Group items tagged

Video of Susannah's talk is available above and at the Transform Symposium's website. Plus, a commentary based on her prepared remarks continues is on the website below the video of her talk. Prepared for "Mayo Transform 2010 : Thinking Differently About Health Care"

When most businesses and non-profits start using social media, they start with "small talk" with their communities. They politely reply to tweets, express appreciation to donors, respond as quickly as possible to customer support issues, and generally try to add value to their network. But all to often, they fail to move beyond the "small talk" and create meaningful discussions that their communities are dying to have

This article talks about how technology is improving our ability to respond to disasters around the world. Specifically it talks about how technology like SMS and twitter allowed rescue efforts to happen quicker and more efficiently. I think it's cool how with all this new technology we have the ability to save more lives and do more in times of disaster. Families were able to communicate with those in Haiti more than they would have been able to before this technology was available. Also, that with tools like SMS, donations were able to be set up for non-profits to assist in recovery efforts. People are probably more likely to donate if they can do it with something as simple as sending a text message, and organizations will be able to receive the money quicker. Cool article.

My final bookmark in my series on the use and future of technology in government funded public education. Talks about teaching using tech tools they already have like webcams, audio recorders, blogs, and other Web 2.0 tools in their quest to boost the literacy in their students.

This article talks about a recently legalized alternative business structure for nonprofits to consider. Establishing an L3C instead of a nonprofit seems a better title. This is similar to considering if you want to be LLC or corporation from the nonprofit standpoint. If you are allowed to make a little more profit it seems to be a good choice. The lack of a long track record could make it risky.

A nonprofit business structure you should know about

article subtitle: Labor board says discussing work with others is a right.  Key issues highlighted with article quotes: "Schools and other employers should think twice before trying to restrict workers from talking about their jobs on Facebook or other social media." "The National Labor Relations Board sued the company last year, arguing the worker's negative comments were protected speech under federal labor laws."

Obama talking about the importance of investing in wireless technology in Marquette, MI, up north last Thursday, Feb. 10, 2011. This part of a new White House focus on "innovation, competitiveness and infrastructure as a pathway to jobs and 'winning the future.' The president compared the goal of extending wireless access to important successes that connected previous generations of Americans: the building of railroads and the federal highway system."

I really like the plans he is pushing for. Mobile devices is obviously the current frontier to win. The impact on nonprofit activity will be enormous. Most businesses for that matter now have to consider a mobile device plan in supplement to their initial web design plans.

This article talks about the consequences of hoarding digital data. These consequences seem to not be known by a lot of people including IT experts.

This article talks about 5 trends that nonprofits use. Marketing or Relational Engagment, Content or interactive storytelling, Data or turnkey wisdom, Activism or Meaningful Gaming, and collaboration or micro-coordination.

A non-profit out of California has created software for human rights workers that is designed to secretly store data about human rights violation abuses in the country where they are located. There is talk about it already being used in the Middle-East recently. The software includes a 'panic button' that a human rights worker could use that would instantly delete all the files on the computer about government violations. The data is then stored in the cloud and accessable only with a password and secret 'key.' This is a great example of nonprofits working together to fight enormous challenges, with human rights being one of the most dangerous and exhaustive areas of work in the non-profit sector.

This brief article talks about cloud printing being implemented by HP. Keeping documents in a cloud instead of printing them may be something to consider.

This is article talks about search optimization. The process is fought continously to maintain the lead. The black and white hat approaches are mentioned. Some of the techniques used to achieve maximum results are explained, such as the use of algorithms.

Speech by Steven R. Chabinsky, Deputy Assistant Director, Cyber Division, Federal Bureau of Investigation  - delivered March 23, 2010 "...to talk with you about the cyber threat, why it's important, and how you can help your organizations-and in doing so, help our country-rise to this enormous challenge. Some of you no doubt are on the front lines of the cyber security problem and are quite familiar with it, while others of you may only have passing familiarity with this growing problem. First, let me share with you the importance of the cyber security problem from the lens of the FBI. As you know, the FBI is a law enforcement agency that investigates hundreds of federal crimes as well as a domestic national security agency that combats terrorism, espionage, treason, and sabotage.

I choose to bookmark this article because The online procurement (e-procurement) has been identified as the most important element of e-business operational excellence for large corporations' (Barua et al., 2001). An e-procurement technology is defined as any technology designed to facilitate the acquisition of goods by a commercial or a government organization over the Internet

With so many organizations out there competing for attention and money, having a solid social media strategy is going to be paramount to success in the future. This Webinar looks pretty interesting, and should help to sort out some of those issues for NPOs of any size. I would be really interested to hear Brooke McMillan talk about managing the Livestrong presence online, and how they look at Social Media as a fundraising tool.

For what it's worth, I always find snippets like this in the news to be interesting because everyone thinks the same thing: What are they talking about? A dozen tech execs attended a private dinner hosted by President Obama in California. With Zuckerberg to his right and Jobs to his left, one can't help but wonder what was discussed. Being a poli sci major, I feel the Obama administration certainly needs the Silicon Valley tech giants to help get re-elected in 2012. Nonetheless, i guess investment in Silicon Valley is obviously worth a dinner with the President.

This article talk about the use of the component of biodiversity, especially as it involve the sale of material.

Although this article talks about business and government, it nonetheless provides very useful information in regards to the use of technology in the government. If the public information that is being taken by the government and seemingly used very little can prove to have benefits to society when used in an efficient and accessible way. These benefits can affect an individual, a business, or a non-profit in numerous ways.

Modernizing the 990-PF to Advance the Accountability and Performance of Foundations: Part 2 (posted 03/21/2011 to website) (John Craig is executive vice-president and COO of The Commonwealth Fund. Craig is chair of the Nonprofit Coordinating Committee of New York, and a former chair of The Investment Fund for Foundations (TIFF). He serves on the boards of the TIFF Education Fund, the Greenwall Foundation, the International Women's Health Coalition, and the National Center for Law and Philanthropy, and on the investment committee of the Social Science Research Council.)