Are you competitive?

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

Black Lab Mother & pupLocal 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.

Random Hacks of Kindness Vancouver

Net Tuesday pals PeaceGeeks are organizing a Random Hacks of Kindness hackathon this fall. If you’re a developer or a nonprofit with a project idea you should go. RSVP with PeaceGeeks.

RANDOM HACKS OF KINDNESS VANCOUVER, PRESENTED BY EMC

November 30, 2012 – 5:00pm to December 2, 2012 – 5:00pm
116 West Hastings, 2nd floor
Vancouver  British Columbia  V6B 1G8

Canada

   

What is Random Hacks of Kindness?

Random Hacks of Kindness (RHoK) is a global movement that connects developers from around the world with local non-profit organizations to help solve technological challenges. This year, PeaceGeeks is excited to host the first RHoK event in Vancouver, presented by EMC.

The Vancouver event will open the evning of November 30th with a reception and project presentation. This will be followed by a two-day hackathon on Saturday December 1 and Sunday December 2. We expect to have between 80 and 100 developers, designers and project participants helping on up to 10 different projects that help to solve technology and communciations challenges for non-profit organization both in Vancouver and around the world.

What is a Global Event?

The Vancouver event will occur in tandem with events in over 20 cities around the world with more than 1000 participants working on different projects.

Who should participate in RHoK?

You should participate in RHoK Vancouver if you are passionate about using technology to help solve real world problems and if you have the following skills:

  • developer/ programmer (games, websites, software, mobile apps, etc.)
  • designer (web, games, apps, user interface, user experience expert, etc.)
  • project analysts (project managers, quality assurance testers, process mappers, etc.)
  • communications experts (copy writers, social media gurus, etc.)
  • other skills that might help to create awesome projects

 

How it will work

  • Project submissions: Starting in November, the RHoK Vancouver team will be recruiting potential projects for the event on December. A projects team will work with partners to clearly defining and refining both the problem and potential solution.
  • Project presentations: On Friday November 30, participants will be invited to the opening event reception. During the reception, representatives from up to 10 non-profit organizations will present their organization, problem and proposed project to participants. Following the presentations, participants will decide which project they will work on over the course of the weekend.
  • Project execution: On Saturday and Sunday (December 1st and 2nd), participants will work on the project they have chosen until 5pm on Sunday evening. We will then give each team 5 minutes to present their project to the group. A panel of judges will award prizes to the top 3 teams.

 

Who are our event sponsors (so far)?

We are very grateful to the following sponsors for helping us to make this event possible:

Global RHoKstar — Title Sponsor: EMC

RHoKstar Extraordinaire: Informatica

RHoK & Roller: GrowLab (Venue Sponsor)

Little RHoKers:

     

NetSquared September update

fall leafHere’s what I did as the NetSquared Local Community Curator in September 2012.

 

September is here, and even ‘tho the new year doesn’t come for another four months I still think of September as a time of rebirth and renewal (I’ll always think like a student, I guess.)

Check out all this rebirth and renewal:
Camps

We’re already had two NetSquared Camp events (Honolulu and Cameroon/Nigeria) and there’s another six  coming between now and November.

Platform
We released the latest release of the NetSquared platform this week and the old blog posts are back!
September events
The NetSquared local organizers are going to keep you busy this summer. Here’s a taste of some of the events planned so far.

NetSquared update October 2012

My Geek-o-Lantern.

What I did at NetSquared in October 2012

October is here! This is going to be a big month for NetSquared. Not only are we going to be holding three regional camps, but there’s also 18 local meetups scheduled and a major local organizer-focused update to the NetSquared platform.

Camps

There are three NetSquared camps scheduled for October:

And in November there will be two more:

Platform
Notification feed

The seventh release of the NetSquared platform is now live. It includes several new features including notification feeds (Facebook-style!) and NetSquared camp pages which appear as green dots on the local map.

What comes next? A major revision of the local organizer pages, to be rolled out October 23, 2012. Hopefully that will solve some of the ongoing bugs y’all have been struggling with, including an unpredictable meetup integration and hunt ‘n peck map icons. 🙂

October events

A quick scan shows 18 events happening across the NetSquared local network. Did I miss any? I think our local organizers have put together an impressive lineup. 🙂

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Photo: My Geek-o-Lantern. Creative Commons licensed by Neal Gillis

NetSquared November update

Here’s what I’ve been up to in my gig at NetSquared Local Community Curator.

Winter is finally arriving in the northern hemisphere (and we’re getting jealous of our southern friends). This November the NetSquared community is holding the last of this year’s NetSquared Camps and is holding even more monthly meetups than last month (at least twenty-one!). This month also saw the launch of the Microsoft Windows 8 Contest, which is open to US-based developers.

The future of NetSquared local

What does the future of NetSquared’s local meetups look like? Please join Billy Bicket, TechSoup’s VP of Community & Platform and Sheeta Singh, Development Director for a community meeting to discuss the future of the program. Please indicate your availability on this doodle poll if you’d like to join this conference call.

NetSquared Camps

Late October saw NetSquared Camp Europe and NetSquared Camp Vermont. In early November it was Guatemala’s turn and in late November the Australian and New Zealand organizers are holding NetSquared Camp Downunder. This four-city meetup will be streamed live over the internet and you’re invited to join them! You can RSVP on the Virtual NetSquared meetup group.

Platform

Events shown based on location

The ninth release of the NetSquared platform is now live. Most of the changes are improvements to the challenge functionality of the site, but it also includes the display of events to logged-in users of the platform. When a user is on the site they are now shown their closest local meetup event (because we know their location). This will help bring more people to your meetup.

I’ve also created a screencast overview of the local organizer pages on the platform as well as a guide to creating and editing your local organizer page. Let me know if something isn’t clear.

Windows 8 Apps for Social Good Contest

I’ve been pretty quiet for the last few weeks because I’ve been supporting the launch of a joint project between Microsoft and NetSquared. Want to help people find the closest organic produce? Interested in making it easier for people to conserve more energy? Can you make online donations easier? How about making math easier for kids? 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 one of three cash prizes to help fuel your dream and keep it going! There are three cash prizes starting at $15,000. Good luck! Please note, the contest is only open to residents of the USA.

November events

A quick scan shows 21 events happening across the NetSquared local network. Did I miss any?

Photo by Tim on Flickr

Storify: Ben Johnson’s digital tool suggestions from Net Tuesday

A look into the tool kit of Ben Johnson, the Managing Director of Frontier Consulting.

A look into the tool kit of Ben Johnson, the Managing Director of Frontier Consulting.

http://storify.com/elijah/organizing-your-digital-attack-from-a-one-person-s

I am digital and so can you (slides and photos from Ben Johnson’s digital tools presentation)

Frontier Consulting‘s Ben Johnson delivered a humdinger of a presentation for Net Tuesday. It was so jam-packed full of information that no notetaker could hope to keep up. Luckily for us Ben has generously agreed to share his slides.

Voila!

Linda Liu was our photographer again (yay!) and has already shared the first 10 photos from the event.

I took those photos and used Animoto to create a video slideshow.

Oh, and charities are eligible for a free upgrade on their Animoto account.

Volunteer update

  • Amy and Helen were awesome in their tag-team role as greeters!
  • David Gloyn-Cox has offered to join our volunteer team. Yay!
  • Linda is already uploading photos.
  • Rita Jasper recorded the whole event and is planning on producing a series of short excerpts. I’m really excited to see what she creates. Go Rita!
  • Kelvin expertly conducted our online symphony last night. It’s a beautiful thing.

Interested in joining the volunteer team? Give us a shout!

And lastly, please join me in congratulating my co-organizer Chad on being a new father of twins!!!!

Get Tickets for the 5th Vancouver Timeraiser!

Are you ready for the most dynamic volunteer-focused art events of the year?The 5th Vancouver Timeraiser is November 8th at the Roundhouse Community Center, 181 Roundhouse Mews. At the Timeraiser you bid volunteer time for incredible works of art purchased from local artists. We call it facilitated simultaneous giving and getting. Ok, maybe we don’t call it that, but it’s a great night where everyone wins. Register soon before tickets sell out and help us raise thousands of volunteer hours for Vancouver nonprofits!


Net Tuesday Members get DISCOUNT Tickets!

As a Net Tuesday member you can get tickets for only $10!

Just go to www.timeraiser.ca and enter the following promotional code to get your half-price tickets: Discount Code = net2012

Timeraiser Details:

Thursday November 8th
Doors open at 7:00pm
at Roundhouse Community Center

Tickets
Tickets are normally $20 and can be purchased online at timeraiser.ca

No paper ticket necessary.

Timeraiser 101
The Timeraiser is part volunteer fair, part silent art auction and part night on the town. Throughout the evening meet with different agencies and match your skills to their needs. Once you have made your matches, you are eligible to bid on artwork. The big twist is rather than bid money, you bid volunteer hours. If you have the winning bid you have 12 months to complete your pledge before bringing the artwork home as a reminder of your goodwill.
Agenda
7:00 pm – Doors Open
8:00 pm – Welcoming Remarks
8:30 pm – Silent Art Auction Begins
9:30 pm – Silent Art Auction Ends
10:00 pm – Final announcements
See our FAQs for complete art bidding rules/what happens if you have a winning art bid.
*cash bar and light catering
*dress is Evening Casual
*max art bid is 100 hours
Connect
Please contact Amanda Grainger-Munday if you have any questions. You can also follow updates on Twitter,  Facebook, LinkedIn.

[Meetup] Prove It! A Practical Guide to A/B Testing for Nonprofits – December 4, 2012

What types of stories best engage your audience? How can you best move your supporters to action? Why do people give to your organization? By performing some simple A/B tests you can start to get the answers to these questions (and more) that can help you shape your marketing, communications and fundraising strategies. Brady presents a practical guide to A/B testing with a sample process, tool recommendations and a case study of a real A/B test.

RSVP on Meetup.com

When: Tuesday, December 4, 2012, 5:30 PM To 7:30 PM

Where: W2 Media Cafe, 111 W Hastings, Vancouver, BC

RSVP on Meetup.com

Agenda

  • 5:30 – 6:00 pm: schmoozing
  • 6:00 – 7:00 pm: Brady Josephson knocks your socks off
  • 7:00 – 7:30 pm: Q&A

Brady Josephson

Brady Josephson - Profile - Thumb -WebBrady is currently the Strategic Director at Charity Express, a Vancouver based digital agency serving small and medium sized nonprofit organizations. He’s a Board Member of The Seacrest Foundation (not affiliated with Ryan…), an Adjunct Professor of fundraising at North Park University and blogs often at recharity.ca and less often on The Huffington Post. You can follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/bradyjosephson.

Our sponsor

Net Tuesday is thrilled to have the W2 Media Cafe as our venue sponsor for the 2012-2013 season. They do cool things. Check them out!