Why did I say yes? Three reasons:

1. I was invited by Tish Grier. Tish and Lisa Williams of PlaceBlogging are working to support and connect local bloggers and bring more attention to the good work folks are doing around the country.
2. I saw the names of some fantastic women bloggers on the speakers list, like Pam Spaulding, Cheryl Contee, Elisa Camahort, and Erin Kotecki Vest. Plus my old friend, Doc Searls (old in time, not in age ;-)). Their presence legitimizes the conference for me, plus I hope I’ll run into them there.
3. The conference is paying for all of my travel costs, and it’s on a weekend so I don’t have to miss work to go.

There are a few related events going on at the expo including GodBlogCon, MilBlogging, and a citizen journalism training. That should be… interesting. I’ll find out next month whether I made the right choice about attending the Blog World Expo.

Is there anything I should make sure to do (or not do) in my 48 hours in Las Vegas?

Tags: LasVegas, BlogWorldExpo, blogging, bloggers

Update 5/22/08: Now you can watch the presentation, which makes very little sense without me talking.

| View | Upload your own

Five aspects of effective networks

1. Strong social ties
   • Personal relationships
   • Trust
   • Awareness
2. Dense communication grid
   • Online & offline
   • One-to-one, one-to-many, and many-to-many
   • For example
   • Blogs, forums
   • E-mail, IM, SMS
   • Face-to-face
3. Common story
   • Shared values
   • Collective narrative
4. Culture of sharing
   • For example
   • Data, information
   • Skills & expertise
   • Money
   • Space
5. Network awareness
   • Feeling like a member
   • Knowing what the network is for

Here are some more resources to learn more about network-centric organizing strategies:

• Earlier presentations on this topic: lotusmedia.org/advocacy-20-the-slideshow (slides) & lotusmedia.org/ruby-goes-to-class (video) &
  lotusmedia.org/civic-engagement-and-technology (with helpful links)
• Blogging tips: lotusmedia.org/so-you-wanna-start-an-advocacy-blog
• Network-centric approach to politics: lotusmedia.org/the-political-cluetrain
• Background reading: lotusmedia.org/network-centric-reading-list
• Marty Kearns’ widsom: advocacy20.org & netcentriccampaigns.org

… and more in my “Advocacy 2.0″ category on this blog: lotusmedia.org/in/nptech/advocacy/

I was so grateful for a chance to see the community personally. As you may know, there are still spray-painted symbols on many homes left by the rescue efforts. The biggest shock was that much of the Lower 9th Ward, which used to be hundreds of homes, is now a grassy field with just a few cement blocks and slabs marking former foundations.

You can browse my pictures at Flickr or watch the slideshow below.

Kudos to Holly Ross and the NTEN posse for the best NTC yet! (Of course, I still have a few suggestions… )

Here is a video of my talk (warning, it’s 75 minutes long), and below are the two parts of my presentation:

Click To Play

Please come visit!

Tags: mlk, forusa

I thought Janet Babin’s story was quite good, and she effectively got the point across that nonprofits need to do more to put their supporters in the driver’s set. She even pronounced my name right! I have just two small clarifications:

1. I am not a consultant, but in fact a full-time employee with benefits, etc. at the Fellowship of Reconciliation, and
2. In the second clip, I was not saying that “we” FOR don’t get this, but that “we” nonprofits in general don’t get the need to open up and trust our supporters.

Overall an excellent story, and I hope I get the chance to work with Janet again! Read on for a transcript, or click here for an MP3 of the segment.

According to the ePhilanthropy Foundation, total online giving in the U.S. last year hit about $6.8 billion. That’s an increase of more than 50 percent from 2005, but having a website and accepting online donations — that’s just the beginning. Consultant Ruby Sinreich works for the peace group, Fellowship of Reconciliation. She says to be effective online, charities need to be where their supporters hang out, whether that’s the online world Second Life, or social networking sites.

RUBY SINREICH: Increasingly, people are going on the Internet to talk about the issues that they care about, and the organizations that they care about, and they’re going to be doing that whether your organization is there with them or not.

Facebook has an application that lets members recruit and donate for causes, then tell their friends about it. JustGive.org is like a dating service that connects people with charities. At Change.org supporters have connected to more than 1,000 non-profits, but while network-centric philanthropy may be the future, it’s not quite the present. Just 3 percent of all U.S. donations are made online. Change.org founder Ben Rattray says non-profits have yet to embrace the Internet to make personal connections with supporters.

BEN RATTRAY: Websites replaced brochures, and e-mail replaced direct mail, but the means of communication has remained largely impersonal and one-way.

Being everywhere online has a price of its own — message control. Once you put the word out on Facebook it can take on a life of its own. Again, Ruby Sinreich, the consultant who’s working with the Fellowship of Reconciliation.

SINREICH: We have been very oriented toward closing off our networks, grabbing supporters and then keeping them, holding a tight reign on them. We do have to give up a little bit of control, and that’s hard for us.

But ultimately Sinreich says nonprofits have to trust the people who support them. A canned one-way message she says, is ineffective, compared to all those friends talking you up on Facebook.
- Marketplace: Giving goes online, too, 12/13/07

There is a whole day of events, but if you don’t want to be there all day, please come and check out the keynote and opening rally at 11:45am EST. It will be at the Commonwealth Assembly Area which can hold over 300 avatars (a lot for SL!).

Full info about the day of events is below. Sorry to post the entire press release, but this info doesn’t seem to be online anywhere else.

*******************
*** PRESS RELEASE ***
*******************
PRESS CONFERENCE: 10AM SLT FRIDAY 30 NOV 2007􀀍

LOUIS LANDON’s PEACE REVOLUTION! headlines
MAJOR PROTEST ACTION IN SECOND LIFE called
LAG for PEACE: DON’T IRAQ IRAN

Live Music Artist Biographies are Included In-line Below… Louis Landon, Hathead Rickenbacker, and Leslee McCarey

WHEN: DAY OF ACTION: 8AM to 6PM SLT SATURDAY 1 DEC 2007
WHERE: Commonwealth Island (All Music, Poetry, Speakers)􀀅
PROTESTS AT: Capitol Hill, CNN, Reuters, and other locale (see schedule inline below)

Press Contact: any1 Gynoid (Second Life) or email to: any1gynoid@googlemail.com

************************
*** SCHEDULE OF EVENTS ***
************************

Unless otherwise noted, all events at slurl.com/secondlife/Commonwealth%203/12/53/22
􀀃

8:00 am LIVE MUSIC for PEACE: Leslee McCarey, Singer Songwriter
􀀊

8:45 am: KEYNOTE ADDRESS: Sequoia Pinion, Founder, Spiritual Peacemakers
􀀋

9am KICKOFF RALLY and Introduction to the Protest Action
Featuring: SuperActivist DALINIAN BING
Supported by the Lag4Peace Team Leads
and Lag4Peace Organzing Committee (see lists below)
􀀌

10am PROTEST RALLY - CAPITOL HILL of SL
slurl.com/secondlife/Capitol%20Hill%201/91/21/31
􀀆

DJ JONI VILLOTA rocks the Lag4Peace Main Stage!

11 am POETRY for PEACE - SERENE BECHIR, Poet/Emcee
LIVE Poetry read by Serene Bechir, Prajna Vella, Larkworthy Antfarm,
and Sartor Indigo
And FEATURING contributed poetry by Bayou writer,
Ladykendred Allen, Lumi Michinaga, and other great SL poets
􀀉

12 noon PROTEST RALLY - CNN IREPORTS HUB
slurl.com/secondlife/Future/214/218/27
􀀇

Live DJ DENOTSOOT BINDER…. ROCKS the Lag4Peace Main Stage!

1pm LIVE PEACE MUSIC - HatHead Rickenbacker, Award Winning Peace Musician
Lag4Peace Main Stage

2pm PROTEST RALLY - REUTERS NEWS HQ
slurl.com/secondlife/Reuters/145/115/24
􀀂

Live Deejay/Club Owner “The Gathering” ATOMIK HAMMERER rocks the Main Stage!

3pm DANCE 4 PEACE PARTY - Live DJ/Club Owner “ROBS Song Spot” DJ SONGDOG WOOLLEY
Featuring Dance Host: Grog Fossil
􀀀

4pm PROTEST RALLY - Linden Estate Services
slurl.com/secondlife/Linden%20Estate%20Services/156/125/39
􀀈

Live DJ BUFFY RANG rocks the Lag4Peace Main Stage!

5pm GALA PEACE CELEBRATION - LOUIS LANDON’s PEACE REVOLUTION ! (live concert)
􀀁

***********************
*** ARTIST BIOGRAPHIES ***
***********************

*** LOUIS LANDON’ PEACE REVOLUTION! ***
*** LIVE MUSIC 5PM SATURDAY ***

LOUIS LANDON’s brand new CD “Peace Revolution!” was released at the in-world launch celebration on 24.11.07. An exclusive performance of Peace Revolution! music and other favorites from Louis’ repertoire plays LIVE at Lag 4 Peace’s Don’t Iraq Iran! Main Stage on 1st December from at 5pm.

LOUIS LANDON is 3 avi’s in SL (see Louis Volare’s profile). Here
is a recent photograph.􀀄

LOUIS LANDON has played classical music for Mikhail Baryshnikov and Latin music with “Pucho and his Latin Soul Brothers” on national and international tours, pop music with Rupert “Pina Colada Song” Holmes on television and national tours, rock with John Hall, opening for “Little Feat” on national tours and has written and produced music for film, video, and commercials, including three years of “best plays” and “bloopers” commercials for the National Basketball Association. He has been performing his own music in the New York tri-state area for the past 12 years.

LOUIS LANDON’s previous CD, released in December of 2005, is solo piano new age CD entitled “unwind,” and is currently charted at #3 of the top 100 CDs for the month of February, 2006 on NewAgeReporter.com’s website, playing on over 174 stations internationally! It is also featured on internet and satellite radio stations including “Whisperings” at www.solopianoradio.com, reaching over 950,000 people monthly. Check out “Peaceful” and “Feel” in the audio section. More samples from “unwind” available at cdbaby.com/cd/louis4 and myspace.com/louislandon2

*** HATHEAD RICKENBACKER - LIVE MUSIC 11AM SATURDAY ***

HATHEAD RICKENBACKER is an award-winning musician who performs jazz, blues, funk, soul and electronica - often all at the same time. HatHead’s performances on piano at overly expensive restaurants earned him Best Music from Toronto Magazine several years in a row. HatHead believes that music is a power to be used for peace. Hathead Rickenbacker plays LIVE at Lag 4 Peace’s Don’t Iraq Iran! Main Stage on 1st December from at 11am.

*** LESLIE MCCAREY - LIVE MUSIC 8AM SATURDAY ***

“A fusion of folk, classical and light jazz allows her [Leslee McCarey] sound to be always versatile and rich in character. Keep your eyes opened and your ears tuned to this performer. . . good things are sure to be happening!” - Dirty Linen Magazine

[Leslee McCarey] “Grips the listener’s ears, heart and funny bone.” - Highline Times, Seattle

“Music that’s non-stop!” - Ichabod Caine, KMPS Radio, Seattle

“A durable, lived-in voice. . .conjures up great folkies of the past” - Option Magazine

“Gentle folk music - and then some. . . good stuff!” - Factsheet Five

Second Life singer-songwriter LESLEE MCCAREY (known in real-life music circles as Leslie McKay) is a Pacific Northwest native who blends folk, contemporary and classical influences into a powerful personal statement. Her diverse original material covers the full emotional spec¬trum, from sensitive love song to rollicking slice-of-life humor, from good-time toe-tappers to thoughtful mood-pieces. Leslie’s clean acoustic guitar and sophisticated piano provide a backdrop for her dynamic contralto vocals.

LESLEE MCCAREY has performed at festivals, conferences, coffee houses, noisy bars and kitchens from Seattle to Santa Fe, including appearances in Spokane, Portland and San Francisco. Appearances in the Northwest have included the Northwest Folklife Festival, Oregon Folklife Festival, Ballard Seafood Fest and the Seattle Wooden Boat Show.

LESLEE MCCAREY’s (Leslee McKay in RL) debut album, “Only A Rose,” includes 11 original songs, and was originally released on cassette. It is currently in the process of being re-released in MP3 and CD formats. The Ballad of the Cathlamet, a single, was released in 1987 –this tongue-in-cheek musical saga of the misadventures of the locally infamous Whidbey Island ferry has become a perennial favorite with both radio and live audiences. Leslie is one of the Northwest artists featured on the Victory Music 20th Anniversary Album, has written and recorded video soundtracks, and has been active in studio work and producing for other local artists. She is currently composing a major choral-orchestral work, and periodically contemplates her second album.

*** ABOUT LAG 4 PEACE ***

Lag 4 Peace is a grass roots, SL-based and promoted coalition inviting the media to attend our protest, as we stand in consensus about the insanity of contemplating, much less making happen, such horrible human and environmental tragedies as war. We welcome participation from all groups and individuals in Second Life who pray for a world free of war and tyranny. The Lag 4 Peace organizers’ team leads include: Dalinian Bing (Protest & Signs), Smoke Wijaya (Logistics), Any1 Gynoid (Talent, Media), Stone Gynoid (Media, Greeters), Eye Inifinity (Protest Animations), Plot Tracer (Peace Camp), Hayduke Ebisu (Commonwealth Facilities), Solidad Sugarbeet (Communications) as well as JFK Peccable, Rin Tae, and Green Hawks covering Security and Technology.

Some key reasons for this major protest… According to BBC (news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5346524.stm), a highly fictionalized intelligence report was published by US Congress, containing a plethora of war-inspired lies about the current state of Iran’s Nuclear Program and activities in Iraq. The United Nation’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) vigorously denounced the report as a pack of lies, and produced a point by point refutation. On November 15, 2007, the IAEA reported that Iran was entirely cooperative with the UN inspections process, and all nuclear materials were accounted for. A recent article in the New Yorker revealed the US Administrations’ intentions, in particular: “There is a desperate effort by Cheney et al. to bring military action to Iran as soon as possible.” In response to this alarming news, Left/Progressive residents of Second Life are organizing a major protest action in SL, for 1st December 2007 with coordination with other progressive groups and individuals in SL.

*** LAG4PEACE ORGANIZING COMMITTEE (100 RL/SL People) ***
Dalinian Bing
GenJCChritian Homewood
Smoke Wijaya
Rin Tae
Solidad Sugarbeet
Stone Gynoid
errcheck Hicks
JFK Peccable
AnnaQuay Heart
Eye Infinity
higgleDpiggle Snoats
Sequoia Pinion
DjOsiris Darkstone
KimLenswomanPhotographer Writer
Any1 Gynoid
01 Hifeng
Alexius Gasparini
AllanAlves Raymaker
Alys Abruzzo
Amandeep Timeless
Ana Herzog
Anarcho Lunasea
Andromeda Xi
Angela Ge
AnnaQuay Heart
Bernard Herzog
Blue Revolution
Blueshells Sands
Books Janus
Br00ke Delight
Brainstorm Shepherd
Carl Dreschler
Carlos Benigni
Cessi Charron
Chosen Raymaker
CrystalShard Foo
DASCOM200 Oh
Daya Voss
Deana Alvord
Ergot Connoisseur
Gavin MacKay
GenJCChritian Homewood
Greywolff Flatley
Hayduke Ebisu
higgleDpiggle Snoats
Irene Muni
jacmacaire Humby
Janna Mannonen
Jemiah Sporleder
Jenny Beale
Joni Villota
Kelvin Glimmer
Klaatu Congrejo
Knildrig Aabye
Korobas Korobase
Lapsus Weinstein
Lelani Carver
Mara Razor
Melzi Amat
Mercurius Jacobus
Morgaine McBride
Movies1963 Beck
Ms Qunhua
Musimba Yellowknife
Paix Chambers
Peaches Palou
Pokey Edelman
Rainah Voom
Ransom Silverspar
Reghen Greggan
Reverend LeShelle
saezalvaro Romano
Saladin Salyut
Sequoia Pinion
Sheeznit Naheed
Skink Jaxxon
SongbirdClone Writer
Tamara Mokeev
Thorne Fitzpatrick
Trouble Welles
union6 Gapchenko
Vera Dawes
Vivienne Cassavetes
Widget Whiteberry
Xodia Blackburn
Yannn Burt
Yinyan Mommsen
Yosemite Aero
Yuu Nakamichi
DjOsiris Darkstone
Tonks Akina
Imper Fegte
Nabstery Neddings
Ruby Glitter
Yosi Tomorrow
Rascal Ratelle
Pinetree Cioc
Alan Innis
Lea56 Hyun (Reporting for CNN I-Reports)
Lanai Jarrico and AdventureGuide Sandell (SL Enquirer)

Thanks to The People’s Channel for inviting me and Brian to come and help lead a discussion about blogging for their Community Media Workshop Series. For folks who were there, here are some links related to our dicussion:

• Ruby’s list of what makes a blog (and some more background we didn’t discuss)

  1. first-person voice
     blogs increasingly have more credibility than the MSM because they are more authentic and believeable.
  2. community dialogue
     either through comments on the blog, or discussion between blogs
  3. archive & permalinks
     archives by date and sometimes by category or by author as well. permalinks allow others to refer directly to a specific post, encourages inter-blog dialog.
  4. database back-end
     this may be the least important, but is essential to emerging tools like aggregators that use syndicated content

• Online communication tips including 10 social media tools to check out

• So you wanna start an advocacy blog

Each of the post listed above links to tons more resources here and on other sites. Please explore…