Here are the slides (Hint: visit the slideshare site by clicking on the link below to see the speaking notes as well!)

Questions and Discussion

One question that arose was about communication planning. Aspiration has a great resource that they call the Publishing Matrix. You can check it out, download it, and use for free!  I’ve also blogged before about how to map your community and content.

Participants were also curious to dive in more deeply to the listening dashboard. You can see the public dashboard on nonprofit technology that I have set up at http://netvibes.com/amysampleward.  I also have a step-by-step guide to creating one yourself.

Getting started with social media can be a hurdle for many simply because of the new words, terms, and jargon. As part of the Social by Social handbook, we created a jargon buster and A-Z of terms – could be helpful to participants on this webinar, and to anyone looking to share easy to understand definitions of these new concepts.

If you were a participant on the webinar – what questions do you still have? If you weren’t, but you have questions or ideas to share, please do!

Thanks again to Lori for inviting me to participate and engage with your community – I had a blast at the party

Location: online via ReadyTalk

Topic: Social Media Basics for Social Profit Organizations

Description: Are you ready? Have you dipped your toe or your foot into the social media frenzy? Or is it too overwhelming for your organization to even think about? This session will provide an easy to digest overview of the tools available to social profit organizations and some great tips as you enter into the exciting, and for many, new, world of social media.  This webinar is part of Lori Jacobwith’s 2010 Webinar line up.

Related Links:

• Lori Jacobwith’s 2010 Webinars
• Notes and slides
• Blog post with resources

Location: online via ReadyTalk

Topic: Social Media Listening Dashboards

Description: As social media tools like Twitter and Facebook become core components of nonprofit communication strategies, there is a corresponding need to assess how well programmatic messaging and organizational identity are propagating in those channels: “We Tweet; is anybody listening?” In addition, nonprofits have an increasing need to know on what blogs, websites and other online venues they and their issues are being mentioned and discussed, both favorably and less favorably.  This webinar will define the concept of a “social media listening dashboard”, describing how nonprofits can use free and low-cost services to track and stay notified about online communications that relate to their work and brand. Best practices for coordinating online communications will be addressed, and specific how-to’s will provide participants with the information they need to get started in their online listening.

Related Links:

• Blog post
• Notes, slides and recording

Location: Johannesburg and Cape Town, South Africa (participated via ReadyTalk conferencing)

Topic: Social Media, Nonprofits and the Role of Individuals

Description: I presented via ReadyTalk in SANGONeT’s opening plenary for the Johannesburg and Cape Town events, covering data from research on social media use by nonprofits in the US, the UK and a case study.

Related Links:

• Blog post with slides and notes
• Slides
• Notes

Location: ReadyTalk conferencing

Topic: Building Blocks of Social media

Description: Is sharing really caring?  Well, it can at least boost your internal staff knowledge and your positioning as a resource in the community!  In this webinar we’ll discuss the fundamentals of sharing information with social media tools.  You don’t have to know how to do this already to take part—this is for those just starting out!  We’ll cover social bookmarking, tagging, RSS and more, plus the tools you can start using for free to do it all.

Related Links:

• Blog post with notes and slides
• Slides
• Download the recording

Beth Kanter just asked me, “what is your best introduction to social media blog post that you would point a noobie to?”  My answer was, “hmmm – good question!  I’m not sure.  Maybe I’ll have to write one tomorrow!”  So, here it is!

Ready = Resources

Where do I find ’em and what will they give me

Knowing how to find answers to your questions is the most important part of adoptiong new technologies.  You can’t have all your questions now, because you don’t even know what lies ahead.  Here are some of the best places to go first when you need to know how to use something, how to do something, or why you would be interested:

CommonCraft:  These guys get to be a category unto themselves because they are that cool.  They have a series of videos that explain social media tools “in plain English,” meaning pictures, sketches and fun stories that make even new and complex technologies seem fun and manageable.  Check them out!

Blogs:  There is A LOT of information out in the blogosphere for FREE.  Take advantage of it!  AllTop has a nonprofit page that can get you started finding blogs to read.  Once there are some you like, check out the other blogs they link to in posts or in the sidebar to find even more good ones!

WeAreMedia:  One of the best reasons to take advantage of information online is that it’s been crowdsourced.  What’s that mean?  Projects like WeAreMedia are the culmination of many smart people pooling their smartness, not just one person on a soapbox.  The WeAreMedia wiki has a toolbox to help you get started with all kinds of social media tools and is a wiki, so it can continue to be updated and improved.

Groups:  Why connect with groups?  I know that working in a nonprofit organization on tech/social media/web ‘stuff’ can be a lonely job as you’re often the only one doing it.  Connecting with communities online like NetSquared and NTEN mean you can learn, share and collaborate with others around the country and the world working on similar projects, using similar tools and/or facing the same issues.

Set = Strategy

Thinking about you need, not what you want

It’s hard to avoid the “shiny new tool” syndrome; believe me, I know!  But it’s worth it.  Thinking about what your organization is doing now, where you want to be/go, and then how to get there will help you most appropriately pick the tools to do it.  Resources like the POST method and other social media guides can be fun to use (make it a strategy afternoon in the office!) and help focus social media adoption.

Here are the 3 most important things to remember:

• If you build it, they won’t necessarily come
• Tools are only as effective as the resources to maintain them
• Social media doesn’t just mean Facebook

Go = Give it a try!

You’ll never know til you try it…

Isn’t that what they always say?  It’s very true for social media.  You can read all about Twitter and watch other people use it, even, but it really doesn’t make any sense until you do it yourself.  This is true for understanding how tools work but also to see how they could be put to use organizationally.  It wasn’t until many people started blogging for themselves (about a hobby or their family) that they were able to see the way their organization could use blogs to tell stories, share information, and create community.

Don’t be nervous or scared.  You have the resources at the top of this list to help you answer questions and feel your way through.  Like I said, you can’t know the questions now; you have to start using the tools and then ask as you learn.  It’s exciting and fun – and watch out, this social media stuff is pretty addicting! 

Keep us posted how you do and what other resources and support helped you as you started out!

Image: Ready…Set…Go! by Saskia B