timothyvollmer.com

10 tips for applying for the Google Policy Fellowship

tvol — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 17:51:39 +0000

It's that time of year again when we sift through hundreds of applications for the Google Policy Fellowship at Creative Commons. I've been helping with this process for the last 2 years. It's a shame that Google is still asking applicants to list two organizations they'd like to work with. This is unfortunate because it waters down applications. Some of the strongest applications I've seen are ones that simply ignore trying to speak to two separate orgs and just focus on the one the applicant is most interested in. That being said, here's a few tips. No snark intended.

1. You should mention the org you wish to work at within the body of your application narrative. For example, if you do not mention Creative Commons, we will not choose you.

2. If you do not list Creative Commons as your first choice, there is very little chance that we will choose you. I assume this is the same at all the other orgs. There are just so many qualified applicants, the probability of choosing someone from the second-choice pool is very, very low.

3. Please send us ideas and propose something that you're interested in or would like to work on in your fellowship. The Google Policy Fellows do not make coffee.

4. Research the organization you are interested in. Sure, you won't know as much as the persons reading the applications, but try to be able to speak intelligently on the subject.

5. Never use the phrase "intersection of technology, policy, and law" ;)

6. Everyone should have a website or some online web presence where the host organization can find out more information about you. Leverage the web to show us who you are, what you’re working on, what you care about.

7. It is assumed that you are a hard worker, have good ethics, organized, attentive to detail, etc. Don't waste your time telling the reader this in the application.

8. Tell us why you want to be a fellow for our org up front. There's plenty of time to to describe the classes you're taking, but mention those as supporting evidence of your interest in the org, not as a way to fill up the application.

9. Do not make any excuses on any portion of your application.

10. If you have more than one grammar mistake in your application, the likelihood that any org will choose you approaches zero. Have a friend help edit your application. It's a nice thing to do.

greens

tvol — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 17:32:16 +0000

my first class with p2pu

tvol — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 04:51:18 +0000

I signed up to participate in a class on P2PU. It's called Wikipedia: Aimed for Featured Article. I think it should be pretty interesting. I've been wanting to get more involved on being a "real" editor on Wikipedia--e.g. become more confident in contributing substantive content to the site, and learning the ins and outs of the technical, social, and community components of Wikimedia/-pedia. So I missed the first class last week because I was in London after the Creative Commons Summit. But it shouldn't be a problem. I think the first week was still just logistics and we're still trying to figure out the best article to work on as a class and shoot for "featured article" status. Others can probably still sign up if you're interested.

psychedelic balls

tvol — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 06:15:36 +0000

psychedelic balls from timothy vollmer on Vimeo.

playing a sculpture

tvol — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 06:13:25 +0000

SOUND AND SHAPE PERFORMANCE SERIES:SEVEN//DANNY GRODY MARIELLE JAKOBSONS from timothy vollmer on Vimeo.

water water

tvol — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 06:11:26 +0000

water water from timothy vollmer on Vimeo.

Washington Monument

tvol — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 19:04:56 +0000

Washington Monument by Timothy Vollmer is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. Based on a work at www.flickr.com.

Turntable

tvol — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 01:39:29 +0000

Turntable from timothy vollmer on Vimeo.

the other room

tvol — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 03:44:21 +0000

the other room from timothy vollmer on Vimeo.

Vote for the International Amateur Scanning League panel proposal for SXSW 2011 Interactive

tvol — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 19:04:37 +0000

Help vote up the International Amateur Scanning League SXSW 2011 Interactive proposal! Please comment on it and suggest ideas too.

As the Gov 2.0 movement sweeps across the nation, there’s an increasing focus on meaningful access to data and rich content funded with taxpayer dollars. Powerful digital tools and a renewed sense of civic engagement have ignited new partnerships between citizens and government agencies. This panel will show examples of new ways that technology, volunteerism, crowd sourcing, and collaboration can increase access to public information and media. In this session, panelists will provide a brief overview of various citizen-to-government partnerships. One example is the collaboration between the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) and the International Amateur Scanning League (IASL). IASL is the brainchild of public information advocate Carl Malamud, and its volunteers are working to copy and upload to the Internet 5,000 public domain videos held at the NARA facility outside of Washington, D.C. Many of these interesting (and often pleasantly obscure) videos are being made publicly available for the first time. The panel will invite participation from groups and individuals working to increase public access to government information, such as initiatives like Data.gov, Law.gov, FedFlix, Flickr Commons, Smithsonian Commons, and others. Panelists will explain the benefits that these and other initiatives are providing to the public, and explore some of the legal, technical, and institutional challenges to making government information more accessible and useful.