Dedicated Project Visits

The Founder's Ted Talk

last updated March 13, 2013

Introduction

The route to meaningful collaboration at Factor e Farm consists of month-long, project-based visits (Dedicated Project Visits, or DPVs). DPVs are a serious commitment to a program involving explicitly-stated goals of building and testing the 50 GVCS Machines. This stated goal requires a dedicated, strategic effort, since the process involves winnowing and sifting from a large number of choices - to rebuild civilization from the bottom up.

Interested individuals are required to write a proposal (create a wiki page), which is then reviewed together with the applicant, prior to the start of the visit. After a proposal is suitable to both sides, the individual then comes for the dedicated project visit. After a month's time, progress is reviewed, and results are published on the Factor e Farm weblog. If the results of the visit are satisfactory on both sides, the visitor may continue by producing another proposal for the next month's goals. This is also our route for accepting new people for long-term stays as part of the Factor e Farm experiment.

For more information see:

• Factor e Farm Participation Standards
• Strategic Plan
• Critical Path
• Blog
• corresponding blog post

Project visit topics include:

• Technical development
  • Design
  • CAD
  • Fabrication
• Documentation
  • Technical writing
  • Video production
  • Fabrication Diagram
  • Information architecture
  • Wiki Development
• Organizational
  • Strategic development
  • Business development
  • Communications
  • Process development
  • Standards development
  • Project management
• Support roles
  • Cooking
  • Site management
  • Agriculture

Documentation

Documentation is the key to successful open source projects. All visitors to Factor e Farm are required to bring a digital camera or smart phone with them to document their work. They are also expected to blog about their progress at the beginning and end of their DPV, and more if agreed upon.

A proposal detailing milestones and deliverables is to be submitted and made specific on a week by week basis.

Living and Working Environment

Factor e Farm is an experimental facility. Basic accommodations include shelter, showers, composting toilets, flush toilets, kitchen, and washer/dryer. Participants are expected to follow Factor e Farm Guidelines, and to cover their own food expenses. Pets are not allowed unless specifically negotiated because of our free-range fowl.

• See: Factor e Farm: What to bring

Application and Participation Steps

These are the overall steps for a Dedicated Project Visit:

1. Initial Contact - Initial inquiries should follow suggested Initial DPV Request procedure. This helps the applicant to become fully informed about our development priorities, participation standards, and greater vision.
2. Application - After initial contact, we request that applicants fill out the Preliminary Application in the next section. OSE staff reviews application.
3. DPV Interview - After receiving the Preliminary Application, OSE staff will conduct a short, initial interview, which will include initial discussion regarding the work proposal. Interview should take 15-30 minutes.
4. On-Boarding. After a contract is signed, the applicant writes an introductory Blog Post on the OSE Blog. After the intro blog post is written, the visitor is welcome on site.
5. Evaluation and Project Completion. Upon arriving at Factor e Farm, the DPV visitor will begin working on their stated work plan. The visitor will be evaluated after two weeks by the respective director to determine if the project promise is being fulfilled. In case of stated goals not being met due to clear negligence on the part of the visitor, the visitor may be asked to leave. At the end of the project, the visitor will write a blog post to document their results. The visitor may also request to write additional blog posts as needed. The project stay may be extended upon writing a second month plan, for which the visitor has up to one week after the first month of the DPV.
6. Documentation - all DPV participants are required to follow the same guidelines for documentation as our staff. See Work Log Guidelines.

For remote collaboration, we have Remote Collaboration Standards.

Preliminary Application

Note that the goal of a Dedicated Project Visit is to produce tangible, significant results that contribute to the creation of the GVCS. We are a development laboratory for Distributive Enterprise. We are looking for independently-driven individuals capable of initiative, competent in their proposed program, and with a demonstrated track record of delivering on their promises. If you are not ready for this type of challenge, please do not apply.

1. Name, age, location, contact info (phone, email, Skype).
2. When would you be available for a Dedicated Project Visit and and for what duration?
3. Please attach a resume or provide a list of work / volunteer experience and education.
4. Please include a photo of yourself.
5. Please submit a 1-2 minute video introduction regarding your interest in applying. This is a video-of-interest (VOI) and it must include: (1), name and country where you are located, position that you are applying for (ex., Dedicated Project Visit for ___); (2) why you are interested in applying; (3) what you would like to contribute to our effort and relevant skill set that will help you do that; (4) what are you hoping to get out of your visit? See Sample Video of Interest (this is not of the same format, but it is an example). Please upload this video to a public video sharing site such as YouTube or OpenPhoto.
6. Are you willing to publish all the results of your work openly according to the OSE Open IP Guidelines?
7. Please post the above materials on our wiki by starting a wiki page - titled 'Your Name Dedicated Project Visit Application'. Please embed your picture and video in the page. See the wiki editing Instructions if you have any questions. If you are not comfortable posting your contact information, just include your email. See sample application posted on the wiki for another position in a slightly different format - Jacob Dalton. If you are not familiar with wiki usage, you may send the Preliminary Application by email, along with a link to your picture and Video of Interest.
8. Please tag your page with the Category:Dedicated Project Visit Applications - see Instructions regarding Categories.

Full Application

1. List your goals and deliverables for your Dedicated Project Visit, breaking it up by each of the four weeks. Please write a one-page proposal brief summarizing what you would like to do, how you would accomplish it, and what resources you would need to do so. Include a budget as necessary. Include the metrics by which you could assess the success of your work?
2. What would you like to get out of your Dedicated Project Visit?
3. Please provide 3 References with email and phone number - 2 work references, 1 personal reference (this may be emailed separately.
4. Do you have resources to support yourself while volunteering with us? Can you cover your food expenses?
5. Can you bring a smart phone for documenting your work?
6. Any other concerns or considerations?

• Please post this page on your application wiki page.
• To make a wiki page you must enter the page name you want into the search box.

See Also

• Visit Factor e Farm