NetSquared: Remixing the Web for Social Change

Net Tuesday: Presentation by Deb Levine, Co-founder of ISIS

NetSquared — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 03:15:00 GMT

This podcast is a Net Tuesday presentation by Deb Levine, the co-founder of Internet Sexuality Information Services (ISIS). The organization conducts a number of programs (e.g., inSpot and inBrief) the area of sexual health oriented particularly to young people that use online technology to reach and involve them.

Deb has been involved in sexual health issues since she established one of the first computer-based information services called "Go Ask Alice!" at Columbia University.

Net Tuesday: Interview with Deb Levine, Co-founder of ISIS

NetSquared — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 03:00:00 GMT

This podcast is an interview by David Collin of Deb Levine, the co-founder of Internet Sexuality Information Services (ISIS). The organization conducts a number of programs (e.g., inSpot and inBrief ) the area of sexual health oriented particularly to young people that use online technology to reach and involve them.

Deb has been involved in sexual health issues since she established one of the first computer-based information services called "Go Ask Alice!" at Columbia University.

Net Tuesday: Presentation by Ben Rigby of Mobile Voter

NetSquared — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 02:51:00 GMT

This podcast is a Net Tuesday presentation by Ben Rigby, the co-founder of Mobile Voter and author of the recently published book, Mobilizing Generation 2.0: A Practical Guide to Using Web 2.0 Technologies to Recruit, Organize and Engage Youth.

Ben is the co-founder of Akimbo Design, a successful new media design firm. He was also the CTO of DFILM, a youth-oriented entertainment and mobile applications company.

Ben has devoted himself lately to helping nonprofits learn how to capture the new wave of civic interest among young people by using the technologies that youth are familiar with.

Net Tuesday: Interview with Ben Rigby of Mobile Voter

NetSquared — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 02:33:00 GMT

This podcast is a Net Tuesday interview by David Collin of Ben Rigby, the co-founder of Mobile Voter and author of the recently published book, Mobilizing Generation 2.0: A Practical Guide to Using Web 2.0 Technologies to Recruit, Organize and Engage Youth .

Ben is the co-founder of Akimbo Design, a successful new media design firm. He was also the CTO of DFILM, a youth-oriented entertainment and mobile applications company.

Ben has devoted himself lately to helping nonprofits learn how to capture the new wave of civic interest among young people by using the technologies that youth are familiar with.

Net Tuesday: Presentation by Greg Wolff of the UnaMesa Association

NetSquared — Tue, 1 Jul 2008 16:18:00 GMT

Presentation by Greg Wolff, President of the UnaMesa Association, at Net Tuesday San Francisco May 13, 2008.

The UnaMesa Association is a public charity dedicated to improving health care, education, and social services by supporting the individuals and small teams who provide these services. UnaMesa acts as an R&D organization with projects that bring together industry, academia, and NGOs to develop and distribute effective tools. Wolff has over 15 years in the research, design, and development of systems that support collaboration within and between work groups. He was a 2004-2005 Fellow in the Digital Vision Program at Stanford University, and is currently Vice President of Ricoh Innovations.

Net Tuesday: Presentation by Rushton Hurley of Next Vista for Learning

NetSquared — Tue, 1 Jul 2008 16:13:00 GMT

Presentation by Rushton Hurley of the Next Vista for Learning at Net Tuesday San Francisco on May 13, 2008.

Next Vista for Learning is an education-focused 501(c)(3) nonprofit that is building a free, screened library of video content by and for teachers and students everywhere.

Hurley has taught at the high school and college level, been a school principal, worked with charter and traditional schools, and organized and run an online school. His graduate school background at Stanford includes exploring technology-enhanced learning through multi-media and speech recognition. The idea of helping students become more engaged in, and confident with their learning is one that drives his passion and resources to make this project succeed. Give him a few minutes, and he'll convince you, too.

Net Tuesday: Presentation by Adam Frey of Wikispaces

NetSquared — Tue, 1 Jul 2008 16:08:00 GMT

Presentation at Net Tuesday San Francisco on May 13, 2008 by Adam Frey, the co-founder of Wikispaces.

Wikispaces is a provider of easy to use and easy to adopt hosted wikis. Wikispaces provides public and private wikis for small groups, and private label wiki environments for organizations such as schools and nonprofits.

Prior to founding Wikispaces, Mr. Frey founded and managed the SourceForge line of business at VA Linux Systems (later VA Software). Frey holds a Bachelor of Science degree with Honors from Monash University and an MBA from Columbia Business School.

In his presentation, Adam emphasizes that ease of use and freedom to explore make wikis a good tool for collaboration. They are a tool that educators have found to be useful in working with students, and they may be a good tool for nonprofits as well.

Net Tuesday: Interview with Adam Frey of Wikispaces

NetSquared — Tue, 1 Jul 2008 16:02:00 GMT

Interview by David Collin with Adam Frey, the co-founder of Wikispaces.

Wikispaces is a provider of easy to use and easy to adopt hosted wikis. Wikispaces provides public and private wikis for small groups, and private label wiki environments for organizations such as schools and nonprofits.

Prior to founding Wikispaces, Mr. Frey founded and managed the SourceForge line of business at VA Linux Systems (later VA Software). Frey holds a Bachelor of Science degree with Honors from Monash University and an MBA from Columbia Business School.

In this podcast Frey discusses how wikis may be the right tool for easy collaboration projects in non-profits.

Business Intelligence for Nonprofits: An Interview with Steve Williams of Business Objects

NetSquared — Wed, 21 May 2008 00:21:00 GMT

Steve Williams is the Community Program Manager, Environment and Technology Programs for Business Objects.

As part of the Business Objects Community team, Steve is responsible for enabling and facilitating employee-driven environmental sustainability programs and championing the company's sustainability agenda internally and externally.

Steve's other focus area is working with nonprofits and social enterprises to help them demonstrate the value they create to donors and investors thereby gaining access to greater and more consistent funding.

You can read a transcript of this interview on the NetSquared Blog.

Shining a Light on Politics: An Interview with Ellen Miller of the Sunlight Foundation

NetSquared — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 22:50:00 GMT

Ellen S. Miller is the co-founder and Executive Director of the Sunlight Foundation, a Washington-based, nonprofit catalyst that is using new technology to open up Congress. In just two years, Sunlight has created more than two dozen Web sites, databases, distributed research projects, tools and widgets to make information about Congressâ activities more accessible through the Internet.

Miller is also a NetSquared Advocate.

Funding Nonprofit Social Web Innovation: An Interview with Vince Stehle

NetSquared — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 05:04:00 GMT

Vincent Stehle is the Program Officer for the Nonprofit Sector Initiative of the Surdna Foundation. He is a NetSquared Advocate and was recently awarded the NTEN Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2008 Nonprofit Technology Conference.

You can read a transcript of this interview on the NetSquared Blog.

Net Tuesday SF: Presentation by Jon Warnow of Step It Up

NetSquared — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 22:50:00 GMT

Jon Warnow is an online organizer and technology coordinator whose most recent project was Step It Up, a campaign to unite communities for on-the-ground action on climate change. In 2007, this web-based project helped to unleash the inner-activist in regular people by experimenting with a model of "open-source activism" that creates deeper engagement, an empowered constituency, and more effective results. By catalyzing and coordinating over 2000 synchronized off-line actions, the Step It Up campaign was able to channel the simmering concerns of a citizenry into a powerful, unified, politically strategic call to action.

Fresh out of college in Vermont, Jon is relatively new to the technology and non-profit scene, and is fascinated by both the hollow hype and the powerful potential of web-enabled activism. He's still doing his damndest to use the best of the web to get people to take effective action on the greatest challenge of our time--climate change. Currently, Jon and his co-conspirators are gearing up to launch an international campaign that harnesses our most promising technologies to build a truly global climate movement--and he wants you to help.

This show is a recording of Jon's presentation during the March 11th Net Tuesday San Francisco: Creating Successful Web Campaigns for Your Nonprofit.

Net Tuesday SF: Interview with Jon Warnow of Step It Up

NetSquared — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 22:38:00 GMT

David Collin, the SF Net Tuesday Podcaster, interviewed Jon during Net Tuesday San Francisco on March 11th. Jon was one of the speakers during the March Net Tuesday, Creating Successful Web Campaigns for Your Nonprofit.

Net Tuesday SF: Presentation by David Taylor of Radical Designs

NetSquared — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 22:35:00 GMT

David Taylor is the Founder and Director of Radical Designs, a software development company focused on meeting the technological needs of grassroots social movement organizations. He has spent the last nine years building cutting edge websites, online organizing tools and web based mobilization strategies for over 200 social movement organizations, nonprofits, and political campaigns. When not building websites, David is a direct action trainer, and mass mobilization organizer, for the anti-globalization, anti-war, environmental and global justice movements as well as a political strategist for local progressive electoral campaigns in San Francisco.

This show is a recording of David's presentation during the March 11th Net Tuesday San Francisco: Creating Successful Web Campaigns for Your Nonprofit.

Net Tuesday SF: Interview with David Taylor of Radical Designs

NetSquared — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 22:11:00 GMT

David Taylor is the Founder and Director of Radical Designs, a software development company focused on meeting the technological needs of grassroots social movement organizations. He has spent the last nine years building cutting edge websites, online organizing tools and web based mobilization strategies for over 200 social movement organizations, nonprofits, and political campaigns. When not building websites, David is a direct action trainer, and mass mobilization organizer, for the anti-globalization, anti-war, environmental and global justice movements as well as a political strategist for local progressive electoral campaigns in San Francisco.

David Collin, the SF Net Tuesday Podcaster, interviewed David Taylor during Net Tuesday San Francisco on March 11th. David was one of the speakers during the March Net Tuesday, Creating Successful Web Campaigns for Your Nonprofit.

Net Tuesday: Presentation by Gordon Strause of Yahoo! Groups

NetSquared — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 23:15:00 GMT

This is a Net Tuesday presentation by Gordon Strause, product manager for Yahoo! Groups. Groups is one of the longest running social organization tools on the Internet. It has millions of active groups. Gordon reflects on Yahoo! Group's place in the development of social networking tools and how nonprofits have used it. He also hints at some ways that Yahoo! might change Groups in the coming year to update it.

Net Tuesday: Interview with Gordon Strause of Yahoo! Groups

NetSquared — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 23:10:00 GMT

This is a Net Tuesday interview by David Collin with Gordon Strause, product manager for Yahoo! Groups. Groups is one of the longest running social organization tools on the Internet. It has millions of active groups. Gordon reflects on Yahoo! Group's place in the development of social networking tools and how nonprofits have used it. He also hints at some ways that Yahoo! might change Groups in the coming year to update it.

Net Tuesday: Presentation by Ian Kennedy of MyBlogLog

NetSquared — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 23:07:00 GMT

The following is a Net Tuesday presentation by Ian Kennedy, the product manager for MyBlogLog, a service of Yahoo! MyBlogLog is a community building service for bloggers. Individuals who register with MyBlogLog leave their picture or avatar and some profile information automatically each time they visit a web site registered at MyBlogLog and running its widget. They become the top-of-the-list face on the Recent Readers section of the blog or web site. Readers become part of a social community around the blog. Ian discusses how nonprofits can use MyBlogLog to build community around their sites.

Net Tuesday: Interview with Ian Kennedy of MyBlogLog

NetSquared — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 22:59:00 GMT

The following is an interview by David Collin with Ian Kennedy, the product manager for MyBlogLog, a service of Yahoo! MyBlogLog is a community building service for bloggers. Individuals who register with MyBlogLog leave their picture or avatar and some profile information automatically each time they visit a web site registered at MyBlogLog and running its widget. They become the top-of-the-list face on the Recent Readers section of the blog or web site. Readers become part of a social community around the blog. Ian discusses how nonprofits can use MyBlogLog to build community around their sites.

Mobilizing Generation 2.0: An Interview with Ben Rigby of Mobile Voter

NetSquared — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 22:11:00 GMT

Ben Rigby is the Founder and Co-executive Director of Mobile Voter. He is also the author, with Rock the Vote, of a new book coming out in April called Mobilizing Generation 2.0: A Practical Guide to Using Web2.0 Technologies to Recruit, Organize and Engage Youth.

You can read a transcript of this interview on the NetSquared Blog.

Net Tuesday: Presentation by Nate Ritter on Using Twitter During San Diego Fires

NetSquared — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 20:35:00 GMT

This is a recording of Nate Ritter's presentation during the January 8, 2008 San Francisco Net Tuesday. Nate is a San Diego-based developer and business consultiant. During the wildfires of 2007 in the San Diego area Nate used Twitter to set up a help center. He was able to use various features of Twitter to keep a constant stream of information and referrals to other resources flowing to local residents. Friends and relatives outside San Diego County also found the Tweets about the fire helpful.

You can learn more about Nateâs work by going to blog.perfectspace.com and you can follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/nateritter

Net Tuesday: Presentation by Jeremy Pepper of The Point

NetSquared — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 22:04:00 GMT

This podcast is a presentation by Jeremy Pepper, Communications Manager of The Point at the January 8, 2008 San Francisco Net Tuesday meeting.

The Point is a site designed to help people solve problems they can't solve alone. Consumers, employees, and community members can use The Point to initiate a "campaign" about an issue and enroll members until they reach the "tipping point" at which their action will have the impact of significant numbers of people.

Net Tuesday: Interview with Jeremy Pepper of The Point

NetSquared — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 21:57:00 GMT

This podcast is an interview of Jeremy Pepper, Communications Manager of The Point by David Collin at the January 8, 2008 San Francisco Net Tuesday meeting.

The Point is a site designed to help people solve problems they can't solve alone. Consumers, employees, and community members can use The Point to initiate a "campaign" about an issue and enroll members until they reach the "tipping point" at which their action will have the impact of significant numbers of people.

Twitter and the San Diego Fires: An Interview with Nate Ritter

NetSquared — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 21:10:00 GMT

Nate is a web developer and consultant who used Twitter as a help center during the San Diego fires. You can learn more about Nateâs work by going to blog.perfectspace.com and you can follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/nateritter.

You can read a transcript of this interview on the NetSquared Blog.

Nonprofits Outpacing Business in Use of Social Media: An Interview with Eric Mattson

NetSquared — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 01:12:00 GMT

Eric Mattson is the co-author of a recent study, Blogging for the Hearts of Donors, about social media usage by the 200 largest charities in the US.

For more information about Eric's work, check out his web site at ericmattson.com.

You can read a transcript of this interview on the NetSquared Blog.

Net Tuesday: Presentation by Steve Miller of Google Earth Outreach

NetSquared — Thu, 1 Nov 2007 21:02:00 GMT

This podcast is a presentation by Steve Miller, Product Manager for Google Earth Outreach at Net Tuesday, October 10, 2007.

Google Earth Outreach is a project to enable non-profit or public benefit groups to use Google Earth to capture the work they're doing, the people they're helping, and the change they're helping to enable in the visual context of the environment in which these activities take place. Google Earth Outreach enables any organization to quickly and easily get the resources it needs to create compelling stories through Google Earth layers. Steve discusses how any organization can quickly and easily annotate Google Earth with pictures and information to tell visual, compelling stories of the work they do.

Interview with Nicholas Reville of Miro

NetSquared — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 22:25:00 GMT

Nicholas Reville is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of the Participatory Culture Foundation.

The Participatory Culture Foundation is the creator of the Miro Internet TV platform. Miro was a Featured Project, and the Second Place NetSquared Innovation Award winner at the NetSquared Conference in May 2007.

You can listen to their 5-minute pitch at the Conference here.

Net Tuesday: Interview with Steve Miller of Google Earth Outreach

NetSquared — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 19:15:00 GMT

This podcast is an interview by David Collin, the San Francisco Net Tuesday podcaster, with Steve Miller, Product Manager for Google Earth Outreach.

Google Earth Outreach is a project to enable non-profit or public benefit groups to use Google Earth to capture the work they're doing, the people they're helping, and the change they're helping to enable in the visual context of the environment in which these activities take place. Google Earth Outreach enables any organization to quickly and easily get the resources it needs to create compelling stories through Google Earth layers. Steve discusses how any organization can quickly and easily annotate Google Earth with pictures and information to tell visual, compelling stories of the work they do.

Interview with Ivan Boothe of the Genocide Intervention Network

NetSquared — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 01:51:00 GMT

Ivan Boothe is the internet strategy coordinator for the Genocide Intervention Network, which empowers individuals and communities with the tools to prevent and stop genocide. He holds a degree in peace and conflict studies and authored a thesis on third-party nonviolent intervention. His technical skills include more than a decade of web development, including semantic, standards-compliant XHTML and CSS, as well as extensive work with Drupal and WordPress content-management systems. Ivan was a co-founder of why-war.org, which launched a nationwide campaign of electronic civil disobedience against the voting machine manufacturer Diebold in 2003. His writings can be found at quixoticlife.net.

The Genocide Intervention Network was one of the Featured Projects at the NetSquared Conference in May 2007. You can hear their 5-minute pitch at the Conference here.

A transcript of the interview is available here.

Interview with Angela Siefer of Grassroots.org

NetSquared — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 22:20:00 GMT

Angela Siefer has over ten years nonprofit capacity building experience. Prior to joining Grassroots.org , Angela served as the Executive Director of the Ohio Community Computing Network. She is a nationally-recognized nonprofit technology expert and has received a number of honors including the John Glenn Social Capital & Midwest Community Networking Awards. Angela currently serves on several voluntary boards, including the International Advisory Council for the Public Interest Registry (PIR.org), OCCN and CTCNet.

Grassroots.org was Featured Project at the NetSquared Conference in May 2007. You can hear their 5-minute pitch from the Conference here.

You can read a transcript of this interview on the NetSquared Blog.

Interview with Michael Furdyk of TakingITGlobal

NetSquared — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 19:55:00 GMT

Michael Furdyk is the Co-founder and Director of Technology of TakingITGlobal. He founded two successful Internet companies before he was 17, selling the first, Mydesktop.com, to Internet.com in May 1999. He has appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Show, and in 2001 Teen People named him one of 20 Teens that Will Change the World. He is an advisor to Microsoft, Pollution Probe, Possibilities, and several other organizations.

TakingITGlobal was a Featured Project at the NetSquared Conference in May 2007. You can hear their 5-minute pitch from the Conference here.

A transcript of the interview is available on the NetSquared Blog.

Net Tuesday: Interview with Ephrat Bitton of iCare

NetSquared — Wed, 3 Oct 2007 20:44:00 GMT

This podcast is an interview by David Collin of Ephrat Bitton at the September 11 Net Tuesday in San Francisco . Ephrat is the co-founder of iCare, a web-based service that facilitates person-to-person assistance for people recovering from disaster. Ephrat is a PhD engineering student at Berkeley and applies her skill in mathematical modeling to solve complex problems. With iCare she finds ways to use underutilized capacity in transportation systems to ship supplies to those in need at low cost.

Net Tuesday: Presentation by Ephrat Bitton of iCare

NetSquared — Wed, 3 Oct 2007 20:37:00 GMT

This podcast is a presentation at Net Tuesday September 11 by Ephrat Bitton. Ephrat is the co-founder of iCare, a web-based service that facilitates person-to-person assistance for people recovering from disaster. Ephrat is a PhD engineering student at Berkeley and applies her skill in mathematical modeling to solve complex problems. With iCare she finds ways to use underutilized capacity in transportation systems to ship supplies to those in need at low cost.

Net Tuesday: Interview with Jonathan Thompson of Humanlink

NetSquared — Wed, 3 Oct 2007 20:32:00 GMT

This podcast is an interview by David Collin with Jonathan Thompson at the September 11 Net Tuesday. Jonathan is the founder of Humanlink, an organization that helps humanitarian organizations use technology so they may help others. Jonathan has worked in the humanitarian field for the last six years. He has been the logistics officer for Medecins Sans Frontieres and other organizations working in Ethiopia, Sudan, Indonesia and Iraq/Kuwait. He talks about how the right techniques can enable relief operations in developing parts of the world work more cost-effectively.

Net Tuesday: Presentation by Jonathan Thompson of Humanlinkl

NetSquared — Wed, 3 Oct 2007 20:12:00 GMT

This podcast is a presentation at the September 11 Net Tuesday by Jonathan Thompson, the founder of Humanlink, an organization that helps humanitarian organizations use technology so they may help others. Jonathan has worked in the humanitarian field for the last six years. He has been the logistics officer for Medecins Sans Frontieres and other organizations working in Ethiopia, Sudan, Indonesia and Iraq/Kuwait. He talks about how the right techniques can enable relief operations in developing parts of the world work more cost-effectively.

Interview with Siegfried Woldhek of NABUUR

NetSquared — Fri, 7 Sep 2007 18:54:00 GMT

Inteview with Siegfried Woldhek, the founder and CEO of NABUUR. NABUUR links you directly with people around the world who need your assistance now. All you need is a computer, a little free time, and the desire to make a difference. NABUUR was one of the Featured Projects at the NetSquared Conference in May 2007.

You can hear their 5 minute pitch at the NetSquared Conference here and read a transcript of the interview on the NetSquared Blog.

Interview with Jim Slama of FamilyFarmed.org

NetSquared — Wed, 5 Sep 2007 23:36:00 GMT

Jim Slama is the President of the nonprofit, Sustain, and Founder of the FamilyFarmed.org project. FamilyFarmed.org is a website, food label, and EXPO that supports Midwestern organic farmers by connecting them with consumers and commercial buyers. The project was one of the Featured Projects at the NetSquared Conference in May 2007.

You can also listen to their 5-minute pitch at the Conference here and read a transcript of this interview on the NetSquared Blog.

Nonprofit Commons in Second Life Launch at Net Tuesday

NetSquared — Sun, 2 Sep 2007 04:57:00 GMT

An audio recording from the launch of the Nonprofit Commons in Second Life on August 14th, 2007. Over 100 avatars in Second Life and 60 people in San Francisco gathered to celebrate the Nonprofit Commons' launch.

Speakers included Anshe Chung, Glitteractica Cookie, Jeska Linden, Coughran Mayo and In Kenzo.

You can learn more about the Nonprofit Commons in Second Life at www.nonprofitcommons.org and you can watch a video from the event at netsquared.blip.tv.

The recording begins part way through Glitteractica Cookieâs opening remarks.

Interview with Peggy Duvette of WiserEarth

NetSquared — Sun, 2 Sep 2007 02:03:00 GMT

Peggy Duvette is the Director of WiserEarth, WiserEarth is a community directory and networking forum that maps and connects non-governmental organizations and individuals addressing the issues of social justice, poverty and the environment. WiserEarth was one of the Featured Projects at the NetSquared Conference in May 2007.

You can hear WiserEarth's 5-minute pitch at the Conference here and read a transcript of this interview on the NetSquared Blog.

Interview with Jennifer Sly of YouthAssets

NetSquared — Sun, 2 Sep 2007 01:25:00 GMT

Jennifer Sly is the Founder of YouthAssets, an organization committed to increasing and efficiently managing resources for youth made vulnerable by HIV/AIDs in Southern Africa. YouthAssets was one of the Featured Projects at the NetSquared Conference in May 2007.

You can hear their 5-minute pitch at the Conference here and read a transcript of this interview on the NetSquared Blog.

Interview with Eduardo Bejar of Yankana.org

NetSquared — Sat, 1 Sep 2007 19:42:00 GMT

Eduardo Bejar is the Executive Director of Fundapi.org, a nonprofit foundation based in Guayaquil, Ecuador that works with information and communication technology in developing countries. Fundapiâs project, Yankana.org, was one of the Featured Projects at the NetSquared Conference in May 2007.

You can hear their 5-minute pitch from the Conference here and read a transcript of this interview on the NetSquared Blog.

Interview with Jesse Patel of Innovatorz

NetSquared — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 23:51:00 GMT

Jesse Patel a the Co-founder of Innovatorz Media.

During the 2nd NetSquared Conference in May 2007, 21 projects that use the web for social impact presented their work and received feedback and support from the NetSquared Community. Innovatorz was one of the Featured Projects. You can read a transcript of this interview on the NetSquared Blog and listen to their 5-minute pitch at the NetSquared Conference here.

Interview with Linda Alepin of Global Women's Leadership Network

NetSquared — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 01:19:00 GMT

Linda Alepin is the Founding Director of the Global Women's Leadership Network. The Global Women's Leadership Network (GLWN) is an international network of women leaders who dare to transform their organizations, their communities, and the world. During the 2nd NetSquared Conference in May 2007, 21 Projects that use the web for social impact presented their work and received feedback and support from the NetSquared Community. The Global Women's Leadership Network was one of the Featured Projects.

You can hear their 5-minute pitch from the Conference here and read a transcript of this interview on the NetSquared Blog.

Interview with Randy Roberson of H.E.L.P.

NetSquared — Thu, 9 Aug 2007 23:47:00 GMT

Interview with Randy Roberson, the Founder and President of H.E.L.P (Humanitarian Emergency Logistics and Preparation). During the 2nd NetSquared Conference in May 2007, 21 projects that use the web for social impact presented their work and received feedback and support from the NetSquared Community. HELPâs International Telemedicine Humanitarian Emergency Mobile Medical Clinic Network was one of the Featured Projects.

You can hear their 5-minute pitch at the Conference here and read a transcript of the interview on the Net2 Blog

Interview with Don Jansen of Farmer 2 Farmer Learning

NetSquared — Mon, 6 Aug 2007 23:37:00 GMT

Interview with Don Jansen Programme Manager of the DE Foundation. During the 2nd NetSquared Conference in May 2007, 21 projects that use the web for social impact presented their work and received feedback and support from the NetSquared Community. Farmer 2 Farmer Learning was one of the Featured Projects.

Farmer 2 Farmer Learning helps farmers in developing countries become more efficient and market oriented when they learn from their experiences, and the experience of their colleagues. The tool provides them with the means to learn by comparison.

You can listen to their 5-minute pitch at the Conference here and read a transcript of this interview on the Net2 Blog.

Interview with Allen Gunn of the Social Source Commons

NetSquared — Thu, 2 Aug 2007 05:42:00 GMT

Allen Gunn is the Executive Director of Aspiration, a nonprofit that connects other nonprofits to software solutions that help them more effectively meet their missions of positive global change. During the Second NetSquared Conference in May 2007, 21 projects that use the web for social impact presented their work and received feedback and support from the NetSquared Community. Aspirationâs Social Source Commons was one of the Featured Projects.

You can hear Aspiration's 5-minute pitch at the Conference here, and read a transcript of the interview on the Net2 Blog.

Net Tuesday: Presentation by Dan Newman of MAPLight

NetSquared — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 05:10:00 GMT

Presentation by Daniel Newman at San Francisco's Net Tuesday.

Dan Newman is the Executive Director and Co-founder of MAPLight.org, a nonpartisan nonprofit that illuminates the connection between money and politics. During the 2nd NetSquared Conference in May 2007, 21 projects that use the web for social impact presented their work and received feedback and support from the NetSquared Community. At the end of the Conference, each attendee voted for the projects that they thought would have the most impact. MAPLight was the first place winner.

Net Tuesday: Presentation by Ann Blocker of Freestyle

NetSquared — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 05:08:00 GMT

Presentation by Ann Blocker, a moderator with Freecycle, at the San Francisco Net Tuesday. The Freecycle Networkâ is made up of many individual groups across the globe. It's a grassroots and entirely nonprofit movement of people who are giving--and getting--stuff for free in their own towns.

During the 2nd NetSquared Conference in May 2007, 21 projects that use the web for social impact presented their work and received feedback and support from the NetSquared Community. At the end of the Conference, each attendee voted for the projects they thought would have the most impact. Freecycle was the third place prize winner.

Net Tuesday: Interview with Ann Blocker of Freecycle

NetSquared — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 05:03:00 GMT

An interview by David Collin with Ann Blocker, a moderator with Freecycle, at the San Francisco Net Tuesday. The Freecycle Networkâ is made up of many individual groups across the globe. It's a grassroots and entirely nonprofit movement of people who are giving--and getting--stuff for free in their own towns.

During the 2nd NetSquared Conference in May 2007, 21 projects that use the web for social impact presented their work and received feedback and support from the NetSquared Community. At the end of the Conference, each attendee voted for the projects they thought would have the most impact. Freecycle was the third place prize winner.

Interview with Kim Lowery of Kabissa 2.0

NetSquared — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 04:52:00 GMT

Kim Lowery the co-Executive Director of Kabissa, an organization that helps African civil society organizations put information and communication technologies to work for the benefit of the people they serve. Kabissaâs project, Kabissa 2.0, was one of the Featured Projects at the NetSquared Conference in May 2007.

You can read a transcript of this interview on the NetSquared Blog and hear their 5-minute pitch at the Conference here.

Interview with Deron Beal of the Freecycle Network

NetSquared — Sat, 21 Jul 2007 18:37:00 GMT

Deron Beal the Executive Director and Founder of the Freecycle Network, a grassroots and entirely nonprofit movement of people who are giving (& getting) stuff for free in their own towns. During the 2nd NetSquared Conference in May 2007, 21 projects that use the web for social impact presented their work and received feedback and support from the NetSquared Community. At the end of the Conference, each attendee voted for the projects they thought would have the most impact. Freecycle was the third place prize winner.

You can read a transcript of this interview on the NetSquared Blog and hear their 5-minute pitch at the Conference here.

Interview with Dan Newman of MAPLight.org

NetSquared — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 23:15:00 GMT

Dan Newman is the Executive Director and Co-Founder of MAPLight.org, a nonpartisan nonprofit that illuminates the connection between money and politics. During the 2nd NetSquared Conference in May 2007, 21 projects that use the web for social impact presented their work and received feedback and support from the NetSquared Community. At the end of the Conference, each attendee voted for the projects that they thought would have the most impact. MAPLight was the first place winner.

You can read a transcript of this interview on the NetSquared Blog and hear their 5 minute pitch at the Conference here.

Interview with Heather Cronk of PledgeBank

NetSquared — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 02:07:00 GMT

Heather Cronk is the US Outreach Officer for PledgeBank, a site that allows users to set up pledges and encourage other people to sign up to them.

Net Tuesday: Interview with Katy Newton and Sean Connelley of Not Just a Number

NetSquared — Sat, 23 Jun 2007 05:13:00 GMT

Katy Newton and Sean Connelley, producers of Not Just a Number for The Oakland Tribune, and their web affiliate insidebayarea.com, talk about the citizen journalism project.

Net Tuesday: Presentation by Jonathan Boutelle of SlideShare

NetSquared — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 04:03:00 GMT

A presentation by Jonathan Boutelle, Co-founder and CTO of SlideShare at the June 12, 2007 Net Tuesday in San Francisco. SlideShare is a site for hosting and sharing presentations. Users can upload their own PowerPoint presentation, view and download others, and make a mashup of the material from the site. SlideShare is a site for shared knowledge.

Net Tuesday: Interview with Jonathan Boutelle of SlideShare

NetSquared — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 03:58:00 GMT

An interview by David Collin, the Net Tuesday San Francisco podcaster, with Jonathan Boutelle, Co-founder and CTO of SlideShare. SlideShare is a site for hosting and sharing presentations. Users can upload their own PowerPoint presentation, view and download others, and make a mashup of the material from the site. SlideShare is a site for shared knowledge.

Net Tuesday: Presentation by Cindy Li of Scrapblog

NetSquared — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 03:53:00 GMT

Presentation by Cindy Li, Director of Content for Scrapblog at the June 12, 2007 San Francisco Net Tuesday. Scrapblog is a scrapbooking website designed to make creating good-looking context for your pictures quick and easy. The Scrapblog motto is: "create a world for your pictures." Cindy also talks about how she used Scrapblog to create a display site for a major nonprofit organization.

Net Tuesday: Interview with Cindy Li of Scrapblog

NetSquared — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 03:47:00 GMT

An interview by David Collin, the Net Tuesday San Francisco podcaster, with Cindy Li, Director of Content for Scrapblog. Scrapblog is a scrapbooking website designed to make creating good-looking context for your pictures quick and easy. The Scrapblog motto is: "create a world for your pictures." Cindy also talks about how she used Scrapblog to create a display site for a major nonprofit organization.

N2Y2 Con: MAPLight.org: A Light on Money and Politics Intro Presentation

NetSquared — Wed, 30 May 2007 21:46:00 GMT

MAPLight.org is a Featured Project at the NetSquared 2nd Conference.

Project Summary

After each election, does your Congressperson vote your way?

Do they take money from tobacco companies? Oil companies? Pharmaceutical firms?

Do they vote to lower your prescription and gas prices? Or do they vote with big-money special interests?

MAPLight.org provides the information you need to hold your legislators accountable.

MAPLight.org is a groundbreaking public database. We illuminate the connection between campaign donations and legislative votes in unprecedented ways.

Elected officials collect large sums of money to run their campaigns, and they often pay back campaign contributors with special access and favorable laws.

This common practice is contrary to the public interest, yet legal. MAPLight.org makes money/vote connections transparent, to help citizens hold their legislators accountable. We bring together all contributions given to legislators with each legislator's votes on every bill. We publish this key civic information on an attractive, easy-to-use free website, www.maplight.org.

MAPLight.org is designed for bloggers, issue-oriented advocacy groups, journalists, and citizens leaders. We provide timely, specific information about money and votes, in the California legislature and, starting in May, U.S. Congress. Our efforts show how big-money campaign contributions affect issues that people care about, promoting transparency, accountability, and reform. We are nonprofit and nonpartisan.

ÃïïÃïÂa preview of the next generation of money-and-politics reporting.Ãïï
--The Sunlight Foundation

With NetSquared funds, we will create customized ÃïïwidgetsÃïï showing campaign contributions and votes in U.S. Congress, updated in real-time. Any blogger, nonprofit group, or citizen can create a widget for free about whatever Federal issue they are interested in.

For a brief overview of MAPLight.org, see our 6-minute Video Tour.

N2Y2 Con: Big Brothers Big Sisters AIM System Intro Presentation

NetSquared — Wed, 30 May 2007 21:43:00 GMT

Big Brothers Big Sisters AIM System is a Featured Project at the NetSquared Conference.

Project Summary

Performance figures for agencies who have converted to AIM show that they are leading all other agencies in year-to-year growth, yield rates and improved quality. They are a valuable source of system, workflow and quality enhancement ideas and are our best ambassadors. This effort is at a transition state as we both must maintain momentum to move all desiring agencies to the sytem while maturing/deepeing the ways that it can be used to "go to scale". The addition of a "volunteers portal" at both national and local public website, along with improved CRM (constituent relation management) and CMS (content management systems) capabilities will further leverage AIM.

N2Y2 Con: FamilyFarmed.org Intro Presentation

NetSquared — Wed, 30 May 2007 21:41:00 GMT

FamilyFarmed.org is a Featured Project at the 2nd NetSquared Conference.

Project Summary

The recent Time Magazine cover story on Local and organic food made it clear. People want healthy food they trust grown by local and organic farmers. FamilyFarmed.org is a revolutionary system that connects consumers and trade buyers with a network of family farmers and artisanal food producers. FamilyFarmed.org is the place where consumers ÃïïmeetÃïï their farmers re-establish connections with their food, their community, and the land. Buying food from local producers improves the environment, increases access to healthy food, creates jobs and economic development, prevents sprawl, supports family farmers, and combats global warming.

FamilyFarmed.org is helping to create a sustainable local and organic food system by building a community of buyers and sellers of local and organic food. The system is designed to promote more transparency and accountability from producers while simultaneously creating many more opportunities for buyers and sellers to meetÃïïboth on line and in person.

The FamilyFarmed.org EXPO, is a unique and successful show that brings farmers, distributors, retailers, and consumers together to network, learn from each other, and build marketing relationships. The show is profitable and is geared towards building the business of local food producers as well as highlighting leading organic and sustainable businesses.

FamilyFarmed.org is ready to go to the next level by fully developing its capacity as a web community. We seek funding to fully develop content, social networking capacity, and a sophisticated marketing campaign.

N2Y2 Con: The Freecycle Network Intro Presentation

NetSquared — Wed, 30 May 2007 21:37:00 GMT

The Freecycle Network is a Featured Project at the 2nd NetSquared Conference.

Project Summary

We are creating a global gift economy in an entirely nonprofit online community at Freecycle.org. Our goal is to make it easier to give something away than to throw it away on a globally local scale with each local community having their own microsite on Freecycle.org which hooks up givers with potential recipients in their local community. Freecycle is a sort of free eBay or cyber curbside.

It represents a global "paying it forward" in which each individual gives away their items which were otherwise destined to fill local landfills. Membership is free and anyone may give or receive in this free cycle of giving.

The Freecycle Network was launched with one email about 3 1/2 years ago and is now active in over 75 countries with millions of grassroots members and thousands of volunteers moderating local groups. We are keeping over 300 tons a day out of landfills as a result which amounts to four times the height of Mt. Everest in the past year alone when stacked in garbage trucks.

If we are to save our planet, we will need to become inspired reusers. Freecycle.org empowers individuals directly to reuse.

N2Y2Con: WiserEarth Intro Presentation

NetSquared — Wed, 30 May 2007 21:33:00 GMT

WiserEarth is a Featured Project at the NetSquared Conference.

Project Summary

WiserEarth links organizations and people in new and powerful ways.

The media, academics, students, politicians, and the non-profit world itself can better visualize the extent and comprehensiveness of global civil society
WiserEarth's structured data format combined with its comprehensive taxonomy makes it among the most powerful search tools available in the environmental and social justice fields.
WiserEarth encourages social entrepreneurs, students, scientists, consultants and volunteers to construct personal profiles that will create opportunity and visibility for them, while providing organizations with broader pool of prospective talent.
WiserEarth provides grassroots groups that cannot afford a web presence with visibility and access. Organizations have the full benefit of a database, clearinghouse and web presence without having to build their own.
WiserEarth acts as a no-cost communication network for all organizations through the publishing and encouragement of voice-over-internet-protocol hook-ups (ex: SKYPE).
WiserEarth generates geographic maps to locate individual organizations, or any collection of organizations, from street level to continents.
It offers free postings for recruiting staff, volunteers, and interns and marketplaces to share surplus resources and materials.
WiserEarth is scalable and doesn't require extensive ongoing funding once built. Data will be user-generated as opposed to centrally managed, requiring few staff after public launch.
WiserEarth provides funders a comprehensive landscape of organizations engaged in specific program activities, a helpful tool to better evaluate programs and dockets.

N2Y2 Con: Grassroots.org Toolbox Intro Presentation

NetSquared — Wed, 30 May 2007 17:35:00 GMT

Grassroots.org Toolbox is a Featured Project at the NetSquared Conference.

Project Summary

The internet is moving rapidly towards a model of collaborative conversation that leaves static web pages obsolete. Emerging open source technologies are rapidly redefining the cutting edge, and organizations are able to leverage these technologies to engage constituents, partners, and donors.

So why doesn't every nonprofit, everywhere in the world, have the e-advocacy capacity of Moveon.org? What if every community had the social networking tools of the Omidyar Network, or the community publishing abilities of Wikipedia?

The tools already exist (some were used to build this website). However, they're also difficult to configure, customize, and maintain...creating an unfortunate barrier to entry.

Grassroots.org is partnering with groups such as Democracy In Action, MAIN.org, Web Targeted, StrongTech and the Chicago Technology Cooperative to host, configure, and maintain these tools for nonprofit organizations and communities everywhere in the world, for free. We'll include content management, discussion forums, e-advocacy, CRM, event registrations, and even free SEO consulting, using integrated tools based on Drupal, the DIA's Salsa platform, and Egroupware. We'll also offer the free training and support crucial to empowering nonprofits online.

The internet is a conversation; it's time the nonprofit community is heard.

N2Y2 Con: YouthAssets Intro Presentation

NetSquared — Wed, 30 May 2007 17:31:00 GMT

YouthAssets is a Featured Project at the 2nd NetSquared Conference (N2Y2).

Project Summary

YouthAssets will develop a web-based knowledge management tool that utilizes the latest mapping technologies and collaboration tools to enable youth and their supporters to share critical information about and for HIV/AIDS orphans in Southern Africa.

N2Y2 Con: Global Women's Leadership Network Intro Presentation

NetSquared — Wed, 30 May 2007 09:45:00 GMT

Global Women's Leadership Network is one of the Featured Projects at the 2nd Annual NetSquared Conference.

Project Summary

GWLN is creating the network, training programs, and leadership support systems necessary to embolden and enhance the capability of women leaders worldwide. A key part of sustaining results is the availability of a vibrant social network to facilitate continuous mentoring, training and collaboration. GWLN is committed to providing this network through the use of technology. The impact of this technology will be further enhanced by the establishment of in-country academies.

N2Y2 Con: MyKenyanSpace Project: Addressing Africa's Problems Through Social Networks Intro Presentation

NetSquared — Wed, 30 May 2007 09:38:00 GMT

MyKenyanSpace Project: Addressing Africa's Problems Through Social Networks is a Featured Project of the 2nd NetSquared Conference (N2Y2).

Project Summary

Social networking has been an African way of life for centuries. It is embedded in the Ubuntu philosophy of life that translates to, ÃïïYou are because we are.Ãïï It is a way of supporting each other which, thanks to technology, can now be used to solve a critical African problem. Although 80 percent of African people make a living as small farmers or in other self-employment sectors (making handicrafts, etc) they depend on middlemen to access outside markets and therefore earn very little from their labor. My project will take advantage of the spread of ICT in Africa to roll out country-specific social networking sites that will give an opportunity to African producers to network with the outside world, showcase their products. I have personally financed a Kenyan model that can eventually be replicated throughout the continent. You can view my humble contribution at http://www.mykenyanspace.net

N2Y2 Con: Yankana.org: Social Web Tools for Developing Countries Intro Presentation

NetSquared — Wed, 30 May 2007 09:36:00 GMT

Yankana.org: Social Web Tools for Developing Countries is a Featured Project at the 2nd NetSquared Conference (N2Y2).

Project Summary

The digital divide that affects developing countries is more than just the lack of access to the internet. It also has to do with lack of, or minimal, content development as well as limited use of appropiate tools to get the best of the net. Taking these issues into account, how can most non profit organizations located in developing countries attempt to create content with local relevance while using appropiate tools if their technological skills are limited, usually they don't have the required hardware and sometimes not even speak english?
With our help!

Yankana is a project designed to help non profit organizations located in developing countries to utilize, adopt and benefit from social web tools in their fields of work, without requiring technological skills or financial resources for infrastructure, and with support in their native language. Yankana is a project created and promoted by Fundapi, a non profit organization based in Ecuador, South America, that has experience with ICT initiatives for development since 2001.

N2Y2 Con: Farmer 2 Farmer Learning Intro Presentation

NetSquared — Wed, 30 May 2007 09:34:00 GMT

Farmer 2 Farmer Learning is a Featured Project at the 2nd NetSquared Conference (N2Y2).

Project Summary

Farmer 2 Farmer Learning aims at providing a tool to (small scale) farmers in the developing world that allows them to gain insight in the performance of their management of crops and produce and to learn from comparing their performance with that of colleague farmers. This will help farmers into becoming entrepreneurs and to gain/keep market access by being able to comply with demands of buyers for registration of crop and produce handling.

The tool will be free to use and free to adapt (under Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 license from creativecommons.org).

N2Y2 Con: TakingITGlobal Intro Presentation

NetSquared — Wed, 30 May 2007 09:32:00 GMT

TakingITGlobal is a Featured Project at the 2nd Annual NetSquared Conference.

Project Summary

In 1999, two young Canadians imagined what would happen if young people around the world could join together online to inspire each other, get informed about social issues, and become involved in their communities. Over seven years, TakingITGlobal.org has evolved from this idea into a powerful platform, a "Social Network for Social Good", with an array of programs, inspiring hundreds of thousands of young people to create a better future. A sophisticated technical platform has supported expansion into eleven languages, and Education programming has been developed to ensure a pipeline of engaged youth into the community.

See the case study on us: http://www.netsquared.org/takingitglobal

N2Y2 Con: HELP International Telemedicine Humanitarian Emergency Mobile Clinic Network Intro Presentation

NetSquared — Wed, 30 May 2007 09:31:00 GMT

HELP International Telemedicine Humanitarian Emergency Mobile Clinic Network is a Featured Project at the 2nd NetSquared Conference (N2Y2).

Project Summary

Disaster Relief Telemedicine is a project that brings specialist physicians from around the world to a disaster scene (via satellite) to help with medical triage and emergency medicine.

N2Y2 Con: Innovatorz Media Intro Presentation

NetSquared — Wed, 30 May 2007 09:24:00 GMT

Innovatorz Media is a Featured Project at the 2nd NetSquared Conference (N2Y2).

Project Summary

The Opportunity
Leading social entrepreneurs have developed innovative, scalable solutions to society's problems that are already having significant impacts. Over the next ten years, however, the scale of these impacts will explode as many innovations move past the tipping point. This is the most important story in the world, and Innovatorz will tell it.

The Innovation
Assisted podcasting will enable leading social entrepreneurs to tell their stories on an unprecedented scale.

Team & History
We are a team of three young professionals working to drive adoption of online storytelling by leading social entrepreneurs. The Innovatorz project has been in development for over a year. We are beginning the process of scaling up, and aiming to have the organization accomodate more social entrepreneurs and volunteers.

(For more information visit innovatorz.org)

N2Y2 Con: Kabissa 2.0: Space for Change in Africa Intro Presentation

NetSquared — Wed, 30 May 2007 09:22:00 GMT

Kabissa 2.0: Space for Change in Africa is a Featured Project at the 2nd NetSquared Conference.

Project Summary

Through this project, we will develop a strong network of African technology activists and advocates who can effectively take advantage of the many possibilities Web 2.0 has to offer. We will recruit twenty key partners throughout the continent who are very motivated to serve as "Web 2.0 ambassadors" for their local communities where they already work as well as to the larger Kabissa community of civil society organizations throughout Africa.

Together with our partners, we will develop a shared understanding of how Web 2.0 technologies work, their application to the Kabissa community, and how they can be used by different types of African civil society organizations working in different environments. Kabissa will support these partners in applying these lessons to their own organizations, but also to the larger community, creating a viral spread of tech-activism throughout African civil society.

Kabissa - Space for Change in Africa was founded on the belief that technology is a revolutionary force for change in Africa.

N2Y2 Con: Aspiration Social Source Commons Intro Presentation

NetSquared — Wed, 30 May 2007 09:14:00 GMT

Aspiration Social Source Commons is a Featured Project at the 2nd NetSquared Conference (N2Y2).

Project Summary

The Social Source Commons (SSC) helps nonprofit and nongovernmental organizations find appropriate software tools to support their programmatic work, and share knowledge about using those tools. It is the only venue on the internet striving to build a complete inventory of what tools are available for nonprofit needs, in both general and sector-specific categories.

SSC is a standards-based, open source web platform for mapping "what's out thereÃïï and Ãïïwho's using whatÃïï in nonprofit software, based on a model that blends the sharing ethic and passion of nonprofit and NGO technologists with the best new internet technologies and information models. SSC builds on the "social network-driven" software selection paradigm that pervades NPO/NGO technology (Ãïïhey, what are you using for...?Ãïï), allowing users to discover tools and connect with allies by asking:

* What are others using? Which tools are most popular?
* Who else is using what I'm using, and what are they saying about it?
* What tools exist in a given category?
* What new tools are people discovering?
* What am I not using that I could be using?

The platform documents the landscape of software tools available for NPO/NGO use by letting nonprofit techies compare what tools they use. The architecture is based on sites such as wikipedia.org, del.icio.us and flickr.com that leverage collaborative editability, democratic categorization schemes, and ease of use to build shared knowledge stores. SSC is designed to enable peer supported, collaborative sharing of software knowledge.

SSC is not just an inventory tool; it aims to be an information "prism" through which relevant information feeds, updates, and new resources can be aggregated and redistributed per tool, per category, and per user. SSC takes advantage of the emerging RSS paradigm to "push" information to each user in a personalized fashion, and to allow other sites and sources to query and publish SSC data.

N2Y2 Con: Maps 2.0: Geospatial Tools for Nonprofits and Humanitarian Relief Intro Presentation

NetSquared — Wed, 30 May 2007 09:07:00 GMT

Maps 2.0: Geospatial Tools for Nonprofits and Humanitarian Relief is a Featured Project at the 2nd NetSquared Conference.

Project Summary

Since the Asia tsunami disaster in 2004 and Hurricane Katrina in 2005, a growing number of nonprofit and humanitarian organizations have recognized the tremendous potential of Web-delivered maps and map-based analysis. Google Earth and other Web services have demonstrated the power of online mapping tools, often known as geographic information systems (GIS) or geospatial analysis.

The HumaniNet team and our nonprofit partners believe that this revolution in mapping tools will change the way we think about â and manage - programs with social, environmental, and humanitarian purposes. Geospatial, map-based data management will improve program monitoring and evaluation, reporting, overall transparency with beneficiaries and donors, and the speed and effectiveness of humanitarian responses.

Maps 2.0 will establish the first nonprofit online resource for sharing best practices in GIS and digital maps. In partnership with Aspiration and Mercy Corps, HumaniNet has already formed an advisory team for creating a volunteer-based community of practice in GIS.

Using Aspiration's Social Source Commons, a proven Open Source platform, the Maps 2.0 team will review and post significant and promising GIS developments and facilitate networking with other GIS experts and users. HumaniNet's experience in leading collaborative communities and partnering with over 100 global organizations will be a key advantage.

The Maps 2.0 online community will be an energetic, volunteer-driven initiative that will change the way many nonprofits present information and collaborate to solve difficult problems, using the power of GIS.

For an example of maps used by relief teams, see the UNOSAT map of the Solomon Islands (1MB pdf file) following the April 2 tsunami.

N2Y2 Con: Miro: Open Source, Open Standards Video Intro Presentation

NetSquared — Wed, 30 May 2007 08:59:00 GMT

Miro: Open Source, Open Standards Video is a Featured Project at the 2nd NetSquared Conference.

Project Summary

We are seizing an opportunity to build a new, open mass medium of online television â through the use of Internet video. Through our nonprofit software development weâre making watching internet video channels as easy as watching TV and broadcasting a channel just as easy.

Our project is relevant because:Â Television is the defining medium of our culture. There's now an opportunity to create a television culture that is fluid, diverse, exciting, and beautiful.

Â Our platform is open-source and built on open-standards. This matters because it keeps video flowing freely. When you lock people in to closed, proprietary services, you lose everything that makes the Internet work.

Â Television is moving online. Will it be the same narrow, top-down cultural stagnation that we see on traditional television? All the major media and computer companies are clamoring to control video online. If they succeed it will be a disaster.

Â We don't have to spend years playing catch-up. Open-source and open- standards can lead this fight for the future of video online. Weâre not in this to get rich. Weâre in this because of our deep commitment to fully open and not-for-profit video distribution on the Web.

N2Y2 Con: Genocide Intervention Network Intro Presentation

NetSquared — Wed, 30 May 2007 08:52:00 GMT

Genocide Intervention Network is a Featured Project at the 2nd NetSquared Conference (N2Y2).

Project Summary

Empowering anti-genocide activists with the tools for community-based education, user-generated content and strong shared connections, the anti-genocide community will pool the collective knowledge of a growing movement for change.

You can read the text of the presentation here.

N2Y2 Con: Stop Family Violence Intro Presentation

NetSquared — Wed, 30 May 2007 08:49:00 GMT

Stop Family Violence is a Featured Project at the 2nd NetSquared Conference.

Project Summary

Every year, millions of people are severely abused in the United States. Stop Family Violence (SFV) is the leading national grassroots activist organization working to organize and amplify their voices and the voices of their allies to bring them to bear on the social and political agendas affecting their lives.

Since its beginning, the strength of the violence against women movement has come from diverse people joining together, realizing their shared struggles and collective power and then raising their voices to effect social change. Research has shown that the incidence of family violence declines when the community is made aware of the problem; when residents can find services; when there is a network of leaders within the community and when services and institutions are held accountable to community needs.

Stop Family Violence looks to utilize the many new technologies of the Web 2.0 revolution to empower local programs, enhance information sharing, help people find the services they need, promote local leadership and coordinate online and offline activism that will hold institutions accountable and keep women and children safe.

The new SFV website will create an integrated, collaborative, service, information and action network between local, state and national programs, community activist groups, survivors and their allies. We will develop innovative community blog tools to allow our members to publish their own action alerts, build petitions and send email through our site to specified targets. Other members of the SFV community will be able to recommend (rate) the action, add comments and participate.

N2Y2 Con: NABUUR: The Global Neighbour Network Intro Presentation

NetSquared — Wed, 30 May 2007 08:39:00 GMT

NABUUR: The Global Neighbour Network is a Featured Project at the 2nd NetSquared Conference.

Project Summary

www.nabuur.com is an internet platform where villages in developing countries get direct assistance. Online volunteers help create whatever is needed in 150 villages now and with your help 10,000 soon: a potential revolution!

NABUUR has developed a unique platform for person-to-person hands-on problem solving. Villages from developing countries put their issues on the internet and online volunteers from different continents help create solutions, as neighbours (ÃïïNABUURÃïï in Dutch) in the global village: a stable with cows in Khunti (India), instructions on bee-keeping in Gbongay (Sierra Leone), or an internet centre with computers and training in Zapotillo (Ecuador). The support entails more than providing knowledge: from the physical building of a hospital to the reframing of a problem; from ensuring that goods get through customs to finding transport for an international shipment, etc. Both experts and non- experts are needed. NABUUR opens the unique collaboration possibilities of internet communities to villages around the world so that they can better master their destiny . The potential is simply huge.

NABUUR combines the best of the old with the best of the new: a time-tested community phenomenon - neighbourly help- with the 2.0 power of the internet. It is so promising that president Clinton invited us and mentioned NABUUR publicly (see www.nabuur.com).

But even though the present rate of growth is impressive from an ngo perspective (45 villages connected in 2005, 150 in 2006, 300 at the end of 2007), it needs to speed up more to reach significant numbers. For that it must become easier, more authentic, smoother, more fun. Your help in making that happen is very much appreciated.

Net Tuesday: Presentation by Not Just a Number

NetSquared — Mon, 21 May 2007 03:50:00 GMT

A Net Tuesday presentation by Katy Newton and Sean Connelley, producers of Not Just a Number. Not Just a Number is a community journalism project focused on the topic of violence and violence prevention, produced for the Oakland Tribune and their web affiliate, insidebayarea.com. Last year, Oakland's homicide rate reached a five-year high of 148 people. NJN was created to give Oakland a place to share stories and to connect and develop solutions by utilizing a variety of new media journalism tools and interactive web based technologies.

Net Tuesday: Presentation by Anne-Christine d'Adesky of Pulsewire

NetSquared — Mon, 21 May 2007 03:31:00 GMT

A Net Tuesday presentation by Anne-Christine d'Adesky, the Director of Global Advocacy for World Pulse Magazine's PulseWire. PulseWire is an interactive website where women worldwide can speak for themselves to the world and collaborate to solve global problems.

PulseWire is a tool designed by and for diverse users: a Sri Lankan market woman looking for new sources of micro-creidt, a Zimbabwean journalist documenting a crackdown in the streets with her cell phone, or a New York businesswoman offering to bring school supplies to women's groups in Cambodia.

Net Tuesday: Interview with Anne-Christine d'Adesky of Pulsewire

NetSquared — Mon, 21 May 2007 03:24:00 GMT

Net Tuesday podcaster, David Collin, interviews Anne-Christine d'Adesky, the Director of Global Advocacy for World Pulse Magazine's PulseWire. PulseWire is an interactive website where women worldwide can speak for themselves to the world and collaborate to solve global problems.

PulseWire is a tool designed by and for diverse users: a Sri Lankan market woman looking for new sources of micro-creidt, a Zimbabwean journalist documenting a crackdown in the streets with her cell phone, or a New York businesswoman offering to bring school supplies to women's groups in Cambodia.

NetSquared Finalist Podcast: Moment of Inspiration for MapLight.org

NetSquared — Thu, 17 May 2007 00:12:00 GMT

In this podcast, Dan Newman describes the inspiration for MapLight.org, which illuminates the connections between money and politics. It started two years ago with a car dealer's bill of rights that would have given consumers more rights when they bought new cars. The bill was defeated, and Dan looked into the connection between donations from car dealers and votes. He found a strong relationship between funding of legislators by car dealers and their votes. He started MapLight.org to bring these relationships to the public eye.

NetSquared Finalist Podcast: Moment of Inspiration for FamilyFarmed.org

NetSquared — Thu, 17 May 2007 00:11:00 GMT

In this podcast, Jim Slama, founder of FamiliyFarmed.org, shares the inspiration that lead him to start the project. His inspiration began many years ago with a successful campaign called ÃïïKeep Organic OrganicÃïï which worked to ensure the federal government kept their definition of ÃïïorganicÃïï strict. SaveOrganic.org was the first major use of the internet in an environmental campaign, and it was wildly successful. In the end, 270,000 comments were collected supporting the campaign and the media just loved it. The campaignÃïïs rallying cry, ÃïïKeep Organic OrganicÃïï became a national rallying cry, and in the end the USDA put out better organic standards. That was the beginning of JimÃïïs use of online tools in his activism.

After the successful campaign, Jim decided to go home to Chicago and do a buy local campaign. Unfortunately, he started shopping around at all the locally owned shops and ÃïÂ well ÃïÂ there was absolutely nothing to local to buy. It was summer, the perfect time for local farmers to supply local shops, so Jim knew something had to be done. He launched his local organic campaign, which eventually morphed ino FamilyFarmed.org, and the momentum has been building ever since. Now a lot of food is being grown organically in the region, and Jim is greatful for it.

NetSquared Finalist: Project Overview for HELP's Telemedicine Network

NetSquared — Thu, 17 May 2007 00:09:00 GMT

Randy Roberson, founder of HELP (Humanitarian Emergency Logistics & Preparedness), describes how HELP organizes mobile medicine clinics around the world during humanitarian disasters. Three years ago, HELP incorporated telemedicine into their response to the Tsunami disaster, and it was incredibly successful. Randy describes the success of telemedicine and also their innovative new model for transparent individual donations. In this new model, individual donors can direct 100% of their funds to a specific program and actually witness the work being done through a live webcast. Randy also describes some dishonest practices used by some disaster organizations, that this radically transparent model is a response to.

Net Tuesday: Presentation by Ben Rattray of Change.org

NetSquared — Sun, 22 Apr 2007 21:50:00 GMT

This podcast is a presentation by Ben Rattray, the founder of Change.org at the April 10, 2007 Net Tuesday. According to the Change.org site:

Change.org aims to transform social activism by serving as the central platform that connects like-minded people, whatever their interests, and enables them to exchange information, share ideas, and collectively act to address the issues they care about. To augment the power of the grassroots networks that develop through Change.org, we help connect these networks to the many nonprofit organizations that are already working to advance worthy causes around the world - over 1 million in total.

Ben demonstrates the features of Change.org and discusses how individuals and nonprofits are using it to build critical mass around issues.

Net Tuesday: Interview with Ben Rattray of Change.org

NetSquared — Sun, 22 Apr 2007 21:39:00 GMT

This podcast is an interview by David Collin, NetSquared's San Francisco podcaster with Ben Rattray, the founder of Change.org. According to their site:

Ben explains why he established a site to enable people who are passionate issues to network and participate in ways not commonly available to them through established organizations. Ultimately, the goal is for the network and nonprofits to collaborate on common goals.

Net Tuesday: Presentation by Gina Bianchini of Ning

NetSquared — Sun, 22 Apr 2007 21:36:00 GMT

This podcast is a Net Tuesday presentation by Gina Bianchini, the co-founder of Ning. Ning is a platform for individuals and groups to use to create their own social network. Ning has a rich feature set, and all features can be configured and customized to meet the network's needs. Ning enables users to have the experience of control of all aspects of their network rather than being a tiny subset of a massive social network. Gina describes how individuals and nonprofits are using Ning.

Net Tuesday: Interview with Gina Bianchini of Ning.com

NetSquared — Sun, 22 Apr 2007 21:19:00 GMT

This podcast is an interview by David Collin, the Net Tuesday podcaster in San Francisco, with Gina Bianchini, the co-founder of Ning. Ning is a platform for individuals and groups to use to create their own social network. Ning has a rich feature set, and all features can be configured and customized to meet the network's needs. Ning enables users to have the experience of control of all aspects of their network rather than being a tiny subset of a massive social network. Gina describes how individuals and nonprofits are using Ning.

Net Tuesday: Presentation by Ken Banks of kiwanja.net

NetSquared — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 17:29:00 GMT

We've all heard of the KISS Principle: keep it simple, stupid! The following presentation by Ken Banks, founder of kiwanja.net, is testimony to the notion that a simple, lower-tech approach to reaching people can sometimes be the most effective one. Ken has extensive experience with IT and telecommunications. He uses that knowledge to help nonprofits implement SMS communications technologies for reaching large numbers of people in the developing world effectively and inexpensively through the most ubiquitous communications device in the world: the mobile phone.

Net Tuesday: Interview with Ken Banks of kiwanja.net

NetSquared — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 17:13:00 GMT

We've all heard of the KISS Principle: keep it simple, stupid! The following interview by David Collin of Ken Banks, founder of kiwanja.net, is testimony to the notion that a simple, lower-tech approach to reaching people can sometimes be the most effective one. Ken has extensive experience with IT and telecommunications. He uses that knowledge to help nonprofits implement SMS communications technologies for reaching large numbers of people in the developing world effectively and inexpensively through the most ubiquitous communications device in the world: the mobile phone.

Net Tuesday: Presentation by Darian Hickman of Village: the game

NetSquared — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 16:48:00 GMT

Can you work on tough, real world problems with a game? In this interview by David Collin with Darian Hickman, we hear about one effort to answer that question in the affirmative. Darian is founder of Village: Play the World of Social Enterprise, a real-time strategy game for the PC that puts the player in the position of an entrepreneur building companies that lift villages out of poverty. The real goal is to get players "hooked" on emerging world development. Eventually Darian hopes to make Village a web-based, multi-player game.

Net Tuesday: Interview with Darian Hickman of Village: the game

NetSquared — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 16:36:00 GMT

Imagine a Better World: An Interview with Ami Dar of Idealist

NetSquared — Thu, 1 Mar 2007 01:09:00 GMT

Ami Dar is the founder and executive director of Action Without Borders, the organization that maintains Idealist.org. Launched in 1996, Idealist is one of the most popular nonprofit resources on the Web, with information posted by 65,000 organizations around the world, and over 50,000 visitors every day. Ami was born in Jerusalem, grew up in Peru and Mexico, and worked as a waiter, translator, and marketing manager at a software company before starting Action Without Borders.

In the last four years the Nonprofit Times included Ami in its annual list of the 50 most influential people in the nonprofit sector, and in 2004 Ashoka invited him to join its global fellowship of social entrepreneurs.

You can read a transcript of this interview on the NetSquared Blog.

E-Advocacy, the Digital Divide & GIS: An Interview with Arnold Chandler of PolicyLink

NetSquared — Wed, 28 Feb 2007 01:39:00 GMT

Arnold Chandler is a Program Associate at PolicyLink where he conducts policy data analysis and research studies into the innovative application of information technology and data to community building, advocacy, neighborhood change and revitalization, and regional development. His research focuses on economic and community development in America's older core cities; the digital divide and public policy; supporting technology innovation in the nonprofit sector; electronic advocacy; and the use of geographic information systems (GIS) for policy change. Chandler has a Bachelor's degree in Sociology and a M.S. in Telecom Policy and Information Systems.

You can read a transcript of the interview on the NetSquared blog.

Communications for Humanitarian Aid & Relief: An Interview with Gregg Swanson of HumaniNet

NetSquared — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 01:46:00 GMT

Gregg Swanson is the Executive Director of HumaniNet, a nonprofit that provides assistance in ICT (information and communications technologies) to the humanitarian community.

A former Air Force officer and fighter pilot, Gregg served for 20 years in line and staff positions with Air Force headquarters, NATO forces, and operational units in Asia and Europe. He has held executive and management positions in several Silicon Valley companies, largely in operations and international programs. A graduate of the United States Air Force Academy, he has studied in Germany as an Olmsted Scholar and has graduate degrees in international affairs from the American University and in business from Stanford University. Before founding HumaniNet in 2002, Gregg was Director of Technology at Northwest Medical Teams in Portland, Oregon.

You can read a transcript of this interview on the NetSquared blog.

Internationalization of the Social Web: An Interview with Teresa Crawford

NetSquared — Thu, 22 Feb 2007 23:25:00 GMT

Teresa Crawford is a strategic technology consultant based in Washington DC. She has been working in the field of NGOs and technology since 1998. Over the last few years she has worked in 30 countries with organizations both large and small to help them make better use of information and information technology in their work.

You can read a transcript of this interview on the NetSquared blog.

Net Tuesday: Presentation by David Sanford of LinkedIn

NetSquared — Thu, 22 Feb 2007 04:58:00 GMT

This podcast is an interview by David Collin with Dave Sanford, Product and Business Strategist of LinkedIn. Sanford explains how non-profit organizations can use LinkedIn to bring attention to their cause.

Photo by Leo Romero

Net Tuesday: Interview with Dave Sanford of LinkedIn

NetSquared — Thu, 22 Feb 2007 04:52:00 GMT

Net Tuesday: Presentation by Oz Basarir of WiserEarth

NetSquared — Thu, 22 Feb 2007 04:48:00 GMT

This podcast is a presentation by Oz Basarir, Chief Technology Officer of the Natural Capital Institute, sponsor of the environmental activism social networking site WiserEarth. WiserEarth promotes positive social change by empowering the largest and fastest growing movement in the world Ãïï the hundreds of thousands of organizations within civil society that address social justice, poverty, and the environment. WiserEarth provides tools to help these organizations find each other, collaborate, share resources and build alliances.

Photo by Leo Romero

Net Tuesday: Interview with Oz Basarir of WiseEarth

NetSquared — Thu, 22 Feb 2007 04:40:00 GMT

This is a interview by David Collin with Oz Basarir, Chief Technology Officer for the Natural Capital Institute, sponsor of WiserEarth. WiserEarth promotes positive social change by empowering the largest and fastest growing movement in the world ÃÂÃÂÂÃÂÂ the hundreds of thousands of organizations within civil society that address social justice, poverty, and the environment. WiserEarth provides tools to help these organizations find each other, collaborate, share resources and build alliances.

Photo by Leo Romero

Fundraising with ChipIn: An Interview with Carnet Williams

NetSquared — Mon, 12 Feb 2007 22:42:00 GMT

ChipIn's mission is to make it easy to collect money. In today's how we talk with Carnet Williams, ChipIn's CEO, about how nonprofits can use the ChipIn widget to raise money for their cause.

Previously, Carnet was the Director of Clean Trade at The Nature Conservancy, the Executive Director at HiBEAM, the Director of Academic Technology at Stanford University, the Associate Dean of Information Technology at Stanford Law School, the Director of Business Development at TurboLinux, the Founder and Executive Director at NetCorps, and the Founder and CEO of Tactics.com.

You can read a transcript of this interview on the NetSquared blog.

A New Way of Organizing: An Interview with Rosalyn Lemieux of NOI

NetSquared — Wed, 7 Feb 2007 17:36:00 GMT

The New Organizing Institute (NOI), is a grassroots program that trains young, technology-enabled political organizers to work for progressive campaigns and organizations. We interviewed Rosalyn Lemieux, NOI's Executive Director, about how organizers can use the social web for their work.

Prior to coming to NOI, Rosalyn Lemieux worked for MoveOn.org Political Action in various capacities including staff trainer, online organizer, and volunteer program manager. Prior to joining MoveOn, Rosalyn operated a small independent consulting business, conducting online campaigns for progressive candidates and causes. She got her start in online organizing while serving as the Feminist Majority Foundation's web team director from 1999-2003.

You can read a transcript of this interview on the Net2 blog.

Net2Interview: Alex Steffen of WorldChanging

NetSquared — Thu, 1 Feb 2007 23:17:00 GMT

WorldChanging is a solutions-based journalism nonprofit that looks for the best available solutions to the world's most pressing problems. They have a blog, WorldChanging.com and a book, WorldChanging: A User's Guide for the 21st Century. We talk with WorldChanging's Executive Editor, Alex Steffen about how he thinks the social web can be used for social change.

You can read a transcript of this interview on the Net2 blog.

Net Tuesday: Presentation by B Cohen & R Cave of PLoS

NetSquared — Tue, 16 Jan 2007 02:04:00 GMT

The Public Library of Science (PLoS) is a nonprofit organization of scientists and physicians committed to making the world's scientific and medical literature a freely available public resource. In this presentation at Net Tuesday January 9, 2007, in San Francisco Barbara Cohen, Executive Editor, and Richard Cave, IT Director for PLoS, describe the "open access" movement in science to publish scientific papers using the low cost platform of the web so that scientific information can be made accessible worldwide at a fraction of the price of current journal publishing. They discuss the resistance from commercial publishers whose business model is threatened by open access. However, PLoS continues to make headway and recently launched PLoS One, an innovative platform for science publishing with the breakthrough idea of "community involvement."

You can view the presentation PowerPoint here.

Net Tuesday: Interview with B Cohen & R Cave of PLoS

NetSquared — Tue, 16 Jan 2007 01:44:00 GMT

The Public Library of Science (PLoS) is a nonprofit organization of scientists and physicians committed to making the world's scientific and medical literature a freely available public resource. In this interview by David Collin, Barbara Cohen, Executive Editor, and Richard Cave, IT Director for PLoS, discuss the "open access" movement in science to publish scientific papers using the low cost platform of the web so that scientific information can be made accessible worldwide at a fraction of the price of current journal publishing. They discuss the resistance from commercial publishers whose business model is threatened by open access. However, PLoS continues to make headway and recently launched PLoS One, an innovative platform for science publishing with the breakthrough idea of "community involvement."

Igniting Social Change in the Connected Age: An Interview with Allison Fine of Momentum

NetSquared — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 19:12:00 GMT

Allison Fine has been a successful nonprofit entrepreneur at local and national levels for more than 15 years successfully starting new organizations, raising funds, building organizational collaborations and helping to lead a sea of change in the way that nonprofit organizations organize themselves and successfully engage their communities in social change efforts.

In 1992 Allison started a national nonprofit, Innovation Network, Inc. (InnoNet), dedicated to teaching and expanding the use of participatory methods for ongoing learning and improvement by activist organizations. If you are interested in planning and evaluation tools, information and connecting with others wrestling with these issues, go to www.innonet.org.

In 2004, Allison became the C.E.O. of the E-Volve Foundation. E-Volve provides seed grants for online democracy and activism efforts. More recently she has focused on writing and public speaking focused on increasing civic participation by harnessing the power of digital technology.

Visit Allison's website or contact her at: afine@demos.org

You can read a transcript of this interview on the NetSquared blog.

This bio. was taken from the Momentum web site

Net Tuesday: Presentation by Matt Flannery of Kiva.org

NetSquared — Tue, 2 Jan 2007 21:40:00 GMT

This is a presentation at Net Tuesday in San Francisco by Matt Flannery, CEO and co-founder of Kiva.org. Kiva lets people connect with and loan money to unique small businesses in the developing world. By choosing a business on Kiva.org, ordinary people can "sponsor a business" and help the world's working poor make strides towards economic independence. Kiva partners with existing microfinance institutions. In doing so, it gains access to outstanding entrepreneurs from impoverished communities world-wide.

Net Tuesday: Interview with Matt Flannery of Kiva.org

NetSquared — Tue, 2 Jan 2007 21:31:00 GMT

This is an interview by David Collin with Matt Flannery, CEO and co-founder of Kiva for Net Tuesday. Kiva lets ordinary people connect with and loan money to unique small businesses in the developing world. By choosing a business on Kiva.org, anybody can "sponsor a business" and help the world's working poor make strides towards economic independence. Kiva partners with existing microfinance institutions. In doing so, it gains access to outstanding entrepreneurs from impoverished communities world-wide.

Net Tuesday: Presentation by Pim of ChezPim & Menu of Hope

NetSquared — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 00:36:00 GMT

This is a presentation by Pim Techamuanvivit at the December 12, 2006, Net Tuesday in San Francisco. Pim is the author of the well-known food blog, Chez Pim. She is also the organized of Menu for Hope, an online fundraising event she organized with food bloggers to support the UN World Food Program.

Net Tuesday: Interview with Pim of ChezPim & Menu for Hope

NetSquared — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 00:27:00 GMT

Pim Techamuanvivit is author of Chez Pim, a widely read food blog. This is an interview by David Collin with Pim about her interests, her blog, and about the Menu for Hope, an online fundraising event she organized with food bloggers to support the UN World Food Program.

Net2Interview: Leda Dederich of dotOrganize

NetSquared — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 21:30:00 GMT

Leda Dederich is a technology strategist who has been managing online campaigns and Web sites for the nonprofit and political sector since 1995.
In 2005 she founded dotOrganize, a project that provides research, forums, and resources to assist organizers in utilizing online tools as vehicles for their vision.

During the interview, Leda discusses a new report released by dotOrganize in September 2006: Online Technology for Social Change: From Struggle to Strategy. You can read the report online or download a PDF here.

A transcript of the interview is available on the NetSquared blog.

Net Tuesday: Presentation by Nica Lorber of RootsCamp

NetSquared — Sun, 26 Nov 2006 22:33:00 GMT

This Net Tuesday is Nica Lorber's presentation about RootsCamp at Net Tuesday in San Francisco. Nica organized the November RootsCamp in San Francisco. RootsCamp was a self-organizing conversation and relationship-building event among progressives to discuss the lessons learned during the 2006 mid-term elections. Nica also talks about the RootsCamp that occurred in Second Life.The RootsCamp debriefing was a relationship-building event and self-organizing conversation among progressives in San Francisco about the lessons learned during the 2006 mid-term election. Nica also talked about the RootsCamp that occurred in Second Life.

Net Tuesday: Interview with Nica Lorber of RootsCamp

NetSquared — Sun, 26 Nov 2006 22:23:00 GMT

David Collin interviews Nica Lorber at the San Francisco Net Tuesday. Nica organized the November RootsCamp in San Francisco. RootsCamp was a self-organizing conversation and relationship-building event among progressives to discuss the lessons learned during the 2006 mid-term elections. Nica also talks about the RootsCamp that occurred in Second Life.

Net Tuesday: Presentation by Larry Halff of Ma.gnolia

NetSquared — Sun, 26 Nov 2006 22:15:00 GMT

A recording of a presentation at the San Francisco Net Tuesday by Larry Halff, the founder of Ma.gnolia. Ma.gnolia is a social bookmarking service that makes the social aspect of bookmarking and tagging easier. Ma.gnolia offers several options for groups that want to share bookmarks with everyone, with a select set of taggers, or with a private group of associates.

Net Tuesday: Interview with Larry Halff of Ma.gnolia

NetSquared — Sun, 26 Nov 2006 22:04:00 GMT

An interview from San Francisco's Net Tuesday by David Collin with Larry Halff, the founder of Ma.gnolia, a social bookmarking service that makes the social side of social bookmarking work even better. With contacts, groups, and different ways to share bookmarks both within and outside of Ma.gnolia, the service makes working together on a casual basis, or more formal projects fun and easy.

Net2Con: From a Voice in the Wilderness to the Wisdom of Crowds: Citizen Journalism, Nonprofit Organizations and Social Change

NetSquared — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 12:42:00 GMT

Speakers:

They used to say that freedom of the press belonged to those who could own presses, but today the words "we are the media" are a common cry from an emerging corps of citizen journalists. What's a social change organization to do in this changing media landscape?

Citizen journalists have played an important role in the rise and fall of politicians and media icons around the world. Traditional media faces declining distribution and runs stories about "the attack of the blogs". From neighborhood controversies to events of international proportion, news coverage and analysis of the world today is coming from unconventional quarters in the form of writing, photography, video and voice, published online and consumed around the world.

What and who is a journalist anymore? Are citizen journalists really just wannabes without the skills to get hired as real reporters? How can credibility be measured if everyone's the media? Is objectivity still a requirement in these new emerging roles? Does the proliferation of citizen journalists correspond with an atomization of discourse and our entrapment in political echo chambers? Is the line between social change actor and casual citizen being dissolved just as, and in part because of, the dissolution of the line between media and audience?

What are the best nonprofit practices for going beyond traditional media relations? Should nonprofits still send out press releases, and if so, to whom? Should nonprofits and NGOs integrate citizen journalism into their own practices, and if so, how?

Photo: Dan Gillmor

Net2Con: The $100 laptop: simplicity can be complicated

NetSquared — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 11:47:00 GMT

Speakers:

Michail Bletsas
Michael Brown (immoderator)

Nicholas Negroponte was the talk of Davos when he unveiled his plan for a $100 Laptop. This project, now called One Child Per Laptop, has been highly controversial. Many people have argued with its choice of technologies (Open Source), business model (partnering with the United Nations and with national governments, rather than with private companies). Some people have questioned whether the computer itself is the critical resource bottleneck, citing Internet access as being an equally important and more difficult to solve problem.

What are the plans for the $100 Laptop? How far along is the project? If successful, how will it lead to development and social change? What are the key hurdles to overcome in order to achieve success? What does all this mean for the nonprofit and nongovernmental sector?

Photo: Michail Bletsas

Net2Con: Business Model Revolution: Established Organizations in a New World

NetSquared — Sat, 11 Nov 2006 22:06:00 GMT

Speakers:

Web 2.0 is more than a long list of new services, tools and companies. Traditional businesses and organizations are changing as well. Software as a service, user generated content, Application Programming Interfaces, and syndication all affect the way traditional software companies conduct business and interact with customers.

Yahoo execs have said they acquired Flickr largely because the service had figured out how to encourage millions of users to collaboratively build a huge photo-sharing community (with ten people on payroll!) AOL has embraced social media by acquiring the Weblogs Inc. blog network and launching its own social networking site, AIM Pages. Google has placed itself at the center of the emerging mashup culture by offering access to its map database to outside programmers; APIs are now open to developers from companies as diverse as Ebay, Amazon, Salesforce.com and AT&T- and pundits project the shift from closed to more open-systems to be ubiquitous in the future. Proprietary software is being turned over to the open source community. Microsoft is making a serious shift towards subscription-based software on the web. The days of software bought in a box may be numbered.

Many of these changes represent new paradigms diametrically opposed to the business assumptions upon which these established companies were built on. Is this is a fundamental shift in the way software is developed and distributed, and if so - how can the millions of networked nonprofits and ngo's around the globe collaborate more closely with these companies in a way that yields mutual benefits?

Photo: Dan'l Lewin

NetTuesday: Presentation by Amy Hill, Center for Digital Storytelling

NetSquared — Thu, 2 Nov 2006 21:26:00 GMT

The following is a presentation by Amy Hill, Community Projects Director, at the Center for Digital Storytelling. The Center is a California-based non-profit 501(c)3 arts organization rooted in the art of personal storytelling. They assist young people and adults in using the tools of digital media to craft, record, share, and value the stories of individuals and communities.

NetTuesday: Interview with Amy Hill of Center for Digital Storytelling

NetSquared — Thu, 2 Nov 2006 21:13:00 GMT

David Collin interviews Amy Hill, Community Projects Director of the Center for Digital Storytelling. In addition to being the Community Projects Director for the Center, Amy is also a documentary filmmaker and public health consultant. Amy's lengthy involvement in coordinating community-based women's health and violence prevention projects led her in 2000 to co-found the Silence Speaks Digital Storytelling initiative, which teaches survivors and witnesses of violence how to create short digital videos of courage and healing. She continues to coordinate this and other community-driven projects at CDS.

NetTuesday: Interview with Eddie Codel and Irina Slutsky of Geek TV

NetSquared — Thu, 2 Nov 2006 21:07:00 GMT

Geek Entertainment TV is an emerging global media empire, reporting from deep inside the bubble as it re-inflates. GETV covers buzzword compliant topics such as web 2.0, tagging, AJAX, social software and the bubble juice known as VCs.

Net2Con: The State of Open Source software for Nonprofits

NetSquared — Fri, 27 Oct 2006 14:11:00 GMT

Speakers:
- Andrew Aitken
- David Geilhufe
- Zack Rosen
- Katrin Verclas (immoderator)

Open Source has proven to be a successful development paradigm for many core enterprise systems, e.g., Linux, MySQL, Apache, as well as for personal productivity tools, e.g., Firefox, Open Office, etc. At the same time, there is growing interest in the non-profit community in the development of Open Source tools specifically designed to meet the needs of non-profits, e.g., CivicSpace, CiviCRM.

Open source software tends to be widely supported, highly customizable, quick to react to bugs and other problems, and in theory highly affordable. But how do open source tools developed for the nonprofit sector stack up against more corporate developments? What are the key barriers to the development of increasingly powerful nonprofit oriented open source tools? What is the status of open source development beyond the big CMS/CRM systems, of tools for functions like tagging and media sharing? What actions should be taken to enable the development and deployment of open source tools for non-profits? How do we create a sustainable and growing Open Source ecosystem? How are the questions around standards being answered? How do we access the existing developer communities?

Photo of David Geilhufe.

Net2Con: Opening Remarks by Daniel Ben-Horin

NetSquared — Wed, 25 Oct 2006 18:24:00 GMT

Daniel Ben-Horin, the President of CompuMentor, opens the 2006 NetSquared Conference.

Net2Con: Making the Most of Disruption

NetSquared — Wed, 25 Oct 2006 18:20:00 GMT

Speakers:

Description:

A disruptive technology is one that causes significant changes in the way that individuals live, businesses operate, or society behaves. Passenger jet airplanes, the microcomputer, the Internet, and the cellphone are some prominent examples from the second half of the last century.
What technologies today are truly disruptive, and which are a continuation or acceleration of ongoing trends? Which ones are just a flash in the pan? Consider:

The $100 laptop computer project
Citizen journalism
Municipal wireless
Cooperative/sharing economies

Do these technologies represent serious disruptions that should be leveraged for maximum social good? Are they really a continuation of long running trends? Or are they pipe dreams that aren't technically or politically feasible?If these technologies have seriously disruptive potential, how can the nonprofit sector take advantage of the disruption? How should the disruptions shape our goals and the means we use to achieve them?

photo of Howard Rheingold.

Net2Con: Conversation with Angela Glover Blackwell

NetSquared — Wed, 25 Oct 2006 18:14:00 GMT

Speakers:

Session Highlights:

Conference Notes from Conversation with Angela Glover Blackwell
See a video of this session at ForaTV

Description:

The Digital Divide is often spoken of as an equipment divide--numbers of computers per families and those kind of statistics--but it's much more nuanced than that. One could argue that there's been a tremendous increase in equipment access for the economically disadvantaged in this country over the last 15 years and that at the same time the complexity of successful technology implementation has increased even more quickly. We now seem to have something that is in the ballpark of basic access on a broad scale, and then we have real access on a far more limited and economically privileged scale. The divide between these categories is less stark than the divide between someone one owns a computer and someone who doesn't, but it is no less injurious to educational and economic advancement and to social confidence.

Angela Glover Blackwell, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, founded PolicyLink in 1999. A renowned community building activist and advocate, Blackwell served as senior vice president of the Rockefeller Foundation where she oversaw the Foundation's Domestic and Cultural divisions. She gained national recognition as founder of the Oakland (CA) Urban Strategies Council, where she pioneered new approaches to neighborhood revitalization. She is the co-author of Searching for the Uncommon Common Ground: New Dimensions on Race in America published in 2002 by W.W. Norton & Co.

Very recently, Policylink was a founding partner of the Louisiana Rebuilds project and staffs the project's Drupal site for Katrina victims. In conversation with Daniel Ben-Horin, President of CompuMentor, Angela will examine the question of what it will take, on an equity and policy level, to create ubiquitous real access, defined as access to, not just shared institutional computers, but to personal, home-based computers and the education and support necessary to fully utilize them.

Net2Con: A Web More Woven: The Alchemy and Practicalities of Mashups

NetSquared — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 03:31:00 GMT

Panelists:

Open APIs are one of the hallmark features of Web 2.0 services. They allow developers to tap into external data and repurpose it, creating a new tool "mashed-up" from two previously separate ones.

The easiest to understand examples illustrating the potential of mash-ups are map mash-ups. Much noise has been made of GoogleMaps Open APIs, because this has led to a huge stampede of map mash-ups that harness the massive amounts of data available from Google. A great example is chicagocrime.org, a nonprofit that has used crime data together with Google maps to make Chicago crime information freely available in a wide variety of views and layers. Another example is "Following the Dollars," a mash-up that maps the campaign contributions of individuals within a zip code.

Photo of Tantek ÃïÃÂÂÃÂÃÂÃÂelik .

Net2Con: Turning Communications Technologies Into Tools for Free Speech and Free Culture

NetSquared — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 03:25:00 GMT

Panelists:

Many new ICT tools allow more people to speak and create more freely. On the other hand, repressive governments, corporations, and even individuals are trying to repress free speech and innovation through technical and legal means or old-fashioned intimidation. Now that free speech and creativity are more possible than ever before on a technical level, are we ready?

What are the key legal and political battlegrounds for free speech issues? What are the greatest risks to the free speech needed by nonprofits, NGOs, and individuals? Are the new, social media becoming available changing the very questions that society has to answer about free speech? What new technologies are being created to both facilitate the suppression of free speech and to preserve freedom of speech? If these new technologies have great democratic potential, how can we actualize that potential?

Photo of Tara Hunt.

This Week in NetSquared News #25

NetSquared — Sat, 9 Sep 2006 03:00:00 GMT

A few quick updates about what's happening at NetSquared including info. about upcoming NetSquared Meetups, Microsoft's Develop Without Borders Challenge, the League of Technical Voters, and NetSquared Conference recordings.

Net2Con: I Tag The Hand That Feeds Me - Examining Aggregation & Tagging in the Nonprofit World

NetSquared — Thu, 7 Sep 2006 01:41:00 GMT

Two of the most fecund technologies emerging online are tagging and RSS aggregation. RSS, or Really Simple Syndication, is a means of subscribing to new content from any online source of information. That means you can keep up with far more web pages, blog posts, search results, podcasts, tagged items and more - in a lot less time than ever before. Tagging typically means users applying a tag, metadata of their own creation, to any online item that they want to later retrieve or share with others using a keyword or tag.

On the corporate end of the spectrum, for example, defense contractor Raytheon also uses a tagging system - wherein employees tag web pages of interest with keywords and are then able to search the organically grown database by tag. The company's head librarian reports that the system has proven invaluable.In the nonprofit world, the NPTech tag stream is a way for nonprofit technologists to share web pages, photos and upcoming events of interest with each other. Anyone can search inside this tag stream or subscribe to the RSS feed of all items tagged nptech, particular users' items tagged nptech or items tagged nptech and any other term. Since being originated by Compumentor's Marnie Webb a year and a half ago, the nptech tag stream has had thousands of items tagged into it.

Studies performed at the beginning of 2005 found that between five and twelve percent of US internet users were using RSS to gather information. The New York Times has offered RSS feeds for almost four years.The possibilities are nearly endless. Some Public Relations professionals, for example, subscribe to search feeds regarding their clients and receive Instant Messages or cell phone Text Messages at the moment that their searches find new results. Wiki watchers maintain topic areas of interest by subscribing by feed to the changes people make. Nonhuman feed creation is expected to increase. For example, beacons at sea are sending weather data back to shore by RSS. Feeds are being combined into subscribable OPML files, a format that can express any information in outline form. Any of these feeds can be displayed as they are updated in HTML on a web page.

Despite the incredible usefulness of feeds, tagging and aggregation for research, promotion and community building - the use of these tools is still far from widespread in the nonprofit sector. What needs to happen in order for that to change?What are some other examples of these technologies being used for social change? Is the nonprofit sector in general positioned to take advantage of these tools, or is a world of rapid, portable information organized by users too chaotic to fit into nonprofit methods? What is the best way for an organization to begin to use aggregation and tagging?

Some people believe that the cognitive load required to add tagging to our relationship with information is too much to be practical. Others say that aggregation only leads to information-overload multiplied many times over. Do these concerns have to be overwhelming, or is there real potential in these tools for the nonprofit sector?

Photo of Marshall Kirkpatrick

Net2Con: Hey, Teacher, Leave Those Kids Alone - The Decentralization of Expertise & the Creation of Community Knowledge Bases

NetSquared — Thu, 7 Sep 2006 01:27:00 GMT

Net2Con: Grassroots, Netroots, and the End and Beginning of Politics

NetSquared — Wed, 6 Sep 2006 19:33:00 GMT

Speakers:

Description:

The American political process is changing. Although the end-goals may differ (win an election vs. solve a large, complex, often intractable social problem), political campaigns and other social change efforts share many characteristics, e.g., the needs to do fundraising, to influence public opinion, and to convince people to become actively involved.

The oft-cited example of the Howard Dean presidential campaign demonstrated how technology can amplify grassroots movements into national groundswells. Since that campaign, the communication technologies available have continued to evolve. Some of the most mobilization of huge numbers of demonstrators against congressional visited sites on the web are now political blogs, left and right. Myspace and cell phone text messages were instrumental in the organic action concerning immigration to the US. Politicians are podcasting, watchdogs have wikis and nonprofits concerned about political appointments are opening their own media channels. We can see how the sausage gets made like never before.

How are technology enabled campaigns and initiatives changing the political process? What are the key trends affecting this change? What lessons are applicable to social change efforts?

Photo: Joan Blades - Co-Founder, Moveon.org

Net2Con: New Web Tools and Their Revenue Models

NetSquared — Tue, 5 Sep 2006 03:51:00 GMT

Panelists:

The Internet and ICT have increasingly become platforms for commerce, and after the dot com bust, viable Internet and ICT-based business models have arisen. For example, Google has achieved an enormous market capitalization due to its advertising-based business model. oogle ads have also benefited many web site publishers, especially in the developing world where ad commissions stretch further. At the other end of the scale, sales of ring tones have been a surprising success.

In the nonprofit world, Amnesty International has used online video to solicit various forms of support. Wikipedia is supported by donations, but also by a commercial arm that sells services for private use. The Dean presidential campaign was supported by a historic groundswell of small donors found online. Many smaller organizations use blogs to communicate consistently with their funders and supporters.

Fundraising is a perennial issue for community-based npos, and especially for community-based NGOs in developing countries. As npos and ngos increasingly interact with their constituencies via the Internet and ICT, can they tap into new business models to develop revenue streams? Is there real change possible in the business model side of the ICT revolution - or will the basic dynamic of agents of change being beholden to the wealthy elite remain? In an information economy, will your constituents expect something different from you in exchange for their financial support? If your favorite nonprofit ran contextual advertisements on their web pages - would you click on them?Fundraising is a perennial issue for community-based npos, and especially for community-based NGOs in developing countries. As npos and ngos increasingly interact with their constituencies via the Internet and ICT, can they tap into new business models to develop revenue streams? Is there real change possible in the business model side of the ICT revolution - or will the basic dynamic of agents of change being beholden to the wealthy elite remain? In an information economy, will your constituents expect something different from you in exchange for their financial support? If your favorite nonprofit ran contextual advertisements on their web pages - would you click on them?

Photo: Jim Fruchterman

Net2Con: Human Rights and New Communication Technologies

NetSquared — Mon, 4 Sep 2006 22:20:00 GMT

Panelists:

Opportunities for information and web-based human rights and social justice work are available like never before - but how can activists take advantage of this changing world of new communications technologies?

Our challenge is to build an architecture of participation, to grow activism and involvement and to allow people to speak for themselves. The prize is an empowered engagement that could change our relationship with our members & supporters. The risk is that, despite the tools, people won't take part, or that by taking part they will put themselves at risk. We need to recognise where we are being naive about the users themselves or naive about the determination of corporations & governments to control them.

What are we going to do about it? How can human rights and social justice organizations use new technologies to respond to the state of the world? What's already being done that needs to be more widely known about? What are some of the early lessons-learned from the nonprofit adoption that has occurred? Or are these new tools just an overhyped fad - irrelevant to the bread and butter concerns of most nonprofit organizations?

Photo: Anna Feldman

Net2Con: Free & Low Cost Wireless - Beyond Coffee House Loitering

NetSquared — Mon, 4 Sep 2006 22:15:00 GMT

Communities around the world are implementing or considering the creation of free or low cost wireless internet systems so that their citizens can go online in any location. The balance between public and private infrastructure is being worked out and debated.

At least 212 cities around the world have built public access wireless internet networks, and many more-including high-profile cities such as San Francisco and Philadelphia-are on the way (MuniWireless.com). The municipal approach makes wifi a utility, with business models running from local advertising to monthly payments to simply making city government more efficient. Mesh networks are especially useful in areas with little infrastructure-building the "last mile" to an under-developed area.

A key debate has been over whether city governments should partner with private wifi providers or wait for the market to fill the demand for wifi on its own. Incumbents are fighting to keep cities off their turf; SBC, Cablevision, and Verizon all spent over $10 million on lobbying from 2003 to 2004 (Center for Public Integrity). FON, a project funded in part by Google and eBay/Skype, offers yet another alternative: creating a network of people around the world who let FON members use their wifi connections for free and charge non-members for access.

In the developing world, wireless offers similar advantages over wire networks that cellular networks offered over land-based telephone infrastructure -much lower cost of implementing the infrastructure in an area where land-based infrastructure does not already exist. But in the developing world, there are also significant barriers to development related to regulation, monopolistic industries, and government control.

Is getting the government involved worth the risk of mismanagement? Are the benefits of wireless in the developing world more than just hype? Are we willing to trade our privacy for access? Should we open up our own wireless networks for the greater good?

Photo of Lauren-Glenn Davitian

Net2Con: Distributed Grassroots Marketing: Letting Your Community, Advocates, Evangelists, and Fans Do the Heavy Lifting

NetSquared — Sat, 2 Sep 2006 03:31:00 GMT

Panelists:

People have been trying to harnass the power of the successful viral marketing campaign by encouraging people to spread the message themselves. This technique was served to great effect for environmental causes with the (anti) Chevy Tahoe campaign, which generated a lot of buzz to the effect that environmentalists had turned Chevy's marketing on itself. However, it's an open question as to who took advantage of whom.

Two recent campaigns were SpreadFirefox and the outreach for the first BlogHer conference. These efforts reached large audiences, without expending large advertising budgets. According to the Pinko Marketing Manifesto, you have to believe in your product or message, and then let those with the passion go spread the word for you. Give the power of communication away, don't try to control it.

Can this work in the social change world? Are the words "marketing" and "advocacy" compatible? What are the best techniques for spreading the word via online tools? How do you encourage those who believe in your work to spread the word for you, and how can you make it easier for them to do that? Finally, what can you do when people adapt your virus to their own purposes?

Photo: Chris Messina

This Week in NetSquared News, #24

NetSquared — Sat, 2 Sep 2006 00:29:00 GMT

A few quick updates about what's happening at NetSquared including information about upcoming NetSquared Meetup Groups and an excerpt from the NetSquared Conference session, Gender and the Social Web.

This Week in NetSquared News # 23

NetSquared — Sat, 26 Aug 2006 01:13:00 GMT

A few quick updates about what's happening at NetSquared including information about Katrina relief efforts, Angela Glover Blackwell's talk at the NetSquared Conference, BarCampEarth and DrupalMentor Bay Area.

My Odeo Channel (odeo/db63c9163e7c3bf6)

Net2Con: Watch the video, then read the book: video and illiteracy

NetSquared — Fri, 18 Aug 2006 18:54:00 GMT

Speakers:

Karen Coppock (subbing for Brij Kothari)
Saori Fotenos
Deepti Rohatgi
George Trone (immoderator)

Description:

In the 1960's, Paulo Friere found that he could teach illiterate farmershow to read in record-breaking time when the texts they were reading were documents about contested water rights for their farms and other directly useful information. Today, the average child in the US watches 4 hours of television per day. Video is a key part of our landscape in the world today.

In this session we'll meet a variety of speakers who are using video to teach people to read, to overcome resistance to literacy education, and to give voice to youth and the general public on policy issues.

Is educational video either meaningful and boring OR enjoyable and trite? What are the most powerful alternatives to these stereotypical charecterizations? Can they compete with the narcotic of anti-intellectual pop culture? Do production and consumption of informative mulitmedia really only fall within the purview of middle class snobs - or does reality on the ground hold more promise than cynics allege? What can trail blazers in this effort to use contemporary culture against its own worst consequences tell others who would follow or learn from them?

Photo: George Trone

Net2Con: Surfing the rolling cloud of connectivity: ICT and the developing world

NetSquared — Fri, 18 Aug 2006 18:49:00 GMT

Speakers:

Session Highlights:

Description:

Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) offer the promise of global connectivity, economic growth and democratization. Questions remain, however, about both the political and economic implications and the best technical way forward.

Some people point to the informal network of community telecenters as a key way to bring the world online, while others are working to create super low cost laptops. There are international travelers who help local organizations set up blogs and there are people who ride satellite-connected motorcycles around the countryside to provide brief periods of internet access.

ICT for development is a part of a larger conversation unfolding that calls for the creation of knowledge and innovation centric economies. How does this movement impact the NGO sector in the developing world and would-be allies in the developed world? Since there is no guarantee of success for the innovation and ICT centric model of economic growth, how can nonprofits make sure that they benefit even if the private sector efforts suffer or fail?

There are also political questions to be asked. What role should governments play? Is digital connectivity a neo-colonial railroad - ultimately transporting resources out of the developing world? Or is it a key factor in leapfrog development, enabling some of the nastier stages of industrialization to be skipped? Does ICT for development end up imposing paradigms on users they may not be in their best interest? In the context of nonprofit technology, what are some of the most important steps to take *now* to ensure positive outcomes down the road?

What technologies - and supporting infrastructure - will be successful in the developing world?

What technologies are already successful, and why? Is the $100 computer really going to be the panacea of tech challenges in the global south? Is the panoply of Web2.0 tools that rely on broadband going to lie fallow for over 4/5ths of the world's Internet users because they'll be going straight from dial-up to handheld-based wifi access?

Photo of Kate Raynes-Goldie

Net2Con: Activism: when emailing your congressperson doesn't quite feel like enough...

NetSquared — Fri, 18 Aug 2006 18:45:00 GMT

Speakers:

Session Highlights:

Aaron Pava:

Website: Save Ocean Beach

Michael Silberman:

Presentation

Description:

While online activism can make an impact on the world, it's vitally important that we consider how all these exciting new technologies can be leveraged to mobilize and activate people effectively off-line.

Online organizing was widely credited as a key factor in bringing large numbers of people to Seattle in 1999 to protest the World Trade Organization. MySpace and cell phone text messaging were essential in getting huge numbers of young people out to the recent rallies against the immigrant targeting US HR 4437. From the Philippines to Bolivia, cell phones have been used for off-line organizing around the world. The website Meetup has helped countless people interact face to face for a variety of purposes. Protest.net is a huge centralized directory of global protests and Upcoming.org lets users tag and search by tags for events of interest.

What are the most powerful lessons we've learned so far in the early years of integrating online and offline social change work? What have we learned from earlier organizing that can be transferred to online organizing and what is different? How can our organizations engage with the often highly decentralized communication that goes on online? Are old-school, centralized organizations going to get left in the dust by emergent decentralized communities of interest? What's the best way to use communication technology in support of offline activities beyond just rallying warm bodies who've seen too many informational web pages to be useful? How can we make sure that this kind of organizing reaches beyond the young, urban middle-class?

photo of Ruby Sinreich

Net2Con: Anyone could call: cellphones in the global south

NetSquared — Fri, 18 Aug 2006 18:38:00 GMT

Speakers:

Description:

Personal computers are not going to be the platform for the global poor anytime soon. On the other hand, cell phones may be one of the most disruptive technologies in history. There is cellular coverage for 80 percent of the planet's population. The number of mobile telephone subscribers in Africa has grown from 8 million to 100 million in 5 years. Global cell subscriptions have hit an estimated 2 billion. The rural/urban divide is being challenged, information is more accessible than ever before, and opportunities for communication are continually emerging, even in the developing world.

The most famous example of cell phones used for social change in the developing world is the text messaging organizing by protesters in the Philippines to topple president Estrada in 2001. Cell phones were also used extensively to coordinate autonomous rural social movements in Bolivia in 2003. Today African progressive news outlet Pambazuka News sends supporters of the Protocol on the Rights of
Women text messages whenever new developments arise.

Images, text, video and audio are all being recorded and received by cell phones around the world. Initiatives are underway to make phone ownership far less expensive than it is today, but it is still cost prohibitive in some parts of the world. Though some organizations are focused on spreading mobile devices that can access the internet, critics say that hand held mobiles will never offer the same quality of computing experience as even a laptop. Phone vendors don't always offer the most useful features for media creation and consumption. GPS tracking of phones may give governments the upper hand in circumstances characterized by intense conflict and surveillance.

How are social change organizations around the world using cell phones today? What struggles do they face? What are the keys to success in such these programs? Can cell phones be a service delivery platform in the developing world?

Photo of David Lehr

Net Tuesday: Interview with Teck Chia and Flora Sun of Gabbly

NetSquared — Thu, 17 Aug 2006 23:25:00 GMT

This is an interview by David Collin with Teck Chia and Flora Sun, the founders of Gabbly. Gabbly is a chat service that allows you to chat around any webpage. Gabbly is building a platform that enables people to connect instantly and collaborate around any content, topic or interest.

Net2Con: Open Source Computing for the People, Part 2

NetSquared — Wed, 16 Aug 2006 18:49:00 GMT

Speakers:

Open Source software has had significant market success in server-based platforms and applications. But some people believe that there is great potential for low cost, easy to use, open source based personal computer systems, especially for developing countries. This belief has been put to action by some, including the low cost, handheld Linux OS Simputer. The famed $100 laptop project is another open source computer effort underway. A variety of other projects aim to create open source thin client systems, where one hard drive networks with a number of very simple computers that use its processing power and memory.

When will fully-functional, easy to use (open source) systems become available? How successful are localization efforts? When will these systems be low cost, and fully supported? What are the implications for use by non-profits and deployment to low income users both in developed and developing countries? How much agreement is there on standards and interoperability?Is open source computing even the best strategy to pursue in order to make low cost computing widely available? Would seeking donations of proprietary systems for populations in severe need be a better approach? Will issues of access be taken care of by a future where hardware is given away for free so that users can look at advertising-supported software as a service?

Assuming that widespread distribution of open source computers is the best path the world can forge - what is it going to take for that to happen?

Photo of Jonathan Peizer

Net2Con: Open Source Computing for the People, Part 1

NetSquared — Wed, 16 Aug 2006 18:46:00 GMT

Speakers:

Assuming that widespread distribution of open source computers is the best path the world can forge - what is it going to take for that to happen?

Photo of Allen Gunn

Net2Con: Social networking systems: chat rooms on steroids or a real tool for social change?

NetSquared — Sat, 12 Aug 2006 18:45:00 GMT

Speakers:

MySpace has become the second most visited web site on the Internet. There are new general, themed and niche Social Networking Services being launched on a regular basis. Why do so many people find these so compelling? Perhaps because they help quickly facilitate connections between people with common interests. Perhaps it's the self expression that they enable, with ever fewer technical skills required with each new set of tools.
Many other online tools have begun to incorporate social networking features as well, and social networking is becoming an increasingly multimedia phenomenon as outside services tailor their features for use in social networking environments.
NetSquared has found that some organizations and nonprofit workers like to use the large commercial social networking services. We've also found a large number of topic specific and fundamentally nonprofit social networking systems. Just a few examples from our case studies include:

The Lightstalkers networking system for media workers
Malecare Prostate Cancer Support for Gay Men
The youth oriented TakingITGlobal
The sophisticated Never Again network bringing young Rwanandans and young people in the USA together.

These examples seem to belie the idea that Social Networking is just for lonely or intoxicated teenagers and those who would gawk at them. The business world uses systems like Linked-In, but do these kinds of activities really work in a nonprofit context? What are the benefits of engaging in a large, public network vs. a small targeted one - and vice versa? What are the best ways to maximize ongoing use of these systems - are they worth the effort to set up - or do busy people lose their interest after a short period of time? Does time spent interacting in a Social Networking Service count as working? How can you prevent individuals associated with your organization from making you look bad via their activities in such a system? How can you and your organization get the most out of this type of tool? What valuable Social Networking techniques can you import into your own website?

Photo: Dimitri Glazkov

This Week in NetSquared News, Show #22

NetSquared — Fri, 11 Aug 2006 23:25:00 GMT

A few quick updates about what's happening at NetSquared:

* Net Tuesday with Teck Chia and Flora Sun of Gabbly.
* Net Tuesday Meetups in Los Angeles and DC August 15th.
* Global Exchange, Rainforest Action Network and the Ruckus Society's Flickr photo contest.

Net Tuesday: Interview with Susan Tenby & Salvador Luna about Second Life & Tech Soup

NetSquared — Thu, 10 Aug 2006 01:16:00 GMT

This is an interview by David Collin of Susan Tenby and Salvador Luna of Compumentor about how they created the TechSoup presence in Second Life and organized the "mixed-reality" Net Tuesday that took place both in Second Life and in San Francisco at the same time on July 18, 2006.

Net2Con: Gender and the Social Web: New Tools, Same...Stuff?

NetSquared — Wed, 9 Aug 2006 20:35:00 GMT

Speakers:

Description: Many lists of the most high-profile individual blogs online, sometimes called the A-list, appear to be dominated by men. Science writer Annalee Newitz says getting Slashdotted leads to as many comments about her looks as her article. A large proportion of video blogs are hosted by young women who are Beauty Standards ÃïÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃïÃÂ compliant. Second Life skin pics of naked avatars get more comments than almost any other items in news blog coverage of the space. On the other side, the Blogher network is going strong in its second year of "creating opportunities for women bloggers to pursue exposure, education, and community." Mary Hodder has created a diverse wiki directory of available public speakers on tech. Shelley Powers has helped kick off a movement to write and defend biographical entries to Wikipedia about women. It's widely argued that gender cannot be engaged with in isolation from other factors of identity. It's also argued that the new web tools offer profound democratizing effects. Technology in general has a history of male dominance. Will there be anything different in the proliferation of tools and expressions that constitute the social web? Are there ways that the social space around new web tools can be articulated by new actors with a new vision of equitable interaction?

Photo: Susan Mernit

Net Tuesday: Interview with Jeska Linden of Linden Lab

net2@techsoup.org (NetSquared) — Sun, 6 Aug 2006 03:53:00 GMT

David Collin interviews Jeska Linden, Community Manager for Linden Lab, about the mixed-reality that happened during the July 18th Net Tuesday in San Francisco. Net Tuesday occurred simultaneously in the "real" world at CompuMentor and in the virtual world of Second Life.

This Week in NetSquared News

net2@techsoup.org (NetSquared) — Fri, 4 Aug 2006 19:26:00 GMT

A quick update about what is happening at NetSquared.