(A version of this item - with live links - is available at
<http://blog.deborah.elizabeth.finn.com/blog/_archives/2005/7/21/1059131.html>.)



Dear Colleagues,

The eRider Starter Kit, which was created by Teresa Crawford and the
Tactical Technology Collective with help from the global eRider
community, has just been released as a free downloadable resource. I
strongly recommend it to members of the nonprofit and philanthropic
community everywhere.

But what are eRiders? Here's an explanation from the Global eRider
web site:

"eRiders are many things to many people but their main aim is to
make organizations more effective, efficient and innovative through
the use of all forms of technology."

Here's an excerpt from the CompassPoint Circuit Rider Evaluation Report:

"The formal role of the [eRiders] is best defined, in the words
of one leading advocate and practitioner, as "part trainer, part
management consultant, part computer expert. They provide consulting
and assistance with technology strategy development, make multiple
visits to the organizations they serve, and provide advice and
information by phone and e-mail. They can serve regional
constituencies by travel from a central location." In the best
circumstances, [eRiders] may even "cross-pollinate" the groups they
service, transmitting insights, tools, and tips as they travel
throughout the sector. In addition, training materials and resources
can be used at multiple sites thereby spreading the development cost
out across a number of organizations."

The eRiders form a network of individuals who work all around the
globe with mission-based organizations that strive to make the world a
better place. For example, Dirk Slater, one of the contributors to
the new eRider Starter Kit (and eRider coordinator of TacticalTech), says:

"I eRide because I couldn't figure out any other job where I
could use my interest in technology to really have an impact and
contribute to real change in policies that impact negatively in low
income communities."

Much of the hard-earned wisdom and experience of eRiders is collected
in this starter kit, which is published under a Creative Commons
license that allows all of us to use it freely for non-commercial
purposes and even to modify the kit for our own purposes - as long as
we give proper credit to the originators and publish our own versions
under a similar license. This is very much in keeping with the open
source spirit of the movement, which is oriented to collaboration and
mutual support.

If you're helping to implement technology that serves your
organization's mission - then you may already be an eRider and not
know it! If you acquaint yourself with the eRider Starter Kit, you
may find that you not only have a lot to gain but a lot to contribute.
In either or both cases, you are welcome to participate in the
worldwide community.

Best regards from Deborah

P.S. A disclaimer: I've been a member of the Riders movement for
about five years, and consider Dirk Slater and Teresa Crawford to be
oracles on the topic of bringing technology to mission-based
organizations. So I'm not exactly objective about this new resource.

Deborah Elizabeth Finn
Boston, Massachusetts, USA
deborah_elizabeth_finn@...
http://blog.deborah.elizabeth.finn.com/blog
http://public.xdi.org/=deborah.elizabeth.finn