Kumu

At Kumu, we build tools for tackling tough problems 🤔💡 Find our current products below: - Kumu: a data visualization tool for relationship maps that are beautiful to look at and a pleasure to use (https://kumu.io/) - Sticky Studio: a collaborative space for complex discussions in real-time (http://sticky.studio/) You can sign up for our monthly newsletter here: https://lnkd.in/eA6JVX_P #datavisualization #community #collaboration #complexity

Project of the Week Our #Kumunity is full of talented M&E professionals – we love being the platform enabling them to visualize, strategize, & monitor social change networks & systems! This project by INTRAC is a great example of knowledge mapping, being an intro to the field of M&E itself! They've cleverly included instructions on how to use the map in the bottom right corner. All of the clusters are super interesting, covering everything from common debates and methodologies, to data analysis and approaches in social development projects! https://buff.ly/3K0B5sq #dataviz #poweredbykumu #monitoringandevaluation #systemsthinking #networkmapping

WEBINAR SERIES Our second webinar is coming up this Thursday! Join us if you want to know more about gathering data & the best ways to import it into Kumu. Some questions we'll be discussing: - How do I structure my data sets? - How can I gather more input from my stakeholders? - How do I automatically update my Kumu map? - How can import duplicate elements? Register here: https://lnkd.in/eemhdTDk *The webinar will be recorded and shared with all participants. Even if this time doesn't work for you, make sure to register anyway to receive it* #webinar #dataviz #dataimport

Project of the Week!  It appears that we have plenty of journalists in our #kumunity! Last weekend the world celebrated #worldpressfreedomday, which acts as a reminder to governments of the need to respect their commitment to press freedom. In honor of this day, and the transparency Kumu visualizations can bring to complex investigative issues, networks, and stories, we've gathered a few inspiring Kumu projects in the field of journalism! - Dark Money https://buff.ly/3USm6aA - The Hydralike Network That Turned Texas School Board Elections Into Partisan Battlegrounds https://buff.ly/3UP7x7u - Networked Diagram on Journalism Concepts and Themes https://buff.ly/3UMxG6Y - Constructive Journalism Network https://buff.ly/3Qwrz44 - Scatter plot on the reliability, audience size, and political spectrum of major news networks (https://buff.ly/3QzxvJQ) #poweredbykumu #systemsmapping #networkmapping #dataviz #journalism Steven Monacelli lea hellmueller Cathrine Gyldensted Alex Vipond, really cool to see the diverse ways you use Kumu to break stories, create visualizations, connect networks of journalists, and talk about the scholarship of journalism!

KUMU WEBINARS SERIES We're organizing a Kumu Webinars Series to help you create more beautiful Kumu maps! Our first webinar is scheduled for May 9th (next Thursday!) and will start off with an introduction to Kumu 🤓 📝 Make sure to register to join us: https://lnkd.in/eEVzbEG8   *The webinar will be recorded and shared with all participants. Even if this time doesn't work for you, make sure to register anyway to receive it.*   Other topics coming up after (click to pre-register): - May 16 > Best Ways to Gather Data & Import Into Kumu https://lnkd.in/eVGWWs5S   - May 23 > From Good to Great: Kumu Map Design https://lnkd.in/efix8KVc - May 30 > Intro to Kumu's Advanced Editor https://lnkd.in/eqeAEbHP     More topics and dates after the above will be announced soon, including: Metrics, Systems Mapping, and Stakeholder Mapping 🙌   We look forward to connecting with you!

If a picture is worth a thousand words, how many words are a map worth? Since I was a child, I loved learning from #maps — it was a window that I could look through to contemplate what life was like in places far from my island home of O‘ahu. I might even go so far as to say that I was/am a map nerd. The first Google Map wouldn’t become a reality until 2005, so the vast majority of maps I utilized until young adulthood were static and printed on paper. But this is no longer the case. Innovative, qualitative, and interactive mapping platforms have been created to re-see the world through various lenses, and importantly, to uncover insights previously unseeable. Two specific examples of fascinating maps based on #relationships, have a direct connection to Hawai‘i: + Kumu [https://kumu.io] was created by two brothers raised on O‘ahu to illuminate connections and relational understanding, and as they wrote: to “make sense of your messy world.” + O‘ahu STEW-MAP (Stewardship Mapping and Assessment Project) [https://lnkd.in/gDEKNEY5] is an example of the USDA Forest Service initiative utilizing ArcGIS and Kumu platforms to visualize the relationships of various organizations that share geography and values of environmental stewardship. In this age of #AI, the amount of data that is able to be collected is enormous. There are already growing needs for #data #storytellers — people who transform data sets into accessible info that allows more people to connect with broad-based content, and importantly, can also move people into action through powerful stories. Here are two examples of how interactive maps of very different scales help us better comprehend our complex world, and our anthropogenic impacts: + Population Connection created a time-phased global map of human population from 1 C.E. to 2050, which utilized five themes and five overlays [https://lnkd.in/gwbMqMEH]; and + Sanoe Burgess did a wonderful job demonstrating the relationships between people and place in her “Mo‘olelo no Maunalua” ArcGIS StoryMap, which gives historical, linguistic, cultural, and topographic context to the ahupua‘a in which I currently live [https://lnkd.in/gadahE43]. As much as I might be a map nerd, I know there are many others who surpass me. Two of whom created the wonderful climate literacy nonprofit Probable Futures [https://lnkd.in/dj4qsrDS]: Alison Smart and Spencer Glendon. Their team has mastered the art of storytelling, and the power of threes with their climate maps and handbook. If you haven’t already, I strongly encourage you to spend time on their thoughtful, science-based, and well-designed website. It. Is. Worth. Your. Time. In answering my rhetorical question above, I firmly believe that maps are beyond word count value. If they help you wake up to the global threats and opportunities with regard to the #climatecrisis, #biodiversityloss, #oceanhealth, #Indigenousknowledge, #democracy and more, then maps are, indeed, priceless.

The Kumu team recently got an in-depth look at a #STEM ecosystem project in Colorado! We're thrilled that our platform allows them to enable grassroots connections and live out their decentralized, #equity-thinking values. Colorado STEM Ecosystem is a coalition for uplifting successful STEM efforts in the state & jumpstarting cross-sector collaboration. They consider the Kumu network map they've created a "digital hub to spark important meetings with people around the state." A favorite line in the Kumu manifesto reads, "Our power to solve comes from the diversity of views we’re able to build from." This is a key principle for CO STEM, where their entire point is to decenter themselves. Throughout our call, they continuously mentioned: • Not just being a metro hub & including the rural areas of the state too. • Being concerned with duplication of efforts & uneven access to resources. • De-centering themselves & not being another centralized, bureaucratic initiative. • Making the intentional decision that anyone can become part of the ecosystem. You don’t have to be the director of a nonprofit, you can literally be anyone. Another line in the Kumu manifesto, a quote from EF Schumacer, states – "Any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex. It takes a touch of genius and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction." CO STEM has a pretty simple process. They invite potential members to fill out a form (https://buff.ly/3Wmvmos) gathering info about their org or program, what they'd like to share with the ecosystem, & what areas they serve. Then members are given access to the network visualization (https://buff.ly/4a0mibR, this is the public version), start receiving communications, & can disseminate their own news and events! It's a simple process but a powerful tool. The CO STEM team shared that: • It’s super cool that as soon as someone joins the ecosystem, they immediate have access to that networking utility that Kumu offers, by showing how people are connecting to one another. CO STEM is really excited about the systems impact that comes about from this sort of grassroots organization. They plan to keep growing and building, & are already sharing their learnings & process with other STEM Learning Ecosystem communities of practice from Indiana, to Utah, to Canada! For the network mappers in our Kumunity, I wanted to point out that Joshua Kumin & Justin Wu built quite the system for making their Kumu map update automatically with each new network member added through their form. The form populates a Google Sheet which supplies the data to the Kumu map (to learn how to do this: https://buff.ly/44jzho1)! They're using google scripts to automate some of the process, & made use of a plugin (Form Ranger) that allows form response options to be updated as survey members add more info! We're grateful to be your tool of choice in this innovative work, Janelle M. Johnson, PhD & CO STEM! #networkmaps #systemschange

Two of my passions: Hip-Hop and Systems Theory. [Interactive Kumu Presentation - 🔗https://lnkd.in/eD5mMA_A] If you didn't know about the ongoing feud between rap titans Kendrick Lamar, Drake, Rick Ross, and others, you're about to because I conducted a network analysis and created an interactive systems diagram for your intellectual convenience. The behavioral dynamics are truly interesting, but what I found more profound is the sheer creative talent required for an artist even to become wrapped up in a feud (rap pun). Credit to Conor Murray for the foundational background and facts used in the map.

Want to map how your network or system changes over time? We got you! This week's In Too Deep blog shows you how to do it 🤔 💡 Access it here: https://buff.ly/3w7kAaN #systemschange #dataviz #communitygrowth