...: Marsh Chatter
Michigan Give Camp: Ann Arbor
I will be participating for the 2nd time at the Michigan Give Camp: Ann Arbor over the weekend of July 17, 18, 19th (aka this weekend). The links provide you more information about Give Camp - but let me just say it's probably the most worthwhile weekend I have spent in a long time!
Last year, I participated on a team which developed, over about 42 hours (Friday evening, Saturday day/evening, Sunday), a web page which enabled the Michigan Humane Society to provide quick & easy access to contact information for Rescue Shelters. The data for this project came from an out-of-date large PDF which when displayed was about 40 pages of very small text. It was a lot of data and very time-consuming for their staff to edit. The finished web page can be edited "real-time" with changes available immediately and can easily be searched by animal/pet species, breeds, city, county, etc. Have a look... Michigan Humane Society Shelter Search
Besides the organization we helped out - I got to meet and work with many great people and view some really cool projects that also got completed over the same weekend. 14 charities, about 100 developers, a great team managing the weekend - all came together for a special event!
This year - we are doing it again! Another great team of organizers led by Michael Eaton blog | Twitter. I've worked with Michael on the recent inaugural Kalamazoo X Conference and I expect his team's preparation & effort will make this Give Camp another worthwhile event!
Our charities this year are:
All About Animals Rescue
Closer to Home Animal Advocates
Community and Home Supports
Eisenhower Dance Ensemble
Great Sauk Trail Council, Boy Scouts of America
Interfaith Hospitality Network at Alpha House
Lend A Helping Hand
Leslie Science and Nature Center
Resource Genesee
Sisters of Mary
Starting Over Airedale Rescue
Motivity
Southeast Michigan Regional Energy Office
Paula Ratchford Ministries
If you have developing skills or design skills and can't be with us physically - be sure to follow us on Twitter - #aagivecamp to see the going's on and maybe even lend us a hand.
A little trumpet horn... this weekend is not all about charities in Michigan. There will be charitable giving going on from Knoxville, Tennessee also - under the guidance of Nathan Blevins blog | Twitter. This team will be participating remotely - offering their thoughts in Stand Ups, and probably even funny comments via Twitter! Hooray for the Knoxville tweeps!
Keep any eye on Twitter this weekend - we will be burning the candle from both ends over the weekend!