Notes from the NTEN Nonprofit Technology Conference, New Orleans, March 19-21, 2008

Notes from the CiviCRM affinity group meeting and the CiviCRM lunch table discussion have links on the bottom of the page http://wiki.civicrm.org/confluence/display/CRMDOC/Presentations. Both meetings were very productive.

PayPal now has reduced transaction fees for nonprofits (1.9% - 2.2% + $.30 USD), but you must be registered as a nonprofit to get the lower rates. See https://www.paypal-promo.com/nten/ You can create a PayPal "Donate" button. You can receive $50 when you collect $500 through the PayPal Donate button.

David Pogue, was the best opening speaker I've heard at any conference. Good content with humor. Focused on three things:
(1) Cell phones:
T-Mobile HotSpot @Home: Unlimited WiFi Cell Phone Service Plan -- http://www.theonlyphoneyouneed.com/
Google Mobile: Google search on your phone - weather, flight info, stock quotes, driving directions, definitions,... -- http://www.google.com/mobile/search/demo.html#q=1+eur+in+usd
GrandCentral.com - one phone number that rings all your phones and one voicemail box --
CallWave voicemail to text -- http://www.callwave.com/landing/mobile/SelectService.aspx?r=WPM_STRT_VtxtProd_V2
(2) On-demand video - free TV online (15-second ads)
(3) Web 2.0: We, the audience, provide the material. Craig's list, Facebook, Flickr, YouTube, Blogs (blogger.com), Podcasts, Videos, Prosper.com, Kiva.com, GoLoco.org, WhoIsSick.org

Google provides mind boggling free services for nonprofits!
I attended four sessions on Google. These are the combined notes.

• Google Apps: You can use your own domain name — an existing one or create one through Google.
• Google Docs: Create and edit documents, spreadsheets and presentations. Files are accessible from anywhere. Use for document sharing.
• Google Sites: Create simple web pages.
• Google Mail: Keep all your mail active. Don't use folders. The search function allows you to find what you want. You can have email addresses with your own domain.
• Google Talk: Free text and voice calling around the world.
• Google Calendar: Sharable calendars.
• Google Checkout: Process donations by charging credit or debit cards for free until 2009. I think they said you can also sell mechandise without charge. They aren't saying yet what will happen in 2009.
• Google AdWords drive traffic to your site. Your ad may appear beside search related results. You have to pay for this service unless you get a Google Grant. You can control the amount you spend. You can, for instance, set a daily budget of five dollars and a maximum cost of ten cents for each click on your ad.
• Google Grants has awarded AdWords advertising to hundreds of non-profit groups. Special benefits are available to NTEN members -- see http://www.nten.org/blog/2008/03/21/google-announces-special-benefit-for-nten-members.
• YouTube.com is part of Google. Nonprofits can get free services, including a branded banner. See http://www.youtube.com/nonprofits. This site has a good description of the service -- http://www.marketwire.com/mw/release.do?id=774228.
• Google analytics: Free web site traffic measurement, visitor tracking, navigation analysis. Can do cross domain tracking and subdomain tracking. When creating a new profile, it has no data, so think out profiles ahead of time.

Getting Started in Second Life: Presentation online at http://ntc08-sl.wikispaces.com/ To see the video, go to http://ntc08-sl.wikispaces.com/Video+Clips+about+Second+Life and click the button for "Intro to Second Life." They compared Second Life to The Well. TechSoup provides free office space and holds weekly meetings every Friday from 8:30 to 9:30 a.m. PST

Don't Push the River, It Flows by Itself: Ruby Sinreich. 29 slides at http://nten.org/uploads/08ntc/presentations/Don%27tPushtheRiver_slides.pdf -- 13.49 Meg
Web 2.0, Social Networking. Uses of Facebook, Second Life (hold a meeting in person and online), Twitter, Sprout.