opening play

The last couple weeks have been long and busy for me. Did I take in the subtle hedonism that was Glastonbury like my new friend WhatelyDude? Not this year. But I did manage to leave my own small mark on the soggy-headed open-minded thinking goodness that was 2gether08. And though I may have missed the sweet geekyness that was opentech I did get to enjoy a day in the savory company of the social mechanics of Social MediaCamp London.

Other have-done’s from last fortnight include, but are not limited to, changing jobs, packing up my daily possessions & moving home with my wife & 12 week old son, preparing the house for sale (again), keeping tabs on ‘lil sis & the arrival of our new nephew across the pond, making an unplanned trip to the vet’s with our pet pony dog and drafting a couple quarterly reports. We can also add to this discussions around two germinating non-profit projects, exploring a couple employment prospects for the not-so-distant future, being reminded several times just how tiring the whole daddy thing can be, making a few new friends along the way and covering around 500 miles over four days to make it all possible and - all in all I would have to say it’s was a good run.

But that leaves the question, what didn’t happen during this time? In brief, this post. Well, not exactly this post but the long winded, drawn out explanation about why it’s so important that I start putting my thoughts to type about how to save my own little corner of the nonprofit world. A personal manifesto if you will - but that can wait as my conscience has been pricked into action by one of my new twitterbuds from 2gether08.

So let me put my cards on the table for all to see so it is clear who I am and why this blog is here.

Professionally I …

• …am a serial non-profit manager with a history of choosing roles with low pay but big rewards;
• …have a track record of joining small nonprofits and making them better;
• …believe that the constant search for resources that most small nonprofits endure allows your average jack-of-all-trades to develop a seriously wide range of skills;
• …have had many many paid jobs; ranging from senior nonprofit management and IT consultancy through to fishing in Alaska and picking daffodils in Cornwall. Regardless of pay, each role had something to teach me.

Personally I …

• …hail from a small town in the heart of the Allegheny Mountains of West Virginia and have been resident in the UK since 1991
• …have two cats, one very large dog, an undeniably cute newborn son and an admirably hard working and wonderfully clever wife
• …I read a lot. And can talk even more.
• …coffee. black & undiluted.

So what do I hope to achieve by being here? Well, for one, a sense of consolidation of all the things that I’ve been reading, talking, twittering about the last few months on topics ranging from volunteer management to digital social citizenship. I was an early adopter for twitter but faded quickly as I felt little attachment to the community that began there. When I returned a few months ago I was blown away by the nonprofit tech community that had grown up there. Now that I’ve actually met a few of those fine people in the flesh I’m beginning to think there might be something to this whole interwebs thing.

Second, this is an exercise in efficient communications with respect to all the advice I have shared with small nonprofits in the past, and hopefully will continue to provide in the future. It’s a chance to have many conversations once and not the same conversation many times. Explain the benefits of google hoted apps or the pros & cons of having a facebook profile once - and then when people ask again, just give them the url and invite to read for themselves.

Third, it’s a chance to formalise my own learning. I can’t remember the last time I held only one role within an organisation; it just doesn’t work that way in the long tail of charities. It’s always a constant challenge to balance priorities and resource but it’s also a fantastic opportunity to get your hands dirty learning how to do something new (or even something old, but better). The downside to that is that ad hoc learning can leave holes in your understanding. When it come to social media and general ITC and how they relate to nonprofits this blog represents my hope that I can fill some of those holes.

So there you have it. No frills, fanfare or flashy lights. Just me and my journey plan. Feel free to come along.