Blog Archives
Badge: Explore Scribd
Scribd is an excellent site to store and share files — or in their words — social publishing and reading. With over 50 million readers every month as well as more than 50,000 new documents uploaded daily, it can claim to be the largest social publishing company. Others have called Scribd the “YouTube for documents.” While not all content is free on Scribd, the variety of materials there is staggering — from fan fiction to music to activities you can do with your kids.
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Steps
1. Scribd account.
To download or upload items, you must be logged in. If you don’t wish to create an account, you can log in with your Facebook account. This will also allow you to follow organizations and individuals within Scribd who feature materials you want to follow.
2. Learn about Scribd.
Scribd has a few “Scribd 101” files that you can use to quickly get an overview of what is possible on the site. Look through one or more before continuing.
3. Free or not free.
Many of the documents on Scribd are not only free, but you can download a copy to your computer if you wish as long as you are logged into Scribd. Some documents are not free. Some are not downloadable. Look at the difference between the offerings that are “free” and “for pay.”
4. Explore.
You can explore the documents hosted on Scribd or the people associated with them without logging in. In addition, you can further narrow your search to categories, trending and topics. Explore one or more areas on Scribd to find documents that interest you.
5. Browse.
Unlike many readers, Scribd allows you to navigate their documents with your browser’s native functions. This feature works across all web-enabled devices including mobile devices and eReaders. Try browsing a few documents and see how easy it is to move through the document.
6. Readcast.
Readcast allows you to share what you’re reading across other social networks — Facebook and Twitter. This only works if you are signed up with them through your account. Readcasts are also posted in your Scribd feed.
7. Follow and be followed.
As you explore Scribd’s offerings, you’ll find people you want to follow. This is the same as any social media site. To follow (or to be followed) you will need to be logged in. Find a person who has more than one document that interests you and follow them.
8. Tags, collections and more.
Organization makes it easy for readers and search engines to find documents on Scribd. This is done in a variety of ways.
- Title
- Description
- Categories
- Tags
- Collections
Want others to find your files? When you upload, the information you provide helps others find your documents. Look how others have organized their offerings.
9. Upload.
Upload a PDF you have created. You can do this individually or use the Uploader for Windows with drag-and-drop capabilities. Files that can be uploaded to Scribd include:
- Adobe PDF (.pdf)
- Adobe PostScript (.ps)
- Microsoft Word (.doc)
- Microsoft PowerPoint (.ppt)
- Microsoft Excel (.xls)
- Open Office Text (.odt)
- Open Office Presentation (.odp)
- Open Office Spreadsheet (.ods)
- Plain text (.txt)
- Rich text format (.rtf)
10. Revision.
No matter how careful you are, there is a possibility that a typographical error may be overlooked. Your industry or hobby may have changes that you need to include in your document. There are many reasons why you need to update your file. Scribd allows you to update your document without losing the stats already recorded by people who have looked at it. Follow the steps to post a revision to a file you’ve already uploaded.
11. More information.
After uploading or revising a document, you can do a variety of additional tasks to your files from placing them in collections to noting the copyright information. Review the types of information you can include with your files.
12. Selling.
If you are interested in selling your documents, Scribd will handle order processing, collecting money, reporting earnings and sending your payments for 20% of the sale price. You will need to set up a seller account. Read the terms in the Scribd Store seller agreement and determine if this is something you might want to do in the future.
13. Dashboard.
Dashboard is where you can get stats for the files you have uploaded. You can see who is looking at your files, where in the world they are and more. Check out your dashboard and find out what activities have happened with your files.
14. Float.
In July 2011, Scribd launched Float, an iPhone application. It allows you to read and share the digital reading service in coordination with Twitter and Facebook. It also allows you to read content from more than 150 publishers. They are adding mobile devices to this list. See if you have access to Float.
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Sites to Explore
www.scribd.com
www.scribd.com/scribd101
www.scribd.com/doc/60328014/Introducing-Float-Scribd-Blog-7-19-11
www.float.com
www.imguru.biz/search-engine-marketing/link-building/41-scribd-marketing-basics.html
www.pbs.org/mediashift/2010/05/how-to-pair-smashwords-and-scribd-for-ideal-e-book-strategy123.html
www.techiediy.com/how-to-embed-scribd-documents-in-wordpress
Badge: Tribes (revised)
The Adult Enrichment Project is designed to work as a tribe. Everyone is encouraged to do as much as they wish and to help others on their path. So, let’s learn about tribes and the tribes you belong to and why.
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Steps
1. Tribes.
Obtain a copy of “Tribes” by Seth Godin. Check it out at the library or purchase a copy. Audio book companies such as audible.com offer a free book to try their service. Read or listen to the book and find out about tribes.
You can also check out TED Talks and YouTube for Seth’s presentations about tribes.
2. Tribes Casebook.
sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2008/10/free-tribes-ebo.html
Members of Seth Godin’s tribe put together a casebook. It is a PDF available for free download on the Web. While Seth speaks more in generalities and gives some examples of tribes, this casebook is about numerous tribes and gives you a better idea of tribes that exist and how they work.
3. Are you a heretic?
Heretics are engaged, passionate, and more powerful and happier than everyone else. And they have a tribe that they support (and that supports them in turn).
Challenging the status quo requires a commitment, both public and private. It involves reaching out to others and putting your ideas on the line. (Or pinning your Ninety-five Theses to the church door.)
Heretics must believe. More than anyone else in an organization, it’s the person who’s challenging the status quo, the one who is daring to be great, who is truly present and not just punching a clock who must have confidence in her beliefs.
. The Elements of Leadership
- Leaders challenge the status quo.
- Leaders create a culture around their goal and involve others in that culture.
- Leaders have an extraordinary amount of curiosity about the world they’re trying to change.
- Leaders use charisma (in a variety of forms) to attract and motivate followers.
- Leaders communicate their vision of the future.
- Leaders commit to a vision and make decisions based on that commitment.
- Leaders connect their followers to one another. Sorry for the alliteration, but that’s the way it worked out.
If you consider the leaders in your organization or community, you’ll see that every one of them uses some combination of these seven elements. You don’t have to be in charge or powerful or pretty or connected to be a leader. You do have to be committed.
Excerpted from TRIBES: WE NEED YOU TO LEAD US by Seth Godin, Copyright (c) Do You Zoom, Inc., 2008.
4. Your tribe(s).
You already belong to tribes, though you might not realize it. One purpose for AEP is to give youth group volunteers additional knowledge to use and share with their kids. If you’re volunteering for a youth group, that’s one of your tribes.
Also look through your mail and email to see what groups you belong to. What Yahoo! Groups do you subscribe to? What magazines do you purchase? What charities do you support? All of these are tribes. They give you a sense of belonging and purpose.
5. You don’t have to lead.
While you were looking at your tribes, did you notice that some of them you are passionate about? Perhaps you started one or helped to get one started where you faithfully keep up-to-date on happenings. Then there are the emails you completely read, the postings you look forward to when you get off work and the magazine that makes you put aside your chores for the afternoon. Some you might do because you feel obligated to do so. Some you sign up for because you’re interested in one element only and most of the tribe’s undertakings do not interest you.
Each one of these tribes gives you something different. You choose to participate as much as you want and how you want. Think about your level of involvement and how it relates to your interest in each tribe.
6. What are your passions?
Everyone has something they are passionate about. Make a list. Which of these passions do you feel you might work on to make a difference? Which do you already have a tribe for? Or do you have more than one tribe for your passion?
Post your passions and tribes as part of your “about me” on the Yahoo! Group if you subscribe or at the end of this blog post. These will help us generate ideas for new badge programs.
7. Research tribes.
Investigate and explore tribes available for your passions. Do not limit yourself to your city. Find out what’s in your country, your state, online or the world.
8. Improving exiting tribes.
Choose one of your tribes. How can you improve upon it to make it better? Are you interested in an element that is not currently covered by the tribe? Contribute to the tribe to improve it.
9. Adult Enrichment Project.
We would like the AEP to run as a tribe — everyone contributing as much as they want, volunteering as they want and sharing their skills as they want. Some of the areas you may wish to participate in include administration, creating badge programs, helping others earn badges, taking the programs outside the Web and using them locally, etc.
Read the “What is the AEP?” PDF to find out more about AEP’s vision. Check out our two “AEP specific” badge programs: AEP_Awards and AEP_Innovator. You can find additional PDFs at the AEP Yahoo! Group, Scribd and Google Documents. Search for “AEP.”
Is AEP the place for you? Does this tribe fill one of your passions? Do you have suggestions to make it better?
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Sites to Explore
www.sethgodin.com/sg/
sethgodin.typepad.com
www.audible.com
www.ted.com
www.scribd.com
Wanted: Your Materials
**Calling All Girl Scouts and Girl Scout Alumnae**
As I’m working to finish up adding the last of my own materials for Girl Scout Traditions, I’m asking for your help.
I want to add more council-specific and individual-specific flavor to our set of supplements. If you haven’t checked out the resources available so far, go to our Girl Scout Printable collection on Scribd.
http://www.scribd.com/collections/2837586/SUPP-AEP-Girl-Scouts-Printables
Look back over your own years interacting with Girl Scouts. Ask your girls about their own experiences as well. I don’t want current programming ideas. I want things that were done in the past to help add to our collective history.
Specific items I’m looking for include:
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Girl Scout Stories
I’d like to create a PDF file specific for each individual who contributes stories of their experiences. I created one for myself to give you an example, SUPP_GS_My Stories_larajla.pdf. Please include your name so the stories can be attributed to you.
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Council Owns
I have done nothing on these. While I have my girls’ favorites, I’d love to have requirements / experiences you’ve had with them with your girls. I’m especially interested in the ones based on the geography / location-specific ones in your council.
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My Council
Realignment was hard on everyone. I’d love to get information on defunct councils, powerful women who helped make their mark in your local councils and service units, etc.
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My Camp
Everyone has a camp they love. Stories of your own, history of the camp, ghost stories shared over the fire, humorous stories of items not packed for camp, anything that could be used to bring the memories of your camp to others. If I can collect enough about a specific camp, I’ll create a PDF for that camp. If not, I’ll work to create a collection of camp stories.
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Shared Information
The Web has offered a way for us to share information between councils that we didn’t have before. Previously, we’d share within our council or service unit . . . often mimeographed typewritten pages. I’d love copies of these materials as there are gems that can be shared from craft to programming ideas. These individual insights into the national program help build our history. You’ll see some that I’ve already done from Riverland Council in 1983 in our supplement set. Files start with “SUPP_1983_”.
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Okay, so for the hard part!
You can email any of these items to me at larajla__@__gmail.com (remove underscores). I can get to this email address anywhere, so it’s the easiest for me to work with.
You can type up the information and send it in an email. If you want to do an attachment, please save it as a TXT file, which is the most universal text file type.
Also, if you have access to a newer photocopier, some give you the ability to create PDFs to email. You might want to check with your local office supply store to see if they can do this for you. If you choose to do this, make sure you send a copy back to yourself so you have the information for your own records.
Thank you!
P.S. Please forward this to anyone you feel might have information to share.
Supplements Being Added Now!
If you are interested in the Girl Scout supplements for our Girl Scout Traditions badge set, they are being uploaded to Scribd first. You must be logged into Scribd to download the PDFs. It is free, so have fun!
We have a special collection for all Girl Scout supplements, Girl Scout Printables. This will include all items previously released including Girl Scouts: Journeys and the Printables: Girl Scouts which will be uploaded after the traditions set.
If you are looking for the printable games that used to be with the Girl Scout Printables, you can find them at Game Printables. Additional items will be added to this as Printables: World Game and Printables: My Own Games will be added after I’m done with the Girl Scout items.
Have a great week!
Girl Scout Traditions Badge Set
UPDATE: All eight of the badge programs have been released for review.
Review should be completed October 16th.
The collections on Scribd and Google Documents for Girl Scout Printables will be updated and house all Girl Scout supplements and printables to help Girl Scout adults when looking for materials to support our 100th anniversary in 2012.
Supplements starting with FOUND are items found on the Web over the last ten years. Supplements starting with SUPP are ones I’ve created to support the badge programs.
Have a great day!
Laura
Badge: Field Trips — Sharing My Community
For younger kids, field trips are normally limited to a day outing including driving time. As kids get older, field trips last longer including cross-state or even cross-country.
Each of us knows our own community. How often have you wanted to do a field trip, but are unaware of what’s outside your community? By sharing your unique community with others, you can provide experiences that visiting troops might miss.
Together, we can provide opportunities for discovery and exploration for our youth and ourselves. Instead of sharing our stories, we’re providing the opportunity for everyone to have the experiences to create their own.
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Steps
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Exploring my community
1. Sharing my community.
You can share your community by photos and information on events and organizations. Start a database, document or folder with information on the events that happen in your community so you can share this information. Include the following:
- Event name
- Dates
- Cost
- Hosting organization
- Location of organization
- Contact information for organization
- Frequency of event (yearly, anytime, etc.)
- Photos available?
- Links for more information
If you have additional ideas for your database such as age limitations, group size, etc. include those as well.
2. Free all the time.
Create a listing of free field trip opportunities in your area that may be arranged at any time. Make sure organizations that have offered free field trips in the past did not do it for a specific group or reason so that anyone may be offered the opportunity. Find out if these organizations are still operating. Share this list with your service unit, council or other groups that would find this information useful.
3. Special events.
Some field trip events are special events. These may happen at parks, orchestras, museums, clubs or businesses. Keep track of events that happen annually or on a regular basis. Share these as they are released.
4. Scheduled events.
Some events need to be scheduled to make sure they have the minimum number of participants. Find events that need to be scheduled and share those. Make sure you note any specific requirements, age limitations, etc.
5. Other events.
Find other events that do not fit into the above categories. Determine if they can or should be shared.
6. Photos.
Take photos of various sites in your community. Highlight those areas that are of interest to tourists and locals. Rename your files so you can quickly identify your community sites.
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Bird’s eye view
7. Determine the area.
You may choose to share your community with other group leaders or a larger group. Decide if your final plan is to cover your city, your county, your state or your council. Can you do this on your own or do you need to recruit help?
8. Sort.
You can sort your area by any of the information in Step 1. Decide if you’ll distribute your information electronically, with printed materials or another means.
9. Printable only.
If you choose to share this only with printable materials (handouts and emailed PDFs), create a template you can share with others so you can combine collected community events into a folder for reference. Determine a way you can notify others about your updates.
10. Private and online.
You may choose to set up an online resource about your community, making it private so only those you invite can join. Discuss this option with others who are sharing their communities.
11. Interactive site.
Create an interactive map of the area you’re covering. Make each area clickable so that it opens a page specifically about an event, city or other smaller area. Provide the information and photos you’ve collected in Steps 1-6. Include links for additional information.
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Beyond sharing
12. Badge programs, individual.
List any badge programs available through the events you list and where you can acquire them. For example, many museums offer badges to participants.
13. Badge programs, clusters.
Find or create badge programs for specific sets of activities or locations. Make groups of them so that the design matches, giving kids the opportunity to “collect them all.”
You might want to do all the camps in your council, the museums in your state, parks in your region, etc. Brainstorm ways to honor kids who acquire all pieces of these badge sets.
For example, Indiana State Parks has a pin program where you can earn a pin at each of the state parks. You have to participate in events, explore the park, etc. Earning all of the pins would be an interesting project for a troop or group.
14. Badge programs, group.
Ask your council to provide a badge program featuring the counties or service areas of your council. This can coincide with an interactive map site (see Step 11). A multi-part badge can highlight areas visited within their council, exploring what the others have to offer.
The supplement for this is listed below. It is a patch program from the Girl Scouts of Northern Indiana-Michiana. It is no longer on their site, so I do not know if it can be earned. It is provided as a sample only of what you can do.
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Expand the experience
15. Create your own, local
Create your own community event. Offer it beyond your organization as a recruitment event or service project.
16. Create your own, wide
Create your own community event, offering it to anyone within your organization. In addition to your own event, provide information about other community offerings that are similar that your participants might be interested in.
17. Social media.
Social media allows you to explore communities and create communities. Find out what social media offers and how you can utilize it to share your community. This might be through photo sites like Flickr, sites like Facebook or even special sites set up by your organization.
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Supplements Available
05_CouncilQuilt_Patch.pdf (For reference only, available on Scribd and Google Documents.)
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