Category — Encourage community
Engage Your Community Conference Agenda
Here’s Google Calendar version of the Wellington conference agenda so you can add it to your own calendar using it’s iCal feed
To learn how to create your own public Google Calendar showcasing your own events read our guide: Make Your Public Event Calendar Usable To All
What’s the conference about - this:
This is a conference pitched at an introductory level. If you’ve ever wondered how the web could be better used by your organisation; or know what a blog is, but not how it could be useful; or are a little nervous about opening a Facebook account, then this is a conference for you. If you think the internet is for geeks, or young people, or those with nothing better to do with their time, then this is a conference for you. And if you want to move beyond using email and having a simple website, then this is a conference for you.
This is a cross posting from MiramarMike.co.nz
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August 15, 2008 No Comments
Te Kete Horowhenua
It doesn’t take million dollar budgets and large teams of techies to create really good websites. Te Kete Horowhenua is a simple looking website but one with an enormous amount of quality content and bold ambitions.
The website is a community built digital library of arts, cultural and heritage resources for and about Horowhenua. One of the main aims is “to get privately owned papers and photographs out from under beds and sitting alongside public archive and photograph collections.”
They’re doing pretty well. When I looked there were: 1,285 articles about historic figures, events, services, and much more; 11,371 images; 94 downloadable audio clips of family life, preparations for war and other oral history; plus documents, links and discussion.
The other part of the vision is to:
capture the memories and stories that are our heritage, we want a place where our artists can showcase their work, and where our businesses and attractions can promote themselves, where we can celebrate who we are and how we live.
The website is pretty inspirational.
The underlying software application or code is freely available for other groups to use, through a GNU General Public License (GPL). This means that anyone with the technical savvy can use the same software tool to set up something similar in their district, neighbourhood, or nation.
It is probably for that reason this reason that te kete was nominated in July for the 2007 World Summit Award. The Award is a global initiative to select and promote the world’s best e-Content, started in 2003 in the framework of the United Nations’ World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS).
Starting in our backyard, and spreading around the world. That’s what the Internet’s all about I guess.
September 5, 2007 No Comments
The Humane Society uses Facebook to spread the message
The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) have been using the Facebook social networking site for several months now to raise funds and awareness and to build relationships. Read about it on Wild Apricot Blog: Using Facebook to spread your message.
Here’s a snippet:
What advice would you give others who want to use Facebook to advance their cause?
- Spend time on outreach and building your friend list to people who care about your issues.
- Respond to all incoming messages, discussion threads, and wall posts. Participate regularly in your group! If no one is saying anything, start a topic!
- Post your latest news and campaign info in the discussion board and save the individual messaging for breaking news and take action requests.
- Ask people to repost your events and links as notes or posted items on their profiles.
- Upload videos, photos, and events to your profile and ask people to post their related content.
The point about social networking sites, such as Facebook, is that they are about networking. Maybe you have (potential) volunteers in your organisation whose timetable is constrained, who have trouble getting out to meetings, who love the ‘people stuff’. How about asking them to monitor or take charge on a social networking site, to build your online community?
August 18, 2007 No Comments
iYomu - a Kiwi Social Network
Social Networks such as MySpace and Facebook are becoming increasingly popular. Now the Kiwis are getting in on the act:
A New Zealand-based social network, iYomu, is launching globally today with a US$1 Million challenge. iYomu is branding itself as a “social networking website for grown-ups” and the site is restricted to those over 18 years old. The name of the site, iYomu, stands for “I, You, Me and Us”. Its aim is to provide a social networking space for the older generation, who may be turned off by teen hang outs like MySpace and Facebook.
[Via Read/WriteWeb: iYomu, Social Network for Adults, Launches With $1 Million Prize.]
Wellington’s Downtown Community Ministry has a Facebook profile that shows photos, news, links, messages and so on. Checking their profile shows that the New Zealand Music Appreciation Club! and Island Bay Presbyterian Church also have a Facebook presence.
Does your NZ community group have a presence on MySPace, Facebook, iYomu or other social networking site? Let us know in the comments.
August 13, 2007 3 Comments
The social community
Social network tools, such as MySpace, Facebook, Twitter and the like have connecting people as their main focus and purpose. And isn’t that what community groups are about too: connections?
Has your orgnaisation looked into any of these tools yet? Here’s what Priscilla Brice-Weller wrote recently on her Solidariti blog (Solidariti = sharing technology knowledge among community organisations so that together we can inspire people to take action.):
… do you use online social networking tools for your not-for-profit, yet? Have they become indispensable? If not, why not … have you found more efficient tools to help you create a community around your cause?
I can tell you that at ANTaR they have become indispensable. Last week we reached the grand total of 500 MySpace friends … while this isn’t much compared with the likes of Greenpeace’s or Amnesty’s MySpace rollcall, it’s an overwhelming number for an organisation of our size. Our MySpace friends (and our Facebook and Flickr friends too) are invaluable to our organisation in so many ways (ok, lets start with evangelists against racism, getting the word out about events onto other blogs and bulletin boards, donating, volunteering, supporting our views, lobbying politicians … need me to continue?)
[Via Solidariti: The great Webate #1.]
Links:
Not got time to look in to all these things? Find a virtual volunteer. What you need is someone to be an advisor who loves spending time online.
August 6, 2007 2 Comments
