I have so much to say about Beth and Allison's "The Networked Nonprofit" session that I couldn't fit it all into just one post. Plus, I am trying to get up to Andrew Sullivan's suggested 20 posts in one day. I kid, I kid.
One of the other things that was talked about during the session was how transparency of an organization and how that impacts the communication strategy. Transparency is so important because there is so much competition for donors and so many competing organizations that being transparent has become increasingly important.
Being transparent will hopefully help organizations to figure out what their "competitive advantage" is. This sounds really business-y, but it's true. There are millions of nonprofits all competing for donors. If the nonprofit doesn't have a clear idea of where it is going and how it is getting there, it will not be spending donations most efficiently. Transparency within an organization gives it more accountability to the donors, and force the organizations to find their niches.
Showing posts with label NTEN. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NTEN. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
NTEN Conference, Part 2
At the remote conference at Convio, we were able to choose some of our sessions. There were a couple that I desperately wanted to go to, and luckily they were one of the ones chosen for Convio to stream. I geeked out a little bit over the fact that I was able to attend "The Networked Nonprofit," which was led by Allison Fine and Beth Kanter. I had read Allison's book "Momentum" and LOVED it, and pretty much every informational interview that I have ever gone on has recommended to follow Beth's blog, since she is THE expert on social media.
One of the biggest brain grapes that I got from this session was that "Listening is the gateway drug for social media." Whoa--this ties in to what Andrew Sullivan was saying about how blogging is a one-on-one conversation, that social media is really SOCIAL, it's not all a one way street. Listening does so many things for the social organization--it allows the organization to not only find where its constituents are, but also to figure out HOW to interact with them. The session talked about how there is a "great learning in reflection"--how organizations need to assess ideas, look and see what works and if they don't give them a "joyful funeral" to say goodbye.
But doing this means that there must be a culture of innovation, of not just forging ahead blindly, but figuring out what to do and giving it up if it's not working. That's a lot of pride to swallow. If this isn't part of the nonprofit's culture, taking small steps in that direction will definitely help--but big steps would probably be better. :)
One of the biggest brain grapes that I got from this session was that "Listening is the gateway drug for social media." Whoa--this ties in to what Andrew Sullivan was saying about how blogging is a one-on-one conversation, that social media is really SOCIAL, it's not all a one way street. Listening does so many things for the social organization--it allows the organization to not only find where its constituents are, but also to figure out HOW to interact with them. The session talked about how there is a "great learning in reflection"--how organizations need to assess ideas, look and see what works and if they don't give them a "joyful funeral" to say goodbye.
But doing this means that there must be a culture of innovation, of not just forging ahead blindly, but figuring out what to do and giving it up if it's not working. That's a lot of pride to swallow. If this isn't part of the nonprofit's culture, taking small steps in that direction will definitely help--but big steps would probably be better. :)
the NTEN Conference, Part 1
Lucky for me I live in Austin (at least for the time being). On Friday, I was given the topportunity to go to the NTEN Remote conference at Convio. We were able to watch the plenary (I think that's the word) speaker, blogger Andrew Sullivan. It was very interesting to hear him speak--he addressed how to best interact with the audience and then he said something that rocked my world. He said that blogging really is a one-on-one conversation. This is such an interesting perspective on blogging (or writing in general). Most of the time when I write posts, I feel like it's being sent into the great unknown. I feel like I'm just sending my thoughts out into the great unknown. However, Andrew's thoughts on this make me realize that this is a much more intimate experience. Blogging really is a conversation with someone, and all of my many readers (thanks guys!) are able to get inside my head for a bit, just like having a conversation with someone.
Andrew also casually mentioned that we should be blogging about once an hour, every day. Umm..
Andrew has a medium sized country worth of followers. I don't. As much as I hope the people that read this like me, I dont think anyone wants that much information from me. If I wrote 20 posts a day, 10 of them would be mildly relevant, 3 would be interesting and 14 would be about brushing my teeth.
That being said, my schedule is allowing me a little more freedom to make more posts, so I will be trying to post more...just not 20 times a day :)
Andrew also casually mentioned that we should be blogging about once an hour, every day. Umm..
Andrew has a medium sized country worth of followers. I don't. As much as I hope the people that read this like me, I dont think anyone wants that much information from me. If I wrote 20 posts a day, 10 of them would be mildly relevant, 3 would be interesting and 14 would be about brushing my teeth.
That being said, my schedule is allowing me a little more freedom to make more posts, so I will be trying to post more...just not 20 times a day :)
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