5 Quick Tips for Nonprofit Networking in the Age of Social Media

Recently I presented to the Association of Fundraising Professional in Central Florida on Nonprofit Networking in the 21st Century. Talking about how networking has changed and connecting with donors, sponsors, and fellow professionals has become a world tied to social media and technology. Below are 5 quick take aways from my presentation and a copy of the full presentation with lots of great links/examples.

1. Earn your social media karma. This means it’s important to give, share, and build up your social media karma with your donors and friends online. Don’t be the person who always is asking for something and not giving back. Build your social media karma for that time when you really need people to help support or share your cause.
2. Don’t put all your eggs into one basket. Relying only on one type of social media or online tool is foolish because you are missing out on a group of people who don’t use it. This could mean to focus on a few key networks or tools that give you a good reach of your donor and audience. Remember social media and tools can change very quickly, so it’s important to not rely on a single one for everything.
3. Learn about your audience and what mediums they prefer. I have been quoted in saying it’s important to learn about the medium someone prefers when networking. Some people want an email, other want a text, some prefer a tweet, and one might want that old fashion phone call.
4. Analytics are necessary. It’s important to find out if your audience is clicking on your links, engaging with your photos, or sharing your content. Try tools such as Hootsuite, Buffer, and Bitly to test different formats, times, and postings types through a variety of social media channels. Learn about the insight on your Facebook page and how the number of followers, fans, and connections are not as important as engagement.
5. Engage, engage, engage. Engage with your audience, friends, and network on a regular basis. Give back to them, reply to them, retweet them, and connect with them on a personal level. You are a real person and not a robot. Make sure people understand that in connecting with them.

Check out a full copy of the presentation on my SlideShare: http://buff.ly/15Mwu6t

BarCamp Orlando: An unconference at its best!

BarCamp Orlando is coming  back to Downtown Orlando very soon. When you think BarCamp, you might be thinking mixing drinks and juggling bottles but it’s not about that at all. BarCamp Orlando is an annual community-building event which aims to bring people from different backgrounds together for cooperative learning. Technologies such as Ruby, PHP, Java and C could be presented alongside graphic design, music, photography, and other new media.

They typically provide free T-shirts and lunch to all attendees with assistance from sponsors, since the event is totally free to attendees.

Schedule

• 9:30 am - Doors open, sign up starts for giving talks
• 10:00 am - Talks begin at all venues. Each presentation will last 25 minutes (we recommend leaving 5 minutes at the end for discussion)
• 12:00 pm - Lunch is served
• 1:00 pm - Talks resume
• 6:00 pm - BarCamp ends and the after party starts

Why not come out to learn and share? I’m sure I’ll be presenting one of my fun topics too! 

For more information and to register: http://barcamporlando.org/

Check out this video from BarCamp Orlando 2012 (you might even see me!)

Return of Bb The Robot! Why I want to be a VIP BbWorld Blogger #BbWorld13

It’s almost that time of year. Blackboard World is right around the corner and it will be hosted in Las Vegas this year. This year Blackboard is hosting a contest to become a VIP BbWorld Blogger!

BB the Robot wants to remind you why I should be a VIP Blogger for BbWorld13!

Who wouldn’t want Professor Josh to be their VIP Blogger, especially on anything EdTech related! I’ve worked in higher education for over 15 years with over 9 years experience teaching educational technology to future K12 teachers. I have a Master of Arts degree in both Educational Leadership and Instructional Technology with a graduate certificate in e-learning. I currently work at the top community college in the nation, Valencia College, as an instructional designer helping faculty navigate the world of Blackboard every day. I’m also an associate faculty member for the Educator Prep Institute teaching the technology for educators courses and IT department teaching Social Networking for Job Search.

Want to know more? Check out my awesome infographic resume! http://vizualize.me/ny6I7gBtMm?r=ny6I7gBtMm

If you are reading this, you already know my blog http://professorjosh.com, which focuses on a variety of educational and technology related topics.

I also blog for our department at Valencia – Learning Technology Services Blog, which will include coverage of BbWorld for our faculty.

Many other schools have referred to the resources and the blogs we have developed, as they make the transition to Blackboard.

I’m on the planning team for a number of technology related events in Orlando: Florida Bloggers Conference, iSummit, TechVenture,  and Startup Weekend Orlando.

I have been a speaker at numerous conferences on social media, multimedia tools, universal design, networking in the 21st century, and other topics.

Here are some sample of other conferences and events I have blogged about recently:

• SXSWedu 2013
• Social Fresh East 2013
• EdCamp Orlando
• Startup Weekend Orlando
• Trucks and Tech

Why do I want to be a BbWorld Blogger?

I’m a blogger at heart! It would be a great experience to actually get a VIP treatment as bloggers at an event like Blackboard World. Many companies are just now understanding the influence of bloggers and social media to propel their company to new heights and be advocates. This opportunity would give me a chance to have access to a variety of keynote speakers and other privileges that would help me create a number of unique blogs on the Blackboard World experience to bring back to our faculty and staff. We have been with Blackboard since the start of Blackboard Learn 9.1, through SP1 to SP11. I’ve been through the ups and downs of a new software that is ever evolving. Blackboard always has some big announcements planned for BbWorld. It would be great to cover them in person.

Please share this post with @Blackboard #BBWorld13 on Twitter and tell them why you think Professor Josh should be a VIP BbWorld Blogger!

Trucks and Tech Help Build a Tech Community and Feed Hungry Techies in Orlando

On April 25, 2013, IZEA helped gather a group of sponsors, supporters, and food trucks to host the first Trucks and Tech event in downtown Orlando. This event aloud techies and foodies to unite, by showcasing Orlando’s tech community and munching on some delicious bites from local food trucks. This is one of the few events I have been to (I’ve been to a lot) that has helped unite the Orlando tech community and was family friendly at the same time. Most events don’t involve bring the family along to part take in the fun.

The crowd of about 500 people from diverse backgrounds and ages, flocked near the site of the old Amway Arena (future site of The Creative Village) to wait in line for some great grub and network with other techies in the community. I would say this was a successful event and heard from many attending they look forward to the next one. As the sun started to set, the temperature cooled down, and people continued to enjoy a buffalo chicken waffle, a sweet chocolate cupcake, a pulled pork grilled cheese, or a blueberry Sea Dog brew.

Want to watch a great video recap? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWMRPU16ogg

Want to see a lot more photos and keep up-to-date with events? http://facebook.com/professorjosh

A variety of food trucks came out to feed the hungry techies, including  All Things Sweet, Cafe Cocoa Mo, The Crepe Company, Soup to Nuts, The Pastrami Project, and Melissa’s Chicken and Waffles. 

 

 

  

The line up included various tech related industries and digital leaders from around Orlando.

Ted Murphy – Founder / CEO, IZEA kicked off the event and was the main MC throughout the night.

Hospitality Tech
Joe Tenczar – CIO, Hard Rock International
Mike Church - VP, Interactive Ecosystem, Darden Restaurants

Domo Arigato, Mr. Roboto
Harold Timmis - Lead Engineer, Head of Technology smARtMAKER

The Creative Village
Brooke Myers - Development Partner, Creative Village Development

10 Awesome Apps
Larry Meador – CEO of Evok Advertising

Tech Entrepreneur Life
Jonathan Taylor - Chairman, CEO and Chief Evangelist, VOXEO

How to Become a Video Game Developer
Todd Deery – Comm & Admiss Dir at Florida Interactive Entertainment Academy

The Orlando Startup Scene
Ron Ben-Zeev - Co-Organizer Orlando Startup Weekend Events

Chef Tech
Kendra Lott – Publisher Edible Orlando

The Future of E-Commerce
Lewis Broadnax - Executive Director, Lenovo.com Sales & Marketing
Featuring a Lenovo Yoga Tablet Giveaway!

Lots of great sponsors made this event possible!

  

 

  

Social Fresh East 2013: A Quick Recap One Sketch at a Time

I’m back with another great set of sketches that are linked to most of the wonder presenter’s decks from Social Fresh 2013. This event was help in Tampa, FL on April 18 and 19 at the Doubletree. Social Fresh is mainly gear toward those in social media and marketing but touch on great topics for big brands, small businesses, educational institutions, and non-profits.

A few key takeaways from Social Fresh:

• Engage your audience with variety of content
• Show humanity
• Believe in the power of user generated content
• Find content that can be re-skinned and reused
• Give your customer useful tools, not just content and selling them a product/service
• If you aren’t having fun while building content, you are doing it wrong
• Word of mouth is very powerful
• Don’t forget about the brand ambassador (even those with low “Klout”)
• Make a customers day when possible, go above and beyond the norm
• Facebook Ads generally suck

As you look at the sketches below, click on them to access the speaker’s deck from SlideShare.

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of my favorite sketches was done from a photo of my friend Justice Mitchell and myself. 

Want to see lots more photos and sketches in a video format?

Startup Weekend Orlando: A Mentor’s View at #SWORL

This was my fifth Startup Weekend Orlando event as a mentor. Why do I volunteer my time to be a mentor at Startup Weekend?

It’s due to a couple different personal reasons:

1. I enjoying giving back to the community with my knowledge and expertise in a variety of areas. 
2. I believe in helping build Orlando’s tech community and I believe this is one of the events that will help build this community needed to grow.
3. I like to network with like minded individuals, including participants, mentors, and organizers.
4. We have fun! If you aren’t having fun at startup weekend, you are doing it all wrong.

It’s amazing to see how tight our mentor group is with the tech and business community in Orlando and how we all want to help blossom. Many of the mentors stay a majority of the weekend in Orlando, which isn’t the same at other Startup Weekend. I have always tried to attend Friday night, a good part of Saturday, and part of Sunday (including final pitches). I think this time gives me a good chance to see the teams grow, teams go through various stages, and really make an impact on the community we are trying to build.

We do mentoring a little different in Orlando from various other startup weekends. As mentors we signup for various shift during Saturday and Sunday. Each shift tends to overlap to give us time to have mentor meetings; where we can discuss groups, check on group statuses, and are able to divide up certain talents to assist the teams who really need the extra push in the right direction. We love to use whiteboard with lots of markers representing different status levels for key parts of the pitch that need to come together by the end of the weekend. This lends itself to a 360 approach to mentoring that continues throughout the weekend. Throughout the weekend we encourage mini pitches for them to keep practicing on getting their ideas out. Sunday we have signup times for them to pitch to mentors for feedback before meeting the judges. Giving time for teams to add, delete, and modify pitches. It’s satisfying to watch these teams pitch, showing how far each has come along this 54 hour journey. Many mentors stay connected with various teams after the event, helping guide and connect them to the right people.

I think everyone has finally recovered from 54 hours of coding, designing, and hustling. It’s always a truly amazing experience.

Just some basic Event Metrics! 

Metrics: 87 attendees, 37 ideas pitched, 12 teams formed

Congrats to the winners:

Frisbee - Frisbee is a proximity-based social network that allows users to communicate with the other people in their same vicinity.

CareSpotter - CareSpotter is an online Senior Care marketplace that empowers families to connect directly with local Professional Caregivers.

GITForce - Collaborative development for the Force.com platform.

SignWaive - A liability waiver application for businesses that will allow providers to process payments and enable business to engage with their customers through email and social media.

Get a quick video recap of all the excitement over the #SWORL weekend:

When is the next Startup Weekend Orlando?

Be on the look out for the next Startup Weekend Orlando in the next 3-4 months.

Stay connected with other attendees
Like our Page
Join our Group
Follow us on Twitter

Thank you to all the sponsors, speakers, mentors, and host

Sponsors: Florida High Tech Corridor, Seminole Technology Business incubation Center, Seminole State College CED, Startup Orange County, ADT, Office Depot, Costco, Marriot Orlando, Florida SBDC, SCORE, Seminole County, Braathe Enterprises, Vesta Teleradiology, Gizmo Productions, Aspiredu, Orlando iOS Developer Group, Professor Josh, and Orlando Tech Meetup.

Speakers: Peter Atwal and Jerry Ross

The Judges: Henry Dreifus, Dr. Melissa Kuchma, Arthur Pancoe

Mentors and Volunteers: Josh Murdock, Nancy Reiland, Eddy Borja, Amy Kirkland, Joshua Johnson, Maria Rodriguez-Scott, Ken York, Robert Goetz, Sterling Bates, Shawn Moore

Organizers: Orrett Davis, Christine Ortiz, Ron Ben-Zeev

Our Host: Seminole State College @ Heathrow

Connect with the Orlando’s startup and tech community:

Here are just a few upcoming events and resources to stay connected with what’s going on around Orlando.

Orlando Tech Meetup
EdTech Orlando
BarCamp Orlando
Orlando Startup Digest
Orlando Tech Events 

See at the next Startup Weekend Orlando!  #SWOrl

Don’t forget about Trucks and Tech event this Thursday 4/25!

Orlando Foodies and Techies Unite at Trucks and Tech

If you have been following my blog for awhile, you know I’m both a geeky tech guy and a food loving foodie. Orlando finally create the perfect event for me: Trucks and Tech. Trucks & Tech is a mashup between two cultures that I love – foodies and techies. The event will be held on April 25th at 6:00pm at the parking lot of the old Amway center in Downtown Orlando, right next door to the Bob Carr Performing Arts Centre. It will feature some of Orlando’s best food trucks along with technology discussion and demonstrations.

The event is hosted by Ted Murphy of IZEA and co-sponsored by Ad 2 Orlando and will feature leading minds from the technology and social media worlds.

I’ll be one of the featured event bloggers (@professorjosh), along with my foodie friend Gustavo Hernando from @dafoodie.

Why not RSVP and invite your friends? FACEBOOK EVENT PAGE

Follow along on Twitter: @TrucksTech and #TrucksandTech

I’m ready for a bite from one of my favorite trucks: Melissa’s Chicken and Waffles.