How do you define localization?

Perhaps you can clarify but I hope I can answer your question by explaining what Goodwill is. goodwill.org generates opportunities for people to achieve economic stability and build strong families and vibrant communities by offering job training, employment placement services and other community-based programs for people who have a disability, lack education or job experience, or face employment challenges. Goodwill is comprised of 166 independent, community-based Goodwill agencies in North America and 14 international affiliates. Collectively, we provided employment training and job placement services to 1.5 million people in North America in 2008.

What are the underlying principles for your sustainability programs?

Goodwill has an initiative called Goodwill Going Green that has been underway for two years. The simple premise underlying the program is “Use Less, Serve More.” What it means is simply that by using fewer resources, in addition to being good for planet and people, this will also reduce our waste and expenses, allowing more funds available to support the Goodwill mission of being an entrepreneurial leader, environmental pioneer and social innovator of the “reduce, reuse, recycle” practice.

Can patrons barter at goodwill.org?

Goodwill does not barter. Our agencies are innovative and sustainable social enterprises that fund job training, employment placement services and other community programs by selling donated clothes and household items at Goodwill retail stores and online, and through contract services, private and public grants, and individual giving. We operate more than 2,300 retail stores across the country and operate the first and only Internet nonprofit auction site, shopgoodwill.com, which recently celebrated its 10th year anniversary. During those 10 years, it has generated more than $75 million for our career programs and support services.

Donated goods are the primary way that Goodwill has been funding our mission for more than 107 years. Federal law permits Goodwill donors to claim tax deductions for many financial contributions and for donated clothing and household goods in good, used condition or better. People can receive a receipt at the time of their donation. Goodwill channels 84 percent of our revenues into job training programs that benefit hundreds of thousands of people each year.

Many are talking about a major collapse in the world economy and a catastrophic period of anger and hunger. Do you see this near-term scenario? In not, what is your perception of the next 2-5 years on the planet?

Every 42 seconds of every business day, Goodwill places someone in a good job. Goodwill trains people for careers in fields such as financial services, computer programming, manufacturing, and emerging industries, including technology and health care. Goodwill also provides support services – including financial skills strengthening and services for youth and families – that enable people from all backgrounds and walks of life to obtain and maintain economic independence and an increased quality of life.

These employment programs promote independence and dignity for people who need support to provide for themselves and their families.

Our mission is give people a hand up, not a hand out and help them succeed, regardless of the current economic situation. Goodwill has been around since 1902 and has done so in good times and in bad. With the current economic downturn, we are seeing more people shopping at our stores and more people coming to us for help in finding a job.

Do you see a major paradigm shift in (green) values for the USA? If so, please describe this shift.

Yes, about 35 million Americans regularly buy green products, according to research group Mintel. The target demographic for green marketing represents 66 percent of all US adults and more than 80 percent of consumers believe it’s important to buy from green companies. Goodwill supports green business by selling re-usable items and re-use means jobs.

How do you personally live the green life?

From a Goodwill perspective, we have an entrepreneurial business model of collecting and selling donated goods. We help communities recycle usable items in environmentally sound ways, and prevent items from piling up in local landfills.

Through socially innovative partnerships with Dell, county and city governments, as well as other organizations, local Goodwill agencies divert used computers and computer equipment from landfills, and provide consumer education on the importance of environmentally-responsible computer disposal. These programs create job training opportunities as well as entry level and skilled green-collar jobs for people in need of work.

The Dell ReConnect Program is a partnership between Goodwill Industries International and Dell Inc. ReConnect. It provides free computer recovery and recycling opportunities for residents of designated areas. The project aims to divert e-waste from landfill (last year it diverted 2.4 million lbs. in San Francisco, San Mateo, and Marin Counties alone) and raised awareness of the importance of responsibly recycling used electronics.

As part of the program, Goodwill refurbishes and distributes computers to residents currently lacking computer access at home, thus helping to close the digital divide. We are also providing sustainable job skill development for our staff and program participants who are working and learning in the program. When computers are not functional enough to be refurbished, we recycle them using a certified recycler that has passed a rigorous Dell environmental and social downstream audit.

How are you measuring and responding to your operational eco-footprint?

Through our Goodwill Going Green initiative, one of the programs we are promoting to our members is the EPA Energy Star Portfolio Manager program, which is an extensive free software program available through the EPA for tracking and managing energy and water usage in our buildings. We also have a strong focus on waste reduction and have done a number of webinars and other training sessions to promote recycling. As part of this we designed a spreadsheet tool that helps Goodwill agencies track their recycling and waste volumes, so that they can measure progress as they make changes in procedures and behavior to minimize waste.

Are you teaching green choices to your patrons?

Yes, one such example is the “Goodwill Not Landfill – Donate and Shop Today!” campaign that was conducted by Goodwill Industries of San Francisco, San Mateo and Marin Counties. The campaign ran from November to January, including radio ads, newspaper ads, and signs on buses and bus shelters. These ads were designed to remind the public that the earth benefits when they give their computers and other electronics to Goodwill for responsible recycling.

They also teamed up with two radio stations this past spring to increase public awareness of e-waste and to encourage donations to the ReConnect program.

Thanks to their partnership with KNBR (680 AM) radio, they gave every e-waste donor the chance to win Giants tickets and other prizes. And thanks to their partnership with KNGY (Energy 92.7FM) radio, two Goodwill e-waste donors won plasma TVs in a raffle. Over the course of two months, both these radio stations made several announcements about the benefits of recycling electronics.

Thanks to all this publicity, more than 18 million pounds of material goods were diverted from the landfill.

What is a zero waste strategy at GW?

We currently do not have a zero waste strategy as part of our Going Green initiative, but this is something we are likely to consider and study going forward.

Tell us about your use of green building principles in remodeling?

In terms of Goodwill and green building principles, the best examples to highlight are several Goodwill members that are in the process of pursuing LEED certification for their new stores. Goodwill Industries of Northwest North Carolina (GNWNC)(Winston-Salem), the Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired (ABVI)-Goodwill(r) of Greater Rochester (NY), Goodwill Industries of Southeastern Wisconsin (Milwaukee, WI), Goodwill Industries of Greater Grand Rapids (Grand Rapids, MI) and the Tacoma Goodwill (Tacoma, WA) are going green this September by opening facilities built to the standards of the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System.

LEED encourages and accelerates global adoption of green building and development practices and promotes a whole-building approach to sustainability by recognizing performance in five key areas of environmental health: sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection and indoor environmental quality. ABVI is also doing a headquarters remodel/addition that will also be LEED certified.

“Our computer recycling and electronics recycling businesses creating jobs and helping to protect the environment!” Please explain the challenges and successes here?

By selling donated goods in our retail stores and online, Goodwill creates thousands of jobs and millions in revenues that fund job training programs across North America, contributing sound investments in the economic health of local communities.

Edited by Willi Paul

The worldwide Freecycle Network is made up of many individual groups across the globe. It’s a grassrootsstuff for free movement of people who are giving (and getting) in their own towns.

Freecycle groups match people who have things they want to get rid of with people who can use them. Our goal is to keep usable items out of landfills. By using what we already have on this earth, we reduce consumerism, manufacture fewer goods, and lessen the impact on the earth. Another benefit of using Freecycle is that it encourages us to get rid of junk that we no longer need and promote community involvement in the process.

How does Freecycle work?
Everything posted must be free, legal and appropriate for all ages. When you want to OFFER something – whether it’s a chair, fax machine, piano or an old door, simply send an email to your group.

Maybe you’re looking to acquire something yourself? Post a WANTED message and a group member may just have what you’re looking for. Alert the group with a follow-up RECEIVED email. After that it is up to the giver to decide who receives the gift from the responses only they receive and to set up a collection time, and finally post an item TAKEN message.

Visit: http://www.uk.freecycle.org/

By — myi@sfchronicle.com, 08/29/09

From antique pianos to leftover prison garb, the state of California on Friday unloaded thousands of surplus property items in a major garage sale to generate dough for the cash-strapped state. The sale was called by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who autographed five used California Highway Patrol motorcycles in hopes of pumping up the price tag from the original $2,200 per vehicle to $3,000.

But autographs from Schwarzenegger – whose job approval rating plummeted this year – failed to drive up the price of the vehicles. They were sold for $2,200. “We were hoping for more, but at the end of the day we wanted people to leave happy,” Eric Lamoureux, a spokesman for the Department of General Services, said. More than 6,000 items – including 600 vehicles – were on display at the Department of General Services’ surplus property warehouse in north Sacramento. The items included Dell desktop computers ($200); Westinghouse flat-screen TVs ($250); Reebok exercise steps ($10); forklifts ($100); and an array of cell phones, camera equipment and office furniture.

The state was also selling jean pants and blue cotton collared shirts worn by state prison inmates. They were being sold for $5 apiece along with piles of men’s leather oxford dress shoes also at the same price. The sale included some unusual items such as a pair of rectangular grand pianos that were manufactured more than a century ago. They were sold for a mere $100 each. The state Department of Parks and Recreation had the dusty instruments, which were in need of serious refurbishing, in storage, said Fred Aguiar, secretary of the State and Consumer Services Agency, which is overseeing the garage sale.

State officials hope the two-day sale, which ends at noon today, will generate “hundreds of thousands of dollars to $1 million” in profits, said Erin Shaw, a spokeswoman for the State and Consumer Services Agency.  Alex Johnson, 36, of Rancho Cordova (Sacramento County), arrived at 11:30 p.m. Wednesday, hoping to be first in line, but there were already three people in front of him. A group of women had arrived about three hours earlier. “I was really hoping to be the first in line,” he said.

“It’s neat. I like garage sales,” said Johnson, clutching a $48 conduit bending tool. “I’m a bargain hunter, and in this economy, you have to be a bargain hunter.”

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/08/29/BAQH19FALD.DTL#ixzz0PaBSJFDT

While bartering means that no money is exchanged, you can estimate a relative value for your goods and services in dollars – then find a level of exchange that works for all parties. Consider the following metrics:

How to value your goods? Consider:

1. Original purchase price?
2. How many owners?
3. How old is it?
4. Overall condition? Excellent, Average Poor…
5. Sentimental value?
6. Antique?
7. Practical use value?

How to Value Your Services / Labor? Consider:

1. What do others charge?
2. How many others are doing the same work and bartering?
3. How many tools are needed to do the work?
4. Is there a legal component?

More helpful sources:

GoodWill
Values are approximate and are based on items in good condition:
http://sfgoodwill.org/DonationValues.aspx

Garage Sale Pricing
http://www.garagesalebonanza.com/Become_a_Genius_at_Garage_Sale_Pricing.html
http://www.garagesalesource.com/articles/garage_sale_pricing/

Edited By Willi Paul

We have land in Tennessee that we would like to provide for your use, free of charge, for a permaculture community. We would be happy to provide gently sloping, south facing land as well as room for housing. Temporary housing is available immediately while structures are repaired or new structures are built. Water, electricity and gas are available. Some equipment may be available to be shared.

Located in a gorgeous valley with a year-round creek and surrounded by forested hills, this land is picturesque. We are only 15 minutes from town on good, paved roads. The center of the valley is flat and includes gently sloping, open fields.

We intend to open a restaurant in the coming year or so and could be a market for your produce. We also have space for a roadside food stand. This is part of a larger parcel of land. We are environmentally minded and would like to see this land used for organic food production.

If you are interested, please email ryan@propertymix.com with your contact information and a brief note about your experience and intention. If you have other people that would like to create a community with, please let us know.

Author: mrmichaelpramos@gmail.com

MSN recently did an article on the growing number of people who are resorting to bartering as a way to reduce medical bills  .
One of the things the health care debate has brought up is many people are forgoing health care because they cannot afford to see a doctor.  A nagging injury being ignored may lead to something worse.  And what would have been a relatively inexpensive medical visit can potentially become an even larger medical bill.

With a slow economy, bartering is a great way to get good medical service in a way that saves both you and your doctor money.  You can get quality medical treatment while saving money because what you provide is done at your cost.

A dentist may be willing to do dental work in exchange for cement work or a nice wristwatch.  Doctors may be willing to provide treatment if you are willing to paint or lay tile. Lawyers, jewelers, handy-men are just a few people that can take advantage of bartering. The best way to approach bartering is to do it directly with the doctor.  Calling and asking around generally is not as effective as selling your idea of bartering directly to the doctor.

Don’t own your own business?  Does your boss own a paint store or furniture company? Perhaps they will let you barter by buying product at cost plus a small percentage.  You, your boss, and your doctor can all win in the end.

The online bartering site Favorpals is a good place for a parent to browse and find out if they can use their skills to not only barter medical care, but other services as well.

http://www.examiner.com/x-17795-Salt-Lake-City-Single-Dads-Examiner~y2009m8d19-Batering-may-be-a-way-to-lower-medical-bills

http://www.sharedvaluesproject.com/

By Willi Paul

Check-out the interview with the founders on PlanetShifter.com: http://www.planetshifter.com/node/1262

Did you look at bartering model(s)? Will you barter if no cash is on the table?

I DID look at bartering. I quickly discovered that the state of Colorado wasn’t bartering tuition. I can’t really barter my architectural services as a mechanism to pay for tuition, because the state won’t take anything but cash. It IS possible for me to barter services for other goods and services. Those arrangements would be great, but they would be very different than what I can do with The Shared Values Project.

Which business models did you research?

It may be easier to see how I came to the answer by knowing what the problem is. Sallie Mae calculates 6 years of college at CU to be approximately $126,000. To raise that kind of money, after taxes, I need to gross nearly $300,000. After raising 300K, I will then be indebted to my benefactors for about 6 years of volunteer work, to honor my commitment. What business model could possibly make that work? There is no off the shelf model, I’m basically inventing a hybrid model based on some proven models. Inspiration came from the micro loan and Peer to Peer lending model such as Kava and Prosper. But the “loan” program wasn’t the way to go. Taking out MORE debt isn’t the answer to a problem it is a continuation of the problem. By giving back to others and the community as a whole through the donation of service allowed me to give value back to benefactors without adding to massive crippling debt, which got us into our current student crisis. What came out the other side was a combination non-profit / commercial model that involves both donations and advertising purchases.

How do you assess the Favorpals.com model?

A few things stood out for me in that interview. First was that it seems their motivation was largely social. Similar to me, they have a conceptual starting point that is grounded in social improvement through integration of classes and cooperative relationships of trust. It’s refreshing. We live in the era of Madoff and Enron. We crave relationship, and honor and trust, but we’re surrounded by examples of betrayal. I think people have become so cynical that they don’t have much trust or faith, but at the same time we crave  for opportunities to have those kinds of healthy experiences with other people. Models like FavorPals and The Shared Values Project give us outlets for getting things that we want, but it goes beyond that. These kinds of social interaction models have secondary benefits of restoring faith in our fellows. I remember seeing a story on Nightline about a small town mom & pop grocer that still let people buy goods without paying. They bought on credit, but not with a formal contract, but on their word. Ted Koppel asked if anyone had ever not come back with the money. the grocer said never. If you trust people, they are most typically honorable in return. The world is what we make of it. Thank you for the opportunity to interview with you. What great questions you posed.

So, you are doing the green jobs for the donations, right? Any criteria that you can share on what is green these days?

Green is relatively meaningless. It’s broad, subjective and not based on any standard. The Shared Values Project isn’t necessarily about anything Green. It’s about a set of broadly defined common values. For example  I believe that as a country, we would be well served to work our way incrementally towards national energy independence, as fast as possible. That’s the Shared Value; energy independence. There is any number of strategies to take us there, and there are as many motivations. As an architect, I can move us in that direction one structure at a time , by educating the public, educating my clients, selecting appropriate projects, providing energy audits, holding public forums, and by structuring deals that incorporate renewable energy mechanisms.

There are millions of other people that also value Energy Independence, but they are pharmacists, and teachers and lawyers, and pilots and custodians etc. They work all day at some other profession that doesn’t involve advancing the community penetration of solar panels; for example. BUT, they might be very glad to know that there is someone who shares their values and IS able to have a community effect on the reduction of fossil fuel energy. It doesn’t matter if your reason for energy independence is to save the environment and the next guy’s reason is national security. It doesn’t even matter if your preferred renewable is wind and the next guys thinks solar is better. What matters is that we share the value and belief in energy independence.

What I do then is to donate my time, ability and resources towards that end. My donation may come in many forms. It could be by providing architectural services on a non-profit project that involves LEED certification. It might take the form of canvassing neighborhoods providing free energy audits and educating on the value of solar. It may take the for of a public Q&A forum, similar to the one I am doing next month on the subject of Transit Oriented Development.

The people that donate and support me are supporting a set of shared values. They aren’t hiring me to do a job for them. They are donating to a college fund so that I can then go forth and use my education, skills, talents etc in the pursuit of solutions to common problems and ideals that we share.

I see your “shared values” but what are your top three sources for sustainability principles?

I’m not sure what you mean by sources. The values that I talk about on the web site are broad and fairly universal. I talk about 5 broad principles. 1) Sustainable building practices; how do we make choices that minimize equalize or reconcile the ecological, economic and social costs in the way that we build. 2) Energy Independence; how do we build exclusively low energy or zero energy new residences and retrofit existing structures to convert them to zero energy? 3) Repurposing of materials from old construction to be used in new construction. 4) Demystifying Archi-speak. Architecture is about more than elitist design and real estate. Architecture is an integral part of the solution to Global Warming, Environmental Preservation and Energy issues. It is crucial that architects are educating and communicating with the public in a language that is digestible and not elitist so that more and more people can be involved in the discussion. 5) Architects are in a position to lead the conversation and be the front line communicators of change.

Where you a Boy Scout? What are your personal values?

I actually WAS a Boy Scout. I was a Cub Scout, a Webelos and then a Tenderfoot. I’m afraid I didn’t get too far into scouting past Tenderfoot. I think we make the best world collectively when we strive to grow and mature as individuals. I remember Rich Devos on a famous motivational tape from the 1960′s addressing a group of Junior Achievers. He said to these teenagers, “Before you go out to conquer the world, have you learned how to clean up your bedroom?” Change begins in our hearts and then to our personal lives where we teach by demonstrating a way to live. I value personal integrity and authentically doing the best I can.

Can donors decide on the project that you work on?

I am actively looking for suggestions of projects. They might be non-profit organizations that need work done. It might be an architecture firm with a non-profit client project in house that I could work on. It might be community education in the form of lectures, presentations, films or discussion on the Shared Values topics. I’m glad to look at suggestions, but since it’s not a contract for hire program, donors aren’t able to decide.

What are the risks involved to the donors? Are there guarantees or money-back clauses?

I once read a story about the relationship between Arnold Palmer and his business manager. The story goes that the two men had a relationship their entire adult life that never had a written contract  between them. What they had was one piece of paper that said simply what each one could expect from the other. That’s personal honor. Whereas I wouldn’t use that approach in all my business transactions, that is essentially the extent of the contract between my donors and me. My service commitment is a pledge. I have a series of testimonials from people I have worked with and studied with for years posted to my site. There is a list of the volunteer work I have done for the past 15 years as well. Based on that I think people can have confidence that I will fulfill my pledge.

by Willi Paul

“Bartering is a medium in which goods or services are directly exchanged for other goods and/or services without a common unit of exchange (without the use of money). It can be bilateral or multilateral, and usually exists parallel to monetary systems in most developed countries, though to a very limited extent. Barter usually replaces money as the method of exchange in times of monetary crisis, when the currency is unstable and devalued by hyperinflation. Bartering is still common in the present, usually used within the Internet….” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barter

Bartering is the new social-economic glue we need as we build the new sustainable world economy.

• Creates a larger, value-driven community
• Redistributes, re-purposes and re-uses valuable products and services
• Teaches about the relative value of things: about our own often failed or foiled materialism and our personal and family history as consumers
• Teaches us to talk and relate to other human beings
• Often channels unwanted items to support the needs of the poor (via Good Will or Salvation Army)

Galleria? Nope. Let’s get to the barter faire!

Imagine you can have almost anything you want without having to reach into your pocket for your wallet. What if hundreds of Sunday barter fairs can make this happen?

While there are many examples of online exchange sites and bartering, the barter faire is where the activism, community and value changes will be promoted and accelerated for the new green world . As the online bartering system at http://Favorpals.com improves and generates more and more traffic and members, the synergy between online bartering and the offline opportunity also increases. At http://barterfaire.org, you can find the following definitions from folks who attend these gatherings:

My definition of a barter fair is: a BE-IN. Time has passed but our tribal gatherings are still the thing. I’ve been in many drum circles in my life which to me are the heart of the family gathering. My first job at a fair was in Eugene in the 70s at the Eugene green fest doing parking and security. Back then the gatherings were quite small and intimate. The spirit is still here though…you just have to listen to the beat in the wind… —Ed-I

A barter faire was created to keep us sane. It’s the one place you can go back to your roots for a relaxing, peaceful weekend. Not to mention a place to meet new friends and realize what a small world we live in.. —Allison

A barter fair is a place to connect, with old and new. —destin2shine

A barter fair is our place where we can be free-spirited and carefree. It is also a great place to open your mind, body and spirit and be one with nature. —mini chris

A barter fair is a place where you can get something made by hand with heart and soul and sweat, not cheap plastic imported crap made with blood, sweat and tears. A barter fair is a place you can barter and not buy. —bearclaw

Will barter faires become the new green Wal-mart or E-Bay?

Bartering is about getting past self interest, status and ego to our common interests. Meeting with another human to find a common level of value exchange not based on capital. Keys: raising awareness about sustainability and compassionate consumerism.

Barter is a re-tread language, “green speak,” where half the fun of trading an old Sears shovel for a bike tune-up is “shaking hands hello and goodbye.” Bartering is best seen as a renaissance of community re-connection and re-use of goods that rescued from the land-fill. Where things often become secondary as people are once again in charge of what they are offering and need.

Two Upcoming Barter Faires:

September 18 – 20: Hope Mountain Barter Faire
Cave Junction, OR
The annual Hope Mountain Barter Faire is a benefit for the non-profit, cooperative Dome School. Our Faire is culturally expressive, brimming with creativity, exchange and fun. Bring your children and bring your elders. Come barter, trade, learn and celebrate with us. Directions, prices, and info available.
http://HopeMountainBarterFaire.org

September 4 – 6: Olympia Family Barter Faire
Nature’s Creation Organic Farm near Olympia, WA
A two-day event where local and regional vendors will come together in a family style gathering to barter their crafts, produce, cuisine, skills, and collections of stuff. The Olympia Family Barter Faire is being created to build community, support a local economy, provide educational opportunities through workshops and skill shares, promote the arts, and work towards local sustainability.
http://www.oly-wa.us/olybarter/index.php

August 15, 2:08 PMIndianapolis Health and Happiness ExaminerBlair McKissock

Part 1 of this series covered 5 ways to keep your sanity after a sudden job loss. So now that you have relaxed from the initial shock it’s time to move on. How do we find the new job? Here are a few key actions that can keep you moving forward. Make it a mantra to only work on one thing at a time. Trying to do it all at once will make it seem overwhelming and undo-able. Break tasks into smaller bits and it won’t be as hard.

1. Get organized

2. Barter- This is the most ancient form of business and can help get you recognized. No money is exchanged but rather services for the mutual benefit of both. Seek out other businesses that provide services you need and find out how you can trade a service in exchange. Calling on your neighbors to help baby sit while you interview and focus can keep costs down. You can take their kids in return. Be creative! If you’re doing your job right it’s also free marketing. Word of mouth is still your best friend and it costs nothing. And don’t forget to partner. Collaborate with other similar businesses or agencies and pool your resources. Helping each other helps the economy. There are barter sites popping up to exchange local services. Try Favorpals.com as an example. Remember to do your own homework before getting involved.

3. Market yourself

4. Trimming the budget

5. Don’t Obsess!

Read full article

Amir’s Responses = (A)
Zeo’s Responses = (Z)
Zeo and Amir Same = (A+Z)

Tell us how favors translate into a vibrant online community?

(A) It does by bringing people together to help each other and give meaning to the global village. The favor can be as simple as a ride to the airport. Sometimes the simplest type of favors are the ones we need the most.

(Z) A favor exchange between two online users mandates either a virtual or a personal interaction on the finest human form, the act of giving. Favorpals goes even beyond that: by encouraging users to offer help one another in-exchange for others helping their community or charities. This guarantees that the strength of the exchanges reach beyond our users to their communities and local charities.

What online community models / resources are you using?

(A) We are looking at all models, we look at what works and make sense for Favorpals. There are certain parts of the model that have become a de facto standard. We have been looking how to use some of these communities as communication mechanism.

(Z) We are tapping into the social networking trend by allowing our users to share or tweet favors through their social networking sites. Users can also email favors to friends and can easily invite their friends to join the favorpals community. We also realize that some of our users might want to barter only with those whom they know and trust, thus, in our product roadmap, there will be a new feature of marking a user as a Pal, allowing members to exchange favor with his or her pals if they chose to.

How do you critique the look and feel of your site? What design upgrades are planned, if any?

(A) With help from our member emails, families and friends. Lots of research, and comparing what others do. We certainly have plans for series of upgrades. The navigation needs to become more streamlined, with new communication features.

(Z) We have been doing our own usability studies using a small selected group of users. We have also been receiving many suggestions from our members, of which we filter out, prioritize and schedule for modifications. We are currently in the process of revamping the look and feel of the site, along with adding new features to it.

What barter systems have you explored? What lessons did you glean from this journey?

(A) We spent lots of time, looking at all types of companies who provide a bartering service. We looked at point systems, point + items systems, and a classified version which is just a posting with nothing to offer in return, and various combinations of the above. We decided to pass on any kind of point/credit based system since we did not want to be a point/credit bank. Our philosophy from the start is to build a system that enables people to help one another. Now, if you have something to offer and do not wish to get anything in return, or do not need anything for now, then just offer it and chalk it up good Karma. That is also the reason we felt it would be great to invite members to help to charities.

(Z) I have explored community bartering systems such as Burning Man, recycle San Francisco, etc. We’ve also used sites that utilizes the point system, so a lot of learning was leveraged back into the favorpals philosophy. For example, because we thought the point system presented a monetary value in its own merit, we also did not want to community to act as a deposit bank, so we stayed away from it. Interacting with the off-line bartering communities such as Burning Man had helped us advocate the concept of a unit value.

Basically, for a successful exchange to take place, services or products have to be reduced to a Unit of Service or a single item. Then, all units are valued equally. In case of products, a unit is easily identified, but it becomes a bit more difficult to define with services. A unit of service is the least amount of work required to render service complete. For example, if you are mowing someone’s lawn, you have to mow the whole lawn not half of it, so as filling someone’s tooth. Now a single tooth filling has the same value as mowing the lawns, and so on. In this way users can easily evaluate their exchanges.

How do you monitor favors on the shady side of things? Craigslist is getting pounded by law enforcement for their “singles ads.”

(A + Z) We have been reading all favor exchanges posted, and have suspended the ones which were not meeting our guidelines. Our members have also been good in letting us know about inappropriate postings.

As we grow we will expand our monitoring mechanism will be more automated to ensure the integrity of the site.

When you write “Go ahead take part in this new world,” on your home page, what are you talking about?

(A) The world where you can get what you want without reaching for your wallet. There are certain skills you may need and can not afford. Favorpals wants to level the playing field, where your skills can be exchanged for otherwise unaffordable skills if money was used.

(Z) Favorpals success depends on the strength of its community. We like to invite people to join, post their favors, expose their excess of inventory and engage in favor exchanges with other members, only then the community can benefit.

Most of the favor / trades on the site are typical. See: https://www.favorpals.com/favorpals/jsp/basicInfo/ui/en_US/hints.jsp

What are some of the more bizarre listings?

(A) We had interesting requests such as Hay exchange, and mud exchange for massage. For me the more interesting part, which does not fall into bizarre, was the electrician who was willing to exchange his services for legal services, since his lawyer neighbor was suing him.

(Z) We’ve had a dominatrix offer a sado-maso session for house painting! We’ve had someone looking for bay mud in exchange of a message??!!! Hay in exchange of hours care. It’s the way we like it, exchanges from all walks of life.

How are you marketing the project?

(A + Z) Word of mouth, and speaking to bloggers who have picked up our story. We have been lucky to be featured by several TV stations and major morning shows.

Are you headed toward a rating scheme for favors?

(A) We are looking what is the best approach as far rating is considered. The rating system we have in mind may be a combination of several cases and not just the posting.

(Z) Not anything more than members rating their experience with other members in order for the community to weed-out those who might abuse it.

Who is you competition?

(A) There are several bartering sites, some are just a simple classified with tons of adds, and there are one or two with more sophistication. I see them all as a great opportunity for Favorpals. Usually when there is competition, it tells you there is something to the idea, and the question becomes who would be able to capture the market and provide the service people need.

(Z) We don’t have much of a competition at the moment, but whenever we get mentioned in the media, we’re usually compared to Craig’s list and U-Exchange. I do not believe either of them is an actual competition to the Favorpals model.

Are you getting funding? If so, who /where?

(A + Z) Yes we are: “Zeo and Amir funds.” We are currently self-funded.

“We see a Favorpals ‘swap’ as an especially meaningful event when the exchange crosses the divide between people from different walks of life, where both parties benefit equally regardless of class or status.” What are the barriers to favor trading that have come up so far?

(A) Well undoubtedly we would like to increase our membership understanding so that a unit of favor can be treated equally in value. Dental work for house cleaning. The whole idea is to bridge the income gap by making unaffordable services, affordable. We have seen movement in this field, and that is part of the delight of working on Favorpals.

(Z) Interesting you are asking that question, it is one that keeps me up at night. The idea of a non-monetary exchange is quite foreign to modern days. I think the biggest barrier is getting people who engage in a dialog over an exchange to free themselves from the monetary ties to their product or service. I’m not saying they should give away their services for no return, but they should try to stay away from the cultural hierarchy associated with their services. For example, if lawyers truly believe that an hour of their time is worth a lot more than an hour of a plumber, then they will have a very hard time using Favorpals.

Many are talking about a major collapse in the world economy and a catastrophic period of anger and hunger. Do you see this near-term scenario? In not, what is your perception of the next 2-5 years on the planet?

(A) Well, I would like to think more positive and hope that in the upcoming year the economy would start its slow rebound, as for the period of anger and hunger, this is not something new, not to be ignored but not new. Throughout every decade the world has faced these extreme challenges. My hope is that we have grown enough where we can start taking into consideration these events in our business decisions, where corporations can add people into their decision making. And I am not referring to only adding this human equation only in their marketing campaigns, but to put that where it really counts – bottom line. Make profit the secondary parameter. We all can hope, right?

As I said I would like to hope that we, human race, as short term residents of this planet have matured. I would like to be more hopeful and see that we would start taking the steps necessary to protect our planet.

(Z) I sure hope not, but I think the world is heading into a period of great uncertainties driven not only by the unneeded wars and the collapse of economy but also by the major climate changes. Catastrophic events may shake governments and cause instabilities in many vulnerable regions around the world. Unfortunately, I also think that people who will suffer the most are probably not the ones spending their time online right now. I do not believe that the greater good happens all at once, it is a building block of many small positive movements. So if all of us who are capable of a positive contribution began implementing progressive ideas today, I’m certain that when time comes, the world will have the infrastructure needed for the greater change.

Are you challenging Craigslist.org dominance in this arena in anyway? If so, how?

(A) I think it would be too arrogant for us to make any statement as such re: craigslist. For one they are an online classifieds with one way communications where there is no state is maintained, no user knows about the other and there is no sense of continuity. For what they do they are very successful.

Favorpals is about building trade relationship amongst its users where it provides a venue for people to come together and be able to get to know each other better, and negotiate with each other on terms of their trade.

(Z) I don’t think we are challenging Craig’s List bartering section, after all they offer a free service, so do we, if people use either site and benefit from it, I’ll be equally happy. Also, Craig’s List is a Classifies ad site, Favorpals is a Service Exchange, it enforces the give and take and cultivatates a barter dialog. So I think our approach is quite different.