Thanks to an ongoing collaboration between Darim Online and SYNERGY: UJA-Federation of New York and Synagogues Together, we’re pleased to bring you the next series in our Social Media Boot Camp for New York area synagogues.  All staff and lay leaders from congregations in the UJA Federation of New York catchment area are invited to register for the series free of charge.  Not in the area and interested in learning with us?  Become a member of Darim Online!

Last year’s series focused on the uses of specific social media tools, such as Facebook and Twitter. This year, we’ll be focusing on the implications of these social media tools and their impact on society and business, with the goal of evolving your congregation for success in the networked age.  Our 6 webinars will focus on strategy, staffing and leadership as they pertain to the mission, function and sustainability of synagogues.

Join Lisa Colton, founder and president of Darim Online, and special guests, for a tour through Evolving the Synagogue as a Networked Nonprofit, inspired and informed by Beth Kanter and Allison Fine’s valuable book, The Networked Nonprofit.

October 26, 2011  The Synagogue as a Networked Nonprofit
Given shifts in society, culture and technology, successful organizations are evolving the ways they work to be more nimble, efficient and social.  The synagogue’s origins are as a network — a group of people in a similar area who have similar observances, needs, values, and goals.  Thus, today’s empowered culture is a great opportunity to realign the synagogue’s work with its origins, and to help the organization function more successfully in our networked age.  Join us to learn about the principles outlined in Beth Kanter and Allison Fine’s book The Networked Nonprofit, and to explore case studies of organizations making this shift, from synagogues to local and national nonprofits.  This webinar will set the stage for the next 5 in the series, and will inspire you to think differently about your work.

November 17, 2011  The Skills and Mindset of a Success Community Weaver
Every synagogue seeks to build community among its members and beyond.  A rich and successful community leads to achieving all other aspects of a synagogue’s mission and goals, from education to tikkun olam, membership dues and event participation. One of the most important functions of leadership is to weave and support this community. Today, these responsibilities are often embedded in positions with titles like “Program Director” and “Membership Coordinator”.  Join us to learn about the value of community weaving, the attributes of a successful community weaver, why both staff and board members need to be involved, and why your congregation needs to be in the business of weaving.  Eager to learn more?  Check out June Holly’s blog: http://www.networkweaving.com

January 11, 2012  Staffing Beyond the Accidental Techie
Oftentimes, congregations find someone on staff who’s good with technology, or at least likes to play around and can help out others.  Sometimes this is an educator or preschool director, sometimes it’s the youngest person on staff, sometimes it’s the rabbi!  This is what we call the “accidental techie”.  They weren’t hired to do this, but have fallen into it.  As your congregation is beginning to participate in social media, who has stepped up to lead the effort?  Is that position really the one that should have this responsibility?  Is that the best way for them to spend their time?  And how is everyone on staff empowered to use today’s tools to do their work (like they do with email and the telephone)?  Join us to discuss staffing needs, how to evolve to the right place, and how everyone should have at least some role.

February 9, 2012  Social Giving
How and why is the rise of social media affecting philanthropic giving?  While the fundamentals of development haven’t changed significantly, the ways you go about storytelling, generating enthusiasm and motivating donors has been turned upside down in the last few years.  Accordingly, as a networked nonprofit your approach to marketing a fundraising campaign needs to evolve as well.  Join us to learn about the tools, strategies, and opportunities of social media based fundraising, and learn from interesting case studies in the field.

March 14, 2012  Social Media for Jewish Learning: The Social Sermon
Let’s consider 2 common functions of a synagogue:  Jewish learning, and Shabbat services.  In both cases, the dynamic is based on a hierarchical model, rather than a networked one:  A teacher at the front of the class, and the rabbi talking to the congregation from behind a podium.  Let’s consider how social media tools can help us evolve these dynamics to create conversation, support collaboration, and engage more voices in our community. Join us to learn about The Social Sermon and explore how rabbis and educators can put blogs, Facebook and Twitter to use in some creative ways to discuss the weekly Torah portion and build relationships, participation and engagement in your congregation online and in person.

May 17, 2012  Return on Engagement:  How to Measure the Impact of Your Socializing
ROI ROI ROI.  We’re always hearing about the return on investment of time, energy and dollars.  How do you measure what something is worth?  Reflecting back on our previous 5 topics, we’ll look at how to measure engagement, why it’s essential for your success, and how focusing on it can be the key for evolving your synagogue to thrive in the networked age.

Interested in learning more about how Jewish organizations can function as networked nonprofits?  Join the conversation in our online book group!

In the field of nonprofit technology, we have another term for these sorts of folks:  The Accidental Techie.  As defined by Webster’s Online Dictionary:

In the field of nonprofit technology, an accidental techie is an individual who has gravitated toward responsibility for an organization’s information technology infrastructure, even though his or her professional training or job description did not include tasks of this kind.

In other words, someone’s filling the void, charting new territory, and becoming a resource for others in their organization.

More often than not, we find the accidental techies in synagogues are the educators.  Today in the last of our 6 part webinar series for NATE and JEA educators, we explored why this is often the case (they love learning curves, rather than being intimidated by them; they are willing to try new things and refresh their approach often; the “new rules of the game” walk in their door every year; and they know technology alone isn’t a silver bullet — the SMARTboard doesn’t educate the student, the teacher does), what their colleagues and organizations actually need, and how it feels to occupy this role.

As social media and other technologies are influencing individuals, society, and business, organizations must evolve the way they conduct their work and communicate with their constituents.  Enter technology.  From data management to communications to customer service.  While few will argue about the importance of these tools, most organizations have not actually made the structural changes to support their use.  One important shift is staffing.  Who has these responsibilities written into their job description?  Who is in charge of listening and engaging community members?  When do you need to move from the occasional IT consultant to someone who has expertise in-house?

In today’s webinar, educators shared the roles they are playing — from IT support to providing in-house trainings, from being the communications “nag” to the “technology advocate”. In some cases participants felt they are swimming upstream in a culture that does not yet recognize the importance or need of these tools and applications, nor recognizes the asset they have in a tech-savvy educator.  In other cases, participants felt that their congregation is in fact very appreciative of the expertise they bring, and are so eager to take advantage of it that they don’t have enough time to do their “real” job.

This is a moment of important evolution.  If you are an accidental technie or positive deviant, please know you’re not alone.  It’s so valuable to hear each others stories, to know what’s working well and where you could use some creative ideas and support from your peers.  How are you problem solving, balancing your various responsibilities, gaining respect and appreciation for this additional role you are playing, and ultimately advancing and maturing your organization?

I invite the NATE and JEA participants — and everyone else — to use the comments on this post as a space for sharing, listening, asking and supporting.

Interested in learning more about accidental techies?

Judi Sohn, from the Colorectal Cancer Coalition, writing on the NTEN blog

Robert Weiner, nonprofit technology consultant, writing on the NTEN blog

Of course, he learned how to ride a bike.  There was a breakthrough moment when he felt the balance, and another when he realized dad had let go for over 10 feet without telling him.  But getting there was not easy, simple, or predictable.  Building the skills he needed did not happen in a linear progression, and he did not get any positive feedback on his progress for 85% of the learning curve.  Ultimately, he learned how to feel his body and feel the bike, and let go of trying to over-think the endeavor.  Now he’s tearing down dirt paths.

It’s not so different learning to be a networked, social media savvy nonprofit.  Sometimes you try and try and nothing happens.  Sometimes you skin your knees a bit, or get frustrated with the equipment, or feel like you don’t even want to practice anymore.   In the Avi Chai Academy, the Jewish Day Schools have just completed a 3 week match campaign through Facebook Causes.  Everyone struggled, everyone learned. Some had their breakthrough moment, and others did not.  So they’ll keep practicing and soon they’ll find their balance just like Eli eventually did on his bike. And when they do, they’ll recognize all sorts of other possibilities now available to them, like mountain biking, and renting bikes on vacation, and entering a triathlon with a friend.

Learning new things is not comfortable.  We’ve all had plenty of practice studying for tests or memorizing facts, but not all learning happens in this bookish-academic-structured way.  Sometimes learning is more fluid — it’s about developing instincts, or rewriting the rules of engagement or the patterns of working that we’re used to.  Social media is not a memorizing-the-facts sort of learning.  It’s more like the feeling the balance of the bike and understanding your center of gravity and the power of shifting your weight sort of learning.

And as my son can tell you, you can expect to crash and burn at least a hundred times before you have your first ah-ha moment.  And that ah-ha moment is just the beginning, it’s not the end.  It’s just that little burst of confidence that you need to persevere to the next stage of learning.

More important than actually learning how to ride a bike was a life lesson Eli learned about perseverance.  Now he knows that he will face challenges and resistance from time to time in life.  He will feel frustration, and it will occur to him that he should just give up.   But now he also knows that if he just keeps at it, the breakthrough moment will eventually come.  Today he asked me if it’s hard to learn how to ride a unicycle.   Oh boy.

Eli’s first solo ride down the block:

And… They’re off!  As you may have heard, the Avi Chai Foundation has gathered a diverse cohort of New York and New Jersey Day Schools to learn about social media tools and strategies, and to support them in developing their own “experiments” to develop their networks, engage with parents and alumni, and ramp up development efforts over the next several months.  After two full workshops, online exchanges and a bit of homework, the teams (2 from each school) are off and running with their project plans.  Or maybe, more accurately we should say that they are playing and experimenting — because this is how we learn.

One thing that I enjoy about this cohort is that they ask great questions. While reading about the four children (Wise, Wicked, Simple and One that does not know how to ask) this year at our Pesach seder, I began thinking about how these archetypes apply to (adult) students of social media.  When teaching about something as new and different as a communications revolution, I see all of these archetypes (and, honestly, I experience all of them myself too).  In the most successful situations, I’ve seen participants progress from one to the next as their openness, comfort, curiosity and enthusiasm grow.  Inspired by the four children in the Haggadah, I offer you four (non-judgemental) archetypes of the social media learner:

The accidental techie comes eager to learn, ready to experiment, and with some solid social media experience under their belt.  They know the tools (largely self-taught), can learn by exploring themselves, and are willing to assume a pioneering role for their organization. Encourage the accidental techie to play a leadership role in the organization, to teach others, and to explain the opportunities and successes taking place that others might miss.  Give them the time and encouragement to continue to explore and innovate online, and make sure they have peers and mentors to support them.

The implementer is concerned with the “how-to” of social media.  This person accepts the responsibility to use the tools in their job, and is developing a skill set to be able to effectively execute this role.  Without an instinctual understanding of social media culture, this person may tend to post only about events, or neglect the need to be listening and engaging online as well as speaking.  An early stage implementer applies the old paradigm social norms to the new paradigm spaces.  An advanced implementer has learned these skills and they are on the verge of becoming instinctual and natural as he or she develops this “fluency” – it’s not unlike learning a language.  Continue to point out to this person the idiosyncrasies that take their work from good to great.

The deer-in-headlights is the one who doesn’t know how to ask.   While  they may be overwhelmed and feel like a fish out of water, this person is curious and listening. This person needs to know that there are no stupid questions – that we are all learning all the time, and that the rate of change is in fact ridiculously fast.  Make sure this participant realizes that they are not alone (most of the room feels this way too!) and help them to feel confidence and success in at least a few places.  Celebrate the small successes, and guide them to focus on a small number of basic tasks in order to develop their own foundation from which they can play and experiment.

The nay-sayer resists acknowledging that communications revolution applies to their work.  They are often heard saying, “We’ve always done it this way and it’s working just fine,” or “Our community doesn’t use these things.”  The nay-sayer is often scared of change (aren’t we all?) and finds it safer and easier to deny the influence of social media tools and culture on their work than to wrestle with the inevitable questions and issues that we all must face. The best way to engage the nay-sayer is to help them see the value of these tools personally (“oh, photos of my grandson on Facebook!  This is great!” or “Wow, someone volunteered to bring snack to the soccer game in 3 minutes – that’s incredible!”) before considering how to apply them to their professional work.

The participants in the Academy are largely the first two archetypes.  They are eager, curious, and are asking deep, meaningful, and profound questions.  Some are “implementer” questions (How can we upload a video of students that we can link to for parents without making it publicly available?); some are more strategic (Should we have multiple Facebook Pages for Lower, Middle and High schools, and another for alumni, or should we consolidate into one Page?); and others are philosophical or ethical (How can we model and teach responsible online behavior for our students when we’re not in control of what people post on our wall? Should we condone use of social media when this can lead to gossip or slander?).  I know that as they begin the implement their projects, the questions will become more frequent and more fascinating.  They are keeping me on my toes, and I love it!

On May 5^th we’ll conduct our third full day workshop.  Their toolboxes will be full, their goals articulated, and coaches holding their hands for the next important phase of this experience – putting it into practice.  As each school team embarks on developing their project, we’ll be learning together, reflecting and revising, and sharing with each other and with you as well.    Stay tuned.  We may have questions for you.

In the meantime, take a moment to reflect on which archetype you are.  What defines your current experience with and feelings about social media either personally or professionally?  What do you need to move from one stage to the next?

And slides from today:

While I’m quite excited about the projects that have been awarded funding, I’m even more excited about the broader impact that this fund has had on established organizations, entrepreneurs, and funders alike.  Having worked to advance the Jewish community’s use of digital media for over 10 years now (wow, that went fast), I can see that even the announcement of the Fund changed the conversations among staff and lay leaders throughout the Jewish community.  While a social media and mobile strategy might have been pushed to the bottom of the agenda over and over again, the Jewish New Media Innovation Fund forced them to put it at the top of the agenda, and to think about it strategically, not just tactically.  Regardless of whether or not these ideas were funded today, providing an incentive, structure and time line I’m sure has deepened and advanced the work of many applicants.

It’s also important to note that the criteria used to evaluate the proposals has an impact beyond the short term decision making about fund allocation.  For example, one requirement was that the projects would be able to launch or achieve results within 12 months.  While in some cases this felt like a really compressed time line, the reality is that we are all in a permanent beta mode — we have to throw ideas against the wall, assess their effectiveness, and continue to refine over time.  If you’re spending more than a year putting it together, either the idea wasn’t sufficiently thought out to begin with, or you’re not prepared to develop in an agile and iterative process.

The fund also set a priority on innovation – though the term was fairly broadly defined. In many cases, I think the made applicants really think beyond the obvious.  I was impressed by how many applications viewed their mission through a new lens as they developed their applications.  While the technology employed may not have been so “innovative” and new, the ways that they were thinking about their work clearly were.  Kol hakavod to those that busted through the walls of their buildings, put the freedom of exploration in the hands of their users, and researched technologies, platforms and models outside of their immediate sphere of influence, or even their comfort zones.

There are many more lessons to be learned from the applicant pool, process, and over time, the outcomes of the projects funded.  Regardless of who receives a check, this Fund was a tremendous gift to our community.  I hope that those who used the opportunity to think in new and deeper and riskier ways will still find inspiration and value from the process, and will resolve to continue to take action on these ideas by incorporating these costs into their operating budget where appropriate, writing other grants, and seeking the support of other funders – foundations and individuals – who also recognize that these tools, ideas and approaches are critical to our communal future.

Are you an applicant to the #JNMIF who didn’t get your project funded this round?  How are you going to proceed with this work?  What non-financial assistance do you need?  Leave your thoughts in the comments.

One Forty to the rescue!  Laura Fitton (@pistachio) runs this smart “Social Business Software Hub”, which recently blogged 5 Common Twitter Mistakes and How to Fix Them.  It’s worth reading.  I’ll share the fifth one with you here, since it’s a juicy factoid I’m betting many people are curious about:

@ vs. .@ The way that Twitter is constructed, only people that also follow whoever you are @replying can see that @reply. Sometimes, people will start a Tweet with @ when it’s not intended to be an @reply, though. For instance,  ”@CNN’s coverage of the Egyptian riots….” If you Tweeted that, only your followers that follow @CNN will see that Tweet in their timeline.

HOW TO FIX: Want everyone to see those Tweets? Use the .@ trick: stick a period in front of the @ sign and it’ll send the Tweet into the main Twitter stream for all to enjoy.

See? Simple and brilliant explanation.  Now go check out their blog for many more.

.@y’all, see you on Twitter!