Flickr Photo: mybluemuse aka PJ TaylorNTEN Discuss has been full of recommendations and interesting bits of information over the past few weeks.  Read on for a summary -- and join the discussions on the NTEN Affinity Groups.

Blog Guidelines

Holly Hight was put in charge of creating blogging guidelines for her organization, Bread for the World. She asked the NTEN Discuss list for any helpful pointers they might have:

• Beth Kanter has asked this very question in the past and sums up her findings on her blog: Nonprofit Blogging and Social Networking Policies and The Urge To Edit Someone Else's Blogging or Social Networking Policy Is Irresistible 
• Eve Smith, Easter Seals, added that Beth's post includes a copy of Easter Seals' blogging policy, developed for staff who want to blog officially, or unofficially, about the organization. They also went on to develop community guidelines for readers who wish to comment on their autism blog posts. You can check them out here.
• Michael Haggarty added these resources for blogging Nonprofits: Michigan Liberal Posting Guidelines, Nancy Schwartz: Should Your Nonprofit Launch a Blog? and Britt Bravo: Nonprofit Blogging Burning Questions and Answers

Podcast Providers

Will Fisher, American Speech-Language-Hearing Association asked if anyone had a recommendation for a podcast service provider. Here are the responses he received:

• Lisa Harris, The Colorado Health Foundation said they had been pleased with Burst Marketing for their podcast editing/production work.
• Holly suggested NTEN's tried and true provider, Readytalk. (Don't forget the NTEN Member Discount!) Readytalk provides podcasting with its audio conferencing services.  You can do a limited bit of editing, and they host the recorded audio file.  
• Utterz was mentioned by Holly and John Herman. Utterz is a mobile podcasting service that allows you to record a podcast if you are able to conference call on your phone. Holly wrote about her use of Utterz at the 2008 NTC.
• John also suggested HipCast as another alternative

Missing Technology in Ohio Policy Summit

Angela Siefer, Lumifi, let us know about her concern over the lack of technology planning in Ohio's Policy Summit, Restoring Our Prosperity: The State Role in Revitalizing Ohio's Core Communities, on her blog.  She thought it would be unfortunate if she were the only one to blog about this and goes on to explain her concerns about the missing piece in the summit.  Many thanks to Angela and all the other folks who continue to bring to light the vital role technology will play in the increasing prosperity of our communities.

I would also like to point out an organization making tremendous strides in that area: OneCommunity is working to increase internet access in Northeastern Ohio.  OneCommunity is also running a project in Akron, Ohio called the Knight Center of Digital Excellence, with the aim of accelerating community transformation through high-speed internet access.