Design Notes + Photos

An exciting pre-Thanksgiving day announcement: I'm thrilled to be joining the non-profit advocacy organization Common Cause, headquartered in Washington, DC, as web designer and online communications strategist.

Common Cause is one of the most active, effective, and respected nonprofit organizations working for political change in America.  We are a nonpartisan citizens' lobby, dedicated to making government responsive and accountable to the people. Since the 1970s, we have led the fight for campaign finance reforms, ethics and accountability in government, civil rights, and open government on national, state and local levels.

Starting in December, I will be collaborating with Common Cause's California team to launch a state-level redistricting reform website. Other exciting plans ahead. 2010 is an important year for political change, and I'm happy to be one of the 400,000+ Common Cause supporters involved with issues that matter--now as staffer!

I want to thank my network of friends and media professionals at U.S. News & World Report, Development Seed, Free Range Studios, and Homefront Communications for letting me represent them over the last few years on critical web projects.

You can find Common Cause on Twitter and Facebook.

You're Invited!

Join Free Range this Saturday, October 24 for the International Day of Climate Action
See Facebook Invite >

What & Where:

1:00 PM - Meet at our Dupont Circle Studio (1605 Connecticut, Ave, NW, 4th floor) for some cider and snacks. The first 15 people to RSVP get a free 350-Free Range T-Shirt!

2:00 PM - We will walk to Malcom X/Meridian Hill Park at 16th & Euclid Streets NW, joining hundreds of people representing more than 25 local and national organizations.

3:00 PM - We will all walk to the White House and become part of a "circle of hope," emphasizing what our administration already knows: that our climate desperately needs us to take action!

Who: Meet members of the DC Free Range staff and join groups from all over the DC region who will take part in this important day. We'll be joining more than 3,700 actions happening around the world in 163 countries.

RSVP to Erin Choo (erin@freerangestudios.com) or using this Facebook event ASAP! (We only have T-shirts for the first 15 RSVPs!)

Why: 350 stands for the safe upper limit- in parts per million- of CO2 in our atmosphere that will prevent irreversible damage from climate change. 350.org is an international campaign, led by scientists and young organizers to raise awareness of this issue and spark dialogue in advance of the upcoming United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen this December.

To learn more about 350.org and the Day of Action, check out the two movies we created and these links:

Quick Facts on 350: http://www.350.org/media DC Day of Action: http://www.350.org/o24/action/4975

We hope you'll join us as we add our voices to the hundreds of thousands around the world who will call for action on climate change on Saturday, October 24.

How do you connect over 200,000 current and returned Peace Corps Volunteers with the African Diaspora, development practitioners, scholars, technology innovators, and anyone who cares about Africa to change lives? Africa Rural Connect [ARC]. You have the power to help solve rural Africa's greatest challenges – simply add your voice, your comments, your ideas... Your idea could win up to $3,000 each month.  In November, the best action plan wins $20,000 – plus opportunities to meet with leaders in the development community to discuss bringing those ideas to life.

Not a bad incentive to get involved! The Africa Rural Connect project is an online initiative made possible by the National Peace Corps Association. Kudos to Whitmoyer (Nick and Phil) for the great site architecture and stunning design. Infamia and Wegora were also involved in the production of this fantastic web project.

Check out Phil Foss on Flickr for his photos of the launch party: they paint a better picture of the place than the ones I've posted. Cheers to you, Phil!

More photos! These are the official party pictures, courtesy of photographer, blogger and technologist Nakeva C.

The event was held at Local 16 (see the poster invite). Visit the Africa Rural Connect website to learn more. You can also follow ARC on Twitter or join the ARC group on Facebook.

What blogs are saying about Africa Rural Connect

• Local Firms Partner to Create Africa Rural Connect Project - East Coast Blogging; July 22, 2009
• Innovations for African Farmers - BusinessWeek.com; July 22, 2009
• Your Ideas Can Be the Catalyst for Change in Africa - EchoDitto; July 21, 2009
• Press Release: NPCA Launches Africa Rural Connect - Peace Corps Connect; July 21, 2009
• Africa Rural Connect is finally here! - Peace Corps Polyglot; July 14, 2009

Do you have photos or blog posts about ARC? Send them my way at blog [at] vincentgallegos.com. I'll include them here. Thanks for supporting the cause!

Added July 28: View the photo recap for this event.

Join us for a fun evening to mark the beginning of an exciting new online initiative, Africa Rural Connect.

ARC will bring together Returned Peace Corps Volunteers, technology innovators, Africa Scholars, development workers, and anyone else with an interest in Sub-Saharan Africa to create the best ideas to improve the lives of rural farmers.

This event also marks the launch of Wegora, a site platform made especially for online collaboration.

We hope that you'll stop by to converse with friends, meet new people, and learn more about these projects!!

Feel free to extend the invitation to others. Look for us and the drink specials upstairs.

Africa Rural Connect: http://www.AfricaRuralConnect.org

Here is the Facebook Invite. I thank my buddy @Whitmoyer, for the invitation. Nick has done an incredible job designing ARC's new web presence and campaign media tools.

Tuesday, July 21, 2009
6:00pm - 9:00pm

Local 16
1602 U Street, NW
Washington, DC

View Larger Map

(Invitation image courtesy of nickwhitmoyer)