A call for digital savants and enthusiastic tinkerers ...
For a website that concentrates on providing advice around retirement, we don't actually think that retiring in the "full sense" - physically and mentally - is entirely good for you. You need to keep your body "ticking over", for want of a better physiological description, and perhaps more importantly in many ways, your mind.
If you've always had more of an academic or scientific focus and enjoyed science and data, or programming in languages old or new, the modern world can represent a real dichotomy - never have there been more powerful tools available to screen, manipulate and interpret data - or more data to work with - but now you're being asked to retire or move on from your workplace, because you reached "an age" where the presumption is that you are no longer "up to it". In truth though, moving on is often less about a person's age or technical capacity than it is about a desire to do things you enjoy and employ your skills meaningful, at your own pace.
We mention this because we are in the process of developing a website/platform that we would like to see built, grown and maintained by the digital equivalent of a "Men's Shed" - with some significant differences however that could be described as follows:
- it will not be just about men, or retirees, it would be for everyone, in the widest possible sense
- it will not be just digital - participants can choose to meet, physically or virtually or anywhere in between
- it will not be just a social club or yet more social media - it's about self-help and being productive for the community
- the main focus will be transforming data into information to improve transparency and awareness in the community
- it will be about fostering and maintaining intellectual rigour and honesty - quality always matters
- it will be about enjoying yourself, but also recognising that commitments need to be met even if it is not "paid work"
- it will not be about money - in fact, it may cost a bit and it don't even think about tax deductibility
- it will be a place to leave your politics behind, but not your ethics
- it will be a place where privacy matters but anonymity is not supported
- it is not a place which is fully formed as yet; more details will follow ...
Interested, and perhaps prepared to help, despite the obvious lack of detail? Provide your details using the form below, highlighting both your skills and interests and we will get back to you - but please expect the timeframe to be flexible. Note however that absolutely none of your details will be passed onto third parties and, should we not proceed for any reason, they will be "burnt to a crisp", digitally speaking.
Thank you for taking the time to get this far!