The We Are Media Toolfest continues today with podcasts!

I recently wrote about my first experience as a podcast guest and the process Big Duck uses to create their podcasts. Of course, there's more than one way to make a podcast. I don't do it very often, but when I do, I use a service called Utterli. (I don't like to produce "shows" per se -- but I'm really into interviewing people on the fly.)

There are many reasons you might want to podcast. But where should you start? What tools are right for what kind of podcasting? Share your favorites with us in comments or on the wki!

Week Two of the We Are Media Toolbox begins!

Today, our topic is blogs. To this day, whenever I hear the word blog, I think to myself, "It's better than bad, it's good!" Ren and Stimpy jokes aside, blogs are typically one of the first things people think of when they hear the phrase "Web 2.0." Many begin their launch into the social media space with blogs; I always get questions about how blogs work and what software an organization should use.

Since I've become a near-daily blogger, I have lots of tips and opinions. But we want to know what you use to blog. What features are important? Share your intel with us in the comments below or on the We Are Media wiki.

We're going to close out this week's round of We Are Media Toolbox fun with commenting.

Have you ever commented on a blog, a picture, or a video? In many online communities, comments are more than just, well, comments -- they're part of a conversation. Comments, and then comments on the comments, often create some of the best discussion on the web. Chris Brogan knows this. Sometimes, he lets his community do his blogging for him, in the comments section.

But comments can also be the Nobu of the online world: where you go to see and be seen. Adding value to a post on a highly trafficked blog can bring you lots of exposure -- so much so that cottage industries are springing up! (My favorite line from that site: "Minimum 3 lines of non spammy comments!")

Of course, participating in all those conversations also means that you have a lot to keep up with, so there are more and more services that allow you to track your comments, like coComment.

So tell us, what commenting tools do you love? Share in the comments (!) or on the wiki.

Another day, another We Are Media Toolbox challenge!

Today's topic is social bookmarking. When I first heard that phrase, it conjured up images of women reading their favorite passages from Nicholas Sparks novels aloud to one another while drinking white wine.

How wrong was I? Social bookmarking is now part of my everyday online experience. I use Delicious -- thanks for getting rid of all those goofy periods Yahoo! -- to keep track of articles and blog posts I may want to come back to. I search Delicious to find information about topics I'm interested in. I keep track of what other people tag with "NTEN" in Delicious, as well.

I haven't gone the extra step of building community around my tags. Have you? What social bookmarking site do you prefer, and why? Share with us in comments, below, or on the wiki.

Flickr Photo: paurianMuseums get a bad rap as purveyors of the past. I'd guess most of us, when we think about museums at all, think about dusty old things. But the very best museums tie all that old stuff to the world we live in today, and the future we're creating.

It's a lot like our roles as non-museum nonprofits: we sift through all the information and data out there to find what matters for our communities -- and make it relevant.

Part of that is the selection process, choosing what we'll showcase. The other part is how we design our display, or communicate what we're showcasing.

Another way of saying this: How people get your message is as important as what you're saying.

Congratulations to Ashley Messick!

Yesterday, we kicked off our month-long We Are Media Festival of Tools with a conversation about how to monitor the conversation. Many of you added your favorite tools for eavesdropping on the interwebs to learn more about what people are saying about your organization and your issues. We're also hoping to learn why you use those tools, and how you use them.

Ashley Messick shared her two cents yesterday, and now she's the proud owner of a We Are Media T-Shirt (designed by our own Brett Meyer). Share your thoughts on monitoring the conversation or today's topic, RSS Readers, and you could get a T-Shirt too!

Welcome to Day 2 of the We Are Media Toolbox extravaganza! Today's topic: RSS readers.

There's so much more information out there than we can competently digest, one of the skills we need to master in this new age is information management. Enter RSS readers. One of the first people I remember hearing talk about RSS and readers in the nonprofit space was Marnie Webb. I'm glad I heard her, because I would be lost without my reader!

It's We Are Media toolbox time!

Most of the time, when we talk about social media, we have to be careful to temper our enthusiasm. Social media has to have context. You have to have a plan-- and an awareness that it's not for eveyone or every situation.

But sometimes, dontcha just wanna talk about how much fun it is?

You've seen the tweets. You want the shirt. Now's your chance!

Keep your eyes peeled next week, because all month long, we're going to "fondle the hammer!" We'll be talking about social media tools just for the sake of how cool they are. (Because let's face it, they are wicked fun.)

Every day, we'll ask you to share the tools you use to listen, share, and build community. All we need you to do is tell us what tools you use, and why you love them.

You'll get two great rewards:

• First, you'll get the satisfaction of helping to build a curriculum that will help other nonprofits learn how to use social media effectively.
• AND, you'll get the shirt. (You know you want one!)