Blogs, Bookmarks, and Online Social Networking

Information by State  Print version

Date: Thursday, August 9 2007
Time: 9:00 — 10:30 a.m.

The rapid development of technology has created interesting social networking tools that are popular among many Neighborhood Networks center users, such as MySpace.com and Flickr.com. Centers also can use these tools to reach out to current and potential stakeholders in support of their programmatic, funding, and operational efforts. In fact, the use of online social networking has resulted in recent successes by many nonprofit organizations in spreading the word about their causes and gathering support. Neighborhood Networks centers also can harness the power of these effective marketing tools. This workshop introduces Neighborhood Networks centers to this hot topic.

Materials:
NTEN Link

Moderator:
Lanier Hylton
Director, Office of Housing Assistance and Contract Administration Oversight
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

Presenters:

Andy Carvin
Senior Product Manager for Online Communities
National Public Radio

Andy Carvin is senior product manager for online communities at National Public Radio. He is the founding editor of the Digital Divide Network, an online community of educators, community activists, policymakers, and business leaders in over 140 countries. Carvin is also author of the PBS blog Learning Now, focusing on the impact of Internet culture on education. Carvin created the online education resource EdWeb: Exploring Technology and School Reform. Carvin spent time recently at the United Nations World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) and as chairman of the WSIS Telecentre Caucus, a multi-stakeholder alliance of policymakers and digital media activists advocating policies for sustainable public technology centers. Carvin earned a bachelor’s degree in rhetoric and a master’s degree in telecommunications policy from Northwestern University, where he received the prestigious Annenberg/Washington postgraduate policy fellowship.

Colin Delany
Consultant
ePolitics

Alan Rosenblatt
Associate Director of Online Advocacy
Center for American Progress Action Fund

As the associate director for online advocacy at Center for American Progress Action Fund (CAPAF), Alan Rosenblatt is a frequent speaker and author on digital media, advocacy, and politics, including social networking, blogging, grassroots, and mobile advocacy strategies. He is the founder of the Internet Advocacy Center; an adjunct professor at The American University, where he teaches Internet advocacy communications; and a blogger at TechPresident.com and DrDigiPol.com. Rosenblatt is also a founder of Media Bureau Networks (MBN), a pioneer in streaming media services; a contributing editor to Politics Online; and serves on the editorial boards of several journals dedicated to the study of the Internet, politics, and government. In 1995, while teaching at George Mason University, he launched the first-ever cyberpolitics course. From 2003 to 2005 he served as director of training programs at e-advocates. Rosenblatt earned a Ph.D., master’s, and bachelor’s in political science from The American University, Boston College, and Tufts University respectively.

Katrin Verclas
Executive Director
Nonprofit Technology Network (NTEN)

Katrin Verclas is executive director of NTEN: The Nonprofit Technology Network, a membership organization of the diverse people and organizations who help nonprofits employ technology effectively. NTEN enables its members to do their jobs better and help their organizations strategically use technology so that they, in turn, make the world a better, just, and equitable place. Verclas’ background is in information technology (IT) and project management in various nonprofit organizations, communications and community organizing, and political advocacy. She previously co-directed Aspiration: Better Tools for a Better World, a nonprofit organization focused on providing software-related services. Verclas has also served as a program officer for a number of grantmaking and philanthropic initiatives focused on civic engagement and electoral reform, and headed her own consulting firm for a number of years. Verclas has written and spoken widely on topics, such as using technology in advocacy, open source software in the nonprofit sector, mobile technology for social change movements, and online organizing in industry publications and at national and international conferences. She has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, International Herald Tribune, ABC News, and other leading publications.