Thanks to Maurice for initiating a conference call for Team Europe.
Today, with Maurice (hosting), Ike (Travel2help.org) and me, and with Keith listening in, we had a rather concise and very enthusiastic kick-off call. After introductions, we discussed our dreams about what could happen with Kiva - also and in particular from a European angle -, what we expect from and hope to achieve with these conference calls, how to raise public awareness / publicity for Kiva in Europe, how to bring Kiva to Europe and help them secure funds from the European Union, and how we can effectively interact and liaise with Kiva.
I urge all "European" lenders (in the broadest sense... European residence, heritage, or even a Kennedy-style avowal to be European will do) to take part in the next call(s) and discuss Kiva with us. Date and time will be published on Team Europe's messageboard and here. Today, we used Skype as a platform, and it went very well, I thought - Maurice and Ike will look into (free or very affordable) platforms or Skype-plugins facilitating some kind of white-board functionality during the call, and we will (hopefully) have to wait and see how Skype will cope with an increasing number of participants.
It is intended to keep future calls just as short and sweet as today's (lasting not too much longer than 30 to maybe 45 minutes), discussing recent developments on Kiva, answering questions regarding Kiva, thus sharing ideas and knowledge, and at the same time building a closer-knit lender and enthusiast/activist community than it would be possible just by discussions on the team's messageboard.
I hope to talk to YOU (see below) next time,
best wishes,
Wolfgang.
