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THE ART OF TECHNOLOGY

John Merritt, YMCA of San Diego County

In every successful recipe there are key ingredients. Too much of one ingredient or too little of another can have very interesting effects on the outcome of the dish. It's no different when it comes to technology.

Business is driven by technology; the days of seeing technology merely as a necessary evil have long passed. Networking technologies allow us to move and access information quickly, we analyze our stored data to make sound decisions, websites & eCommerce focus on bringing convenience to our customers, email systems allow us to communicate around the world in the blink of an eye, we track vehicles via satellite, cell phones keep us in touch -- the list goes on and on.

The recipe for technology contains 3 key ingredients: Alignment, Relationship, and Transparency. Each of these, in balance, can assist in making technology a useful, functional, and invisible tool within our organizations. The ART of technology is not about the PC on your desk or the server in the backroom. The ART of technology is about our interaction with systems, processes and one another as we work toward efficient business operations and fully meeting the mission.

PREPARING YOUR STAFF MEMBERS FOR A TECHNOLOGY CHANGE

Dahna Goldstein, PhilanTech

You're a leader of an organization, about to begin a new technology project. Getting buy-in for a technology change can be essential to the success of the initiative. Before you begin, you should think about a few things that can help you maximize success:

• Set a clear direction from the top.
• Tie tech changes to mission.
• Communicate early and often.
• Involve and empower staff.
• Tech changes need champions and influencers.
• Recognize that change causes anxiety, and work to mitigate it.

LEADING FOR INNOVATION: CREATING A CULTURE OF LEARNING IN YOUR ORGANIZATION

Elissa Perry, Leadership Learning Community

"When knowledge gained somewhere doesn't move elsewhere, that's not a learning organization; that's just a bunch of projects." - The Saratoga Institute

It can be difficult to encourage new ideas and innovation from people who aren't in positions with leadership titles or much technical authority. People fear speaking up for reasons tied not just to personal style, but also -- and perhaps more commonly -- to organizational culture. There are a number of challenges as well as supports that can limit or open the space for learning and exchange in an organization.

You should start by fostering and supporting a culture of learning and innovation.

SCALING WEB 2.0 MOMENTUM: PREPARING TO SELL YOUR CASE TO ORGANIZATIONAL STAKEHOLDERS

So, you think you've figured out the best way to use new media in your organization -- that blog you've always daydreamed about, or that Facebook fan page that's just got to be made. You're ready to take this new media blitz public and make your website the one that everyone on Progressive Exchange and Twitter is talking about.

You think you've got the perfect proposal... but you know the reality of the nonprofit technology world, and all those grubby little externalities that periodically throw a wrench in your idealism. To help ensure your new media ideas succeed, you might consider the following before committing to a technology strategy (and Tweeting the idea to your boss).

TEN COMMON OBJECTIONS TO SOCIAL MEDIA ADOPTION AND HOW YOU CAN RESPOND

It can be hard to convince leadership that working with social media doesn't mean they've been paying you to catch up with friends on Facebook. You've probably heard some of the objections:

• I suffer from information overload already.
• So much of what's discussed online is meaningless. These forms of communication are shallow and make us dumber. We have real work to do!
• I don't have the time to contribute and moderate. It looks like it takes a lot of time and energy.
• Our customers don't use this stuff. The learning curve limits its usefulness to geeks.
• Communicators [bloggers, tweeters] are so fickle, it's better to stay unengaged than risk random brand damage. We don't want hostile comments left about us on any forum we've legitimized.

And there are more. But there are ways you can respond. Here's a list of suggestions:

THINGS WE LIKE

1. Free money! The Antonio Pizzigati Prize for Software in the Public Interest wants to reward your geekiness with $10,000.
2. Need a metaphor for the power of aggregation? The Japanese practice of uchimizu calls for people to sprinkle water on the street in front of their houses when it's really hot out.
3. Using Twitter for something other than letting people know what you had for breakfast: NTEN Member David Neff's video about the Tweet Up Blood Drive in Austin is a great example of social media in action.
4. Poll Everywhere lets you ask your audience a question, collect responses via text message, and update the results in real time. Just don't ask, "How many of you are critiquing my session on Twitter right now?"
5. Free T-shirts! Oh, and the guide to permissible voter engagement activities for 501(c)(3)s that comes with them. That's cool, too. (And, of course, you saw our webinar on the subject, right?)
6. The "Possibly Related Classroom Projects" plug-in for WordPress from Social Action Labs. They may hedge their bets when they name things, but they're doing excellent work.
7. Speaking of education, Stargazer offers tech-based services that improve school safety. They also inspired us to learn a new word: omphaloskepsis, the opposite of stargazing.
8. charity:water is asking everybody born in September to forgo birthday presents and help fund wells in Ethiopia, with support from a very well-designed website.
9. Free kittens! Everybody loves kitties. But, as Michelle Murrain points out, you should be careful when using them metaphorically.
10. Apparently, Canada has faster broadband than the U.S. Sheesh. Robin Williams, take it away...
11. The City Of Boston has a nifty map showing the locations of alternative energy sources in the area.
12. Portland-based Shizzow hopes to underline the social in social media by leveraging tech to help people stage improptu face-to-face gatherings.
13. Free markets! How can you not like the fact that faith-based dating site BigChurch is owned by Penthouse? (Yes, the link is safe for work.)

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