7 Webby Sessions Not to Miss at BBCon

Chad Norman — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 13:59:00 GMT

I can't believe our 10th Conference for Nonprofits is just a few days away! There's still so much to get ready, but I'm really getting psyched to see all the peeps coming into town. And while networking is a key benefit of BBCon, it's really the sessions that everyone is excited about. With over 130 topics to choose from, there's definitely something for everyone. But if you're a webby geek like me, there are some amazing Internet sessions you won't want to miss. My picks for this year are...

Branding Your Nonprofit Online - This session is based on case studies, and will help you realize the impact branding has on online communication. Social media rock star Danielle Brigida (National Wildlife Federation) will be co-presenting and providing some great insights from NWF.
Making Event Participants More Successful with Social Media Tools - If you are rocking Blackbaud Sphere, this is the session for you! Mark Davis (Blackbaud), Donna Wilkins (Charity Dynamics) and Jodie Kolkowski (American Heart Association) are going to cover how to incorporate Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube into your online events.
Online Metrics Demystified: Understanding Your Hits, Clicks, and Errors - If online metrics really freak you out, be sure to check out Steve MacLaughlin's session to soothe your soul. He covers all the metrics you should be looking at, and will help you understand why they are important.
Tools and Techniques to Make Your Web Content More Interactive and Shareable - Frank Barry (Blackbaud) is a genius, and this session will explore all the third-party tools you can use to make your web content dynamic and sharable. Don't miss this!
Live and Interactive: Does Your Website Meet Your Organizational Objectives? - If you're wondering if your website is meeting your mission, be sure to attend Raheel Gauba's session. He'll be doing live, 10-minute brainstorms on the actual sites of attendees - maybe yours!

I'll also be talking about webby things throughout the event, so come find me! My sessions include:

50 Social Media Tactics You Can Use Today - I'll be presenting this rapid-fire session with Melanie Mathos (Blackbaud), and it will cover 50 things you do using social media. We're assuming you have a strategy and goals already, so we're hoping this session will give you the ideas to push ahead.
Social Media Workshop - This 40-seat workshop will allow attendees to actually do some of the things we discussed in the 50 Social Media Tactics session. We'll setup a Google Dashboard, add a blog to a Facebook profile, and find some good people to follow in Twitter.
New Frontiers in Marketing and Fundraising - This is a cool panel discussion that is focused on emerging technologies. We'll be covering how video, SMS, and podcasting can be using to enhance your engagement and fundraising.

There you have it. Be sure to check out all the Conference sessions - there's a lot of great stuff to see. Follow @BBCon on Twitter for updates and I'll see you in Charleston!

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.

Chad Norman's Webby Things : Site Design

7 Webby Sessions Not to Miss at BBCon

A Quick Note about Site Width and the iPhone