Author Archives: elijahv

Why I Became a NetSquared Organizer

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NetSquared logoMy response to a discussion on the NetSquared  Local mailing list asking “Why did you become a NetSquared organizer?”

When I was in my 20s I had two groups of friends: nerds and activist hippies. There was no crossover between the groups and I kept these two communities and parts of me separate like matter and antimatter (that’s the nerd talking!)

When I moved to Vancouver in 2007 my workplace sent me to the Web of Change conference (they noticed that their volunteer manager kept asking why the database was broken) where I first encountered the progressive nonprofit tech community. IT BLEW MY MIND!

It may not seem strange you, being worldly and reading this in 2013, but for me the idea that nerds and activists could co-exist or even be the same person had never crossed my mind. These communities had always been oil and water in my mind. Activists are anti-technology:   that’s what I had learned (growing up on a commune.) ?

I discovered an entire new universe that week at Web of Change and it changed the course of my life irrevocably.

The friendly conference attendees scoffed at my naiveté  and recommended that I start attending Vancouver’s Net Tuesday, which had recently been formed. I did. And I learned, while sitting quietly in the back.

But after a few months the organizer (Joe Solomon, who went on to 350.org and #GreenMemes) left town. The idea of the group folding was too tragic, so I volunteered to take it over. And four years later here I am!

But WHY did I decide to take on Net Tuesday Vancouver?

I wanted to find my tribe

I was in a new city and I didn’t know anybody. I discovered that being a NetSquared organizer turned me into a community hub – I quickly met all the key players in the sector, many of whom have become friends. It can be hard to find local nptech-ies without a Net2 group!

I’m shy(ish)

I can get really quiet in a group of people, unless I have a clearly defined role. Being the “host” of a meetup gives me an “in” to talk with people.

I like organizing events

I spent my 20s doing production on large outdoor festivals. I didn’t want my event skills to atrophy.

I wanted to learn more

I had learned at lot at the local meetup. The best way to learn more was to schedule more events! And this time I could guarantee that I’d be interested in the topic, because I was planning it. “Scratch your own itch” they always say. ?

I wanted to build a reputation

As I developed my career in nonprofit tech I quickly realized that being a Net2 organizer was doing wonders for my reputation. People (irrationally!) assumed that I was an expert on every topic I had a speaker present on! I started to receive job offers…

Net Tuesday fit with my values

Somewhere along the way life taught me that the more I gave the more I received. I enjoy serving others, and being a NetSquared organizer has been the most rewarding volunteer gig I’d ever taken on.

And that, in a giant nutshell, is why I become a Net2 organizer. ?

[#Commbuild Tweet Chat] Growing Your Community: Hacks for Finding Your Tribe

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I’m gonna host a #commbuild chat on May 7. You should join us!

TOPIC: Growing your community: hacks for finding your tribe
DATE: Tuesday, May 7, 2013
TIME: 1–2 PM ET/ 10–11 AM PT

#commbuild tweet chat

Starting a community can be daunting, and growing it can be even harder. How do you grow your group so that it isn’t just you talking to an empty room? Because THAT is demoralizing! :-p

There are tricks and hacks (AKA “best practices”) that you can use to accelerate your community growth. Join the #CommBuild-ers to learn from grizzled experts and share your secrets to community growth and success.

Join the tweet chat and follow the hashtag #commbuild.

YOUR FACILITATOR

Elijah van der Giessen must be 100 years old, because he started doing Community Building back when “online social networks” consisted of email. Eli is the NetSquared Local Community Curator supporting a global volunteer network of 50 groups that each year hold over 450 events for the nonprofit technology sector. He’s also been the volunteer coordinator for outdoor festivals, environmental NGOs and Canadian Idol.

ABOUT #COMMBUILD

These conversations are focused on issues and topics relevant to those working on community building or in community management roles. They are open to anyone interested in learning and sharing about building community, on and offline, with the use of social media or other technology tools.

Field trip: NetSquared Greater Seattle

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I’ve been the organizer of Vancouver’s Net Tuesday for over three years, but last week (for the first time ever!) I had the chance to visit another city’s NetSquared event. It was awesome! I’ve been privileged to host two other NetSquared organizers in Vancouver (Tierney and Mel) but this was the first time I got to experience another city’s NetSquared magic in person.
The newly re-energized Seattle organizing team put together a kick-ass review of their big digital wins of 2012.
Ephemera
  • Check our the #Net2Seattle hashtag for event tweets
  • I took some photos from the event
  • Seattle Works blogged the event
  • Follow them on twitter: @Net2Seattle
A HUGE thanks to the Seattle team for being so welcoming. Chris, Cornelia, Elena, Joel, Maureen, Michael and Sean – you can created a powerful, sustainable group.
It was totally worth the three hour drive from Vancouver, BC to Seattle to attend the relaunch of #Net2Seattle. Check out those handsome kids!
Seattle organizers with poster

3 Event Reporting Tools for Non-Bloggers

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NetSquared’s local organizers hold over 450 nonprofit technology events annually. The best way to participate is to attend in person but our organizers also create event reports so that they can share the lessons learned with a global audience. You can find many of those event summaries here on the NetSquared blog, but some organizers just don’t like blogging! I’m one of them. For those more visually-oriented organizers the NetSquared community and I have been experimenting with some non-blog ways to document NetSquared local events.

Here are a few tools and techniques that will help you easily create event reports:

Storify

NetSquared events create a huge amount of digital ephemera: tweets, slides, videos, links mentioned, photos… Storify.com offers an online tool that helps you collect your event’s online clutter and shape it into a coherent story using a drag and drop interface. Here’s an example from Vancouver’s January event with Cambridge organizer Mel Findlater.

Google+ Hangouts

Several NetSquared groups have been streaming their events using Google+ Hangouts and then automatically uploading the event to youtube. Amanda in Burlington has been doing this regularly as has Judy Hallman in North Carolina. For an example of a more complex, multi-city event streamed via Google+ Hangouts check out the four city NetSquared Downunder camp organized by our team in Australia and New Zealand.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHZn4A1GMPI?rel=0]

Live screencast recordings

The newest and laziest form of event reporting I’ve recently discovered is to create a screencast from your event. This is a perfect solution for demos and other presentations that feature slides or a lot of on-screen activity. You use screencasting software (here’s 12 options from free to expensive – I used Screenflow) to record a video of all on-screen activity and record audio using the computer’s built-in microphone. Now you have a file with presentation audio and video that you can upload to youtube or video. It’s SUPER easy as long as you set-up your presenter’s computer ahead of time! Check out this example from Vancouver’s data visualization event.

[vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/59114867 w=500&h=313]

Visualizing data using maps and other tools – NetTuesday Vancouver from Mack Hardy on Vimeo.

How do you document your events? Please share your favorite tricks and tools in the comments.

NetSquared January update

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Here’s what happened in my NetSquared gig in December/ 2012.

Happy New Year ! 2013

Happy New Year!

I’m looking forward to supporting your local community activism in 2013 and I’m delighted to welcome new members to the NetSquared local organizer team. In fact, I received more than five new organizer applications over the holidays and several inactive groups including Seattle and Montreal are also planning to relaunch.
Let’s use the new year to commit to holding frequent NetSquared local events and if you know anyone who might be a good prospect for launching a new group please refer them to me!

Here’s an update on our latest activity:

Highlights from the NetSquared community blog

The NetSquared community blog is alive again! We welcome your contributions. Use the blog to promote your upcoming events, share your nonprofit tech thoughts, or show off (don’t be shy!) with highlights from your meetups. We welcome your blog posts, photos, storifys, videos and more!

Top posts from December:

Platform

The eleventh of the NetSquared platform is now live. Highlights include the ability to add non-meetup events to your user profile and projects. We have improved the local organizer map to make the pins bigger and easier to navigate. The local organizer profile pages have been fixed and now show your city and link to your group pages.

Windows 8 Apps for Social Good Contest

The Windows 8 Apps for Social Good Contest invites both new and seasoned developers to create an app for “social good” – and you could win cash prizes to help fuel your dream and keep it going!

The contest is open to pre-existing applications, so if you know of a Windows 8 or Windows Phone 8 app that meets our definition of social good please encourage the developer to register.

Note: the contest is only open to residents of the USA. But anyone can vote and share!

January events

So far 14 events have been scheduled in January, with several still in gestation. Are you planning an event that didn’t make it onto this list? Let me know!

Image: JUAN RAMON RODRIGUEZ SOSA on Flickr.

#Commbuild – Why your community needs to go offline

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  1. Commbuild Larry King

    Elijah

    Mon, Dec 10 2012 16:00:00

  2. Join our Community of Practice group on NTEN.org
  3. NTEN Community | group directory

    The CommBuild Community of Practice is focused on building and sustaining online and offline communities for nonprofits, charities, and o…
    Nten
  4. There’s a tweetchat every Tuesday at 1:00pm EST using the hashtag #CommBuild
  5. CommBuild Chats (CommBuild) on Twitter

    Instantly connect to what’s most important to you. Follow your friends, experts, favorite celebrities, and breaking news.

    Twitter@Twitter
    ReplyRetweetFavorite

  6. Today’s participants

  7. ClaireSale
    #commbuild: I’m a community building consultant and organizer of commbuild group. Also *really* pregnant and about to go MIA for a bit!

    Claire Sale@ClaireSale

    Tue, Dec 11 2012 10:03:45

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  8. Peeking in to #commbuild

    David DeWald@Historian

    Tue, Dec 11 2012 10:18:35

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  9. Hi everyone! Name’s Christina. Active Job Seeker. Passionate about communities and user experience. #commbuild

    Christina Brown@ChristinaFBrown

    Tue, Dec 11 2012 10:01:33

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  10. @CommBuild Glad to be here with @lijah @LNorvig @ClaireSale @ChristinaFBrown. Nice to see new and old faces. #CommBuild

    Debra Askanase@askdebra

    Tue, Dec 11 2012 10:05:51

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  11. elijah
    I’m @elijah I like to support communities to do fun things together. My title is often “volunteer manager” #commbuild

    Eli van der Giessen@elijah

    Tue, Dec 11 2012 10:06:11

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  12. Hi #commbuild people!!

    Michael Hahn@mbhahn

    Tue, Dec 11 2012 10:15:34

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  13. Q1. What offline communities are you a part of? Which ones do you value the most?

  14. @CommBuild Easy! It’s the #501TechBOS – Boston’s 501 Tech Club, sponsored by @ntenorg. Also my pottery community, Mudflat ? #commbuild

    Debra Askanase@askdebra

    Tue, Dec 11 2012 10:11:22

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  15. Boston 501 Tech Club

    Nten
  16. elijah
    A.1. The offline community I’ve loved the most is the 2,000 volunteer crew of the @edmfolkfest #commbuild

    Eli van der Giessen@elijah

    Tue, Dec 11 2012 10:10:58

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  17. Edmonton Folk Music Festival

    Dear Friends, The family of Don Snider would like to thank everyone who has sent expressions of sympathy over our overwhelming loss. Many…
    Edmontonfolkfest
  18. Q1 @CommBuild Oh yes, our minyan (Jewish) community, like a synagogue, and the kids’ school #commbuild

    Debra Askanase@askdebra

    Tue, Dec 11 2012 10:13:50

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  19. Minyan – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

    Wikipedia
  20. A1: @NYTM and @NYTechWomen when I can. I value the connections I make when I meet people face 2 face. #commbuild

    Christina Brown@ChristinaFBrown

    Tue, Dec 11 2012 10:11:44

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  21. NY Tech Women

    New York, NY
    916 NYTechWomen

    Make Meaningful Connections
    It’s uncomfortable being the outsider. We’ve all been there: walking into a room where everybody else seems to know each other and nobody gives you…

    Check out this Meetup Group →

    NY Tech Women
    Meetup
  22. ClaireSale
    @CommBuild I’m part of #geekfestjed and my local compound in Saudi. Trying to help with online/offline organizing with both. #commbuild

    Claire Sale@ClaireSale

    Tue, Dec 11 2012 10:13:29

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  23. geekfestjed | Tumblr

    Tumblr
  24. Q1 Value for both is the personal collusion of friendships (new/old), knowledge-sharing, professional growth (2/2) #commbuild

    Debra Askanase@askdebra

    Tue, Dec 11 2012 10:12:24

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  25. Q2. WHY did you join your offline community? Why do you think others joined?

  26. ClaireSale
    @CommBuild I think ppl join offline comms for belonging, sharing interests/learnings, and to move forward on particular projects. #commbuild

    Claire Sale@ClaireSale

    Tue, Dec 11 2012 10:17:51

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  27. elijah
    A2. I am attracted to joining offline communities because of THE PEOPLE. The purpose of the group quickly becomes secondary. #commbuild

    Eli van der Giessen@elijah

    Tue, Dec 11 2012 10:18:24

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  28. aiga_sept_comm_mtg 2

    AIGA RALEIGH DESIGN COMMUNITY

    Tue, Sep 04 2012 17:00:00

  29. Q2. I’m a bit on the cynical side: they join for personal gain. Larger time commitment to offline events = tough decisions #commbuild

    Debra Askanase@askdebra

    Tue, Dec 11 2012 10:19:23

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  30. A2: Hi @mbhahn! I think I joined my offline comms b/c I wanted (& still do) to get my foot in the NY tech scene. #commbuild

    Christina Brown@ChristinaFBrown

    Tue, Dec 11 2012 10:21:50

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  31. Q3. Do you lead an offline community right now? What is the group?

  32. elijah
    A3. I’ve been leading Vancouver’s Net Tuesday @NetSquared group for 3.5 years. The most fun volunteer gig I’ve ever had. #Commbuild

    Eli van der Giessen@elijah

    Tue, Dec 11 2012 10:25:52

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  33. Net Tuesday Vancouver – Remixing the web for social change

    What types of stories best engage your audience? How can you best move your supporters to action? Why do people give to your organization…
    Elijah
  34. @askdebra What’s your role in the Minyan group? #commbuild

    CommBuild Chats@CommBuild

    Tue, Dec 11 2012 10:29:45

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  35. @CommBuild Just as a member, but I feel part of the community, since it is lay-lead, and we all take on roles each quarter #commbuild

    Debra Askanase@askdebra

    Tue, Dec 11 2012 10:30:29

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  36. ClaireSale
    @elijah You’ve been such a rockstar leading Vancouver @Netsquared. When I lived in #Cambridge I had a great time leading Net2. #commbuild

    Claire Sale@ClaireSale

    Tue, Dec 11 2012 10:27:32

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  37. What is NetSquared Local? | NetSquared

    NetSquared Local groups hold monthly offline events for anyone interested in the connection of technology and social impact. These gather…
    Netsquared

  38. Q4. Are your offline and online communities connected? How?

  39. ClaireSale
    @CommBuild It’s funny… there often seems to be a disconnect. Offline people don’t always transfer online and vice versa. #commbuild

    Claire Sale@ClaireSale

    Tue, Dec 11 2012 10:33:30

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  40. A4: They are connected. Their social media pages post the latest monthly meetups and ways people can get involved. #commbuild

    Christina Brown@ChristinaFBrown

    Tue, Dec 11 2012 10:33:48

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  41. ClaireSale
    @ChristinaFBrown Yes! This is an awesome way to connect the two. ^discoverability and ^information sharing #commbuild

    Claire Sale@ClaireSale

    Tue, Dec 11 2012 10:35:06

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  42. ClaireSale
    @ChristinaFBrown are there other ways you’re connecting the two (online/offline)? #commbuild

    Claire Sale@ClaireSale

    Tue, Dec 11 2012 10:35:52

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  43. @ClaireSale Every month, there is pre @NYTechWomen meetup and then we head across the street to the @NYTM. Instant connections. #commbuild

    Christina Brown@ChristinaFBrown

    Tue, Dec 11 2012 10:37:48

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  44. Here at @Gravy for #NYtechwomen meetup
    chelawhita

    Sun, May 20 2012 09:29:09

  45. elijah
    A4. @NetTuesday ‘s online and offline presences are largely connected one-way. Online recruits for offline meetings. #commbuild

    Eli van der Giessen@elijah

    Tue, Dec 11 2012 10:34:18

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  46. Q5. What online tools do you use to manage and support your offline community?

  47. ClaireSale
    @CommBuild I’ve used tons! meetup, eventbrite, trello, facebook groups/pages/events, linkedin events, twitter….. #commbuild

    Claire Sale@ClaireSale

    Tue, Dec 11 2012 10:38:18

    ReplyRetweetFavorite
  48. Claire’s favorite online tools for community building
  49. Do something, Learn something, Share something, Change something – Meetup

    Helps groups of people with shared interests plan meetings and form offline clubs in local communities around the world
    Meetup
  50. Online Event Registration – Sell Tickets Online with Eventbrite

    Eventbrite gives you all the online tools you need to bring people together for an event and sell tickets.
    Eventbrite
  51. Facebook Groups | Facebook

    Have things you only want to share with a small group of people? Just create a group, add friends, and start sharing. Once you have you…

    Facebook
  52. Trello

    Organize anything, together. Trello is a collaboration tool that organizes your projects into boards. In one glance, know what’s being wo…
    Trello
  53. Email is still a go-to tool
  54. Q5b. What tools are most effective in building community? Personally I still find an email listserv or google group to work best. #commbuild

    CommBuild Chats@CommBuild

    Tue, Dec 11 2012 10:40:05

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  55. ClaireSale
    @CommBuild 1 to google groups and listserves, I’m also finding closed facebook groups to be amazingly active. #commbuild

    Claire Sale@ClaireSale

    Tue, Dec 11 2012 10:41:28

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  56. Meetup vs Eventbrite
  57. elijah
    A5. @meetup is an amazingly powerful recruitment tool to find people who are interested in face-to-face gatherings. #Commbuild

    Eli van der Giessen@elijah

    Tue, Dec 11 2012 10:37:52

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  58. ClaireSale
    @elijah I like meetup too, but I wish it had functionality for online-only events (like tweetchats!) #commbuild

    Claire Sale@ClaireSale

    Tue, Dec 11 2012 10:40:21

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  59. @ClaireSale I’ve found @Eventbrite to be a fabulous replacement for @meetup for virtual events. But less good at recruiting. #commbuild

    CommBuild Chats@CommBuild

    Tue, Dec 11 2012 10:43:57

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  60. ClaireSale
    @CommBuild Truth. Problem with eventbrite is it serves the event not so much building the community #commbuild

    Claire Sale@ClaireSale

    Tue, Dec 11 2012 10:45:01

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  61. @CommBuild @Eventbrite is great to find offline events in ur niche but there isn’t a “community building” component like @meetup. #commbuild

    Christina Brown@ChristinaFBrown

    Tue, Dec 11 2012 10:45:36

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  62. @ChristinaFBrown @ClaireSale – so right… I’m a “meetup member” but not an “eventbrite member”. #commbuild

    CommBuild Chats@CommBuild

    Tue, Dec 11 2012 10:47:06

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  63. Q6. Who is doing online -> offline community building right? What’s a model organization?

  64. ClaireSale
    @CommBuild US-based politicians! They’ve got the online->offline organizing down pretty well. #commbuild

    Claire Sale@ClaireSale

    Tue, Dec 11 2012 10:50:07

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  65. @ClaireSale – SMART! The Obama get-out-the-vote team are masters at engaging online and getting to offline action. #commbuild

    CommBuild Chats@CommBuild

    Tue, Dec 11 2012 10:51:45

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  66. @ClaireSale Agreed. I think the Obama for America (biased lol) was an excellent online & offline political grassroots network. #commbuild

    Christina Brown@ChristinaFBrown

    Tue, Dec 11 2012 10:52:03

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  67. @ClaireSale If you think about it, @barackobama is continuing the @OFA framework by bringing his ideas to real Americans now. #commbuild

    Christina Brown@ChristinaFBrown

    Tue, Dec 11 2012 10:58:37

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  68. November 2, 2012

    osseous

    Thu, Nov 01 2012 17:00:00

  69. I Voted

    darinrmcclure

    Mon, Nov 05 2012 16:00:00

  70. elijah
    A6. @350 and @engagejoe are doing the online to offline transition beautifully. A vibrant online community that SHOWS UP #commbuild

    Eli van der Giessen@elijah

    Tue, Dec 11 2012 10:50:20

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  71. 350.org

    350.org is building a global grassroots movement to solve the climate crisis. Our online campaigns, grassroots organizing, and mass publi…
    350
  72. Other groups holding regular offline meetings
  73. Q6b. But the politicians are doing a one-off transaction (vote). Who is getting people to move online to offline consistently? #commbuild

    CommBuild Chats@CommBuild

    Tue, Dec 11 2012 10:53:28

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  74. ClaireSale
    @CommBuild 1 on 350. Also: NTEN 501 tech clubs, NetSquared groups, WiserEarth, Yes!, and Social Media Surgery… #commbuild

    Claire Sale@ClaireSale

    Tue, Dec 11 2012 10:53:55

    ReplyRetweetFavorite
  75. Wiser.org: The Social Network for Sustainability

    Wiser helps the global movement of people and organizations working toward social justice, indigenous rights, and environmental … Wit…
    Wiser
  76. Join an NTEN 501 Tech Club | NTEN

    NTEN 501 Tech Clubs are informal local groups that meet regularly to get to know their colleagues, develop a professional support netwo…
    Nten
  77. Churches get people to show up on a weekly basis! Who can top that? #commbuild

    CommBuild Chats@CommBuild

    Tue, Dec 11 2012 10:53:58

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  78. A6. Other non-#nptech examples are weekly running/jogging groups, book clubs and knitting circles. #commbuild

    CommBuild Chats@CommBuild

    Tue, Dec 11 2012 10:57:45

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  79. ClaireSale
    @CommBuild oh the knitters. Always the knitters! #commbuild

    Claire Sale@ClaireSale

    Tue, Dec 11 2012 10:58:46

    ReplyRetweetFavorite
  80. I’m a little late for #tbt but I’ll post these anyways @sabrinaserani #knittingcircle
    Danni Siminerio

    Thu, Sep 27 2012 22:12:39

  81. @ClaireSale and our knitter friends also create soft snuggly things to wear. Not just ideas. THEY ARE THE BEST! #commbuild

    CommBuild Chats@CommBuild

    Tue, Dec 11 2012 11:00:14

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  82. Q7. What’s your #1 tip for a community organizer that wants to organize a lasting online?

  83. elijah
    PERSISTENCE! “Q7. What’s your #1 tip for a community organizer that wants to organize a lasting online gathering?” #commbuild

    Eli van der Giessen@elijah

    Tue, Dec 11 2012 11:02:29

    ReplyRetweetFavorite
  84. @stevieflow talks about “zero expectations organizing” as the key to success. bit.ly/IVITdq #commbuild

    CommBuild Chats@CommBuild

    Tue, Dec 11 2012 11:04:48

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  85. The Zero Expectations Thing
    Steven Flower

    Tue, Dec 11 2012 12:02:31

  86. ClaireSale
    @CommBuild My tip: keep the barrier to entry low and the quality of content high #commbuild

    Claire Sale@ClaireSale

    Tue, Dec 11 2012 11:05:03

    ReplyRetweetFavorite

  87. UP NEXT: Tuesday, December 18.

  88. Next week: join @askdebra for “The benefit of Twitter chats, & how they build community.” bit.ly/Uxy53S #commbuild

    CommBuild Chats@CommBuild

    Tue, Dec 11 2012 11:09:14

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  89. A topic idea for the future….

  90. ClaireSale
    @ChristinaFBrown ah… totally a topic for another day! “Cross-pollination across local or related groups” #commbuild

    Claire Sale@ClaireSale

    Tue, Dec 11 2012 10:46:16

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  91. Get involved

  92. Want to lead a #CommBuild chat? Want to help manage the community? Reach out to @ClaireSale
  93. ClaireSale
    #commbuild: Just want to quickly announce we’re looking for vols to take leadership roles with the #commbuild group. bit.ly/S5fjqg

    Claire Sale@ClaireSale

    Tue, Dec 11 2012 10:02:11

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  94. ClaireSale
    #commbuild: I’m a community building consultant and organizer of commbuild group. Also *really* pregnant and about to go MIA for a bit!

    Claire Sale@ClaireSale

    Tue, Dec 11 2012 10:03:45

    ReplyRetweetFavorite

NetSquared December update

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Here’s what I’ve been up to over the last month in my gig as NetSquared Local Community Curator.

NetSquared snowglobe
It’s December, which means we’re on the last page of our calendar. Team NetSquared is working hard to wrap-up some this year’s projects. We’ve now completed all seven of our NetSquared Camps and have just one more Global Leadership Council meeting left. But just because some things are coming to an end there’s no reason for tears – rather let’s reflect back on what we’ve learned over the year and share the gift of knowledge on the Washington DC group’s quora page.

The future of NetSquared

The recent reorganization of NetSquared sees the emergence of a unified content and community team for both the NetSquared and TechSoup brands. Sheetal Singh is our new TechSoup champion, taking over from Billy Bicket who is going to take on platform work.

What does that all mean to NetSquared organizers? I’ll be able to share more by mid-December when Sheetal sends her community update, but in the short-term you’ll start to see a regular stream of new content on the NetSquared community blog.

NetSquared Camps

This fall’s major initiative was the NetSquared Camps, which were seven regional unconferences and workshops produced by our local organizer network. The camps were an amazing opportunity to expand the NetSquared local experience from a brief daytime or evening event into an all-day extravaganza. It was also a great excuse for us to get local organizers together for face-to-face meetings, since the big lesson from the Global Leadership Council experiment this year was that we can kickstart inter-organizer relationships by getting people together in the same room. Which, honestly, shouldn’t have been too much of a shock since that’s the key insight that keeps all of us local organizers doing our meetups from month to month.

Each of the camp organizers has written a blog post sharing their insights, photos and video. There are lots of great ideas to steal for your own events!

Platform

The tenth release of the NetSquared platform is now live. Many of the changes were beneath the hood, but you’ll definitely notice the improvements to the community blog. We’re now randomly featuring bloggers from the local network. You may see your face next time you go to http://www.NetSquared.org/blog!

NetSquared organizers as bloggers

Windows 8 Apps for Social Good Contest

The Windows 8 Apps for Social Good Contest invites both new and seasoned developers to create an app for “social good” – and you could win cash prizes to help fuel your dream and keep it going!

There are already five entries in the contest. Check out their project pages and use the social share buttons on the one you think is coolest.

Note: the contest is only open to residents of the USA. But anyone can vote and share!

December events

A quick scan shows ten events happening across the NetSquared local network. That’s a big drop from the 21 in November… Curse those holidays! ?

Community Building tweet chat: Why your community needs to go offline

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I’m gonna host a #commbuild chat on December 11. You should join us!

Belt AND suspenders

TOPIC: Why your community needs to go offline

DATE: Tuesday, December 11.
TIME: 1-2 PM EST/ 10-11 AM PST

Are you really trying to create a community? Then you’d better seriously consider starting up regular face-to-face meetings for your members. Join the #commbuild community for a discussion about the value of recurring offline group meetings, and share your stories of how offline community has inspired change. When and how should you create a meetup group? How are offline and online communities connected? And what’s in it for the organizer?

You should come. You wouldn’t want me to quote Margaret Mead at you, would you?

Follow the magic hashtag #commbuild

YOUR FACILITATOR
Elijah van der Giessen must be 100 years old, because he started doing Community Building back when “online social networks” consisted of email. Currently he’s the NetSquared Local Community Curator supporting a global volunteer network of 50 groups that each year hold over 450 events for the nonprofit technology sector. He’s also been the volunteer coordinator for outdoor festivals, environmental NGOs and Canadian Idol.

And yes, he wears a belt AND suspenders. That’s what old men do.

ABOUT #COMMBUILD
These conversations are focused on issues and topics relevant to those working on community building or in community management roles. They are open to anyone interested in learning and sharing about building community, on and offline, with the use of social media or other technology tools.

Anyone interested in community building, whether you are formally in a Community Management job or not, is welcome to join the group and participate in the weekly chats. You do not need to be a member of NTEN to participate, but you can join us online at http://my.nten.org/group/commbuild

HOW TO PARTICIPATE
Go to http://tweetchat.com/room/commbuild (or use your preferred twitter chat client), login to your twitter account, and join the conversation! Just be sure to tag your tweets with #commbuild so your tweets are threaded into the conversation.

SAMPLE QUESTIONS

  • What offline communities are you a part of? Which ones do you value the most?
  • WHY did you join your offline community? Why do you think others join?
  • Do you lead an offline community right now?
    If you have peer offline organizers elsewhere do you interact with them? How is the * network managed and sustained?
  • Are your offline and online communities connected? How?
  • What online tools do you use to manage your offline community?
  • What’s your #1 tip for a community organizer that wants to organize an offline meeting?
  • How do you recruit offline community members? Online? Offline?
  • If you have both online and offline communities how are they different? Demographics. Engagement. Activation. What’s the crossover?
  • What’s in it for the community organizer?
  • What’s your favorite online community right now?
  • People can be shy face-to-face. What’s a good icebreaker?
  • What’s your most transformative community experience? Was it online or offline?

Are you competitive?

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A blog post from NetSquared.org encouraging local organizers to host events on a monthly basis. It’s the key to growth!

Local organizers:

Are you curious about how big your local group is compared to everyone else? Well, wonder no more because you can see the leaderboard on meetup.
The top five
  1. San Francisco: 1962
  2. Wasington, DC: 1335
  3. Vancouver, BC: 1329
  4. Toronto, ON: 1194
  5. New Orleans, LA: 1019
You may have heard the saying “it’s not big it is, but how you use it”. I think they were talking about meetup groups. But most of us are in this to make a big impact in our communities, and having a bigger meetup helps. ?
Factors of group growth
I’m sure there’s lots of patterns we could find in this data, but to me there are two key factors. One we control and the other we don’t.
  1. Big groups are usually in big cities (naturally!)
  2. Big groups hold events consistently every month.
Consistency is the biggest factor in group growth. It’s as important as event quality!
Need help coming up with event ideas? Check out this list of event formats and topics. I can also help you find a co-organizer, which makes it much easier to hold events every month.
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Photo by blogdnd. Creative Commons-licensed on flickr.