See What’s Out There

In the classic chick flick “Legally Blonde,” Elle Wood saves the day with her epiphany, “The rules of hair care are simple and finite!”

Combing through the challenges of a Web site design (or redesign) can cause a truly bad hair day. And yet, the basic rules of Web design are also simple and finite.

Don’t flip your wig! If you couldn’t join us at the Web Design for Nonprofits workshop this week, you can still view the slides from our presentation on The Dos and Don’ts of Web Design. We’d love to help you with your Web site!

Last week, Michael Hoffman spoke about online video as part of the “Social Media for Cause Marketers” workshop at the 2009 Cause Marketing Forum.

He spoke about how the web is changing from an electronic brochure to an interactive channel, how video can enhance your existing cause campaigns, and about redefining what “viral” really means. Check out his slidedeck below and leave a comment if you have any follow-up questions.

If you made a video in 2008, we want to see it! Enter now and show us how your organization has been using video to inspire and ignite social change.

Starting today, video submissions are being accepted for the 3rd Annual DoGooderTV Nonprofit Video Awards, co-sponsored by The Nonprofit Technology Network (NTEN) and See3 Communications. Nonprofit organizations and foundations are encouraged to submit their videos at www.dogooder.tv/contest2009!

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.

You can register for the NTC at www.nten.org/ntc.

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.

This past weekend, a group of progressive communicators from around the Midwest gathered in Chicago to kick-off PCN Midwest. The event was organized with the help of the national PCN organization and Chicago-based Community Media Workshop.

I was thrilled to represent See3 at the event and get a chance to spend two days with the diverse and talented activists and organizers that gathered there. Below are some tips I shared with the participants about producing web video on a budget.

3 Things You Should Know About Web Video:

1. Good audio is critical – viewers don’t mind if the picture is fuzzy as long as they can hear what’s going on

2. What kind of camera should I get? Here are some suggestions:

Price Range: $130- $300
Flip is good for minimal shooting but has no external mic input so you need to stay close to your subjects to pick up good sound.

Price Range: $600 - $1,000
Canon VIXIA HV30 is the best value for a consumer camera of its kind and is easy to use. It also comes with an external mic input so you can improve your sound quality with better microphones.

VS.

3. Where should I upload my video? YouTube vs. Vimeo

YouTube - quantity
YouTube has a lot of traffic and its videos can be embedded easily on most blogs & websites

Vimeo - quality
Vimeo looks great, both the player itself and quality of video (check out the See3 Guide to Online Video for an example)

Here are two examples of humorous and effective nonprofit videos that I shared with the group:

“Is it ok to torture?” - Amnesty International


“Insurance Company Rules” - Health Care For America Now

Last week, Michael spoke at the Chicago Convergence at MGFest09 which was held at Columbia College here in Chicago. It was a nice gathering of tech and design people and included speakers from crowdSPRING, Manifest Digital, Spark and The Cocktail.

Here’s the slideshow from Michael’s talk which was videotaped and will soon be available in its entirety on the Chicago Convergence website:

And in case you’re wondering what MGFest09 is, here’s a quick video interview we did with the festival’s co-founder Mason Dixon:

I’ll be presenting at NNEDV’s (National Network to End Domestic Violence) “Technology Safety Training of Trainers” this week where I’ll be talking about online video. Below are some of the videos that I’ll be showing during the lunch session:

Viral
Office Max One Penny Campaign (Restaurant)

Office Max One Penny Campaign (Used Car Lot)

Girl Effect

PSA
Chicago Foundation for Women

Man-on-the-Street
Amnesty International (Extraordinary Rendition)

Amnesty International (Now You Know)

Planned Parenthood (Bush-McCain Challenge)

Documentary
American Jewish World Service (Passover)

Dramatic
Connecticut Education Association