Are You Tapping the Wisdom of the Crowds?
(At our 2010 Communications Network Conference in Los Angeles, James Surowiecki, author of The Wisdom of Crowds, offered some suggestions on how foundations can tap into the collective thinking of crowds. In her guest post below, Rebecca Arno, Vice President of Communications, The Denver Foundation and Chair, Communications Network, shares some examples of how new communications technology is supporting crowdsourcing in philanthropy. Her post is reprinted with permission from CausePlanet.)
Social media has great power to connect people within and across communities–geographic communities, communities of practice and interest and communities of faith and belief. How are nonprofit organizations mining these connections to achieve their missions? Crowdsourcing is often the answer.
Priming the “Engagement” Pump
Guest Post: Susan Herr, PhilanthroMedia
Engagement via social media is the holy grail of just about all of us who work in communications today. But as anyone who has tried to advance ideas via their websites, blogs, Tweeting and the like knows that it is much easier to talk about than to achieve. And when it’s missing? The silence can be deafening.
Got A Problem That Needs Solving? We Can Help
The Communications Network is soliciting proposals for the portion of our Fall 2011 Conference — Sept. 21-23 in Boston — that we’re billing as “group therapy.” We want to organize sessions around the “best of the best” problems you would like some help solving — ones that vex, frustrate, confuse, have you scratching your heads, or looking up to the skies for guidance.
By answering our call, we can help get whatever is bugging you off your chest. We’re giving you the chance to invite other savvy conference attendees — communications professionals who work in philanthropy in the U.S., Canada, and even Europe — to brainstorm solutions you all can take back to the office.
Getting the (Communications) Job Done Right
At our 2010 Fall Conference in Los Angeles, Eric Brown, communications director for the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and chair of the Communications Network, agreed, along with many of our LA attendees, to share some thoughts on video about the importance of foundation communications. But in order to post his video, Brown asked us to run the “disclaimer” below. (Read it, pay attention, but then watch the video.)
One List You Want to Be On
Since this is the season for making lists–and making sure you are on the right ones–here’s one you definitely want your name on: the reservation list for the Fall 2011 Communications Network conference, which will to be held in Boston, September 21-23. If you haven’t done so already, please send an email today asking us to hold a place for you.
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