We cannot expect people (because it's not fair and because it's not practically feasible if people need to earn a living) to do this on a volunteer basis.
Thus we need to raise money, and have enough to have, at least, the equivalent of 2 people employed fulltime to do this. (I see a part time IT job, a bigger part time media job, and lots of smaller contracts for individual papers or data collection on any chosen topic).
I'd be willing to provide seed money to get this started, but cannot afford to do this over the long term on my own. Thus we need people familiar with fund raising (and with ET) to come in the picture. In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes
Shouldn't be too difficult... You can't be me, I'm taken
jerome.. you first.. :)
A pleasure I therefore claim to show, not how men think in myths, but how myths operate in men's minds without their being aware of the fact. Levi-Strauss, Claude
Completely OT, but follows from your earlier video.
Stephen Fry's words on what it means to be human..
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If the above html doesn't work, try this -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q715ty5hLt4&eurl=http://www.eurotrib.com/story/2008/5/7/105424/64 20
Would you mind reposting that comment following the video-embedding instructions in the new user guide?
Please post it as a reply to the comment you were originally replying to so this one can be hidden or deleted. When the capital development of a country becomes a by-product of the activities of a casino, the job is likely to be ill-done. — John M. Keynes
On fundraising issues: If you really start to think seriuosly on fundraising ET should become an non/profit organization of some kind, based on some EU member country. That would be the only way of taking real advantage of local, national and European opportunities. Creating that organization is a prerequisite to any strategy.
In any case, don't forget that the whole project is in any case based on voluntary work, as the idea is to give notoriety to the people who is contributing ET. Those two people would be a supporting structure, but the core would be voluntary any how... That may be the streghnth of the project, if you think on the ideals behind it, but also a potential organizational weakness that have to be dealt with. You talk about finished articles, but a continiuous creatiomn of articles must be assured in some way. The question is: would ET atract so much voluntary involvement in long-term basis as human rights organizations, environmental organizations or other king of NGOs based on voluntary work? A think tank, in its traditional definition, wouldn't. Of course, we could call some NGOs (Amnesty, Green Peace, Save the Children) think tanks too, in some way.
That leads me on the "mission" and "vision" of ET. From the little I know on ET, perhaps what makes a difference from ET to other think tanks would be the "citizenship" approach: being a tool to express for the people who is not usually IN the European debate, or at least not in a conscious way, deciding somewhat freely themes, interests... It's in some way the beauty of chaos what gives ET its swing. In order to be visible, it's true, organization is needed... But don't be deluded: organizing texts, selecting, correcting... That puts an imprint on the original source. It's the same as History, that doesn't exist: how the facts are told to future generations, that makes textbook History. So ET Think Tank will change ET, and I doubt that this would please all its members... be careful when organizing it, because if it becomes the projects of a few ET-persons, it looses the chaos richness.
Is there a common vision to all ET members? I don't know really, but maybe the common vision is not related to the content of what it is said, but on the way it works: as a tool to express own views, but also as a collaborative tool to build common views... So it's very good to try to give visibility of what has already been drafted, writen... But I think it could be even more important to give visibility to the site itself, enhance it, do it more accessible (I get lost everytime)... There's a lot of social networks (Facebook, etc.), Photo-sharing ones (Flickrt, Picasa), business networks (linkedin), e-learning ones... Is there any "thinking network" on the web? ET could be one... So I would suggest an organized ET to focus not only in the content, but on the creation process of the content, because that's what, I think, could give you all a window of opportunity, as it's the special feature of ET. "If you don't want a man unhappy politically, don't give him two sides to a question to worry him; give him one. Better yet, give him none." (Fahrenheit 451)
the best sentence i've read here, period.
its wing too.
very nice, lurk no more! ~"When an inner situation is not made conscious, it appears outside as fate." Karl Jung~
Is there any "thinking network" on the web? ET could be one... So I would suggest an organized ET to focus not only in the content, but on the creation process of the content, because that's what, I think, could give you all a window of opportunity, as it's the special feature of ET.
I think this is a very important point - we're not simply trying to influence old media, or become a pressure group, or traditional think tank. We are trying to do a new thing in a new way - part of building a new civil society, part of building a new communications medium, a new learning environment, and a new process for documenting outcomes. Hold that thought... "It's a mystery to me - the game commences, For the usual fee - plus expenses, Confidential information - it's in my diary..."
