Flickr Photo by Trainer62You may have noticed there's a lot going on at the NTEN court as of late -- new nten.org (just look around), release of the NTEN Data Ecosystem Report, NTC Scholarship Campaign, the NTC, and a great line-up of webinars!

Along with the many ways to engage and learn, we still want to continue to give NTEN Members the opportunity to talk with their colleagues who might be struggling with the same issues they are.

Flicker photo: World Economic ForumI was in DC last week to attend the NPTimes Top 50 dinner, honored to be in the same room with some of the most amazing people in the field. Of course, I wouldn't be me if I didn't try to stir the pot a little bit.

One of the fellas on the list was Bill Gates. I assumed his schedule would be full, but as I was getting ready, I had to wonder: What would I say to Bill Gates if I got the chance? Since I'm terrible in a clutch, I turned to you guys; you're funnier anyway.

I asked on my Facebook page, "What do YOU want me to ask Bill Gates?"

Flickr Photo: bredgarIf you're a frequent reader of this blog, you know that if I could do it all over again, I would have paid more attention in math class. Though my high school calculus class actually made me break out in hives -- it was the most stressful experience of my life -- I adore data. I want to eat statistics for dinner. I would love to marry a good data visualization. Mashups make me want to sing!

I love this stuff because, to me, data done right is empowerment. I look at it this way: a piece of data can tell you where you are, today. If you collect and analyze data over time, it can tell you where you're headed, tomorrow -- and that can help you make better business decisions.

That's when data becomes intelligence.

The field of Business Intelligence (BI) is growing by leaps and bounds as technology tools make getting, combining, and visualizing data easier than ever before. I'd like to stress that even though it has a fancy name and is used at large corporations, BI is something we all can do, no matter the size or scope of our organization.

Really, it's something we all MUST do, because it will help us serve our stakeholders better.

I hear from folks in the field that we don't do more with BI because it seems complicated and expensive. But if little ol' NTEN can pull off a BI strategy -- and we do our best over here -- so can you.

Let's bust a few BI myths.

Our mission here at NTEN is to help you use technology to change the world. A lot of our job, then, is to try to stay on the cutting edge to see how it might be used in our sector.

But we spend most of our time talking about the basics: how to lay a good foundation for technology use and management. In fact, we've been talking about planning, budgeting, change management, and related topics since before I joined NTEN nearly seven years ago.

This is why we decided to write Managing Technology to Meet Your Mission and hold the Online Technology Conference.

Flickr Photo by Trainer62One of the reasons you're part of NTEN is because we help you stay connected to your nptech colleagues. We help connect you through Affinity Groups, 501 Tech Clubs, and the annual Nonprofit Technology Conference.

Last fall, we experimented with another program that gave you the chance to talk to your peers -- Office Hours -- and it's been running for nearly a year. A few groups have become quite popular, like Maddie and Lindy's Water Cooler Chat, but most have petered out.

Because we try to be nimble and evolve to serve you better, we've been reading comments from the NTEN Community Survey and thinking about things you've told us at other times. Then, it hit us: a RoundTable discussion might be the way to go -- a nonprofit technology twist on King Arthur's great idea to bring all his knights to an equal table.

We'll get NTEN members on the phone, take a few minutes at the beginning to set the agenda, and then let you have at this opportunity to share your latest success or look for advice on what you're currently struggling with. The phone calls will be coupled with an online chat, so even if you don't want to speak up, you can still chat 'I concur'. And if you want to hum a few bars of "Knights of the Round Table", well, that's okay, too.

We're going to divide the calls up into 2 tracks: IT and Communications. You can come to one or to all; just know the agenda will be roughly formed around those audiences.

The Schedule is:

Flickr Photo: Tech Writer BoyHere at NTEN World Headquarters, we simply could not live without Cloud computing and Software as a Service (SaaS). We have staff members in three time zones -- and no IT department -- but the Cloud gives us (nearly) maintenance-free infrastructure and real-time collaboration that wouldn't be reasonably possible otherwise.

I've been talking about the cloud a lot lately as I roam the country, forcing audiences to pay attention to me. Since I love the cloud so much, I sort of assumed you all would be behind it, too. To your credit, most of you are. But there is a stronghold out there that is, shall we say, a wee bit skeptical. I'd like to respond to that with a healthy "Get Over It!", but I actually understand where the skeptics are coming from.

Enter Gartner. In another of their always insightful webinars, we got to take a look at where the cloud is now, and where it's headed. I live tweeted a bunch about this, but here are my notes in a reasonable approximation of order:

Flickr Photo: david reeceIn the nonprofit sector, we've been maligned as slow tech adopters for a long time. Having worked in this sector for a decade now, I suspect this used to be one strereotype based on some truth.

But I don't think it's the case anymore. In fact, I see our sector grappling with some of the same technology issues as our much bigger counterparts in the for-profit world.

This is certainly the case when it comes to technology leadership. Witness the recent TechRepublic article: "The CIO is Dead (Long Live the CIO)". The argument? If your job as CIO is focused on operations and helpdesk, you're worthless. You should be focused on how IT can leverage the program, marketing, and overall strategy of your organization.

From the article:

Flickr photo: surface to airIf you chose a career in IT, you also chose, by definition, to be an agent of change.

That's a line from an IT Republic article on the skills an IT leader needs to be effective. If you've ever done technology work of any sort, I'm guessing that resonates. I think it's the most important thing an IT leader can keep in mind.

Sure, your job includes technology. You need to know what's out there, what the trends are. But your job is not ABOUT technology. Your job is about communicating the value of technology, and helping your organization embrace it.

That means that you can't just propose a new project -- you have to show how the project will help your organization meet your mission. It also means that you have to play the role of confidant, coach, and therpist as you help staff adjust to the changes.

None of those things has anything to do with zeroes and ones.

Kevin LoChris PetersWhen you're a nonprofit manager, there are loads of great resources to help you get the skills you need to lead effectively: You can take classes on human resources, learn about the legal needs of your organization, or dive into accounting practices.

But how do you learn what you need to know about managing technology? How MUCH do you need to know? How are you supposed to decide the technological fate of your organization when you don't know the difference between RAM and ROM?

The answer is...

Johanna Bates has been working at Community Partners for a long time now. She started out stuffing envelopes, graduated to accidental techie, and is now the Director of Technology Strategy. It's fitting, then, that she's leading a session at the NTC about becoming a career nonprofit technologist. Last week, I had the chance to talk to her about her session, Career NPTechies: How to graduate from the accidental techie academy and become a tech leader.

Take a listen: