Philadelphia NetSquared Blog: 2010

Philadelphia Net Tuesdays, nonprofit technology, social change and the social web.

As featured in Philadelphia Citypaper: Join us Tuesday for Crowdsourcing Change!

Join us on Tuesday evening, Dec. 7, online via a webcast and Twitter channel, or in person at the Friends Center in Philadelphia for Crowdsourcing Change: Applied Use of the Social Web.

Crowdsourcing Change is a highly participatory event where attendees (the crowd) provide constructive feedback and advice to help three “social changers” who are using — or trying to use — the social web to advance their cause or project. This month, we’re featuring three organizations: AIDS Policy Project, Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, and the Police Athletic League of Philadelphia.

Our event was featured in this week’s Philadelphia Citypaper, who wrote that Crowdsourcing Change “is a learning ground for local activists and non-profit groups to utilize social technology to their advantage.”

Our event is free and open to all — nonprofit staffers, tech gurus, social change activists and those interested in the intersections between all three. Learn more about the event.

Net Neutrality and more: Join us on Nov. 9!

Please join us on Tuesday, Nov. 9, in person at 6:00 PM and in a live online broadcast at 6:30 PM Eastern.

As results of the mid-term election change the players in Washington, and across the states, important questions loom large:

  • What is “net neutrality”, and why is it important?
  • What fights looming in Washington are essential for us to be aware of?
  • Have the results of this week’s election helped or harmed the causes we care about?

We’re getting together to learn about these issues, and to better understand some of the laws and regulations that can ensure or inhibit our ability to connect with one another in a free, open and empowering social web.

Learn more about the event.

Join us online and in person for youth and digital empowerment!

On Tuesday, Oct. 5, please join us online and in person for this month’s Philadelphia Net Tuesday, Youth and Digital Empowerment! The in-person event will begin at 6:00 PM Eastern, with online streaming and discussion beginning at 6:30 Eastern. Get directions to our location in Philly, or read on for how to participate online (you can also read more on Facebook and Meetup).

About the event

Practitioners in the field of youth and digital media will share their work empowering youth to identify issues important in their communities and to share their message through digital and social media. They will share examples of their projects and address challenges including access to technology, privacy concerns and more.

David Cooper Moore will talk about Temple University’s Powerful Voices for Kids program. The mission of the Powerful Voices for Kids program is to strengthen children’s abilities to think for themselves, communicate effectively using language and technology tools, and use their powerful voices to contribute to the quality of life in their families, their schools, their communities, and the world. He will speak about the program itself with a focus on curriculum and pedagogical approaches to youth media.

Laura Deutch is the founder of Messages in Motion. MIM offers youth participants the opportunity to produce short video postcards that communicate personal and social messages about their diverse life experiences. As the van travels through the city, the stories inspire, educate and provoke participants from different communities to learn from one another. She will present an overview of the program and focus on building community partnerships as youth and youth-serving organizations learn from each other’s projects.

Sam Reed is the founder of Sriii Consulting and a blogger for the Philadelphia Public School Notebook. He provides support to schools and youth-serving organizations around media literacy and arts education integration. He will share his curriculum unit, MySpace in Democracy, that conducts an inquiry on the risks and rights youth develop and maintain online.

Join us online

Live online webcast: The panel discussion will be broadcast live beginning at 6:30 PM Eastern/3:30 PM Pacific on Oct. 5. Check the top of this page at that time for the live webcast.

Follow along on Twitter: In-person attendees will be posting live updates, online guests will be invited to ask questions of the panelists, and everyone will be welcome to discuss the event in real time over Twitter. Follow @phlnet2 and use the hashtag #phlnet2 on Oct. 5 to participate, or simply follow along using Twitter search or the Twitter feed that will be posted on this page on Tuesday.

Who should participate?

  • Youth-serving organizations seeking to expand their digital media programs
  • Nonprofits and government agencies committed to engaging young people
  • Media makers
  • Social entrepreneurs
  • Anybody who wants to learn more about, or share their experiences of, the fast-growing and powerful force of youth and digital media

Our sponsors

We very gratefully acknowledge our sponsors for this event: The Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance and the American Friends Service Committee, without whose support these events would not be possible.

Changing the World with Social Networking, with Deanna Zandt

Submitted by Philly NetSquared on September 7, 2010
ShareThis! by Deanna Zandt

Update: The live stream will be posted as a video on this website soon — we’ll post an announcement to the home page. Thanks to everyone who participated!

Follow our conversation with Deanna Zandt at September Philly Net Tuesday:

Watch live video stream
and follow our conversation on Twitter

Our discussion topics tonight:

  • How is social networking transforming nonprofit and social change efforts?
  • Or is it just lulling us into a false sense of confidence?
  • Aren’t the forces against change just as empowered by social networking as we are?
  • How can I, as an individual, have a meaningful impact on the most pressing global issues of the day?
  • How can we cope with (and even thrive from) the fire hose of information that social networking unleashes?

Read more about this event.

Deanna is a New York-based media technologist, consultant to key progressive media organizations including AlterNet and Jim Hightower’s Hightower Lowdown, and a Research Fellow at the Center for Social Media at American University. She is also author of the recently published book Share This! How You Will Change the World with Social Networking.

Follow the discussion

At right is our Twitter “back channel” — ongoing discussion and questions for Deanna. You can participate in the discussion! Just append “#phlnet2” (that stands for “Philly NetSquared”) to any of your Twitter posts and it will automatically show up.

And, of course, be sure to watch the live video stream of the event!

You can send us questions for Deanna via Twitter by beginning your message with “@phlnet2” which will bring your message to our attention.

Learn more about using Twitter.

Join Deanna Zandt on Sept. 7

Our September Net Tuesday will feature author Deanna Zandt. Read more about Deanna’s book, Share This! How You Will Change the World with Social Networking, below, and join us on Sept. 7!

The times are not just a-changin’, they’re a-revolutionizin’! As social media becomes increasingly present in our everyday lives, a major democratic cultural shift is underway. Through the power of relationships, sharing of experiences, and organizing online, previously marginalized voices are pouring into and shaping public conversations like never before.

But serious change will not happen on its own. Despite the increasing presence of a diversity of voices and faces, the Internet isn’t fulfilling its disruptive potential; more often than not, it’s simply replicating and amplifying inequality and segregation. The good news? The fundamental building block common to every social movement is the power of the narrative. Your story… and your willingness to share others’ stories with your networks… can mean the difference between progressive change and perpetuating the status quo. We need you here, building and mapping your relationships, sharing your experience and creating pipelines of empathy and trust that will change the world.

This book is a blueprint for understanding why and how this medium of exchange works, and how our personal stories and daily experiences comprise a profoundly political picture that leads to social action and social change. Through a fun and accessible exploration of the intersection of philosophy, psychology, sociology and technology, it looks at how an historical convergence of forces has constructed a platform of immense possibility. Finally, the book offers concrete strategies and advice for both individuals and organizations looking to engage in this digital extension of our humanity. It shows, quite simply, how YOU will change the world.

Join Deanna Zandt at the September Net Tuesday!

Net Tuesday, August 3: Connecting the dots of your social media strategy

Connecting the dots of your social media strategy

“Connect the Dots” with social media for your nonprofit organization or social cause at our next Net Tuesday on August 3, beginning at 6:00 PM at Jenkins Law Library at 833 Chestnut (special directions below).

Our discussion will be led by Nicole Newman of Newman Networks, who will review some key social media principles and introduce a way to “connect the dots” of your social media strategy. Then several local nonprofits and activists will describe their own social media experiences, and we’ll help them “connect the dots” themselves.

This informative and highly interactive session is for anybody who wants to learn and share a fresh approach to advancing their nonprofit or social cause with social media.

Nicole Newman is a technology specialist helping organizations create executable plans for profitable results by increasing networking opportunities and efficient IT driven marketing solutions. She has worked with hundreds of organizations in 4 short years (online and offline) interweaving networks to create a better Philadelphia community. You can find out more about her on Linked In or on Facebook.

We gratefully acknowledge our sponsor this month, dice.com, “the career hub for tech insiders”, who will be providing food, as well as giving away “merchandice” for people to enjoy.

Jenkins Law Library is located on the 12th floor of the 833 Chestnut Street building, directly across from the Ben. Franklin. Use the Chestnut Street entrance. Please tell security that you are attending the Net Tuesday event at Jenkins. You will be required to sign in. The elevators unload on the 12th floor in front of Jenkins’ main doors. There will be a devilishly handsome young man behind the front desk to direct you to the event.

Although not required, RSVP’s via Facebook or Meetup are appreciated for planning purposes.
  

 

Looking ahead… For Net Tuesday, September 7, we’ll be having a discussion about the state of social networking with Deanna Zandt, author of Share This: How You Will Change the World with Social Networking. Mark the date, and check out this terrific book!
  

Net Tuesday, May 4, 2010: A Social Web Sampler

Social Web Sampler

Come celebrate our 2nd anniversary with a participative Social Web Sampler.  We’ll focus on the social web tools and applications that are important to you.  Here’s some more information.

Join us in March for crisis response and social media

Don't panic! Crisis response and social mediaRecent crises — whether caused by nature (like Haiti or Katrina) or by humans (like the London subway bombings or PA budget cuts for arts and culture) — have been met by a new type of response virtually unavailable just a decade ago.

Social tools, including Facebook and Twitter, GIS/mapping applications, mobile technology, image and video sharing services and others, have been used in ways that are creative, widely participative and, often, surprisingly effective.

The March Net Tuesday will be about this phenomenon and how it might be relevant to you, today.

We’ll have an interactive discussion and workshop, not only about how some of these sorts of tools have been used in past crises, but about the sorts of social structures (e.g., CrisisCamps) that are emerging to build community and prepare proactively for the next crisis.

Read more about and RSVP for Net Tuesday on March 2!