Time Banking Software
Soenke
Public
Seen by 425
there are a few time banking software tools out there, some are quite rudimental and others quite complex, some cost a monthly fee, others are free. It doesn't necessarily mean that the bought ones are better. Time Bank Lyttelton are using community Weaver and they are quite happy with it. It has been developed by Edgar Kahn, who invented Time banking in the US.
The software is set up like a social media page. People can log in and see threads and respond to them. They have a demo online version. Here's the link:
https://democw3.timebanks.org/
There is a fee for using this program. The more members, the more expensive. I haven't quite understood the pricing structure,. it seems to be around US $ 2 per member per year, once the group has gathered some momentum. They seem to be willing to wave fees for starting out or financially struggling groups.
Another great software is called Time and Talents. Also from the US. It is also based around the social media theme, very easy to use and quite adaptable. With our geographical situation, we really ought to set up a time bank for Hokitika and one for Greymouth and maybe later one form Westport. Time and Talents has got a widget for that. It stands out for it's great adaptability and support. It has also got great administrator tools for making reports, which will be useful later for funding applications. It is free for "mama and papa time banks" like ours. They finance themselves by selling custom made solutions of the program to cooperate customers.
Here two youtube videos, one for the admin and one for the user interface.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-2S-xkafQ0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1JoTVv_Y-0
Soenke Tue 17 Oct 2017 6:28AM
Yes, Time and talents does look good. It's my favourite, too. I spoke to the developer of the software on Skype last week (Stephen Barnett, the guy on the video) and I am convinced that his software will deliver all that we need and more. They have also developed an app for mobile phones. As for the details, I agree that one time bank for all regions is all we need. There is a widget in the program by which one can specify the geographical search radius, say I offer to walk peoples dogs within 2km from my home.
I think that we should go ahead with Time and Talents and, to explore how loomio works, will start a proposal.
Poll Created Tue 17 Oct 2017 6:30AM
Lets commit to using Time and Talent Software and start the process of obtaining it. Closed Fri 20 Oct 2017 6:02AM
Please follow the thread "time banking software"
Results
| Results | Option | % of points | Voters | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
Agree | 100.0% | 6 |
|
| Abstain | 0.0% | 0 | ||
| Disagree | 0.0% | 0 | ||
| Block | 0.0% | 0 | ||
| Undecided | 0% | 10 |
|
6 of 16 people have participated (37%)
Sandy Wed 18 Oct 2017 7:29AM
Hi all. I've also watched the Time and Talent software by Stephen on youtube and find it fairly basic with clear instructions (and it's free) which does at this stage seem to suit a new setup.
Tracy Masson Thu 19 Oct 2017 5:43AM
I am happy to commit to using Time and Talent software and start the process of obtaining it.
Sönke Sat 21 Oct 2017 10:43PM
Great. How cool. I have started the process today. Will keep you posted.
FLYaElizabeth Tue 31 Oct 2017 10:38AM
Good one!
FLYaElizabeth Tue 31 Oct 2017 10:54AM
I'm with Richard re having only one timebank as sometimes one needs to be able to see opportunities across the region... How easy is it for other time banks to interact with ours while we use this software? And Now what is the next move? Do we have access to our own section/version of the software yet? Is all the policy work yet to be done? How we put safety controls in is quite key. When do we expect to start recruiting the wider public in- will it be in the new year?
Soenke Thu 2 Nov 2017 8:59AM
These are all good questions that I am going to put into another thread.
As for the Software: It is all pretty much ready to go, once we have decided on how we are going to run it. Are we going to charge membership fees? Process of becoming a member - vetting? referees? police report?
what data do we want to collect from our members?
Richard Hsieh · Mon 16 Oct 2017 4:33AM
Time and Talents looks good! I like it that it's free so we do not need to put any investment on something that might not work as we wanted or to pay more when we grow bigger.
As for setting up different time bank for Hokitika and Greymouth, I would rather hope there is only one time bank for the start, giving that the population here are relatively small so there might not be many people at the beginning so it would be good to combine people from two places and make things look bigger. Besides, I really believe there would be no harm to have people seeing any time bank activities that is not too close to their location and just ignore it. An example from buy sell Facebook, I had joined buy sell Greymouth and buy sell Westcoast, and eventually, I think Greymouth one has not many people using it anymore. Most of the people go to buy sell Westcoast instead. Just my 0.2 cents!