Things I’m thinking about

I’m in one of those ‘need to get back to blogging’ modes. Thinking about a lot of things. Feeling too busy to blog. Waiting until I have the perfect thing to say. Which is always a bad sign.

So, to get the juices flowing, I just decided to make a list of things I’m thinking about. Here it is:

1. Connecting open mobile <-> local content <-> web literacy — we we need to make progress on all three of these things at once if we want the web to be a serious player for the next few billion internet users. I’m working up a project on this topic with Ben, David and others.

2. Building a web literacy mentor community that scales — I’m excited about Maker Party, but also worried we’ll see post-campaign drop off again this year. We need a more systematic mentor program that grows, gets better and keeps people engaged 365/days a year. I’m helping Michelle and Brett think about this.

3. Figuring out the connection between an open internet and a fair internet. This a tricky. We assume an open internet will unlock opportunity for the billions of people coming online over the next few years. But it could just as easily lead to digital sweatshops. My new friends Chris and Brooke got me thinking about this in April. And I haven’t stopped thinking about it since.

4. Finding the right balance between clear goals, working across teams and distributed leadership. If I’m honest, we’ve struggled with these things at MoFo for the last 18 months or so. Our recent all hands in San Francisco felt like a breakthrough: focused, problem-solvey, fast moving. I’m thinking alot about how to keep this feeling. Working with Gunner and a bunch of other people on this.

5. Pushing on the Hive Lab concept. Some of the best Webmaker ideas — and much of our new Webmaker ‘textbook’ — come from the educators, designers and programmers we work with in Hives. However, we haven’t really figured out a way to systematically support and invest in this ‘lab’ side of Hive. I’ve been working with Claw and others to see how we can do more here.

6. Raising money. I’m always thinking about this, so it’s on my list. Right now, I’m thinking about major gifts, which is an area we’ve never cracked. IMHO, breaking through in this area is critical if we want to build Mozilla into a 100 year org that withstand the ups and downs of the market. I’m starting to talk to Geoff about this. Also, looking for outside people to help.

7. Linking Maker Party and net neutrality. Alot of the issues that Mozilla cares about are hard for people to get their heads around — net neutrality, DRM, etc. We should be able to use our web literacy work to help with this. I’ve been talking to Dave, Amira and others about building a ‘net neutrality teach-in’ campaign into Maker Party as an experiment in making this web literacy <-> big-hairy-internet-issue link.

8. Talking about LEGO some more. Specifically: how the LEGO Movie has a bunch of corny-but-useful metaphors for how screwed the Internet is right now. And how we can’t rely on a single here (e.g. Mozilla) to save the day. Spoiler: I’m going to use some LEGO Movie clips in my Knight Civic Media Conference talk later this month.

Random. I know. But these are places my brain is right now. A little scattered. But all feels juicy, good, important. Will write in more depth on some of these things soon.

Comments

  1. taoeffect replied on | Reply

    “can’t rely on a single here” <- think you meant 'hero'.

  2. fczuardi replied on | Reply

    I have been thinking a lot about #8 lately as well. We cannot rely on Mozilla… so what to do? I am really orphan since the DRM betrayal… I’ve been very depressive lately.

    And the fact that we are still using movies and properties such as the Lego movie and the Lego property (and I am writing it without the uppercase on purpose), and the fact that we accepted to treat culture as private property makes me even more sad, angry, hopeless and ashamed of myself. Because it was a good movie, made by the very people that are destroying the possibility of a future more free/open and with a richer public domain.

    I hate Holywood studios and Netflix so much right now, they melted the one project that I really cared about, it hurts a lot.

    #1 seems to be the a good bet and the channel where I would like to invest my own energies, but it is a work that will take ages to bring results and I won’t be around to be able to live in the future that I had hoped for 🙁

    So frustrating.

  3. Larissa replied on | Reply

    Not that random! I am thinking about the Net Neutrality teach in idea… pretty awesome. I think we could do a lot with the idea of contribution+activism+maker party. Brilliant. (I too am obsessed with the LEGO movie. So is my 8 year old son. Want a really young intern? 😀 )

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