DigVentures

[Welsh Andy]

who should receive this gift, and why. A few details will be useful about the nominee, but mostly we want to know what it will mean to them to spend a day excavating at Flag Fen.

I can think of someone...

[AcademiaTrowl]

This is a really interesting idea - as, like Flag Fen, traditional fundingstreams are drying up. And let’s be honest have not really been there for mostof us anyway. It is an inspiration that a group of people with drive and visionhave taken a traditional way to fund a project (volunteers) and revamped it fora digital age (lots of volunteers collected from the internet).

Good luck to them, the fact that this project reaches beyond the archaeologicalcommunity is really valuable, if you’re not already into archaeology how do youfind out about on-going projects, how do you get involved? This venture seemsto be able to reach further and effectively extends who can participate in archaeology- training digs are often quite elitist including: students or well-worn volunteers.This project has the potential to reach further, so alongside what is alreadythere it makes a contribution. It is also an interesting experiment; I for one willbe watching it very closely to see how it goes – but not because I’m critical becauseI’m interested in it.

In this Forum members spend a lot of time and effort complaining that somethingneeds to change. When a new project idea comes along there is dissent – I can’treconcile those two positions. What a surprise that a good project, with experiencedpeople, on a good site - that was someone else idea - comes along and there area lot moaning. Shame on you all, we need more of this, if more people had thisvision and put their passion and time where their heart was then maybe we wouldsee more of this type of thing. These people have jobs - this is in their time,and started up with their money! They are not a corporation nor are they profiteering,if it helps their careers then well deserved, we all need a bit of that.

DigVentures is not perfect, but how could it be, no archaeological projectever is? It will run, it will evolve and become more robust with experience. Itdoes not profess to replace commercial archaeology, nor will it replacetraining excavations. So what is the problem?

Lisa, Brendon you don't need to be so defensive, you’re onto a good thing,BAJR well done for supporting this, the rest of you - I commend you all foryour passion and dedication to archaeology, and your constant quest for betterpay and better standards.
But this is a good thing, whether it success or not, don't try to kill it beforeit begins!

[diggingthedirt]

Thanks Trowl. It's hearing comments like this (and there have been plenty!) that make the all the effort so worthwhile!

[tom wilson]

I really don't want to be negative either however i just feel that this does not have the sites best interest at heart....

The bottom line is this = the site is disappearing.
End of debate, afaic.

[P Prentice]

[SIZE=2]i might not be an expert in marketing and i might not like unqualified hyperbole, though i note that it was probably his eminence hisself that sported 'best in the world', and actually i do think this is a good idea and i am eager to see how it pans out. i know some of the names in the appended team and i have no reason to doubt their ability to produce quality work, but the proof will be in the publicly available pudding and proper peer review not in a petulant post on a 'whingers' forum.

i am of the opinion that time team did more to raise the profile of our profession than they will ever get credit for but i resent the fact that it drew in a number of decent archaeologists who naively gave their name only to be spat out along with worthless research for low denominator telly. failing to deliver academically (at least for the first decade) is one thing but failing to use the platform to promote professionalism may be a more heinous crime - the fact that the producers (who made a mint) wouldnt even pay the going rate is nothing short of appalling - i once had the privilege of saying so

so digventures you have this fantastic site and you have got the commendable gumption to get it going so i wish you best of luck. if you really want the sanction of the wider archaeological community for such a novel venture, why not make available your research agenda and your project design so that the rest of the profession can see how you get on. as you say this is a world class site and we all have a vested interest in seeing the most made of it - if this is truly a model for the future, make it open access
[/SIZE]

[BillyPilgrim]

As it is a Social Enterprise
one expects it to be a business with primarily social objectives whose surpluses are principally reinvested for that purpose in the business or in the community, rather than being driven by the need to maximise profit for shareholders and owners. It is also working with Vivacity, an independent, not-for-profit organisation with charitable status that manages many of Peterborough’s most popular culture and leisure facilities on behalf of Peterborough City Council (http://www.vivacity-peterborough.com/mus...e/flag-fen).

I saw on the website that it was a social enterprise and that they were working with Vivacity, that's why I was asking. The Dig Ventures website is very clear that Vivacity is a non-profit, but there isn't any statement about their own status. Social Enterprise in itself is a bit of a vague term (SE's can be for-profit or non-profit unless structured as a Community Interest Company [CIC] etc.) and there wasn't any info on if they have (or are working towards) a Social Enterprise Mark (the only certification for social enterprises). I'm asking because I'm interested in what happens to any funds raised above the ?25,000 target (in a hypothetical best case scenario the project could raise over ?100,000 via Sponsume). I'm not suggesting that for-profit status is bad, but I would like to know how any excess will be used/invested if they are for-profit and I think it's only fair that we should know before pledging our own resources. So, Dig Ventures are you non-profit or for-profit?

For the record I have absolutely no problem with Dig Ventures charging for the opportunity to dig at Flag Fen. It's not particularly different from the way quite a few research digs are run in the UK (charge American students two grand and use that to subsidise home students, outreach & research etc.) - except perhaps more honest and open about this fact. I do have a bit of an issue with the seed venture round; charging ?10 to access web content about the dig is in effectively erecting a pay wall around digital access. I think this may have serious implications about the visibility of archaeology if adopted more widely. As a crude comparison how many Times Vs Guardian articles have you seen being shared on Facebook recently?

I am not trying to be narky here (I do want to see the project succeed and they will be getting a tenner off me). I just think that - as this is being touted by quite a few people as the future for non-commercial archaeology projects - it is right that it is debated, questioned and examined thoroughly so that any model is robust going forward.

[BAJR]

I am not trying to be narky here (I do want to see the project succeed and they will be getting a tenner off me). I just think that - as this is being touted by quite a few people as the future for non-commercial archaeology projects - it is right that it is debated, questioned and examined thoroughly so that any model is robust going forward.

No, you are right, it should be debated, and I am heartened by the number of positive questions and comments that are appearing. So I don't think you are being narky - apologies if it looked that way -

This is the way I read it on their website as well.

[diggingthedirt]

Welsh Andy – excellent idea! 150 words on this and you might just have a winner!

P Prentice: Yes, we would love to publish the project design – to our minds, we are entering into a social contract, and the project design is the foundation of what we promise to deliver. There are many other stakeholders involved in this who will have to approve such a move, but believe me this principle sits squarely with our crowdfunding, crowdsourcing philosophy – so watch this space (we are only 5 days old!).

BillyPilgrim: thanks for the promise of support! This is the best way to check us out and really judge how robust our model actually is: sign up and become part of the DigVentures community, and allow your voice to help shape what we are trying to achieve. The more money we raise – the more archaeology we dig, and the more work we can do to ensure that Flag Fen Lives.

There will be plenty of free information content going out on our latest news section, and also some really great entertainment based content in our site hut. It won’t be a pay wall as such, but if people are interested enough to want to know what goes on behind the scenes, we hope they will also be good enough to support the project financially too (that one’s borrowed straight from Mortimer Wheeler!).

Thanks all for you’re comments so far – I’ll be blogging a piece on this over at diggingthedirt soon, and Lisa is on the panel this evening at the Institute of Archaeology’s 75th anniversary debate – called, timely enough, ‘Presenting the Past.’

http://www.ucl.ac.uk/archaeology/calenda...s/20120305

If anyone’s about and wants to continue the discussion tonight: there’s a pub in our future! Over and out for now – and thanks again to everyone supporting us (keep spreading the word and keep debating the issues!).

All the best,

Diggingthedirt

http://digventures.com/

http://www.sponsume.com/project/digventu...en-lives-1

[Der Mensch]

The bottom line is this = the site is disappearing.
End of debate, afaic.

About time someone like EH stepped in then don't you think...

[BAJR]

Ask not what the government can do for you - cos they ain't... though they are supporting this venture.