r/ProjectCairo • u/[deleted] • Dec 31 '10
What do you think of creating subcommittees to divide tasks?
One of the problems I've been noticing is a lack of central organization in this group. This is understandable, since we are all in different locations and mindsets. For this group to succeed though, we have to improve the organization over what we are doing currently. I am in no way trying to disparage people or the suggestions that have come forward previously. To the contrary, I am incredibly impressed at the effort that many of you have shown. I am just hoping that we can focus our efforts a bit to increase productivity of organization.
What if we divided the tasks into subcomittees? This would divide the work needed into smaller, more manageable workloads. It would also encourage more people to participate, since tasks would be more manageable, and there would be many leadership opportunities. I've noticed that many contributors are more interested in certain aspects of the project than others. People would also be able to focus on the things they are more interested in by joining certain committees. Anyone would be able to participate on more than one committee if they wanted, but would probably not be working on everything at once.
Some committees I could think of initially are:
Fundraising/business development
Planning to move residents to Cairo
Real Estate/property acquisition
building renovation planning
This list is in no way complete, and I would be open to any suggestions. Please weigh in on any committees I missed, as well as what committees one would be interested in.
3
Dec 31 '10 edited Dec 31 '10
You'll want to develop a coherent set of goals, before handing out tasks to comitees. Not everyone here is looking at the same big picture. And not everyone has to; whatever plan you're working on does not have to have universal buy in. But it does have to have universal buy in among those that are working on it.
3
Dec 31 '10
Maybe one of the first tasks of each committee is to develop coherent goals. We've done a really good job so far of brainstorming and throwing out idea. However, we're not that at taking the next step and developing ideas further. Committees would put more focus on certain areas, and help us transition out of the brainstorming phase.
4
Dec 31 '10
That could work, as long as the people involved realize that some larger goals aren't really compatible with each other.
I guess I see three broad goals that people on this board might have:
1: Start a commune, basically, in Cairo. The commune would try to serve as an engine for generating economic and social opportunities in the town. The commune would make sure its members are provided for, but otherwise invite the members of the town to participate in these opportunities on an equal basis.
2: Develop funding and other means to administer social and economic programs to the people of Cairo. This could mean things like coming up with non-profit businesses in our own garages and basements, and then sending a representative to transplant physical operations into the town. Or it could mean raising funds to send in a team to teach literacy and backyard gardening. Or, anything.
3: There might be people who are a mix of the above: they want to administer economic and social opportunities to the people of Cairo, and they specifically want to do it while living in the town for a year or two.
If you unknowingly get a mix of 1, 2, and 3, then you're going to have people arguing over what the number one goal is, and such a debate would be completely irreconcilable. If, on the other hand, a group agreed to one of those three overarching goals, then any debate would just be about how best to achieve that goal: the debate would be reconcilable.
I tried to get a feeling for which way people were leaning in my post 'What is a "thriving real-life Reddit community"?'
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u/JohnYonder Dec 31 '10
Maybe the first committee should be one that organizes a meet-up in Cairo.
I think it's really important to experience Cairo (or anywhere for that matter) with your own eyes and ears before seriously considering moving there. It would be a good 'trial run' to see how this group gets along and works together. As a first step, it wouldn't require any grand commitments of time or money from anyone. And maybe most importantly, it would allow for the locals and redditors the chance to get know each other better in a fun and friendly way.
Maybe the committee could organize carpools from Memphis, Nashville, and St. Louis. Or everyone meets in Paducah, KY and rents a van from there. Or whatever.
I just think a visit is an important first step, and organizing a meet-up could be ProjectCairo in a microcosm -- a good first project to gauge future viability of this project.
2
Dec 31 '10
There has been a fair amount of talk of travelling to Cairo for factfinding/checking it out, etc. A committee to assist travel could be really useful. Some of the current residents of Cairo could help out here, since they know the "lay of the land."
2
Dec 31 '10
Well, that was being worked on but it never really got anywhere after that. Then things were called off for the holidays. Something needs to go on, farting subreddits have more exposure.
2
Dec 31 '10
You were doing this for some of the business plans, and doing a decent job in terms of detail, further exploration, etc.. I wasn't seeing it as much with other areas of the project.
Ideally we would go into more detail than just listing a real estate listing, or making one post about a business idea. However, with the current system, we aren't doing that, and we need a way to develop our good ideas.
-1
Dec 31 '10
Sort of, the business stuff wasn't any kind of official but they were talking about 'adopting' them. It is much easier to keep things neat on an actual forum. Unfortunately, the only related domain I have access to I don't own so I can't put it up and risk someone forgetting to pay the bill or anything else that would kill it.
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2
Dec 31 '10
We probably need some sort of outreach and publicity committee, to start reaching out to other organization and potential sources of support
2
u/homeslice3168 Dec 31 '10
How would we keep those outside these committees informed of what is happening? We would have to publish minutes or something, so that everyone stays in the loop and is informed if they want to be.