I'm late in posting as I went on vacation right after the KAL. I've been a long-time fan of on-line social networking, but I started the position I currently have recently and have been struggling with the best way to help the United Ways in Michgain to better utelize Web 2.0. Your point about picking one area and working to get people comfortable with it was very affirming for me. I started a flickr group (search "live united michigan") as a way to help people see the ease, fun, and helpfulness of one it. It's going okay so far! I'm hoping this will warm people up to other strategies down the road.

I came to the KAL conference with background knowledge in and experience with social media. But, your presentation was able to tease out the uses and tactics in a way that made it easy for me to apply it to my organization. We are trying to engage youth with one of our programs, and hearing you speak inspired an idea of starting a blog. The week after the conference I met with a colleague to share what I learned from you and present the idea of integrating social media. By Wednesday, we had a plan to set up a blog with posts from students sharing their experiences of the projects they are working on (within our program). They will tell their stories using first-hand accounts, video and pictures. The hope is to give students a sense of ownership of their efforts, and foster a community among students involved across the state. Do you have any thoughts about what to, or not to, include in the blog? Any other ideas for reaching out to youth (middle school age)?

Holly,

Thank you (and the other KAL presenters) for a fantastic convening! As the director of a membership association, I was learning with you on a number of levels - particularly your perspective running a membership association! When you first mentioned that NTEN's product was "community" I thought, well okay, but then as the convening progressed, I realized that that's exactly what our organization's product is, but I had never thought about it that way - essentially so simple! The notion really knocked me out. So, the change I'm planning to make is to explore how to increase the interactivity of our members with one another, because that is one of the primary "desires" for their association with our community. Face-to-face meetings are great, but we can do so much more through technology. Now it's figuring out how and helping our members be ready to really engage.

Thanks a million.
Amy

Hi Suzie -

You're thinking is exactly right.  Go for a small project where you can clearly show your victory.  This will help build trust in you and your crazy tech ideas and you'll be able to take bigger leaps each time.

Just be sure to track open rates, click throughs etc. for the old newsletter format before you switch.  Then set some goals - how much higher would you like those numbers to be?  What else might happen if your newsletter were better?  Would more people donate time or money?  Would more people visit your website?  Set some clear goals to measure the new version against.

Hi Ruby - Well all right then!  You're prize pack will be in the mail soon.... :)

I'd like to better leverage the energy/time we're already putting in - and one way to do that is to make our monthly email newsletter even more effective, by adding more visuals & interactiveness.

This will mean a new platform for us. Holly, thank you for the suggestions of verticalresponse & Constant Contact, I'll check into it.

It doesn't sound terribly risky. The risk is time - putting in the time for research, to set it up, plus a bit more time every month for photos and such, without a clear payoff. It could be dismissed as a small step, but it's 100% doable, and sometimes that's more important!

I think it's worth it because I really believe we can engage people even better than we are now. We can help build a vital community by protecting the lands that sustain us -- and technology can help us reach different people than we are now.

You helped me to understand the resources that I already have. I now understand what you know and what you want us to know. Please keep sharing. Now I want what you promised me!!!!!!!

Ruby Brower
Individual Family and Community Development

Good for you!  You not only posted a comment, you posted a comment that added value to this conversation.  That's awesome.  If you need advice as you begin your journey, my door is always open!

Hi Trent - 

Great!  If your organization works with folks who aren't digital natives, it sounds like you are ready to lead them to the promised land!  You're approach is good - get them to things they already know how to do (talk on the phone) and turn THAT into social media.  So instead of asking them to blog, you might ask them to write a short editorial for you.  Your staff then puts it up on the blog.  Before long, those same contributors will be begging to know how to post directly to the blog.  It's also great that you see this as a chance to tap into the knowledge of your community.  That's one of the great things about social media.  You can really highlight the amazing talents and smarts of your community.

Jocelyn -

Interns are a great idea!  Remember though, that interns may know lots about the technology, but they won't necessarily understand your mission.  So make sure you run everything they show you through your mission filter.  Talk to your colleagues and find out what they know about blogging as well.  You may just find that you have a colleague who is a secret blogger already and loves the idea of a blog for the organization!

Lurking and getting used to something new is a risk.  You are using one very precious resource while you lurk - your time!  If you're not sure where to begin, simply watching is a great first step.  Find other organizations who do similar work and see if/how they are using social media as well.  Join their efforts and watch what they do.  Also check out other nonprofits who are totally unlike your organization and see what you can learn from them!

Ashleigh -

Young or not, you've got the right approach!  Using all this fun stuff means aligning it with your mission.  It may take a while to get all your leadership on board, but if you start small and demonstrate the value, and if you can be patient, it will pay off.  Let me know how it goes!

Sounds like you are off and running into the world of social media.  The "real" trick will be figuring out how to make that fun useful to you and your org.  I can't wait to hear what you learn along the way!  Send me updates!

After attending the sessions in Dearborn MI I have given much thought to social media tools and resources. The knowledge gained having no real background was fascinating and yes a little scary, overwhelming to my comfort zone to be more exact. For example posting this comment. However the potential benefits to using social media as a marketing tool has me motivated to action. I am going to do just as suggested; embrace the unknown, dive in, and see what I can make of things.

Beginning with posting this comment, anonymously but posted never the less. It is a brave first step.

Ignoring data that says online interaction is just for the under 40 crowd, I think we should strive to create an expectation from older observers to participate...I, for one, will recognize the ability of the 40+ group in our network to be guest bloggers, join a two-minute phone conversation that could be a podcast and too generally create opportunities where I'm not just dishing out blogs but putting the focus on their intellect (instead of my lack thereof :) ).

First I need to practice a bit more with all this social media stuff. Starting a blog would be great for our organization, but we are an advocacy organization and I do the fundraising, so I'm not quite sure it would be me to start the blog.

Now I do want to get an intern from one of our local universities or colleges to set us up and teach the current staff about how this new tech stuff works.

Holly - your talk opened my eyes to the possibilities and the need to use these social media tools. My risk taking will involve exploring the options that are available and getting comfortable with using them and then in turn encouraging my co-workers to explore them also.Not so risky right? But I am not a tech type - I tend to lurk and watch. So I can expect some teasing about my new skills!

I was a participant at the KAL workshop last week in Dearborn and Holly I completely agree. I walked away wanting to make change not just to our Web site, but to the organization and community. With that change, does come risks and I ready to go for it. Now, I just wish my organization could get on board with me. However, no more need for wishing. I am going to take the risk of putting together multiple presentations as to what I think needs to change for us to move foward as an organization, socially on the Web and actively in the community. Our messaging needs a total make over and I want to take on that challenge. I actually came into the workshop looking for the part that you realized in this blog. I knew of the technology and wanted to use it; I just needed to know the right approach and the change to make.
I think that technology evolves so rapidly that without staying in the loop and being on board can make an organization not seem relevant. I think the communications opportunities out there are endless and the right ones need to be chosen to fit a particular organization. I have found a few that can help my organization, internally and externally, and once the message is redesigned it will easily allow these "technologies" to flow out from the spectrum.
Young people are actively involved in social media and young people are the next generation of CEO's and execs. They know the technology and their current CEO/exec knows the organization and business. If you put both minds together good things can happen. However, if current CEOs/execs decide they want nothing to do with technology, then the younger person one day ends up as the CEO still and really wants to use the technology and will, but might not know the right messages to send or who to send them to. I sometimes believe that this is a very strong message of some organizations that is conveyed every day and people just don't see it this way.
I know, as a young person, I have good technological ideas, however, I don't know my organization well enough and want to learn how to use these technologies for good and enhancement of the organization. After this workshop, I walked away with more ideas than I could have ever expected as to how to approach things and make my ideas become a reality, even if they don't become a reality, I know how to logically approach my organization and put forth the effort.

Holly,

Thanks for the workshop, "Lose Control". Boy, you said it!! Engaging in social media IS a "letting-go". It's also the decision to make changes in your work routine (ha! does anyone in non-profit know this word?)... a committment of time and energy many of us are short on.

Fortunately for us at the Dearborn convening, your energy was contagious and inspiring! Thank you for walking us through the various options available to social-media-lites. It gave me courage to jump in. Since Friday, I have created a personal page on Facebook and have uploaded company photos to Flickr. Having a great time!

You rock!!

Maria Suszynski
Wellspring/Cori Terry & Dancers
Kalamazoo, MI