Social Actions’ Change the Web Challenge is a one-of-a-kind online competition that aims to inspire third-party developers to build innovative tools that make it easy for people to find and share opportunities to make a difference.
See3 is a proud media sponsor of this event which will engage websites, programmers, bloggers and nonprofits around the world interested in using their skills and networks for social change. See the slideshow below for details about the contest (hint: there are exciting prizes!)
Network for Good will host Michael Hoffman, See3 CEO, for its “Nonprofit 911″ teleconference, “Creating an Online Video Strategy“. Michael will talk about the new paradigm of online video, and what your organization can do using the resources it has available. He’ll also touch on different styles of video (see examples below) as well as cost factors associated with each.
What if your local TV station came to you and asked your organization to program their channel for the day? “Go ahead”, they would said. “Tell the world all about what you do and why it’s important.” What if they asked you to program the channel for a week, or a month, or a year? You would completely freak out. You are not equipped to provide that much video content. But guess what? As the infrastructure of TV and the web come together your website is becoming a channel. Are you ready?
The teleconference will be on Tuesday, February 17 at 1pm EST. Sign up for more details.
This year’s theme, “Everyone’s Doing It”, is meant to include submissions of all shapes and sizes, from organizational vlogs, to staff-produced web clips, to high-end, professionally produced videos.
According to Michael Hoffman, CEO of See3 Communications, “2008 was a great year for video, and we continue to see incredible growth each year in the number of nonprofits using video. With camera and equipment costs down, organizations have nothing holding them back from using video as a communications tool. We’ve seen some really innovative, powerful videos this year, and we hope the DoGooderTV Nonprofit Video Awards will highlight that.”
Last year, more than 160 entries were received from over 100 nonprofit organizations. The top winning videos were from the Humane Society of the United States, Greenpeace International, and the Center for Constitution Rights. The winning videos receive thousands of views and publicity online and offline.
Video submissions will be accepted until March 26, when a panel of judges will select the finalists in each category. The public voting period will open on April 7 and end on April 26. The winners will be announced at NTEN’s annual Nonprofit Technology Conference (NTC) in San Francisco, which takes place April 26-28, 2009. Winners will be featured on The Nonprofit Times website.
This week I had the pleasure of attending the Feminism2.0 conference in Washington, D.C. It was a one-day event packed full of panels and breakout sessions with leaders from prominent women’s organizations such as Feminist Majority, NOW and NARAL as well as feminist bloggers, artists and activists.
What I liked most about the conference was the diversity of people that attended. It was a great mix of races, genders, ages and because the conference was focused on organizing women online and off, there were techy and non-techy people present.
A major theme that came out of the conference was bridging the gap between old and new activists and using technology to engage the younger audience. Jen Nedeau, my fellow Women’s Rights blogger at Change.org, moderated the panel, “At the Crossroads: Organizing the Next Generation of Feminists Online and Off”. She emphasized in her presentation that young activists need to be engaged where they live online with customizable options to participate.
Here’s a video that Nerdette from NotMyGal filmed of that panel (yup, that’s me listening in the background):
Jen mentioned to me after the panel that NARAL Pro-Choice America is a prime example of an organization that is getting Web 2.0 right with their FreeWillPower campaign.
It was great to hear because See3 created the FreeWillPower campaign specifically to appeal to a younger audience and give them ways to opt-in based on their own interests. For example, participants can watch videos, get ringtones for their phones, submit a design to a t-shirt contest, take a quiz about reproductive rights and find information on an interactive map, among other things.
I think Jen is correct in her observation that young people aren’t necessarily going to search out a nonprofit’s website themselves but will be receptive to participating with the tools and social networks they already use every day.
I think a challenge that the feminist and reproductive rights movements face today is how to provide ways for young people to make the cause their own. Luckily, the internet is a great place to connect with this new generation in fun and creative ways.
