To briefly review, The GIFTegrity is a newly invented mechanism for the exchange of human help based entirely on gifting. The continuous pull of the giftees’ needs are balanced by the discontinuous push from the giftors’ offers of help. Humans are an INTERdependent species, there will be times when I will help others and times when others will help me.
Timothy Wilken
As a first step in towards the realization of a synergic help exchange I will propose the following specifications for the creation of a working prototype.
A website for synergic help exchange would be created describing the concept of GIFTegrity and the rationale and benefits for becoming a member. The web site would be interactive so that individuals could join, register as members, register their gift offers, and then view lists of gifts offered by other members. The web site must support the easy exchange of information between members. And, when the exchange of help occurs, keep a record of those exchanges for the purpose of informing community and making the synergic help exchange process transparent.
Membership Registration
In complete opposition to the present custom of anonymity on the internet, members of synergic community are never anonymous. Membership in a synergic help exchange must be known to their fellow members. Synergic relationship is based on trust. I propose use of the following information as a basis for the creation of explicit non anonymous membership data. All GIFTegrities start from the bottom up. They are first LOCAL. Most of our needs and our gifts are personal. We will need to know those we are helping and those that are helping us. As GIFTegrity networks grow they can exchange specialized help between GIFTegrities. Some Gifts may have regional merit. But the foundation is always LOCAL.
Registration fields: 1) Last Name 2) First Name 3) Middle initial 4) Date of Birth 5) Place of birth 6) E-mail address 7) Country 8] State or Province and 9) City–
| 1) Last Name | 2) First Name | 3) Middle Initial |
| 4)mm/dd/yyyy | 5) nation/state or province/city | 6) member@abc.com |
| 7) Country | 8] State or Province | 9) City |
Items 1) through 5) would be permanent identifying information that would never change in an individual’s lifetime. Considered together the five items are unique enough that there should be no duplications even in very large communities.
Item 6) should be a convenient email address for members of the synergic help exchange to communicate with each other. Your email address will also serve as your member identity or username.
Items 7) through 9) are your LOCALITY.
Notice that your street address is not give nor is telephone numbers, place of employment, social security number, or any of the personal facts of identification in the commercial world.
E-mail is asynchronous. That means I compose and send email when it is convenient to me. The receiver of the email message reads and responds when it is convenient to them. E-mail conversations do not occur in “real time.” You and your partner do not have to be sitting at the computer at the same moment in order to talk. Unlike face-to-face encounters, which are synchronous, e-mail discussions do not require you to respond on-the-spot to what they other has said. You have time to think, evaluate, and compose your reply. This encourages more careful and effective communication that might take place in “real time”.
Your email address will also serve as your username. And, you will also select to select a unique password. Your username and password will be used to login in to the GIFTegrity database.
Once you have registered as a new member, you need to offer help to others in the community. This is accomplished by registering at least one offer of help. You may also request help. This is accomplished by going to the GIFTegrity: Offers & Needs Database and filling out a new record.
Register a new Gift Offer or Gift Need
1) Each Gift Offer or Gift Need registered is given an ID number. 2) Date the Gift Offer or Need is registered would be automatically entered along with the 3) username of the member offering or requesting help.–
| Offer-Need ID# | 1 |
| Username | john@abc.org |
| Date Originated | 06/08/02 |
GIFTegegrity: Offer & Need form
Recall that gifts can be actions or things. First you will select the Exchange Type. That will be one of four possibilities: Action Offered, Action Needed, Thing Offered, Thing Needed.
The Offer & Need form fields include: 1) Exchange type 2) Name of the action or need. 3) Brief description of the action or thing. 4) When the action or thing is available or needed, 5) How Long? Duration of its availability, 6) Where? location of the action or thing. 7) Detailed Description and Terms of Exchange.
| Exchange Type | Action Offered |
| Name | Physician Advise |
| Brief Description | Telephone Consultation |
| When | Now, negotiate a time |
| How long | 0.5 hour |
| Where | Anywhere, you call me. |
| Detailed Description and Terms of Exchange |
| I am a practicing physician with many years of experience in Family Medicine. I can listen and answer your questions concerning yourself or your family. This would be advice only and should not take the place of seeing your own Doctor. I can not prescribe medications over the telephone. However, I can advise you on the need to see a Doctor and in what time frame. I may be able to save you the expense of an unnecessary visit to the Emergency Room or Urgent Care. I can advise you on the proper use of Over-The-Counter medications. |
Once you have registered one or more offers of help to the community and your needs, you then go to the public database. Which will look similar to the following one line examples. If you find a line description of an offer of action or an offer of a thing that might meet one of your needs, you can click on it to get the detailed description.
| Exchange Type | Name | Brief Description | When | How Long | Where |
| Action Offered | Carpenter | House Repairs | 2 hours (only on weekends) local in town | two weekends a month | Monterey |
| Thing Needed | Clothes Women’s | Used, Size 8-10, young styles | Now | Too Keep | Monterey |
| Action Needed | Auto Repair | Fuel Pump Replaced | Now | I have the parts. Three hours? | Carmel |
| Thing Offered | Ink Jet Printer | Epson Stylus 500 color | Anytime, you pick up or pay shipping | Keep It. | Monterey |
| Action Offered | Personal Shopper | Run Errands, Buy Groceries, Good Driver | After school (local) | Schedule (limited to time available) | Monterey |
| Action Offered | Web Designer | Set Up Your Website | 5 hours/week, total 20 hrs | Varies, I only work on one site at a time | Anywhere |
| Thing Offered | Lawn Mower | 21″ gasoline power, Toro | USE ONLY, accept liability, return in same condition | Schedule In Advance | Monterey |
| Thing Offered | Television Set | 17″ SONY Color (10years old) works OK | Now | Keep It, You PickUp or pay shipment | Seaside |
| Action Needed | Baby Sitter | Child Care Ages 2 and 4 | Fri Eve and Saturdays (4 hrs) | once a week | Carmel |
| Thing Needed | Pick Up Truck | I am moving. | Next 2 weeks. | At least two full days | Central Coast |
| Action Needed | Accountant | 2001 Federal & State Tax Returns, Personal | Due August 15, 2002 | NA | Monterey |
| Thing Needed | Firewood | One Cord | Anytime, I will pick up | Permanent | Central Coast |
| Thing Offered | Bed Room Furniture | Oak Set, Queen, Good Condition | Available next month, You pick up | Permanent | Marina |
Within the GIFTegrity, the Giftor Controls
Once you have found an offer that you think might be of help to you or your family, you can register your interest in the offer with the Giftor. You would click on the line item and click the register my interest with this giftor.
That will take you a new screen where you will answer two questions.
1) Urgency? Now, ASAP, 1 wk, 2 wks, other
2) Need is? One time, occasionally, or continuous
Then click to register your interest in the OFFER.
At this point an email is sent to the giftor registering your interest in his/her offer. With your registration of interest, the giftor now gains access to the information in your profile. Your name and all comments by others in the community about their dealings with you. They also get the date you joined the GIFTegrity and the number of Gifts you have made and received. (see description below)
You may be one of several members who have expressed interest in their offer. If it is one of a kind offer, only one interested giftee will be offered the gift.
Gift Offered to you
If the giftor decides to offer the gift to you, you will then receive an email from the GIFTegrity that advises that you have an offer pending.
At this point you will gain access to the information in the giftor’s profile. Their name and all comments by others in the community about their dealings with them. You also get the date they joined the GIFTegrity and the number of Gifts they have made and received.
If after reviewing this information, you decide to accept their offer. They will be notified that you have accepted the offer and both Giftor and Giftee will be given each other’s email addresses to directly work out the details. The GIFTegrity does not have your telephone numbers and or residential street addresses. It does not know where you live or work and so it can not give this information to anyone. The giftor and giftee will communicate directly with each other and exchange information as appropriate to effect the exchange of help. Once the exchange occurs, the giftor will delete the offering from the community database.
Responding to a Need
If you see a Need in the database that you can think you can meet, you can register your offer of help. You would click on the line item and click the register my offer of help with this giftee.
That will take you to a new screen where you will answer two questions:
1) Availability of your help? Now, 1 wk, 2 wks, other
2) Help is? One time, occasionally, or continuous
Then click to register your OFFER of help.
At this point an email is sent to the giftee registering your offer to help. With your registration of your OFFER to help, the giftee now gains access to the information in your profile. Your name and all comments by others in the community about their dealings with you. They also get the date you joined the GIFTegrity and the number of Gifts you have made and received.
If they decide to accept your help, you will be notified that your offer of help has been accepted, and both Giftor and Giftee will be given each other’s email addresses to directly work out the details. The GIFTegrity does not have your telephone numbers and or residential street addresses. It does not know where you live or work and so it can not give this information to anyone. The giftor and giftee will communicate directly with each other and exchange information as appropriate to effect the exchange of help. Once the exchange occurs, the giftee will delete the request for help from the community database.
Rating the Exchange
Approximately, one week after the offering is removed, you will be queried for comments about the Giftor, and the Giftor will be queried for comments about you.
You may write a one sentence comment and then rate the encounter on a scale of (0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5) ZERO (0 )means that you were not helped by the gift, you should explain why in your comment. ONE (1 ) means you were helped a little and then up to FIVE (5 ) meaning you can’t imagine being better helped even if you had paid top dollar in the marketplace. The Giftor will be credited with a gift given, and you will be credited with a gift received. Only the names of Gifts will be kept in the database after the exchange. If you disagree with a comment, you may post a one sentence rebuttal. All comments and rebuttals are available to future Giftors and Giftees that might choose to relate to you.
Giftor-Giftee Profile:
Members Name
Date Joined GIFTegrity
Comments
Average Rating of all comments (0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
Gifts Given
# in past 30 days
# in past 90 days
# total since joining
Gifts Received
# in past 30 days
# in past 90 days
# total since joining
Read Comments Link to be developed
More information: Introduction to GIFTegrity or Read the Scientific Basis for the GIFTegrity