Just back from the NTC, the Nonprofit Technology Conference, hosted annually by NTEN (NonProfit Technology Network). This year’s theme,Reinventing Politics: Creating Social Change From the Ground Up,drew about 1,200 people to Washington, DC from April 4th 6th.

Techies came looking to brainstorm about the newest Web 2.0 technology, while nonprofit staff were eager to figure out how to get a decent ROI—that’s “Return on Investment” for those of you who don’t know the lingo—when they invest in new technology. Everyone came looking to get and share free advice and there was plenty to be had for the asking. NTEN is a great place to get a quick crash course in Web 2.0 tools and what’s up and coming in online fundraising and content management. A range of vendors were there including the big guys like Adobe, Convio, and salesforce.com., along with a host of smaller national vendors and consulting companies and foundations.

The theme that dominated this year’s discussion was how tagging, blogging, social networking and online community building are changing the way people get, exchange and use information and how these new tools are affecting the social, economic and political behavior of lots of people, not just techies.

Inspiring KeyNote

David Weinberger, of Harvard’s Berkman Center, was the keynote speaker. He was alternately funny, impassioned and derisive as he described how the Internet has evolved to allow ordinary people to break the hegemony of the corporate media and begin to exchange information in a way that is meaningful to them.

He didn’t tell us anything we didn’t already know. But his talk highlighted just how significantly the pre-digital media power centers are being challenged. The role of bloggers and YouTube in circumventing the control of the mainstream print and broadcast media; the growing role of the Internet in mobilizing new people into electoral politics; the refreshing experience of getting—and sharing— information on wikipedia instead of consulting the static “truths” in the Encyclopedia Britannica; how Amazon is changing the way we browse and buy books, allowing us to become reviewers as well as consumers…it’s all of a piece with the big changes in how people are using technology.

Weinberger didn’t talk enough about all the countervailing trends that make political and social change so difficult in the world right now despite these exciting new technology trends. And while he poked fun at corporate America’s early efforts to co-opt and control this new technology, you know that they are—and will—get better at it. But sometimes it’s good to focus on the bright side of things, and that’s what Weinberger did.

His message to the non-profit sector is that it, too, needs to change how it thinks about using the Internet. If your organization is still focused on tightly controlling its information and message with the goal of driving people to your website to read your content; to contribute online on your site when you decide to have a fundraising drive…well, think again. Craig’s list flourishes because Craig got out of the way. Whatever your fears about what Google is going to do with all the information it has collected about us, everyone appreciates the fact that they get to design their own Google Home page instead of being bombarded with ads and information that are no of interest to them. Weinberger’s message, and that of most other presenters, is that non-profits need to learn these lessons and adapt their practices accordingly.

So, inspired by the speaker and wired with three cups of coffee, I set out to see what I could learn.

First, it was great to have the chance to test and hone skills against tips from other professionals and then bring that back to work back here. For example, I look forward to reviewing some of the e-news frameworks and techniques my clients are using over the next few months against new ideas from the NTC. Watch this space for detailed observations.

Strategic choices: Community Building and Social Networking

On the more strategic side, more than anything, I came away sharpening my sense that work today is expanding in two related but different directions: online community building and social networking. Online communities are groups of people with a shared interest or goal who use a set of tools on a sponsoring organization’s site that allows them to stay in touch and work together in a sustained, consistent way. Participants in online communities are generally motivated—to different degrees— by three things: (1) a commitment to advancing the goals of the community; (2) a desire for social interaction; (3) an interest in learning. With that kind of motivated constituency, today’s new Web 2.0 tools, and patience, planning and hard work, many organizations can and will achieve a lot today to advance their mission

While online community building is big, what is even bigger is the growth of social networking and the merger of issue oriented online organizing and advocacy with the increasingly huge number of people participating in social networking through myspace.com, facebook.com and blogging. Facebook is now the 7^th largest site on the Internet! The common thread is that instead of the old online model of driving everyone to your organization’s website to participate in activities initiated by you – now extended to include the community building features just mentioned—you may instead opt to focus on encouraging people with interest in your cause who have their own extensive online network to use it on your organization’s behalf. What you give up in terms of tight control of your message, you make up with the new energy and breadth of reach as enthusiastic supporters put their own personal and unique spin on your message.

I came back with a clear conviction that to be effective in working with organizations today, depends on understanding and advising on the right mix of these two new sides of Web 2.0 technologies.