Monday

Mandala Projects

Getting IT: Shambhala Database, part 2

From an interview with Ed Keizer:

The Shambhala Database could not exist without all the hundreds of volunteers who work on it and make it such a great project.

Anna Weinstein, the Head of Shambhala Center and Group Services, and I are starting to approach the groups and centers that are still not active on the Shambhala Database (SDB). There are 220 active centers and groups, but there are still about 35 groups that are not active. If you know that your group is not yet on the SDB, please contact your group coordinator about getting you in the system.

I often get emails from people asking why the dathun from 1975 isn’t in the SDB or that the 1984 Seminary is missing. The reason for this is that we made a fresh start in 2006 with the SDB and therefore thousands of the older programs are missing. We have tried to do as much as possible to have the present programs represented.

The SDB is still a work in progress. We are on the brink of connecting registration for open programs by using one login so that you don’t have to enter your information over and over again. This is being used right now for advanced programs. There are many things still missing from the system, like connections for the Dorje Kasung, which are not yet integrated in the system. But there are many major future steps we will take.

Personally, my drive for this project comes from my background of being involved in Shambhala since 1985. Since the very first day I started, my interest has been in communication – both within my Shambhala Center in Amsterdam and in the world-wide network of Shambhala. I feel that the SDB is the spider in the web, and all the rest is part of that. I started working with Bernard Spigolo on the very first draft of the SDB and since I retired from my job in 2002, I have had the time and space to focus completely on the SDB. I thoroughly enjoy the possibilities to have connections with people throughout the mandala at any time! That is wonderful. I worked for 45 years in IT in Holland, and have seen this development over time, especially seeing how it has vastly improved over the last 10 years. One of the pillars of the key developments for SDB and the Network couldn’t have developed in this way if the IT developments weren’t happening in the world. Another main drive for me is connecting with our teachers – when you receive something, you can give it back.