First of all, there are some NCN functions I could very well use some help on:
MEMBERSHIP - There are on the average 5 new NCN members per week, and a
total of 214 at this point. I keep a member directory, a geographical
breakdown of where people are, and other information that people send me.
Shortly this will be more automated, as I've set up a member database that
can be maintained over the web. However, it is still somewhat time
consuming to add new members, to make sure we get their names, bio
information and so forth. It would be very nice if somebody could help me
collect and maintain member information. Skills needed would be some basic
secretarial practical sense, and the willingness to deal with it on a
routine basis.
ACTIVITIES - A lot of you are doing really interesting things that would be
of interest to other NCN members. I don't always have time enough to elicit
updates on what you're up to. So, it would be very welcome if somebody
would want to play a role of interviewing other members on what they are
doing, interesting projects, activities that others might want to help
with, noteworthy progress, etc., and then reporting on it to other members.
Maybe somebody with a journalistic interest or background could do
something with this.
NON E-MAIL MEMBERS - I'm being contacted by people who want information or
membership in NCN, but who aren't on e-mail or who aren't using computers.
Particularly after a notice about NCN appeared in "Planetary Connections"
I've gotten a number of queries from Europe. However, the problem is that I
don't know what to do with them at this point. I can send information, but
then what? I suppose a newsletter on paper would be in order, but I haven't
had a chance to do anything about it. Anybody with some inspiration or
input in that area, let me know.
WEB PROGRAMMING - I would like to provide more interactive web functions
for members. Spaces for meeting and having ongoing conferences, search
functions, databases, idea rating, personally configurable interfaces to
NCN, and more. This could possibly lead to schemes that could be exported
outside NCN. Any of you who are skilled in Perl or Java programming and who
are interested in participating, let me know.
- Flemming
----Any of you interested in the field of educational tools, educational CD-ROMs, etc, send Chuck Calvano a note:
warmest greetings, i am a pharmacist, multimedia producer and student of the ancient wisdom. if i can help you or any of your contacts develop teaching tools, please contact me at chuck.calvano@helix.stlcop.edu
----
GENI, the non-profit Global Energy Network International, has as its main mission the establishment of a worldwide interconnected electrical network based on renewable resources, as Buckminster Fuller envisioned it. The central idea is that the availability of cheap electrical energy has a lot to do with the standard of living, and that vast resources could be saved by connecting all of the world's electrical grids together, so that excesses in one area can be used in other areas. Also, renewable energy sources are abundantly available in some third world areas that can't afford to utilize them alone. GENI, under the leadership of Peter Meisen, has made quite remarkable progress in making the proposal well known and understood, has collected lots of testimonies from experts who state that the global energy grid is a perfectly sensible and feasible thing to do, and has gotten the attention of a number of key people who might do something to implement it. However, more is needed to put the proposal into the public mind and to bring it to the attention of more world leaders.
A current project that is very important to GENI is to produce a 1 hour video documentary that presents the global energy situation and the proposal for the global renewable energy grid. The idea is that it will run on national TV in many areas of the world and be used in education and so forth. The plans for the video is already taking shape, and very able people are already available to produce it, write it, and direct it. However, more resources are needed, most specifically funding, and probably co-production and distribution contacts. Production costs are currently estimated at $128,000 and the film can be produced in about 6 months.
So, if any of you have movie industry contacts, or contacts with organizations that might provide funding for such a project, either send me a message at ffunch@newciv.org or contact Peter Meisen at geni@CERF.NET or at 619/595-0403.
More information, as well as the treatment of the video, are available.
o o / \------------------ Flemming A. Funch ------------------/ \ / * \ World Transformation/New Civilization/Whole Systems / * \ / * * \ ffunch@newciv.org / * * \ o-------o------- http://www.newciv.org/worldtrans/ -------o-------o
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