Monthly Archive for October, 2009

Community Voices at Digital Engagement Event: Reflections on the Conversation

Published in events and issues. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

At the Digital Engagement Event, back on 6th October, David Wilcox and I helped the Community Voices team facilitate two sessions that focused on the three things more important to digital engagement than the technology. You can check out the Community Voices group on the Social by Social community for videos, notes and other reflections from the event.

We split participants up by topic areas for discussions and Community Voices team members lead the small group conversations, while others used various tools to capture what was said (audio, video, tweets and blogging). After the small group discussions, we had volunteers from each group provide a short report back to the full room of some of the highlights or lingering questions that came out of the conversation. During these report backs I captured a word cloud on a flip chart of key words. Here’s what came out of each session:

Session #1 Word Cloud:

COMMUNITY
What’s of interest?
PEOPLE
Existing Communities
Stereotypes
Individual Level
Lead
Participate
FUN
Creative Approach
Visible Benefits
Relevance
TRUST

Session #2 Word Cloud:

Relevant Content
Community of Interest
Individuals
No Jargon
Partnerships
TRUST
What’s Success?
User Generated
Access to People
COMMUNITIES
Offline vs Online
HUMAN

The words in all caps represent the words that were repeated in each report out. If you look at the two sessions, you’ll see very similar key words and phrases. Even more important to the topic of the sessions and, I think, in Community Voices’ work in general, the words that every group used that appear in all caps are pretty much the same in both. The biggest focus: trust and communities.

Digital inclusion is not about cool social media tools, or even fancy hardware. It starts with people and stays with people.

What do you think?

Were you there, and have ideas to add to this reflection? If you weren’t there, what ideas do you have about the things most important to digital inclusion other than technology? Would love to hear your thoughts!

Remember to visit the Community Voices group to connect with the rest of the conversations going on there.

Published on October 30, 2009 by Amy Sample Ward. 0 Comments

Twitter Lists for Nonprofits

Published in community and strategy. 10 Comments Tags: , , .

Lauren Cochrane has a great post today with ideas for lists organizations could create with Twitter’s new List function.  If you haven’t heard about Lists yet, you’re not behind! They have only been rolled out to around half of the users so far.  You can read more about Lists on the Twitter Blog here.

Lauren outlines 7 Lists that organizations may find useful, including:

  1. Your organisation’s chapters and campaigns.
  2. Related international organisations and campaigns.
  3. Organisations that are somewhat related to your organisation.
  4. Celebrities, politicians and others with a high profile.
  5. Media.
  6. Volunteers.
  7. Retweeters and people who have contacted you.

As I added to Lauren’s post in the comments, I think there’s a lot of opportunity for organizations to leverage the List functionality for boosting visibility of their work and finding new supporters.  Think about the way Facebook Fan pages work, the way we see when others add a Fan page and we may join as well, and so on.  This kind of visibility work taps people’s desire to be cause-related in self identity.

Here’s my idea for an organizational visibility campaign using Lists:

Create a list for Supporters. (Make sure it’s a public list, and link to it from your website and elsewhere.) Encourage people who want to be included on that list to publicly @reply to you and say why they support you. Then, add them to the list.

So, they’ve already publicly promoted you to their whole followers list and as a member of the list can feel a bit more connected with the organization (to retweet messages in the future, help promote campaigns or other projects, etc.).

What do you think?

Would love to hear if you have other ideas about using Lists for organizations. Do you already have the Lists function enabled on your account – have you used it yet?

Published on October 30, 2009 by Amy Sample Ward. 10 Comments

Chain Reaction 2009: the Social by Social game

Published in events and socialbysocial. 2 Comments Tags: , , , , , , .

chain reaction conference logoChain Reaction is coming back to London, and the world, this November.  Last year, innovators and changemakers gathered for a two-day event in London to learn, share, and collaborate to make a better world.  The conversations, presentations and workshops were shared online in real-time thanks to a myriad technology set (including Twitter, blogs, video, etc.).  It’s time again to meet in London and invite the whole world in to the conversations.

Learn more and connect with Chain Reaction!

We succeed when we work together… Chain Reaction is a community of people, passionate about social change, who are saying ‘we can make a difference’.

Chain Reaction is a unique and challenging project based on a very simple idea – that we all have the power of our own actions, but that none of us on our own can change the world, not governments, not businesses, not charities. We succeed when we work together The Chain Reaction Networks helps individuals and organisations to connect together. We provide spaces – at ‘real life events’ and on line – in which people can collaborate with others across the boundaries that divide us and commit their energy to new ideas and new ways of working that will change the world.

Social by Social at Chain Reaction

David Wilcox and I will be leading a round of the Social by Social game!

Drawing on the learnings included in Social by Social: a practical guide to using new technology for social impact, the Social by Social Game walks participants through the strategic steps of creating a social media program for your community, whether you’re part of an organization, a geographic community, a campaign, or anything else.  The game is a fun way to collaborate with others and learn more about what’s needed to create a project that leverages social media.  We promise: it’s fun!

NFPTweetUp after Chain Reaction

The next NFPTweetUp will take place in the evening after the main Chain Reaction event.  This is a great way to pull in new people to the tweetup experience and a super opportunity to keep conversations going even longer from the event.

A meet up of social media users and those interested in the potential of social media for themselves or their organisations.  This event brings together organisations for peer-to-peer knowledge sharing and networking – it will be part learning, part sharing, part social, collaborative, casual and very friendly. Note:  You need to reserve a ticket for this evening session as spaces are limited – tickets are free of charge. (Read more about NFP Tweetup here)

Connect. Collaborate. Commit.

Chain Reaction is taking place November 12th, 2009, at Canary Warf, London.  To find out more, use these links:

You can also follow Chain Reaction on Twitter: use the hashtag #cr09 (you can also follow activity @chainreaction or @cr_events).

Published on October 28, 2009 by Amy Sample Ward. 2 Comments

Great reads from around the web on October 28th

Published in roundup. 0 Comments Tags: .

These are some links I wanted to share from October 28th. Find me on Delicious for more!

  • BE a Government Consultant and Use Social Media: A Guide | Social Media Strategery – Here's an interesting post from Steve Radick about 10 ways to be a good government consultant using social media. "As “Government 2.0” becomes more and more popular, especially here in the Washington area, there seem to be an increasing number of people calling themselves social media or “Gov 2.0″ consultants."
  • Robin Caldwell: Black Like Me? The Missing Faces in Technology and Innovation – Here is a well-written post on a very important topic from Robin Caldwell: "The beautiful thing about the Internet is that it is impervious to Affirmative Action, EEOC compliance and the Fair Housing Act. It could care less about who you love, where you live, and how many degrees you possess. The World Wide Web is the great equalizer that is not interested in race, gender or economic status. Anyone can be a landowner of this prime real estate just like the creators of Twitter whose property reportedly has a one billion dollar valuation. As we inch closer to Web 3.0, the question of ownership will be directly tied to who has access to the necessary tools to build on the "land." And if memory serves me correctly, the one who owns the land is the one who holds the power. So why is it that I see the same names and faces — none of which look like mine –positioned as thought leaders and innovators in Web 2.0?"
  • Eight impressive recommendations on website governance and strategy | Social Media 4 Good – Check out this insightful post from Timo Luege about a report from the UN on web governance. "The United Nations Joint Inspection Body recently spoke to web professional in 40 UN agencies to identify what the most common problems are and how to fixed them. The result is an impressive document that can be used by many non-profit organizations, NGOs, International Organizations and even government ministries and agencies to address similar problems in their own organization. The ”Review of Management of Internet Websites in the United Nations System Organizations“ (31 pages) focuses on website governance and strategy – and I still have to meet a web manager who doesn’t feel this could be improved."
  • The TwitterKids of Tanzania | The Epic Change Blog – A beautiful update from the Epic Change blog where Stacey and Avi are now in Tanzania working with the "school that Twitter built" last year from proceeds of Tweetsgiving, and where this year's donations will help bring technology. "Hujambo from Tanzania! I’m SO EXCITED to write you because I couldn’t wait to share: on Saturday, in the Moivaro village of Arusha, Tanzania, in the shadow of Mt. Meru, Shepherds Junior School was connected to the internet for the very first time. The students sent their first tweets from the TweetsGiving classroom built from your gratitude."
  • Indigenous Mapping: Emerging Cultures on the Geoweb: Where 2.0 Conference 2009 – O’Reilly Conferences, May 19 – 21, 2009, San Jose, CA – Check out the video and presentation slides, too! "Indians in the Amazon rainforest are now using Google Earth to protect their lands from illegal logging, to plan for their future and to share their rich history and culture with the world. How will the Geoweb change and evolve as indigenous peoples begin to participate? What may we have to learn from tribes whose first contact with the modern world has been in our lifetime, and who are currently making the transition from the stone age to the Internet age?"
Published on October 28, 2009 by Amy Sample Ward. 0 Comments

Social by Social Book Giveaway: Winner

Published in socialbysocial. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

Last week, I announced that I was going to give away a free hard copy of the Social by Social book.  To be in the drawing, interested readers just needed to leave a comment.  I put all the names in a bowl and drew one out!

The winner is: Kim!

Even if you didn’t win, you can still read the book for free:

Kim – So excited to get a book in your hands.  Hope that you will come back and give us some feedback, share ideas, and pose questions here that we can all discuss!

Published on October 28, 2009 by Amy Sample Ward. 0 Comments

How To: Create a Listening Dashboard for your Organization

Published in resources, rss and webtools. 5 Comments Tags: , , , .

This month’s Net2 Think Tank question asks, “How do you stay up-to-date online?”  There are so many blogs, news sources, and conversations happening at the same time, every day, and the chances that you’ll be able to find them all without trying is pretty unlikely.  There are hundreds of millions of blogs according to Technorati, and that’s just blogs! Think of all the places your organization’s name, staff, projects, programs or focus area could come up in the news, in campaigns, or in online conversations.

To stay on top of it all, I suggest you create a listening dashboard for your organization – and here’s how to do it!

Getting Started

To create a listening dashboad, I suggest using Netvibes.  This is a free web-based tool that is totally customizeable and can be used both privately or publicly.To get started, just visit http://netvibes.com and create an account.

Finding Feeds

Netvibes will let you track all kinds of things online, all by using RSS feeds or ready-built widgets.  Here are some of the best ways to start listening online:
Google Alerts
This free service from Google let’s you identify key words, phrases, or URLs that you want to track.  Simply visit http://google.com/alerts to get started.  Here are some example searches using NetSquared as the organization.

  • “netsquared” or “net squared” – putting this in the search term area of the alert would mean that any time “NetSquared” is mentioned or “Net Squared” is mentioned, I will get alerted.
  • NetSquared.org – putting this URL in the search term area of the alert means that if someone wrote out our URL on their blog, for example, I would get alerted.
  • “Amy Sample Ward” or “Billy Bicket” – putting this in the search term area of the alert means that any time Billy’s name (the NetSquared Director) or my own (the NetSquared Global Community Development Manager) is mentioned online, I will get alerted.

Try changing out the organization name and key staff names to match your organization’s information and give it a try!

You have a few other options when setting up the Google Alert.  You could choose to monitor only news sources, only blogs, and so on.  I would recommend choosing the “comprehensive” option as you never know where your name might pop up!

As far as the email vs feed option – we are using Netvibes so you can cut down on email!  Choose the “feed” option and then hit save on that alert.  You can then click on the linked “Feed” word that has the RSS icon next to it (the icon looks like a signal).  The URL you are given will look pretty weird (see the screen shot example below). Skip to the bottom to “Add Feeds to Netvibes” for next steps.

google alert rss example

Twitter Search
If you want to stay on top of all the conversations on Twitter about your organization or the topic of your work, using a feed from Twitter Search is really useful. To get a feed of the Twitter conversations, visit: http://search.twitter.com.  Similar to a Google Alert, type in some key words or phrases using the quotations, like, “netsquared” or “net squared” – it’s just like the examples above!

After you hit “search,” you will see there’s a “Feed for this query” link on the right side of the screen.  Click on that and copy the URL, then jump down to the bottom to “Add Feeds to Netvibes” for next steps.

Blogs
Using the two tools above, you should get notified whenever a blogger uses your organization’s name or projects, etc.  But another great way to listen and tap into online conversations is to follow blogs about your sector or location and find opportunities where you can contribute to the conversation.  It is great to comment and be visible in the community of thinkers and doers in your sector.  There will even be instances where you can provide information or resources from your organization that may be relevant to the conversation.

Find blogs about your sector and subscribe in the same way, via RSS. A great way to find blogs relevant to your organization is to use Google Blog Search.  You can also follow one of the sector-specific blogs from Change.org.

When you find a blog you want to follow, find the “subscribe to RSS” link or icon in the sidebar, or use the RSS icon in your browser’s URL bar (the icon is a square signal).  Copy the feed URL and then jump down to “Add Feeds to Netvibes” for next steps.

Add Feeds to Netvibes

Now that you have found all kids of RSS feeds you want to track, you need to add them to your Netvibes page.  With Netvibes you can create tabs to help organize all these feeds, too!

  1. Copy the full URL of the feed you’d like to add
  2. Go to your Netvibes page, and hit the green “add content” button in the upper left of the screen
  3. Select “add feed” and paste in the URL
  4. When it shows you the preview, click “add” and it will appear in a box below

To move the boxes, simply click on the top of the box (a hand icon should appear instead of your mouse arrow) and drag the box where you’d like it to sit on the page.

To add tabs, click on “add tab” and name it something useful for categorizing the feeds in that section.

Start Listening

There you go!  With your listening dashboard in place you can start monitoring what’s being said about you, your work, and your sector instantly.  You can add to it any time you find another blog or item to follow, just follow the same steps as above!

About Net2 Think Tank

Net2 Think Tank is a monthly blogging event open to anyone and is a great way to participate in an exchange of ideas.  We post a question or topic to the NetSquared community and participants submit responses either on their own blogs or on the NetSquared Community Blog.  Tag your post with “net2thinktank” and email a link to us to be included. At the end of the month, the entries get pulled together in the Net2 Think Tank Round-Up.

Published on October 27, 2009 by Amy Sample Ward. 5 Comments

350.org Day of Climate Action: From Lake Como

Published in events and issues. 2 Comments Tags: , , , , .

I’m so honored to be here in Lake Como at the Rockefeller Bellagio Center.  A group of technologists and social entrepreneurs/Ashoka Fellows have gathered here for a 3 day conference to discuss and implement social technology tools into the social impact work for projects around the world.  Day 2 of our event is the International Day of Climate Action so even though we are not in our home towns to take part in local actions, we couldn’t let the opportunity pass.  We gathered together to take a photo on the lake and compile a video about where we are from and how we all are calling for the same thing: strong decisions in Copenhagen for positive change on climate change.  Let’s focus on 350ppm!

Learn more about 350.org and get involved in the Day of Climate Action!

Published on October 24, 2009 by Amy Sample Ward. 2 Comments

Hello world!

Published in Uncategorized. 1 Comment

Welcome to WordPress. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!

Published on October 23, 2009 by admin. 1 Comment

Great reads from around the web on October 20th

Published in roundup. 0 Comments Tags: .

These are some links I wanted to share from October 20th. Find me on Delicious for more!

  • Social Media and Technology: What Nonprofits Need To Know « Nonprofit Communications: Duck Call Blog – I really love the highlights Farra shares from the “Social Media and Technology: What Nonprofits Need To Know" panel she attended yesterday as part of #baruchnp, at Baruch College in New York. The panel had some great minds, including Allison Fine, Andrew Rasiej, and Deanna Zandt. Check out her live tweet stream and the highlights from the conversation.
  • It’s Time to Focus on Volunteers’ Results – Philanthropy.com – Evan Hochberg has a terrific post on Philanthropy.com starting an important conversation on what to do about all this focus on volunteering and service. "Government, nonprofit, and business leaders must together help to solve this problem by applying basic principles of supply and demand to volunteering and service. With the renewed national emphasis on volunteerism, we must remember who the customers are. The customers in this case are the communities where we live and work."
  • Craig Newmark: A Nerd’s Take On The Future Of News Media – Craig Newmark, the founder of Craigslist.org, has a great post on Huffington Post – it's applicable to all those creating content, sharing news, and pushing information out via online platforms. "There are a lot of new technologies which already affect news consumption and future business models. As a nerd, I'm excited by the new tech, particularly mobile, including new display systems and pervasive connectivity. However, the tech is secondary, not nearly as important as repairing some current issues with trust and curation."
  • 29 Nonprofit Bloggers to Follow on Twitter « Nonprofit Tech 2.0 – I'm so honored to be part of this list! If you are looking for others in the nonprofit technology field to connect with on Twitter or blogs, check it out! "Last week I asked the followers of @NonprofitOrgs to nominate their favorite nonprofit bloggers. The list below is the result of that “Tweet Out”. Some on the list are very known in the nonprofit sector, and others are completely under the radar and providing some very valuable resources to the nonprofit sector."
  • Tech News: How Can Technology Help in Today’s Economy? – "In this online age when people have a multitude of profiles on the Internet, social networking stands out as being the tie that binds, both online and in real-life, professionally and personally. This article will survey social networking, and then show you how you can get the most benefit out of it for your nonprofit organization. Whether your goal is to raise money, increase awareness for your cause, find volunteers or find business contacts, you will have a better understanding of what all the talk is about and how to join the conversation."
  • Generation Thumb – Connections – Steve McLaughlin at Blackbaud has started a great conversation here about the difference in fundraising with Boomers, Generation X and Millennials. I think the differences aren't just important to understand but are so big they can mean campaigns only connect with one group and not others. You can add to the conversation in the comments, too.
Published on October 20, 2009 by Amy Sample Ward. 0 Comments

Getting Attention Nonprofit Tagline Awards Winners Announced

Published in challenge and marketing. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

Both large and small nonprofits earned top honors this week for their attention-getting taglines, demonstrating again that an organization of any size can craft a powerful, pithy motto to build awareness and connect with its key audiences.  Organizations of all sizes participated in the Getting Attention Nonprofit Tagline Awards, hosted by president of Nancy Schwartz & Company and publisher at GettingAttention.org.

The 13 winners were selected from 60 finalists drawn from 1,702 nonprofit taglines submitted to the 2009 Getting Attention Nonprofit Tagline Awards competition. More than 4,800 nonprofit professionals cast votes in the final selection round.

The awards program is designed to encourage nonprofits to effectively use taglines, a high-impact, low-cost marketing tactic often overlooked or under-emphasized by nonprofits; Nancy says, “A nonprofit’s tagline is hands down the briefest, easiest and most effective way to communicate your organization’s identity.”

Nancy says that the winning taglines in the 2009 competition demonstrate how powerful taglines can work as a first step in branding or as a highly-effective tool to refresh a nonprofit’s messaging, emphasize its commitment to its work and/or revive tired positioning.

A great tagline can help people find you, too!  Searching on Google or even on Facebook for issues or ideas can tap into words in your tagline that may not be included in your organization’s name.

2009 TAGLINE AWARD WINNERS

Arts & Culture: Big Sky. Big Land. Big History. — Montana Historical Society

The Montana Historical Society takes its state’s most elemental and distinctive characteristics (Big Sky, Big Land) and deftly melds them with its mission in a way that generates excitement. The result is a tagline with punch and focus. And a big hit with voters.

Associations: Building community deep in the hearts of Texans —TexasNonprofits

TexasNonprofits’ tagline tweaks the title of an iconic American popular song from the 1940s and brilliantly connects it to the spirit, passion and mission of the state’s citizenry. A great example of how word play works in a tagline.

Civic Benefit: Holding Power Accountable — Common Cause

Common Cause’s tagline leaves no doubt about the organization’s mission, unique value and commitment. It’s definitive, with a powerful economy of words. An excellent example of the tagline clarifying the nonprofit’s focus, when the organization’s name alone doesn’t do so.

Education: A Mind is a Terrible Thing to Waste® — UNCF -The United Negro College Fund

This 38-year-old tagline from UNCF still rings strong. It elegantly delivers its straight up, powerful message. When your tagline is the boiled-down essence of your argument for support, you’ve achieved tagline bliss. That’s why this one is a classic.

Environment & Animals: Because the earth needs a good lawyer — Earthjustice

Earthjustice capitalizes on what people do understand – that a lawyer protects rights – and uses that framework to dramatically position its role and impact in the environmental movement. And it does so with humor. If your tagline makes people smile or light up, without stepping on your message, then you’ve made an emotional connection…Bravo.

Grantmaking: If you want to be remembered, do something memorable. — The Cleveland Foundation

It’s a rare tagline that manages to recruit people to its cause both unabashedly and effectively. That’s exactly what The Cleveland Foundation pulls off here. Clear, concise, and…memorable! A model for any organization promoting philanthropy.

Health & Sciences: Finding a cure now…so our daughters won’t have to. © — PA Breast Cancer Coalition

The PA Breast Cancer Coalition’s tagline is both emphatic and poignant. It strikes a deep emotional chord, and conveys the focus and impact of its work without being overly sentimental. “Finding a cure,” a highly used phrase for health organizations, is bolstered here by the appeal to solve a problem now so future generations won’t suffer from it.

Human Services: Filling pantries. Filling lives. — Houston Food Bank

With simple but effective use of word repetition, the Houston Food Bank clarifies its work and impact. It delivers on two distinct levels—the literal act of putting food on people’s shelves and the emotional payoff to donors and volunteers. An excellent example of a mission-driven tagline.

International, Foreign Affairs & National Security: Send a Net. Save a Life. — Nothing But Nets

Short, punchy and laser-sharp, the Nothing But Nets tagline connects the action with the outcome. It’s inspirational in the simplicity of its message and its reason for existing. The kind of tagline nonprofits should model.

Jobs & Workforce Development: Nothing Stops A Bullet Like A Job — Homeboy Industries

Homeboy Industries’ tagline is a mini-masterpiece, telling a memorable story in just six words. It stops you in your tracks, makes you want to learn more and sticks with you afterwards. That’s the kind of potent nonprofit messaging every organization desires.

Media: Telling stories that make a difference — Barefoot Workshops

If your organization’s name is vague, it’s critical that your tagline be distinct. Barefoot Workshops’ tagline sums up the transformative power of stories to create change in people and their communities, so clarifying the organization’s focus. Saved by the tagline!

Religion & Spiritual Development: Open hearts. Open minds. Open doors. — The people of The United Methodist Church

The work of religious organizations often operates on several planes at once — a challenge for any organization and its messaging. Here, The United Methodist Church delivers a tagline trinity that supports its applied faith mission and is warm, enthusiastic and embracing.

Other: A head for business. A heart for the world. — SIFE (Students In Free Enterprise)

If an organization’s identity contains within in it a distinct contrast between its key characteristics, that’s often good tagline material. Here, SIFE surprises with its crystal-clear tagline that conveys not only what’s unique about it but also capitalizes on the contrast between profit and compassion.

The full report will be out in November with more details about the 13 winners and all of the entries and more! For your free copy on publication, subscribe to the free Getting Attention e-update.

Published on October 20, 2009 by Amy Sample Ward. 0 Comments