Chad Norman's Webby Things

Socially Tricking-out The Charleston Green Fair

Chad Norman — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 13:01:00 GMT

Last Sunday, I spent six straight hours manning the Go Green Charleston booth at the first annual Charleston Green Fair. I really had a blast chatting it up with everyone that stopped by, and loved spreading the knowledge with our "Is it Recyclable" tabletop game. It was an amazing event!

I also spread a little social web love around immediately prior to, during, and after the event in an effort to increase the engagement of the Go Green audience. Not only did our core audience get a richer experience, so did the city as a whole. Times are tough, and money is tight for all nonprofits, so using existing tools and devices has never been more important. Here are a few webby things I did to engage my audience during the Charleston Green Fair:

Used the @GreenCharleston Twitter feed and Go Green Charleston Facebook page to remind our supporters about the event. We received a few immediate responses about attendance, and a couple general questions...cool!
Sent a last minute message out via the @GreenCharleston Twitter feed and Go Green Charleston Facebook page offering a reusable shopping bag to the first 3 people who mention the offer at our booth. All three bags were given away - 1 from Twitter, 2 from Facebook.
Posted real-time event photos via TwitPic on the @GreenCharleston Twitter feed. Each image got a similar amount of views and comments, so it would seem our remote audience was consistent throughout the event.
Chatted with friends and supporters via my personal Twitter account, and was able to arrange a few on-site meet-ups. I also received some interesting comments and encouragement from everyone during the long, but fun, day. Thanks!

I guess the message here is that there are a lot of little things you can do with your existing communication channels that can increase the engagement of your audience, without decreasing the funds you in your bank account. As always: set goals, experiment, track, analyze, and repeat.

Beth Kanter and the Real-Time Social Web Make Fundraising History

Chad Norman — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 14:50:00 GMT

On Friday evening, I watched something amazing unfold online - all while trying to get my kids into the bath and get their rooms ready for bed. Saying things like, "Hang on guys, I'm trying to copy and paste some of these tweets!" had little effect, but I couldn't help it. This was exciting, powerful, historical - This was Beth Kanter at Gnomedex!

For me, it all started with a simple tweet from Robert Scoble providing a link to a Ustream.TV feed of Beth's presentation. Click, and I was watching Beth rocking the Gnomedex 8.0 crowd with her tales from the front lines of the nonprofit social web. She was discussing her fundraising efforts in 2006 and 2007 that were geared towards sending a Cambodian woman to college, and then it happened.

Her challenge was simple: Can this room of highly connected gnomedexers get 250 people to donate $10 by the end of the conference?

She tweeted this challenge to the masses, and a few attendees kicked things off by donating onstage. That's when the real-time social web flexed its muscles, and the tweets, retweets, and donations began flying around the Twitterverse.

At the conclusion of the 90-minute presentation, $2,657 had been collected from 112 online donors (not to mention the $902 in cash given onsite). The goal had been to reach $2,500 by the end of the conference, and the real-time social web had done that (and then some) in 90 minutes. Hello world, meet the future!

We already knew the social web could get things done, but Beth's successful experiment demonstrated that it can be used to get things done RIGHT NOW. A well connected online community can make things happen when called to action, and nonprofits are in a great position to harness this power for social change. Combined with an engaged online community, real-time technologies like Twitter, Ustream.tv, and smart phones can be used as an immediate system for change.

I'm glad Beth is our nonprofit tech ambassador, and that she continues to inspire anyone who will listen. I'm glad that Scoble, Chris Brogan, Danny Sullivan, Chris Pirillo and the rest of the tech elite helped bring so much mainstream attention to this cause. I'm glad nonprofits can use this as an example of how emerging technology is changing fundraising forever.

In the time it took me to bathe my boys and put them to bed, a young student named Leng Sopharath was given the life-changing gift of education. That 90 minutes of furious tweeting, texting, and giving will ensure her housing, tuition, and medical bills are paid as she continues her college journey.

Is this a one-time thing that can only happen when well-connected geeks decide to make a difference, or can this be repeated by other nonprofits? I'm not sure, but I can't wait to find out. In the mean time, I'll be sure to read Because a Little Bug Went Ka-choo to my boys a few more times, and remind them that the butterfly effect actually has wings.

Is Your iPod Hungry? Feed it The Baudcast!

Chad Norman — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 13:10:00 GMT

I don't know about you, but my iPod has an insatiable appetite for new podcasts. Not a 12,000-calorie Michael Phelps-sized appetite, but it certainly appreciates being fed useful podcasts rather than old Led Zeppelin records. OK, it likes the old Zeppelin records too...

There are bunch of nonprofit podcasts out there to feed your mind and save your commute. I subscribe to Nonprofit Jungle: Guide to Smart Communications, Nonprofit Management & Fundraising, and the CPNS-QUT-Nonprofit Podcast. Sometimes nonprofit podcasts come in other shapes and sizes, like Marc Pitman's Ask Without Fear! Radio Show. It's live the first time, but after that you can download and take each episode with you wherever you go.

Here at Blackbaud, we're filled to the brim with amazing employees and customers that have served the sector for years. We use our flagship podcast, The Baudcast, as a means of capturing this thought leadership and delivering it to the world. Every two weeks, The Baudcast brings together a panel of experts to discuss recent news, trends, and happenings in the nonprofit space. It's a fun show that I'm proud to produce, host, and edit. If you haven't checked it out yet, it's available for download at Blackbaud.com or the Itunes Music Store.

Here is a rundown of the last four episodes:

The Baudcast, Episode 13
A fundraising-focused show featuring direct mail, list trading, data modeling, personalized touches, planned giving, attracting millennial donors, social networking, 2008 Conference for Nonprofits, NetWits Live @Portland, The United Way, and more. Participants include Chad Norman, Melanie Milonas, Jamie Holaday, Marc Pitman, and Ken Meifert (National Baseball Hall of Fame).
The Baudcast, Episode 12
This episode's panel discusses Blackbaud NetCommunity 5.5, efficiency through integration, multi-channel messaging, BBNC API, BBNC Idea Bank, social networking, Blackbaud Delivers, NetWits Live @Portland, Socialthing, VoteTheBay.org, and more. Participants include Chad Norman, Steve MacLaughlin, Melanie Milonas, Garrett Keating (United States Naval Academy Alumni Association and Foundation), and Michael Sola (Chesapeake Bay Foundation).
The Baudcast, Episode 11
A lively discussion on the Target Index of National Fundraising Q1 2008 findings, CAN-SPAM rule changes, the NTEN We Are Media project, PCI compliance, eTapestry in Spanish, the Kintera acquisition, the iPhone 3G, and more. Participants include Chad Norman, Steve MacLaughlin, Melanie Milonas, Jamie Holaday, and Chris Harris..
The Baudcast, Episode 10
This episode's panel discusses the 2008 Giving USA data, generation Y working at nonprofits, the 2008 Blackbaud Higher Ed Forum, Firefox 3.0, BBNC Idea Bank, Blackbaud Interviews podcast, Reward Your Passion grants, Blackbaud customer fan video, and more. Participants include Chad Norman, Steve MacLaughlin, Melanie Milonas, and Jamie Holaday.

We're already setup for a ripping good time discussing social networking on episode 14 next week - I'm looking forward to it. I often send out tweets asking for questions while we are taping (follow me on Twitter), so be on the lookout. I also hope to begin broadcasting the show live on Stickam this fall.

So, keep your iPod happy and healthy by downloading some nonprofit podcasts today!

A Quick Note about Site Width and the iPhone

Chad Norman — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 15:32:00 GMT

Making the decision to go with a fixed width or fluid width for your website can be agonizing. The geek in you welcomes the challenge of designing a site that fills any browser, while the marketer in you wants the absolute control over the layout afforded by fixed width design. In the end, fixed width often wins out.

Now that millions of iPhones are circulating in the wild, you need to take a look at how your site is rendering in this pocket-sized format. Ideally you should be developing a special version of your site optimized for the iPhone, but in reality you will probably only have time to tweak a few things.

One thing to look at is how many pixels you've chosen for your fixed width site. I've noticed that fixed width sites designed to support a 1024 pixel width look better than those set to support an 800 pixel width. The content fills the screen and the text is more legible (see screenies below). This might be an easy CSS change for your site, which will make it instantly more readable on the iPhone. So, if you've needed one more reason to help convince a stakeholder that a move to a wider site is needed, this just might help.

4 Webby Things on My Mind

Chad Norman — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 12:44:00 GMT

Here are four webby things I wanted to share with you all this morning.

Episode #12 of The Baudcast is hot of the griddle, and ready for consumption at Blackbaud.com or the iTunes Music Store. This was a fun episode to tape, so a big thanks goes out to Garrett Keating and Micheal Sola for taking the time to chat with us. The conversation wandered through topics like Blackbaud NetCommunity 5.5, efficiency through integration, multi-channel messaging, BBNC API, BBNC Idea Bank, social networking, Blackbaud Delivers, NetWits Live @Portland, Socialthing, VoteTheBay.org, and more. The Baudcast, Episode #12

Alternative search engine Cuil.com has officially launched today. You gotta love anytime someone re-imagines the search space (like Mahalo.com), as it's hard to think we'll have a better option than Google. Will Cuil be that better option? It's hard to say, but with ex-Google employees at the helm and an index that is allegedly bigger than Google's (121+ billion pages), they're off to a good start. And while my blog is not at the #1 spot for my name as it is in Google, Cuil is pulling up all kinds of other stuff...specifically my social networking profiles. Also, my LinkedIn page is #1 (just in case you needed another reason why you shouldn't neglect your LinkedIn profile). Cuil.com

I've been really excited to get an invite to 12seconds.tv, the new video-based microblogging/updating service. Since the videos are not streamed live (like with Kyte, Qik, or Stickam), it feels like a short attention span version of Seesmic. But with 3G iPhones proliferating across the world, this is great way to embrace the swelling real-time social web. And hey, moving pictures are worth 10,000 words - for, you know, when those 140 characters at Twitter just aren't enough! www.12seconds.tv

I love Twitter, you love Twitter - we all love Twitter. Well, now there's identi.ca, an open microblogging service using an API that jives with Twitter. This is big, because now the massive Twitter developer pool can work its magic on identi.ca with very little additional work (this works fine for Twhirl). And since identi.ca is hooked in with OpenID, this could get interesting. www.identi.ca

That's all for now. Please enjoy these webby things, and have a webby week!

8 Webby Things That Are Now Sticking to Me

Chad Norman — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 13:25:00 GMT

Startup costs are at an all time low, ideas are everywhere, and there are millions of content-creating users out there ready to help out. It's never been a better time to be a webby guy who's into webby things. These are good times. These are the salad days.

New services, tools, and sites bubble out of the ether each week, and it's awe-inspiring to watch startups of all shapes and sizes roll down the front pages of blogs like ReadWriteWeb and TechCrunch. It's safe to say that a lot of us are finding daily use for tools like Twitter and Facebook, even though they were mere distractions a year ago. While these may be the big box sites, I've noticed the adoption rate of smaller services is picking up - at least for me.

I signup for more sites than I know I'll ever use long-term, so the exodus often occurs as the new car smell fades. I just like to see the feature sets, check out the design, and get inspired. That said, lately some of them have been sticking, and I find myself using them on a regular basis. Here are 8 webby things that are living large in my world...what are you using?

Summize
If you want to know if people are talking about your organization, company, product, boyfriend, or favorite band/show/book/game, then this is the tool for you. Summize performs real-time searches of Twitter, and should have more streams coming soon. I initially used TweetScan, but Summize has a better advanced search and is just prettier looking. www.summize.com

Flock
Relatively new to me, Flock is pulling me in and I'm using it almost daily. It's basically a pre-customized version of Firefox geared towards the social media power user. The built in sidebar manages major social sites (cool!), a media stream bar pulls in content, integrated blogging and search is handy, plus it has all the Firefox goodness. And that's nothing - 2.0 is in beta! www.flock.com

SocialThing!
This is basically a social aggregator, but I love its look and feel. Seeing all your friends in one place is really useful, and Socialthing is especially handy if you are following a lot of Flickr/YouTube/Digg/del.icio.us junkies. And while FriendFeed may have threaded discussion and rooms, my friends don't need to join Socialthing for me to follow them. This type of tool could be useful to organizations following large groups, especially if they add the ability to tag and filter. www.socialthing.com
Plurk
This site could be called a Twitter-clone, but the similarities stop there. They have implemented this amazing horizontal scrolling timeline for updates, and it simply looks gorgeous (though, I've heard that when you're following lots of people, it gets crowded). Similar to FriendFeed, threaded discussions are attached to each update - this is great, and is one of the reasons early adopters are finding the platform handy for distributed online meetings. www.plurk.com

FriendFeed
Currently the darling of the early adopter set, FriendFeed is growing by leaps and bounds because of its nimble feature set. It feels effortless to use, and makes it easy to "like" updates, join threaded discussions, and form ad-hoc groups. The "Rooms" feature is something that both Twitter, SocialThing, and Plurk (they are using "cliques") desperately need. Beth Kanter did an experiment for NPTech folks that gave us a reason to play with the features - and now we're all hooked. Twitter, you're on notice! www.friendfeed.com

Twhirl
This was one of the first Adobe AIR apps that actually stuck for me, and I use this desktop Twitter client every day. Very functional, great options, and easy to deal with - I've had no problem turning other people onto this tool. www.twhirl.org

Alert Thingy
Basically like Twhirl, but for FriendFeed. You can do most of your FF business within this sidebar desktop app. www.alertthingy.com

Snurl, TinyURL, is.gd, etc
OK, when you want to post a big, long, nasty URL into a microblogging service, you've got a problem. That's why so many short URL generator sites have popped up, and why I continue to use them. I used Snurl for a long time, but lately I've been using is.gd, as the average URLs are a few characters shorter. www.snurl.com, www.tinyurl.com, and www.is.gd.

So, what webby things are getting sticky for you?

Two New Episodes of The Baudcast

Chad Norman — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 15:37:00 GMT

One of the most interesting webby things I get to do here at Blackbaud is produce, host, and edit all of our podcasts. Podcasting is a great way for any organization to create inexpensive social media that is informational, portable, and shareable. We have three different brands of podcasts here at Blackbaud, but the one nearest and dearest to my heart is The Baudcast.

Started over a year ago, The Baudcast is a bi-weekly nonprofit technology podcast. The show originally had a magazine format, with segments and interviews edited together in post-production. Recently, we've switched to a more engaging panel format, which allows us to bring in experts from around the company and industry for informal chats. With two shows featuring this new format under our belt, we have committed to record every two weeks. This will give us a chance to be more relevant and timely with our content, as well as bring in fresh faces from around the industry.

Feel free to download the last two shows, and if you have any interest in participating on the panel, just let me know.

The Baudcast, Episode 9
This episode's panel discusses the Kintera acquisition announcement, the Internet Symposium, BBNC mashups, the Causes data report, mobile giving, the 3G iPhone, Socialthing!, NTEN Office Hours, and more. Chad Norman, Steve MacLaughlin, Melanie Milonas, Allison Van Diest, and Garrett Keating from The U.S. Naval Academy Alumni Association & Foundation. Download The Baudcast, Episode 9 (21 MB, 31 minutes)

The Baudcast, Episode 8
This episode's panel discusses Blackbaud NetCommunity 5.5, social networking noise, the European SONI, Marc Pitman interview, and more. Chad Norman, Steve MacLaughlin, Melanie Milonas, and Allison Van Diest. Download The Baudcast, Episode 8 (15 MB, 21 minutes)

Following the example set by podcasting guru Leo Laporte, I am using a mix of in-room microphones and Skype to record the panelists. I am still working out the kinks in the technology - for instance, in episode 9 there is a problem with Steve's microphone - but things are always getting better. I will get a "how-to" post up here soon so you can start podcasting at your organization!

Interact with NTEN Office Hours

Chad Norman — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 13:39:00 GMT

Yesterday I participated in the NTEN Office Hours program by hosting a session in the Communication Track...which we all know these days means webby things. I was a bit nervous going into the session, but I have to say it was a lot of fun - and a great example of using web technology to provide real-time results (on of my favorite things.)

Basically, NTEN reached out to its members seeking volunteers to host hour-long chat sessions once a week in their area of expertise. Using freely available tools like Google Calendar and meebo, the office hours program provides a conduit for sharing knowledge. Cheers to Anna, Holly, and the rest of the NTEN crew for setting up such a useful program!

Participating is easy. First, check out the calender to see which experts are signed up and when. Second, visit the chat room at the scheduled time for the expertise area of that volunteer: IT Staff, Communications, Fundraising, Program, or Leadership. And third, ask away!

I'll be hosting a session every Wednesday at 4 p.m. ET in the Communication room...stop by and chat!

Twitter Makes Relationships Work — Right Now

Chad Norman — Tue, 20 May 2008 17:32:00 GMT

I'm really not obsessed with Twitter...well, no more than you are at least. OK, maybe a little more. Either way, I just wrote this article for Fundraising Well and The NonProfit Times, and thought it should end up here on Webby Things. Enjoy!

Twitter Makes Relationships Work — Right Now

Social networking connects us like never before. We find each other, exchange information, and develop expanding networks as easily as we send email. This helps individuals, nonprofits, businesses, and governmental agencies form new kinds of relationships. That’s great, but now what? How do we put these relationships to work?

Sometimes participation in social networks can feel passive, because everyone is focused content. Friend requests, photo galleries, comments, application installations — it's exhausting! It’s like we’re spending all of our time creating and consuming each other’s content, instead of actually doing something.

What Is Twitter™?
Twitter™ is the social network that asks, "What are you doing?" and was designed “for staying in touch with and keeping up with friends no matter where you are or what you’re doing.” It’s sometimes called a micro-blogging service, because posts are limited to 140 characters or less. You can also look at it as social networking based on text messages, much like Digg™ is based on news or LinkedIn™ is based on resumes.

The relationship model is simple: You can follow people, and people can follow you. When you “tweet” something, your followers receive the message in their feed and on their phones. It sounds simple, but what separates Twitter™ from the social noise is its ease of use and mobile reach. The introduction of real-time, everywhere connectivity into a social network has produced meaningful results — results well past the original vision of keeping up with your friends while on the go.

Let’s assume someone on your staff has used Twitter™ to build a large following of interested people (how to do that is another article altogether!); what happens next? How can you make these Twitter™ relationships work?

Your Followers Are Actually Listening
Reaching out to constituents is a necessary part of fundraising, and many traditional methods require a serious investment. Direct mail, phone calls, email, blogging, and public relations can all take a long time to actually reach your audience. With an established following on Twitter™, you can reach out to them in just seconds. But you’ve got to have something to say…

You could use Twitter™ to broadcast outgoing marketing by posting links to event registrations, online donation forms, or volunteer opportunities. This is a more traditional way to make the relationship work, and many organizations are doing it. But you may want to try a more subtle approach by posting about those same things, but with a more personal vibe. Tweet that you are touring the venue for this year’s gala, stuffing bags for volunteer day, or heading to a board meeting. It may sound crazy, but your followers will care about this stuff. In fact, knowing these things will make them feel closer to you. This could come into play during your next campaign, as it’s always harder to say “no” to a friend.

Followers on Twitter™ can also help you spread your story, which can bring a welcome set of new eyeballs to your mission. Danielle Brigida is a social media expert who detailed her development of a successful social media strategy for the National Wildlife Federation (NWF). By leveraging relationships in various social networks, including Twitter™, Danielle’s followers regularly help NWF content land on the front page of the social news website digg.com. When this happens, a post on the NWF Wildlife Promise blog might see traffic increase from around 150 pages views to around 29,000 page views. For organizations like NWF, where online visitors often turn into online donors, investing in a social media channel like Twitter™ can clearly pay off.

You Should Listen Too
If Twitter's™ emergence as a broadcast tool is the predictable success story of the platform, then its power as a receiver is the big surprise. When you reciprocate relationships by following your own followers, you let your most avid supporters know they have a chance to reach out to you — and that you’ll listen.

A frequently used tactic on Twitter™ is to ping your followers for some information. You could reach out for ideas for your gala theme, find a volunteer in a nearby neighborhood, or get one last anecdote before a board meeting. Instant feedback by like is difficult to get with traditional tools, but Twitter™ can make it happen as you’re rolling on the tarmac or waiting in line at a store. A community that’s always connected is always there when you need it.

But what about just getting to know your constituents better? After a big alumni event, spending an hour following links to Flickr™ photos and YouTube™ videos might give you a clearer picture of how things really went from an attendee perspective. If you have a large scale media or viral campaign, you can use a tool like TweetScan to monitor the chatter. Because the Twitter™ platform is mobile and provides constant access, it’s becoming the place to go for instant reaction. If you can develop a large enough following, this can work for you.

In the end, Twitter™ is a place where relationships can get things done quickly. As with any foray into social networking, a well thought out strategy and clear goals are important first steps. But once you decide to integrate real-time social networking into your communication plan, your Twitter™ relationships will be ready for duty.

Want to see what it’s all about? Sign-up and follow me!

Google Friend Connect - The Last Social Migration?

Chad Norman — Tue, 13 May 2008 03:52:00 GMT

My brain has been buzzing ever since I read the big Google Friend Connect press release yesterday. Social networks form natural silos or walled gardens, and even FriendFeed may not be able to break them down (despite an AMAZING feature set - I've loving you FriendFeed). This is a big challenge, and Google's Friend Connect has arrived to take it on.

Friend Connect uses the open API access of existing social networks (Facebook, Orkut, Plaxo, hi5) and social standrards (OpenID, OpenSocial,oAuth) to bring social networking to any website. By adding some relatively simple code, your visitors can soon be bonding over their love for what you do - and who doesn't want that? Sure this thing looks a little unfinished (Where is the support for EVERY social network - come on, you're Google - get it done! And the widget better be highly customizable, because the demo didn't exactly look fetching.), but the idea is simple: connect the dots.

I've been really fascinated with all the lifestreaming/social aggregator sites like FriendFeed, Socialthing!, and Profilactic. The ability to have a real-time view of people's lives is powerful. But putting all the rich audience knowledge aside, even FriendFeed is not immune to social network whiplash (the sudden migration of users form one social network to the next). Friend Connect could make network migrations irrelevant, while also giving smaller sites an inexpensive way to leverage broaders social networks. With a strategy like this, we may not have to wait for friends to join us on the next "It Social Network"... they'll already be there.

I can't wait to see where this goes...how about you?

Geek Note:
As I'm writing this, I'm sitting through the presentation at Google Campfire One live from Robert Scoble's Quk account. Not only am I hearing all of this two hours before it will be publicly available, but it's a beautiful example the Twitter > Qik broadcast schema. Just a few clicks and I'm watching live coverage of an invite-only event from the perspective of an industry insider. Several jets flew over the outside gathering, leading to inevitable jokes about Microsoft spy planes...you can't make this stuff up. I mean, this would never have happened one year ago. Is this an exciting time for technology or what?!?

The Twitterverse is Alive at the Conference for Nonprofits

Chad Norman — Thu, 01 May 2008 14:47:00 GMT

Blackbaud's Conference for Nonprofits in Montreal is off to a brilliant start this morning, and Twitter updates are allowing attendees to share the experience with their followers. The era of microblogging (Twitter), lifestreaming (Socialthing! and FriendFeed), and mobile broadcasting (Qik) is changing the way we we communicate with each other, and events are certainly prime venues to play with this technology.

I've already seen a few tweets from people I'm following, and I'm dropping some myself. Twitter user micahwittman sent in this update from Marc Van Baar's session on Mail Merging: "Spoiler: Raisers Edge 8 to have Total Giving and other aggregate fields for mail merge!" Shortly after, I picked up a tweet from marcapitman, who said: " tweeting from the Blackbaud conference in Montreal. About to learn about building an online village! (This is my first "in session" tweet!)"

What can I say, I'm loving this! This influx of real-time tools is encouraging lifestreaming and self-broadcasting, and their impact is only just beginning to become evident. One thing is for sure - things will never been them same...for you, me, nonprofits, corporations, and even government agencies.

OK, back to the Twittterverse...

Anyone Need Twitter Slides?

Chad Norman — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 17:49:00 GMT

Last week, I sat on an emerging technologies panel at the South Carolina PRSA conference. This was a great opportunity to introduce a tool like twitter to a room full of professional communicators. It doesn't matter if you work for a 500-donor nonprofit or a publicly traded behemoth like Google, tools that facilitate disintermediation are becoming more and more relevant to marketing, and Twitter is no exception.

So since I know some of you are out there tech evangelizing everyday, I thought a few of my Twitter-related slides might prove useful to you. I've uploaded a PowerPoint file with 10 graphical slides that you can use to your heart's content. It's not much, but hey - if it saves you a few minutes while working on a presentation, that's just more time for you to tweet. Enjoy!

Real-Time Web Analytics with Woopra

Chad Norman — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 13:29:00 GMT

Have you checked out Woopra yet? Woopra is a web analytics tool that not only delivers revolutionary real-time data, but does so with stunning beauty. The day trader vibe of the user interface makes me think all webmasters using this tool will soon be channeling their inner Jim Cramer, with a touch of Jason Calacanis thrown in.

Check out this video for a great tour.

Most of the base features you would find in any analytics tool are there, but then Woopra takes it to a whole new level by adding rich visitor interactivity. Here are some things that stood out to me:

Live web tracking - Yeah, the real time stuff looks incredible.
Visitor and member tagging - By tapping into membership data in tools like Wordpress and vBulletin, known visitors can be tagged and monitored as they navigate your site.
Visitor chatting - The ability to open a chat session with a visitor you are monitoring, or vice versa (WHAT?!?!) I'll have to see this to believe it, but it sound pretty amazing.
Real-time notifications - Woopra can send you alerts when specific actions take place (user X views product page, user Y is starting a new discussion, etc.)

So, if you can get over the stalker-esque nature of this app, sign up for the beta to get your hands on it. If you want to learn more, check out Cali Lewis' coverage of the tool at GeekBrief.tv.

Why Twitter is Actually Useful

Chad Norman — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 17:51:00 GMT

As with most webby-types, I'm becoming hopelessly addicted to Twitter. That said, I have a lot of trouble explaining to skeptics how tiny updates about what people are doing can actually be useful. They don't see that while Twitter appears to be about nothing, it is really about everything (I'm starting to understand how Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David must have felt pitching their show "about nothing" to NBC.)

CommonCraft said it best: real life is what happens between blog posts and emails, and now there's a way to share. Watch the video and see for yourself...their explanation is right on the money. To me, following the right person on Twitter is like shadowing a mentor - the content comes from in the field, is timely, and can be extremely useful. Following someone on Facebook feels like I'm reading their yearbook or dorm room door - the content is planned, often stale, and typically unhelpful (groups, causes, and apps aside...but stay with me). If you don't believe me, check out these updates from my Twitter and Facebook feeds:

Twitter feed:

CaliLewis: Shooting live on www.GBTVlive.com now. Will give away eight Woopra invites randomly. Must log into geekbrief.tv & have left a comment.
ntenhross: very concise, easy outline to ensure email delivery for orgs newer to all this: http://snurl.com/23h6r-snit
WilHarris: WT? New Kids on the Block are back??
bwjacobs: Thundercats are GO for Cocoa Infinity build!
JasonCalacanis: Google Analytics now supports hourly/weekly/monthly reports! Thank you Google Gods!!! I love you!!! kiss kiss: http://tinyurl.com/392ct8

Facebook feed:

Rachel Hutchisson and Colleen Troy are now friends.
Rich Conte added the Dogbook application.
Erin Watson is attending SCPRSA Spring Conference.
Meg Trott, Suzann Wolfe, Violet Meyer and Seth Greathouse changed their profile pictures.
Get Blockbuster By Mail for only $3.99 a month.

It's not even a contest. Facebook is telling me about updated profile photos, installed applications, and products I may want to buy - this is not real life. Twitter is telling me about updates to Google Analytics, how to get Woopra invites, Blackbaud product information, and new tech tools for nonprofits - this is real life. This is useful. Don't get me wrong - there are plenty of "I just ate a hamburger" posts on Twitter, but the useful content tends to stand out.

I think Veronica Belmont described it well: Twitter is great for keeping tabs on internet friends (professionals, peers, partners, etc), while Facebook is great at keeping track of brick and mortar friends (family, classmates, neighbors, etc). That's a great way to look at it, and makes sense. Web-savvy types want to connect directly with followers via mobile phones, IM, and laptops in order to push the industry forward. My cousin just wants to find his old girlfriend from high school or post photos of his frat party - that's a different need, and it requires a different tool.

In the end, it's the concept of Twitter that is useful and historic. This is the first truly mobile platform providing busy professionals, celebrities, and other notables with an easy and safe way to directly communicate with their followers (and it works for the rest of us as well). When you've got a full calender, it's hard to blog or make phone calls...especially to your fans. But at 140 characters or less, there is always time to tweet...and thanks to Twitter, someone just might be listening.

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Sessions to Catch at the 2008 NTC

Chad Norman — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 20:38:00 GMT

The 2008 Nonprofit Technology Conference kicks off in less than 3 weeks, and I'm stoked to finally be going. Not because it's in The Big Easy, but because I can't wait to rub elbows with some of the brightest stars of NP tech. The thought of meeting the tireless Beth Kanter in person is enough to send my geek-meter to DEFCON 1.

So, anticipation of an amazing event, here are 10 NTC sessions I don't want to miss:

I'm really excited for the copyright, mapping, and mobile devices sessions. As content and the technologies that contain it become untethered by traditional means, these three issues will become even more necessary.

What sessions are you hoping to attend?