EchoDitto Blog

      Haiti: Finding light in the dark

      By: Cristen Perks  |  January 15, 2010

      [You may have already heard from a few Dittos about this. Just in case: an update.]

      Luke Montgomery, a close friend of a couple Dittos started a non-profit a few years ago called WeCanBuildAnOrphanage.com. Since it's early days, Luke has worked tirelessly to help build an orphanage in Haiti for children with AIDS. Since Tuesday's earthquake, Luke has been scrambling to get to Haiti to find out more about the status of the orphanage and of the children. Below is an update that we received this morning.  more

       

      Proximity
      n. Nearness in place, time, order, occurrence, or relation. more

       

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      (re)Living in the moment

      By: Cristen Perks  |  January 21, 2009

      My mom carries a 35mm point and shoot camera, is a Weather Channel and CNN junkie, and does good to remember not to hit "return" at the end of a row in Microsoft Word. If she's at home and doesn't have the record player on, the TV is likely on one of the aforementioned stations. During the inauguration yesterday when I was on IM,email, scanning twitter for #inaug09 and #dfwaug, and watching Brian Williams, Mom was not-surprisingly tuned into CNN. more

       

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      Over the past 2 years, I've been exposed to quite a few office conversations about hacks and makes and whatnot - thanks to MAKE magazine. One of my favorite makes is this kit: the pacman POV for your bike. While I think that all of this is pretty cool, I've never been confident enough in my geekiness (or my soldering skills) to take one on. Instead, I'm much more likely to pick up a project from MAKE's artsy cousin - CRAFT.

      Well, last weekend I made the trip to Austin, Texas, for the Maker Faire.  more

       

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      Back to the Big Easy

      By: Cristen Perks  |  March 19, 2008

      In about 3 hours, I'll be boarding a plane to head back to the Big Easy - New Orleans, that is. Unlike last month, Brian Reich and I are headed that direction to attend this year's Nonprofit Technology Conference held by the Nonprofit Technology Network, better known as NTEN.

      If you're heading that way or know someone who is, please don't hesitate to flag us down - or you can follow us on twitter to find out where we'll be. more

       

      Well, you may not know this, but I'm quite the baker and crafter. My parents call me "Martha, Jr." I've been supplying the DC office with sugar cookies for the last 18 mos and I have to say no one has complained. Although Ben is quite the cook as well - he's definitely challenging me for the title of "office baker." Where am I going with all this? more

       

      Got Scrum?

      By: Cristen Perks  |  January 25, 2008

      If you do, you're probably better off than you think.

      In case you're a client or partner of mine and were wondering--- I'm alive and well. I just completed a two-day training on agile project management given by Sanjiv Augustine of LitheSpeed. I have to admit it, I'm kind of a sucker for information organization and process theory.

      Even though I may be a process junky, I'm generally pretty skeptical about any type of training. Am I going to learn anything? Will I be able to apply this to what I do? What is the point? more

       

      Poli-influWHAT?

      By: Cristen Perks  |  November 15, 2007

      Last Thursday, I pulled myself away from my desk for a field-trip to Yahoo!'s "Rise of Citizen 2.0" event. It was pretty freakin' cool. Ok, #1 - it's Yahoo! Granted, our shrine for Yahoo! is significantly dwarfed by Google's, but come on. Besides, they did have best party at SxSW so expectations were high! more

       

      Follow in Al's Footsteps

      By: Cristen Perks  |  October 15, 2007

      As everyone was finalizing their weekend plans last Friday, it was announced that Al Gore was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his "efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change."

      Feeling left out? Want a piece of the action? Well, he can't do it all by himself. Check out one of our recent projects and do your part today to take action to solve the climate crisis - take the 7-point pledge - created by the Alliance for Climate Protection. If you haven't heard of the Alliance, find out more while listening to Gore speak about his award. more

       

      Pick a blog. Any blog.

      By: Cristen Perks  |  August 29, 2007

      I was recently asked what one blog I read religiously every day? Ok, this isn't too tough a question, right? I mean we all use RSS to read 100's of blogs daily anyway. So, the tough part for me was coming up with just one blog, just one answer.

      So many options here: there are the amusing hollywood blogs, the political blogs, the "I wish I had more time to read blogs like this" hobby blogs, the "supposed to make your life easier, but consumes your day reading it" type of blog, client blogs, personal blogs, work blogs, etc.... the list never ends. So, simplify it a bit by removing your personal and work-related blogs from the mix - What is the one blog that you read religiously every day? Whymore