Big companies feel the urge to give something back to the community. They support local and social activities with employee’s time and know-how. Oracle is no exception. Here are once again my contributions to our weekly SocialChat. You know the game. Read bottom up:

• Famous last words: Share your shit! — Evening Talk by Tor Nørretranders at reboot11 (video) \*
• If you mention your company name along the lines: even better! \*
• But since you get something back personally — trust, friends, reputation – it is worth every minute. \*
• If you want to support your community the effort is much higher. \*
• 1day/year doesn’t change anything. And I doubt that it is even effective due to the management overhead. \*
• Even better: Do good stuff and let others talk, blog and tweet about it. \*
• My mantra: Do good stuff and talk about it. Rephrased today as: Do good stuff and blog about it. \*
• What about organizing un-conferences? Think TED. Or http://raumschiffer.de/ \*
• I mean I do not even mow my own lawn. Why do it at the kindergarden next door? \*
• What about building and managing online communities? e.g. the UX Forum at Xing \*
• If I am running a local non-profit designers group, does it count as an Oracle supported volunteer project? http://uxhh.de \*
• …or align our individual forces and abilities on less but larger projects. \*
• If you want to make a difference you have to commit more time on the project, … \*
• …rather limited. It is important but the impact on the local community and the benefits for the company is low. \*
• I am really struggling with today’s topic. I see the value of individuals spending a number of days on scattered social projects as… \*
• Some of my OraTweets from the SocialChat #6 on “Giving back to the Community”… \*