Barn raising January 23, 2006
Posted by Andy Roberts in : Wiki , trackbackI’ve just twigged this idea of holding a barn raising party for launching a wiki. The story was told in the CPsquare web2.0 conference about the launch of the NVC wiki last month. It reminds me a little of the origins of traditional Breton step dancing, which was a kind of house warming party through which the new inhabitants get welcomed to the village and they get their brand new earthen floor nicely compacted as well.
The idea of barn raising to launch a wiki is actually documented on the meatball community wiki:
BarnRaising occurs when a community actively decides to come to the same place at the same time to help achieve some specific goal.
It’s pretty much impossible for one person to raise a barn. The main part of the process is taking two framed walls that have been built lying on the ground and raising them to vertical. Thus BarnRaising demands collaboration in a way that other activities do not.
then you have a big party with everyone who’s around. That’s where the social aspect of it comes from. Lift some walls, rejoice and dance.
So now I’m planning to host a barn raising party myself to launch the DAR wiki in March. Instead of just an online exhibition with feedback, I’ll put the word out that it’s a barn raising event and generate a sense of occasion for getting a new collaborative wiki off the ground.
Tags: barnraising, wiki, launch, CoP2.0, distributedactionresearch
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is an online professional who initiated DARnet 
BarnRaising for wiki building
During the CPSquare conference on Web 2.0 and Communities of Practice , someone referenced Barn Raising as a means for the initial build-out on a wiki. What a nice way to think about building a community-needed structure.
Hi andy,
Thanks for your post on my blog. I had no idea that when i used the word ‘barn raising” i was using an existing concept. Very pleased that i used the word correctly.
ps. we’re doing two wiki building show next week, one on wednesday and one on sunday. It would be great if we go together to compare notes during and after… the more the merrier i say!
cheers.