Comments on: ROI Wrap Up http://www.jewlicious.com/2009/07/roi-wrap-up/ It's a Jewish Blog! Thu, 09 Feb 2012 00:19:55 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Susanne http://www.jewlicious.com/2009/07/roi-wrap-up/#comment-1335375 Susanne Wed, 22 Jul 2009 18:00:17 +0000 http://www.jewlicious.com/?p=9417#comment-1335375 Great post Heshy! As one of the few other Orthos invited to ROI this year, I was sometimes taken aback by how little Jewy stuff went on. Although, I was also amazed and so very proud to see how many secular Jews cared so passionately for the Jewish people, Jewish life and Israel. It goes to show that synagogue membership is no longer the definition of an active and engaged Jew. Great post Heshy! As one of the few other Orthos invited to ROI this year, I was sometimes taken aback by how little Jewy stuff went on. Although, I was also amazed and so very proud to see how many secular Jews cared so passionately for the Jewish people, Jewish life and Israel. It goes to show that synagogue membership is no longer the definition of an active and engaged Jew.

]]> By: I’m Moving up in the world | Frum Satire | Jewish Comedy http://www.jewlicious.com/2009/07/roi-wrap-up/#comment-1334578 I’m Moving up in the world | Frum Satire | Jewish Comedy Mon, 20 Jul 2009 20:00:57 +0000 http://www.jewlicious.com/?p=9417#comment-1334578 [...] first piece was published on the Jewlicious Blog last week – it was a wrap up of [...] [...] first piece was published on the Jewlicious Blog last week – it was a wrap up of [...]

]]> By: ck http://www.jewlicious.com/2009/07/roi-wrap-up/#comment-1333949 ck Sun, 19 Jul 2009 05:39:32 +0000 http://www.jewlicious.com/?p=9417#comment-1333949 I know you mean well Mike, but ya know, one of the things ROI supports is, well, pretty much anything <a href="http://www.tachlis.org" rel="nofollow">tachlis.org</a> has ever done. That was a good session we did on Web 2.0 skills in Jerusalem? Or that tweetUp? Good for the Jews right? Good for Jerusalem? I know you know they were good because you attended both. ROI alums were in attendance, helped publicize and even helped organize both. So there's another thing that ROI has done that you missed. And that one was right under your nose. Again, I know you mean well. Further criticism however might merit a little more research. I know you mean well Mike, but ya know, one of the things ROI supports is, well, pretty much anything tachlis.org has ever done. That was a good session we did on Web 2.0 skills in Jerusalem? Or that tweetUp? Good for the Jews right? Good for Jerusalem? I know you know they were good because you attended both. ROI alums were in attendance, helped publicize and even helped organize both. So there’s another thing that ROI has done that you missed. And that one was right under your nose. Again, I know you mean well. Further criticism however might merit a little more research.

]]> By: themiddle http://www.jewlicious.com/2009/07/roi-wrap-up/#comment-1333860 themiddle Sat, 18 Jul 2009 22:04:42 +0000 http://www.jewlicious.com/?p=9417#comment-1333860 Ouch Mike, P is schooling you. Ouch Mike, P is schooling you.

]]> By: p to the e http://www.jewlicious.com/2009/07/roi-wrap-up/#comment-1333855 p to the e Sat, 18 Jul 2009 21:18:18 +0000 http://www.jewlicious.com/?p=9417#comment-1333855 Yes Mike. Many great people attend. I dare say that within the list of ROI alums can be found the bulk of the vanguard of international Jewish innovation. Literally! Go ahead Mike. Google them. Would these people have done the cool things they did without ROI? I imagine so. Most were chosen specifically due to things they had already done. But ask pretty much any of them and they will tell you that ROI has enriched their efforts by making them more effective and by exposing them to an international community of like minded individuals. Despite the failures that I mentioned in my pre-gym comment, there still remains significant informal contact between ROI alumni, which leads inevitably to collaboration. And yes, I am aware of Rabin's 1976 comment that yordim are the fall-outs of weaklings. But I thought Israeli society had evolved a bit since then. Everyone is entitled to make whatever personal decisions they like and even you have to admit that harping on Rabbi Gordis' status as a yored is weak to the extreme. It's one that has absolutely no bearing on the current topic. We can get into the whole Israel/Diaspora debate if you wish, but that wouldn't be germane to the discussion at hand. What would be germane is a discussion on the real impact ROI has made on the modern Jewish landscape. Over the past 4 years they have spent upwards of $3.5 million trying to encourage young Jewish innovators around the world. This effort takes place in an environment where much lip service is paid to young Jewish innovation, but very little is actually done. ROI has done a bit more than produce "a bunch of self congrtualting tweets and blog posts." Look into it Mike. Do some research before you shoot off at the mouth. Why am I assuming that you haven't already done your research? Because so far, all your critiques are focused on the readily apparent. It's easy to criticize a conference for being lavish, not so easy to come up with alternative venues in Tel Aviv or Jerusalem capable of housing 120 participants and staff with modern conference facilities that cost less than Kfar Maccabiah. I'm sure you're a smart guy. Now can we have an intelligent conversation? Yes Mike. Many great people attend. I dare say that within the list of ROI alums can be found the bulk of the vanguard of international Jewish innovation. Literally! Go ahead Mike. Google them. Would these people have done the cool things they did without ROI? I imagine so. Most were chosen specifically due to things they had already done. But ask pretty much any of them and they will tell you that ROI has enriched their efforts by making them more effective and by exposing them to an international community of like minded individuals. Despite the failures that I mentioned in my pre-gym comment, there still remains significant informal contact between ROI alumni, which leads inevitably to collaboration.

And yes, I am aware of Rabin’s 1976 comment that yordim are the fall-outs of weaklings. But I thought Israeli society had evolved a bit since then. Everyone is entitled to make whatever personal decisions they like and even you have to admit that harping on Rabbi Gordis’ status as a yored is weak to the extreme. It’s one that has absolutely no bearing on the current topic. We can get into the whole Israel/Diaspora debate if you wish, but that wouldn’t be germane to the discussion at hand.

What would be germane is a discussion on the real impact ROI has made on the modern Jewish landscape. Over the past 4 years they have spent upwards of $3.5 million trying to encourage young Jewish innovators around the world. This effort takes place in an environment where much lip service is paid to young Jewish innovation, but very little is actually done. ROI has done a bit more than produce “a bunch of self congrtualting tweets and blog posts.”

Look into it Mike. Do some research before you shoot off at the mouth. Why am I assuming that you haven’t already done your research? Because so far, all your critiques are focused on the readily apparent. It’s easy to criticize a conference for being lavish, not so easy to come up with alternative venues in Tel Aviv or Jerusalem capable of housing 120 participants and staff with modern conference facilities that cost less than Kfar Maccabiah.

I’m sure you’re a smart guy. Now can we have an intelligent conversation?

]]> By: mike darnell http://www.jewlicious.com/2009/07/roi-wrap-up/#comment-1333820 mike darnell Sat, 18 Jul 2009 18:59:41 +0000 http://www.jewlicious.com/?p=9417#comment-1333820 Don't get me wrong, I'm sure some great people attend. They'd probably do great things regardless of ROIcom. I like the fact that you asked me to look up ROIcom staff: As far as I can tell the Head Honcho, RABBI YONATAN GORDIS, decided life in Israel was too tough and left for the green fields of Canada. A great man once called "Yordim" - נפולת של נמושות I'll leave you to discover who that man was and what that means. Enjoy the Gym. Mike Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure some great people attend. They’d probably do great things regardless of ROIcom.

I like the fact that you asked me to look up ROIcom staff:
As far as I can tell the Head Honcho, RABBI YONATAN GORDIS, decided life in Israel was too tough and left for the green fields of Canada.

A great man once called “Yordim” – נפולת של נמושות
I’ll leave you to discover who that man was and what that means.

Enjoy the Gym.
Mike

]]> By: p to the e http://www.jewlicious.com/2009/07/roi-wrap-up/#comment-1333818 p to the e Sat, 18 Jul 2009 18:40:29 +0000 http://www.jewlicious.com/?p=9417#comment-1333818 Mike, one of the main guys at Table to Table is an ROI alum. There are high level Birthright reps at every ROI summit. Birthright was always resistant to exposing trip participants to the work of Table to Table, not wanting them to think of Israel as a "poor" country. However, thanks to pressure put on Birthright specifically by people associated with ROI and others, Birthright has realized that the work done by Table to Table is a model that ought to be followed by all modern industrialized countries where the very nature of food distribution means that 25% of the food produced is methodically wasted. As a result over the past 2 years thousands of Birthright trip participants have volunteered to pick produce with Table to Table that would otherwise have been wasted. Consider yourself schooled, Mike. Now p to the e taketh, but she also giveth away. Pay attention Darnell and you'll learn something about using your words productively. Heshy's post made me think of an organization that talks a lot about the importance of new media, Web 2.0 and social networking, but in its own implementation, it is less than successful. ROI's <a href="http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2719660257" rel="nofollow">facebook group</a> has 446 members, some of them staff and outsiders. They have only 88 wall posts and 9 discussion topics. In the land of twitter, there are no awe inspiring discussions or conversations related to Jewish innovation containing the #roicom hash tag. On the <a href="http://www.roicommunity.org" rel="nofollow">ROI Web site</a>, most of the posts have little or no comments and the prominently displayed "Forums" button leads to an "under construction" page. I know Forums are a little 1999, but how difficult is it to build a forum? I can literally build one in 10 minutes and my skills are limited to basic HTML. Heshy also mentioned the importance of tagging images - none of at least the most recent images from the ROI summit are individually tagged or have any representative titles or descriptions. The point I am trying to make is that ROI is a great program. It unites a diverse group of motivated and creative Jews from around the world in a manner that is unprecedented in its scope and potential. There have been some amazing projects that have come out of ROI - to whatever extent ROI was involved in the execution of <a href="http://g-dcast.com/" rel="nofollow">g-dcast</a> for instance, that (and the Table to Table thing) alone would have justified all the expense. The only issue I have is that it seems to me, as an outsider looking in, that much of the potential of ROI is frittered away by its historical inability to create a vibrant and sustainable community of individuals who collaborate and bounce ideas off each other on a regular basis. I trust that ROI will take active steps in order to remedy this situation - it certainly has access to enough experts to do so according to Heshy's piece. See Mike? Productive criticism - better content on the ROI Web site, better use of available technology to create a real and viable online community. Getting ROI participants to talk for a few days is good. Getting them to talk on a regular basis is even better! I'd continue some more about ROICom's impact, but it's a pretty transparent organization. You can look up the members and Google them and see what impact they have had on the Jewish world. Go ahead Mike. I dare you. Now I have to go to the gym. Bye! Mike, one of the main guys at Table to Table is an ROI alum. There are high level Birthright reps at every ROI summit. Birthright was always resistant to exposing trip participants to the work of Table to Table, not wanting them to think of Israel as a “poor” country. However, thanks to pressure put on Birthright specifically by people associated with ROI and others, Birthright has realized that the work done by Table to Table is a model that ought to be followed by all modern industrialized countries where the very nature of food distribution means that 25% of the food produced is methodically wasted. As a result over the past 2 years thousands of Birthright trip participants have volunteered to pick produce with Table to Table that would otherwise have been wasted. Consider yourself schooled, Mike.

Now p to the e taketh, but she also giveth away. Pay attention Darnell and you’ll learn something about using your words productively.

Heshy’s post made me think of an organization that talks a lot about the importance of new media, Web 2.0 and social networking, but in its own implementation, it is less than successful. ROI’s facebook group has 446 members, some of them staff and outsiders. They have only 88 wall posts and 9 discussion topics. In the land of twitter, there are no awe inspiring discussions or conversations related to Jewish innovation containing the #roicom hash tag. On the ROI Web site, most of the posts have little or no comments and the prominently displayed “Forums” button leads to an “under construction” page. I know Forums are a little 1999, but how difficult is it to build a forum? I can literally build one in 10 minutes and my skills are limited to basic HTML. Heshy also mentioned the importance of tagging images – none of at least the most recent images from the ROI summit are individually tagged or have any representative titles or descriptions.

The point I am trying to make is that ROI is a great program. It unites a diverse group of motivated and creative Jews from around the world in a manner that is unprecedented in its scope and potential. There have been some amazing projects that have come out of ROI – to whatever extent ROI was involved in the execution of g-dcast for instance, that (and the Table to Table thing) alone would have justified all the expense. The only issue I have is that it seems to me, as an outsider looking in, that much of the potential of ROI is frittered away by its historical inability to create a vibrant and sustainable community of individuals who collaborate and bounce ideas off each other on a regular basis. I trust that ROI will take active steps in order to remedy this situation – it certainly has access to enough experts to do so according to Heshy’s piece.

See Mike? Productive criticism – better content on the ROI Web site, better use of available technology to create a real and viable online community. Getting ROI participants to talk for a few days is good. Getting them to talk on a regular basis is even better!

I’d continue some more about ROICom’s impact, but it’s a pretty transparent organization. You can look up the members and Google them and see what impact they have had on the Jewish world. Go ahead Mike. I dare you. Now I have to go to the gym. Bye!

]]> By: mike darnell http://www.jewlicious.com/2009/07/roi-wrap-up/#comment-1333704 mike darnell Sat, 18 Jul 2009 07:34:01 +0000 http://www.jewlicious.com/?p=9417#comment-1333704 Dear Weisz, What are the facts? I realize getting a 250$ all-costs-paid trip to Israel is a perk well worth fighting to preserve, heck had I been invited I'd probably be full of praise too. BUT... the bottom line is that ROIcom's "impact" boils down to nothing more than a bunch of self congrtualting tweets and blog posts. For this you need an organization and a lavish yearly conference? Mike Dear Weisz,

What are the facts?

I realize getting a 250$ all-costs-paid trip to Israel is a perk well worth fighting to preserve, heck had I been invited I’d probably be full of praise too.
BUT… the bottom line is that ROIcom’s “impact” boils down to nothing more than a bunch of self congrtualting tweets and blog posts. For this you need an organization and a lavish yearly conference?

Mike

]]> By: weisz http://www.jewlicious.com/2009/07/roi-wrap-up/#comment-1333520 weisz Fri, 17 Jul 2009 15:48:50 +0000 http://www.jewlicious.com/?p=9417#comment-1333520 It is such a shame to read from those who can't tell a class act from any other. Roi is one of the most interesting new ideas we have had in in Israel in a long time. You have presented a false image of the conference and this is also a shame. It is such a shame to read from those who can’t tell a class act from any other. Roi is one of the most interesting new ideas we have had in in Israel in a long time. You have presented a false image of the conference and this is also a shame.

]]> By: mike darnell http://www.jewlicious.com/2009/07/roi-wrap-up/#comment-1333485 mike darnell Fri, 17 Jul 2009 13:28:35 +0000 http://www.jewlicious.com/?p=9417#comment-1333485 Yay! Sounds like a half-a-million bucks well spent! Dilbert pretty much explains my opinion on this: http://dilbert.com/strips/comic/2009-06-09 I have a project I was hoping ROIcom could help me promote. I want to found a school for "Professional Judaism". I can see the sign already: "The Bernie Maddof School for Schnorr" The truth is that ROIcom is just one of many lame Jewish organizations busily promoting nothing much while wasting resources that could make a difference had they been dedicated to places that really need them (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3730927,00.html). They are however not on par with the activities of the "Claims Conference". These guys give the whole "Philanthropy" thing a whole new chilling twist - http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3550448,00.html Shabbat Shalom, Mike Yay!
Sounds like a half-a-million bucks well spent!

Dilbert pretty much explains my opinion on this:
dilbert.com/st...

I have a project I was hoping ROIcom could help me promote. I want to found a school for “Professional Judaism”. I can see the sign already:

“The Bernie Maddof School for Schnorr”

The truth is that ROIcom is just one of many lame Jewish organizations busily promoting nothing much while wasting resources that could make a difference had they been dedicated to places that really need them (ynetnews.com/a...).

They are however not on par with the activities of the “Claims Conference”. These guys give the whole “Philanthropy” thing a whole new chilling twist – ynetnews.com/a...

Shabbat Shalom,
Mike

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