Chances are you’ve heard the expression “big” data. And chances are, your organization is excited about the prospect.

But before you make a large investment in big data, have you exhausted everything that “small” data can do for you?

There are a lot of varying definitions of big (and small) data. The results of either should lead to segmenting and optimizing. The difference is how much. If you haven’t been doing that all along, you may not be ready for big data.

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Return on Investment (ROI) is everywhere these days, and this is one buzzword I can embrace. It answers the age-old question “Is it worth it?” It is so important that yours truly and Beaconfire CEO Lynn Labieniec hosted an entire discussion around it at this year’s Nonprofit Technology Conference.

Ever since ROI entered the nonprofit tech vernacular, we, as consultants, are often asked “Can you quickly tell us the ROI of fill-in-the-blank.”

The answer, sadly, is no. It’s tough, if not impossible, to determine what the ROI of anything without first knowing the “R” and the “I”.

So how would you answer the question “Can you tell us the ROI of social media?”

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The weather in DC is anything but predictable, so when the temperature rose before Spring had officially sprung, all I wanted to do was get outside and enjoy it.

Unfortunately, this little thing called “work” was getting in the way. That’s when I remembered the infamous West Wing “Walk and Talk.” Are you familiar?

The cast of the West Wing television show got some of their best work done while they were powerwalking the halls of the White House. On occasion, an assistant would take notes of pressing questions that came out of a press briefing, or meetings to be scheduled immediately with so-and-so’s office before a vote that afternoon, but mostly they were just talks about issues of the day, how to solve problems, or a simple change to catch up. And on this perfectly beautiful late-winter day, I jumped at the opportunity to do a walk-and-talk of my own.

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I know this SxSW 2013 wrap up is a tad belated since the show ended over three weeks ago but give me a break. I’m still in denial. Or maybe I’m just emerging from a BBQ induced coma. Either way, wow. Yeah. That happened.

For an event that takes 10+ months to put together, the 5 days of The Beacon Lounge at SxSW Interactive always goes by crazy fast. Seems like one minute we’re hanging banners and running extension cords, and the next we are blowing the doors off the joint during Happy Hour.

Between the thought provoking discussions that unfolded on our stage, all the tasty nibbles/beverages, and the constant flow of dynamic folks who flopped in our beanbag chairs and shared their smart with us, I think its safe to say that the 5th Year of the Beacon Lounge was our best yet. And according to AdWeek, a good chunk of you all would agree. The Beacon was the 2nd most buzzed about lounge at SxSW Interactive. (Is it wrong to be psyched that we beat out The Samsung Blogger lounge? No? Good.)

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Project Managers may have something to learn from the Easter Bunny.

It can be a constant challenge to motivate people and keep them engaged.  After a while, the many emails, bug tickets, tasks, and meeting requests from the Project Manager can easily become white noise.  Recently one of our Project Managers did something brilliant – hiding an Easter egg in an internal project team email to see if anyone was actually paying attention.  Toward the end of a long project update email, the “Easter egg” looked like this (but not highlighted, of course):

The prize was a bar of fancy dark chocolate.  Starbucks coffee or free lunch could work too (our office is highly motivated by food).

These kinds of experiments could be a nice addition to a Project Manager’s bag of tricks… or basket.

If there is one thing that makes me want to hurl large boulders while screaming “EVE, SMASH” it’s when someone blithely says, “Branding isn’t so hard”. Seriously? Have you seen the Republican Party lately? Talk about underestimating the power of brand. (Although I’ll admit a teensy weensy little bit of Schadenfreude witnessing their self-immolation).

Deep down, we all know that it takes more than a copy of Illustrator to create a lasting and effective brand, right? (cuz your brand isn’t your logo, right? Of course, right.) I mean, come on. You wouldn’t hire a neighborhood kid to rewire your house just to save a buck. Oh, really? Huh. Sorry to hear that your house blew up. I thought you were just remodeling.

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Being a successful project manager goes beyond learning what needs to be done to keep a project moving.  There are personality traits that match up well to this role or career choice.  What are these traits?  The Beaconfire project and client managers discussed Leadership and Decision-Making in our previous post  – this week we will focus on:

Organization and the ability to Multitask

Amanda: A successful project manager can pay attention to details and the big picture simultaneously.

Jeff: There is a bunch of stuff a PM needs to be on top of, keep organized, keep moving. (budgets, schedules, tasks, etc). Creating and managing the project plan is only part of what makes a successful PM, but it is critical.

Russ: Know and Manage Tasks: Track tasks at the micro level, while always having the macro level impacts in mind (flexibility and hawk-eye view here is critical). A lot of things change after a project has been defined, and a good PM will be able to help navigate the project/team/client through these changes.

Andy: I would argue that the most important trait of an exceptional project manager is intestinal fortitude. The nature of managing the complexities of a project with diverse internal, client, and vendor teams, and the ubiquity of challenges (foreseen and unforeseen), makes project managers the crux of tension and conflict. A stellar project manager will not crack in the face of irksome tasks, weighty responsibilities, untenable demands, stressed team members, or concerned clients.

Ashleigh: I think one of the most important traits is the ability to effectively multitask. The role of the project manager is to keep all of the pieces moving, keep track of them, assist team members, etc, which requires the skill to know these pieces, not be frazzled, and be proactive about time management.

Rob: Be a Good Organizer: Let’s just think of the aspects you will need to organize; project filing including all documentation, contracts, e-mails, memo’s, reviews, meetings, specialist documents, requirements and specifications, reports, changes, issues, risks, etc.

Have we missed any?  What traits do you feel make a successful project manager?

Hey look, over there, did you see it? Was that… Could it be… The UX unicorn?

The UX unicorn is a rare creature, indeed. Passionate about the user and their needs, the unicorn is the advocate for the user in throughout the design / build process. The unicorn doesn’t just organize and structure sites so users can accomplish tasks, they create delightful, engaging experiences.  The unicorn knows what content users will want when and where and how they’ll want to access it: phone, tablet, or desktop. And the sparkles on the top? Unicorns make sure it looks fantastic and works effortlessly.

Yes, many seek the UX unicorn. Some search for ages without even catching a glimpse of one. You, my friend, are an exception. At Beaconfire, you have found a UX unicorn.

Beaconfire approaches user experience collaboratively – drawing in the very best skills and expertise to help nonprofits and social enterprises accomplish great things on the web.

If you’re looking to create an innovative and engaging experience that serves the social good, check out Beaconfire or drop a note to the UX Unicorn.

Note: Reprinted from The Huffington Post. Beaconfire is the creator of The Beacon Lounge at SxSW Interactive.

Brace yourself. For the next few weeks it will be impossible to turn your head in the media without seeing a story featuring 4 little letters – SxSW. So here’s what I’m gonna do. Write another one, but with a challenge: You will all make SxSW 2013 the year of Social Good. Yup, I’m totally serious. No, I haven’t started on the tequila yet. Just hear me out.

Since its genesis in 1994, the South by Southwest Interactive festival (SxSW-i) has evolved from the horn-rimmed redheaded stepchild of a successful music festival into a massive international event that draws thousands to Austin every March. For those who have never been, let me attempt to describe the SxSW-i experience (or what I call it, Geek Spring Break). Take your brain, stuff it full of innovative thinking, new technology mashups, and the insight from the smartest people you’ve ever seen in one place. Then douse it liberally in free beer, wrap it in a tortilla, and set it on fire. Everyday. For 5 days.

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SxSW Interactive is in less than 3 weeks (where did the time go?) and the big question is: will we see YOU there?

Over here at Beaconfire HQ, we can’t wait to hang out with all you do-gooding Geekerati in The Beacon Lounge, where you can network with cause-conscious folk, catch up on your email, grab a beer, or just rest your weary feet and catch your breath.

This year, in addition to hanging our awesome Beaconfire team in The Beacon, you’ll also get meet some amazing Nptech rockstars/nptech twitter crushes. To get everyone fired up for SxSW, we have partnered with the fab folks at Groupon Grassroots to produce a blog series – “PhilanthroTech: Making a Difference the the Digital World”. The superstar contributors – like Amy Sample Ward of NTEN, Robert Rosenthal of VolunteerMatch, Danielle Brigida of The National Wildlife Federation, Wendy Harman of The Red Cross, Carie Lewis of The Humane Society, Derrick Feldman from the Millennial Impact Report, and David Neff from PwC- will all be spending time in The Beacon Lounge, and dying to talk with you about how technology is changing our sector for the better. You could even grab dinner with one of them, thanks to Groupon. (Details to come)

If all that’s not enough to whet your whistle, what about connecting with like-minds over daily breakfasts, snacks and happy hours (while listening to some awesome live music to benefit Sweet Relief Musicians Fund.)

To learn even more about The Beacon Lounge, head over to www.beaconfire.com/thebeaconsxsw and sign up to “Join the club” to stay in the loop about the latest Beacon Lounge events & news. You can also follow us @Beaconfire.

We can’t wait to see all of you in Austin!

Being a successful project manager goes beyond learning what needs to be done to keep a project moving.  There are personality traits that match up well to this role or career choice.  What are these traits? The Beaconfire project and client managers discussed Communication last week – this week we will focus on:

LEADERSHIP AND DECISION MAKING

Kesah Schmitt: An important quality of an effective PM is the ability to make sound decisions in a timely matter.  PMs are both responsible for and expected to make both major and minor decisions on a regular basis and often right on the spot.  This requires that PMs stay informed and educated, are able to quickly process information and think on their feet, and be confident (in a modest manner).  After a decision is made, a good PM knows how to stick to their guns to make things happen, but is also able to identify when they need to take a step back and re-evaluate the situation.

Amanda O’Malley:  Project Managers shouldn’t throw their team members under the bus.  If a client is upset, the PM should man the gate and take responsibility.  PMs also need to recognize when change needs to happen in a project, but is able to push back if changes are truly unrealistic or may harm the outcome of the project.

Jeff Herron: Project Management is leadership. It is the ability take all of the information, tasks, plans, staff, skills, client expectations and lead the team (internal and external) to the finish line and meeting the goals.  Great PMs need to be a ‘force’ that can really influence the behavior of team members, manage the clients expectations and deal with the realities that exist and get it done.

Cara Ferraro: A Project manager needs to lead the team through difficult decisions – they need to be able to gather input from team members, recognize when additional inputs are needed and make decisions that are in the best interest of the overall project.

Next Up: Organization and Multitasking!

Being a successful project manager goes beyond learning what needs to be done to keep a project moving.  There are personality traits that match up well to this role or career choice.  What are these traits?  I asked the Beaconfire project and client managers what they felt was the most important trait of a successful project manager – Their responses were not only on target but also too expansive to fit into one blog post – so begins a series!

EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION

Sara Franco:  Flexibility of communication styles. A PM needs to communicate with the entire internal team, hosting companies, the client team, etc.  Each person has their own communication style, personality and skill set. It’s important that a PM adjusts their communication style to ensure everyone is on the same page– for instance, understand where a software developer is coming from and understand a designer’s perspective and bridge any gaps. Then condense the whole picture and discuss any questions or summaries with the client.

Lisa Kaneff:  Tuned into communication preferences, and makes accommodations as is feasible to communicate with teammates as they prefer to be communicated with. Sure, we can’t accommodate every one all the time, but if we know for a fact a certain person needs very clear, specific guidelines vs. someone who can take general direction and run with it that’s important. Or, if we know we need to send tickets for everything, vs. put everything in one ticket – also good to know. It’s also important to let them know how best to communicate, as well. Sometimes it’s important based on the project to check in as soon as a ticket is wrapped up – other times, a quick once a day check in works, too.   Communication is absolutely key so people don’t waste time and everything is as efficient as possible.

Russ Chettiar:  You don’t have to be an orator, but proactive and persistent communication (both written & oral) is key. And good public speaking skills are handy. Also, communication to convey urgency OR calm nerves, as required.

Jon Thompson: Ability to appropriately shelter or expose your team to issues that come up in a way that improves performance over time.  A good PM passes on the intel that helps the team, and finds different ways of packaging negative feedback in a way that focuses and uplifts team members to do better.  But in order to do that well, you have to know the personalities of the people on your team and customize what you pass along based upon what those individuals will respond best to.

Amanda O’Malley: PMs sometimes play the role of therapist to stressed team members – it may take a few extra minutes of your day, but listening to a person and letting them know you understand why they are stressed and offering help or just an ear for the venting may be all they need to refocus.  Building report with clients and having good communication skills is important.  The ability to recognize and adapt to different communication styles is useful as well.

We’d been hearing the titles for months, and Oscar buzz had definitely started to heat up.  The cast was made up of many familiar names, but it was the newcomers that were generating the real heat.  The big question was: were we in store for the recognition of a giant cultural event or would it be more like 1999′s winner “American Beauty” which seemed like such a no-brainer at the time, but in hindsight was really kind of awful?

Clearly, it was time not only for me to get off my rear and go see “Silver Linings Playbook,” but for Beaconfire to take a serious look at the world of CSS Preprocessors (SASS and LESS), and determine how it could benefit our projects and clients.  Fair warning: This is not an in-depth “SASS vs. LESS” post (though there will be a bit of that as well), I’m mostly hoping to show some of the decision process that helped us decide whether to use a preprocessor at all.

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Over the past few years, Google Analytics (and other analytics products) have shown an increased number of inbound organic search traffic where the search keyword shows up as “[Not Provided]“. Vanessa Fox, creator of Google Webmaster Tools explains why:

When someone types words into a search engine, then clicks on a page in the search results, the URL that “refers” the visitor to that page typically includes what the visitor searched for. You can see the referring URL in the site’s server logs, and if you have a Web analytics package installed, it will parse what the visitor searched for from that referring URL and provide it in a handy report.

Just over a year ago, Google stopped including the search term in the referring URL in certain cases. Instead, the referring URL just looked like www.google.com. Web analytics programs didn’t have a way of knowing what the visitor searched for, just that that person came from Google. So Web analytics programs count the visit as Google organic search, but list the search term as “not provided.”

Chrome search keywords soon to begin appearing as [Not Provided]

Earlier this week Google announced that the next version of Chrome will use secure search for those searching from the address bar, resulting in all of those searches beginning to show up with a keyword of [Not Provided].

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For many of us who love digital media and progressive politics, 2012 was an exciting year. Almost no successful campaign was without a strong online program and there was plenty of opportunity to utilize our skills in support of a variety of progressive candidates. We worked hard. We innovated. And often, we won.

The question for many digital experts with a passion for progressive politics is what challenge is next. Whether your experience is in social media, e-mail advocacy and fundraising, building websites, or leveraging big data, there are a lot of great opportunities to take what you’ve learned in 2012 and apply it to continue serving the greater good.

Recently, I’ve represented Beaconfire at a few DC job fairs (the NOI’s Roots Camp has passed, but the OFA jobs fair is Friday and the Democratic Gain jobs fair is January 25), and I’ve had a chance to see the types of organizations that are looking for smart, digital talent.

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Aren’t you just dying to know the answer? So were the folks at NTEN, so they asked us to write an article for their blog and accepted our proposed session for the upcoming NTC. My colleague Marissa Goldsmith and I have been ruminating on this subject for quite some time.  Now it’s time to put our money where our mouth is (so to speak). It all starts here with our post on the NTEN Blog:  It’s 2013, Do You Know Where Your Web ROI Is?  In April, we’ll be in Minneapolis for the Nonprofit Technology Conference (NTC) doing a session on this very topic.  Hope you can join us there.  And if you are also grappling with this challenge, let us know!

As many in the NPtech world may already know, Beaconfire created The Beacon: Lounge with a Conscience at South by Southwest Interactive in 2009. Since then, The Beacon has become an essential home-away-from-home for all the cause-focused do-gooding Geekerati at SxSW who want to network, share ideas about the role of technology in our sector, or just grab a beer and catch their breath.

To celebrate our 5th anniversary, we just redesigned our website to make it easier to learn about The Beacon, sign up for event updates or explore photos & videos from past years. Over the next two months, check back to see daily schedules, new blog posts from our incredible sponsors, and our expanding Pintrest board with inspiration to get you psyched for SxSW 2013. You can follow us @beaconfire for the most up to date news as well.

Our media partner, Groupon Grassroots, just launched a Blog series called “PhilanthroTech: Making a Difference in a Digital World” which will also get the juices flowing leading up to the opening of The Beacon Lounge on March 8th in Austin. Over the next 9 weeks, don’t miss all the great insight from blog contributors like Amy Sample Ward of NTEN, Robert Rosenthal of VolunteerMatch, Danielle Brigida of The National Wildlife Federation, Wendy Harman of The Red Cross, Carie Lewis of The Humane Society, David Neff, among other “Change-Ineers”. Keep up with the conversation with using the #philanthrotech hashtag.

Special thanks to our sponsors, without whom we couldn’t do what we do: Salsa Labs, Colorado Health Foundation, Blackbaud, NTEN, Change.org, VolunteerMatch, Small World Labs, and Cause.it

Remember: if you want to get your good on, there’s no better place for it than The Beacon: Lounge with a Conscience. We can’t wait to see you all in March!

Have you ever seen an otherwise good homepage ruined by the presence of too many social media feeds? Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, flickr, tumblr – it looks like social media vomited on your homepage!

The Problem

You want to include relevant social media information on your organization’s website.  But giving each of these feeds its own space on the homepage takes up too much real estate – and takes the user’s focus away from what’s important: the actual site content.  The external aggregated feeds are stealing all the attention from what the site is there for in the first place.  Instead of having multiple feeds, it would be great if you could merge them all together into one feed.  But that raises the question: “How do I do that?”  Well, there are a couple different ways to look at it.

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Today’s the day… #GivingTuesday. This morning Beaconfire distributed 200 gift cards to Donors Choose. All day long we’ve been getting wonderful thank you notes from clients, friends and staff. Some folks have been sharing the projects they funded. Check it out on our Pinterest page.

Were you inspired to give today?  Share your thoughts with us.

Giving Tuesday is 2 weeks from today. Beaconfire will be distributing  Donors Choose gift cards to staff and clients. What are you planning to do?

Giving Tuesday is a day for giving back – a day to remind us that the holidays are not just about big meals and bargains but are about sharing and community. Charities, families, businesses and individuals are coming together to transform the giving season and support communities in need all around the world. Giving Tuesday is the Tuesday after Thanksgiving (11/27) and was created by a consortium of 92nd Street Y, United Nations Foundation, Skype, Microsoft, JP Morgan Chase, United Way and several other organizations. You can learn more about the movement at www.givingtuesday.org.