85 Broads is a chapter at Tufts of the larger global network. It focuses on trying to get more women involved in areas like finance, business, non-profits, etc where we don't usually see as many women.
1.Can you tell me a little bit about the work you do in Somerville?
As a chapter, we don't do any work, per say, in the area of Somerville, but we do work with women at Tufts to try to get them more involved in areas like finance and business. However, the larger global network of 85 Broads focuses on the entire world and therefore, would include women from the area of Somerville.
2.How is your organization dealing with the economic downturn? Is it affecting your organization? What about the population that your organization serves?
The economic downturn is clearly affecting everyone. It has not directly affected our organization in the ways things are run, but it has affected what we are able to do with the outside community in terms of events. The economic downturn has not affected the population that we serve, since we are a Tufts organization.
3.In your opinion, what is the main economic need in Somerville?
Like any other area, Somerville needs good leadership and tight finances in order to survive the economic recession.
4.We're trying to understand how people and organizations in Somerville are connected. What are the three most important partnerships you have -- OR -- the organizations you work most closely with?
a) 85 Broads Global Network
b) Career Services
c) other finance/economic related groups on campus
Monday, December 14, 2009
Blink: Chi Omega
1.Can you tell me a little bit about the work you do in Somerville?
* The Chi Alpha Chapter of Chi Omega participates in campus-wide philanthropy events that interact with the Medford & Somerville communities
o Read by the River
o Kids' Day
o Halloween on the Hill
o Relay for Life
2.How is your organization dealing with the economic downturn? Is it affecting your organization? What about the population that your organization serves?
* Our Executive Board has made a more "lean" budget, and has been sticking to it
* Instead of hiring a chef to cook dinner at Chi Omega 4 nights per week, we switched to catered dinner twice per week
3.In your opinion, what is the main economic need in Somerville?
* Addressing the needs of elementary, middle, and high-school students
o Encouragement to apply to private high schools
o Bridging the gap between the socioeconomic status at Tufts and the status of the Somerville community
4.We're trying to understand how people and organizations in Somerville are connected. What are the three most important partnerships you have -- OR -- the organizations you work most closely with?
* Strong ties with the Leonard Carmichael Society (one of our juinors is the Vice President) - she encourages all sisters to participate in events
* Sisters who are Child Development majors intern at the Pearson School (i.e. the daycare), and become more involved with community outreach with the children of somerville
* The Chi Alpha Chapter of Chi Omega participates in campus-wide philanthropy events that interact with the Medford & Somerville communities
o Read by the River
o Kids' Day
o Halloween on the Hill
o Relay for Life
2.How is your organization dealing with the economic downturn? Is it affecting your organization? What about the population that your organization serves?
* Our Executive Board has made a more "lean" budget, and has been sticking to it
* Instead of hiring a chef to cook dinner at Chi Omega 4 nights per week, we switched to catered dinner twice per week
3.In your opinion, what is the main economic need in Somerville?
* Addressing the needs of elementary, middle, and high-school students
o Encouragement to apply to private high schools
o Bridging the gap between the socioeconomic status at Tufts and the status of the Somerville community
4.We're trying to understand how people and organizations in Somerville are connected. What are the three most important partnerships you have -- OR -- the organizations you work most closely with?
* Strong ties with the Leonard Carmichael Society (one of our juinors is the Vice President) - she encourages all sisters to participate in events
* Sisters who are Child Development majors intern at the Pearson School (i.e. the daycare), and become more involved with community outreach with the children of somerville
MyBLink
From browsing around the new website and adding nodes I've found a few issues (apologies in advance if anyone else has already said these). First, the subheading under Opportunities says "Add an opportunities" so this needs to be changed to either "Add opportunities" or "Add an opportunity." Additionally, I think it would be really clean if under both Opportunities and Dashboard there was both a View and an Add option. This would make it a little more organized and symmetrical. In terms of my profile, I think more of a form style editing tool would be helpful, like on facebook. I imagine this is in the works anyway.
In terms of adding my actual nodes, I found it difficult to click "save" as this didn't actually seem to be a button, but just text at the bottom of the page. It did ultimately work, though. Also, there was nowhere for me to add email and phone number, but once I submitted it those fields were blank. I like the way that the "issues" section was set up, though, it was very easy to just click on the different topics for each node.
In terms of adding my actual nodes, I found it difficult to click "save" as this didn't actually seem to be a button, but just text at the bottom of the page. It did ultimately work, though. Also, there was nowhere for me to add email and phone number, but once I submitted it those fields were blank. I like the way that the "issues" section was set up, though, it was very easy to just click on the different topics for each node.
Sunday, December 13, 2009
new blinks
Today, I added a variety of nodes because I wanted to see what problems I might encounter. I added Somerville Public Library, Senator Kerry, MASSPIRG student chapters, and Charlestown High School, and learned a couple things. The mechanics of the website worked well for me, but I found that the tags weren't cutting it for me. Unfortunately, although topics like homelessness work well for organizations like MASSPIRG when trying to tag individuals like Senator Kerry it can be kind of tough. A tag for politics or political figures might be helpful. Also, I came across an ethical dilemma while creating the nodes. For some of them, I just copied and pasted information off their websites. I can't decide whether this is a good idea or a bad idea. Ideally, it would be best if all the nodes created were done by the individual/organizations who they are about, but realistically, if we want the site to grow this would be hard. Consequently, it seems likely the description these organizations wouldn't mind being posted without their consent is what they already have posted up on their websites, so I decided to just copy and paste some of their mission statements. However, after I did this I began to have some doubts about totally taking their words. This also prompted me to think about more questions about consent. As a result, I am posing the following questions to the group, in regards to not only my new nodes but also the future nodes that will inevitably end up on blink. How much information is it OK to post about an organization without their consent? Is it OK to use other websites material? I don't think there is a clear answer to either of these two questions so I would love to get everyone's opinion.
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