Crisis Camp Miami

CrisisCamp Miami ended with a message of gratitude to the gathered volunteers.

“You were a part of something historical this weekend,” said Patrick Barbanes, a coordinator of the camp.  “Thanks for being a part of history.

The volunteers presented their projects at the end of their day. Here is a list of just some of the work done today:

• The Miami Independent Media Center plans to start a Haiti Independent Media Center.
• A group of volunteers is planning on overhauling the We Have, We Need Exchange web Site.
• Volunteers have been making progress on mapping, Translation  and iPhone people finder application projects.
• Volunteers have been working to make a database of local volunteer opportunities to provide relief to Haiti.

The camp ended with encouragement to persevere in the crisis camp efforts started today. Volunteers have been encouraged to contribute the Crisis Commons Wiki and other efforts. We hope everyone found today’s event helpful and informative. You can watch the farewell address in the video, which has more about what was accomplished, below.

Crisis Camp Haiti, Miami: Wrap Up from Lori Todd on Vimeo.

Crisis Camp Haiti, Miami: Wrap Up from Lori Todd on Vimeo.

Yanira Gonzalez and a table  of volunteers studied a web site for collecting and distributing supplies and services for Haiti,  and they found it lacking. Now, the wall next to their  table is covered with yellow sheets of paper listing their ideas for revamping the site.

The group studied “We Have, We Need Exchange,” a site listed as Completed on the Crisis Commons Wiki, and it discovered that the site cannot accept cell phone texts.  The group thinks the site, intended to be used by Non-Governmental Organizations,  needs to be rebuilt from scratch to accept cell phone texts.

On the new site, people will be able to text their need for supplies and services. People with supplies and services  will  also be able to advertize them  by text.  Not every one has a computer, but most people have a cell phone with texting abilities, said Damian Montero, Fort Lauderdale Web developer. So it’s important that they be able to access the site.

Ideas at the table flew quickly, and the considerations going in to the project are numerous. Volunteers have begun assigning duties  to be completed after CrisisCamp and are hoping to start a wiki about their efforts.

Volunteers interested in getting involved can  e-mail yaniragonzalez@bellsouth.net. The site will be called “We have, We need Plus.”

It’s been “organized chaos” here , as one person said,  as volunteers  strive to find roles in the many aid projects featured today.  Alex de Carvalho, social media strategist,  University of Miami professor and a coordinator of CrisisCamp, has run down a list of projects ideas, from translating to and from Haitian Creole to mapping out  important locations in Haiti. And volunteers have already come up with new ideas.

Carlos Cardona, who has lived in Miami-Dade County for 15 years, has decided to help a group of people creating a database of Miami volunteer opportunities.

“I think that there’s a lot of people that want to help but don’t know how,” Cardona said.

Cardona, chief social media strategist for Welltok, a social network company specializing in healthcare,  has many friends from Haiti, and he feels Miami is in a unique position to help the Haitian refugees as they try to find homes and jobs in the United States. The group is still brainstorming what it will do, but Cardona hopes put his professional social media experience to good use by marketing the project online.  He can be found on Twitter at @CarlosCardona

Organizers of Miami’s CrisisCamp Miami introduce themselves to the crowd:

Stephen Malagodi (@malagodi)
Alex de Carvalho (@alexdc)
Patrick Barbanes (@pbarbanes)
Beatrice Garcia (@beagarcia)

We can’t get the video embeds to work on Wordpress right now, so to watch the video, click here.

Oh, wait…got it to work!… Here it is!

CrisisCamp Haiti Introduction, Miami from Lori Todd on Vimeo.

I just finished the 75–minute drive down to Miami from my home in Jupiter, Fla., and I’m sitting in a room at The Miami Herald with more than 60 people who brought a wide range of expertise to help aid the people of Haiti.

Almost every chair in the sweltering room is occupied by students , social media experts, web professionals, business people, and creative experts eager to assist . They come from a wide spectrum of workplaces ranging from  Florida International University to Carnival Cruise Lines.

Right now, everyone in the group is introducing themselves and highlighting what they can offer, from  Blackberry application development to technical support. We’re going to  break into groups soon to start tapping into the reservoires of expertise here.

—Alex Tiegen

The conference room at 1 Herald Plaza is slowly being filled with CrisisCamp volunteers. I’ve already met Steve Louis, Director of IT and Business Relations at FIU who specializes in helping small businesses recover after hurricanes. I’m also sitting at a table with Bob Jaffie who deals with crisis management and emergency planning for IBM. This event is right up everybody’s alley.

Some people are still a little bit confused as to what exactly it is we will be doing today. We’ve got a short list for now of the documents and spreadsheets that will be attempted today.

As this list grows throughout the afternoon, we’ll keep you posted. A list of wikis that the CrisisCamps all over the country are working on can be found here.

It’s heartening to learn how South Floridians have volunteered to relieve the recent suffering of the people of Haiti.

If you’ve ever lived here, chances are you know someone from Haiti.  It was easy to take that fact for granted before the earthquake.

Now, it’s hard to ignore.  Especially when the people affected by the crisis are friends, neighbors, co-workers and family.

The volunteers at CrisisCamp Miami are just one group of South Floridians who have decided to help ease the suffering, and I’m eager to learn how they are using online resources and other technology to hasten and improve relief efforts

I’m a former Broward County resident and current freelance writer for newspapers in South Florida and the Treasure Coast, and I’ll be live blogging the Camp with Mallory Colliflower throughout the day.

I’m no techie, but I know how valuable iPhones, Twitter and online databases and other tools are in a crisis. And I’m hoping I can learn to use these tools beyond the camp and to teach readers who couldn’t attend how they can contribute to the effort.

Big thanks to everyone who donated their time for the cause. You can follow our blog or follow the Twitter trending topic #cchaiti

—-Alex Tiegen