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.
2. Why do you think your session topic is important for nonprofits to address?
Working with virtual teams is an important topic for nonprofits to address because more and more, they are working with staff members or contractors who do not share an office with them. The field of virtual work and virtual workforce management is growing, and increasingly, program directors and organizational directors are finding themselves in the position of having to use more technical tools to keep a far-flung team in close communication. Working with people from afar is not the same as being in-person, so developing practices that are effective in team management is a must.
3. What's the one thing you want attendees to remember from your session?
That virtual work could save the planet! And contributes to productive, healthy, and balanced work lives when it is managed properly.
4. Which Muppet do you most identify with and why?
Oh, that would have to be Scooter. He was the blond muppet who played stage manager and stayed behind the curtain and helped herd people on stage while also helping Miss Piggy and Kermit work out their latest relationship crisis. He did all of this while also having Gonzo around his neck and Animal swinging on a chain from the ceiling trying to bite him. I have been known to provide a lot of invisible support under some interesting conditions so that the show goes on. Because it must!
5. Where can people follow you online (twitter, blog, etc.)?
CivicActions blog: http://civicactions.com/blog/jennsramek
- CivicActions blog: http://civicactions.com/blog/jennsramek
- Twitter: @ideaseed