This year was the first time I attended the NTC and one of my favorite jobs as your Special Project Fellows was getting to know the attendees and what they wanted to get out of the conference for our ‘Meet the Geeks’ feature in our onsite (printed) newsletter. I learned that one of the most important functions of the NTC for the people I talked to was the chance to meet and get to know other people working in nonprofit technology. For those of you who couldn’t attend (or those who did, but didn’t get to meet all the other 1,200 attendees) here is your chance to meet some of your fellow geeks. I hope that next year in New Orleans I’ll have the chance to meet many more of you.

Amit Asarauala, CompuMentor

What did you want to get out of the NTC?

The main reason I’m here is to connect with the people I’ve been I’ve been working with virtually for the last year. There must be 20 or 30 people I’ve seen in person. Coming here is a great way to meet them in person.

What topics are you interested in?

I want to learn about content management systems like Drupal and Joomla, and I want to find out what people are using, how they like it, and how to measure impact online.

What were some of your favorite happenings?

I participated in the Day of Service and taught people how to pull apart computers. I was at a homeless shelter that wanted to start refurbishing computers. There were lots of folks that had used computers, but never seen the inside of one before.

Michelle Murrain, Nonprofit Open Source Initiative

Who did you most want to meet at the NTC?

I was most excited about seeing old friends. It’s my 5th NTC, but I couldn’t make it to the last two. I’m really looking forward to meeting people in person that I only know online, through their blogs, or e-correspondence, especially Michael Stein (East coast), Steve Wright, and Allan Benamer.

What topics did you most want to learn about?

As the coordinator of the Nonprofit Open Source Initiative, I wanted to hear people’s stories about how they are using Open Source in new and creative ways.

Jennifer Werdell, NPower

Who did you most want to meet at the NTC?

I was most interested in getting to interact with people from our partner organizations, it is great to get a chance to meet them in person, after working with them online, or on the phone.What do you most want to learn about?I wanted to get everyone’s thoughts on technology planning and how to make strategic decisions about technology.

What was the best thing about the NTC?

I’m amazed at the sheer volume of opportunities and people. There is a session on just about any topic you can think of.

Bill Perry, United Way of the Greater Dayton Area

Who did you most want to meet at the NTC (and after)?

I wanted to meet people who have run social media campaigns online to get the word out to the community with little to no cost.

What topics were you most interested in learning about?

I wanted to learn how to integrate technology into communications campaigns, how to use text messages and interactive websites and what strategies work best for online fundraising. I saw the “Email…STILL the Best Way to Raise Money (and Raise Eyebrows) Online!” session and knew I had to attend that one.”