socially marketing

A few days ago I participated in a conference with the ambitious title Brain Trust for Online Capacity Mapping and Resource Matching for Nonprofits, Philanthropies, and Communities.

There were about 40-50 participants, hosted by my friend Deborah Elizabeth Finn (aka The CyberYenta, for her uncanny knack for nonprofit professional match-making )

Offcially, the conference took place in Boston, but its locale was hard to pin down since most participants (including myself, and even some presenters) were attending remotely.

There were a few things about this hybrid physical-web attendance I found interesting, but before going into the conference format, a quick summary of content: three organizations presenting innovative web-based resources for the nonprofit community and its supporters:

1. Social Actions: gathers and disseminates an open database of actions that anyone, anywhere, can take right now to make a difference [ link:http://socialactions.com/ ]
2. NPO Connect:  facilitates skill transfer between professionals in the non-profit sector by allowing professionals to connect with one another through a web-based platform [ link: http://mnn.npoconnect.org/ ]
3. Massachusetts Nonprofit Database:  Compiles a multi-dimensional database of nonprofits in Massachusetts, which can serve as a model for other states [ link: http://massnonprofits.clinc.us/Default.aspx ]

Attending via the web is definitely not the same as being there, but it’s not quite as simple as saying it’s the next best thing.

Advantages included live simultanous chat, real-time surfing to related sites, and the myriad conveniences afforded by being in your own office or home - including the option of not wearing pants (for the record, I did.)  There were some technical hiccups, but once underway it was a pretty seamless experience, and I was glad I was “there”.

I’m always intrigued by the economics of things, so my final thought is on the total costs of provding both audio and video access: zero.

In this case, the conference call audio was hosted by FreeConferenceCall [link: http://www.freeconferencecall.com ] and video by dimdim [link: http://www.dimdim.com/ ] - two of many free remote meeting services.

I don’t know if the business model of these “free” hosting services is good, ethical, or most importantly, sustainable (see Free Conference Call’s explanation/defense here: http://www.freeconference.com/blockingfaq_press.aspx ) - but I do know that it’s a useful tool for a sector that can use all the free help it can get.

When pondering these conferences’ ROI - social or otherwise - an I at or near zero makes for some impressive Rs.

Before this blog post really starts, I just wanted to thank the Cyber-Yenta, Deborah Elizabeth Finn, for her fantastic work in finding and opening doors for us in the nonprofit technology world. She’s been giving us incredible introductions to lots of great people in the sector.

After we got back from Boston, Deborah came to New York and thus started another flurry of meetings. We met with Resource Generation, Modest Needs and the Rockefeller Foundation.

Here are some pics!

That’s me with Deborah Elizabeth Finn and Dr. Keith Taylor from Modest Needs.

The beginning of our manifesto is being released slowly on the site and as new entries are added we'll certainly discuss them on the blog. For now, check out the early beginnings of our manifesto. 

But let's say you don't want to read about how we feel. How would you like to listen to the Ethos Roundtable conversation that we had?

Download it in mp3 format. It's being presided over by Deborah Elizabeth Finn (none better at establishing relationships between socialmarkets and the nonprofit sector) and Josh Shortlidge.