Recently, KAUST President Jean-Lou Chameau invited community members to join a task force to help make recommendations towards improving our community. Specifically: The President’s Task Force is your opportunity to be part of shaping future community, arts and cultural programs, events and activities at KAUST. My hope is that we can build upon our success by… Read More »
News of possibly the strongest storm ever to make landfall has been dominating the news for the last week or so. Typhoon Haiyan/Yolanda smashed into the Philippines on November 7 causing widespread devastation. And this, just a few weeks after a major earthquake hit the same area. I have been deeply affected by the images… Read More »
In 2010, Amy Sample Ward had an idea to start an online group for community organizers working on social benefit projects. I soon became an active member and even took the lead organizing role (aka “cat herding”) for a time. 3 years later, this community is well-established and making great strides in helping strengthen communities… Read More »
A few days ago, on July 11, a friend of ours proudly proclaimed “Happy Kaustiversary” to us. Kevin and I looked at one another and back at her with embarrassment – we had completely forgotten it was the second anniversary of our move to KAUST. I must admit, it is one awesome friend who… Read More »
Happy Blog Action Day! Over the last few years, I’ve participated in a yearly blogging event called Blog Action Day. Blog Action Day brings together bloggers from different countries, interests and languages to blog about one important global topic on the same day. This year’s #BAD topic is: The Power of We. According to the organizers,… Read More »
Question: What’s the word for a geek in Jeddah? Answer: “a Jeddi” – Yasser Bahjatt Last weekend I had the really great opportunity to speak about community building at GeekFest Jeddah. You can learn more about the event in my earlier post. I also wanted to be sure to share my notes from the talk here… Read More »
Recently, I’ve been thinking a lot about creating a thriving social media experience when you have an audience that operates in more than one language. This is a topic I’ve debated many times along the way with colleagues and friends, but never came to concrete conclusions. Now, I’m working with one of my clients to identify the… Read More »
The other day, I was contacted by Nessreen, one of the organizers of GeekFest Jeddah to ask if I could do a GeekTalk about community organizing at their upcoming event. I had contacted her on twitter a few months ago after I first heard of GeekFest and told her that I was really excited about… Read More »
With my recent professional reset, I’ve been thinking a lot about online and offline socially-focused community building here in Saudi or in other areas of the Middle East. I see a huge opportunity at the intersection of online/offline community building, digital media, and social benefit in the region. I have also come up with one… Read More »
I’ve decided to take my efforts independent and become a community building consultant for social benefit projects. Below, I’ve crossposted my announcement from the NetSquared Blog. It is with great sadness that I’m writing this post. Over the next few weeks I will be phasing out of my position on the NetSquared team. It has been… Read More »