Chad Norman's Webby Things : Communications

9 Simple Things Everyone Should Know about Twitter Hashtags

Chad Norman — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 18:30:00 GMT

A couple weeks ago, we had a rip-roaring conversation about Twitter on The Baudcast. We gave Twitter center stage for the entire episode, and picked a couple of topics we know people often have questions about. Wendy Harman (American Red Cross), Danielle Brigida (National Wildlife Federation), Anna Richter (NTEN), Frank Barry (Blackbaud), and Steve MacLaughlin dropped some great insights, including how to setup your account, the best tools to use, and hashtags.

Here are 9 simple things we discussed that everyone should know about hashtags:

They're great for grouping and tracking conversations (#nptech)
Hashtags make keeping up with events easy (#10ntc)
Useful when searching for real-time information (#iranelection)
Great for finding new people to follow (#nonprofit)
Don't overuse them in your Tweets - save room for content!
Funny ones can add some humor to a tweet (#justsayin)
You can integrate them into a program (#nwf)
Keep them short of you want people to use them (#ff)
You can search for them at hashtags.org

Now, if you're not that into hashtags, the show had plenty other stuff to chew on. I really liked the discussion around whether to use a branded Twitter account or just let your staff be your evangelists. There was also a lengthy discussion on Twitter tools.

Be sure to get all the juicy details on The Baudcast: (iTunes or direct)

6 Dogooding Webby Things Your Nonprofit Should Check Out

Chad Norman — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 14:19:00 GMT

The Internet, nonprofits, and cause-based action have been natural partners since day one, not unlike peanut butter and jelly...and, um, more jelly. So it's no surprise that the successes nonprofits have seen with social media are constantly being cited, something I observed at SXSW. This happens because social technology works, and new methods of interacting with supporters are emerging every week. Here are six great webby things that every dogooder should check out:

Act.ly
A tactful use of a petition can work wonders for a cause, and Act.ly is an easy way to integrate this activity into your Twitter strategy. Act.ly allows petitions to be created that target Twitter users (politicians, businesses, organizations, etc.). The platform provides a way for your supporters to sign the petition, send a tweet about the effort, see others that have joined the cause, and embed a badge on their own sites. Check out how the League of Conservation Voters is using the platform to urge Oprah to discuss President Obama's clean energy plan, and then integrating the petition into their home page. www.act.ly

Facebook Fan Box
Having a Facebook Fan page is a great way to engage supporters, and many organizations are integrating these pages into their overall communications strategy. The Facebook Fan Box is an embeddable widget you can place on your website, blog, and other web properties to integrate the Facebook experience. Visitors can use the Fan Box to become a fan, view status updates, see who is supporting your cause, and read what they are saying. The Lance Armstrong Foundation uses the widget to connect connect fans with Lance himself, and drive visitors to this valuable social channel. www.facebook.com

IdealistNews
Using social news sites like Digg, Yahoo Buzz, Mixx, and Reddit can bring new visitors to your cause, but only if your stories don't get lost in the vast pool of content. Idealist.org has partnered with Reddit to create IdealistNews, a nonprofit-focused social news platform. Once your organization's news stories and blog posts have been submitted, users have the opportunity to vote them up. The more votes, the more likely people are to hear your message. www.idealist.org

Actions for Facebook
For advocacy-based organizations, providing easy ways to communicate with politicians is critical to success. Grassroots Enterprises has released Actions for Facebook, and powerful online advocacy application for Facebook. The tool makes it easy to turn your fans into activists by helping them send letters to state and federal officials, find appropriate local activities, and invite friends to participate. Features like widgets, unique URLs, and data collection make it easy to integrate into your communication strategy. www.grassroots.com

eBay Giving Works
While this isn't exactly new, I like that eBay helps users create positive change with every purchase. eBay Giving Works allows buyers to find sellers that support good causes, give direct donations via PayPal, and enables sellers to donate proceeds to nonprofits. All you have to do is sign-up your org to participate in the program. www.ebay.com

Good.ly
If your organization is using Twitter, then you're probably familiar with URL shortening tools like bit.ly, ow.ly, and TinyURL.com. Good.ly has taken the short URL business into the nonprofit sector by generating donations from users. When purchases are made from Good.ly click-throughs, a portion of the referral fee goes to one of three featured charities. While this may not be a financial windfall for the nonprofits, it is still a great application of technology for social good. www.good.ly

I also want to give a shout out to a few other webby things I've been digging lately. Check out Geoff Livingston's List of Change for a dynamic list of the most popular nonprofit blogs. Socialbright is a great resource that can help your nonprofit use social media, as is Social by Social. And of course there is the Summer of Social Good, Mashable's push to promote dogooding through social media.

Hey, Your Org Was Just Named Nonprofit of the Year!

Chad Norman — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 18:50:00 GMT

What if all of your organization's wishes came true - instantly, overnight, in a flash, or maybe even granted via genie? That would certainly change things. Million dollar gifts, an unending supply of volunteers, loads of Whuffie - it could happen, right?

Check out what a scenario like that might look like with this customizable video report from Nonprofit Network News. Just enter your org's name, your name, and hit customize. Hilarity ensues.

» Customize Video

And while I'm a huge fan of magical impromptu windfalls, it probably isn't the best strategy to wait around for this to happen. Like Santa Clause, The Great Pumpkin, and possibly Big Foot, genies are technically fiction. (Though, if you're an actual genie reading this blog post, feeeeeeel free to stop by my house and prove me wrong. I only need one wish!)

If you want to do something today to help your nonprofit thrive, all of us Blackbaudian's are here to help. We've featured some resources on our nonprofit wishlist page. You can also read our blogs, check out an event, chat us up on Twitter, or download some white papers. Be sure to check out our Internet Solutions team blog at www.NetWitsThinkTank.com, or visit Blackbaud Labs for the latest in nonprofit tech.

Lets stop wishing and start doing - together!

Online Giving Smackdown :: A Very Special Baudcast

Chad Norman — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 19:18:00 GMT

When Target Analytics released its 2008 donorCentrics Internet Giving Benchmarking Analysis, the sector responded with keen interest. The study is packed with insightful nuggets, but one trend is capturing everyone's attention (including The New York Times): First time online donors are often migrating to other channels, like direct mail. Yikes!

Will online giving, with it's higher average gift and youthful appeal, prove not to be the silver bullet everyone thought? The blogosphere and Twitter lit up looking for an answer, but I really liked this post on The Agitator: is online fundraising Too Important for Techies?

We decided to dig into the issue on episode 24 of The Baudcast (iTunes | direct), so key players were invited on the show for an epic online giving battle (or at least a lively conversation). Joining me was Roger Craver (founder of The Agitator and Craver, Mathews, Smith & Company), Hildy Gottlieb (president of The Community Driven Institute and author of The Pollyanna Principles), and Rob Harris (co-author of the 2008 donorCentrics Internet Giving Benchmarking report). I had a great Blackbaud crew on hand as well: Steve MacLaughlin, Allison Van Diest, and Melanie Mathos.

The conversation was GREAT to say the least, as both Roger and Hildy blew us away with their understanding of multi-channel integrated campaigns. Steve posted some quotes from the show over on Connections, and we were all live tweeting comments during the call. Near the end of the conversation, I asked the panel what nonprofits could do tomorrow to better integrate and support online fundraising efforts...here are the responses:

Have a strategy that goes beyond fundraising. A good strategy should start with what your organization wants to accomplish, who you want to reach, and where those people are - then decide on the channels and tools.
Find other organizations that are doing multi-channel communications well, and copy them.
Listen carefully to what people are saying on blogs and social networking sites. Then use these feedback mechanisms to solicit information from your audience. Testing should used online as much as it is with direct mail - because it works.
Invest in good copy. Not just a good writer, but looking at your audience and what drives them. Then craft a message based on that.
Use your online channel to improve stewardship and increase the value of your donors.
Leadership is needed at an organization to break down the silos between the direct mail, email, and phone-a-thon teams. An integrated campaign is a successful campaign.

There you have it. Hear the rest on The Baudcast: (iTunes | direct)

8 Things I Learned from Episode 22 of The Baudcast

Chad Norman — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 18:27:00 GMT

One of my favorite things about producing The Baudcast (iTunes | direct) is that I get to learn directly from nonprofit industry experts, share with all of you, and then apply that knowledge at my own organization. Last week's show centered around storytelling, and specifically how to use the web as the vehicle - something we could all use a little help with.

Amy Sample Ward (Global Community Builder, NetSquared) and Danielle Brigida (Associate Operations Coordinator, National Wildlife Federation) just completed hosting sessions at TechSoup Global and NTEN's webinar series on Social Media and Storytelling, so I asked them to come on the show and share some of what they covered. They had some amazing insights, and I definitely took away some things I could do/use right away.

Find the people in your organization that have the voice to tell your story. Staff, board members, field workers, volunteers, or even those who receive help from your organization are all great resources to speak on your behalf. Seek them out, give them the tools, and let them tell your story for you.
Let activists use social media to help lighten your work load. Letting others tell your story for you has a great side effect: More time for your staff to focus on fundraising, event planning, etc. If you get others to tell the story of your mission, you'll have more time to focus on it.
Create a supporter toolkit. If you want people to tell your story, but your Marketing team is a little nervous about brand control, give your supporters a storytelling toolkit. Include your key messages, logos, photos, links, etc. so that they can help you tell your story in a way that supports your brand.
Create a separate YouTube account for you blog. This is a great piece of advice if you are want to include shorter, edgier, and funnier videos on your blog, but don't want them to show up on your main YouTube channel. Great idea Danielle!
Be authentic. This is always good advice, for anyone! Tell your story in a natural voice, not something that has been vetted by the public relations team. Avoiding the Marketese will add authenticity to your content.
Don't forget to listen! Use Google Alerts, TweetScan, BackType, search.twitter.com, and other services to generate RSS feeds that track mentions of your organization. Forgetting that we have 2 ears and only 1 mouth will get you into as much trouble on the social web as it will in the real world.
Twitter can become the FIRST social media service you use. Amy suggested that if you aren't currently using social media at all, you might as well start with Twitter. Using the service will help you learn a lot about your own audience's use of the social web, and put you in a better position to develop an overall strategy around blogging, Facebook, YouTube, and other social media tools.
Using video and photos instead of words to tell you story. A picture really is worth a thousand words, so let the photos and videos fly! Using services like YouTube, Flickr, 12Seconds, UStream, TwitPic, and others will help you add visuals to your compelling stories, which will encourage visitors to engage with and share your content more easily.

Thanks to Amy, Danielle, Steve, and Melanie for being on the show last week - I hope you all had as much fun as I did. If you'd like to subscribe to The Baudcast, please visit the iTunes Music Store or Blackbaud.com.

Beef Up that Twitter Bio to Get More Followers

Chad Norman — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 19:00:00 GMT

If you are using Twitter to connect with and engage your constituents, you're not alone. The popular micro-messaging service has become an inexpensive, valuable, and effective way to reach an audience, and can really help communicate and personalize your message. Of course, this is an opt-in service, so to develop it into an effective channel you must attract followers to your Twitter profile.

Sharing your Twitter account via your website, blogs, newsletters, and other electronic content is a great way to get started. The network effect will get you additional followers, as people retweet your updates or find you in the follower lists of other Twitter users. You also want to make sure your background, avatar, and color scheme reinforce your organization's brand. And then there's the Bio field - the one place in your profile where you can add text that tells the world who you are. Having a great Bio full of related keywords is one of the best ways to draw in potential followers.

With this in mind, I took a look at my organization's Bio field. Back when I setup our Twitter account, I had used our simple tagline in the Bio field: "Living green. Here." Clearly that is very non-descriptive, and devoid of any keywords that might interest people. So back on February 2, I changed it to read: "Go Green Charleston is a local guide to sustainable living. Environmental news, education, and events." I immediately began to see an increase in new followers, and it hasn't slowed down. @GreenCharleston had 373 followers on February 2, and only 18 days later we have almost doubled that. In the chart below, generated at TwitterCounter.com, you can see the follower growth rate of @GreenCharleston compared to my personal account @ChadNorman. Can you see where I changed our Bio field?

While this has helped more individuals find us, most of the new followers are organizations and businesses with similar missions. Adding these types of followers may or may not help you get the word out, but it can't hurt if your mission has a wide appeal - or if you want to have conversations and listen to a diverse audience. Measuring engagement is important when determining the success of your social media strategy, so having similar organizations retweeting or replying to your Twitter updates is a positive outcome. So be sure to mind your Bio feild when setting up your profile, as it can clearly make an impact on how sticky your Twitter account is to potential followers.

5 Nonprofit Storytelling Lessons from a Master of Hip-Hop

Chad Norman — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 19:40:00 GMT

So much of social media and relationship marketing revolves around storytelling, and this is especially true for nonprofits. Using the internet and social media as a vehicle to tell stories is an approachable, inexpensive, and effective way to engage your audience (Check out NTEN's social media and storytelling web seminars series for the juicy details.)

Last week I was listening to some old school hip-hop - you know, Eric B and Rakim, Public Enemy, Boogie Down Productions, etc. These artists are all great examples of how media can be used for social change - as a vehicle for storytelling. At this phase in the evolution of hip-hop, artists were still explaining to listeners WHY they were picking up a microphone - meaning, they were trying to tell us about themselves...about their organization, and what they were trying to accomplish.

KRS1 was the brains behind Boogie Down Productions, and he was a master storyteller. He devoted a few songs on every album that told us about himself, his mission, and why he was speaking out. I think that's something all nonprofits can learn from. It's like selling yourself from the inside out. KRS1 would go on to become an expert at using music as a vehicle for social change (a whole other blog post), but early on it was all about telling his own story. And he did it well.

Here are 5 quotes from the Boogie Down Productions classic "My Philosophy" that provide lessons in storytelling that all nonprofits can benefit from:

"You're a philosopher? Yes, I think very deeply."
Do you know you stuff? Oh yeah you do - and your audience wants to learn from you. Go deep, be honest, and be passionate. Tell your story from the roots up. Nobody knows your mission better than you, so every time you write, blog, podcast, and speak, tell your story proudly and your philosophy will get across.

"You gotta have style, and learn to be original"
The best ideas may be stolen, but they're also the most common. Put yourself or your organization out there in a unique way that people can connect with. Be creative. Your story is yours, so give it a style and flair that reflects your culture and mission.

"I just produce, create, innovate on a higher level"
There is no substitute for hard work, high standards, and constant scheming. Join every social network, community, directory, and affinity group you can to tell your story. Be prolific, type furiously, be emotional - all when appropriate, of course. Content will always be king, so if your story is creative and innovative, it will be heard by the desired audience.

"It's not about a salary, it's all about reality"
A good story can connect with anyone, regardless of economic status. A well crafted, mission-focused message can impact an unemployed college graduate just as much as a Fortune 500 CEO. People are giving because of how they feel about reality, not their salary. The ask might be different when that time comes, but everyone loves a good story.

"This is just one style, out of many"
Despite Kurt Vonnegut being my favorite author, I still search for opposing styles from other writers. Tell a good story, but don't forget to bring in new voices. Storytelling is very personal, and multiple authors will bring multiple styles. This can help you reach a wider audience. Find the storytellers in your organization, whether they are members, staff, donors, or board members, and give them the platform to tell your story.

So, are you ready to channel your inner old-school hip-hop master and start storytelling? Be sure to check out the last two sessions of NTEN's social media and storytelling web seminars series, and then visit the We Are Media Project for details on how to make it happen. Now let's hear your philosophy!

A Trifecta of The Baudcast for Your Ear Holes

Chad Norman — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 19:07:00 GMT

If you dig nonprofits, technology, and learning, then I've got a show for you! The Baudcast is a biweekly technology podcast featuring Blackbaud employees and industry experts chatting about current tools and trends. The last three shows really showcase a good range of topics, so I thought I'd offer this quick roundup:

Episode 18 — Online Fundraising Events
Raising money at online events is more popular than ever thanks to social networking and internet marketing. In this episode, the panel discusses online event fundraising, friends asking friends, online giving trends, automated thank-you emails, event metrics and ROI, independent fundraising events, event widgets, and more. Participants include Chad Norman, Melanie Mathos, Jamie Holaday, and Mark Davis.

Episode 17 — Social Media Metrics
Hey, we all need help understanding the impact of our social media efforts. This tech issue-shortened episode has some great ideas to get you started. The panel looks at tracking conversations, reputation monitoring, personal verses organizational social graphs, measuring commenters, capturing incoming links, tracking tools, RSS filtering, and more. The all-star panel includes Chad Norman, Steve MacLaughlin, Melanie Mathos, Danielle Brigida (National Wildlife Federation), Jonathon Colman (The Nature Conservancy), and Holly Ross (The Nonprofit Technology Network).

Episode 16 — Social Media for Environmental Organizations
The Baudcast goes green on this episode by featuring techies from five environmentally-focused nonprofits. Green organizations have always done social networking right, so here's your chance to learn from the experts as they discuss social web promotion, market testing, social media ROI, social news stickiness, NWF's Good Neighbor Program, friends asking friends, allocating staff time to social networks, social networking role models, (lil) Green Patch, Facebook apps for small nonprofits, and more. Participants include Chad Norman (Go Green Charleston), Melanie Mathos (Fields to Families), Michael Sola (Chesapeake Bay Foundation), Danielle Brigida (National Wildlife Federation), and Jonathon Colman (The Nature Conservancy).

I hope you enjoy listening to the show as much as I enjoy making it. Networking, sharing, and learning is so crucial in our market, and I truly hope The Baudcast is helping do its part to make this world a better place.

The easiest way to keep up with the show is by subscribing via the iTunes Music Store, and episodes are always available at Blackbaud.com. As always, if you have any feedback regarding the show, drop me a line at TheBaudcast@blackbaud.com.

Also, we'll be recording a special edition from Blackbaud's 2008 Conference for Nonprofits right here in Charleston. We'll be set up in the Marketplace, and we're hoping some brave attendees will drop in for a chat. It should be a lot of fun, so be sure to check it out in a couple weeks.

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.

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!