I wonder what our ask would be?
If we're going to ask for money, we need a focused proposal.
To make such a proposal, we need some agreement on what our goals are.
To establish goals, we need some agreement on What is and What should be REALNEO.
Susan Miller says REALNEO is her scrapbook.
Norm Roulet says it's a far-ranging county/corporate local food project.
Jeff Buster says it's a replacement for the PD.
(Forgive my simplification for discussion's sake.)
To me it's all of those, as well as an idea incubator-launchpad, a tool for engaging NEO citizenry, and an experiment in cooperative decision-making.
What's REALNEO to you?
Ideas like the Citizen Dashboard, Put it On The Ballot, and Norm's local food agenda are just a few examples of projects that have used REALNEO's community conversation as a launchpad, a laboratory, a vetting area, a momentum builder.
How about calling REALNEO / REAL.Coop what it is: a means for birthing, nurturing, examining, and launching socially-minded ideas?
REALNEO remains Mother REALNEO, with her many biological children, adoptees, nieces, nephews. The news stays the news, the conversation continues, ideas form and bubble upward~outward.
What is your view of -- and vision for -- REALNEO the site, the organization, the happening? How is it more than this? How is it not this? Am I barking up the wrong tree trying to sift out a common ground and mission?
Links:
[1] http://www.j-newvoices.org/
[2] http://www.appindie.org/index.php/our-grant