Briefs from Net Change Week

Net what?

Net Change is a week-long event designed to explore how social technology can bolster social change… Net Change Week will tap into the potential that exists when new methods of communicating, organizing and mobilizing are brought to bear on chronic social issues.

A group I volunteer with, TechSoup Canada, helped organized parts of the week so I covered some of the proceedings for them.

On Monday, I spent the full day at My Charity Connects, a participating conference that aimed to help “charities learn about using online technology to improve their fundraising and marketing.” Thankfully for nerds like me, it was held at MaRS — wifi and power outlets galore.

Show Me The Money: Fundraising 2.0

Francis Kung, the “IT guy at Engineers Without Borders” — and fellow graduate from UofT — gave a talk on how to use the web for fundraising.

In addition to some general tips, Francis shared his experiences with an EWB campaign, The Gift of Opportunity. It allows users to post a list of things they wish could come through and ask for donations to make this vision a reality. The results so far: 132 wishlists, 1400 donors, and $77,000 raised.

Once Upon A Time: Storytelling in Online Media

Donnie Claudino, Marketing Manager for TechSoup Canada, facillitated a discussion on how charities can use storytelling to engage with their audience.

Donnie got everyone in the room exchanging stories about their own stories — very meta. I have a full set of notes posted on the TechSoup blog.

Sacha Chua, a storytelling enthusiast herself, shared some of her own advice and resources. In particular, she recommended reading Whoever Tells the Best Story Wins

Four Freebies and a Bargain: No — and Low-Cost Tech Tools

Jane Zhang, Program Director of TechSoup Canada gave a talk about the world of free and cheap software available over the Internet.

The blurb:

There’s no doubt that technology can enhance charitable and nonprofit work, making your organization more efficient and better able to fulfill your mission. But with tight budgets at most organizations, there’s usually little or no funds allocated to technology spending. This workshop will present you with how your organization can obtain no- and low-cost technology resources, support and information.

Notes from her talk will pop up on the TechSoup blogs soon.

Saving the net

On Monday evening, the Save Our Net campaign hosted a town hall about net neutrality at the Gladstone Hotel. I’ll post some more thoughts on this later but Stephen Michalowicz and I covered it for Torontoist.

And a fireside chat with Ric Young

Who’s Ric Young? The guy who pioneered the whole “social innovation” thing:

Ric YoungFor over twenty-five years, Eric Young has been at the vanguard of social marketing, a discipline focused on the development of strategies and campaigns to promote social change. He is the founder and president of E.Y.E., an agency that works with leading government, corporate and voluntary organizations to address some of the most pressing issues facing contemporary society.

But first, speeches!

After the speeches and cocktails were consumed, Ric Young and Bill White (former president of DuPont Canada) sat down to chat. In a meandering discussion, Ric recalled the evolution of his thoughts on social marketing, social change, and social innovation. I started taking notes until I realized that pretty much everything he said was being put on Twitter.

The video of the talk got posted on the Net Change site.

The full slideshow