Flickr Photo: alexander drachmannWe started the week off here at NTEN with a Q&A session with Chris Brogan, who answered questions from NTEN members about engaging people through social media. In case you missed it, you can see a transcript of the questions in the materials section (and if you're a member of NTEN, you can get the recording) here.

Chris commented a few times on how impressed he was by the questions you all asked him -- demonstrating yet again that, in many ways, the nonprofit sector is a leader in harnessing the power of social media to engage and energize communities and individuals online.

Here is a summary of take-aways from the session:

Flickr Photo: OzymanI gave a little talk on social media today to folks who publish print media (both non- and for profit). My big takeaway is that, nonprofit or for profit, we're all facing the same dilemmas regarding social media: we're nervous about the same issues of openness, and we all have trouble explaining it to our bosses.

Another big takeaway was that everyone has the same email marketing questions. How much should we send? Should we buy names? What kind of segmenting should we do?

The session after mine was presented by Alex Williams of eROI, and focused on emarketing tactics. Along the way, he shared some interesting stats (for those of you who are into that sort of thing):

1. In an average week, people receive 274 personal emails and 304 business emails.
2. More than one quarter of all email is marketing email.
3. 46% of Internet users say that email is not targeted enough to them.
4. Open rates for segmented campaigns are as much as 20% higher on average for the first 30 days.

All of this data, and the bulk of Alex's presentation, echoed many of the ideas and concepts we've been discussing in recent reports, at the NTC, and around the community for a while now.

Maybe we're not as far behind on the tech adoption curve as we thought?

Flickr Photo: ChotdaAs many of you know, I love bacon. Ask me for my recipe for maple and bacon cake (with maple frosting!) some time. Maybe one reason I love bacon so much is because Bacon is the source of one of my favorite sayings. In 1597, Sir Francis Bacon said:

Knowledge is power.

It's practically a moral code at my house. But I've also been thinking about it in the context of nptech lately.

When the Internet first went mainstream, there was a lot of talk about how it would democratize information: more of us would be able to access more information more easily and we'd all become more powerful. Access to information is the key to Thomas Friedman's argument about how and why the Berlin Wall fell and why China is opening up, for example -- and communications technologies are behind all that.

In the early 2000s, I thought a lot about this. Yes, we did know more. More people were able to share what they knew, and more of us could access it. But it wasn't the dynamic, sweeping, grand experience that a phrase like "democratize information" might suggest. Here's why:

1. Lots of information opened up, but lots more is still locked behind walls in old delivery models. You still have to subscribe to many publications. You have to travel to get particular volumes or pay lots of money for experts to tell you what you need to know.
2. Access is not pervasive enough. The folks who, arguably, most need free and easy access to information and knowledge have the least access to the chanels that can deliver it. If you are poor in urban America, or if you live in rural areas, you can't afford or simply cannot get Internet access.

In the last year though, we've seen signs that the democratization of information is about to happen in a very real, rapid, Founding Fathers kind of way.

I got a heads-up about a free event promotion and calendaring service that allows you to create widgets and pages for free.

It took me just a few minutes to sign up, create an event, and customize the widget by adjusting colors (see it below). I also got a web page for added information about the event, RSVPs, and collecting information from those interested. It even allows people to subscribe to event updates.

SpongeCell, the software provider, provides tracking data (widget and page views) and lets you collect your subscribers' contact information. Not bad for a free suite of tools! (The software service also provides email and SMS messaging to your contacts, but fees apply per number of messages sent.)

What's cool is the ease of integration and sharing of the widgets -- think Facebook. I'm not really a techie (I just play one on TV), but I found the back-end management and creative tools very straightforward.

The 5th Annual Games for Change Festival, taking place June 2-4 in NYC, will kick off with a free workshop for nonprofits interested in social issue games. It'd be great to get some NTEN representation there:

Games for Change, the international nexus and primary community of practice for individuals and organizations interested in games for positive social change will be hosting a free day-long workshop for non-profits and public institutions new to the field of video games and "real world issues".

There aren't many spaces left at the workshop, and you do need to apply. The rest of the conference looks pretty intriguing, as well: the closing keynote will be delivered by the Honorable Sandra Day O'Conner. We hear she's wicked good at FIFA 08.

Flickr Photo: Forty PhotographsYou know the drill. You need a new website gizmo or database doodad. You do your best to define the requirements, the stages you will go through during development, how much it will cost, and how long it will take. But somewhere during actual implementation, everything goes sideways, and nothing goes as planned.

We all know this happens, but no one can ever explain why. Well, now we have a nice graph to support gut feeling. The folks at Flightpath bring us this great post about planning for software projects and raising toddlers.

Having done both, let me just say this: True that, Flightpath. True that.

Flickr Photo: hykuIf you live or work in the Philadelphia area, set aside some time on the evening of June 3 for a public forum on the future of wifi in that city. The event is organized by the Media Mobilizing Project and Temple University's School of Communications and Theater and will feature several speakers as well as an open forum for discussion. I could preach again about why I think muni wifi is so vital to the nonprofit sector, but the event organizers put it best:

The promise of a city where everyone has the potential to be connected, opens new doors for economic, social and political participation.

Does this chart make you want to rethink your Facebook strategy?

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Your guide to the resources that will help you put technology to work for your cause, this month with an environmental focus. Earth Day may have passed, but that's no reason not to try a little harder every day. Think of what will happen when everybody does.

Determine Your Impact

> It seems that if you run an environmental website, you need to offer a calculator of some sort. For overall carbon footprint, we liked the offering from Redefining Progress best -- and not just because it said we would need only 2.2 Earths if everybody lived like us, as opposed to the 2.7 reported by Earth Day Network. That's half an Earth! If you're short on time, Zerofootprint.net wants to organize the like-minded, social network style, but you can just use their One Minute Calculator.

> Then there are the more specific calculators. The Sierra Club lets you determine not only how much fuel, but how much money you would save if your current car met proposed new standards. There's even a Call to Action after you use it, so it's a good model, as well. And if you're concerned about your diet, you can score it for Health, Environmental Impact, and Animal Welfare. Just be warned that, apparently, eating anything at all is bad for the environment.

> Need more environmental calculations in your life? Suite101.com has a long list.

Use Less Energy

> After using those calculators, you may be a little concerned -- that's the sensation they're supposed to inspire, after all. 2.2 Earths? That's at least 1.2 Earths too many -- and even then, Shanghai, Houston, and Mexico City will still be smoggy.

> So, let's do something. Greener Choices breaks down household energy use by function. The Department of Energy has a list of ways to cut those numbers down, while Energy Star's site helps you find new, more efficient products.

> One of the hobgoblins of energy waste is Phantom Power Drain (which even sounds like a hobgoblin's name). If you walk into your living room at night and see blinking lights or the steady glow of LEDs, you're losing power, up to 15% of your total bill. Belkin's new Conserve power strip -- it comes with a remote control! -- can help stop PPD.

Make Every Day Earth Day

> Getting a new computer at work? Congratulations! Now, recycle that old one. Earth 911 and the Environmental Protection Agency both have information on how to keep your old compy from being dumped on India like a tech support phone call.

> You should also check out GreenPrint. Their software promises to eliminate "unwanted pages saving paper, ink, money, and millions of trees." 2.2 Earths worth of trees, we hope.

> Closer to home, you can get ready to ride your bike to work with these tips. Going out for sushi (on your bike)? Don't forget this wallet-sized list of seafood you should avoid. Oh, and: pack a lunch! Take-out litter generates 1.8 million tons of trash every year in the U.S.