Webinars, Videos, and More...
On a regular basis, the Communications Network features video interviews and webinars with people inside foundations and those on the outside (looking in) about what works in foundation communications, how to be more effective, and trends and other developments worth noting.
Why We Care and Why We Don’t
Why is it that news about a child trapped in a well here in America is more likely to galvanize public attention than reports about the deaths of hundreds of thousands in a genocidal war in Africa? What is it that prevents people from wanting to help, especially if the victims are in a far away place?
Paul Slovic, a founder and President of Decision Research, and professor of psychology at the University of Oregon, has made a career of studying empathy and the factors that trigger it. His work has been cited frequently by The New York Times, reported in Made to Stick, and honored by the American Psychological Association.
In this replay of a Communications Network webinar, host Andy Goodman discusses with Dr. Slovic about why numbers numb, stories stick, and what you can do with this knowledge, especially if you want to get people to act.
Conference 2.0 Strategies Capture a Bigger Picture
At the recent Communications Network annual conference held at the Ford Foundation in New York City, 20 volunteers known collectively as the Gorilla Engagement Squad, used Flip Cams to conduct video interviews with 120 conference attendees.
In addition to asking participants what resonated from the sessions they attended, Gorillas asked: “What has and hasn’t changed about foundation communications over the past five years?”
Brand Meet Twitter, Twitter Meet Brand: Reflections From the 2009 ComNet Conference
This is the first of several installments in which we couple reflections from the Fall 2009 Communications Network Annual Conference (#comnet09) session presenters with feedback from attendees of those sessions captured by the Gorilla Engagement Squad. First up: Eric Henderson, Special Advisor for Living Cities, reflects on his session entitled, “Brand, Meet Twitter. Twitter, Meet Brand.” We lead with post-session analysis provided in this clip from Debra Rubino, Director of Strategic Communications at Open Society Institute-Baltimore who relates session content to the OSI-Baltimore blog she guides entitled: “Audacious Ideas.”
ComNetwork Chair Eric Brown on #ComNet09
Eric Brown, Communications Director for the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, took over as chair of the Communications Network at a board meeting immediately prior to our sold-out conference in NYC. In this brief clip — the first of more than 100 interviews captured by conference participants, collectively known as the Gorilla Engagement Squad, Brown describes the extent to which participants wanted to focus on social media and how strategy is superceding tactics.
Testing Web 2.0 Conference Tools and Tactics
Social networking tools can connect us in virtual communities that defy geography. But what promise do they hold when we host gatherings in the same place and time? Can amateur videographers create compelling content with super-cheap video cams that might advance our communications in ways professionals and top-dollar equipment can’t? Are communication professionals better able to assess the value of new media tactics when they have hands-on experience with those tactics?
