Web 2.0 Expo and Us

So we were selected to have a table at the expo. The problem was, we had to "man" the table for the course of the conference, thus defeating any purpose to going and learning, and we really were unsure what we were trying to get out of it, given the audience. In addition, being from a completely different coast, we had to fly out any presentational matrials and a back drop. So the moral of the story is: just because it's free, doesn't mean it's helpful. We ultimately had to pay people to sit there, as well as recruit volunteers.

Adapt or Die : The Future of Volunteers Video : Rocking SXSW


Our panel at SXSW. Brought to you by the American Cancer Society. They're cool

Now We're Talkin' Viral!

We launched custom ecards for fundraising on March for Babies. Check it out. Who says nonprofits can't have a little fun while we're fun-draising?!

Be Careful What You Wish For

So we submitted March of Dimes in a contest for the Web 2.0 Expo in San Francisco, which is a great conference that I sent a group to last year. There we met our new friends at Goto media and Scrapblog, who helped us pull togethere Every Baby has a Story. We submitted that project as a model for a mashup of 2.0 technologies and they give us, as well as 10 other non-profits a table at the conference.

We are so psyched!

However, now we have to man this table for three days, which means not attending the sessions of the conference. So we are stuck in a dilemma. We have asked for volunteers but it's a pretty big time commitment and someone would have to be pretty familiar with our web projects. Do we fly someone out the SF (from NY) to sit there for three days? Isn't that counter to what a nonprofit should do? And what should be our goals?

Non Profits on YouTube

I was on a panel called Social Media: Expanding the Nonprofit Reach with Maryrose Dunton, head of User Experience from YouTube. She has been one of the main champions for their Non Profit channel. She made a great point about what's "useful" on YouTube when it comes to Non Profits. Seems that most of us are limiting our videos to PSAs primarily, where in fact we should be posting more YouTube-ish videos - personal stories, experiences, etc. She pointed out One.org, who does a great job with their channel. And the theory is true with us at March of Dimes. our most visited videos are stories and archival celeb spots, rather than current PSAs.

The question is: what is the best way for a cause engage an audience looking for entertainment?

Bearing Down on non-profits

I have a friend who works for Bear Stearns. He doesn't know if he'll have a job on Monday and gave me tales of many employees who are personally over-leveraged. With my non-profit hat on, I can't help but think how important the banking industry is to all of us. These are our donors.

My friend actually participates in an activity for another non-profit (in addition to supporting my walk) and last year he had raised over $30,000 just from his colleagues at Bear. He isn't getting that this year. He anticipates receiving next to nothing from co-workers, if in fact, any of them are even there to ask.

So how is a non-profit supposed to cover the bases to protect from industry collapses - or a recession for that matter? Are people still going to pay for "red"phones? Show up for walks?

We are faulted for keeping "reserves" at too high a rate, but what are we to do in times of crisis?

Beth Mobilizes her Network

I'm at SXSW watching Beth Kanter, who is a non profit blogger. She entered the Global Giving contest sponsored by Steve Case to mobilize for a cause and she used every aspect of networking possible. She persisted and she won. She was relentless and passionate and personal with her story and it's a great example of what we all need to do. Hopefully I can add the case study here soon.