Mission Statement

The mission statement of this website can be demonstrated in a simple exercise: take a look at the picture above, from the 2010 Jamboree at MIT. Imagine standing in that crowd (or perhaps you were there), looking up towards the camera man in the balcony- how many of those around you do you know? New friends, old acquaintances, brought together in an action-packed weekend to celebrate each other’s hard work and great ideas, but after that amazing weekend, how many will you keep in touch with? How many will you see again?

Baking a Community Cake

According to social group theory, the recipe for making a community is very simple:

• Add equal parts shared activities (a summer spent elbow-to-pipetting elbow)
• and mutual interest (What? You have an account on PLoS too? I just looove reading about cerevisiae);
• a liter of adversity (sleep and food? How can you think about such extravagant things when the wiki is closing down in ten hours?)
• a generous scoop of good time
• and a pinch of magic.

Mix thoroughly, bake in the heat and excitement of a Jamboree.

Cool in the draft of a hundred planes flying back to the corners of the world.

Partake of frequently.

Each summer we throw our life blood in baking these community cakes, but we often forget to cherish the last step. We meet great friends, and slowly lose touch of them to the distances of time and location.

Fear not, for the Internet is Here

This summer though, we will try something different. We will use the powers of the internets, to go boldly where mail and post horses have failed. We will unite the iGEM community, resurrect old ties, and bring forward inspiring stories from past alumni. In preparation for the day that we shall rule the synbio world, we shall find new friends, bring them all together and in the forums bind them. We will forge bonds so strong that even the fires of Mordor will not be able to undo them!!!

Ahem.

So yeah, that’s what we hope this website to do and become. Please help us. Join the Fellowship of the iGEMring today!