Where to Start

As a relative newcomer to the scene, it seems that there has been much dedication and work of late to rallying the troops and building the Knowledge Commons as well as attending to those willing to learn or asking for help via participation in the Facebook group ... so I think we may be seeing a burnout a tad along with fact that its the holidays so focus is usually on family and such. Sometimes the very way a request for participation is posed can influence response as well. With that said, if we're keen to attract more experienced Time bankers the way to do that is to start generating content that they can see is coming out of this brainstorming and see that it's actually something they are keen to participate in after all ... or perhaps simply 'correct' our thinking :D

Ash, our job in January is to figure out how to interweave the Timebank into other cultural norms so that it's not so much a brand new thing that few will adopt but rather an extension of something old and familiar. I have been thinking about churches in this regard. Much to ponder and this dialog has really go me thinking! Thanks.

Before we construct our road map we must first all agree upon the desired destination. What are we trying to accomplish / build? What does the destination look like? Once we have a firm set of goals in place, we can then start building out the SM plan. I have templates we can use albeit will have to be modified as we're marketing something quite unique.

Feeling a bit frustrated with this platform for discussion but liking the discussions here. Agree that people are (well, I am) having problems keeping up as we're all so busy. So don't think we should take that as a negative. Slow, small steps will work as long as we persist. :)

I tried to post a comment here using email response but it seems we have to login to post, is that right? Any chance we could move this discussion to a most flexible platform. Think we might be more people involved if we did (though I don't think numbers are the only indicator of success).

I agree Marie re: not getting discouraged. And, yes you do have to be in Loomio to comment v replying to earlier thread.

[Where to Start]
Here is a post from Co-production practitioners network, Wales, It's an attachment on a thread, titled, How can we make a start with co-production? Posted by Diana Reynolds on July 14, 2014 at 10:31, interestingly nobody responded. But there are a few salient points: Hope that this link works;
http://coproductionnetwork.com/forum/attachment/download?id=5217382%3AUploadedFile%3A33583

Back to Ash's point of "‘Build and they will come’. It almost never works that way."

So why when Apple releases a new I pad, folks are sleeping on the sidewalk during the night to be the first consumer's to get the fresh new gizmo?

Certainly not all manufactures / companies have such a strong brand, but many producers to various degrees of success attempt to market to trend setters.

If we take an example of Apple... it took quite a while to catch up when it started off. It took a whole lot of study, exploration and finally focus on easy adaptation to enhance convenience... thanks to Mr. Steve Jobs. And soon, it became a culture / lifestyle statement. A sense of belonging... 'I love Apple'. What we see now is nothing but an extension of this craze that took years to build up. People are not in queue for the gadget, they are in queue to attain more of what they perceive to be a part of their lifestyle... or want to adapt to this lifestyle.

Thinking of Time bank, the biggest challenge we face with culture is that of 'receiving' as against 'giving'.

I can't help but think that the strength may not necessarily be in numbers. But if various TB could choose their niche and shape it around the Givers... it would be possible to focus on maximum impact through small quality numbers... to create a brand image for TB culture itself.

For example, I was recently approached by a member of a TB to compose music for a poem which will be available in her published book as an Audio CD. I can't limit the possibilities here. Do I think of exchange? No! I want to do this because I love this work and I would love to make a dream come true for this person.

What happens if this book becomes a success? Or if the music gets attention?

It will start a whole new trend among authors and musicians... who may be more interested in joining this culture?

Just some thoughts.... I am trying to touch the mainstream and use every opportunity to engage TB to make a difference there... so they can see IT WORKS!

This change in mental models is a huge task and it will take all of us to climb this tall slope before we reach a plateau :)

And then the crowds will start jumping into the wagon.

Well said Ash, Thank you.