[HOT] outsourcing

[alyssa wright]

Hi all,

TL;DR: A group of us in New York City are interested in supporting HOT work
from afar. Are there any (discrete) projects that you could outsource to us?

The too long version, complete with disclaimer: I'm new to the list (and
the space) so apologies for any presumption or naïveté.

Recently, I've been thinking about how outlier communities -- perhaps
of privilege, diaspora, or otherwise -- could assist in capacity building,
disaster preparedness, and other initiatives that (as I understand it) are
part of the larger HOT mission of collaborative maps for humanitarian work.


The way I imagine things -- you all are doing the hard work of the
humanitarian space -- one of cultural understanding and needs assessment --
in order to create better information and sustainable change.  I also
imagine you could use some help, some manpower from "the outside". And
finally, I imagine that "help" could leverage the value of sprints of
hackathons and mapathons, and the immediacy of an acute crisis --  and
transition towards the consistency, training, and patience of a marathon.

So, I've been yapping some to Kate and Robert, but mostly people in New
York about these disconnected ideas. There is a small but growing group
interested in taking on work you need help with -- if there is work to be
taken on.  My inclination is to start slow -- and just be told what to do
-- as if you're outsourcing tasks.  My assumption here is you that know
what needs to get done and we need to learn.

Longer term I see the potential for something more collaborative that not
only executes on "deliverable" but create a forum of cultural exchange.

So long and long -- I'm looking for discrete assignments that we could
start to take on and request some dialogue to help make our work most
useful. I'm also looking for any resources -- papers, previous projects,
people -- to get more grounded.  And finally, if you know of anyone in New
York I should talk to, please let me know. The subway runs 24/7.

Thanks!
Alyssa.
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