courses /spring 09 /250 B /partners

Below is a list of possible partners/ organizations of interest for the Social Price Tracker:

Monterey Bay Aquarium's _Sea Food Watch_ program... 4/15 sent an email explaining who we are/ requested contact person there w/ background in data compilation/ data architecture. -kyle

California Certified Organic Farmers... the grand-mommy of organic certification happens to be housed right here in Santa Cruz. 4/15 sent an email explaining who we are/ requested contact person. -kyle

ALBA Organic Farmers... ALBA (Agriculture and Land-Based Training Association) is a group of farmers in the Salinas area that have a long-standing record of working closely with migrant farmer-workers to pursue social justice goals within the context of organic agriculture. 4/15 left voicemail for Patricia Carrillo-- (831) 758-1469-- briefly explaining our goals and seeking input/advice from ALBA in proceeding.-kyle

below is a sample letter that I wrote up asking for advice/ partnership:
use and edit at will, and, please, let me know if I'm mis-stepping/ misrepresenting our project.

Hello, I am a graduate student in the Digital Arts and New Media program at UC Santa Cruz. In conjunction with graduate students from the Computer Science dept, we have just begun prototyping a service that allows consumers to quickly access information and media rich documentation about a variety of products (food, clothing, etc). We call this service the Social Price Tracker (http://danm.ucsc.edu/web/courses/spring09/250B). The project has a long way to go before hitting the ground, but we are interested in building partnerships with other projects and organizations that have similar/compatible aims. We are especially keen to do so with groups that are located close to us; XXXXX watch seems like an obvious organization to start talking to. As of now, all we'd really like to get from you is a contact person, especially someone who deals at some level with compiling data/ building data architecture for XXXXXXXXX, so that we could chat about problems and ideas. In the future we hope to build a vibrant, open-source/ open-network community of users, which would be an ideal place for XXXXXXXX to further its goals of XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX. Please contact me at your convenience at XXXXXXX Thank you, kyle

Hi here are some interesting places and stuff that we could try and look at. My research on textile or clothing manufaturing, etc. within our 100 mile limit has been unsuccessful (it seems everything is located in Southern California) but I have found other neat things we could check out.

California Product Stewardship Council http://www.calpsc.org/problem/

This is a California non-profit focused on product stewardship. They work with waste and recycling companies, non-profits, water quality organizations, businesses of all types, and, most importantly, product consumers who are working together to reduce waste and bring good public policy to the materials management industry. They could be an interesting contact to have. They are based in Sacramento, although it is a little far away I could go and check it out if needed.

BC Tech Medical Device Manufacturing http://www.bctechinc.com/

I also found this company that has its factory and research, etc. here in Santa Cruz. They produce and manufacture medical supplies. What I found interesting is that they not only produce their own stuff but produce medical products by contract which might open up interesting flows of medical products...

Ford Motor Company Assembly Plant is in Richmond and it has been working there since the 1930s. It seems to have a very interesting labor history. Should we try and check it out? This is its National Register #88000919.

On the topic of cars: New United Motor Manufacturers Inc is in Fremont. http://www.nummi.com/home.php They are an automobile manufacturing plant, they make stuff for GM and Toyota.

The Secret Life Series http://secret-life.org/index.php INFORM’s Secret Life Series is a collection of videos that highlight the environmental impacts of everyday products we all use.

The Life of Stuff http://www.storyofstuff.com/?gclid=CK-0hoO8spACFQ4_gQodG3l6FA The Story of Stuff is a 20-minute, fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns. The Story of Stuff exposes the connections between a huge number of environmental and social issues, and calls us together to create a more sustainable and just world.

Patricia