Check out this event taking place in San Mateo next month. It's free for nonprofit staff!

TPS: Broadband Innovation, taking place May 11, 2009 in conjunction with the 3rd annual Tech Policy Summit conference, is designed to assist community and business leaders by offering best practices for improving Internet access and adoption. Produced by Tech Policy Central, the daylong event will provide an in-depth look at state and federal efforts to improve broadband deployment and the call to develop a comprehensive national broadband strategy.

Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) will keynote the summit, which will also feature policy experts from AT&T, Comcast, One Economy, Connected Nation, Level 3 Communications, IBM, The Children's Partnership and the California Emerging Technology Fund, among others.

Registration is free to nonprofit, academic and government employees and the corporate rate is $195.

View the agenda and sign up online at http://events.techpolicycentral.com

The Association for Fundraising Professionals and the Direct Marketing Association of Washington are co-hosting the 2008 Bridge Conference, July 23-25 in Washington, DC.

The Bridge Conference is all about marketing, fundraising tools and strategies. Members of NTEN can register at the lowest rate (contact Annaliese for details).

Even better, you can enter this contest to win a FREE registration!

A quick glance at the session tracks shows that the nonprofit technology community can find plenty of content to help mission-oriented marketing and fundraising campaigns -- and look, there's even an NTEN track, a little home-away-from home while you're waiting for the 2009 NTC.

In looking over the news and activity of NTEN members online this week, the theme seems to be: Let's get together to make more happen.

First up, we've got an update from long-time and very active NTEN member Norman Reiss about his participation at the Aspiration-Idealware -- both long-time NTEN supporting organizations -- Managing Nonprofit Technology Projects seminar in New York. From what I've heard online and in the Twitt-o-sphere, the first conference from these folks on this topic went well, with a nice turn out of nonprofit techies from all over, including from across the pond.

Speaking of friends from Europe, NTEN members LASA and the ICT Hub are getting ready for a gathering of their own, the 2008 National Circuit Riders Conference, in Birmingham, England next month.

There's news of another gathering in NYC coming soon: the "Software Smackdown", the first meetup of 2008 for New York's NTEN 501 Tech Club, organized by the club's new cruise director, Charles Lenchner.