Fan" page - it is not a "Profile" page. As mentioned in my last message, nabuur will need to work on the "Profile" pages for villages. Profile pages allow a lot more features as compared to Fan pages on facebook. If you go to the profile page of any of the 6 nabuur villages on facebook, you will also notice a Search box at the page top, whereas the Search box does not exist on Fan pages, as you have rightly noticed. I guess a different perspective of facebook will emerge if you can set aside the Fan pages for a while, and examine the facilities offered by the "Profile" pages on facebook.
Facebook is basically a networking site, and is fast approaching the status of the topmost networking site globally, based on recent media releases. Networking is all about discussions and the living room. Facebook sets the trend now.
You have also mentioned the following issues in your post:
Full scale project plans involving teams of volunteers - theoretically, facebook will not impose any limit on the number of volunteers who discuss any task - they could be in millions, if nabuur can get so many people to discuss any task. All project plans on nabuur are as attachemnts, in addition to text in the thread. All this is possible on facebook.
Archiving - any discussion stays on facebook, unless the village itself deletes it.
Structuring clusters of discussions into projects - facebook allows a "Group" to be created by any "Profile" (village). For example, if a village has 10 projects, this village could create 10 Groups with each group labeled as a different project. Each group then allows multiple discussions which are specific to that project. All such groups will appear under the profile of this particular village. Similarly, other villages can create their own groups (projects). Nabuur does the same.
Setting order to tasks, labeling tasks with statuses, etc. - these are all non-issues on facebook - there is enough flexibility for all this and plenty more.
Other positives are:
- facebook is lightning fast - the nabuur site could not be tweaked in the good times, and one should not expect this to improve during the bad phase.
- facebook will throw up all relevant advertisements on any page that opens - this will open the world to all villages, who might perhaps get things moving through the advertisements.
- facebook provides a potential of several million facebook users to get to the village pages through the internal facebook network.
I can understand that there must be compelling reasons for nabuur to continue with the existing site, since a change to any state-of-the-art environment is obviously not on the agenda, despite the looming threat of going off the internet.
Nevertheless, we are well aware that, not only are there very few active villages on nabuur, there are also very few active neighbours on nabuur. Seeking opinions of the few active neighbours might not create the total perspective which is required in the existing situation. My attempts at projecting facebook as a potential host for nabuur is only one of the options, and other options could also be explored.
Vijai
Hi everyone,
A follow-up to Siegfried's message about NABUUR's future.
We're in quite a deep transformation of how NABUUR operates as an organisation, and so it's going to be "more of a rough ride" for a while still, before we found a stable new way of working together.
The NABUURCamp in February was productive and positive, and I think everybody left full of energy. But the online discussions after the Camp mostly turned counter-productive and divisive, with ideas scattered around but not a lot of (visible) progress, and several people feeling demotivated and disconnected. And we've had a few meet-ups in The Netherlands to do some technical work.
In the meantime, many of you did continue the work you do for local communities and projects, and maintained the relations developed through NABUUR. Also, several people have continued keeping the platform running, answering emails, supporting local reps and volunteers, managing the NABUUR page on Facebook and LinkedIn, the twitter stream, and trying to work towards an improved platform. And we spoke to quite a few people who like NABUUR's work and wouldn't like to see it disappear. But mostly low-profile, "behind the scenes".
So about two weeks ago, Pelle and I said to Siegfried we're too stubborn to let it go, and are ready to take over formal responsibility (with others). That would allow the current board to "close the NABUUR past", the formal aspects of the NABUUR operation until the end of 2009, and open "the NABUUR future" as all-volunteer platform, with enough resources to keep t running for the rest of 2010.
Siegfried contacted several people who, in the last 6 months or so, have helped nurture and support the people who keep things running: to jointly sketch a clearer path ahead, and possibly join the board. You saw who has accepted this challenge. (Further introductions will follow later.)
We've set up a private discussion list for this group, to have a high-trust environment, and the group decides (for now, at least) who will be able to join. At the same time, we want to be open and transparent towards the whole community, keep you informed of what happens, and involve you in key decisions. Of course, we'll also take stock of what has been suggested and said in the various discussions so far.
But please give us a bit of time to get settled.
Hopefully, this will let most of you keep doing the things that makes NABUUR such a special place:
- a meeting place for villages and volunteers
- a match-maker for skills and resources to get projects done
- a social community of great and deeply committed people
I hope you all see this is as a step towards a new operational model for NABUUR!
Rolf.
Dear All,
The major components on the Nabuur Website are the Villages(Projects), Local Representatives,Facilitators,Neighbours and it is on that basis that anyone Power Center be it
the "Old" or what is proposed as a "New Group" is being recognised.
The Old or New derives its Mandate and Credibility from the above components.
There has been hesitance for sometime to come out boldly with the announcement of handover.
For a long time now no one was certain about the the direction and future of Nabuur until recently
when the new group of nine(9) was proposed.
In that period of silence it became contentious to move all Nabuur Villages to Facebook.
This had genuine concerns and fears for which there are advantages and disadvantages in this.
Some people saw it as Nabuur losing its relevance which is true.
Then the big question of the day is: What prevents NABUUR from being a transparent and credible institution?
I and probably many others would like to be informed about the composition of the "Old" Board which
proposed the "New Group".
Realistically, there is absolutely nothing new!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We are now moving from Point A to Point B before the "Transition from Nabuur to Nabuur Global".
Logically, we should know the composition of Team A (Old) if it exists or existed and then transfer to
Team B (New) of 9 .
Short of that, you should all know that we are still maintaning the statusquo and that is we are still
working behind an iron-curtain with no transpareny and accountability to stake-holders.
Being a Consultant on Social Development and a Stake-holder, I can assure you that we are still rotating around the same power axis(center).
June 1, 2010, was meant for effective hand-over from the Old Managers to the New Managers but todate
things are still dragging on. The Big Question is:Why?
What has been suggested is that hand-over to a new group will be done sometime. When?
After June 1, 2010 the other question is: Who has the powers to select,elect or even appoint any
"Interim Boards" be it Supervisory(Trustees) or the Executive Board?
Is there a Binding Legal Constitution?
What is the Formulae or Criteria for selection,election or even appointment?
I hope the issues of democracy and good governance are taken in consideration.
We should all remember, if the issue of transparency and accountability are not addressed, one will
use one hand to hand over power and then use the other hand to take it away by dictating terms as it
has been pre-determined. In the end, it will be the same cycle and the same self-style of management
with no meaningful impacts but wastage of time and limited resources.
Ordinarily, when there is hand-over of any office, the old guards cease to dictate terms of operation but leave the process to evolve without undue influence.
The new development leaves alot of suspicion now that we have no legally binding constitution to follow.
Who has the powers to ensure that there is a bottom-up approach for mutual realtionships other than that of "Servants-Master" relationship?
We should know where we are coming from and then determine where we are heading.
The Following Statistics can bring out clearly the whole picture of Nabuur Scenario reflecting
the distribution of Villages (Projects) on Nabuur Website around the globe:
CONTINENT: NUMBER OF VILLAGES:
AFRICA: 230
ASIA: 46
SOUTH AMERICA: 10
EUROPE: 1
NORTH AMERICA: 1
From the above statistics and what I know, Nabuur can not exist witout the Villages(Projects),
Local Representatives of Villages,Facilitators of the Villages and Neighbours.
Being a Local Representative in Africa, I feel that Africa and Asia have been marginalised
whereas they are the major stake-holders. This is the fact of the matter and there should not be
any contentions. The big question in relation to this is: What population density in terms of numbers do
Africa and Asia represnt compared to the rest of the world? The obvious answer is that Africa and Asia as continents have the highest population densities suffering from poverty and underdevelopment.
That is why those projects hosted on Nabuur Website lobbying and expecting funding.
In other words, there is no business without those projects mentioned above.
The Managers just come in as "Tools" to organise and perfect the system to perform to the expectations of the Major Stake-holders mentioned above and not to dictate terms to stake-holders.
Today, the major concerns for Nabuur transforming to Nabuur Global are:
1- Having in place a Legally Binding Constitution(Acceptable to Majority Stake-holders)
as has been outlined above by Africa being the major stake-holder if you like with
International instruments other than being governed from one country.
2- Addressing the issue of transparency and accountability.
3- Recognising that Most Villages(Projects) are in Developing Countries and should be highly
represented on Boards because the matters for interventions directly affect them.
The pertinent questions are:
- How many people do represent African Villages on NABUUR Boards?
- How many people do represent Asian Villages on NABUUR Boards?
- How many people do represent South American Villages on NABUUR Boards?
- How many people do represent Europe on NABUUR Boards?
- How many people do represent North America on NABUUR Boards?
4- Recognising the Roles of Facilitators and Local Representatives of Villages(Projects)
as Prime-Movers of Nabuur Affairs.
5- Identifying Sources of of Funding and Amounts received say that from "HIVOS".
As long as the above concerns are not addressed, "Honestly", it is better for Nabuur Managers
(Old/New) to advise the Villages hosted on Nabuur Website to migrate elsewhere or better still
advise them to set their own websites to fundraise for their village projects.
Suggesting a hand-over to a new group is not a lasting solution with "STRINGS attached "BEHIND THE IRON_CURTAIN". The world is now a global village with diversity of ideas,innovations,cultures and resources.
Great am anew member here, actually I have found it very interesting in joining you, people, Ibelieve in team work so that we bring the developents in the village and its environments. as per networworking is concern I believe facebook can be the best to get in tourch with the village team.
Thanks
Lilian
--
LAWUOR
Folks
I also came late to this whole discussion. Its good to see that people have decided that Nabuur is far too good an idea to let it die, and that some quiet heroes are standing up to make sure it continues.
Keep up the good work!
--
Garry Jenkins
Hi Garry,
Thanks for the support. I think the Nabuur Website serves well in its purpose and design.
Jeremy Ecle
Hi everyone,
Just a quick update to let you know what's happening with the discussions regarding NABUUR's future.
The inception of this group came right at the height of summer for many of us. For some folks, this means vacations and time off (which had been previously scheduled). Those who were, or currently are, on holiday are slowly starting to trickle back, and are eager to resume discussions.
Rolf asked for your patience in granting us a little time to get settled - we're slowly getting there! Please give us a few more days and we'll make sure to post an update.
We know that regular and transparent communication is key to this process. You can surely expect more of that coming your way very shortly.
Thanks everyone,
Romina
Dear all,
It’s been a while since the last update regarding NABUUR’s future.
Here’s an update of the current status. We’re aiming to post a weekly update from now on.
Status update
Earlier this summer Siegfried announced a group of 9 people (strategy group) who agreed to look into NABUURs future since the current board is stepping down, with regards to the major changes NABUUR is undergoing.
The members of the group are:
• Nonhlanhla Dube – originally from Zimbabwe, now in the Netherlands
• Anders Pedersen – originally from Denmark, now in the Netherlands
• Jennifer Wells - United States
• Denis Marsha – Local Representative of Butikiro , Uganda
• Tobias Eigen – founder of Kabissa.org – Germany
• Romina Oliverio – Canada
• Pelle Aardema – Netherlands
• Rolf Kleef - Netherlands
• Tchitula Teuns - Partnerships Manager at Africa Interactive – Netherlands
Due to the holiday season the discussion amongst this group has not taken off very fast, but at least some important progress has been made.
The strategy group has come to consensus about a plan for the coming time, in a form that would allow us to work step-by-step: do a board transition, develop a strategic plan, establishing a new organisational form, implement that.
As a change of NABUUR’s constitution also means going through a formal trajectory, including the associated costs, we also agreed that it would be best to only change the constitution when we have a good image of the future ahead, and have an interim board for a restricted period of time and with a clear agenda in the meantime.
The current NABUUR constitution demands at least four people to take up the formal positions in the supervisory board and the board of directors. From the strategy group four people have stepped up to join a new interim board:
- Denis Marsha, Uganda
- Romina Oliverio, Canada
- Rolf Kleef, the Netherlands
- Pelle Aardema, the Netherlands
In its meeting of 1 September 2010, NABUUR’s Supervisory Board “concluded that this creates the conditions for a transfer of responsibilities and authorities so that local reps, neighbours and facilitators can have more influence on the strategy and the day to day operations.
The members of the Supervisory Board have therefore decided to vacate their position and to nominate these four persons as member of the Supervisory Board.
The director also vacates his position and the Supervisory Board recommends that rather than formally appointing a new director now, it might be preferable to ask one of the four new Supervisory Board members to act as interim director in the coming months.”
What’s next
The Dutch based members of the strategy group aim to meet up in the last week of September, hopefully with the online presence of Denis, Romina, Tobias and Jennifer.
The Supervisory Board has proposed a number of dates for the official handover. We’re trying to establish a time and date where Rolf and Pelle can meet with the board, while Romina and Denis can be present online.
In the meantime we’ll be going through the formal paperwork (administration, archives, accounts, etc.) with Siegfried.
If all goes well, the new interim board could be in place by half October and start working on its agenda for the coming months:
- Develop a strategic/business plan.
- Discuss and develop the needed organisational form.
- Arrange for the selection/election of a more permanent board
Once an agenda is set in place and the works starts, the group will post weekly updates and get the community's feedback on what is at hand as is needed. While there will be a formal board in place, the new NABUUR will be inclusionary and make sure that the community's voice is in the lead.
If you’d like to get in touch about these changes, just post here or get in touch with me directly via pelle@nabuur.com or skype: pelleaardema
We’re looking to appoint spokespersons for different issues (village orientation, website issues, social media) pretty soon. In the meantime, please stick with the contacts that you have and post website issues in the site feedback thread.
Best regards, on behalf of the Nabuur strategy team,
Pelle
Hi Pelle,
Good to read the update above. Earlier in this thread there was an issue about continuity of hosting of the nabuur website beyond December 2010. Could you also share the present status on this matter, please?
Thanks
Vijai
Hi all,
Last week I announced we'd write a weekly update, so here we go:
- the NL based members of the strategy group (Nonhlanhla, Tchitula, Rolf, Anders and myself) are meeting on Tuesday (28 September) in Amsterdam. It's short notice, but of course others are welcome too. We're proposing Indian restaurant Ganesha very close to the Central Station, from ca. 18:00.
http://www.iens.nl/restaurant/27703/amsterdam-ganesha-indian-restaurant
- Rolf, Romina, Denis, Siegfried and myself are still working out a date for the official handover from the current board to the new interim board. It includes physical transfer of archives etc, so our options seem to be October 13 and 28 for Pelle and Rolf, and hopefully Denis and Romina can join online.
One person needs to be the director, for signing things etc on behalf of NABUUR, and someone in The Netherlands seems best for that. Between Rolf and me, we think I have most of the knowledge of the previous situation.
- I've started gathering information on a liability insurance for the new Nabuur board. Our aim is to have future boards covered by such an insurance.
Vijay, you're right that you ask about the hosting situation. Earlier on Siegfried mentioned that payment of the webhosting is secured untill the end of the year.Looking at the current hosting contract, I don't think we'd be able to pay that from our own pockets (ca.570,- eur/month(?)) Easiest would be if we could get support to keep the site running for a bit longer. We're looking at the possibility of asking Hivos (a long time NABUUR supporter) for continued support.
Another option is to try and find a cheaper hosting solution before the end of the year (either with the current supplier, or somewhere else). I've sat down with Frans to discuss the server configuration that we have now and to discuss what would minimally be needed. I'm also asking around for cheaper (or sponsored) options, but nothing concrete yet. Any ideas are appreciated.
I'll be back with an update on the meeting (hopefully on Wednesday) and try to pop in a bit more frequently, so that your questions don't go unanswered for too long.
Also, don't hesitate to email me at pelle@nabuur.com if you have urgent questions
Warm regards,
Pelle