Topic: [ANN] Local Bitcoin Foundation - Bringing the power of the Blockchain... (Read 2352 times)

I think this is a step in the right direction. Couple of things though:

- Your email address is broken, [email protected].
- Local groups should be left independent of "Local Bitcoin Foundation" itself. Instead Local Bitcoin Foundation can serve as sort of a directory with general information. For instance, pdxbtcdro should be left to operate the Portland based foundation the way that community sees fit. All I would see LBF doing would be providing a easily accessible subdomain, e.g. "portland.localbitcoinfoundation.org" or "localbitcoinfoundation.org/portland" that simply redirects to the appropriate site run by it's own community.

More or less, I agree with the following aspects of your vision:

•   Provide direction for local chapters on integrating Bitcoin within their community
•   Provide education on Bitcoin topics, such as best use practices of Bitcoin, adequate security, and new and innovative Bitcoin technology
•   Provide a link for people to seek out local support for Bitcoin within their community
•   Provide a link between the people and their elected Politicians to better understand of Bitcoin
That should be the responsibility of the local chapters.
•   Provide a link between chapters of the Local Bitcoin Foundation, to share their ideas and experiences of Bitcoin promotion within their communities
•   Provide a voice for people, through their local chapters, to share their visions for the proliferance of Bitcoin
•   Provide resources and support to members of the Local Bitcoin Foundation, such as but not limited to, Legal, Financial, Accounting, Information Technology, and the Artistic Expression of Bitcoin
•   Provide funding and resources to developers of the open source Bitcoin protocol I think the focus should be on developing and supporting the local chapters exclusively.
•   Provide marketing resources to local chapters

Ideally, I don't see LBF becoming a new foundation itself with it's own democratic principles, bylaws, yada yada yada, than as a support group for actual locally-funded, locally-developed and locally-run "foundations" (many of which have sprung up already in different cities, states and countries).

If you share that sort of a decentralized vision vs a replacement foundation for a broken national alternative, than I definitely want to be a part of this project. I have a background in business management and marketing. I also have a tech background and can get your temporary site and email working.

I am proposing a Dispute Resolution Organization to not only promote bitcoin locally but also to promote ethical behavior within our bitcoin community. It's important that we build these alternative political systems for Bitcoin so that we are not dependent on the hostile traditional system.

And I welcome a plethora of similar local organizations if only to confuse the opposition.

If we were to organize these local groups, it should be done by creating and strengthening the communication lines between them, rather than some umbrella organization.

Unfortunately, such umbrella organisation already exists, and it is not likely to be dissolved anytime soon.
Therefore, the media will refer to this failed organisation as being the official representative of Bitcoin. (Remember that the CEO of the Bitcoin Foundation was recently misquoted as the "CEO of Bitcoin"? Yes, that's the problem.)

This problem can be addressed by creating a second organisation, making it apparent to the media that neither of them is "official".


This is quite exactly the idea of this thread (or, at least, my understanding thereof).

This would also serve as a global framework for all those local organisations to come together. But the power would go bottom-up, and stay decentralised (unlike the current foundation, which is top-down, oligarchic).

Ah but that's my point. This isn't any better. We don't need any sort of umbrella organization because such a centralized organization becomes a target for governments.

People are building bitcoin orgs locally within their own parts of the world. It is happening organically. This is better than having it imposed on them from outside.

No. I'm trying to explain you that having one failed attempt (the dollar as a currency / the Bitcoin Foundation as a Bitcoin foundation) should not hold you back from doing it better in a second attempt (Bitcoin as a currency / this thing as a Bitcoin foundation).

If you give up after the first failed attempt, you'll never create something better.

Are you actually comparing this proposed organization with bitcoin itself?

We already have one dysfunctional currency (the dollar). We don't need more (Bitcoin), thank you very much.

It sounds like the OP wants to create the Church of bitcoin. Who's going to be pope?

We already have one dysfunctional bitcoin foundation. We don't need more, thank you very much.

Here is the General Assembly of the Bitcoin Association of Switzerland who met in February:
http://www.youtube.com/user/bitcoinassociation

Yep, same here (about the highlighted parts).

For the naming issue: How about "BitFoundation"? One could argue that shorter names are better / easier to memorise.

Nice , i will contact you.

I like the concept (a lot of people have also thought about this) but I dont think the name is appropriate. It is waay too long and confusing... why not btcfoundation.net, bitcoinfoundation.co, etc?

Example:

.btcfoundation.net
.btcfoundation.net
.btcfoundation.net
.btcfoundation.net

portland.btcfoundation.net
california.btcfoundation.net
germany.btcfoundation.net
barcelona.btcfoundation.net
china.btcfoundation.net
usa.btcfoundation.net
europe.btcfoundation.net
etc

It should have a clear supranational structure and stay completely independent from countries, independent (initially) from the current foundation, and run by distributed and liquid democracy... and guess what? there's and app for that... https://agoravoting.com/ 

I can work on a stunning corporate identity and marketing material as long as I really see momentum and agreement on how to approach this whole issue in a professional and serious way. I could also help designing the website architecture with a proper framework (rails, django, node, etc)

...

I like this idea.

One question I have though: How local are these "local" Bitcoin foundations? Is it one organisation per town, city, country, or nation?

If it is national: There's already a "local" Bitcoin foundation in Germany, maybe get in contact with them? (link: http://www.bundesverband-bitcoin.de/ )

Sounds nice. A bit like a Debian foundation thing.

How about setting up a blockchain for voting so that members can cast their vote on different issues and elections?

Mike, your Local Bitcoin Foundation gave me a reason to sign up here.  We think a lot alike.  I recently attended a local bitcoin meetup and asked several attendees what they thought of the Bitcoin Foundation.  Most had a critical opinion and I suggested a local organization that would formally represent bitcoiners.  Yes, these local groups should be democratic and provide legal assistance, along with promoting Bitcoin.  If/when Bitcoin dethrones the dollar, these groups will be needed to represent our interests during such a disruption. 

The website isn't working for now    You fixed it as I was posting this!


On another note, I'd definitely like to help with this... especially in the Northern VA/DC area.  There is a big need for better resources to learn about Bitcoin.

Please feel free to shoot me a PM and we can talk some more.

A basic website and forum are now up. https://www.localbitcoinfoundation.org

I was recently contacted by a supporter in Portland, OR who has taken steps to creating Portland's first local organization dedicated to dispute resolution in their community. The site is: https://sites.google.com/site/pdxbtcdro/

Additionally, I establishing a local chapter in Louisville, KY and have had interest from a few people interested in helping educate our community.


We need the support of the Bitcoin community! Speak up!


Edit: I just installed the SSL certificate, so the regular HTTP isn't working at the moment. Use HTTPS!

I was recently interviewed for an article in the local newspaper. They reached out to me through my localbitcoins.com sales ad, but it can just as easily be you reaching out to your local newspaper as the local expert on bitcoin.

Here is the article: http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20140306/BUSINESS/303060137/Banking-bitcoins-Could-crypto-currency-future-Louisville-

I got you on that Mike, PM me what you're looking for.