Volunteer Development Work
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If you are in New England, several of my cow-orkers volunteer here. "GiveCamp is a weekend-long event where technology professionals – including designers, developers and database administrators as well as marketers and web strategists – donate their time and unique talents to provide software solutions for local charities and other non-profit organizations. " http://newenglandgivecamp.org/about/[^]
Send lawyers, guns and money
That's great! I've never seen anything like that. Unfortunately, I'm not in New England. I'm in Middle Tennessee. I wonder if they have anything like that around here -- I may have to do a little research this evening. Thank you.
djj55: Nice but may have a permission problem Pete O'Hanlon: He has my permission to run it.
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Have any of you ever done volunteer development work? If so, was it for a large organization, perhaps nationwide? Or something smaller, like a local cause? Through my girlfriend's mother, I got in contact with a local non-profit group. Their Web site was horribly put together by some guy, a slackjob. Luckily it isn't very complicated and we could keep the design and just rework the small amount of server-side stuff. Anyhow, have any of you ever done something like that? I've been looking for places to volunteer my skills for a long time. I just didn't find it until now. Just curious. :)
djj55: Nice but may have a permission problem Pete O'Hanlon: He has my permission to run it.
When I was living in California I decided I was going to volunteer for Habitat for Humanity to do electrical work, as in design and wire the houses for free (I'm an Electrical Engineer). I set out to figure out what I had to do to obtain an electrician's license in the state. Low and behold, they make it VERY difficult to get licensed and there's no exceptions for engineers, which doesn't make sense to me (same amount of time for an engineer to get licensed as for someone who has NO experience at all). You essentially have to be in an apprenticeship for some ridiculous amount of time (7 years if I remember correctly). So... I ended up not doing it. Don't understand the crazy regulations some states have. It almost sounds like they're controlled by a union.
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When I was living in California I decided I was going to volunteer for Habitat for Humanity to do electrical work, as in design and wire the houses for free (I'm an Electrical Engineer). I set out to figure out what I had to do to obtain an electrician's license in the state. Low and behold, they make it VERY difficult to get licensed and there's no exceptions for engineers, which doesn't make sense to me (same amount of time for an engineer to get licensed as for someone who has NO experience at all). You essentially have to be in an apprenticeship for some ridiculous amount of time (7 years if I remember correctly). So... I ended up not doing it. Don't understand the crazy regulations some states have. It almost sounds like they're controlled by a union.
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That does sound rather ridiculous. Of course I would want someone with the knowledge to wire my house. But come on, 7 years thereabout? That's just crazy...
djj55: Nice but may have a permission problem Pete O'Hanlon: He has my permission to run it.
I just think it's a lot for an electrical engineer... they should have exceptions that allow certain people (like engineers from accredited universities) to just take the tests rather than require them to go through the "dummy" training you'd get from an apprenticeship.
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Have any of you ever done volunteer development work? If so, was it for a large organization, perhaps nationwide? Or something smaller, like a local cause? Through my girlfriend's mother, I got in contact with a local non-profit group. Their Web site was horribly put together by some guy, a slackjob. Luckily it isn't very complicated and we could keep the design and just rework the small amount of server-side stuff. Anyhow, have any of you ever done something like that? I've been looking for places to volunteer my skills for a long time. I just didn't find it until now. Just curious. :)
djj55: Nice but may have a permission problem Pete O'Hanlon: He has my permission to run it.
No, but I've been volunteering with Camp Quality for a decade, and it's been wonderful to make a tangible difference in the lives of children living with cancer and their families... I think more people (particularly blokes) should volunteer their time to whatever charitable causes they deem to be worthwhile, because it's been my experience that there are never enough male volunteers to go around!!
Quad skating his way through the world since the early 80's... Booger Mobile - My bright green 1964 Ford Falcon - check out the blog here!! | If you feel generous - make a donation to Camp Quality!!
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No, but I've been volunteering with Camp Quality for a decade, and it's been wonderful to make a tangible difference in the lives of children living with cancer and their families... I think more people (particularly blokes) should volunteer their time to whatever charitable causes they deem to be worthwhile, because it's been my experience that there are never enough male volunteers to go around!!
Quad skating his way through the world since the early 80's... Booger Mobile - My bright green 1964 Ford Falcon - check out the blog here!! | If you feel generous - make a donation to Camp Quality!!
_Damian S_ wrote:
children living with cancer and their families
Sorry -= I know it is a serious subject, and I do seriously admire the work you do, but y'need to rephrase that ;)
MVVM # - I did it My Way ___________________________________________ Man, you're a god. - walterhevedeich 26/05/2011 .\\axxx (That's an 'M')
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_Damian S_ wrote:
children living with cancer and their families
Sorry -= I know it is a serious subject, and I do seriously admire the work you do, but y'need to rephrase that ;)
MVVM # - I did it My Way ___________________________________________ Man, you're a god. - walterhevedeich 26/05/2011 .\\axxx (That's an 'M')
Possibly, but it's word for word from the CQ dominant thought. ;-)
Quad skating his way through the world since the early 80's... Booger Mobile - My bright green 1964 Ford Falcon - check out the blog here!! | If you feel generous - make a donation to Camp Quality!!
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Possibly, but it's word for word from the CQ dominant thought. ;-)
Quad skating his way through the world since the early 80's... Booger Mobile - My bright green 1964 Ford Falcon - check out the blog here!! | If you feel generous - make a donation to Camp Quality!!
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Have any of you ever done volunteer development work? If so, was it for a large organization, perhaps nationwide? Or something smaller, like a local cause? Through my girlfriend's mother, I got in contact with a local non-profit group. Their Web site was horribly put together by some guy, a slackjob. Luckily it isn't very complicated and we could keep the design and just rework the small amount of server-side stuff. Anyhow, have any of you ever done something like that? I've been looking for places to volunteer my skills for a long time. I just didn't find it until now. Just curious. :)
djj55: Nice but may have a permission problem Pete O'Hanlon: He has my permission to run it.
I used to do some contracting work on the side, not exactly volunteering, but close enough. So the owner of the shop used to define projects with an amazing ability to drive me nuts. Imagine the healthcare.gov website. His approach would go something like this: "It's very simple project, a couple of hours tops. Just add an drop-down with some insurance companies and when the user selects one, display and compare your plan with their stuff. Done!" To all protests that this is a major task he would say: "What? It's just a goddamn drop-down!" Since then I kinda prefer a mostly professional environment.
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Have any of you ever done volunteer development work? If so, was it for a large organization, perhaps nationwide? Or something smaller, like a local cause? Through my girlfriend's mother, I got in contact with a local non-profit group. Their Web site was horribly put together by some guy, a slackjob. Luckily it isn't very complicated and we could keep the design and just rework the small amount of server-side stuff. Anyhow, have any of you ever done something like that? I've been looking for places to volunteer my skills for a long time. I just didn't find it until now. Just curious. :)
djj55: Nice but may have a permission problem Pete O'Hanlon: He has my permission to run it.
You are doing great but don't do that for along time otherwise people will get used to your "volunteer" stuff especially in the field of development they will use you alot. I have done several volunteer works to develop websites for friends when i was in college and i also do my own stuff which doesn't pay also.
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Have any of you ever done volunteer development work? If so, was it for a large organization, perhaps nationwide? Or something smaller, like a local cause? Through my girlfriend's mother, I got in contact with a local non-profit group. Their Web site was horribly put together by some guy, a slackjob. Luckily it isn't very complicated and we could keep the design and just rework the small amount of server-side stuff. Anyhow, have any of you ever done something like that? I've been looking for places to volunteer my skills for a long time. I just didn't find it until now. Just curious. :)
djj55: Nice but may have a permission problem Pete O'Hanlon: He has my permission to run it.
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Have any of you ever done volunteer development work? If so, was it for a large organization, perhaps nationwide? Or something smaller, like a local cause? Through my girlfriend's mother, I got in contact with a local non-profit group. Their Web site was horribly put together by some guy, a slackjob. Luckily it isn't very complicated and we could keep the design and just rework the small amount of server-side stuff. Anyhow, have any of you ever done something like that? I've been looking for places to volunteer my skills for a long time. I just didn't find it until now. Just curious. :)
djj55: Nice but may have a permission problem Pete O'Hanlon: He has my permission to run it.
The other side..... You need to ensure that you pick the right organization if you are going to work for free. There needs to be someone that will appreciate what you do and deliver what you need (design guidelines, requirements etc). If you do not have this you will do a lot of work and then be stuck with complaints. Even worse, a lot of work done that will not be used. If you have appreciation for you time and a willingness to participate then it can be a pleasure. In my opinion it is always better to get some cash upfront to ensure that everybody is committed. This needs to be amount that is felt. A non profit may not be able to pay $ 5000 but they can pay $ 500 and it will feel the same to them as the $ 5000 to larger company. Make clear this is $ 5000 worth of work for $ 500 and you should be fine, with benefits for all. Remember, if they are not willing to pay one cent then in general your work and time is worth less than one cent to them.
Any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex... It takes a touch of genius - and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction. ~ Albert Einstein
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If you are in New England, several of my cow-orkers volunteer here. "GiveCamp is a weekend-long event where technology professionals – including designers, developers and database administrators as well as marketers and web strategists – donate their time and unique talents to provide software solutions for local charities and other non-profit organizations. " http://newenglandgivecamp.org/about/[^]
Send lawyers, guns and money
Cow-Orker? Is that some variety of super-Ork, or a particularly vicious Cow? Or an Ork riding to Gondor on the back of a cow? :-D
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Have any of you ever done volunteer development work? If so, was it for a large organization, perhaps nationwide? Or something smaller, like a local cause? Through my girlfriend's mother, I got in contact with a local non-profit group. Their Web site was horribly put together by some guy, a slackjob. Luckily it isn't very complicated and we could keep the design and just rework the small amount of server-side stuff. Anyhow, have any of you ever done something like that? I've been looking for places to volunteer my skills for a long time. I just didn't find it until now. Just curious. :)
djj55: Nice but may have a permission problem Pete O'Hanlon: He has my permission to run it.
In 2007 I retired and moved to the small coastal town of Lyme Regis, Dorset, UK. After almost 40 years of working with computers I found it difficult to let go and so volunteered my skills. It has been a great way of becoming part of the community, but there is a warning. A lot of retired people who volunteer find that quite quickly they have to back-off. It is very easy to sell your services for nothing. I have helped the town build up its tourism's IT infrastructure, web sites, webcams, public touchscreens, event screens etc. It has now got to the point where it's almost a full time job so I want to back-off. The catch-22 is that, I'm the only one who knows how all this was put together (lots of bespoke code). It would be very difficult for another company to take it over, they almost certainly would want to replace it and the cost would be prohibitive and difficult for the town to fund. The town council insists on paying me a small retainer but this just means I am now contracted whereas I want to be retired. The idea was that, on retirement, I would spend a couple of years practising like mad on my Fender Strat so that I would be as good as Clapton, however after 40 years it's difficult not to get drawn to the computer keyboard rather than the guitar. Pathetic I know. So, if there's anyone near Lyme Regis who would like to share the load, let me know. There might even be some money in it.
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Have any of you ever done volunteer development work? If so, was it for a large organization, perhaps nationwide? Or something smaller, like a local cause? Through my girlfriend's mother, I got in contact with a local non-profit group. Their Web site was horribly put together by some guy, a slackjob. Luckily it isn't very complicated and we could keep the design and just rework the small amount of server-side stuff. Anyhow, have any of you ever done something like that? I've been looking for places to volunteer my skills for a long time. I just didn't find it until now. Just curious. :)
djj55: Nice but may have a permission problem Pete O'Hanlon: He has my permission to run it.
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The other side..... You need to ensure that you pick the right organization if you are going to work for free. There needs to be someone that will appreciate what you do and deliver what you need (design guidelines, requirements etc). If you do not have this you will do a lot of work and then be stuck with complaints. Even worse, a lot of work done that will not be used. If you have appreciation for you time and a willingness to participate then it can be a pleasure. In my opinion it is always better to get some cash upfront to ensure that everybody is committed. This needs to be amount that is felt. A non profit may not be able to pay $ 5000 but they can pay $ 500 and it will feel the same to them as the $ 5000 to larger company. Make clear this is $ 5000 worth of work for $ 500 and you should be fine, with benefits for all. Remember, if they are not willing to pay one cent then in general your work and time is worth less than one cent to them.
Any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex... It takes a touch of genius - and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction. ~ Albert Einstein
That's understandable. In this case, the site is already mostly put together. The design is complete, most of the pages exist. They just need a few enhancements added. They did offer to pay, but given that there isn't much work involved, I told them not to worry about it. And I'm in contact throughout each day with one of the owners, very clear communication on what needs to happen. :)
djj55: Nice but may have a permission problem Pete O'Hanlon: He has my permission to run it.
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Have any of you ever done volunteer development work? If so, was it for a large organization, perhaps nationwide? Or something smaller, like a local cause? Through my girlfriend's mother, I got in contact with a local non-profit group. Their Web site was horribly put together by some guy, a slackjob. Luckily it isn't very complicated and we could keep the design and just rework the small amount of server-side stuff. Anyhow, have any of you ever done something like that? I've been looking for places to volunteer my skills for a long time. I just didn't find it until now. Just curious. :)
djj55: Nice but may have a permission problem Pete O'Hanlon: He has my permission to run it.
Have you looked at http://www.sparked.com/about/micro[^]
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Have you looked at http://www.sparked.com/about/micro[^]
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No, I haven't seen that before. Thanks for the link!
djj55: Nice but may have a permission problem Pete O'Hanlon: He has my permission to run it.
Sure thing! I was hoping to help too, but as my ability to code is lacking I just started doing Habitat. :laugh:
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Have any of you ever done volunteer development work? If so, was it for a large organization, perhaps nationwide? Or something smaller, like a local cause? Through my girlfriend's mother, I got in contact with a local non-profit group. Their Web site was horribly put together by some guy, a slackjob. Luckily it isn't very complicated and we could keep the design and just rework the small amount of server-side stuff. Anyhow, have any of you ever done something like that? I've been looking for places to volunteer my skills for a long time. I just didn't find it until now. Just curious. :)
djj55: Nice but may have a permission problem Pete O'Hanlon: He has my permission to run it.
I've done some volunteer website work for different non-profits around the US and its been a blast. I normally go through http://www.npower.org/[^] to find different non-profits. It's a wonderful site to help non-profits find IT people to help them.