Tag Archive for 'netsquared'

Creating Social Change with Social Media

nten

Over the last week, technology has played an unprecedented role in bringing aid to and saving lives in Haiti. Over $22 million has been raised by the American Red Cross via text message (about a fifth of total Haiti-related giving to the organization so far). And then there’s the role that Facebook and Twitter are playing.

Those social media tools, along with dozens of others, have been used to help family and friends locate one another, to direct food, clothing and medical support to specific locations, and to help direct rescue workers to individuals alive and trapped under rubble.

That’s social media for social good, and that’s exactly what NTEN and NetSquared want to highlight with Beth Kanter this spring at SXSWi.

Of course, we don’t just want to talk about Haiti — we want to highlight some amazing work from around the sector, while also building a nice little library of case studies we can all learn from. So, we invite you to share your social media for social good story. We’ll choose three to highlight in our session, and we’ll share all the stories we can on our sites and at We Are Media.

Submit your Social Media for Social Good story today!

NetSquared White Paper: Building Community To Foster Social Innovation

At NetSquared (where I am happy to serve as the Global Community Development Manager) we are proud, honored, and in awe every day of the very special global community made up of local groups and their networks, the ties between local groups around the world, and the project teams from all over the globe focused on innovations that help us make the world a better place. Reflecting on the Community and the work being done in every corner of the world, we’ve tried to articulate some of the aspects that make the NetSquared Community so unique and also so powerful.

This new white paper captures just a few of the stories and the qualities that make up the special place where we all come together. Whether it’s small communities coming together offline to train and share knowledge about using technology or it’s innovation projects competing in the same contest working together instead – we hope you’ll find this short paper compelling and share it with your networks. We hope you’ll add your story to the mix, too!

You can download the paper directly here.

Share your best post in the Net2 Think Tank

It’s already December and we are fast approaching 2010.  As a way to hold on a bit longer to 2009, this Net2 Think Tank asks for your best blog post from the year.  We know you wrote about some really interesting things, shared great ideas and even captured conversations and presentations on your blog or website this year.  And we don’t want it to get tucked away under what’s to come in 2010, at least not yet!

Share your best blog post from 2009 one more time!

Topic:

What was your favorite, most read, most tweeted, or most commented on blog post from this year?  This is your chance to bring it back into the spotlight!

It doesn’t matter what the topic was or how long or short it is, we just want to wrangled together the best of the best for the last Net2 Think Tank of the year.

Deadline: Saturday, December 12th

How to contribute:

Be sure to get your submission in by emailing Amy the link to your post by Saturday, December 12th.

The roundup of contributions will be posted on the NetSquared blog on Monday, December 14th.

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.

Join me for a chat with The Feast

Join us for a chat!  NetSquared is the guest host of The Feast’s next Twitter chat about the power of social media for social good. We’ll be tweeting questions such as “how can we better leverage social media for less talk and more action?” and we’re looking for remarkable people like you to help answer them!

We may be the host, but we need all of you to join us to make the conversation interesting!

Join NetSquared & The Feast

We want to hear from you to, so leave your questions in the comments section below, or send them via twitter to @alldaybuffet.  Look forward to a Feast on twitter!
How to Join the Conversation:

  1. Follow @alldaybuffet on twitter
  2. Follow the #feastongood hashtag
  3. Join the conversation by using #feastongood in your related tweets on Monday, September 21st from 3 PM – 4 PM EST
  4. View the previous Twitter Chat on Design with William Drenttel of Winterhouse & Twitter Chat on Social Entrepreneurship with Echoing Green

Feast on Twitter Details:

Hosts include Net Squared (@NetSquared) and Amy Sample Ward from NetSquared (@amyrsward), All Day Buffet Team (@alldaybuffet), and ADB co-founders Michael Karnjanaprakorn (@mikekarnj) and Jerri Chou (@jchou).
Feast Conference Details:
The most creative conference on social innovation is right around the corner. A gathering of the world’s greatest innovators from across industries and society to empower, inspire and engage each other in creating world-shaking change, The Feast is sure to get you full on good.

  • Date: Thursday, October 1, 2009
  • Time: 9 AM – 5 PM
  • Location: The Times Center, New York City
  • REGISTER TODAY!

Net2 at 09NTC

At NTEN’s ‘09 Nonprofit Technology Conference a couple weeks ago, I participated in the Ignite Presentations which was a load of fun.  An Ignite presentation is a five minute presentation, with 20 slides that change automatically every 15 seconds.  It’s quite a rush, for the speaker and the audience alike!

I presented about an idea we at NetSquared have been tossing around and wanted to share with the public to start a conversation and see where it goes: what would it be like, how would it work, and how would it look if we moved the concept of Global Challenges on the Net2 platform into the hands of local communities to use the same process to find innovative answers to local issues.  Check it out below!

09NTC: Let’s Connect in San Fran!

nten ntc

NetSquared’s Global Community Builder, Amy Sample Ward, will be at the NTC this year to connect and collaborate with friends, colleagues and new faces in the sector. Here’s how to find Amy and connect with NetSquared.

How to follow along and connect:

Sessions and Events

Sunday, April 26

Net Tuesday & 501 Tech Club Affinity Group Meeting

1:30 pm – 3:00 pm
A chance for local organizers to come together, network, ask questions, etc.
Takeaways:

  1. A chance to connect with other local organizers
  2. Clarity on the two monthly events
  3. More knowledge, confidence and excitement about organizing in your city

Monday, April 27

Lunch Time Table Discussion

12:00 pm – 1:30 pm
Come chat with me about online communites, some of the topics of conversation may include:

  • What have been some changes or issues recently with your online community?
  • Do you use/how did you create your terms of use?
  • How many staff use your online community space in their work?
  • What kind of presence do you consider your online community?

NetSquared Office Hours

3:00 pm – 5:00pm
Have questions about NetSquared, Net Tuesdays or innovation Challenges? Intesreted to learn more about how NetSquared is connecting those at the intersection of social media and social change? Have questions about general nonprofit technology “stuff?” Come by the TechSoup Global booth in the expo area for Office Hours with me!

Tuesday, April 28

The Rational Pursuit of Change: How the Web requires new tactics, not the evolution of current ones

3:30 pm – 5:00 pm
The Internet has a proven ability to shift the balance of power between individuals and organizations. But for online activism to reach its full potential, we – and our constituents and supporters – need to go beyond low-hanging, traditional online tactics. It’s time to go back to basics and figure out how to effectively organize.

This session will revisit the challenges of collective action in an era of “open source activism,” and highlight how the Web can help overcome those hurdles. It’s up to us to redefine how people can participate in movements that actually do something.

Takeaways:

  1. Engagement: The paradox of tactics (such as “easy petitions”) with a low barrier to entry – they don’t drive engagement or long-term relationships. Learn how to engage people that stick around to support your mission.
  2. Action: Giving people the right tools at the right time only matters if you ask them to do the right thing. Learn solutions for moving your audiences forward on a unified front towards a shared goal.
  3. Togetherness: The dream of the Web is a model maps our influence and values to appropriate collective action that has reached its tipping point. Learn the best ways to crowdsource your mission and measure progress toward your goals.

Ignite Presentation

5:30 pm – 7:00 pm
Come here about many different projects, ideas, and organizations in 5 minute rounds! If you’re familiar with Ignite, you know it’s an awesome way to show off. If you’re not, Ignite is a style of presentation:

  • Participants have five minutes to speak on a subject, accompanied by 20 slides.
  • Each slide is displayed for 15 seconds.
  • Slides are automatically advanced.
  • Oh, the excitement!

I’ll be presenting the slides below: Local is the new Global

Net Tuesdays

Every month, the NetSquared community comes together at Net Tuesday events in over 33 cities around the world to mix, swap stories and ideas, build new relationships, and reinforce the online Community. These events are great opportunities to find others working at the intersection of technology and social change, share what you are working on or ask for help, feedback, and collaborators.

Find local Meetups or start your own.

Net2 Local – Ignite Presentation

Here are the slides of my Ignite Presentation: Local is the new Global. It’ll just take 5 minutes of your time, and I’m excited to share some of the brainstorming we’ve been having at Net2. Come at 5:30 on Tuesday to the main presentation space to hear all about it!

Are you interested in learning more? Want to keep the conversation going? How we do that will depend on how many people are intersted and where the conversation goes, so until then, please just email me and let’s connect!

TechSoup Global Talk Backs

Tell us what your biggest tech challenges are; download about budget cuts and how they affect your work; vent about your increased work load…YOU do the talking and we will listen. Help us help you – with new programs, new products and new ideas on how to make your [work] life easier. Each participant will have the opportunity to win cool raffle prizes ranging from Amazon gift cards to MP3 players and flip cameras.

The group is limited to 21 participants! Visit our vBooth or booth at the Science Fair for details and to sign up for the Tuesday Talk Back. If you want to sign up early you can email your interest to TSG here.

N2Y4 Mobile Challenge Launched!

Originally posted on the NetSquared blog.

n2y4mobileN2Y4’s Mobile Challenge calls for your world-changing ideas of how mobile applications can help citizens, groups and others create a better world for everybody.

Submissions are now open for your mobile Projects but the deadline is April 3rd, so get yours in today!

Learn more about N2Y4 and participate!

How it Works

NetSquared and our Challenge Sponsors invite submissions of innovations in mobile technologies for use by civil society.  Through a NetSquared Community vote, 14 Featured Projects will be selected to participate in this year’s NetSquared Conference (link to conference page).  Two representatives from each of the 15 Featured Projects will be invited to present their ideas in person at N2Y4, May 26-27, 2009 and compete for cash prizes.

The Conference provides participants an opportunity to attend interactive sessions facilitated by leaders working at the cross-roads of technology and social change; create new collaborations, and participate in a uniquely democratic approach to funding innovation through the Project voting process.

The top 3 Finalists will be selected by conference attendees, and announced May 27 at N2Y4.  $50,000 of funding will be distributed among 14 Featured Projects.  First place $25,000, Second Place $15,000 and Third Place $10,000.  All 14 Projects will receive complimentary airfare and accommodations at the event.

Learn more about N2Y4 Conference here.

How to Apply

Four Easy Steps to Participate:

  1. Register and/or Login
  2. Click on Username
  3. Click on “Submit a Project to the Project Gallery” under My Project Idea
  4. Select “N2Y4″ from the Prize Tag menu located below Additional Cause Area Tags on the Submission Form

If you already have a Project in NetSquared’s Project Gallery that you would like to submit to this year’s Innovation Challenge, here’s how:

  1. Visit your Project Page by clicking on your username and following the link to My Project Idea
  2. Click the “Edit” tab on your Project and select the corresponding “Prize Tag”
  3. Edit your Project information for relevancy and save

Learn more about N2Y4 and participate here!

New Mobile Challenge: NetSquared + UC Berkeley

Originally posted on the NetSquared blog.

NetSquared is pleased to announce a new Partner Challenge with University of California at Berkeley’s Human Rights Center. This Challenge encourages innovations for mobile technologies in human rights investigations and advocacy.  The Challenge is now open for submissions – the deadline to submit is March 13th!

Learn more about the HRC Mobile Challenge.

About the HRC Mobile Challenge

Recent innovations in science and technology, especially mobile technologies, have provided human rights advocates, journalists, and scientists with new tools to expose war crimes and other serious violations of human rights and disseminate this information in real time throughout the world. Cell phones, combined with GPS, cameras, video, audio, and SMS are transforming the way the world understands and responds to emerging crises. Handheld data collection devices, such as PDAs, provide researchers with new ways of documenting mass violence and attitudes toward peace, justice, and social reconstruction in conflict zones.

Through a NetSquared Community vote, 10 finalists will be chosen. All 10 finalists will be invited to present their ideas at an international conference, “The Soul of the New Machine: Human Rights, Technology, and New Media,” at UC Berkeley, May 4 and 5, 2009. A panel of judges, selected by the Human Rights Center, will choose three winners, to be announced at the conference. Winners will receive cash awards of $15,000 (first place), $10,000 (second place), and $5,000 (third place) to implement their ideas.

How to Participate

Here’s the four easy steps to submit your Project:

  • Register and/or Login
  • Click on Username
  • Click on “Submit a Project to the Project Gallery” under My Project Idea
  • Select “HRC-UCB” from the Prize Tag menu located below Additional Cause Area Tags on the Submission Form

For more information about the HRC Mobile Challenge:

USAID Development 2.0 Challenge: Extended Deadline Dec. 5th!

If you have an idea for mobile technologies for good and you haven’t submitted to the USAID Development 2.0 Challenge project gallery yet, it’s your lucky day!

The Challenge submission deadline is extended to December 5th!

To participate in the USAID Development Challenge please Register and Login and submit your idea. To view, comment on or star a project, visit the USAID Project Gallery.

About the Challenge

Mobile technology, including everything from inventive applications for smart phones to simple text messaging, is increasingly ubiquitous in the developing world. USAID challenges you to explore its potential through an innovation for maximum development impact in areas such as health, banking, education, agricultural trade, or other pressing development issues.

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the U.S. Government agency that delivers economic and humanitarian assistance worldwide on behalf of the American people, is sponsoring a challenge to find the best in mobile innovations for good. Through a NetSquared community vote, fifteen finalists will be chosen. A panel of judges, selected by USAID, will then select the winners. The first place winner will receive a grant of $10,000, the two runner-ups will receive grants of $5,000 each. All three winners will have the opportunity to present their ideas to senior USAID officials, experts, and the public in Washington D.C.

How It Works

Individuals and organizations working with mobile technologies to create change are invited to share their projects with the community through the USAID Development 2.0 Challenge submission form. Once you’ve hit submit for your challenge, it’s public. This provides you with an opportunity to get feedback from your community, the USAID community, the NetSquared community and other friendly collaborators.

Once the project submission process has closed, we will hold a community vote to select the top fifteen projects. Those projects will then go in front of a panel of USAID-selected judges who will determine the three winners.

Four Easy Steps to Participate:

  • Register and/or Login
  • Click on Username
  • Click on “Submit a Project to the Project Gallery” under My Project Idea
  • Select “USAID” from the Prize Tag menu located below Additional Cause Area Tags on the Submission Form

Learn more about the Challenge and enter your idea here.

Follow along with Millennials Changing America!

Originally posted on the NetSquared blog.

The tour is underway, and you can follow along!

Millennials Changing America is a research tour that seeks to paint a portrait of millennial activism as it exists today by traveling throughout the United States talking with millennials of all backgrounds, ideals, upbringing, and political persuasions.

Check it out!

What is a ‘Millennial Activist’

Here’s how Alex Steed, the Millennial behind this project, describes it:

To put it simply, a millennial activist is someone who is:

a) an activist

b) a member of the millennial generation (Generation Y; those born between 1980 and 1992), defined by their digital connectivity

and thus:

c) integrates computer savvy into their service, civic participation, and activism.

Or in the words of someone who has been focusing on this topic for longer than I have, social entrepreneur and writer Allison Fine, “Young people, ages 15-29, who practice a nascent model of civic participation that combines immersion in social causes, idealism, digital fluency.”

A great example of a Millennial Activist is Alex Steed, who is developing and carrying out the MCA tour.  A freelance journalist and activist, he has worked with The Point, Change.org and even NetSquared.  Learn more about Alex here.

How to follow the MCA tour

Throughout October, November and December, Alex will be traveling around the country posting audio, video, observations of, and interviews with millennial activists.

With the content collected and created along the way, Millennials Changing America aims to:

  • Inspire young, budding global citizens with the stories, techniques, and testimonials of millennial activists far and wide.
  • Share with as large an audience as possible the empowering potential of interactive communication technologies.
  • Highlight new and existing ways that young people are using the Internet to come together both on and offline.
  • Shift reportage of activity within the millennial realm away from non-millennials.
  • Observe what Internet activism and civic participation looks like beyond the well-covered campaigns of Rep. Ron Paul and Sen. Barack Obama.
  • Pump some constructive and positive stories into the info-sphere.
  • Dispel disproportionately reported stories about the dangers of Internet usage (without undermining efforts to ensure intelligent and cautionary usage).

Because the goal of the MCA tour is to ignite conversation and open dialogue, all of the media produced throughout the tour is posted and distributed in many different locations.  You can check out the MCA website and see an archive of all information, videos, and updates here.

Are you or do you know changemakers of the Millennial generation?  Let Alex know!