Update on my Crowd Funding Experiment!

Hi Everyone


First - I just wanted to take a minute to thank those of you have already generously supported my IndieGoGo campaign (if you haven't clicked through yet, I wish you would!).

Second - I had a couple of people contact me asking me how to send me a cash donation (because you don't have a PayPal account); if that is something you are interested in please send me an email. What I plan on doing is simply collecting the monies and then paying them back into the campaign with my own PayPal account (so they count towards the total).

Third (and quite possibly, most importantly) I've found a Knight in Shining Armour who has agreed to translate the entire document, meaning that all of the funds raised will be going to charity!

I want to personally thank Doug Hadden VP of Products at Freebalance for agreeing to take on the translating. Doug has asked that the funds be directed to SOS Children, which I will gladly do on everyone's behest after the campaign.

There's only one catch - and its a big one - when I set up the campaign I set it up in a manner that I thought made the most sense: all or nothing. If we hit the target the money kicks in, if it we don't, well the money doesn't come through.
In other words, while I may have found a sponsor to do the heavy lifting, if we don't hit the goal this could all fall through.

I suppose what I'm saying is that I still need your help

In an effort to sweeten the pot a little I'm going to set up a permanent page on this blog for Scheming. It will house both the English and French versions of the whitepaper as well as all of the thank you's, links, blurbs, and sponsors that helped get the job done. I'll share it once I've got the mock-up complete.

In the meantime if you need anything please let me know, if you help out with the campaign, please do, the link is below.
Link to the Campaign!

Originally published by Nick Charney at cpsrenewal.ca

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An Experiment in Crowd Funding, Community, and Official Languages

While it's been years since I wrote Scheming Virtuously: A Handbook for Public Servants, interest in the document seems constant. Over the years I've invited people to contribute directly to the document on GCPEDIA, I've released an updated version myself, and even worked with my good friends at Govloop to spice it up visually. 

The only thing I haven't been able to do yet is have it translated. I've been asked repeatedly if the document is available in French and, sadly, it is not. It's something I've always wanted to do, but quite simply don't have the wherewithal to get done. 

Recently I was contacted by a Learning Advisor at the Canada School of Public Service who was keen to include Scheming in the orientation materials for new public servants. When I got the call I was flattered, it would, in my view, be a tremendous achievement.

Then, the obvious question came up, is it available in French? We chatted a bit more by email and it became clear that the school was unable to take on the cost of translation (which I completely understand given the estimated price tag of $3750 in times of austerity).

Besides, I don't have $3750 to spend on translation either, but the phone call got me thinking.  

Would the community be willing and able to chip in enough to get it done? Could crowd funding the translation be a viable option?

I wasn't sure (read: still am not sure), but I figured it was worth a try.

This is completely uncharted territory for me, and to be honest, I'm a bit uneasy about even trying this. I want to get the document translated but I'm hesitant to ask for help. 

Social capital has always been more important to me then physical capital, so if you can't contribute or don't want to, I completely understand. 

On the other hand if you can contribute or share the link to the campaign, I would sincerely appreciate it.

*** Link to the Campaign ***

Footnote

I will be participating in an Arm Chair at the Canada School of Public Service on Linguistic Duality day (September 13) to discuss the role of language in my home, in my workplace, and more generally in social media spaces. I plan on speaking about the results of this campaign in my presentation.

Originally published by Nick Charney at cpsrenewal.ca subscribe/connect