Crowdsourcing App

[MinnesotaSwanny]

Would it be possible for code4recovery to license a version of the IOS and Android App so that they could be re-branded and married to a MySQL backend that is powered by a WordPress website that allows AA members to "crowdsource" the meeting and group information that is cataloged for the App? St. Cloud Intergroup would like to do this on a state side level in Minnesota, if possible. We would call the App something like "Minnesota Meeting Locator". It would operate under the same model WikiPedia uses for updates and new information with a queue of AA members available to review/approve the updates to the Minnesota state wide meeting database.

[tim-rohrer]

Hi @MinnesotaSwanny,

So this isn't really a spec discussion, but I'm not really sure where else to have the conversation ;-)

I believe the answer is that the original transfer of rights to GSO doesn't include a mechanism for granting a license to anyone else. However, as the spec for meeting information exchange is pubic, there is no reason someone couldn't write another meeting finder app for iOS or Android. I will say though that as a person who travels around the country and uses Meeting Guide, I would not like it if states or other areas started doing this. It would make it harder for me to find a meeting as I'd first have to start searching for which app I should be using, right?

Let me ask you this: What problem are you trying to solve? We might be able to help with that.

Today, using a Wordpress site with TSML and the Enhance Feedback Plugin, you've got a pretty decent process for getting user involvement in updating meetings. The primary difference is that you still have a meeting coordinator or webmaster involved in making the actual changes.

Are you a developer?

[MinnesotaSwanny]

Hi Tim,

Thank you for your prompt, thoughtful reply. I serve with another member of our fellowship who is currently the Alt-DCM for our district and, like me, has an IT background that spans multiple industries and job roles. We have both taken on responsibility for maintaining an accurate list of meetings in our service area - both at a District level and at an Intergroup/Central Office level. It's been challenging and frustrating to get accurate information about the status of our meetings, critical updates, new meetings, meetings that go dark, etc. We attribute this difficulty to the confusion that exists among AA members in our orbit about who they should be providing this meeting information to. It is the Area Group Records chairperson? The Minneapolis Intergroup? The St. Paul Intergroup? The St. Cloud Intergroup? Their district DCM/Group Records chairperson? Their GSR? We would like to incubate a crowdsourcing solution to this problem that allows individuals to report this information and have it make its way to update a Meeting Locator App directly with minimum intervention by others. The idea of having a Statewide Meeting Locator App is our way of "incubating" a solution and we would like to see it scale Nationally if the concept proves to be efficient and doable. Between the two of us, we have the technical background to make this happen. But we would love to not have to "re-invent" the wheel and we would love to have this be a 2nd generation of a Meeting Locator App that the GSO could eventually adopt. I hope that makes sense. :)

Thanks!

In Service,

Alan S
Buffalo, MN

[tim-rohrer]

We discussed this challenge at length during NAATW two weekends ago in Seattle. A thread I started to continue the conversation is located here. If you're not on TIAA Forum, may I suggest you join?

We would love to see methods for improving meeting data accuracy. The first step we think makes sense is to use feeds from districts or intergroup to feed the area and then GSO. However, not all districts have the wherewithal to build and maintain a website, so we recognize that an effective feedback mechanism is required.

Anyway, I suggest we continue the conversation on TIAA Forum, but if that is a non-starter for you, please let me know and we can look at scheduling a call.