Dadamac

Collaboration, Education, Livelihoods and Development in a Changing World

First Thursdays

First Thursdays are a series of online chats that take place on the First Thursday of every month. They began in the Minciu Sodas worknets chatroom, and stayed there for around three years. At the start  a few experimental ones were also held as audio-graphic conferences using Elluminate - but the technology was not accessible for most people in our network. Something typed is best for us. We need low bandwidth and ideally the veunue should be accessible from phone or from a cyber cafe with no software downloads.

The main link is between the UK and Africa - especially with people in Nigeria, Cameroon and Ghana in West Africa, and Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda in East Africa. People have also come from Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Serbia, various parts of North America, and a couple of locations in India.

Topics

Over the years "First Thursdays" have ranged widely, depending on the interests of participants including:

  • a series of discussions on the ‘World Without Poverty’ book,
  • a series on the ‘Bucket’ biomass stove
  • a detailed business planning meeting for a micro-business of carting water.
  • meetings with special guests

After the chatroom

In 2010, when the chatroom closed, these meetings moved over to skype. They were typed skype meeting (similar to our UK-NIgeria team weekly team meetings) but open to people beyond the core team. There is more about this history at http://www.dadamac.net/node/401

In April 2011 we started to experiment with etherpads as an alternative venue. We are gradually buidling up a group of people within the Dadamac community who are developing our "normal way of doing things" when we hold First Thursdays on an etherpad. When we have established that normal way of doing things, we will widen the invitations to attend.

Finding First Thursday on Etherpads

in mid 2011 we started to use the format below for naming the etherpad venue - so, for the time being, if you follow the format and insert the appropriate month - you may well find us. Probably we'll start to add the year as well as the month in 2012. Later we may get a dadamac etherpad (instead of using the openstewardship ones).

First Thursday August 2011    http://etherpad.openstewardship.net/August-First-Thursday
First Thursday September 2011    http://etherpad.openstewardship.net/September-First-Thursday
First Thursday October 2011    http://etherpad.openstewardship.net/October-First-Thursday

Final Skype First Thursday

Earliest  Etherpad First Thursdays

More history

Early annnouncements were always make through the LearningFromEachOther yahoo group. Since 2010 announcements, reports and meeting archives have also been posted from time to time on dadamac's posterous and collaborators connect. Examples:

  • Invitation to "First Thursday" on May 5th  2011 - An experiment with an etherpad    http://dadamac-collaborators-connect.posterous.com/invitation-to-first-thursday-on-may-5th
  • First Thursday September 2010 - http://dadamac.posterous.com/first-thursday-september-2nd
  • First Thursday August 2010 - The People and Trying Skype Public Chat         http://dadamac.posterous.com/first-thursday-august-2010-the-people-and-try
  • July 1st - First Thursday Topic - and mini-project on dentistry         http://dadamac.posterous.com/july-1st-first-thursday-topic-and-mini-projec
  • July 1st - First Thursday Topic - Phones in rural Africa: practicalities and potential         http://dadamac.posterous.com/july-1st-first-thursday-topic-phones-in-rural
  • Topic Thursday May 13th - more on bucket (biomass) stoves.         http://dadamac.posterous.com/topic-thursday-may-13th-more-on-bucket-biomas
  • May 6th First Thursday - India, Africa, Europe and USA         http://dadamac.posterous.com/may-6th-first-thursday-india-africa-europe-an
  • Second Thursday - twitter in the chat room         http://dadamac.posterous.com/second-thursday-twitter-in-the-chat-room

From the Digest

April

Our online meetups

Third Thursday - Face to Face Dadamac meetup

Collaboration Conversations Continued (with photos)- http://www.meetup.com/Dadamac/events/56374652/

If you are in London you are welcome to join us on May 17th - same time. same place - http://www.meetup.com/Dadamac/events/60680632/

 

March

Our regular online open meeting:

First Thursday March 2012    http://etherpad.openstewardship.net/March-2012-First-Thursday
First Thursday April 2012    http://etherpad.openstewardship.net/April-2012-First-Thursday

February

January

First Thursdays are online meetings - open to whoever chooses to turn up, but witt a limit of 20 people (limit imposed by the software we are using)

Details of the January First Thursday at http://etherpad.openstewardship.net/Jan-2012-First-Thursday

Details of the February First Thursday at http://etherpad.openstewardship.net/Feb-2012-First-Thursday

The story behind First Thursdays -  http://www.dadamac.net/projects/cross-cultural-collaboration/first-thurs...

December

First Thursday December 2011

November

November First Thursday was also Dadamac Day (DD). It was the first time we'd hosted DD on an etherpad. It worked well, but we couldn't promote it very widely as there's a limit to how many people our etherpads will allow. Usually DD includes Dadamac in the UK and at Fantsuam - plus members of our wider community. This celebration was very special because, for the first time ever, we were able to welcome Fola online directly from Ago-Are - where he is leading the new online Ago-Are Dadamac outpost.

October
  • First Thursday October 2011    http://etherpad.openstewardship.net/October-First-Thursday
  • First Thursday November 2011 and Dadamac Day    http://etherpad.openstewardship.net/November-First-Thursday-and-Dadamac-Day

September

What happened at First Thursday September 1st 2011 and how to join us for First Thursday October 6th 2011

August

Dadamac's "First Thursday" meeting held on August 4th       http://dadamac.posterous.com/dadamacs-first-thursday-meeting-held-on-augus

July

WrItten by Pam - We are now happy with ether pads as the new regular meeting place for First Thursdays. We've tried them out with just a few people for several sessions now. This means that some "ways we usually do things" have emerged, and with that foundation built I'll gradually start to invite more people in - but I didn't for July. In July I was away, so although Nikki covered for me, we didn't send out more invtiations or reminders and kept it as a very low key one event.

When you read this - please regard it as an inivitation to join us at any future First Thursday.

  • First Thursday July 2011    http://etherpad.openstewardship.net/July-First-Thursday
  • First Thursday August 2011    http://etherpad.openstewardship.net/August-First-Thursday
  • First Thursday September 2011    http://etherpad.openstewardship.net/September-First-Thursday

June

Some of you will remember with affection the "old days" when we met for "First Thursdays" in the worknets chat room. When that closed we were "homeless" for a while. I had to experiment with other locations. For a long  time I could not find a location that was as welcoming and accessible as the chat room. Now we have discovered and tested "etherpads" as a new location - thanks to Gerry Gleason and we see if becoming our "new home".

May

Details of May's First Thursday online meeting were posted to Collaborators Connect:

  • Invitation to "First Thursday" on May 5th     An experiment with an etherpad    http://dadamac-collaborators-connect.posterous.com/invitation-to-first-thursday-on-may-5th
  • Invitation to "First Thursday" on May 5th     Feedback from Ken Owino after "First Thursday"    http://dadamac-collaborators-connect.posterous.com/invitation-to-first-thursday-on-may-5th-0
  • Quick quotes from yesterdays First Thursday meeting     sent by Pamela    http://dadamac-collaborators-connect.posterous.com/quick-quotes-from-yesterdays-first-thursday-m