2010 NTC Preview: Jocelyn Harmon and Allyson Kapin on IT Diversity

Allyson Kapin       Jocelyn HarmonYes, the iPad is small, lightweight and slim. But can you swim with it?

You remember the flap over the iPad, right? Most women certainly do. It's a clear reminder that technology is a man's world.

Of course, it shouldn't be, especially in the nonprofit sector. Our workplaces should reflect the values we're working for -- because it's the right thing to do. It's also the sensible thing to do. Diversity in your teams will ensure you're not alienating the very people you're trying to include.

What's the right way to approach diversity in our tech teams? Lucky for us, Allyson Kapin and Jocelyn Harmon put together a great session for the 2010 Nonprofit Technology Conference: "Diversifying Your Tech and Online Communications Teams". I had a great chat with them where we covered everything from "the masses" to "quotas."

Take a listen:

5 Questions: Working with Open Source Software and Vendors

Ed. Note: As we prepare for the 2010 Nonprofit Technology Conference, we wanted share a wee bit of the wisdom our speakers will be serving up, so as not to overwhelm you when you get to Atlanta. We're asking them all to share their answers to five very important questions.

Speaker: Gregory Heller, CivicActions

Session: Working with Open Source Software and Vendors

1. What's the most important trend in nonprofit technology for 2010?

Free and Open Source Software. Whether it is on the desktop like Firefox and Open Office or the Ubuntu Linux operating system, or on servers (Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP) and running CMSs and CRMs (like Drupal and CiviCRM). I think that many nonprofit organizations are looking at these open source tools as they have really matured and been adopted by government and big companies including many fortune 500s. The late 2009 release of the Open Government Directive is really exciting and I'd like to see an analog in the nonprofit community -- an Open Nonprofit Directive if you will, to encourage transparency, participation and collaboration. Of course Twitter and social media in general will continue to be big, and we may see advanced collaboration tools like Google's Wave gain adoption in 2010 as people figure out how to use it.

5 Questions: Superheroes of Online Fundraising: Become a Data-Driven Strategist

Ed. Note: As we prepare for the 2010 Nonprofit Technology Conference, we wanted share a wee bit of the wisdom our speakers will be serving up, so as not to overwhelm you when you get to Atlanta. We're asking them all to share their answers to five very important questions.

Speaker: Sarah DiJulio, M+R Strategic Services

Session: Superheroes of Online Fundraising: Become a Data-Driven Strategist

1. What's the most important trend in nonprofit technology for 2010?

I think the most important trend this year is multi-channel convergence: using mobile, email, web, broadcast, print, twitter, etc. to maximize your impact. Email alone isn't as effective as it used to be, and given the media clutter these days, the only way to stand out is to get your message out via multiple channels, so that your constituents are hearing from you from all angles. Some initial testing of mobile text has shown that, while direct response is relatively low (unless you are the Red Cross!), complementary text messages can significantly improve email response rates. While it's harder to conduct a scientific A/B test, the same appears to be true for channels like Facebook and Twitter.

5 Questions: Are You For Real? Working with a Virtual Team

Ed. Note: As we prepare for the 2010 Nonprofit Technology Conference, we wanted share a wee bit of the wisdom our speakers will be serving up, so as not to overwhelm you when you get to Atlanta. We're asking them all to share their answers to five very important questions.

Speaker: Jenn Sramek, CivicActions

Session: Are you for real?! Working with a virtual team

1. What's the most important trend in nonprofit technology for 2010?

Openness and FOSS (free and open source software) are really perfect fits for nonprofits who share the values of collaboration, community, empowerment, and sharing. We are seeing significant numbers of nonprofits gravitate to open source tools such as CiviCRM and Drupal as more attention is paid to usability and support for the non-technical user.

NTEN Member Buzz Round-Up: First week of March 2010

(Note: This is a weekly round-up of NTEN members doing and sharing their nptech awesome. Members are in bold. Tag your own news with "nten member" or "nptech" to help us find your awesome online, or contact Annaliese with your updates.)

5 Questions: Social Media's Potential for Faith Based Communities

Ed. Note: As we prepare for the 2010 Nonprofit Technology Conference, we wanted share a wee bit of the wisdom our speakers will be serving up, so as not to overwhelm you when you get to Atlanta. We're asking them all to share their answers to five very important questions.

Speaker: Lisa Colton, Darim Online

Session: Social Media's Potential for Faith Based Communities

1. What's the most important trend in nonprofit technology for 2010?

Adjusting job descriptions. Social media are tools that should be in everyone’s toolbox (not relegated to the “IT” person only), and the environment in which we are all doing our work is evolving quickly. In the Jewish community, we’re starting to see “program director” positions start to take on “community facilitator” characteristics. In 2010, I expect this to become more explicit, especially with new hires.

Crank Your Drupal Site Up a Notch

Pop quiz: What do Amnesty International, Monty Python, the White House, and NTEN have in common?

Web sites powered by Drupal.

Drupal has been out of the tech hobby shed for awhile now, of course. You may already be running it, but unsure of what it can do. Or you may be looking for a CMS platform for your next web site, and giving Drupal a hard look -- and not just because it's free and open source, but that helps, right? Either way, we'll get you up to speed at our upcoming webinar series, "Cranking Your Nonprofit's Drupal Site up a Notch".

> You should register for this workshop here.

5 Questions: Persuasion for Techies: How to Win Your Supporter's Left Brain, Right Brain, and Heart with Behavioral Economics

Ed. Note: As we prepare for the 2010 Nonprofit Technology Conference, we wanted share a wee bit of the wisdom our speakers will be serving up, so as not to overwhelm you when you get to Atlanta. We're asking them all to share their answers to five very important questions.

Speaker: Katya Andresen, Network for Good

Session: Persuasion for Techies: How to Win Your Supporter's Left Brain, Right Brain and Heart with Behavioral Economics

1. What's the most important trend in nonprofit technology for 2010?

Now that online outreach is coming of age, we’ll be figuring out how to integrate it fully into everything we do instead of treating it like a siloed experiment. Nonprofit techhies, this is the year we are part of the mainstream in our organizations!

2. Why do you think your session topic is important for nonprofits to address?

Well, we need to have the right messaging -- and to have that, we need to tap into human psychology and behavioral economics (my new favorite topic).

5 Questions: Ending Segregation and Tapping the Power of Diversity Through Technology In Your Nonprofit

Ed. Note: As we prepare for the 2010 Nonprofit Technology Conference, we wanted share a wee bit of the wisdom our speakers will be serving up, so as not to overwhelm you when you get to Atlanta. We're asking them all to share their answers to five very important questions.

Speaker: Jacey Tramutt, Peak Parent Center

Session: Are you Sending the Message, “We Don’t Need You?” Ending Segregation and Tapping the Power of Diversity Through Technology In Your Nonprofit

1. What's the most important trend in nonprofit technology for 2010?

Figuring out how to make technology not a separate issue, but rather how to infuse it into everything we do -- outreach, data management, content delivery, etc.