Project management consulting and training for social change organisations.
I volunteered at the Ex this weekend, answering questions and handing out green energy pamphlets at the WindShare booth with a couple of amazing TREC employees, Carolyn Webb and Sheryl Murray.
I had a fantastic time talking with everyone who stopped by to find out more about the Exhibition Place turbine project, the next WindShare turbine project (to be built on the grounds of the Ashbridges Bay Treatment Plant in the east end of the city), and saving money by switching from incandescent to CFL (compact fluorescent) light bulbs.
I also got to talk with the reps from Hydrogenics at the booth two doors down about the future of hydrogen and fuel cell power, which was interesting - here's a picture of the hydrogen-powered car they had on display (and that's Sheryl in the passenger seat).
A number of the people I spoke with seemed to share the commonly-expressed wind power concerns — reliability, noise, cost, aesthetics, impact on bird populations — but in the general case people were very supportive, and in many cases were interested in getting involved in wind power generation personally — either by becoming shareholders in the Ashbridges Bay turbine, or by looking into building their own.
I met with Phillip Smith today — Phillip runs Community Bandwidth, a consulting practice working with not-for-profit, social justice, community organizations, cultural organizations and individuals to examine the ways in which Internet technologies can be used to build organizational capacity, support community engagement, facilitate group collaboration and create successful online campaigns, always with the goal of demystifying and simplifying technology in the process. Phillip is an excellent facilitator — I met him first at a Social Tech meeting, where he facilitated a large group discussion around the social applications of wikis.
Community Bandwidth operates out of the 215 Centre for Social Innovation in Toronto, and frequently works on projects with both the Commons Group and Co-op Tools. I really enjoyed meeting Phillip and learning more about Community Bandwidth, and hope to work with his organization on projects in the near future.
