Get involved

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• Article Title: Get involved

Want to collaborate? If you want to collaborate with us, we suggest you to start by reading the Crash course on OSE. Then, to familiarize yourself with the project, spend a few days looking around our site: See some blog posts Browse the wiki and search for something you're interested in. Subscribe to the OSE-Announce mailing list Visit our discussion forum This will allow you to understand OSE's work over the past so you can help us drive it into the future.

We are looking for people of all kinds, in all places to contribute what they can to to this project. Please consider lending a hand. This page offers a summary of ways you can get involved with OSE. There is a number of hands-on opportunities outlined below.

Financial Donations

You can support us financially by subscribing as a True Fan.

This term comes from Kevin Kelly's influential essay "1000 True Fans", which suggested gathering True Fans who are willing to offer financial support as a way of funding free projects.

Standard : $10.00USD - monthly Gold : $20.00USD - monthly Gold Extra : $30.00USD - monthly Platinum : $50.00USD - monthly Angel : $100.00USD - monthly

There are also other ways in which you can help us financially.

See our blog post on our steady growth.

Spread the Word

Getting the message out.

Our core message: "Creating tools for building modern off-grid resilient communities that can be reproduced by anyone at low cost."

You can help by:

• Adding OSE as a friend on your social networking sites - see our facebook page, myspace page, twitter, and identi.ca.
• Making contact with any of the groups listed on the Marketing page. We are looking to build bridges with people that are interested in openfarmtech.org products. Find groups and people who could benefit from having access to our machines, but don't yet know about them. Report your efforts on Outreach 2010 or Outreach 2011.
• Helping us make contact with specialists and experts who can aide us in broadening and improving our set of open source tools and technologies.
• Contacting us about potential venues and opportunities to present the project to a new audience. We may be available to come and speak in your community / to your group / at your institution given the right circumstances.
• Refer interested parties to join our low-traffic mailing list to receive updates about our current progress.
• Telling everyone you know about Open Source Ecology and the Global Village Construction Set (GVCS)!

Develop the Wiki

This wiki is a means to share detailed information about Open Source Ecology, the Global Village Construction Set, and the work that is ongoing at Factor e Farm. The site is currently in the process of being reorganized to increase ease of access and to lay a firm foundation for the growth of the project. Helping with the wiki is a great way to contribute some of your time to furthering the goals of the OSE project. We are looking for volunteers to:

• Give feedback on the accessibility of the site
• Add relevant content
• Help in the process of categorizing and organizing
• See an up-to-date list of other tasks

To orient yourself to the standards and current projects of this wiki, please consult:

• Wiki instructions
• Wiki Policy
• Wiki Reorganization 2011
• Forum Discussion
• Wiki Documentation Standards

To learn more about editing and formatting using MediaWiki, see:

• MediaWiki Help

Further Collaboration

To collaborate further with us, first familiarize yourself with the project (see the top of this page). Then,

Sinking your teeth Create an account on the wiki; Fill out the Team Culturing survey so we have a better idea of who you are and how we can best work together; See the list of current tasks, find out what our project needs and pick the ones that you can manage; Visit the pages listed at the Category: Collaboration Discussions page to get to know current collaboration ideas. Contact people listed here and create new pages in this category; Build some of the machines yourself, test their performance and report back any difficulties or problems you faced while building and using them;

Manage a Project

We are looking for online or full time on-site project managers to lead the development of tangible products to be deployed at Factor e Farm. At present, we have 3 projects being managed: the CEB, Sawmill, and Solar Turbine. Each project may be divided into sub-projects. For example, the Solar Turbine relies on the development of the steam engine, metal casting, open source lathe, and other sub-projects. If you are interested in leading the development of one of the components or sub-components of the GVCS, please let us know.

Share Your Expertise

If you are an expert in any of the many bodies of knowledge that relate to our project of creating open source machines / tools, we would love help improving our designs. The more open source technologies and tools we have, the less we need to be locked to proprietary technologies, the closer we come to making our vision a reality. If you can help us design better tools, we would appreciate your input.

You can:

• Review the plan and development process for the Global Village Construction Set.
• Help us design a specific project or a sub-assembly of a project. We are currently requesting review and bids on our Specifications for a number of projects.
• Look at our list of subject areas in need of an expert to see if your expertise matches up with needs as we currently see them.
• Send us a proposal for the development of a possible open source tool or technology to our project.

We're also looking for someone to:

• Produce CAD drawings and fabrication drawings for the tractor, CEB press, Power Cube, and rototiller.
• Help with project documentation and technical writing.
• Volunteer to write grants for project proposals
• Collaborate as a professional grantwriter for a percentage of the funds raised.

Collaborate on the Farm

Constructing a better future.

Before considering volunteering at the farm, please read the following:

• Read about what it's like at Factor e Farm.
• Factor e Farm Social Contract
• Factor e Farm's Rules of Conduct.

We are seeking individuals to come to Factor e Farm for one month project-based visits to help develop the GVCS and the infrastructure at Factor e Farm. Proposals for projects are being accepted and reviewed. The suitability of proposals depends largely on a candidate's level of skill and experience. This is also our route for accepting new people for long-term stays as part of the Factor e Farm experiment.

Ideally we are looking for:

• Confident and highly dynamic self learners and researchers.
• Highly motivated innovators who are open to new ideas and excited by diversity of thought.
• Developers who can take a project from concept drawing to real world implementation.
• Those comfortable in rural and rustic settings.
• Willing team members, self starters, and project leaders.

We are offering a place where you can put the philosophy of sustainability into action. We are a physical experiment in building a post industrial global village - a space for all people to learn and grow. Because of the diversity of our activities, we believe a Factor E experience can be exceptional and life-changing, but that doesn't mean it's for everyone. There are countless opportunities available in the realm of sustainability and justice. Look at: Wiserearth; Idealist; GrowFood; WWOOF; Growing Growers Kansas City.

For Technical Developers

If you would like to help bring this project to completion, we invite proactive collaboration on many fronts. First, see Proposal 2012 for a list of the 50 technologies that we are developing, for their product ecologies, and for general information about the development process. Second, read and re-read the Core Values of OSE, as these inform all of the technical, organizational, and community development around the project. Then, read about the technical development process at the GVCS Development Template, and the publishing standards for our results at the Product Template. The key page is the GVCS Tools Status - a GVCS master index for displaying the status and needs of each project, and see a simpler table at GVCS tools. If there is no entry for a given project and step, that indicates that no work has yet been done. Each entry in the table is hyperlinked so you can find out the status of each step, and the next steps and needs become transparent. At this stage, after general assessment of a given project, you are ready to contribute. Begin by filling out the Team Culturing survey according to the notes and instructions stated on that page. Then, contact the Project Manager for that project to see how exactly you can become involved, or, find out about Project Manager Duties if you would like become a project manager yourself. You can also see the GVCS Budget for a general description of the expected development and prototyping costs.

Success on the above requires that project managers are recruited for each of the 50 projects. It also depends on developing a corresponding organizational, web, and funding strategy. You can check our current Project needs.

For Organizational Developers

Organizational infrastructure includes organizational form, organizational architecture, process design, operations management, product management, resource development, donor relations, human resources, handling of finances, transparency, conflict resolution, media development, public relations, and other tasks that allow the technical development to flow smoothly. We are presently installing all of this infrastructure. At present, we are working on becoming an NGO or nonprofit, and we are defining the organizational architecture. On the resource development front, our first step is to install an instance of CiviCRM to handle contacts. To get involved, first fill out the Team Culturing survey. Then email our Operations Manager or Resource Developer to get involved. You can read about 50/2/2, our GVCS Organizational Infrastructure that is being developed to make this happen, the GVCS Resource Development Strategy to support the Organizational Infrastructure, GVCS Web Strategy to facilitate development, GVCS Media Development Strategy to communicate the work, GVCS Forum Policy to handle entry-level discussion and to filter it into actual development progress, learn how to help OSE win Awards and Contests. What else is missing here?

For Web Developers

The web infrastructure includes the main website, wiki, blog, forums, design repository, CiviCRM platform, and community portal. We are presently reworking all of this infrastructure.

For Organizational Developers

Organizational development involves all the supporting roles that lead to the 50/2/2 Apollo Program for the GVCS, and the positioning of the project as a world-class effort of improving the human condition. Organizational development involves the management, architecture, organiztional form, fundraising, marketing, PR, and other functions that this project needs to reach its goals.

Transparency should include disclosure of strategy, infrastructure, team, and other details that make development work possible.

Visit Factor e Farm

(last updated June 21, 2010) We extend an open invitation to visit Factor e Farm. We want to offer education, participation, and hands on experience to the interested and the curious. However, time spent giving tours to guests cuts into the time we need to achieve our facility goals. Because of this, we have starting asking a $50/hour facilities tour fee for any first-time visit. True Fans are not required to pay for tours, and we may make exceptions on a case-by-case basis. Fees are negotiable, but once an agreement has been made, they are non-refundable. We prefer that you do not visit on Sunday, which is our rest day. To set up a visit, please:

1. Email us with a proposed date and time:
   • To: OpenSourceEcology@gmail.com
   • Subject: {Your Name} {Visiting Factor e}
2. Tell us your reasons for visiting Factor e Farm, and what you would like to get out of the visit.
3. Download a copy of our liability release form, fill it out, sign it, and send a digital copy in an attachment to the above email. If you do not do this prior to visiting, you may sign it when you arrive.
4. Make your payment. Visitors must pre-pay, either by mail or by a one-time donation to our PayPal account, or pay another way

Note: We reserve the right to change these guidelines as our organization continues to develop. Check the 'last updated' date to determine the currency of this information.

Organic Farm Volunteers

Organic farm volunteers for facility management, and food, energy, and housing provision.

Is OSE still registered with WWOOF, etc.? Are there any differences in expectations for farm volunteers and those coming for month long project-based visits?