This document discusses crowdmap tools and how to avoid projects becoming "dead ushahidi" or inactive. It provides an overview of Ushahidi, which was used for crisis mapping, and Crowdmap, its cloud-based successor. The document outlines how to set up and manage a Crowdmap project, and lists five lessons to avoid projects becoming inactive: maintain motivation around an issue not just the technology, consistency, flexibility, manage finances, and accept uncertainty. Pilot Crowdmap projects at a university and neighborhood are also mentioned.

1. Crowdmap: Avoiding the
Graveyard!
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Ana Brandusescu, MA candidate, Geography department, McGill University

2. Objectives
 Ushahidi & Crowdmap: looking back
 What can you do with Crowdmap?
 How to run Crowdmap
 What is Dead Ushahidi?
 Advancing the Crowdmap page
 University Spaces & Espaces Lachine
 How to avoid Dead Ushahidi

3. Ushahidi: then and now
 Ushahidi: server-based; Crowdmap: cloud-based
 Ushahidi was used to collect citizen reports on the
post-election violence incidents in Kenya
 THE example used most often for crisis mapping
 Mapping natural disasters (e.g., Haiti earthquake,
hurricane Sandy)
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4. Send messages via…
1. SMS (mobile phone)
2. Smartphone app (e.g., iPhone, android)
3. Email
4. Twitter
5. Website (create a report)
To aggregate and display your
messages on an interactive map.
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5. Crowdmap: Running the show
 Advertising component:
flyers, posters, Twitter,
Facebook page, emails
 Managing manual
geo-coded messages
 How does Crowdmap
become a part of your
daily life?
 How does Crowdmap become the new Facebook?
 Do we want it to become the new Facebook?
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6. What exactly is Dead Ushahidi?
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7. Advancing the Crowdmap page
 So you created a web
page, now what?
 How do you recruit
participants?
 What are people
talking about?
 How often are you
receiving reports?
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8. University Spaces & Espaces Lachine
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 Pilot projects: university community, Lachine neighbourhood
 TCJL (Table de Concertation de Jeunesse de Lachine)
MA thesis project supervisors:
Prof Renee Sieber, McGill U. & Prof Sylvie Jochems, UQAM

9. 5 essential lessons to avoid Dead Ushahidi
1. Motivation: cause over technology
2. Consistency (and if applicable, longevity)
3. Flexibility & adaptability
4. Attend to finances
5. Embrace uncertainty!
Is crowdsourcing more than a
way to outsource free labor?
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10. So please don’t end up in the graveyard...
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11. Image Bibliography
[1] https://deadushahidi.crowdmap.com
[2] http://blog.ushahidi.com/index.php/2010/02/19/taking-the-lead-ushahidi-haiti-
tufts/
[3] https://catskillshurricanesandy.crowdmap.com/
[4] http://crlgrn.files.wordpress.com/2009/12/ushahidi-image.gif?w=720
[5] http://crisismapper.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/deploying-ushahidi.
jpg?w=640
[6] https://deadushahidi.crowdmap.com
[7] https://hurricanesandy.crowdmap.com/
[8] https://hurricanesandy.crowdmap.com/
[9] https://universityspaces.crowdmap.com/
[10] https://espaceslachine.crowdmap.com/
[11] http://thenextweb.com/apps/2010/08/09/ushahidi-brings-crisis-mapping-to-
the-cloud-with-crowdmap/
[12] http://lindaraftree.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/flsms-benin-001.jpg
[13] https://deadushahidi.crowdmap.com