I immensely liked her presentation. She was well organized with her slides, took her time and steadily built awareness in the group about thinking through using social media in your organization. She used Facebook examples to show how non profits are using this tool. I thought her presentation was useful for the experienced social media practitioner as well as those organizations and practitioners who are beginning to explore the social web.

A few of the themes she covered included:

• The continuous and often times slow process of pervading your audience’s awareness of your organization;
• Becoming aware of a “buzz” happening as you continue your social media work. You may have more media inquiries, your volunteer requests increases; more hits on your web site etc.
• Incorporation of your channels on your front page;
• Showcasing the “we are media” site and many more excellent examples to support her message; i.e. http://www.thephilanthropist.ca
• Clear explanation of the setting of goals for your online communications and how your actions will vary according to your goal(s);
• Closely understanding who your is and gauging the tech saveyness of your audience; Related to this point is the importance of using Google alerts to track your query i.e. organization name; topics your close to etc.
• Don’t fee like you have to do it all; pick and choose; Start small – upward trajectory of growth; use a pilot project to get started.

I especially liked how she discussed the importance of looking at how your social media  tools fit in with your current mix of communication tools i.e. print newsletter; website; other media; A question addressed the issue of loss of control for your organization in  terms of your message being challenged. She balanced this concern by reminding the audience that loss of control can be a plus because as you open up more to your users, they can tell you more about your organization and more about the different needs they have;

In the area of developing metrics, she talked about how new technologies are hard to measure and will vary according to the different target groups.  To help set your metrics, it’s a good tactic to find colleagues in organizations similar to yours so that you can compare your metrics with their approach to measurement. This networking approach can help you develop more specific metrics relevant to your organization.

The question and answer portion of the presentation was very helpful for many in the audience. There was some rich advice about using social media policies to guide your organization’s work. If there was one thing that was missing from her presentation it was on the process of developing your social media policies prior to diving into the tools. She didn’t leave it out, but didn’t get into this area as much as I would have liked. (my bias since this is a lot of what I do).

Archana ended off with giving us some of her key principles; The short version of  these are:
Be genuine; be interactive; despite the title of the workshop, don’t be afraid to fail.

What topped her presentation off for me was her referencing Beth Kanter’s theme of recognizing that social media is more about providing conversation starters than any particular answer about your work.

Well done Archana!

This theme is especially relevant to me as it captures most accurately the dividing line between staying put and doing nothing or embracing new technologies to do your work more effectively and efficiently. The prevailing or default answer for many non profit managers is stay put. The journey into new strategies and tools and thinking about relationships enhanced through social technologies is just too much – on top of an already impossible load. I spend a lot of time on this subject so I was eager to hear his story.

Anil’s organization called Framework Foundation and his Timeraiser project were used to illustrate how he has successfully implemented cloud computing to better focus on their mission and collaborate with their many stakeholders. This transition to cloud computing has led to tripling their productivity and improved fundraising and volunteer management capabilities.
It’s very difficult to walk readers through his demonstration of integrating these tools to meet his goals. What worked very well was his use of a consistent framework that he used to discuss each of the tools.
The framework looked like this:

• Key challenge
• What it will allow us to do
• Pros, Cons & Cost

SalesForce.com – constituent relationship manager (CRM)
Box.net – an online file storage and file transfer platform (FTP)
Google Apps – especially spreadsheets, docs and more
Skype – video – free telephone and video functions, sharing computer screens
Echosign – electronic signing of critical documents

Anil presented a mock program that showed how the details of the program can be worked on by multiple people simultaneously and then embeds into a web site. It was very impressive. One of the organization’s staff was off site collaborating on the program and it was something else to have the video live feed enabled and see them discussing what changes needed to be made.
To see how well these online apps worked together was just a ground breaking experience for me. I’ve used the tools before but never in such an integrated fashion. I really understood for the first time the power and capacity available to your program and projects when you use these tools.

This was truly a hands on, visible, inter-active and fascinating experience. The promises made in the workshop overview were met hands down. As a reminder, here they are:
Attendees Will Walk Away With:

• Project Management – ideas on how your team can collaborates on social media projects
• Knowledge Management – ideas on how your team can stay on top of technology trends
• Fundraising Management – ideas on how your team can collaborate on Fundraising
• Board Management – ideas on how we organize information for your board
• Volunteer Management – ideas on to track volunteer time and participation

Anil left us with access to his support site where he documents and shares his organization’s journey into cloud computing. The links to the support site and all his resources will be well worth reviewing.

My charity rocks, it’s a rooting tooting, awesome, knock em dead, rock and roll, sweet baby James of a charity. Maybe not his exact words, but Robert’s genuine passion, sincerity, pride, anger and commitment flowed through every word he uttered in his keynote.
I think his message was a bit like the Matrix movie. Take the blue pill and continue believing that the non profit (he hates that term – as I do) sector is just fine. Take the red pill and see how the non profit sector has being convinced into believing that’s all it can be and should be, as after all, it’s the business world that really counts.

Robert told his story from start to the current moment. He put a challenge into the room. He implored us, as representatives of the non profit or 3rd sector to wake up and stop accepting that it’s OK to continue as if it’s business as usual.

His presentation contained historical, sociological, political, cultural, demographic and economic references. He has done his homework well and armed with this awareness he put forth his challenge. Take the red pill and see the past for what it was and move forward with that awareness to build a true equitable and inclusive community where the weakest, most marginalized and forgotten people are brought in from the margins to fully participate in the community.

Here is a short list of semi quotes I quickly scratched out on my notepad – apologies in advance for my possible misinterpretation:

• Division between dot com and dot org is what keeps us apart. In reality it’s a foolish wall and nothing but a tax structure;
• Went to India and discovered that division kept the Indian people oppressed;
• We can no longer use the mantra “give back” We cannot ask this generation to give back as this generation is inculcated in giving back;
• We are on the verge of transformation away from grant cycle model;
• Demographics spell out that we have a generation that is in great need, our senior population;
• Face of hunger in America is a single mother –feeding people is not enough;
• Non profits have no say in local governments; We need to demand that our politicians present their vision for our sector’s role in the building community;
• The 3rd sector (non profit) is susceptible to governments who sees us a charity
• Non profits have a vital role to play and politicians need to present a detailed plan to tap into the innovative talents of it’s people.
• Politicians and the media are not informed and don’t make effective judgments about the non profit sector;
• Let us (non profits) own our economic value; the general public wants what we want; we can use new media to express our position;
• We have a younger generation completely bent towards doing good by merging work, spirit, leisure;
• How is that we have all this power and we don’t own it?
• The dot com model was designed to divide, but that was then ….we can now break open the model ; we are on the brink of  a powerful time and some of us won’t make it;
• Look to Britain and Estonia as effective models of bringing people from the margins into the centre;
• Women forced into the charity world; by the dot com world; they were put on a short leash and told to that they could “do their thing” for the poor.

Robert has helped me see my terrain in a new light. I’ve swallowed the red pill and I think I’ll put the pills in the muffins at my next community planning roundtable.  I look forward to having the video of Robert’s presentation so I can share it with my colleagues and networks in my my community of York Region.

(Editor’s note: Thanks so much Brent for providing this summary. As you wish, here is the video of Robert’s presentation)

Net Change Week 2010 – Robert Egger keynote from MaRS Discovery District on Vimeo.

Thanks Net Change for choosing Robert Egger as a key note speaker.

In her recently released book, Disrupting Philanthropy – co-authored with Edward Skloot and Barry Varela, Bernholz explores the immediate and longer-term implications of networked digital technologies for philanthropy. As they explain, 10 years ago the landscape of philanthropy was relatively simple. “There were foundations – private, community, and corporate – that awarded grants to non-profits. Givers gathered information about non-profits mainly through word-of-mouth.  Commercial investment firms were relatively small players on the philanthropic landscape.” In 2010 the landscape is very different.

While philanthropy may need honesty and humour, it also needs to be aware of the technological tools that can support its longevity and effectiveness. “The outline of philanthropy’s future is visible in online, shared portfolios of loans, as well as informal networks of volunteers working to aid disaster relief. It’s visible in commerical firms seeking social missions. It’s visible on shared platforms for measures of social return, and in peer networks of individual donors. It’s visible in foundation-led explorations of networked governance models and in community-based experiments with local fundraisers networked across time zones.” It’s visible everywhere. But where is it headed? What is the net outcome of this movement online? How are philanthropic organizations keeping pace? The McConnell Family Foundation is making some headway towards answering these questions, particularly through their work with the Framework Foundation‘s, Anil Patel. How many other foundations are taking a wait and see approach?

Technology offers us many opportunities. As Lucy Bernholz concludes, “Just a few years ago we could not have imagined using dispersed networks of cell phones to report on earthquake damage and relief operations.” In recent memory similar efforts were only just made possible online after Hurrican Katrina. During Net Change Week in Toronto, Lucy Bernholz will join John Thackara and Dr. Gerri Sinclair on a panel to discuss the “Future of the Web and the World.” Moderated by TVO’s Jesse Brown, the discussion will explore the future of philanthropy, the future of food security and the future of education. Register to hear the discussion here.

For further insight about the impact of technology on economic and democratic progress you can also register to see Professor Iqbal Z. Quadir. Professor Quadir is the founder and director of the Legatum Center for Development and Entrepreneurship at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and founder of Grameenphone Limited in Bangladesh. For nearly twenty years, he has been advocating for the use of mobile phones to empower ordinary people in low-income countries and for commerce-based solutions for their advancement. Professor Quadir will speak at the MaRS Centre on Wednesday June 9 at 5pm. Register for Professor Quadir here.

This post originally appeared on www.socialfinance.ca

After reading this list, if you are still unconvinced that “going mobile” is a good idea for your organization, watch this terrific 3 min video featuring Corinne Rusch-Drutz from YWCA Canada. Last week they launched their first app! Watch here

• At the end of December 2009, Canadian wireless phone subscribers numbered 22.8 million.
• Wireless phones are amongst the fastest growing consumer product in history
• Canadians send 122 million text messages EACH day
• Over $27 million was raised for the Haiti earthquake through text message donations alone
• The Mobile Giving Foundation now exists in Canada – making mobile fundraising easier to set up
• An organization’s blog is to an organization’s email list as Twitter is to an organization’s SMS campaign
• Consumers have a one-to-one 24 hour 7 days a week relationship with their mobile phone. Real-time all the time.
• 6.61 billion mobile applications are expected to be downloaded in 2010
• A recent study found that call-in advocacy text messages were nearly 6x more effective than call-in advocacy emails
• NGOs can communicate with people in new ways (text alerts, applications, surveys) and can reach people that they could not reach before

Now that you have good reason to sign up, register for our 1 day training workshop here. See you next Wednesday.

Questions about the business practices of Facebook, Google’s Buzz initiative and the activities of other Internet companies are fueling a national and international discussion about how individuals’ personal data is being gathered, stored, mined, dispersed and commercialized. (Mercury News, 27 May, 2010)

Despite all the attention on Facebook however, cybersecurity experts warn that this is just the tip of the iceberg. On May 18, 2010, CBC reported that the national security agency CSIS has warned Canada’s government, university and industry computer systems are increasingly under cyber-attack. Never mind knowing that I like listening to Lucinda Williams, what about Canada’s institutional intellectual property?

Ronald Deibert, Associate Professor of Political Science and Director of the Citizen Lab at the Munk Centre for International Studies (University of Toronto) responds to the focus on Facebook in the following way, “The average Internet user is largely oblivious to a much larger problem – the increasingly intense geopolitical competition hidden within the subterranean layers of cyberspace. The actors in this competition range from state intelligence agencies and armed forces to individuals, criminals, militants and extremists.

Ronald Deibert may sound extreme to some. After all, aren’t we just talking about sharing some photos? The reality is much more complex, and we only occasionally see the battles rise to public consciousness; as when China shut out YouTube.com. Deibert goes on to say, “The battles are multi-dimensional, from authoritarian regimes attempting to stifle political opposition and dissidents to organized crime engaged in industrial and political espionage. The battle threatens to undermine the Internet as an open and valuable public space unless we take steps to build norms of mutual restraint at all levels, from the global to the local.”

Lovers of “open” may have questions for Deibert, but he’s not opposed to a free internet. Like the freedoms we enjoy as citizens walking on the planet, we do need to be aware that there are forces online attempting to undermine the freedom we take for granted there.

Ronald Deibert and Ontario’s Information and Privacy Commissioner, Dr. Ann Cavoukian will discuss Cybersecurity in more detail during Net Change Week this June. Moderated by CBC Commentator Jesse Hirsh, the panel will address the following questions; When is it in the public interest to allow the free flow of information; and when is it in the national interest to control it?

You can register to hear this discussion by visiting the Net Change events page here.

Net Change 2010, powered by MaRS, is week-long series of events launching June 7^th. It will explore the intersection between technology and social change. And the opportunities this intersection presents.

Monday through Wednesday, you can get dedicated training in online and mobile strategic communication. Thursday and Friday, challenge your thinking about how technology can be designed for positive social change in the future. Canadian and international digital media and technology experts will discuss the repercussions of speedy adoption of online technology along with critical observations about our current social context.

Over 2,000 people will attend the week’s events. How do you want to get involved?

1. Dynamic digital art show: Net Change will be an immersive experience with the help of digital art installations, with which participants can interact. Want to submit your work to be displayed at MaRS? Send us ideas!
2. Future lab: Three pre-selected project ideas will enter into the lab, where teams will have less than 48hrs to come up with game plans for how the ideas will be realized out in the world. Judges will pick the winning idea in front of a live audience. Do you have a wicked problem – or are you interested in solving one? Sign up here!
3. Roving reporters & Buzz builders: Net Change Agents will be capturing all the action through Live Tweeting, Blogging and with video cameras. Want to help us build the buzz? Let us know!
4. Digital Literacy Education: Last year, material captured at Net Change was re-purposed for TVO’s suite of digital literacy shorts.  We are committed to the ongoing use of our content for this purpose. Interested in our content? Be in touch!

You might just be interested in the all-star line-up of speakers, including:

• Professor Iqbal Quadir, founder of Grameenphone, is our distinguished keynote on Wednesday night for “Mobile Tech and the Global Threat Set”
• CBC’s Jesse Hirsh will moderate a discussion on Cybersecurity, featuring Dr. Ann Cavoukian, Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario and Ronald Deibert, Associate Professor of Political Science and Director of the Citizen Lab at UofT’s Munk Centre for International Studies
• Sounding off on the Future Panel: Dr. Gerri Sinclair, Director of BC’s Digital Media Centre, Dr. Lucy Bernholz, Founder and President of Blueprint Research and Design Inc., and John Thackara, Author of In The Bubble: Designing In A Complex World
• Don Tapscott, Author of Wikinomics, will discuss for the first time, his latest tome; MacroWikinomics
• Beth Kanter, named: “One of the most influential women in technology” by Fast Company Magazine, opens the My Charity Connects event

Whether you want to learn the skills and get the tools needed to build your own digital media strategy, hear from experts on how safe our information really is, or simply looking for networking opportunities in the social innovation space, there is something for everyone.  Don’t miss out!  Check the calendar here and register today!

You’re invited! Check out our digital short and pass it on!

Who comes to Net Change? This and other questions answered here.

Follow us on Twitter @Netchange and be in touch at info@netchangeweek.com.

What will Net Change Week look like? from SiG @ MaRS on Vimeo.

Many associate social tech strategy with Obama-rama. The hyper-local, hyper-segmented campaign resulted in $639M raised, 67% of it through online donations. It might have taken the inauguration of the “people’s president” to mint the intersection between social tech and social change, but it is only one among countless stories.

The following are a few examples the Net Change team likes to kick around to demonstrate how social tech platforms are enabling people to be engaged in new ways. Whether it’s finding a political voice, becoming a champion for the environment, or exercising consumer might to design a better in-store experience, tech platforms are making it happen in new, exciting ways.

A Few Standouts:

“People-Powered Campaign”

CNN called the 350 Climate Campaign “The most widespread day of political action in the planet’s history.” The campaign saw 5200 unique events in 181 countries in a single day. More impressive may be the campaign’s genesis. The same team orchestrated the Step It Up Campaign, 350’s predecessor, in 2007. 2,000 rallies, 50 states, organized by four university grads and their former professor Bill McKibben, and shockingly – zero starting budget. The lessons from the first people-powered campaign were brought forth for iteration number two – an incomparable success rate – not to mention learning curve.

Honorable mention

In 2007, Apple customers demanded Steve Jobs create a greener product. The platform: Green My Apple; An open campaign that mimicked the Apple brand, created by Greenpeace. Greenpeace had the good sense of asking: To whom would Steve Jobs sooner listen – a scrappy activist organization or his loyal customers? By removing their own brand, Greenpeace saw results. Within nine months, Jobs announced the banning of toxic substances in Apple products.

“Company-Community Co-creation”

A complaint storm, said to be instigated by blogger Jeff Jarvis, author of “What would Google do?” rained down on Dell, which caught the social-media averse company off guard. Dell was unable to respond, since it was decidedly offline. But they quickly scrambled to create feedback loops, manning the outlets with customer service reps that could respond. Not only did they make good on their response, but they also went one further. Dell created DellStorm, a forum in which customers can co-create the products they want to see Dell make.

Honorable mention

Have you seen that little green hook that hangs on the side of your Starbucks cup to avoid spillage? That was invented by a Starbucks regular who made the suggestion on the My Starbucks Idea site, a hub where customers can make suggestions they feel would better their coffee-going experience.

Lest we forget short message service or micro-blogging platforms, which have made easy access to information even easier.

“SMS 4 Impact”

FrontlineSMS, a free, award-winning and open-source software, was created to empower NGOs worldwide by turning a laptop or mobile phone into a central communications hub without needing an Internet connection. The implications and impact have been huge – among examples: France uses it to send malnutrition and health data to international offices; a Swiss organization uses it to test facilitation of money transfers for microfinance customers; South Africa uses it to provide HIV/AIDS information services to teachers and Botswana coordinates a blood donation program through the service.

Honorable mention:

The Extraordinaries challenges its public: “Got 2 Minutes? Be Extraordinary.” An on-demand volunteer service powered by mobile phone or personal computer, the organization makes available opportunities to engage in short increments of spare time. Examples include tagging pictures for the Smithsonian Institution, or helping map a worldwide database of defibrillators for the First Aid Corps.

Some would say we suffer from perpetual information overload, an overwhelming stasis. However, paralysis – a common response to feeling overwhelmed – should not be the answer; nor should sticking your head in the sand. A reductionist approach that dismisses the web phenomenon as a “generational thing” will not work either.

The web has transformed communications. For the first time, there exists a mass communication channel that is decentralized, fragmented, self-distributed and highly specialized. Never before has a technological communications medium done more than just broadcast. More than a means to relay a message, it is a platform upon which to network, collaborate, and co-create.

But, the biggest mistake is to get caught up in the medium. The trick to being an effective communicator in the 21st Century has more to do with being a savvy storyteller than it does with possessing technological wizardry. This is not meant as a polemic opposition to McLuhan’s “the medium is the message,” but rather, it is to point out that given our new context, we must become more strategic about our messaging. The stronger the narrative, the more likely the message – and moreover, the brand – will surface over and above the growing din.

The new paradigm has dramatically changed our expectations towards those creating the messages – corporate brands and public services alike. By opening up the channels to more voices, information has become democratized. Coupled with the ability to call up information in an instant; we expect a greater transparency on behalf of those communicating to us.

Building a strong brand takes strategy.  Brainstorm the brand with the rigor – it needs to work as a concept offline before even thinking about hitting the online channels. A strong brand has messaging that is consistent and authentic. In the face of these new technologies, it may be easy to forget how personal communication is. Regardless of how it is mediated, the fact remains: communication is still about relationship building. The more consistent and authentic the brand, the sooner trust is built amongst an audience.

Social tech platforms have advanced the notion of people-powered “brands” – brands in quotations since I really mean anything from a company to a campaign. This democratized medium has allowed us to contribute to the conversation, whether it is being a brand ambassador for a cause-campaign or helping a company overhaul their definition of customer service.

Strategic communications in the 21st C is just as much about the age-old tricks as it is about new technologies. It is certainly exciting that entire communication campaigns can be administered at little to no cost and yield tremendous results – and without the hiring of a big agency to craft the messages. In an increasingly accelerated environment, the challenge will be striking the balance between effectiveness and haste. And if you are strategic, neither should be compromised.

Effective communication is one of many topics that will be addressed at Net Change Week 2010. Come learn how to be strategic in the new communications paradigm June 7-11th at the MaRS Centre!