Inspire: Create, Collect, Share! My Time at the '09 NTC

I literally just rolled off the red-eye back from the 2009 Non Profit Technology Conference (NTC '09), and although I'm exhausted - both physically and mentally - I'm hopeful and excited about everything I heard and saw.

This year I was fortunate enough to play a very active role at the conference. On Sunday I hosted a Flickr Bootcamp, where I worked with non profit, "accidental techies," and helped them learn about better online photo sharing techniques. The group was energetic and excited (and didn't even complain when I sent them on a photo scavenger hunt around the conference center), and you can access the materials and see some of their work on the We Are Media Wiki. When organizations share imagery from the work that they do, it not only conveys a better understanding of the organization's work and impact, but it leverages a visual element that can be memorable and long-lasting.

Another way of creating an unforgettable impression with your audience is by stunning them with words. Stories stick in our minds, get us energized and poised to take action, and provide a memorable framework that help us transfer messages to others. The best part: stories are so easy to come by, but so infrequently leveraged. If you're a non profit, I'm guessing you can quickly point out 2-3 great stories about your work that illustrate the essence and importance of your organization's mission. I'm also guessing that you probably haven't put those stories to work for your larger donor audience. Recognizing the inherent strengths of incorporating storytelling strategy into online communications, Roger Burks, Perla Ni and I lead a session on "Better Online Storytelling."

My section focused on a case study of storytelling in the field, when I was a Congressional Hunger Fellow in Cambodia and Kenya from 2005-2007. Working for a non profit, I had very few resources, and I didn't speak the local languages well enough to gather the stories alone. But, somehow we managed to work as an international team to collect powerful success stories from our micro-finance work, while simultaneously empowering local staff to capture and document stories as well. Although there is tremendous value in posting your organization's stories online, sometimes just capturing and cataloging them is a huge first and necessary step.

During the session, I emphasized the importance of capturing stories, helping other staff learn to do the same, and even incorporating participatory storytelling into the work you do with your beneficiaries. The more they realize their world is changing, the more they will be energized and hopeful about what is truly possible. In the end it wasn't a shiny, interactive web feature that did the work for us, but a few simple stories with accompanying photos, typed up in Microsoft Word, which enticed Laura Bush to visit our programs overseas. Get your stories out there, you never know what will happen if you do! Here are my slides from the presentation:

And with that in mind, the biggest lesson I took away from the entire conference was that organizations shouldn't be afraid to fail. It requires taking risks, learning along the way, successes AND failure, adaptation, and innovation to BE successful in finding unique and memorable ways to connect with your audience. As the great non profit techy Yoda would say, "Do or do not. There is no try."