Flickr Photo: alexander drachmannWe started the week off here at NTEN with a Q&A session with Chris Brogan, who answered questions from NTEN members about engaging people through social media. In case you missed it, you can see a transcript of the questions in the materials section (and if you're a member of NTEN, you can get the recording) here.

Chris commented a few times on how impressed he was by the questions you all asked him -- demonstrating yet again that, in many ways, the nonprofit sector is a leader in harnessing the power of social media to engage and energize communities and individuals online.

Here is a summary of take-aways from the session:

• Dive in. Don't be afraid of "failing" because no one is really an "expert" in this. There's a lot of trial and error -- and weeding out of what doesn't work.
• Listen. Learning how to listen, and then reflecting on what others have said, is really the first step.
• It's about building relationships. Don't think simply in terms of submitting posts, tweets, etc. Answer questions -- and ask questions -- of others in your sphere. And don't forget to follow-up.
• Become a collector. Use RSS, alerts, tags, and other tools to track information and interest concerning your issue area or community.
• The "voice" of your blog may not be your CEO or founder. And it may not be the person who is the most passionate about your cause, either. Think about your goals, your audience, and the right tone for those objectives.
• Volume doesn't always translate to value. 100 passionate subscribers or followers can be better than 100,000 non-active subscribers.
• There is no secret formula or template for this. The tools and strategies depend on your community and goals. Focus on who and where your audience is; you don't necessarily need the latest, shiniest tool.
• There's great potential for "asks" and "calls to action" using social media. The asks can be more personal, concrete, and, as Chris puts it, fun. Supporters can encourage donations and actions in their respective networks with their own words, their own stories.
• The future of social media: social conversation will be multi-media (Utterz, YouTube); more specialized networks will replace ubiquitous/general ones (like Facebook or MySpace) based on a specific skill, job role, or demonstrated authority in an issue area.

Chris was also nice enough to provide some additional references for the NTEN community on social media and blogging.

We were lucky enough to have Beth Kanter, a familiar voice on the topic of social media in the non-profit sector, moderate the Q&A -- so a big thanks to her for that.

The next Ask the Expert session will be in June with Avinash Kaushik. Yes, the guy who wrote the book on Google Analytics.