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?

Last week BBYO announced the launch of what I believe is an exciting, inventive tool available to engage teens in a meaningful Shabbat experience: Build a Prayer.  As a free, online tool the site is designed to connect youth with prayer and Shabbat like never before by allowing them to build and customize their own service.

At BBYO, I constantly see teens, advisors and staff members using unique spaces and creativity to offer relevant, powerful Shabbat services, a unique challenge since most teens have only experience services within their synagogue. This challenge is only made more difficult by the fact that most teens aren’t comfortable in a traditional siddur – they don’t know where services start and end, what to include, or what is “safe” to leave out.

To meet that need (and often times to save money), these worship services are typically guided by a teen-designed collection of songs, poetry and prayers that is compiled through an effort of photocopying, cutting and pasting together old song sheets and prayer book passages. As an organization, we saw the need to provide Jewish teens with an accessible place to explore prayer and its meanings – doing it online also happens to save some glue.

What makes this site so exciting is that it brings thousands-of-years-old prayers into a modern day realm that teens relate to. It is streamlined and easy to use. In a few clicks of a button, teens have a complete service in front of them in which they feel some much needed connections. While not every teen feels comfortable finding their way in a traditional siddur, Build a Prayer allows teens to put together a basic Shabbat service in a space they can easily navigate.

The site is designed for teens, educators, camp counselors, youth group advisors, JCC professionals, chavurah leaders – basically, anyone who is interested in putting together a Shabbat service in a formal or informal setting.  The site allows Hebrew, English and/or transliterated text to be compiled with one’s own pictures, prayers or poetry toward the creation of a custom “Prayer Service” which can be printed and used anywhere.

With help from www.myjewishlearning.org and a series of videos, users can learn more about the traditions and tunes behind specific prayers.  Additionally, a content library holds creative elements from individual prayer services as they are created.  Because this is an online resource, people can collaborate on the development of each service and comment on them once they are placed in the Build a Prayer library.

While recent studies show that participation in traditional religious experiences decline during the teen years, the desire to connect spiritually on one’s own terms remains strong.  Build a Prayer is another resource we are offering the Jewish community as a way to better connect with Jewish teens. Organizations looking to reach the teen audience should look at this as a tool to literally bring prayer to life.

Matt Grossman is the Executive Director of BBYO.  He began his career at Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life. Matt is also a member of the Darim Online board of directors.  Matt currently lives in Washington, DC where he works at BBYO’s international headquarters.

It’s the season of inclement weather closings. The time tested ways of notifying families of school closings, announcing it through the radio, tv, and a weather closing phone line, produce mixed results. An issue remained: families had to consider that the school might be closed to think to check in with these information sources. At our school, a sudden unexpected flood meant those with flooding basements thought to check if the school was impacted, but those on higher ground went on with their usual routine, never considering that the school might be closed.

A little voice rang in my head: Go to your audience.

With the traditional systems, families had to come to us.  How could we get the information straight to them? Email notifications helped, but with children to feed and dress, lunches to pack, and that pesky missing shoe to find, so many families keep the computer off during the early morning hours. Email again requires your audience to come to you. I considered a phone alert system, like those used by politicians, but they were expensive, requiring monthly subscriptions. And not everyone appreciates a 6am wake up call.

Text messaging to the rescue! Now parents receive a text message on their cell phones the instant the decision is made. We still maintain the traditional notification systems, but the text alert gets by far the most praise. From the parents’ prospective, it is direct and simple, and comes straight to them.  The information in on hand the moment they wake up.  For many they get the text before they go to bed, and can start planning accordingly for the next day.  From an administrative prospective, it is easy to use, time efficient, and at 2-5 cents per message, depending on the type of message and the plan you choose, quite affordable.

Sample text messages from this unseasonably snowy winter.

So those childhood memories of sitting by the radio, waiting as lists of school closings were announced are no longer. An easier way has finally arrived.
How to get started:

1. There are many text messaging alert options out there. We chose Ez Texting http://www.eztexting.com/
2. Sign up now. Don’t wait until you need to send a message. Advance preparations are critical.
3. Allow families to opt out. Some phone plans charge for text messages, so not everyone will want to be notified this way. We offered the chance to opt out in our weekly school newsletter and out of 130 people, we had 6 choose to opt out.
4. Consider your groups. In our case, there may be times we will want to notify just teachers of an emergency schedule change.
5. Load the cell numbers onto the site, grouping as appropriate.
6. Purchase credits.
7. When you are ready to send a message, simply log in, type your message (the number of characters is limited, so keep it short), and hit send.

And remember to add a cell phone field to every registration form, so you have the information to use.

As Facebook and Twitter have become so mainstream, and friending so casual, our rolls of friends and followers have grown extensive.  Maybe too extensive.  Just at that time when we’re trying to manage our precious time and sort through reams of content to find the gems, it is our own “friends” weighing us down.   Dunbar proposed that any individual could really only have 150 stable social relationships at any given time.  Others propose that with tools such as Facebook we can manage higher numbers.  In a recent update, Facebook set the number of people to show up in your news feed to 250 (which you can change).  While it may be true that our maximum number is far over Dunbar’s 150, many people are starting to approach their limit and are pruning their social network gardens.

There are two things you should be thinking about:

1. How should I pare my friends and people I’m following to get the most bang for my social-media-hour-buck?
2. How are other people making decisions about paring their lists, and how should I position myself to stay on the friends list of those I care about?  (note: you may not care about all of them)

How you answer these questions will depend on your business, your brand, your audience, your goals, and how you have been using these tools.  People want value (which can be information, insight, humor, etc.).  People also want to be talked with, not talked at.

One of the challenges is that when you’ve mixed company in your friend or follower list, there’s not one clear value proposition.  For example, family wants pics of your kids, college friends want to know what you’re reading, business colleagues want professional insights, customers/clients/members want meaty information and connection.  You cannot please all of the people all of the time.

Some people have dealt with this by creating multiple profiles — in some cases with hard lines (members of the congregation can befriend a staff person here but not there), and in some cases much softer lines (e.g. I tweet about Jewish social media  and innovation at @darimonline, and I tweet personally about kids, chickens, music and other things at @lisacolton) where you’re welcome to friend or follow in both places, but at least you know what you’re getting (or as the writer, what you’re giving) with greater specificity.

I predict that the next waves of functionality and privacy updates from Facebook and Twitter will offer greater control over sorting these groups (they’ve already begun), targeting content to this group or that, and being able to hide or categorize friends and followers with greater ease to create customized feeds (how cool would it be to login to Facebook at work and see only updates from professional colleagues, and get home and login to see updates only from friends and family?).

In the meantime, put these on your to-do list:

1. Be educated about privacy and friend list categorization opportunities on Facebook.  There’s more control there than you probably realize or use.
2. Set up friend lists, and each time you accept a new friend, add them to a list.  When you use your settings you’ll be able to count on knowing who’s getting what info.  See a tutorial here.
3. Be aware that the functionality, policies, and culture of these tools will continue to adapt and change, so adopt a nimble stance (modern “sea legs”) and keep educating yourself.
4. Think about how you can talk with your community, not just talk at them.  Experts suggest a ratio of 1:12 (or even 1:20) — for every one self-promoting post (”come to our young adults event Tues evening…”) you should add value 12 times.  What value can you offer?  What questions can you ask to tap into your community? What conversations are happening related to your work and how can you participate?  And don’t forget to LISTEN.
5. Discuss among staff how people are managing these issues.  There may be creative ideas, and you may or may not want to have everyone on the same page and taking the same approach.  Either way, staff should be aware of expectations as employees if they are engaging with members, prospects, board members or donors.  You should consider drafting a social media policy or guidelines, or revisiting to existing policies.  See info here from Wild Apricot and info here from Beth Kanter and sample policies here.

How are you identifying what your target audiences want to hear, learn and discuss?  How are you thinking about what to post and/or tweet?  Where are you adding value and growing your online community?  How will you know if people and dropping out and why?

To kick us off, mobile mobile mobile.   Everybody’s got a phone in their pocket, and increasingly it’s a pretty intelligent one.  The iPhone, Blackberry, Android and others are taking over the market, and shaking up the status quo.  Assume that people are looking for and engaging with you while on the go, not just while sitting at their desk.

Some things to know:

1. Compose your emails for easy reading on a mobile device. Send a test and check it out on a Blackberry and iPhone.  Some Blackberry users are reporting a lack of patience with graphic emails because it takes too much time to wade through.  “Give me the bullet points and important information straight up and in brief” seems to be the attitude.
2. Start learning about fundraising via mobile. I just made my first donation by text message to a radio show I love, This American Life, when I saw a tweet.  $5 went on my AT&T bill. So easy!  Check out http://www.mobilegiving.org/ to see how they do it.  Sophist Productions has been hosting events (a UJA Young Leadership cocktail party, for example) where people “text to pledge” their donation, and pledges are projected on the wall. Yes, it is a new world.  And it works.  Read more here on text-to-give programs.
3. Redesigning or tuning up your website?  Make sure you’ve got a mobile friendly version. Check out a Google tool here to see what your web site can look like on a mobile browser. Beth Kanter iPhone-ized her blog with an easy $200 IPhone app tool.  Learn about it here.
4. Twitter was conceived of, and largely used as a mobile tool. Thus, don’t neglect this community when you are putting together a mobile strategy.

Want to learn more?

http://mobileactive.org/ is a great org with useful resources and a discussion list on how nonprofits are using mobile in their work.

http://www.mobilecommons.com/ offers services for marketing, advocacy and fundraising via mobile (and thanks to Mobile Commons for donating their services for our Boot Camps)

http://www.mobilecitizen.org/ has excellent resources for mobile use in education and nonprofits.

Great resources from Wild Apricot: Is Your Nonprofit Website Mobile-Friendly?

Examples of cool, mission-centric mobile uses from nonprofits, on Beth Kanter’s Blog

We invite you to try a new approach to Torah study, community building, and perhaps even sermon writing in your congregation, The Social Sermon,  an idea comes from acknowledging three things:

1) That many people can’t get to the synagogue for a lunch or evening Torah study class, but that doesn’t mean that they aren’t interested;
2) That people want the social experience of learning, not just passive reading or listening to a lecture, and that connection through learning enriches a local community; and
3) Social technologies can be a wonderful tool to enrich and augment Torah learning in local communities.

Imagine a Saturday morning sermon that’s the work of not only your rabbi, but you as well. Let’s take it a step further: what if it weren’t just you and your rabbi, but also your fellow congregants, young and old, those new to the community and the stalwarts of your city?  By the time your rabbi delivers his Shabbat remarks, he or she could be drawing inspiration from, or even representing the discussion of, hundreds of his congregants!

What does The Social Sermon look like? At the beginning of the week a Rabbi posts a question on his or her blog, or on Twitter with a particular hashtag (e.g. #CBSSS for Congregation Beth Shalom Social Sermon), or as a Facebook post on the congregation’s Page.   The first post would describe a theme of the parasha, or link to some text, and at the end, pose a question.

As comments and responses start to be posted, the Rabbi then facilitates an ongoing conversation through the week — responding regularly with insight, text, links, answers to questions, and more questions to guide the discussion.

By the end of the week, several things will have happened:

• New people are engaged in Torah study.  Likely a portion of the online participants are a demographic that doesn’t often come to mid-day or evenig adult education classes. (On-site classes – adult and youth – can also participate);
• Participants will have formed new relationships through the online discussion, perhaps following each other on Twitter, friending each other on Facebook, etc. which leads to ambient awareness, thus strengthening your community;
• The Rabbi will have a better understand of what aspects of the parasha resonate with the community, and be able to design a Shabbat sermon that is the most relevant for the congregation, and will have ideas, quotes, context to make the sermon even more rich; and
• More people may show up for Shabbat services, feeling more educated, connected and like they have some ownership over the sermon that week.

And for those that missed the service, they could read it the next day when the rabbi posts the sermon back on the blog or web site, with a link on Twitter and/or Facebook.

Interested?  Use the SocialSermon tag on this blog to find posts about the Social Sermon, and for case studies and guest posts from Rabbis and educators who are doing it.  Follow #socialsermon on Twitter for updates, links to these blog posts, and to connect with others who are doing it.  Join us on Facebook to be connected others who are doing Social Sermons and get important news.

Feel free to adapt the concept — a confirmation class could do this throughout the week between class meetings, a youth group could do it with their adviser or a parent facilitator.  Please report back and let us know how it’s going, and what you’re doing.  Please let us know if we can help you at any stage – leave a comment here, or any other space mentioned above.

Want more “hand holding”?  Darim offers hourly consulting, and we are working with interested Social Sermoners to find funding from a donor or Federation small grants program to work with a group of Rabbis in your local community.  Holler if you’d like more information.

Ready, Set…. Social Sermon!

I often remind those concerned that control is largely an illusion — those rants and  conversations happen in the parking lot, the dinner table, via email and on Facebook.  The companies that have done a great job of turning around their brands (Comcast, Dell) have done so not be trying to shut down the conversation or ignoring it, but by listening, acknowledging, and learning from it.  (For stories about what they’ve done, read Twitterville.)

Chris Brogan, a widely known and well respects new media marketing specialist, writes a very prolific (and insightful) blog and weekly e-newsletter.  This week he talks about critics, and offers some advice :

If you are fortunate enough to have critics, you’re doing something right … I want to share with you how I deal with critics, and what you might learn from the gifts they give you.

Thank them. No matter what a critic says, say “Thanks for your thoughts,” or a variation. They have taken the time to offer their opinions, however invalid or unhelpful, with you. Say thanks. It’s the only good response to a criticism.
Don’t defend yourself. The person giving you the opinion probably doesn’t care what you have to say about it. They just wanted to share their take. You can reply and reflect back what they’ve said, but try not to defend. It only comes off as making you look defensive and it just goes nowhere fast.
Decide for yourself, in private, if you agree. You don’t have to take every critic’s opinion, but listen to whether there’s any grain of truth in what they say. I learn when my critics are my friends, but I learn LOTS when they are people who don’t much like me. Sometimes, I’m able to adapt their mean words into something of great value to myself.
Don’t just throw it out, is my point. Criticism can be helpful, even non-constructive criticism, if you are willing to hear a bit of it and throw away the junk. Thing is, don’t necessarily run around seeking it, either. It can build up like toxin in our veins, and if we’re only hearing a stream of icky things, that doesn’t help us at all.

… It took me a long while to believe in myself enough to not believe in critics. There’s a great bit from an interview (and I forget who the subject was), where she said something about really loving her positive reviews, but then her agent said, if you believe all the positive reviews, you have to believe all the negative critics. That’s stuck with me.

Personally, I’ve found most of the criticism we receive on the JewPoint0.org blog is really helpful — it teaches me where I can improve, adds value to the conversation, and often helps me identify knowledgeable folks who are invested in our mission.

How do you think about critics and criticism, whether it be on or offline?  How do you use it as a productive feedback loop?  How to you respond to critics? What have you learned?

Unlike Abraham, Moses and Madonna, our organizations cannot simply go by just a one-word name. With all of the information on the Internet, it is helpful to be more exact.

In the organized Jewish community in particular, in which names often include similar terms, such as United, Jewish, American, Israel, Friends and Community, it is easy for organizations to be confused with one another.

For example, check out this search for “Temple Sinai” on Facebook:

Between Fan Pages, People and Groups, “Temple Sinai” yields more than 200 results! Imagine a member or prospect looking for you on Facebook—they are not going to sort through 500 possibilities hunting for the right one, so plan your name so they can find you with ease. Take a look at the results for groups with Temple Sinai in the name:

Try “Jewish, Boston.” Again, there are more than 200 results.

“American, Jewish” yields more than 2,000 results!

Because so many people and institutions are on Facebook, it is so sticky and thus so useful. But you have to be strategic to be successful in this crowded space. Choosing the right name is a critical first step.

Tips for Choosing a Name

Keep it Simple, Sorta

A name should be specific, but it should also be simple. When picking the name for your Page, make sure to balance the simple (“Temple Sinai”) with the specific (“Temple Sinai of Brookline”).

Acronyms and the ABCs of Jewish Organizations

Sometimes when you are working at your organization, things seem really obvious, like going by your acronym. Do people know you by your acronym or by your full name? Consider how people might search for you. Perhaps using your full name, followed by your acronym after a dash or in parentheses. This way the organization can be found by name and by acronym.

For example:

• The Jewish National Fund, popularly known as JNF, goes by “Jewish National Fund” on its Page.
• BBYO goes only by its acronym on its Page. Notice that regional affiliates of BBYO each have a more specific name; for instance, Boulder BBYO.
• AIPAC goes by both its acronym and its full name, “AIPAC – The American Israel Public Affairs Committee,” on its Page.

Let Your Fans Know What You Are Doing

Even with a specific name, you will want to make sure your name reflects who your Page is for. If your Page is a hub for all your members, then a simple name followed by the community name might be perfect. But if your Page is for a specific aspect of your organization, like the social action division or the young leadership committee, you may want to incorporate that into the name as well.

Examples of Pages with specific names:

• TID @ Sinai Temple – Young Jewish Prof. Group (ages 21-39)
• Beth Sholom Synagogue – Memphis, TN

Broadcasting Your Name in Big, Shining Light

Bonus! Facebook now allows you to have a distinct URL for your Page. For example, www.facebook.com/darimonline will take you directly to Darim’s Page. After you have your Page set up, you can register your direct address under the settings. Direct URLs for Pages, however, is limited to Pages with at least 100 fans. When you create your page, you cannot transfer ownership, and you can only post as the PAGE, not as YOU personally. Read more here at Tech for Luddites.
What did you decide to name your Page? Leave us a comment with a link to your Page as an example for the JewPoint0 community.

ReadWriteWeb

The mega-video site is partnering with Videomaker magazine to offer free webinars on topics of interest to the would-be iJustines and Ask A Ninjas of the world. Topics will cover how to shop for a video camera, microphone techniques, lighting and all the basics of shooting palatable online video content.

According to the See3 blog, See What’s Out There, online video’ experienced a rapid rise in popularity and use because:

1. US broadband penetration has now grown to 63%.

2. As the medium has evolved, support has come forth to stabilize online video formats.

3. The low cost Flip video camera and other new technology is democratizing video making.

While a picture might be worth 1000 words, a 3 minute video is worth (at least 30 frames per second x 60 seconds x 3 minutes =) 5,400,000 words.  Now that’s impact.  Potentially.

A lot can go wrong with your seemingly powerful online video.  And crappy videos are, well crappy.  And don’t hold a viewer’s attention, and don’t usually translate into action or support for your organization.  To help you do it right, YouTube is partnering with Videomaker magazine to offer a series of free skill building webinars on topics such as CHoosing the right camera, lighting and filtering, microphone techniques, the art of composition and handheld camera techniques. You can vote on the topics you want to have offered, and submit your own ideas and discuss common issues.

The first seminar will focus on “Basic Shooting Techniques” and is scheduled for October 27, 2009, at 2 p.m. PT / 5 p.m. ET. Click here to register.

You can also learn more about online video from See3’s Guide to Online Video, presented in, what else? Online video: http://www.see3.net/guide/

• A name
• A Picture
• Basic Information
• A Wall where you or others (if you allow them) can post notes, photos, links, comments and more
• Applications to your page including the Causes App, which directs fans to make a donation directly to your charity, and
• A News Feed

The news feed is really important because it allows the followers of your page to keep up with you without having to come to your page over and over. This is one of the key differences between pages and Facebook groups. In other words, the information in a page’s news feed goes directly to your fans rather than waits for your fans to come to it.

Example of a Temple Emanu-El’s news feed from its page:

Notice how Darim’s most recent post shows up on the home page of a follower mixed in with updates from other friends:

Because on a user’s homepage your organization is appearing among friends and other pages, it’s important your posts stand out with compelling and valuable content. For example, your organization can use its news feed to post interesting articles on the web, events that are happening in the community, etc., in addition to promoting yourself.

Before you create your page, it may be helpful to explore other nonprofit Pages on Facebook. If you have a favorite nonprofit page on Facebook, please leave a link to it in the comments section with why you like it.

While you are looking at the pages consider:

• Who the organization is trying to reach out to?
• What are the messages the organization is communicating?
• How does the Page amplify and support the organization’s other media or web presences?
• How often is the Page updated?

Over the next series of posts on JewPoint0, we will lead you through some of the main opportunities you have in creating a Page. In the meantime you may want to check out Facebook’s short tutorial and step-by-step guide on creating a page at www.facebook.com/pages. Also, if you have any questions or comments feel free to post in the comments section by clicking in the link above. You could also tweet a question to @DarimOnline.

Strut your Stuff

• Do you have a Fan Page? Feel free to post a link to it in the discussion section so we can all learn from your example!
• There are many resources on the web about Facebook pages. Here are a few links to get you started. Try visiting Rachel Levy’s blog, Beth Kanter’s or Jeremy Owyang’s for more information about Fan Pages.
• Stay tuned to JewPoint0, as we post tips on picking a name for your page, choosing a picture, what information to include and how to generate compelling content.