Saturday, April 10, 2010

Yes #10NTC, I do blog, is there a support group for that?

The official opening day of the 10th Nonprofit Technical Conference coordinated by NTEN was an amazing experience.  The connections you make, the friends you reconnect with, extending the friendships from digital to personal all makes for a rousing experience.  Sharing, StoryTelling, Learning and Teaching - it all happens in small places and under one roof and I am so greatful to be part of this group - NTEN is like family.
 
Ok -  Now let me tell you my impression of the sessions of the official Day 1. 
 
First session I attended I was actualy part of a panel that focused on pure tech, these were my peeps.  Organizations struggling with mobile device proliferation, security of data, policy enforcement, culture adoption and how to manage the gadget overload.  My bud Peter who leads the tech for Earth Justice in San Fran spearheaded the team who put the T back in Technical and my hats off to him.  He's an innovator and has an awesome network which I am proud to be part of.  In this session I was glad to see I wasn't alone in my struggles and feel better now that I can bring back some of the inspiring and shared solutions.
 
The other speakers I was able to see was the opening session from Andrew Sullivan.  Andrew had a story to tell, the buzz though from my tech peeps was they didn't learn anything new.  And in fact Andrew focused soley on his rise from author to blogger.
 
What I found so gratifying from Andrew was he reaffirmed why we in the industry connect and build our tribes.  We learn from each other, we share with each other, we make change happen with each other.  Yes, it wasn't the next new widget but he was still an well gifted speaker and I grabbed some great quotes from him AND he managed to quote Cartman from South Park - instant points in my book.
 
The next speaker session was the dynamid duo Beth Kantler and Allison Fine - seeing these two social networking diva's together was like an old Abbott and Costello act - they played off each other to a standing room only audience and talked about what their new book "the Networked Nonprofit" was about and how it got to print

Again, not necessarily teaching the eager crowd anything new but reaffirned what and how to engage.  Using social media to drive change was the clear message and I managed to actually put a face to Allison and Beth who before that I only knew online - and I snagged an autograph plus NWF's diva @starfocus got a nice shout out as an example of who's doing it right.
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My main take away was simple - as all my tech peers and I have had to do these past few years, we make do with what we have - we harness the tools we got and make the most of them to help our front line do their thing.  We are in a place right now where the "tackle box" is overflowing with bait, lures, hooks - none of us should be woried about where we fish, but OMGeeeeee get out there and fish!
 
If you're not following my tweets - and why aren't you?  here are a few highlights from Andrew Sullivan.  One more day and looking forward to some rack time back home.  Till then . . . Peace out!
  • The human experience can & does happen live and all the time even via blogs. the emotions can change you Andrew Sullivan
  • Manning up, owning up to posting a mistake which happens over 10 yrs of blogs is a morale building moment Andrew Sullivan
  • People are more grown up then you think - not every post has to be on message. Far more rewards being personal Andrew Sullivan #10NTC
  • Andrew Sullivan quietly quoted Eric Cartman of South Park - I caught it, who else did? #10NTC.AS #10NTC
  • Moving from writer w/ distance w/ followers to having a conversation meant letting go barriers, welcome the challenge Andrew Sullivan #10NTC
  • The human experience can & does happen live and all the time even via blogs. the emotions can change you Andrew Sullivan #10NTC.AS #10NTC

Posted via email from Michael's Ramblings . . .

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