TechSoup for Your Soul

I’ve been asked by my good friend John Lorance to help eliminate the buzz around Web 2.0 in an online technology forum next week put on by TechSoup. I’m not quite sure how this thing will unfold, but it looks like it all takes place in virtual space in these online message boards. TechSoup does good stuff, connecting non-profit organizations with technology so non-profits can do what they do better. If there’s anyone that knows how to not make a profit, that’s me. Here’s the official announcement:

It’s happening in TechSoup, a five-day online event:

The Impact of Web 2.0 on the Nonprofit Community

Join CompuMentor’s community engagement program director John Lorance and a host of leading Web technology advocates as they demystify Web 2.0 technologies and illustrate how using new socially oriented technological innovations can help the nonprofit community. Web 2.0 technologies such as tagging, social bookmarking and online social networks, blogging, content sharing through Wikis and RSS, and new Web widgets need not only be in the hands of well-funded developers; but also can be used by organizations to further their missions.

Co-hosts include:
• Marnie Webb of CompuMentor
• Ruby Sinreich two-time winner of “Best Blog” from The Independent Weekly
• Chris Messina of Flock and SpreadFireFox fame
• Marshall Kirkpatrick, trainer and educator on Web 2.0 technologies
• Phil Klein, nonprofit technologist of Pen and Pixel
• Alexandra Samuel, online community consultant with Social Signal
• Michael Stein, nonprofit technology blogger
• Yann Toledano, nonprofit technology consultant and TechSoup forum co-host.
• Eddie Codel, online media technologist and Webzine conference organizer.

These leading voices of Web 2.0 technology will help you bring the ever-changing field of the second wave of Web applications and tools into practical focus. Event hosts will share their real-world stories, demystify the buzzwords, and provide resources. Discussion will focus on exploring the latest trends in Web publishing for all, effective online communications, emerging research and discovery methods, and collaboration tools.

This event will eliminate the buzz and bring into focus how nonprofits can use these tools to learn from other organizations’ Web travels. You will come away with practical tips, models, resources, and tools for bringing collaborative technologies and processes to your own organization.

Save the dates: October 24-October 28

Join us the week of October 24, for a free, five-day online event, in the TechSoup Emerging Technology forum www.techsoup.org/web2event as we discuss issues such as:

§ What do we mean by Web 2.0?
§ How can you use an RSS feed to get pushed information as well as to push your content to others?
§ What on earth is a Wiki? How is it better than the old-fashioned Web site?
§ What is tagging and how is it relevant? How can you learn from others’ Web searches?
§ What are widgets and how can these new tools help you solve age-old problems?
§ How can an online social network help your organization find volunteers?