in 2009 i got to be involved in some really awesome skill shares organized by the cyberquilting crew, a group of genderqueer and women of color who are using technology to thread movements together. i fell in love with both cyberquilters and skills shares.
["skill shares" or "skill sharing" is when people teach other people things that they know. they do it for free or in a trade for being taught a skill. to me this is more than just telling someone how to do something because it is like a transfer of power or knowledge. think superheroes joining forces.]
photo taken at the cyberquilting skills share in detroit at the allied media conference. credit to quirky black girls photography.
every day we are told that a.) we do not have skills and b.) that the things we know are not valuable. this lie exists so that we will try to hoard our skills from others and so that the the system can dangle our need for skill development over our head and sell it back to us.
there are a lot of things i am interested in learning in 2010. i have skills that i can exchange, too, mostly in the area of organizing and media making. i can teach these via webcam, email, or conference call. if you are interested in skill sharing w/ me and others, leave a comment with what you’d like to learn and what you could teach.
things i can teach:
- how activists and organizations can use google wave to make the work they have to do together much easier. (some examples: how to use google wave to work with others to host an event, throw a party, write a document, create a plan, etc.)
- how to make your event, blog, organization, or space more accessible in terms of disability.
- basic html skills or how to create and maintain a website.
- basic video editing
- how to do mass mailings, webinars, web meetings or conference calls on the cheap/free
- how to make your writing 8th grade level
- graphic design (photoshop)
- how to make your workshop interactive
- tshirt reconstruction (cutting up a tee and making a new outfit out of it)
(will add to this list as i think of more)
things i would like to learn:
- a vegan dish or two that is easy to cook, cheap, and can be done without special food stores. okay… better eating in general. not only for myself but in hosting events on the cheap. (e.g. there has to be healthier (again, cheap!) food option than beanies and weanies at our youth events)
- mediation/energy work techniques that are accessible to me as someone with a physical disability and chronic lung issues. (most ones i see people doing don’t do anything for me).
- zine layouts. i’ve worked on 3 zines now but have a hard time wrapping my head around the layout part.
- general facilitation skill development
- more popular education techniques
- how to mix music with opensource technology
- budget stuff. i do okay with organizational budgets (aka money that ain’t mine) but don’t have personal budgeting down. see myself drowning in debt if things don’t change soon.
let’s see if we can do some skill sharing with each other.
xo,
cripchick
oh, I would love to help with layouts, so much! but I am running on negative energy levels right now. perhaps over the summer I would be available to help out. it is something I love so much to do, & if it helps someone at the same time…
Posted by amandaw on January 3rd, 2010.
i didn’t know you make zines!!!
Posted by cripchick on January 3rd, 2010.
You should connect with Kameelah for great simple vegan recipes, and with Mai’a who does distance Reiki (it has saved my life!)and may have some suggestions for your meditation etc.
Posted by Aaminah on January 3rd, 2010.
there’s a distance reiki group in Second Life as well that meets twice a week.
I feel like I can teach about using Second Life for organizing/meeting/facilitating – when it’s appropriate/useful and when it isn’t and how to do that, and general accessibility concerns, and some platform hacks to give people access to the conversation who may not have access to second life. (I am using access in two ways in this sentence, did you catch that?)
I would really like to learn about google wave because it seems both a) useless and b) inaccessible to me. On a silly note, I would like to learn about T-shirt reconstruction.
I can help teach many of the things cripchick mentions.
You do a really good job of thinking out all the skills you have. I cannot do that. I feel like I have no skills.
Posted by musingvirtual on January 3rd, 2010.
I have a few vegan recipes, although i struggle with (mostly motivation and executive function aspects of) cooking myself… i get a lot more motivated when i have others to cook for, tho…
got to dash out now, but i’ll try to get round to writing some of them up later…
Posted by shiva on January 4th, 2010.
thank you aaminah! i wanted to contact mai’a about reiki but was a little shy. definitely going to follow up with her in 2010. happy new year to you sis.
musingvirtual, yes! let’s talk abt google wave and tshirt reconstruction too. google wave isn’t accessible in a lot of ways (e.g. if a person uses a screenreader or is in a group with someone that does, can’t use the wave) but me and few other disabled ppl i work with have found it extremely helpful in maximizing our time. (e.g. one google thread instead of 20 emails, everyone can see the brainstorming that is happening, etc). re: skills, i hear you. it took me a long time to come up w/ that list and i know that is only a small portion of what i really know. it is still amazing to me, all the things we know but don’t consider skills.
shiva— thank you!!! i get overwhelmed by vegan, but i think it’s mostly bc it’s hard to find ingredients (or at least i assume it will be since we only have walmarts and stores like that here). the other day i made a stir fry for a party that my vegan friends could eat and i want more moments like that.
Posted by cripchick on January 4th, 2010.
Love, i am seriously starting to look into an Ital diet, though i will have to do it in a semi-moderate fashion because like you, i don’t have access to the highest quality fresh food all the time. Whatever i learn in my search, i am happy to share! Like you and Shiva, i am better if i can cook for others. For some reason i cannot muster the energy, organizational skills or desire to cook for myself. But i LOVE to cook for others. i loved cooking WITH the Nica… we both had things to learn and teach each other, and it was very intimate and bonding for us. i can’t stand to have just anyone working with me in the kitchen, so i really miss that about him so much, but life moves forward. :)
i’m also not at all good about listing out what skills i have. And then too, afraid to list them for fear of the demands that will be made upon them, LOL (like, saying that i’m a writer and editor has led people to beg me to read/edit/make suggestions on all kinds of their work, without offering anything in return, to the point where i felt like i was constantly working for everyone else and unable to do my own stuff, as well as just being overwhelmed, and yes, feeling used), so i think you are very brave & generous to do this.
BTW, have meant to ask you if are thinking of doing Thing-a-Day this year? i think i will be doing it.
Posted by Aaminah on January 4th, 2010.
i’m a tinkerer…just like to sit around and figure things out…so i don’t know how many of my skills are really “shareworthy”. but vegan food i can definitely share (and have). i don’t use recipes, again relying on intuition…but i can share individual dishes or just preparation techniques for things. and things that scale up well, too. also, i have mad knife skills! and make my own vegan kimchi.
also, i use Audacity in my sound work – i layer voice recordings of my poetry with various things. it might not be what you’re looking for but i’ve at least worked with 4+ tracks at once.
Posted by julijeong on January 5th, 2010.
omg-ing at doing thing-a-day again w/ again you aaminah and at the idea of vegan kimchi, juli.
yes to both!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(is vegan kimchi just kimchi w/o fish sauce?)
(also hear you aaminah, about everyone hitting you up to do stuff for free. i didn’t think about that til after i posted this, lol. hoping a lot of the transfers are more “exchange-y” than one-way)
Posted by cripchick on January 5th, 2010.
yes! okay, cool doing thing-a-day together.
also interested in this vegan kimchi (because i hate fish, LOL).
and yes, hopefully anyone who says “ooh! i want you to teach me x” is also gonna add “and i can help you with y” or at least you can say “hey, what are your skillz? ooh, great! so when i teach you x, i would love it if you could explain z to me!”
ha ha ha
Posted by Aaminah on January 5th, 2010.
I love this idea! I work in education and training so I should be able to help with facilitation and ed techniques. I don’t have anything written up, but if you have specific questions or need to run a program plan by me feel free.
For personal finance, I think mint.com is great. It won’t help you get out of debt but it will help you better understand what you are spending money on which is crucial when it comes to figuring what you can cut from you budget.
I love to hear your insights on activism via google wave and how to make my online and in person trainings more accessible. Thanks for your good work!
Posted by Liz on January 6th, 2010.
i hope to be in your presence some time soon so we could do some budgeting in excel.
one of my fav dorky pass-times that drives me a little nuts that i could definitely teach.
love you lots.
Posted by Phyrecracker on January 10th, 2010.