What is a Kitten Money Klatch?

This is a fair question. For one, it's something my wife Sarah and I invented. It's also a new form of financial exploration and empowerment for a community of interested individuals in Seattle. Earlier this month we held the first gathering of KmK where over 20 people took three hours out of their Thursday night to participate in the experiment. The experiment is to build resiliency into my community by getting as many people as possible out of crushing debt. To do this, we must all wade into uncommon territory. We must share our money issues with each other.

Sarah and I've committed to facilitating three of these KmK gatherings over the next couple months to see if something comes of it. The first gathering was successful by attendee accounts. People really benefited from hearing others tell their money stories. They found that no one is alone in their fears around the stuff. We also figured out what the group wants to get out of the gatherings. Seems like a reasonable first start.

Here is a sample of the list the group told me they want to cover:

• Matching up of needs and means (help each other get out of debt, like with Prosper.com)
  
• Pool money within the group to fund things
• Leanding list
• Sharing of helpful financial resources
• Assisting each other build personal financial tracking skills
• Sharing of rituals or experiences that don't require money
• Creating more moments where people share their deeply held assumptions and stories around money
  
• Discussion of the political side of finance and the economy

Over the next two gatherings Sarah and I will help the group navigate these topics. I look forward to it!

My first Green Business Conference

Here I am pressing the flesh with greenie business people at Co-Op America's Green Business Conference in San Francisco. This is the first time Web Collective has sent a representative out into the world to network and market. This, of course, means the company has very little more than some good looking web sites and a friendly rep in a green shirt to make a pitch. Because we've been in stealth, word-of-mouth mode for so long I feel out of practice with high-speed networking. Fortunately, I seem to share core values with just about everyone one I have met here so the conversations have been authentic and rewarding.

I'm very impressed with the caliber of vision and ambition in the green businesses represented here. I really am excited to experience Greenfest this weekend.

Green October

Many wise people advancing many great ideas are pooling their resources and giving us something called Green October. It's not just a month, it's also a collection of events having a connection to community building and sustainability. Seeing all the groups and events being offered in a single month is absolutely amazing. I love having a service like this to reflect back to us the magnitude of our collective efforts.

Web Collective is involved in making sure the Puget Sound Community Change program launches.

I'm featured in Sustainable Industries Journal

I am pleasantly surprised to learn that Sustainable Industries Journal's September issue has a feature story on 5 entrepreneurs under 35 including me and Web Collective. This qualifies as our first major bit of press! Considering we don't really have a website yet and have only really been in business since May, I think this is fantastic. Unfortunately, I haven't seen the article yet, but I've been assured the picture of me is sexy. Can't ask for more than that! Thanks Wanda.

This is as good a time as any to report that Web Collective is coming along very well. There is plenty of fantastic work coming to us and we are making considerable headway into the process of defining ourselves as a team and as a company. We are continuing to live into being the sort of business we want to see in the world. It's pretty cool to build a shared vision with a group of dedicated, talented people. Oh, and I just bought webcollective.com! It cost way too much but http://webcollective.COOP alone just isn't going to cut it.

UPDATE: SIJ has published the article.

Food and energy stats to music

I love this! So much information in such a nice little animation.

link

Web Collective is Incorporated!

At long last we are now Web Collective, Inc. Getting the Inc. at the end of our name was no small feat given we are an employee cooperative. I choose to personally deliver our Articles of Incorporation to the state office. It's a good thing I did because the nice lady who did the paperwork told me they see an employee cooperative about once every FIVE years! She had to make a few phone calls to verify the state still has a statute authorizing cooperatives.

$195 dollars and 20 minutes later and I had a UBI and a certificate. I immediately called everyone in the Collective and told them the good news. We worked so hard to get to this point. It's a very good feeling. Tonight we're getting beers to celebrate.

Next week we are going to pay our membership fees, sign a lease on office space downtown and start getting our books setup with an accountant. Now the hard work starts. I love it.

Encylopedia Galactica one site at a time

Along with Wiser Earth, Freebase and of course Wikipedia, we are seeing an explosion in projects aiming to make available and publicly editable the knowledge of humanity. Wiser Earth does it for NGOs and Encyclopedia of Life does it for species. Wicked cool interface!

Hope EOL and Freebase get together. It would be awesome to be able to remix those animals. Maybe we'll finally see the ultimate update to the classic farmer see-n-say.