(A version of this item - with live links - is available at
<http://blog.deborah.elizabeth.f
inn.com/blog/_archives/2006/4/27/1916930.html>.)
Dear Colleagues,
Ok, first of all, I have to admit that Frappr.com is mostly
just a
cool geek toy.
But it's also a free web-based tool that has some practical
uses for a
nonprofit organization that is seeking to build an online
community,
or that wants to try geographic information systems on a
very simple
scale.
Let's say that you are just starting to foster an online
community of
constituents, donors, or other stakeholders. Perhaps
you're using an
email distribution list, or a wiki, or an web-based message
board; if
members of the community haven't met face to face, then
it's difficult
for them to picture other members of the group as real
people or to
have a sense of where in the world they work or live.
Here are a couple of examples of Frappr maps that I've
started for
email distribution lists that I moderate:
Mission-Based Massachusetts
<h
ttp://www.frappr.com/missionbasedmassachusetts>
Information Systems Forum
<htt
p://www.frappr.com/informationsystemsforum>
In each case, Frappr allows members of the email
distribution list to:
-Get a sense of the geographic diversity of the
community
-Post photos or capsule biographies of themselves that
are
associated with an electronic pushpin on the map
-Use electronic pushpins to identify places of
potential interest
to other members of the group
It's not perfect, but then Frappr is still in the beta
testing stage.
Here are a few problems I see in the current version:
-I haven't figured out away to integrate it seamlessly
with an
email distribution list service such as YahooGroups. It
would be
great if new members had the option of registering for both
the
Mission-Based Massachusetts email distribution list and the
Mission-Based Massachusetts Frappr map in a single process.
-With a large group such as the Information Systems
Forum, there
never seem to be as many electronic pushpins on the Frappr
map as
there are folks who have added their coordinates for
inclusion.
-As a default, when a new person registers to be on a
Frappr map,
they are asked to designate themselves as "male"
or "female." This
tends to annoy transgender folks, or give the impression
that the tool
is more oriented to dating than to a range of professional
purposes.
Still, Frappr is a terrific way to get acclimated to using
GIS,
without having to buy expensive licenses or install
sophisticated
software. You can use it to figure out whether your
stakeholders
respond favorably to mapping tools - if they do, then you
can start
paying significant sums of money for a solution that's
customizable,
stable, and mature.
Best regards from Deborah
Deborah Elizabeth Finn
Boston, Massachusetts, USA
deborah_elizabeth_finn post.harvard.edu
www.cyber-yenta.org
=========================================
The Information Systems Forum is an opt-in, low-traffic,
flame-free distribution list for discussions of information
technology for nonprofit organizations.
To post a message, prepare a regular email and send it to
Information_Systems_Forum@yahoogroups.com
To join the Information Systems Forum, send a blank email to
Information_Systems_Forum-SUBSCRIBE@yahoogroups.com
To leave the Information System Forum, send a blank email to
Information_Systems_Forum-UNSUBSCRIBE@yahoogroups.com .
Please note that there may be a lag (of hours or days)
between the moment that you send the command and the moment
that you stop receiving messages from this group. Your list
administrator apologizes for this flaw in the YahooGroups
configuration, but has been unable to shorten the lag from
her end of things.
To send a message to the list administrator (Deborah), email
it to deborah_elizabeth_finnpost.harvard.edu .
To view the message archive, go to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Information_Systems_Forum
To participate in the unmoderated version of this email
distribution list, go to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Information_Sy
stems_Forum_UNMODERATED/
To view a map of the group's membership, go to http://
www.frappr.com/informationsystemsforum
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<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Information_Systems_Forum/
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
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<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
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om/info/terms/
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