[crossposted from jlearn2.0] Passionate about Jewish learning? Have Big Ideas about what 21st Century Jewish learning might look like? Share your vision … and you just might win an all expense trip to the upcoming Jewish Futures Conference – not to mention a world-wide audience!
BJENY-SAJES and JESNA’s Lippman-Kanfer Institute invite you to submit a short video that communicates your response to the following question:
As we move toward a world where learning happens anywhere and everywhere, authored by anyone, what could Jewish learning and life look like in the future?
Those submitting the top three responses will be flown to New Orleans on November 7-8, 2010 (all expenses paid) to present their thinking at the Jewish Futures Conference. The Conference will be held on Monday, November 8, 2010 as part of the General Assembly of Jewish Federations of North America.
High profile presenters, combined with up and coming innovators from the Jewish and general world, will each be given 10-18 minutes to describe their vision for the future of Jewish learning in the context of emerging new digital and social technologies.
Submissions will be accepted in the form of 4 minute videos by August 27, 2010 and should be sent to: futures@bjeny.org
Questions? Contact Rabbi Arnold D. Samlan: samlana@bjeny.org
What are you waiting for? Come on over and check out submission and event details here now!
What’s your vision? Share a preview in the comments below!
Yes, folks, it may be summer but it’s time to start thinking about going back to school! NTEN is offering a special 9 week webinar-based Technology Leadership Academy. The Academy will accept 50 nonprofits with budgets under $2 million, to be represented by 2 participants from each organization, including the executive director and a tech-responsible individual.
Attendees of the Academy will be able to:
- Articulate the value of technology in their organization for themselves, funders, and other key stakeholders.
- View technology as integral to every department in their organizations.
- Recognize options for funding IT projects in their organizations.
- Staff technology effectively.
- Manage the organizational change that technology can produce.
Topics include:
- Future of IT in Nonprofits / Presented by Edward Granger-Happ
- IT Planning and Implementation / Presented by Steve Heye & John Merritt
- Introduction to IT and Systems / Presented by Andy Wolber
- Information Management Systems / Presented by Laura Quinn
- Effective Internet Presence / Presented by Katya Andresen
- Evaluation: Technology ROI / Presented by Beth Kanter
- The Human Side of Technology / Presented by James Weinberg
- Weekly Ask the Experts sessions including Charlene Li, Founder of Altimeter Group and Auther of Open Leadership
The Academy is being offered through the generous support of Microsoft and will run from September 29 – November 22.
Learn more about the Academy and guidelines for application here and if you qualify and are interested apply here!
Don’t miss out – the deadline for applications is Friday, July 30th. Applicants will be notified of their status by August 6, 2010.
A new phenomenon has taken over the social media airwaves these last few days. Out of the blue, least expected, it’s the Old Spice Guy. I don’t watch much TV, so I missed the TV ads earlier this year where Old Spice introduced actor Isaiah Mustafa (”the man your man could smell like”). With a serious voice and a towel wrapped around his waist, the Old Spice Guy has responded to questions and comments received through Twitter, Facebook and Reddit via 30 second YouTube videos. Haven’t seen them? Entertain yourself on their branded YouTube channel (which opens with the original commercial if you haven’t seen it).
Throughout the short and intense blitz, Old Spice had uploaded over 180 videos for its campaign, which have generated over 5.9 million views and 22,500 comments. (Source: Network World).
The campaign is fascinating for its viral success. This chart from Visible Measures shows it’s relative success compared with President Obama’s victory speech, the video of President Bush’s dodging of a thrown shoe, and Susan Boyle’s surprising vocal performance on TV, all major viral hits.
The secret? While Old Spice Guy responded to regular folks (Johannes S. Beals tweeted a request for a marriage proposal to his girlfriend), he also focused many of his responses to questions posed by sports stars, celebrities and major publications. For example the online tech site Gizmodo asked via Twitter, “will anything surpass the loofah as the predominant body wash-applying technology?” The response was this. And of course, Gizmodo posted the response video on its website and other channels, amplifying the views even more.
George Stephonopoulos and Justine Bateman got responses, as did Perez Hilton (669,000+ views) and Ellen Degeneres (284,000+ views). Alyssa Milano has enjoyed a series of flirty virtual courtings, including a delivery of flowers from the Old Spice Guy. Guy Kawasaki (Silicon Valley venture capitalist and social media maven) got a humorous reply, playing off his name:
The first key lesson here is about connecting with your audience personally. While Old Spice is only responding to a relatively small number of questions, Mustafa is speaking directly to individuals, seemingly person to person, rather than logo to consumer. There’s a big difference.
Second is knowing how to use your influencers. Isaiah’s first videos responded to bloggers and journalists that had written about the Old Spice commercials. He then moved to celebrities, and chose random individuals whose questions or comments would make for great entertainment (like the marriage proposal). By responding to people (and companies) with large audiences, Old Spice is able to leverage their brands to exponentially increase their own success. And when the campaign starts to get viral, everyone wins. Gizmodo, for example, is thrilled to have gotten a video response (and a few million people may have just learned about Gizmodo for the first time), and Old Spice is thrilled Gizmodo posted is on their own site (reaching millions of their readers). It’s a win-win for all.
Third, make it fun! If people are enjoying engaging in your campaign (tweeting, sharing, talking about at Starbucks or at the gym), it will intensify. Whether you’re selling Old Spice or trying to get people to come to Jewish Trivia Night (my favorite tweet comes from @SixthandI Synagogue: “Test your knowledge to the tune of ‘Let’s get quizzical…quizzical’ I see you dancing 80’s style in your cubicle,” followed by a link to their event.
Want to learn more?
Rick Bakas gives a good overview of why this social media marketing campaign is so effective including a reminder to have fun.
ReadWriteWeb shares the inside scoop on how marketing firm Wieden + Kennedy created and executed the campaign, including all night filming sessions in Portland, OR, where they averaged 7 min of production for each 30 second response.
FastCompany interviews the team that orchestrated the campaign.
And a guy from Reddit asked for the audio to create an Old Spice Guy voicemail message. He responded with many audio options to create the message. Now you can have your own. http://www.oldspicevoicemail.com . While the 2 day blitz of video responses may have ended this morning, it’s fascinating to see how others have picked up the ball and run with it.
How are you empowering and energizing your community to support your mission and goals? While the Old Spice campaign may seem leagues away from nonprofit endeavors, the lessons learned from this success surely apply. Use your influencers. Make it personal. And remember to have fun.
At the Jewish Communal Service Association’s annual program today, change was the name of the game. Jerry Silverman, CEO of Jewish Federations of North America in particular spoke about two kinds of change that we need to embrace: First, accepting that constant change is the “new normal” (the theme of the JCSA conference), and second, the need to confidently lead through change, whether that be changing economic times, new technologies, and evolving cultures.
On the first, we need to learn how to be more nimble — learning new skills, evolving our decision making processes to be able to move more swiftly, and being able to adjust structures to keep the machine humming when the outside world shifts.
But all of this is only possible when we are successful with the second. Leading through change is a great challenge, that involves not only good business strategy, but excellent communication, team building, listening, and attention to the psychology of change, not only the logistics of change. If the Jewish community needs one thing, it’s people who are superb leaders in times of change.
Several years ago, when Darim was shifting from our original work of building web sites to a focus on training, coaching and consulting, I read a powerful book, Managing Transitions, by William Bridges. The take home message: Change is situational (like a light switch), but transition is psychological (a process). We need leaders who know what change needs to be made to thrive in the “new normal”, but those same leaders also need to facilitate a transition, which requires a whole different set of skills.
If you haven’t noticed, the Jewish community isn’t the only one recognizing this need. (It’s comforting to know we’re not behind the curve on this one!) A flurry of new books are hitting the shelves focused on change strategy and management in today’s world:
- Switch, by Chip and Dan Heath (from Amazon.com): In a compelling, story-driven narrative, the Heaths bring together decades of counterintuitive research in psychology, sociology, and other fields to shed new light on how we can effect transformative change. Switch shows that successful changes follow a pattern, a pattern you can use to make the changes that matter to you, whether your interest is in changing the world or changing your waistline.
- The Power of Pull, by John Hagel III, John Seely Brown, Lang Davison (from Amazon.com): In a radical break with the past, information now flows like water, and we must learn how to tap into its stream. But many of us remain stuck in old practices—practices that could undermine us as we search for success and meaning. Drawing on pioneering research, The Power of Pull shows how to apply its principles to unlock the hidden potential of individuals and organizations, and how to use it as a force for social change and the development of creative talent.
Coming out soon:
- Open Leadership, by Charlene Li (co-author of Groundswell) (from Amazon.com): “Be Open, Be Transparent, Be Authentic” are the current leadership mantras-but companies often push back. Business is premised on the concept of control and yet the new world order demands openness-leaders do not know how to be open and be in control. This must-have resource will help the modern leader understand how to lead in the new open world-where blogging, twittering, facebooking, and digging are becoming the norm. the author lays out the steps that leaders must take to transform their organizations and themselves into being “open” -and exactly what that will mean.
- Empowered, by Josh Bernoff (co-author of Groundswell) (from Amazon.com): Fueled by data from Forrester Research, Empowered is packed with the business tools and information necessary to move your organization several steps ahead … and lead … your people (who are) armed with cheap, accessible technology, and are connecting with customers and building innovative new solutions.
What are your strategies for managing change? Where have you been successful? What’s hard? Do you have advice or other resources to add to the conversation? Onward!
Turns out Birthright Israel NEXT isn’t the only Jewish organization with an iPhone app. In addition to BRI NEXT’s Mila4Phone, there are hundreds of other Jewish apps available through the iTunes store. Some of them are Torah related, others are related to Shabbat, prayer, Kashruth, or learning.
One organization that is leading this trend in the Jewish community is the Jewish Community Federation of Cleveland. Its app, Jewish CLE, features a community calendar, interactive maps, a community director and links to the Federation’s YouTube channel, twitter feed and event photos.
JewPoint0 caught up Steph Dlugon, director product marketing of iNomadics, creator of Jewish CLE, to learn more about how the app came together.
How did Jewish CLE come to be?
About a year ago, iNomadics had this idea about creating apps for places like nonprofits, and community and arts organizations. Because nonprofits always have events or time sensitive information that they need to get out to their constituents, we felt they needed to develop a mobile presence. We approached the Jewish Federation of Cleveland with the idea of developing an app. The Cleveland Federation thought it was a good idea and we started working with the people there to figure out what their needs would be and to develop the best features. A year ago was early on for nonprofit organizations to be thinking about the mobile web. One of our challenges was to find a forward-thinking group that saw the benefit of a tool like this. Even though it took some time to hash out the details, initial talks with the Cleveland Federation were really promising. They seemed to get the idea, the benefits and usefulness of having an app right away.
What’s so important about a mobile presence?
I think about the Internet of the 90s, when everyone scrambled to have a website. That same trend is happening now with going mobile, and it’s happening much faster than in the past. It’s important for organizations, if they want to stay viable, to adopt a complete mobile strategy. And the ones that do will be able to stay relevant and thrive.
What was it like working with the Cleveland Federation’s leadership? We had talks with different groups within the organization throughout the whole process. Because the app was a pretty new idea, we had a bit of a challenge trying to explain its benefits to different groups in the organization. If we ever got stuck, we would regroup and bring in other people to help make it work… If there is one lesson learned it’s the importance of open communication from the beginning so that everyone understands what is happening.
What is Jewish CLE all about?
There are a couple layers to it. First is the news feature, which just gets information to people, and that is why I think its being downloaded all over the world. Second is the events piece, which has events from entire Jewish community, not just Federation events. That is an engagement piece that is really important. A lot of organizations in the community can benefit from the app, which should help to bridge all gaps in community. Another piece to the app is the call to action stuff. We’re trying to direct people to different ways to get involved. Not just directing people to the Federation to donate. We are helping people learn more about the Federation, which helps to connect people and get them on the same page. If the end result is information or donations either way to us it’s awesome.
How are you evaluating or tracking the impact of the app?
There is not really a formal evaluation process on our end. I’m sure the Cleveland Federation is tracking usage and downloads. We are looking for feedback from users from the Federation on how to improve it. But, measurement and evaluation is an interesting concept. Consider: do we look for ways to justify the printing of calendar, or of owning a phone system? No, that is just the basics of running a business. We have to get past the question of ‘should we or shouldn’t we?’ to the question of ‘should we do it this way or that way?’
So, readers: Have you downloaded the CLE app? Thoughts? This way or that way?
Guest blog post by Anna Rosenblum Palmer, Founder of winwinapps
I am currently re-reading “Switch: How to change things when change is hard” by Chip Heath & Dan Heath. Amongst the many dog-eared, and underlined sections is a brief line on page 17: “What looks like resistance is often a lack of clarity.”
The author’s example is a public health campaign in West Virginia that specifically directed residents to switch their milk drinking from whole to 1% or skim. Instead of the valuable – but diffuse and difficult – goal of simply “acting healthier,” the campaign gave clear instructions.
What can this mean for non-profits? Quite a bit.
At a recent fundraising auction checkout, one of our cashiers requested “an additional donation to support the work of the beneficiary.” Her line had a smaller than 5% donation rate. Our other checkout line asked winning bidders to “round up their purchase by 2, 5, 10, or 18 dollars” (whatever brought them to the nearest $100 figure). This money would go to purchase a new pick up truck to be used by members. This second line had a 37% round up rate. For a small non-profit that was the difference between $10 dollars in the first line and $475 in the second. Neither was enough to buy a pickup, but with clear instructions the actual dollars in the bank increased by 40 times.
What about you? How specific are you with your asks? Do you tie gifts to specific programs, ask for discrete amounts at particular times, or take advantage of triggers in the environment of your supporters?
Other take home messages from Switch for fundraising:
- Follow your bright spots. If a campaign, donor, or programming is exceeding your goals, try to determine why and replicate it.
- Marry long term goals with short term critical moves. Your mission is critical, but showing your staff and supporters how you will get there shrinks the change, and energizes giving.
- Script the moves. For an organization that fights homelessness, linking a monthly gift to equal to 1% of a donor’s mortgage payments can keep your mission front of mind and the amount and timing of donation clear.
- Grow your people. Increase their role and identity within your organization. Donors who support a public health campaign might become “messengers” – with their donation receipt you can arm them with support materials and task them to teach 10 friends the importance of breast self exams.
- Act more like a coach and less like a scorekeeper. Everything looks like a failure in the middle. Focus on the valleys of a program as learning opportunities rather than failures. There should be no “never” – only “not yet.”
- Use the score when it can help you. The herd mentality can work for you. If the majority of your board members have exceeded last year’s gift, use that fact. People tend to fall in line with their peers.
What is your favorite take home from “Switch”?
Anna Rosenblum Palmer founded winwinapps after years of board and staff service with small non-profits. She’s always interested in improving efficiency to have more time for mission based work. She welcomes comments, suggestion or answer questions atanna@winwinapps.com, @winwinapps, cell: (617) 800-4607
winwinapps is a VT-based, internet toolkit that takes the hassle out of running a nonprofit, freeing you up to do the work that really matters. We help you. You help them. That’s a winwin.
Last week I dove into the Nonprofit Technology Network (NTEN) Conference, commonly known at #10NTC. (I dare you, search for that on Twitter and see how active is STILL is, days after the conference wrapped up. Us NPtechies are an enthusiastic, passionate and smart bunch. You can also find 58 Powerpoints from the conference on Slideshare, 870 photos on Flickr, videos on Youtube … need I go on?)
One of the best sessions I attended was where Beth Kanter and Allison Fine (among the gurus of nonprofit technology) presented their upcoming book, The Networked Nonprofit (due out in June, but you can preorder here). These two women completely understand the future of nonprofit organizations in the digital age, and I could listen to their wisdom, humor and case studies for days.
One element from their presentation keeps knocking around in my head, the idea of three stages of organizational development in this networked era.
- Fortress – an organization where there are insiders and outsiders, and the two rarely meet or interact;
- Transactional – an organization that is engaged with their community, but with the sole focus of transactions, such as getting people to sign up for an event or make a donation;
- Transparent – an organization that fully engages and empowers their community to accomplished shared goals.
I love the simplicity of these three stages, and the acknowledgment that getting on social media platforms is not the ultimate goal. Plenty of people are promoting events on Facebook and measuring success by the number of tushes in the seats. But the real paths to accomplishing our mission and goals, and the more accurate measurements of success go far beyond this. They also require a leap of faith, and the ability to take that first leap.
Remember the first time you climbed to the top of a high dive as a kid, your heart beating so hard you thought it would leap out of your chest, and that moment when you finally hurled yourself into the air? It’s the same moment really. And remember when you went back again and again and again to do it over and over? Yeah, it’s like that too.
So tell us — what stage are you at? What do you need to move from one stage to the next? Where do you see examples of “transparent” organizations or activities?
This afternoon we’re convening the first ever faith-based affinity group at the NTEN Conference here in Atlanta. On Saturday, we’re hosting a panel with speakers from the Christian and Muslim communities to share how social media is influencing their work and communities. This afternoon, we’ll be addressing the following four questions. Add your voice to the mix, by commenting on this post, or tweeting your thoughts using the hashtag #10ntc.faith
- How to Convey Our Mission/Religious Message/Personal Relevance Online? Beyond marketing events, providing links and posting photos of a recent gathering, how can faith based organizations use these platforms in serious and effective ways?
- Convincing Leadership to Take Tech/Social Media Seriously: Oftentimes leadership in faith based organizations are unaware or uncomfortable with the role of technology in running a successful organization. How can we help increase comfort, get the budgets we need, and build confidence among leadership and colleagues? What should we be measuring, how to measure and present it? What are your techniques, key performance indicators, and strategies to educate senior staff?
- Balancing Shifting Roles – Who Manages the Web Site, Twitter Feed, Facebook Page? Who is the gatekeeper of outgoing messages and your organization, and how is that role changing in a social media age? How much should program staff be empowered to update statuses or post other content? Where is the balance, and how to evolve an organization’s culture for success in the immediacy-culture of today? When and how should clergy be using these tools? Who assists/supports/teaches clergy how to do it well?
- Planning for the Future: Often we find ourselves behind the curve and trying to catch up. While we may not need to be on the cutting edge of everything, now is the time to start planning for the future. Mobile is emerging quickly as a powerful tool – how can faith based orgs effectively make use of this new wave of potential, and what else should we be watching, planning for, innovating with, or inventing?
Share your experience!
[cross-posted from jlearn2.0] What’s new for Pesach this year?
Here are a few fun morsels to leaven liven up the holiday!
- Tweet the Exodus – fun, creative, and a cool model for role playing using Twitter, this is a season highlight! Check it out, even if you’ve never tweeted before – just follow along. As they say, “Relive the Exodus from Egypt, one tweet at a time. The story comes to life between March 16-29.” Check out the recent article, “Passover Meets Twitter,” in the Wall Street Journal, March 17, 2010.
- Projecting Freedom: Cinematic Projections of the Haggadah – 14 short videos corresponding to the individual steps of the Haggadah, offering visual commentary on the Passover story; a project of the Skirball Center for Adult Jewish Learning and the Covenant Foundation; just launched – look for it!
- Creative Seders – crowd source ideas on a Google doc! Take it out for a spin and add your own!
- Legacy Heritage’s Smart Board Jewish Educational Database: Pesach Lessons – teacher submitted, downloadable resources for use with SmartBoards
- Torah Aura’s Passover resources – games, activities, and resources for the holiday
- iMah Nishtanah – iPhone/ iPod touch app by Behrman House
- BabagaNewz’s Pesach Central – resources galore for kids, teachers, and parents
- MyJewishLearning: Passover – articles, recipes, seder ideas; don’t miss out on their Best Seder Ever contest – the deadline is March 22, 5pm ET – can’t wait to see the entries!
- Jacob Richman’s Hot List of Passover Sites – Jacob’s growing list of holiday resources, including links to games and fun stuff for kids of all ages
- JVibe’s Counting of the (H)Omer Calendar - a staple. a classic. a calendar.
- The Open Source Haggadah Project – create your own customized Haggadah
- The Four Questions in Klingon – an oldie but goodie, and yes, continues to prove that there is something for everyone
Not to be forgotten, of course, is last season’s fave, Moses is Departing Egypt: A Facebook Haggadah. Alas, the link seems to be itself departed – anyone have a current one?
Any other faves out there? Share yours!
In January, Birthright Israel NEXT launched its first iPhone application, Mila-4-Phone. The application (app), a Hebrew-learning program that uses flashcards and includes audio pronunciation, has been downloaded more than 3,000 times so far.
Such success signals the grand potential for Jewish organizations to use apps to reach their constituents in a new way: right in the palm of their hand.
Graphic from Mila-4-Phone App
“Apps are what websites were to an organization ten years ago,” Daniel Brenner, executive director of Birthright Israel NEXT, said. “Back then, we used to joke “’you are not real until you are virtual.’”
Brenner makes a good point. In the web of the 1990s, websites were static and reference-focused. Today, the web is increasingly more fast-paced and social-focused thanks to the ubiquity of user generated content and the rise of social networking sites.
As apps bring the social web to phones and other mobile devices, organizations are pressed to deliver valued-added content that is more than just reference material.
“Apps challenge organizations to show how ongoing, updated information from the organization is relevant to users,” Brenner said.
For Birthright Israel NEXT, the key to compelling content was listening to its target base, a population that was expressing interest in returning to Israel and learning Hebrew.
“We view the iPhone app as having two mission related functions – one educational and one community building,” Brenner said. “One element of our mission is to deepen the connections that young adults have to Israel – Hebrew learning certainly does just that.”
“But the real power of the app is that it is building a community of over three thousand young adults who share an interest in Hebrew language. Since we are involved in promoting ulpanim in ten cities and in holding ‘beit cafe’ events where Americans can meet Israeli peers and work on their Hebrew, the iPhone app serves as a magnet for folks with a shared interest and has encouraged people to meet others who want to learn Hebrew.”
While the app may not be for every Birthright Israel alumni, it has attracted a large, focused following with more than 3,000 downloads from 49 countries.
“Niche followings are the best type of followings,” Brenner said. “Knowing that over 3,000 young adults who are for the most part unaffiliated Jews and who did not go to Jewish day school all want to learn Hebrew is a very good thing.”
Seeing a Jewish organization invest in a new technology and using it to reach its base in a 21st century model – transcending space, time and place – is definitely a very good thing.
So good that other Jewish organizations are taking notice. For instance, Mazon has an iPhone app as does the Cleveland Jewish Federation, which launched Jewish Cleveland in March.
Will apps be the new “websites” of the 2010s? Are you or your Jewish organization thinking about creating an app? Sound off in our comments.
Video of Mila-4-Phone in Action
To learn more about Mila-4-Phone check it out here. If you don’t have an iPhone, or iPod touch, you can still join in on the mobile- Hebrew-learning fun with Birthright Israel NEXT’s Hebrew Word-A-Day Text Messaging program. Just text “Hebrew” to 41411 to get started.