Kerry et al., what my OCD had in mind
well, i've gotten like four hours of sleep all weekend working on this - not sure if it's ocd or that i just want to MOVE ON WITH MY LIFE!
anyway, my perfectionist tendencies are definitely coming out, but it is by far better to strive for something that works, then to try and fix a big mess later...
you're probably wondering wtf i'm talking about.
i'm talking about the two adoption sites. the engaging one and the tragic one.
anyway, the notion that got me to report on my abuser is just one part of a many pronged approach to tackle this issue.
i'm trying to think out of the box and hit it (adoption
consciousness raising) in ways that haven't been done before, since i'm a big fan of social phenomenon and it seems pretty obvious that people put their fingers in their ears if it looks like you're yelling at them, which seems to be the status quo right now...
anyway, i have purchased domains, am deep deep into the latest most complex content management software, and have the structure of what i want all laid out and am reading through pages and pages of documentation as i play around implementing it.
unfortunately for me, my ideas are about (literally) six months ahead of the technology.
teams of open source programmers are working away as i speak on the very features i want right now
so i will wait in anticipation for their next release, and prepare as much as i can.
ANYWAY,
it's going to look and feel very simple, though it will be technically very sophisticated
it will just look like an austerely clean blog
It is called:
Adopted-Abused | For the Record - Before we're Dead
case
after case
after case
after case
the cases will have some bare facts (similar to the one I did) outlining the abuse not reported and why,
underscored by a personal message on why you feel there's a need for adoption reform
the cases will be categorized as living or dead
there will be a counter of the case files
there will be a tab where you can view an adoptee survey and its results
there will be a pagebend corner entitled get involved taking you to a list of activist organizations
- there will be nothing to format, as you will fill out a profile form at registration
- you can go on the record or report annonymously
- you can upload one image or choose a default image, and there will be a crop box so the posts will all look uniform - it's all in the form -
- you will be asked to take a survey for statistical analysis available as a resource for study or draft legislation
- once registered, you can also return any time you want to submit a proxy profile for adoptees that didn't live to tell the tale (after doing a search and confirming they haven't been submitted before)
- it's basically a one visit site for people who register.
once the site is live, i will send this out to all of the many and sundry adoption reform groups out there to help find adoptees and help populate the list.
each group will get their logo and link on the organization page if they also give us a permanent link
this is the main reason i wanted to do this off-ppl, because it takes time for abused adoptees to come around and it takes even longer to discover ppl
in addition, it might be a good portal / pipeline for all these groups to form an information exchange and alliance.
say Niels drafts some legislation and we need to notify the entire adoption community quickly to participate.
or bastard nation needs 200 more signatures, etc. we can help each other out on action items if there is a pipeline already formed.
an optional mailing list option for action items to those who submit an entry and to those referred by the permanent link organizations could be a way to mobilize everyone if need be. action items would be monitored by me so i would insure nobody was inundated (and come on, how often does anyone in this community really get anything done?)
I'm really excited about these projects and hope everyone here will honor me with being the first ones to populate the site! It will really help me if I have some initial participation before I go canvassing to all the other adoption sites out there (to get their mutual link cooperation) For this project to be successful, I feel it has to not get buried due to most sites floating the most recent posts on top and everything else getting buried. So I need the permanant links so abused adoptees coming out will be able to find it and make it grow. And I think being an organizational grass-roots mobilizing pipeline is a really important and attractive feature that benefits everyone.
I put this in the discussion area to
a) keep it out of the public eye for now and
b) take suggestions (though admittedly, i'm a designer so i might axe things simply because i don't like clutter) but I AM interested in perspectives other than my own.
c) let you know what i'm up to and that i might be submitting default images, etc. for your opinion in the very near future. (see? I'm not a total autocrat!)
d) explain why i'm not around so much and why i may appear cranky
btw, i have the url off-line, so you if you go to adopted-abused.com you willl see only an ugly default front page..
Look forward to your collaboration and input.
Suki (yeah, I'm Leanne and almost human but mostly I'm Suki)