Web of Change

Presenters: Roz (New Organizing Institute) and Michael (EchoDitto)

What is Web 2.0?
Web 1.0 was the traditional media, broadcast, one to many model. Web 1.5, lot of feedback loops with discussion. Web 2.0 has many-to-many connections, with two-way conversations, changing the nature of organizations. What has shifted is the typical user experience -- people are now looking to people for their content.

Why is Web 2.0 is important for social change sector?

1. influential: you can extend your reach to many.
2. trusted: networks are more trusted through their constituents vs. organizations sending them messages.

How can on-the-ground organizers in often volunteer-run non-profits take advantage of emergent technologies? Good question, damn good question, and one Leda Dederich tackled with boundless and infectious energy. Leda presented a “data dump” of results generated from a year’s worth of research done under the auspices of dotOrganize. Despite her energy, by her own admission Leda was tired; it caused her to swear, and express her desires for swearing in her official report. Someone who speaks my language (yes, “swear” is a language in some parts).

Leda’s research goals were simple: to understand and document a known problem in the non-profit sector. From there, the idea was to inform the non-profit sector, create short-term “doable” goals and, importantly, foster a long-term vision. But perhaps the most critical aspect of the project’s objectives was to empower the organizers – those knee deep in it, who don’t have the time or the money to figure out, let alone deal with, their tech woes.

Maybe you know Ruckus Society, maybe you don't. But for those of us who didn't know Adrienne Maree Brown before today's session, we won't be forgetting her any time soon. For starters, she made us sing. I was fine with that but, not being a singer (in fact, being almost tone deaf) I didn't know this meant standing up. One gets lazy once one has parked one's ass on the floor.

So, we all sang a note (which one, I couldn't say) and it reminded me of church. I've not been in a long time, but still, the music (when not in Catholic mass - unless midnite mass on xmas eve) is typically uplifting. And in fact, it set the tone for Adrienne's talk, which ended with her calling our geek work divne, and the geeks among us holy! Holy @%!*; that's a nice compliment.

Session Notes: Integrating Toolsets; Technology That Works Nice

Venue: Raven House, Hollyhock Retreat Center, Cortes Island

Conference: Web of Change 2006, woc2006

Presenters: Michael Silberman & Steve Anderson

Opening: Presenter’s self-introduction

Frame: Changes in the technology landscape over the last few years have given us new choices when it comes to software. The era of plugging and playing functionality into our software systems is upon us. Get up to speed on the discussion of modern software. Develop a shared definition of integration.