AFRO-NETS> The Drum Beat - 63 - The Communication Initiative

[Warren Feek <wfeek@comminit.com>]

The Drum Beat - 63 - The Communication Initiative
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In support of your work please see below. Includes: network / shared 
learning / custom, expanded and keyword search / planning / change 
theories / quick lists / Latin America / América Latina / 
communication communities / drum beat / media beat / social change / 
strategic thinking / home page / your web site search engine 
registration / consultants / vacancies / events calendar / training / 
DRUMS
***

>From THE COMMUNICATION INITIATIVE partnership - The Rockefeller 
Foundation, UNICEF, USAID, The CHANGE Project, WHO, BBC World 
Service, CIDA, Johns Hopkins University Center for Communication 
Programs, The European Union, Soul City, The Panos Institute, UNAIDS.

Chairperson of Partners Group - Denise Gray-Felder [Rockefeller 
Foundation] 
mailto:dgray-felder@rockfound.org 

Director: Warren Feek 
mailto:wfeek@comminit.com
http://www.comminit.com

This Drum Beat is an update on the support from The Communication 
Initiative [C.I.] for your work. The FOCUS of The C.I. is support - 
to improve and expand the much needed power of communication for 
positive development. The PRINCIPLE of The C.I. is interaction - to 
harness the power of the new technologies to help you reach the 
people and knowledge you require to make the improvements you want in 
your work.

ACCESS

1. NETWORK: 9,000 people and organisations are in the 
network/database. Requests to join, through the subscription facility 
on the web site, average 80 per week. Email Warren <wfeek@comminit> 
or subscribe on the home page: 
http://www.comminit.com/

2. WEB SITE USE: So far in 2000 use of the web site has included 
131,211 visitor sessions [23,020 in August 2000], through 21,112 
distinct/unique hosts [8,997], making 641,000 page views [96,175] 
with users from 132 different countries [114].

SHARED LEARNING:

3. Looking for other Programmes throughout the world which may prompt 
ideas and/or from which you can learn? Looking for Impact Data that 
demonstrates the value of initiatives such as the one with which you 
are involved? Seeking data on Communication Trends that might suggest 
programming and partnership opportunities? Searching for people 
working on similar Initiatives for support and insight? There is an 
extensive database [over 2000 pages of summarised information] of 
materials with contact people.

4. CUSTOM SEARCH: Click on the combination of GEOGRAPHY, DEVELOPMENT 
ISSUE, MEDIA, STYLE, EVALUATION and TREND codes that match your 
interests/needs. Scroll down and click on the "SEARCH by CATEGORY" 
button. 
http://www.comminit.com/search.html

5. EXPANDED SEARCH: A one-stop search of the C.I. site plus 65 other 
sites. Follow the procedures above and click on the "Search The C.I. 
site PLUS related sites" button. 
http://www.comminit.com/search.html

6. KEYWORD SEARCH: Access on most pages on the site - e.g.:
http://www.comminit.com/university.html

***
Presentation of search results now includes the key paragraphs 
relevant to your search. Suggest improvements to the search process. 
E-mail Todd <thooge@csp.net>
***

7. PLANNING - 57 planning modes in summary form. Choose the one you 
like as the basis for your communication planning. 
http://www.comminit.com/power_point/planning_strategy/index.htm 
Please send your favourite planning model to <wfeek@comminit.com>

8. CHANGE THEORIES - 27 change theories in key point format. Review 
these theories to decide changes that may improve the effectiveness 
of your communication interventions 
http://www.comminit.com/power_point/change_theories/index.htm 
Please send your favourite change theory to <wfeek@comminit.com>

9. QUICK LISTS - need to quickly review a field of work - try the 26 
quick lists: Advocacy, Community, Entertainment, 
Disasters/Emergencies, HIV/AIDS, Malaria, Gender, Rights, TB, 
Violence/Peace, Dialogue/debate, Horizontal Communication. 
http://www.comminit.com/quick_lists.html 
Suggest new quicklists - e-mail <wfeek@comminit.com>

10. COMMUNICATION COMMUNITIES - 6 communication chat fora, integrated 
with email: NEWS, ENTERTAINMENT, STRATEGY, CONSULTANTS, WEB-
DEVELOPERS AND EVALUATION. Will be re-energised in late September. 
Seek to provide mutual support on common interests. Join at 
http://www.comminit.com/email_forum.html or 
mailto:majordomo@comminit.com 
and type [for example] subscribe news in the body of the message.

11. THE DRUM BEAT - Propose items. 
Contact Deborah 
mailto:deborah@vermontel.net
All Drum Beats are archived and searchable through a specific search 
engine 
http://www.comminit.com/drum_beat.html 
- and will show up in general searches.

12. THE MEDIA BEAT - Propose news items. Contact Brooke 
brookehayes@home.com All Media Beats are archived and searchable 
through a specific search engine 
http://www.comminit.com/news.html 
and will show up in general searches.

NEW AND EXPANDED

13. SOCIAL CHANGE - reflects the growing interest in communication 
for social change principles and practice 
http://www.comminit.com/social-change.html 
Suggest communication for social change initiatives, theories and 
impact data. 
mailto:wfeek@comminit.com

15. EXPANDED EVENTS CALENDAR - more events listed and a [coming] 
specific search process for the calendar - search for specific themes 
or places. 
http://www.comminit.com/bin/calendar/events_cal.cgi 
To include your events e-mail details to Deanna
mailto:dbrotherston@hotmail.com

16. FASTER HOME PAGE - home page 'trimmed' for faster download times 
particularly on slower modems 
http://www.comminit.com/index.html 
What is the down-load time on your computer? E-mail <thooge@csp.net> 
Suggest changes to the home page design - e-mail Deborah
mailto:deborah@vermontel.net

17. AUTOMATED SEARCH ENGINE REGISTRATION OF YOUR SITE - one of the 
most taxing problems in managing a website is registration with the 
search engines. Metamends, the company of C.I. web site designers 
Todd Hooge and Jonathon Schlackl, has a unique, automated, dynamic 
process for identifying relevant keyword metatags, registration, 
review and re-registration on a continual basis. C.I. user sessions 
are up 30% since using this system. See 
https://www.metamend.com/1049/ 
Declaration: Metamend will contribute 30% of all sales to The 
Communication Initiative as a contribution to our sustainability.

18. MORE CONSULTANTS - now information on 123 consultants with a 
specific search engine so that you can quickly highlight consultants 
with the skills and knowledge you need. Consultancy opportunities 
notified to us by organisations are very rapidly communicated to this 
network. 
http://www.comminit.com/exchange.html 
Consultants wishing to be part of this network or organisations 
seeking to identify a consultant please e-mail <wfeek@comminit.com>

19. More VACANCIES - We have now included 167 Vacancies. [8 new in 
the last week.] Use within the international development community is 
growing. Guided by The Partners in The C.I., we are introducing a 
charge for the Vacancies service. This is flexible to take into 
account the differing circumstances and financial capacities of many 
organisations. Please share with your Human Resource/Personnel staff 
[if you have them] and contact <chooge@dedge.com> for details and 
discussion. 
http://www.comminit.com/vacancies.html

20. New COMMUNICATION COMMUNITIES - later in September we will 
commence communication chat communities that focus on specific 
issues. These may include separate processes on HIV/AIDS, maternal 
health, child rights, rural development, environment and gender. What 
would you add? What are your priorities? Are you interested in 
facilitating a community? E-mail Warren <wfeek@comminit.com>

21. STRATEGIC THINKING options - 22 insights into the strategic 
thinking of people and organisations seeking more effective 
communication strategies. Suggest papers and presentations. 
Contact Warren Feek
mailto:wfeek@comminit.com 
http://www.comminit.com/strategic.html

22. Communication Initiative para América Latina: Co el apoyo de la 
FUNDACIÓN ROCKEFELLER, la ORGANIZACIÓN PANAMERICANA DE LA SALUD, y el 
BANCO INTERAMERICANO DE DESARROLLO estamos diseñando la página de 
Communication Initiative para América Latina. La página tendrá 
información disponible en español y portugués y el proceso es liderado 
por Adelaida Trujillo de Citurna Producciones y Rafael Obregón de 
Universidad del Norte. Nos complace invitarles a enviar informacón sobre 
descripción de programas, datos sobre evaluación, modelos de planeación, 
teorías de cambio, futuros eventos, información sobre consultores, 
empleo y cualquier informació que consideren útil, proveniente de 
organizaciones y experiencias llevadas a cabo en América Latina. La 
página incluirá versiones del Drum Beat y del Media Beat. Nuestra 
intención es promover un proceso de enriquecimiento mutuo entre la 
página global y la página para América Latina. Pueden enviar información 
a Adelaida a citurnas@cable.net.co y a Rafael a 
<robregon@guayacan.uninorte.edu.co>

***
Estaría su organización interesada en apoyar Comunnication Initiative 
para América Latina? Por favor contacte a Adelaida Trujillo a 
Citurnas@cable.net.co y a Warren Feek a wfeek@comminit.com para discutir 
los detalles de su participación.
***

23. TRAINING - If you are organising a Training event, for which you 
are seeking to recruit participants, we will list this in a TRAINING 
section which is soon to commence on the C.I. web site, and inform 
the network. For details, contact Carey <chooge@dedge.com>

**

We are looking for visual ways for the web site to reflect the range 
of cultural settings in which the products of The Communication are 
accessed and used. Please send photos of DRUMS from your CULTURE, 
preferably with stories about their history, use, symbolism and any 
distinct features. Of course, if you wish to send an actual DRUM, 
that would be great!! 

Contact Warren Feek
mailto:wfeek@comminit.com

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