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September 17, 2004
Get Visa and Microsoft to fund your library fantasy
I have both a Hotmail and a Yahoo! account, which I signed up for mostly because of instant messaging, but with your account you get a slew of features, including email, a personal portal, and whatever else they hand you for free (which, on occassion, includes standard spam).
Anyway, I like my personalized portals. I get a sense of what mainstream free services are offering their users, which reflects what mainstream users are accustomed to, which helps me look at other portal technologies from a more user-oriented perspective, keeping my inner geek in check. And the news and features offerings aren't too shabby, either. I found this little nifty on my MSN home page:
Ideas Happen
What's a $25,000 idea?
You tell us.
Ideas Happen is a forum for pitching and funding great ideas. Last year, 12 people won $25,000 each to make their idea a reality. This year, it could be your turn.
The only real rule is that you need to be 18-29 years old by August 16, 2004, and that you pitch only one idea in one of three categories: entrepreneur, self-expression, or community. Since there are tons of young, new librarians out there, looking for a way to break in and make a difference, this might be a good shot. As for the 30+ librarians, convince your younger counterparts to do this.
Want to start a technology training corps for librarians? Or maybe a reading program? Or possibly get money for professional development to make yourself more qualified to start a new program or deal with the issues in your library? Pitch 'em the idea. You might get free money for it. The pitch deadline is October 20, 2004. After that, let the world know about your pitch, so's that we can all go and vote for it.
You can pitch your own personal idea that has nothing to do with libraries or librarians (natch), but imagine getting a major credit card company to pay for your well-thought, well-deserved library or librarian improvement idea.
September 17, 2004 10:26 AM