BrandToBeDetermined

Erin, Rachel, Michaela and Beth - THANKS!

  Erin, Rachel, Michaela, Ed 
  Originally uploaded by eschipul

A huge thanks to our panelists from the SXSW "Pimp my non profit" panel.

A few other shout outs:

1. Thanks to the DC Netsquared chapter for the concept.
2. Thanks to Techsoup for starting Netsquared which is how I met these folks to begin with.
3. Thanks to Katie who's hard work made the panel possible.
4. Thanks to the approximately 300 people who attended our panel, asked questions and demonstrated the number of sxsw attendees interested in the topic!
5. Thanks to the people who voted and commented to help us get on the radar for non profits at SXSW!

Also - as noted on Beth's blog, here are a few other bloggers' take on the panel

Long Station
Patty in the Burbs
07G
Community Mobilization

SXSW Schedule Set - Pimp My Non Profit Panel Monday

  Senseable at Emerging Arts Fest 
  Originally uploaded by eschipul

Back late last night from ETech in San Diego. Just attending that one. Not big enough with the west coast glitterati to have a panel there. But yes yes, indeed we are rocking SXSW with the Pimp My Non Profit Panel!

Our panel is Monday from 5 to 6!

If you are attending SXSW and I am missing a great panel I should attend please DO let me know? This is my initial plan.

Netsquared Mashup Challenge Posted

The folks at Netsquared hosted a great conference call last week on the Netsquared Mashup Challenge, which is the theme for the 2008 Net2 conference. As one of the Netsquared Houston Meetup organizers I thought it was cool they were including us (also on the call are my partners in crime with Houston net2 Katie and Jason.)

So... I have been waiting to see this posted on the Netsquared site, and now here is the skinny:

Get Ready for The NetSquared Mashup Challenge!

Do you have an idea for how a mashup that could be a tool for social change?

Do you look at all of the data available online, and imagine ways to combine and connect it to increase awareness about an issue?

Do you see projects like MAPLight.org or chicagocrime.org and think, I've got an idea for something like that, I just need a little help getting it off the ground?

If you answered yes, then join the NetSquared Mashup Challenge!  We've created the Challenge because we believe you have great ideas for how data can create insight, and we want to create a platform to facilitate those kinds of mashups being built. Plus, we've got cash prizes to award to the folks who come up with the most innovative mashups for social change.

There are three parts to the Challenge:

1. Applications
Individuals working to create change will share with the NetSquared Community what change they are trying to make, as well as the information/data sources they believe can be married to help create that change. Applications will be available online February 1 and accepted until March 14, 2008.

(KEEP READING HERE)

The big take away is that you can submit starting on Friday. I know I'll be pestering some of our past Netsquared speakers to submit their organizations. I suggest YOU do the same!

Non Profits and Social Media Research

Research links for my talk at GotSocialMedia tomorrow. Just some interesting notes on social media and non profits from recent events. As usual the primary trouble maker in the middle of it all is Beth.

1. Metrics and evaluation of social media - Beth Kanter
2. Evaluating the value of network causes - Allison Fine Blog
3. Mobile phone credits in Kenya as part of activism - apophenia
4. Social Media Outreach - Rising Voices
5. fundraisers need to be worried about a pending financial disaster in the global economy
6. Nonprofits Outpacing Business in Use of Social Media
7. ROI: Can You Quantify the Untangible? You Can't Quantify Love

On quote worth extracting is from the interview of Eric Mattson on netsquared:

We found that in general, charities and nonprofits are very familiar with social media. If memory serves, blogging was the technology they're most familiar with, and that certainly makes sense when you look at the growth and the popularity of social media. Social networking is very popular, but it's certainly skewed towards the younger generation, whereas blogs seem to have spread across all sorts of places, including major media outlets, really coming along as the one technology that people are most familiar with.

Themes from the above links and from other reading:

1. Non profits have adopted social media very quickly. Some argue faster than for profit businesses.
2. Reading is as important as writing. Be a part of the community. Link out. Pay attention.
3. Metrics only partially measure ROI. Dual non profit bottom lines compound the "reporting" problem but does not take away from actual changes resulting from the use of social media.
4. Microfundraising has huge potential (Kanter, FrozenPeaFund examples)
5. Video - the adoption rate of video isn't quite there yet, but it will be.
6. Mashups Rule - programmableweb mashups for example.
7. Crisis forms communities. Communities exist after crises subside, yet aren't leveraged typically.

What seems to be missing from the dialog on non profits, social change and social software

1. Discussion of brands, both NGO brands and personal brands that we are all developing
2. A break down of audiences by motivation type (obviously an interest of mine)
3. Clear delineation of web apps versus mobile phone applications.
4. Retention and renewal of "membership" isn't discussed (for Associations this is a big deal, so to see the topic of audience engagement and a concerted effort for "renewal" not discussed seems odd to me. Possibly for lack of a material motive given most SNs are free? Hmmm.)
5. Little talk of the current recession in the US (with some exceptions)
6. Little talk about "public relations" in the sector (but this is not a new trend, Red Cross comes to mind)

The deck from GotSocialMedia isn't as comprehensive as the links and thoughts above. But I'll slidedeck post it either right before or the day after the talk. Gnite y'all.

The Frozen Pea Fund

This is a repost of many many blog posts on the subject of the Frozen Pea Fund. But it is simply too important not to talk about it.

Why Frozen Peas?

Here is Susan’s explanation, from Boobs on Ice, the blog she’s using to chronicle her cancer experience:

aWhen I discovered a very thick area in my breast I called the doctor. The next day I was in her office. A half hour after that I was in the diagnostic radiologist’s.

A full afternoon and multiple stab wounds later we had a variety of samples of malignant tentacles of tissue that were on their way to the lab.

I was in a little pain - it would increase as the local anesthetic wore off - but left his office with a soft cold pack in my bra.

To keep bleeding down & relieve pain I’d need to keep things cool. Traditional ice packs are hard and heavy. As much as I try to be a good sport I’m not into having a brick sitting on my chest.

Enter a bag of frozen peas.

(continue reading and get involved here)

Ed - Week 3 of Mustaches for Kids

  Ed - Week 3 
  Originally uploaded by deneyterrio

OK, tonight is the night. The stache-off of Mustaches for Kids Houston.

Saturday December 15
8 pm - 11pm
Stags Head Pub
2128 Portsmouth st
Houston TX 77098

It's not too late to pledge me! All funds go to Texas Children's Hospital. Jason is coordinating that. Feel free to post a comment as a pledge?

Per Jason make the checks out to "Texas Children's Hospital" and indicate "tax deductible" in the memo field. Of course nobody itemizes anymore, but hey, if you did, that deduction would be cool.

CareFlash at Netsquared Houston tonight

Just you don't have any plans for, oh, about two and a half hours from now, the Houston Netsquared meetup is tonight at the Stag's Head Pub.

December Net2: Social networking with Jay Drayer and Careflash
Stag's Head Pub
2128 Portsmouth St
Houston, TX 77098
(713) 521-2333
Get directions

And the topic is:

This month we'll be chatting with Jay Drayer, founder of Houston-based social network Careflash. Jay will talk to us about utilizing online networks in medical and healthcare sense and walk us through his very cool CareFlash social site.

Learn how Facebook, Myspace and YouTube are NOT addressing a specific audience's needs - when it comes major medical events (celebratory and difficult alike) and providing free, reliable healthcare info for friends, family and patients.

As usual we will be in the back room and have adult beverages (read "free beer") for attendees. I have gotten to know Jay and he is very passionate about this topic. It will be a good meeting.

Mustaches for Kids - Why am I doing this again Jason?

  Mustaches for Kids 
  Originally uploaded by eschipul

Yup - I got talked into doing the Houston Mustaches for Kids. So give me some money for charity now dammit. OK, wait, I have to work on my approach. First a little of the hairy nitty gritty about M4k Houston.

Mustaches for Kids is a volunteer-run organization started in Los Angeles in 1999 to do good and have fun by growing Mustaches for children’s charities. Since its humble beginnings, Mustaches for Kids satellite chapters have spread across the continent, a steady expansion that is not unlike the measured, deliberate growth of a Mustache. Through the years, Mustaches for Kids has enlisted the efforts of hundreds of brave of Growers who, collectively, have raised over $150,000 for charities such as the Make-A-Wish Foundation, Children’s Hospital of New Orleans, and San Francisco’s Legal Services for Children.

What can I do to help?

Well - I am glad you asked! You can pledge! So far I have one of my kids pledging 0.25 cents, but I think he might back out. So throw me a hairy bone here with a pledge! Because the beginnings are in place.

More details on pledging:

The minimum Pledge Goal for each Grower should be $50.00 for the designated charity, but in no way should anyone be discouraged from participating in the contest because he doesn't think he can make the Pledge Goal - $5 or $500, it goes to a good cause. Please be aware of and obey all local laws when soliciting donations.

So my question is, would they have warned me about following local laws if this wasn't a manly mustache competition? Are they AFRAID of the power of the stache? Inquiring minds want to know. So for now, post a comment if you wnat to pledge? I promise to REPRESENT well! And I leave you with a symbol.

:{)

SXSW Voting Ends Tomorrow - Can I Get a VOTE!

Received an email from SXSW as a reminder that the SXSW 2008 Panel Picker voting ends TOMORROW! So quick, throw me a vote if you don't mind! A full post on my proposed panels with SXSW is here. The four sessions I am listed on (oh, this is so self serving, sorry!) are:

1. Pimp My Non Profit (vote)
   
2. We Heart You!! -- Growing Your Business From Within (vote)
3. iPhone in the Enterprise (vote)
4. The Art of Visual Thinking (vote)

While I am excited about all of the panels, I have to admit that with my involvement with the rocking people at Netsquared I really REALLY hope the Pimp My Non Profit panel makes. OK, now quit reading an GO VOTE!

Muni WiFi hits the "human factors" problem

From the post on TechBlog on municipal wifi in Houston, it is interesting to note the problem is the subscriber rate. Not enough people sign up to make the economics of it work. This reminds me of other financial prediction models. From the post:

One major flaw in these arrangements has been that initial forecasts for Wi-Fi subscriptions used to justify the investment in these networks have proven to be overly optimistic by a wide margin. In many cases, 15% to 30% of an area's population was expected to sign up for muni Wi-Fi. But only 1% to 2% have signed up so far figures Glenn Fleishman, editor of an industry blog called Wifinetnews.com.