Beth's Blog: Nonprofits and Social Media

Blogher: Getting it on for a Cause!

Yesterday, on very little sleep, I did a session at Blogher.  Britt Bravo did a superb job of moderating. VITA and Kaylyn, fellow panelists, were inspiring.  Katie took excellent notes!    Thank you!

Nonprofit BlogHer: Starfish Circle

I finally arrived in Chicago after getting up at 3:00 am to catch an early flight.  So, yesterday was on less hours of sleep than number of lattes consumed.  I had three lattes.  Do the math.

But, I had an opportunity to meet Sheila Bernus Dowd who writes a blog called Starfish Circle where she shares her insights about the nonprofit community in Silicon Valley.  Check it out!

It is always fun to meet readers who you have never met face-to-face and so I had to get my photo taken with her!

Why I'm Not In Chicago at BlogHer Right Now

I should be in Chicago at the pre-conference sessions and the reception for BlogHer Contributing Editors right now.  But, all flights out of RI and Boston on United were cancelled due to the above Thunderstorms.  I was lucky that I snagged a 6:00 AM flight out tommorrow morning.  Hopefully, I will arrive just in time for my panel session, although I hope I won't be too over caffeinated.

I'm Speaking at BlogHer and Blogme2007

I'm off to my third BlogHer Conference!  This year I"m speaking on a panel called "Getting It On(line) for a Cause.   While PowerPoint presentations with deadening bullet points are banned from sessions,  I a few slides to share.  I use it mostly to help me organize my thoughts and not as part of the presentation.  My draft which will change drastically can be found here.

Meanwhile, I'm finally doing the ten-second blogme meme: I'm going to have to use my BlogHer 2005 T-shirt slogan again -- "Enough about me, let's talk about my blog" a big hat tip to Alexandra Samuels.

Two Nonprofit Leaders of the Future: Heather and Rosetta

Rosetta and Heather

In a few weeks, the NP2020 will be bring together individuals from around the country to begin a discussion about leadership in the nonprofit sector at the Pew Campus of Grand Valley State University in Grand Rapids, Michigan. One of the conference participants is Young Nonprofit Professionals Network which is focused on the next generation of leaders in the nonprofit sector by supporting their career needs.   So, this got me thinking about women who may in the early stages of their nonprofit careers and also blog.  Do they exist?  What are they writing about?

I follow the Nonprofit Management and Operations blog written by the very talented Heather Carpenter.   Heather recently left her job at Aspiration and is moving to San Diego to pursue a PhD in Leadership with nonprofit focus at the University of San Diego.   I hope she will find time to continue blogging or at least guest blogging!  Her last blog post at her old job is how to prepare for employee transition!

A few weeks ago I discovered the Nonprofit Management Wiki facilitated by Rosetta Thurman who calls herself a "nonprofit geek."   The wiki includes an excellent resource list and schedule of nonprofit management professional development opportunities.

Rosetta grew up in the public housing projects in Cleveland, Ohio and went on to college, earning a undergraduate degree in English and a Master's in Organizational Management in Nonprofit Management.   She works the Director of Development and Finance for a membership association in Washington, DC.  As notes in her biography,  "My family didn't have a lot of resources, and if it weren't for the nonprofits in our community who helped us in our times of need, I don't know where I'd be today.  Given my own experience, I firmly believe that change is possible, no matter what the situation.  I cam to the nonprofit sector to be part of that change."

She writes a blog, called "Perspective from the Pipeline" - a nonprofit professional development blog.  It's her observations on the nonprofit sector from the next generation.   She received a scholarship to attend the recent Bridge Conference in DC.  I attended the conference, but I presented there as well and didn't get a chance to attend as many sessions I would have liked.  So, I was pleased to come across her blog posts about the conference.

I spent quite a bit of time searching on Technorati and following blogrolls, but was not able to find other young women working in the nonprofit sector and who are blogging their observations and thoughts about the sector.  If you write about this topic, or know of a blog, please leave a url in the comments!

Cross posted at BlogHer.

Using Social Networking Sites for Campaigns: An Interview with Carie Lewis, HSUS

Carie Lewis, Internet Marketing Manager
Humane Society of the United States

In April,  I blogged about HSUS "Stop Canada's Cruel Seal Hunt" campaign over at blogher and my blog and last December on my blog as part of a roundup of articles on using social networking spaces for campaigns.   I've been following Carie Lewis's posts on the NTEN Affinity groups as well as other nonprofit tech listservs (yes, I still do read listservs) and caught up with her for an interview.   

As part of her job as Internet Marketing Manager in the Online Communications and Media department at the HSUS. she manages all social networking profiles, online advertising, search engine optimization, and online marketing techniques for campaigns.   Her main focus is on ways to use web 2.0 tools for online advocacy.

1.   Tell me about the Stop Canada's Cruel Seal Hunt campaign?

This campaign was generated to as a unique way to get people involved in taking action against the Canadian seal hunt. We wanted something different; not just another MySpace profile. So through the eyes of a baby seal, people were able to interact with him, hear his stories, send photos of what they were doing to help, and participate in ways to take action online (posting banners, signing the boycott, sending emails to the prime minister, etc.) People became very fond of sunny and were motivated to do whatever they could to help.

2.  Can you talk a little bit about how you mix or integrate social media tools with more, er, "traditional" online marketing strategies?

This was mostly a myspace campaign. We pointed people to youtube to watch the videos and to our website to participate in the advocacy. We also coordinated and integrated the content and blog postings with our hsus myspace page and rebecca’s online journal, without coming right out and saying this was being put together by the HSUS.

3.  Why did your organization integrate these social media tools - how did you choose specific tools?

We already had a strong following on the hsus myspace and youtube channels, so we used our supporters there to direct their attention to this page. Rebecca’s online journal told the tales of what she saw, so we just reworded her experiences through the eyes of a seal and posted blog comments from him. We also used youtube because it’s a great place for us to post our most graphic videos in hopes that they go viral.

4. What kind of research or community participation or presence did you have on these social networking sites before launching the campaign? What kind of experiments did you do first?

We had taken the time to build up a strong following on our hsus myspace page – it took about 7 months to get to 17,000 friends. The first thing we did was create a group dedicated to the seal hunt. We saw a flood of new members once we first created it, but then it died off. There was nothing exciting to really get people to come back after they joined. It was the same old same old – what you can do. We knew we needed a new angle, so we chose to go with storytelling. That’s why the myspace page by a seal was so effective – people kept coming back to see what he was experiencing and seeing if he was still alive – then we integrated our advos and other campaign materials into his story. We also created a custom profile and layout, which gave his page a different edge.

5.  Why and how has using these tools been effective?  Can you share some stats?   What was the result of the myspace page?

Sunny (the seal) had over 2,000 friends and 14,000 profile views in 3 weeks. We had about 500 new signups to our email list from MySpace. That includes the advocacy actions and the web banners. This does not include those who were already in our email system or have participated in advos in the past, so you can imagine the total # that participated is much higher.

6. What kinds of conversations in-house/on-staff did the desire to integrate social networking tools into your work spark? How much staff time did it take to incorporate the social media tools?

For this campaign, we had 4 people involved – myself, who was going to handle the design and maintenance /correspondence for the profile, the campaign manager to make sure it followed along with the goals of the campaign, the person that was actually up on the ice to make sure it was realistic and followed with what she was witnessing, and an employee in Canada that did the blogging and made sure the profile had a Canadian “feel” to it. The four of us corresponded on the strategy of the campaign and how it would flow. It took about a week to plan and implement start to finish, then about 15 minutes every other day to blog, and a half hour a day to handle the correspondence (comments, emails, friend requests)

7. If you were to give advice to others about incorporating social networking/media tools, what are the five most important things to consider or do?

1 – Take the time to build your friends list. We reached out to celebrities, other seal groups and profiles, current hsus friends, profiles and groups that had to do with the issues (global warming, animal welfare), Canadian-specific profiles, etc. Post your badges on their comment space once you have friends. Promote to your current constituency in any way you can. Include a link in emails, on your campaign page, on your homepage, blogs, etc. Once we added links in these places, we received an influx of friend requests.

2 – Remember the WIIFM (what's in it for me).  We created badges that people could put on their pages to show their support, instead of just asking them to take action and participate in our advos. (and these badges included text links back to our website and myspace page). Give people the text box with the code so they can copy and paste the code instead of having to download an host on something like photo bucket. Make it EASY.

3 – Come up with something different to keep people engaged. Everyone likes to have a lot of friends, but if you create a new profile for every campaign you have, you may get a lot of friend requests, but they may not ever come back. Ten different profiles for each of your issues or campaigns is boring. Come up with the big, cool idea. Then put together a strategy.

4 – Don’t engage in a social media campaign unless you have the time and resources. My position is dedicated to projects like this. I think it would be hard for someone to fit in the time it took to put this together and maintain it in addition to their daily job responsibilities. Social networking projects are not for everyone. We have a strategy and team of people in place for each campaign. Never put together a page then leave it, expecting people to come to you. Take the time to respond and interact with all your friends. If you don’t have this kind of time to do it right, find another way to get your message out.

5 – Take the time to measure results. Even though you can’t get stats from MySpace, take the time to track on your end. We source every link from myspace so we can tell what each person does once they reach our site. We can track other advos they participate in, donations they give, etc. The advo, donation, and tell a friend benefits from even one person can be incredible.

Has your organization implemented a campaign on a social networking site?  What is your best advice to those just starting?  Leave a comment and pointer to your campaign or web site.

See Give and Take Blog post

BlogHers Act!

BlogHer announces BlogHers Act, a year-long initiative to harness the incredible power of women online.  There are two goals:

1.  Making a difference on a single global cause

2.  Identifying the top four issues that women online want the U.S. Presidential candidates to address in order to win our votes in the ‘08 Election.

The details of how to participate are here.  Here's my suggestion for #1 over at Blogher.

Mary Joyce: Global Social Change Blogher - Her Latest: Free Monem Campaign

Mary Joyce in front of her campaign posts during a recent trip to Lagos to set up computer equipment for the OpenNet Initiative in April, 2007  (Photo from her Flickr stream)

My colleague Mary Joyce who writes a blog called "ZapBoom: The Sound That Change Makes" that focuses on the question, "Under what conditions does citizen activism occur and how can it be supported and encouraged?" 

She has is supporting a campaign to Free Monem, a blogger arrested by Egyptians security forces on April 15th.  He was charged with several crimes, including "belonging to an illegal organization" and "organizing secret meetings with the aim of disturbing public order."    According to Mary, his real crime was challenging the dictatorial regime of Hosni Mubarak by telling the truth about the torture he underwent and condemning the country's unjust military tribunals.

In an email, Mary suggests taking these actions:

As the world celebrates World Press Freedom Day an Egyptian blogger,  Abdel Monem  Mahmoud, sits in jail, his only crime his desire for a more open Egyptian  society.  We cannot let the regime succeed in silencing him.  We have to show  the Egyptian regime that when you imprison a blogger, you don't silence his  , you AMPLIFY it!  How?  By taking action!  Here's what you can do: 

1.  Watch the protest video.  Share it with your friends.

Global s Advocacy  Director Sami Ben Gharbia has created a video which powerfully explains the  reasons for the detention of Monem and demands his freedom.  View it. Share it.  Post it on your blog: http://www.YouTube.com/watch?v  =-017xCZEXFU&eurl=

2. Add the Free Monem quote randomizer badge to your  blog's sidebar.

Yeah, we think it's  pretty cool.  Activist tech guru Astrubal has created a sidebar badge which  cycles through a stream of Monem's blog quotes (à la Amnesty's Irrepressible campaign).   Fortunately for us, Monem is an eloquent writer.  Here's a taste: 

"We [Egyptians] claimed freedom for others and forget our own  freedom"

"If I taught a woman to wear a veil, I should teach her to claim  her right to enter the university wearing the veil."

"Freedom is now an  obligation and should be implemented before Sharia'a"

 

Yeah, we think he's pretty inspiring too.  The symbol of a brighter future  for the Middle East, in fact.  So let's make sure he  gets his freedom, not just by posting his words on World Press Freedom Day, but  by broadcasting his words every day.  You can get the badge here on our  "banner and badges" page or you can just insert the following embed code into  your blog:

<iframe name="monem" src="  http://freemonem.cybversion.org/monemphrases/monem_phrase.php"  frameborder="0"  marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" height="200"  width="150"></iframe>

Eventually, quotes from other imprisoned bloggers will  also be added to the quote feed.  Just sit back and let the free speech  flow. 

3.  Re-publish Monem's posts on your own blog. 

For the last few days a crack team of volunteers  from around the world has been translating Monem's posts so millions of new  readers can read his censored speech.  Let's show Mubarak that his attempt to  silence this blogger has been completely counterproductive.  Instead of reducing  the number of people who read Monem's words, let's make sure that the number of  readers increases... exponentially!

It's easy to take part!  Just pick a post by Monem from the list below and copy and paste the whole thing  (or an excerpt) into your own blog.  It would also be great if you could tag  your post (using Technorati or deli.cio.us) with the words  "FreeMonem" to help us keep track of how many people take part in this action.   

----MONEM'S POSTS... for you to republish on your  blog----

Free the Brothers...Free Abdel Kareem... Free Egypt 3/7/07  (one of our favorites - Monem calls for jailed blogger Kareem's release and  points out how secularists and Islamists face the same oppression by the  Mubarak's regime)

The Fourth Anniversary of the Torture of Detainee #25 4/14/07  (essential reading - moving account of torture by Egyptian security forces  during his imprisonment in 2003 )

Alexandria University Detour 11/1/06 (frustration with the  Muslim Brotherhood at his university and a call for Egyptians to demand their  freedom... excerpt)

Birds' s 2/12/07 (how blogging is changing the Muslim  Brotherhood... excerpt)

Update on Sierra/Locke Statement ...

Kathy Sierra has posted a joint statement with Chris Locke.  I have to get on a plane to go to DC, so no time to dissect this.   One point here:

But these stories should not be about me... I am simply one of a gazillion examples about what's happening today both on and offline. Nor is it a simple Nice Vs. Bully story, and I thought having us come to an understanding would encourage others to stop fighting on either of our behalves and try to listen first, and then talk, and maybe something good and useful really will come of this.

Stop Cyberbulling Day has gone and past, but the dialogue still continues over here - thanks to Andy Carvin.

Technorati Tags: stopcyberbullying

Join A Global Conversation About the Various Forms of Online Harrassment and How To Combat it!

via en email from Andy Carvin. I like this call to action! 

I just wanted to post a reminder that today is Stop Cyberbullying Day, and we're mobilizing a global
conversation about the various forms of online harassment and what we can do to combat them. Hundreds of bloggers have posted on the subject already, and I expect there will be many more over the course of the day. 

How can you participate? Here are a few suggestions.

- Post something online. Whether you want to blog, vlog or podcast about it, we encourage you to
contribute something to the discussion today. It can be a personal story about cyberbullying, a collection of resources, advice you want to share - whatever you want. Then be sure to tag it "stopcyberbullying" so we can aggregate it.

- Have an offline conversation with someone about it.   Talk with your families, your colleagues, your
students, your neighbors - we could all benefit from a frank discussion about online harassment.

- Participate in the Stop Cyberbullying social network (http://stopcyberbullying.ning.com) Since there's no way we can do justice to the issue in one day, we've set up this online community where people can share resources and talk. There's a growing number of videos and other resources related to cyberbullying, along with a feed of everything that's been tagged "stopcyberbullying.

- Learn more about the issue. You can learn more by participating in the social network, or you can visit
resources like www.cyberbullying.org, www.stopcyberbullying.org, www.ncsriu.org and
bullying.org, just to name a few.

- Follow the feed. As more people contribute their own content and tag it, the number of resources will grow.  You can subscribe to the feed or follow it on Twitter:
http://app.feeddigest.com/digest3/RBPBKDZEIH.rss
http://twitter.com/nocyberbullies

So please join me and countless other members of the online community as we join together and find ways to combat online harassment in all of its forms.

Stop Cyberbullying Day: Some Inspiration from the Blogosphere

First off, I want to thank Andy Carvin for organizing this day and the ning site and leading by example - showing us how to take an issue and integrate the use of new social media tools!  Looks other nptech bloggers and social networks are supporting this effort too!   Hats off to Lisa, Jory, and Elisa (as well as to my fellow BlogHer CE editors) for posting such brilliant thoughts about this topic. 

Andy's post yesterday describes how he is experimenting incorporating the use of Twitter into this campaign.   He hasn't neglected the traditional tools either - yesterday he and I as well as Elisa Camahort were interviewed on the BBC about this issue.

This issue is so massive that it is going to take an ongoing effort from many different angles -- educatiing young people with help from teachers and parents as well as everyone who is using the Internet now - to model good behavior and continue to the dialogue around this.   I also think that those who make the tools need to have awareness of this too. 

As I think about my own children getting to the age when they will use the web, I'm trying not to get too depressed about what educators have said about this growing problem of cyberbullies over at the Stop CyberBullying site.  Yet, I have only to click over to Vicky Davis and I'm inspired.

Here's her advice for educators, students, and parents on how to stop Cyberbullying Today!:

• JOIN the Stop Cyberbullying networkto create a central repository of information that is rated and reviewed by educators and to discuss what works. View it like the front lines establishing a form of communication. (If the network is blocked, I've got a template on my blog that you can mail your IT person to ask for it to be unblocked.) After joining, post hyperlinks or review and comment on the resources of others, join the conversation.

• EDUCATE YOURSELF - Read how your school can respond to and prevent it over at Stop Cyberbullying.com (and how to tell the difference between harrassment and cyberbullying from a legal standpoint.)  Take some of the free lessons at Wired Safety.  Listen to Wes Fryer's podcast (or read his wiki ) about Cyberbullying.  You can listen to the whole podcast, or if you are short on time,read the highlights that I have annotated and listen to the clips you choose.  (I did this using Innertoob -- a great way to grade podcasts, by the way.)

• SHARE -Plan to show this video to your students during the next several weeks and talk about the importance of telling someone when they are being harassed online. (You can also see a wealth of other videos collected at the Stop Cyberbullying Network)

• REPORT - Every little BIT helps. When you see someone inappropriately attacking another blogger either on comments on or a blog, say something! (Often we DON"T see it because of comment moderation.) We often don't say things because we are afraid. Afraid that some "nut case" is going to come after us. However, if we agree that we will all band together and speak up. If we are afraid to "stand up," Wired Safety has a Cyber 911 tipline that you can also use.

• SPEAK - Use a badge from Scott McLeod on your blog and hyperlink it to http://stopcyberbullying.ning.com, or just copy the link and image from the picture.  Post and share the facts from the experts and tag it <a
  href="http://www.technorati.com/tag/stopcyberbullying" rel="tag" >stopcyberbullying</a>. Speak up in your sphere of influence: the classroom, the PTO, the civic group, the government agency, the educators organization. Make sure this is a topic that your teachers learn about and understand. We must become a cacophony of s speaking out about how to be wise, civil, and successful online.


• BE AN ADVOCATE FOR WISDOM - When the leaders of the Dark Ages became afraid of thoughts and dissension, they burned books.  We cannot afford to burn blogs (as ill-thought out DOPA would do) and the trail we have blazed into a new, more productive society through the Internet's new communication tools.  The Human Genome project shows what amazing things can happen through collaboration. If we want important breakthroughs to happen faster, we must promote effective techno-personal and collaborative skills in the classroom. We cannot walk away and ignore the fundamental change in our society: Internet-enabled communications. Those who are vicious and hateful will not walk away from the Internet. It is imperative that the level headed and wise should not abdicate their responsibility to civilize the Internet and make it a safer place.

Some advice on what's needed on the Web/Blogopshere for the here and now for adults .... about civility!

Created by Scott Mcleod

David Weinberger wrote about the lack of norms of behavior on the Web.  He has suggested that we create a No Bullies Pledge - that is self-regulated similar to Creative Commons licensing and that clarifies the codes (or "rules of engagement") people already have on Web.  He started a list of items that people wouldn't tolerate, although admittedly it is complex because of all the shades of gray and people's different levels of tolerance.

Here's a start:

1. Threats of physical harm.
2. Violent imagery.
3. Name calling.
4. Targeting a single person.
5. Ethnic, racial or gender slurs.
6. Bad language directed at a person.
7. Violent or threatening images.
8. Arguments directed at the person rather than at the ideas.

Marianne Richmond over at Blogher, comments

Online and off, we seem to have lowered our standards of civility. Perhaps we all need a good hard look in the mirror. Can we make our points, based upon their merits without  using a label or an insinuation to discredit those who disagree; can we listen to an oposing point of view without feeling the need to silence the of disagreement?

The discussion thread on civility reinforces the complexity of this topic.   As noted, there are people's difference tolerances levels as well as people's difference levels of self-awareness.  There is also the fact that we're using text and we loose the body language that provides more context and meaning.  One person's typed remark could be taken as a slur even if the person didn't intend it in that way or lacked some self-awareness in writing and self-control in posting it.

I also really appreciate how some bloggers have posted their own code of ethics.   Liz Ditz shared her blogging principles and pointed to her inspiration from Lisa Williams.  I've been struggling with writing something for this blog and I'm glad I have two excellent role models.

There is also a distinction to be made between cyberbullying and online sexual harrassment as Elana points out on BlogHer.   Lisa Stone has reposted a piece she wrote several months ago about ignoring words that hurt. She also provides resources for reporting threats to police, where appropriate.  She asks "Now, after the events of this week, what would you add?" 

Technorati Tags: stopcyberbullying,

Kathy Sierra Urges To Continue To Talk About CyberBullying

Here's an interview she recorded with local TV station a few hours ago.  Worth a listen.

Andy Carvin and Lisa Stone on Online Safety

Yesterday, I was digusted when I read this post from Kathy Sierra about why she had cancel a speaking engagement.  Cyberstalking and Cyberbullying is a real issue, impacting many women (and men) online - not just the high profile a-list bloggers.   I'd like to point you over to two good posts that aim to help educate everyone about this serious issue.

Lisa Stone at Blogher has responded to the situation here with a post called "Hating Hate Speech: Safety for Kathy Sierra and All Women Online."  In that post, she points to an excellent piece she wrote back in October called "What to do when you're cyberstalked, taunted, or abused online?"

Andy Carvin has taken another approach, declaring this Friday as Stop Cyberbullying Day. 

Of course, one day isn’t enough to change everything. And there are other days of the year where other people are fighting to raise awareness, like Safe Internet Day. But it’s a start. And perhaps we can use some of our energies that day to discuss what we can do to make online safety a topic that we deal with on a regular basis. So I’ve created an online social network called Stop Cyberbullying using a free tool called Ning. Anyone who joins can post resources and share ideas, including text and video. I’ll also use the site to aggregate a stream of what people are doing in support of Stop Cyberbullying Day, assuming people accept my challenge to take action on Friday.

Technorati Tags: stopcyberbullying

Angela Devlen: Emergency Management Professional and Blogger

Angela Devlen has worked as an emergency medical technician (EMT) along with years in the private sector doing business continuity (BCP/DRP).  She brings these two passions together in her current roles at Caritas Christi Health Care in Boston and the Business Continuity Planning Workgroup for Healthcare Organizations (BCPWHO).   She writes also for the Big Medicine web site.

1.  Tell me about you

I’m reminded of my first column for Big Medicine where I shared my response to the editor Hal Newman when he invited me to be a Big Med columnist. 

"...as a single mom of a five-year-old girl, working in emergency management in healthcare, with a background in private sector BCP/DRP...but started out as an EMT...not to mention my little side projects such as BCPWHO and gender issues in disasters [there is a feminist hiding not so deep inside me] and my passions for mountains, wine, cooking, gardening...well, one could argue I'm a little scatterbrained. I like to call it passion for life."

I am very fortunate.  I make my living by bringing my past experience and my life’s passions together.  My latest passion is a venture in which I am joined by a small group of fascinating women that I am very excited to work with.  We are working with international partners to address the consequences of disasters and violence on women and their families at the grassroots level-an issue that is near and dear to my heart.  Our website launch will be announced soon.  Until then, I can be contacted directly by anyone who is interested in learning more. 


2.    You've been in the emergency management field for 15 plus years.  How and why did you get started?

My dad is a firefighter.  It wasn’t until I was in my twenties that I fully realized and appreciated what an impact he has had on not only who I am but also what I do for a living.  I was still in high school when I would borrow my dad’s first aid and emergency response manuals so I could read them.  By the time I was 16 I was certified as what was then called an Ambulance Attendant (later known as an Emergency Medical Technician) and worked for two ambulance services.   I was also involved with the Search and Rescue Team and was a Red Cross Disaster Action Team member. 

3.    So, tell me about your job, exactly?  What do you do?

I currently have the privilege of leading the emergency management program for Caritas Christi Health Care.  We have 6 hospitals in eastern Massachusetts.  I work with staff across all the hospital departments to improve our level of preparedness in the case of any type of event that results in an emergency affecting the hospital or the communities we serve.  This is done through lectures, disaster drills, collaborating with public health and public safety agencies, and documenting emergency management plans.  Some examples of the current projects we are working on include pandemic planning, weather related emergencies and hazardous materials events, including terrorist related events.


4.    How does being in emergency management as a profession influence your home/personal life?  Do you have cases of water in your basement?  What advice would you give to us to be prepared?

Being in this profession definitely influences my personal life.  I have also benefited from it although it is a combination of my profession and my personal interests.  For example, I have a backcountry stove, freeze dried food and a bunch of gear to keep us fed and warm if we lost power for an extended period of time.  Having enough water is essential.  The Red Cross and FEMA have a document that provides great information on what families need to be prepared.    If you want some creative ideas such as using your hot water tank in the event you don’t have cases of commercially bought water, this is the document for you. 

I would add that I recognize not everyone has the means to stockpile to prepare for a disaster, I recommend you establish a plan with your family and leverage what resources you do have.  I can’t stress enough how important being self-sufficient is to your safety.

5.    Should there ever be a disaster (god forbid), how could a blogging network like BlogHer be of assistance?

In 2005 I lost my home to a fire.  Since then I’ve viewed the aftermath of disasters differently.  While I appreciate and recognize the important work that is done in the immediate aftermath of a disaster, I have found most people don’t realize that the recovery period is the longest and most difficult.  It is then, when the media coverage has passed and interest has waned that the assistance is needed most.  I certainly would not discourage blogging network from assisting in some way in the immediate aftermath—that is when you’ll get people’s attention.  I would however, encourage any blogging networks to assist in such a way that it is sustainable and will extend into the recovery period. 

6.    I know you're a working parent, how do you balance demanding work like this with child rearing?

The best and worst thing about my work is it is a 24/7/365 type of job.  As a single mom I need to be creative.  First, my employer is amazing.  I have the support I need to juggle my role as a mom with a demanding meeting schedule, whether it is occasionally working from home, doing conference calls rather than face-to-face meetings or bringing my daughter to the office.  However, I recognize that privileges are granted based on performance.  If I need to be working at 11pm to meet deadlines because I went to work late so I could do something important with my daughter, I am happy to do so.  I have been given the tools I need to have that flexibility, so I don’t mind the odd hours.  I encourage all working parents to ask for the flexibility they need.  You won’t know until you ask.  However, the caveat is you need to earn that flexibility and honor whatever agreement you make with your employer.   

An Interview with the Web Team at Fight Hunger (4 out of 5 women)

Meet the Fight Hunger Web Team
From left:  Anna Ylä-Kauttu,  Susanne Thörnqvist, Desirée Forsyth-Sommer, Cordelia Salter-Nour, and Emanuele Quinto
- photo in flickr with bios

Fight Hunger is a division of the UN World Food Programme set up to help end child hunger by 2015 which is part of the first Millennium Development Goal. It is a partnership of UN agencies, NGOs, businesses, schools, universities, communities and individuals who all believe that we can work together to end child hunger. The main focus is raising awareness. From their annual global Walk the World to educating decision makers on the importance of well nourished children.
 
I'm the moderator for the Flickr for Nonprofits Online Affinity Group over at NTEN and during a recent exchange about nonprofits using online photo and (video) contests to call attention to the causes, Cordellia and Susanne caught my attention.  They are part of a five-person web team for Fight Hunger, that includes four women and one guy.  The one guy on this busy web team is a  web developer-programmer named
Emanuele Quinto thinks working with four women: is “Fantastic!”

I interviewed the team about how they work together and their recent viral video contest.

1.  How do you all collaborate or work together effectively?

We have noticed through our work together that the women on our team are more facile at multi-tasking.  We find it very easy to switch from one thing to another and to keep several activities going at once. “ 

We are not only colleagues, we have become friends in the process of working together for such a long time, and have an implicit understanding of what teamwork and respect means, which allows us to work harmoniously together. Since we are working close to each other the communication of the team works really efficiently. We all sit in one room and follow what each other are doing informally.  We don’t really need to have formal meetings because we come to decisions as they arise.   There is a lot of crossover and tasks often start out with one person and then switch across the team members.  We have group ownership for everything to do with the website – we all feel part of it.

2.  Tell me a little about your video contest

We’re interested in using the viral video boom to spread the word about ending child hunger.   Instead of commissioning a video (which would cost money) we decided to have the contest and to tap into the talent of the general public.  We have some great entries so far so our gut sense was right!  The winning prize also has viral value – the winner will have the chance to visit a WFP School Feeding Project in a developing country which could be a life changing experience for a mediamaker.

3.  Fight Hunger is using a lot of new web 2.0 techniques -- blog, viral video, etc.  How do you find the time to  incorporate these new techniques into your communications plan?

We keep an eye on what is catching people’s attention on the web and do what we can to participate.  Sometimes we are short of resources and can’t do as much as we would like but we try to experiment on a small scale!

4.  How have these tools helped you raise awareness of your cause?

Our viral video contest was picked up by some major blogs and got the FightHunger.org website attention in new areas.  We are hoping to build on this in the future.  It’s difficult to predict what might go viral but once it starts we hope the word spread and spreads.  No-one can say that child hunger is a good thing so we want the whole world (internet and not internet) to join us and help end it!

5.  As staff members who work with nonprofits and technology for ngo doing development work, what blogs you read to keep up with what's going on in your field? 

Development Blogs

She's Such A Geek

Click To Play

 

I live blogged and recorded the above vlog interview with Annalee Newitz almost a year ago - my write up is here.

 

Her new book, "She's Such A Geek" is out now.  There is also a blog "She Is Such A Geek" where they're blogging about geeky topics, particularly as they relate to women and girls.  New York Times Technology reporter Katie Hafner called the book "exhilerating, hilarious, inspiring and infuriating." 

Lisa Canter Brings Sharing Foundation Campaign to 50% Mark!

Lisa Canter has brought the fundraising campaign for Leng Sopharath to the 50% mark!  As of today, contributors have helped me raise $381 towards the $750 goal.  Yeah!  With everyone's help and support, I'm sure we'll reach our goal.

Lisa's post is here.

Almost two years ago at the first Blogher Conference I was lucky enough to interview and get to know Lisa Canter (we aren't related but I learned a few things about the kanter/canter name from her husband, Marc)

I enjoy reading Lisa's blog.  We have a few things in common beyond our last names.  We both were trained as professional musicians and play woodwind instruments. (I played flute. Lisa plays bassoon, I don't know how shse manages to keep up her bassoon chops.)  And, we both are parents of two young children.

Thank you Lisa for your contribution and writing about the campaign too!

As we approach the Thanksgiving holiday,  I want to tell everyone how grateful I am for their contributions,  links, and advice.

Donors:
Richardo Carreon
Lisa Canter   
Britt Bravo    
Teresa Crawford   
Kenneth Gierke   
Michele Martin   
Thomas Rogers   
Michael Hoffman   
Katya Andresen   
CDJ Wilcox    
Somongkol Teng   
Stewart Robinson
Tim Rose   
Ken Goldstein   
Michael Hannum
The children at Ptea Ponleu Vichea, a youth center in Battambang
Caroline Meeks, Solution Grove
Stephen Sherlock
Paul Lamb

   

Links/Posts

Pam Ashlund, Nonprofit Eye Blog (some advice about tax documentation)
Emily Weinberg from the Nonprofit Blog Exchange
Michelle Martin from the Bamboo Project
ChipIn News Blog
CrowdFunding (that is that awesome vlogger Sull)
First-of-its-Kind (Peter Dietz - excellent advice on how to go about these campaigns)
Michael Hoffman at See3
Second Life Blog
Britt Bravo on Blogher
Britt Bravo on her personal blog
smArts & Culture
FiSpace
Micropersuasion
E-politics
Ricardo Carreon
Solution Grove

Mongkol, a Cambodian college student who is studying in the US on a Fullbright Scholarship and knows the importance of a college education had this to say.

Tharum, who I had the pleasure of meeting via my work with Global s, has linked to the Campaign.

I also want to thank Ken Goldstein for sharing with his network on YouTube.

Carnet Williams at the ChipIn blog has kept a record of links and dollars here.

Katya Andresen at the Nonprofit Marketing Blog gave me a guest spot to write about the campaign and solicit advice from colleagues here.

Campaign activities:

I've posted about the campaign on my Cambodia4Kids blog and made quick screencast to show folks how to cut and paste the code into blog posts.  I also include some specific ways folks can help other give money.   I'll point to this in my email campaign to contacts which I'll be doing over the next week.

I also got some advice on how to spread the Revver video without using the flash player.   I used that in my post and for a post in flickr.

Maria Estela Godinez: Electronics for a Good Cause

Maria Estela Godinez is currently studying high school in her hometown San Francisco del Rincón, México.  She lives with her mother, a single parent, and five other siblings.  Her passion is electronics and she is putting her passion to work for a good cause. 

Maria Estela built a glove that allows speech-challenged people to move their fingers in a similar fashion to Braille language and have those signals recognized by software that converts them into speech.   

She recently shared the stage with Intel Chairman, Craig R. Barrett, during his keynote at the Digital Leaders Forum as part of his Latin America trip.  She won several awards for her project at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair this past Spring. (Official Intel Press Release here)

One of my blog readers, Ricardo Carreon, a blogger living in South America and working for Intel offered to translate an email interview I did with her in Spanish.

1. How did you get interested in electronics? 

The Deyabú project forced me to learn more and more about electronics.  The more I learned, the more I discovered how fascinating it was to me.  At the beginning I drew my designs mixing things like protoboards and connection diagrams.  I started to apply electronis without knowing exactly how they were used, but I was focused on trying to solve problems. Then in a summer course I learned how they were used, but really the interesting thing was to learn what happened when you applied electronics, in other words, the phenomenon that it produced. The more I know about electronics, the more passionate I get.  It has grown on me spectacularly.

¿como te comenzaste a interesar en  electrónica?

El proyecto Deyabú conforme comenzó, me exigía cada vez más electrónica, ahí la conocí y me resultó fascinante. Al inicio dibujaba el protoboard en lugar de dibujar/crear el diagrama de conexión,  comencé por aplicarlos directamente sin saber porque solo lo utilizaba para resolver el problema, hasta que en un curso de verano aprendí para que se utilizaban, pero realmente lo interesante fue aprender el porqué se a aplicaban y qué era lo que sucedía, es decir, el fenómeno que lo producía. Entre más conozco de la electrónica, me sigue apasionando e interesando de una forma espectacular. 

2.  How did you come up with the idea for speech recognition software/hardware?  What was your inspiration? Why the gloves? 

I began developing this project under the direction of Jose Carlos Tovar, an engineer who was my coach and adviser.  He had experience working on diverse projects directed to blind people, for example Darshan or PC Lazarillo.  The conventional computers do most of their interaction in a visual form, so if we want computers to be useful to blind people we most adapt their software and hardware.   

Inspiration:

My greatest motivation was not the award at all.  It was the knowledge that I acquired when I was involved in the creation process. That discovery process can also help other people and this is what has inspired me to keep going.

Why the gloves?

Blind people use their sense of touch like one of their main senses.  Blind people  know the world by their hands because they use them for most of their activities.

Como dise  con la idea de lenguaje  en software y hardware? 
Comencé en el desarrollo de proyectos gracias al ing. José Carlos Tovar, quien fue el asesor. Ahí han trabajado con diversos proyectos anteriormente también dirigidos a personas invidentes, por ejemplo Darshan PC Lazarillo.

La computadora convencional se muestran los procesos de forma visual, así que se debe aprovechar  ls demás sentidos de los invidentes,  y en ellos el oído y el tacto son primordiales para su conexión con el mundo, por esto es que debe adecuarse el software y hardware a las capacidades diferentes de las personas diferentes.

Qué ha sido tu inspiación? 
En el proceso de la creación de un proyecto, he descubierto que la mayor aspiración/inspiración, no es llegar o subir a un podium,  sino que esté es el conocimiento que adquieres cuando estás en el proceso de creación. Sabiendo qué este  pueda ayudar a las demás personas.

Porqué los guantes?
Por como comentaba hace un momento,  el invidente maneja e tacto como uno de los sentidos principales, y como el tacto es representado por las manos, y se puede decir que ellos

3.  How much time did spend working on the project?

August 9th, 2005 to July 28th, 2006.

Cuanto tiempo trabajaste sobre el proyecto?
Desde el 9 de Agosto del 2005 hasta 28 de Julio de 2006

4.  Was there a time when you thought "this won't work, I have to throw out my design and start over?"

Yes I did feel that way a lot of time.  I felt uncertainty when constructing a project. But you see it, you feel it within you, and you cannot leave it. A project, since its begining is like a baby that needs to be nourished to grow.  This close relationship with the project makes you stronger and gives the strength to move forward when things don't work out.

¿Había un tiempo cuándo  pensó "esto no trabajará, yo tengo que tirar mi plan y volver a empezar?"    Siempre a cada momento, esa es la incertidumbre que se juega al construir un proyecto. Pero lo ves, lo sientes dentro de ti, y no lo puedes abandonar, ya que la creación de un proyecto, se puede ver como un bebe que no puedes dejarlo solo en la vida, que necesita de ti para crecer, y en ese momento piensas y continuas con mayor fuerza.


5.  What are your future plans?

My goal is to continue to development this project, to try to obtain greater good out of electronics, and to decide if it is the correct career path before entering the University.

Es proseguir en el desarrollo de proyectos,  intentar obtener lo mayor posible de electrónica, y decidir si es la carrera correcta antes de entrar a la Universidad

6.  What advice would you give to other young women who want to work on technology and electronics projects?

That they should never give up.  If you reach a moment when you think it might be impossible to continue, you must see, think and to believe in everything that lies ahead.   If you have the will to find a solution, there is not problem that can't be solved.

qué consejo daría usted a otras mujeres jóvenes que quieren trabajar en la tecnología y proyectos de la electrónica? Qué jamás se den por vencidos, que hay un instante en el cual parece ya no poder continuar, por esto debes ver, pensar y creer en todo lo que continúe adelante, no existe problema que no se pueda resolver.

Interview with and by Tuesday Gutierrez

 

I interviewed Tuesday Gutierrez from SaveGuimaras over at blogher.   And, she interviewed me for Oh My News! 

Tuesday has done a lot of experimenting with using social networks to promote her cause and we had an extensive conversation about that which I'm going to include in my a post for the Carnival of Nonprofit Consultants on Social Marketing.  So, stay tuned.

BTW, light blogging today and tommorrow as the schools are off!

A Blog for Robin Hood Marketing

Robin Hood Marketing
Originally uploaded by cambodia4kidsorg.

www.nonprofitmarketingblog.com/

What is your 15SecondPitch? An Interview with Laura Allen

Photo courtesy of Laura Allen

Laura Allen is the co-founder 15SecondPitch, a company that help people to market themselves in 15 seconds on the phone, email, face-to-face, and on business cards.  I met Laura at Boston Podcamp very briefly and grabbed her card so I could catch up with her for an interview for Blogher.

1. Why did you launch your company?

After 9/11/01 in New York, the economy was truly dismal. For the first time in a long time, I was concerned about finding work. What’s worse, everyone I knew was calling me and asking me to connect them to a job. I did not know of any jobs or anyone hiring. I started to get scared. I was so grateful just to be alive, but also fearful of the future. Jim and I decided that we needed to come up with an easy way to market ourselves and that we needed to share that idea with others because we knew the economy was going to be very rough for an extended period of time. Luckily, people immediately loved the idea of the 15SecondPitch and people started to buy our business cards with their pitches printed on them right away.

What we did not know at the time was that people would have a lot of trouble writing their 15SecondPitch, so that became an opportunity for me to offer my marketing/writing/shameless self-promotion expertise to help them decide what they wanted to pitch and how to say it in a way that was authentic for them.

2. What is this 15 second pitch anyway?

The 15SecondPitch is a concise, clever and compelling introduction of who you are, what you do, why you are the best at it and your call to action. The best part of the 15SecondPitch is that it can be delivered in just 15 seconds. The idea of the 15SecondPitch is also a nod to Andy Warhol. Warhol said, “In the future, everyone will be famous for 15 Minutes” and I thought that was a very profound idea. Now, we live in an A.D.D. society, so my quote is, “Everyone can be famous for 15Seconds—everyday.” I think that our current technology (cell phones, ipods, blogs, podcasts, blackberries, etc.) is absolutely amazing and beyond anything I could have imagined growing up. The only downside is that people don’t have a lot of time to hear about who you are and what you are doing. You need to cut through everything else that’s vying for their attention at that moment and deliver a VERY memorable pitch!

3. Why do I need one? Is there research that backs it up?

15SecondPitch just completed an informal survey of over 2,000 professionals. We found that nearly 70% of professionals have trouble pitching themselves. We also found that 1/3 of the respondents hated going to networking events and also did not have business cards that reflect their unique talents. Here’s a link to the survey findings.
 

Guy Kawasaki makes a BIG point about how people should learn how to pitch in his blog entry called “Ten Things to Learn This School Year.” Even if you are not in school, I feel learning to pitch is one of the most important things to know if you want to promote yourself.

4. Why would a nonprofit organization need one?

Non-profit organizations are in desperate need of a great 15SecondPitch! There are so many amazing  non-profits out there. How do you as a progressive, compassionate person decide which causes to donate money to? How do you decide which organizations to volunteer your time with?

Whenever I donate my time or money to an organization, it is usually because a someone I meet is PASSIONATE about this organization. How do I know they are passionate? They talk my ear off about all of the great programs and initiatives the non-profit has going on! And this all starts with a conversation. Usually they grab my attention by talking about the mission of the non-profit and then I get excited and want to be a part of it too! If everyone who was very passionate about a given cause took the time to create a simple 15SecondPitch, I’d bet that they’d all raise a lot more awareness and donations. It’s fast, easy and free to create a 15SecondPitch and display it on our website for our 1500+ members to see, so I can’t see why anyone would NOT want to do it.

I’ve presented my 15SecondPitch workshop at: Streetwise Partners  and the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship.  This year I’ll also be presenting for: StepUpWomen’s Network and New York Opportunity Network

One of the reasons why I like to work with people is because there have been times when I could not find work and it was a very scary time for me. I like to work with organizations who help people get the training they need that they might not be able to get elsewhere. The 15SecondPitch helps people feel more confident about who they are and the skills they have to offer to the world.

5.  Tell me a story about how the 15second pitch has transformed one
of your clients.

This is the best part of my “job”. I love working with people and helping them come up with a great pitch that can really transform their lives! One of my clients is a singer/songwriter who emailed me a few days before she had to go to a major music conference. She knew that she did not have a good pitch and that she was not promoting herself as well as she could be. We sat down at a local Starbuck’s and we spent 90 minutes working on her pitch. I could tell you the whole story, but I feel that the pitch speaks for itself!

Here’s Mara’s pitch:

My name is Mara Sanchez and I am a Singer/Songwriter specializing in creating songs in 3 different languages. I write 'slammin' music and lyrics in the Pop, Latin, Brazilian and Jazz genres. I am great at what I do because I have toured and performed in Europe and Japan and have shared the spotlight with Stevie Wonder. I also sing in three different languages (Spanish, English and Portuguese) Right now I am recording a new CD of original Latin Pop songs and looking to tour internationally.

You can see her picture and her pitch on our website here

Mara had a limited budget, so she could not just go out and hire the people that she needed to help her make a name for herself. As a result of her new pitch, she found a music producer and a lawyer who was willing to work pro-bono. This is all because they believed in her talant because she was confident and knew how to marketing herself using her new pitch. Hopefully, Mara will become a household name in the next few years.

6. Aside from having a 15 second pitch up my sleeve, what other networking
advice would you suggest? Blogs to read?

I would suggest that women focus on creating their own networking groups. Start with one person that you like, add two more, then another and so on. I think that networking events are good, however, to grow your own circle of friends organically over time will always yield better and more consistent results.

I go to many networking events here in NYC every week and my goal is always to meet one or two interesting people that I’d like to get to know better. And if I focus on that, I’m never disappointed. I’d also recommend that everyone learn a concept that I created called the “Third Party Pitch.” What this means is that I will invite a friend whom I respect and admire to go to a networking event with me. I know what this person does and I believe in their work. Instead of just focusing on pitching myself all evening, I spend a lot of time promoting my friend. For example, if I meet someone who works at an entertainment company, I might talk about Leslie and her new film. If I meet someone in the music industry, I’ll mention Mara. It’s much easier for me and for most people I know to promote their friends and the vendors they work with. In fact, 90% of my business comes from word of mouth. People work with me and then they recommend me to their friends. This is the most effective type of marketing there is.

However, I make it easier for them to market me, by teaching them my 15SecondPitch and giving them a big stack of my business cards to give out when they have the opportunity to do so. Of course I do the same for them, whenever I can.

Some of my current blog favorites are:

Elana Centor
Wonder Branding
Learned on Women
Lifehack.org
Chris Brogan

Nonprofit Blogging in the Workplace: Apologies or Permission?

A few weeks ago, I interviewed Pamela Ashlund of the nonprofit eye blog and she shared some of her thoughts blogging in the nonprofit workplace and how she wrestles with what she should or shouldn't blog.   Pamela cautions, "a personal/professional blog is not a place to air your dirty laundry."  I agree.

Mari Kurasihi from Global Giving who writes a personal blog at The Beginning of Spring noted in the comments about her struggle with how much to share on her personal blog.  She notes that her discomfort revolves around power issues and asks:

" ....if I say something about the way foundations operate--even if I don't single out a foundation in particular--am I jeopardizing our relationships with foundations that fund us? I wonder if my reticence ....  is a reflection of the relatively static,asymmetrical power distribution in the nonprofit sector ..."

Well, what do you think?

I wrestle with what I blog or don't blog about, even though I'm an independent.   My discomfort (which I'm moving past) was related to the issue of whether to share what you are thinking about outloud versus a finished, perfected, polished article or white paper.  If I blog some seemingly random reflection about a topic I'm researching, but haven't pulled together into a organized opus, will that cause people to think I'm scattered, superficial, etc?   If I make a typo, or leave out a word in the sentence, will they think I'm stupid or just a crappy proof reader?  (I'm dyslexic, the spell checker is my wheel chair ...)

I also struggle with this ... What if I do a lot of research, share it in an informal post.  What if someone helps themselves to it and onto to write a more polished article, adds their own thoughts, but doesn't bother to point to my post? 

I also struggle with how to add personal flare and maintain professionalism. And, the issue of how much of your personal side do you incorporate into your blogging.   Some of that has more to do with this issue.

Ed Batista has written a little about this here and Marnie Webb from the nonprofit organization perspective.

So, do you struggle with what you blog about for any of the above reasons?  How much to share of your opinions?  How much to share as a work in progress?  How much what you blog about reflects you or your organization?  How do you handle it? 

Meet Silona: A Woman Who Codes for Social Change!

Silona is organizing a Code-A-Thon that will lock up 100 programmers for 48 hours to see what kind of open source software can be written for non-profits.  It's taking place on October 13th at 6:00 p.m. to October 15th at 6:00 p.m. at tek republik in Austin, Texas.  Here's the reason why behind the event.  You can check out who's coming and sign up here.

I had the pleasure of interviewing her.

1.  Tell me about you?

I've had several careers at this point.  I worked on political campaigns and activism for 6 years, but I have been in involved purely in the technical end since 94.  My expertise is database systems, having worked on my first database in dbase 3+ in 1989.  I've also worked in the gaming industry and done a fair amount of technical training on large e-commerce and content management systems.

2. Why did you start LoTV? (League of Technical Voters)

It was after successfully lobbying on 9 out of 10 technical issues to the Texas Legislature.  (One of those was for municipal wireless access in Texas.)  I found the majority of the time all I had to do was show up and talk to the Legislators about the impact of their legislation on technology.  They often asked me to rewrite the bills on the spot.  The legislators are not particularly tech saavy and there really wasn't a nonpartisan group of techies for them to talk too. I researched further as to why none existed and determined it was an issue of personality type mismatches.  I thought I could solve that issue with software.   Hence the idea of the League was born. 

3.  Do you consider yourself more of a techie or a nonprofit/social  change activist or both?   

Techie first social change activist second.  It has made my life more difficult.  Most people don't always understand how a piece of software that facilitates conversations can change the world ... until it does.   Like um lets say myspace.

4.  How did you come up with idea of Code-A-Thon?
   

I made it up but soon after found out that other groups do some similar events.  Both BSD and plone do something call sprints that are quite similar.  Honestly, I think I got it from a combination of having working in the gaming industry where periodically during a big crunch we would launch into a nerf gun fight for like 15 minutes and then go back to coding.

5.  Jonathan Zittrain, professor at Harvard Law School, a lecture at  Harvard Law School about open source software and intellectual  property rights said "Put software developers in a room and pizza at one end and code comes out the other end"  What's your theory?  What do you think will come out at the other end  of your codeathon and will pizza be the input?
   

I don't know.  And I am excited to see.  I know that several programmers are cheating and will be bringing almost finished code.  Some things will get fixed.  Some things will only be designed and god only knows what amazing thing will be realized.  I never do.  It's that wonder that keeps me here.  We are in Austin Texas so I will be feeding them Mexican food as well as design specs and pizza.  I will have a caffeinated beverage sponsor!  I will try to keep their minds fed with a fair display of music and art every 4 hours as well!

6. How many women do you think will show up?
   

Several - all mainly friends of mine.  I'm hoping for about 5 or so but we are few and far between - in the gaming industry I was part of that 2%.

7.  Tell me about the hat in the picture on your blog?

It was my Great Aunt Jewel's hat.  She was an amazing strong woman.  I was on my way to a friend's tea party and had this picture taken.  I think it's cute.

An Interview with Jo Lee of CitizenSpeak

As reported by the Executive Director of N-TEN, Katrin Verclas earlier this week, The Antonio Pizzigati Prize was awarded to George Hotelling, an open source software developer who built CitizenSpeak.   But a big congratulations goes to Jo Lee - an amazing woman (and mother of two) who works in the nonprofit technology space - for all her work managing the project and making it a huge success.

 
1.   Tell me a little about you!

By day I'm a principal at Green Machine PR, a marketing and public relations firm that specializes in high tech and green tech.  On the side I run CitizenSpeak. I also have two kids that many of you have seen at conferences, most memorably when my then 6 month old, in perfect Exorcist form, spit up an incredible volume of curdled milk during an N-TEN Conference presentation. 

2.   Why did you create CitizenSpeak?

I started CitizenSpeak because I believe that online tools can help empower civic actors and grassroots organizations - the bedrock of a strong democracy.

3.   What's the elevator speech for CitizenSpeak?

CitizenSpeak is a free email advocacy service for grassroots organizations. Inspired by MoveOn email campaigns, CitizenSpeak provides the same e-advocacy capability at the community level.

4.   What are some success stories of people using CitizenSpeak?

CitizenSpeak has helped organizations and activists across the country get their s heard and achieve their goals, such as a Philadelphia neighborhood coalition that successfully battled a large multinational railroad company; a parent association that stopped the closing of a junior high in Providence RI, the national Container Recycling Institute which forced the EPA to take a meeting on bottle recycling, a Chicago neighborhood organization protect affordable housing and fight gentrification.  You can read case studies here.

5.   How did you hook up with George Hotelling?

I owe the CivicSpace community for this fortuitous virtual meeting. (Despite working with George for over a year, we've never met in person.) I posted a message on a CivicSpace listserv about my plans to make CitizenSpeak into an open source module on Drupal.  People passed the message along and offered tons of advice.

6.   So, how does it feel to be acknowledged like this?  It's sort like
winning a MacArthur genius grant?  :-)

It feels GREAT, especially since it's the closest I'll ever get to a MacArthur award!

7. I know that you are the mother of two young children,  how do you balance being an activist, nonprofit software developer, and (a day job too!)

I'm not alone. Lots of people do this, including yourself.  You have to have a job to pay the bills and you have to pay attention to your kids so they don't grow up to be psycho killers.  And you have to be an activist otherwise the nut jobs will take over the world.

Flickr Photos from Jo Lee

Pamela Ashlund talks about blogging in the nonprofit workplace

Pamela Ashlund's first job was with a small nonprofit that provided services for the homeless and mentally ill over twenty years ago.   “I was hired to write their newsletter, but the budget was so tight that I shared an office with the controller.  He wanted to take a vacation so he cross-trained me in accounting.”   She has been a nonprofit finance executive ever since.

Pamela then worked for the YWCA of Sonoma County, a nonprofit focused on domestic violence and childcare before moving to a large community action nonprofit where she became the financial manager.  Along the way, she was a consultant, assisting nonprofits with new accounting software systems.  She says, “One such consulting job brought me to LA and made me an offer I couldn’t refuse.”  Her next job was with the Urban Conservation Corps in downtown LA, her current employer.

In January, 2006, she started a blog, the Nonprofit Eye, to write about professional topics of interest related to her work as a nonprofit finance professional.  She caught my attention when she announced her blog over at Netsquared. 

Your blog isn't an anonymous blog, but it is somewhat hard to find out about you and the organizations you've worked with.   Does your current nonprofit employer know you're blogging?

That’s a funny story.  I started  a blog as an online parody of my nonprofit workplace, but made a classic newbie mistake of naming my employer.  I thought no one would ever see the blog.  Little did I know ....  Worse yet, it was a two post experiment which I completely forgot about until it was “discovered” by my organization's marketing department. They were doing Internet searches for reputation management and it turned up.

Although I wasn’t fired for writing a blog, I was counseled.  It was a hard lesson and I wrote about it on my blog . Now, I try to keep my working relationship with my employer quite separate from my blogging life.

What advice would you give to other individuals who are staff members at nonprofits and have professional/personal blogs?

I still get a little nervous when I hit submit even though I don't write about my work life.  You have to remember that you are representing yourself and by extension your organization and sometimes both.  There is a gray line between the two.  I think that blogging could be such great buzz for nonprofits, but a personal/professional blog is not a place to air your dirty laundry.  A blog encourages openness and sometimes you might type things that you wouldn't say in other circumstances. I think the key is to use common sense.

Doe anyone at your nonprofit read your blog? 

Well, I don't send links to them.  I just publish it.  I suspect not because they're not techies.  They might come across it professionally now that I write about industry issues.  However, I think they would be proud.

Do you think there is a benefit to a nonprofit organization when  individuals/staff members  have a personal/professional blog? 

I think that is very beneficial for an organization.  But we're entering into new territory and I think you need to negotiate with your employer before hand.  There is a blog - called fispace.  That's a personal/professional blog written by a nonprofit staff member that makes the organization look good.

Should nonprofits have policies around staff blogging?

Some already do, see my blog:  Whistleblogging  & Whistle Blogging Part II.   I find the intersection of whistle blowing and blogging to be a source of humor as technology inevitably clashes with policy. 

How have you promoted and marketed your blog?

Even though I promised myself I wouldn’t blog about blogging, I did one post Birth of a Blog where I tell the tale of my attempts at marketing and promotion.

 

What are the 3 or 4 best blogs by women who write about the nonprofit sector? 

I discovered the nonprofit blogosphere after I heard a speaker at California Association of Nonprofits,  Bruce Sievers,  Visiting Scholar at Stanford University give a talk called “A Tale of Three Cities”.  I looked him up on the net and found SSRI where I found a link to White Courtesy Telephone.  There I found links to other nonprofit bloggers including yours!

If I had to identify three favorites:

Deborah Elizabeth Finn Technology for the Nonprofit and Philanthropic Sector
Nancy Schwartz’s Getting Attention
Kelly Kleiman’s Nonprofiteer