UPDATE: Our panel was just named one of the 80+ things not to miss at sxsw by Mashable!

For non profits, establishing a voice & brand on Twitter can be a tricky proposition. Is the tweeter responsible for setting the tone, or is there a “script” to follow in order to be on message with all other media outlets? Should the visual “Identity” be organizational or personal?

These are some of the topics we will be discussing during our sxsw panel, Method Tweeting for Non profits (and other players). I will be moderating an amazing panel of people who live this challenge daily:

- Carie Lewis, Director of Emerging media at the Humane Society of the United states
- Dan Michel, Digital Marketing Manager at Feeding America
- Jennifer Windrum, founder of WTF? (Where’s the Funding) for Lung Cancer
- Geoff Livingson, Chief Marketing officer, Zoetica

Through the words of William Shakespeare, we will explore identity, brand, voice, transparency, authenticity and what it all means to YOU.

Please join us on Monday, March 14th at 9:30am in room 9 ABC. Quill optional.

We’re got an incredible lineup of panelists: Chris Lundberg of Salsa Labs, heather gardner-madras of gardner-madras strategic creative, Ryan Marsh of the Layla Grace Children’s Cancer Research Foundation, WordPress developer Mark Jaquith, and our very own Jeff Herron.

Free is nice, but cost is far from the only consideration when you’re picking software. When do you need software that’s hosted, and when can you run it yourself? How is proprietary free software different than Open Source (and should you even care whether your tools are open source, as long as they work)? How can you protect yourself against software gone bad? We’ll tackle these questions and more, and show you how to figure out the real cost of your software, even when it’s “free”.

Money for Nothing, and your Software for Free will be at 5:00 on Saturday, 3/12, in Austin Convention Center 10AB, just down the hall from the Beacon Lounge. Hope we’ll see you there!

Many thanks to the good people at NTEN for agreeing to let me stand up in front of a huge cheering crowd at the 2011 Nonprofit Technology Conference to drop some serious science in my session, “Practical HTML5/CSS3 for Nonprofits (or ‘How to Party Like it’s 2011 When it’s Really Still 1999′).” The crowd will be huge, right? And cheering?

HTML5 is the latest in a long line of buzzwords — Web 2.0, AJAX, SEO, B2B anyone? — around Web Design and Development. In my session, I hope to do what I can to dispel some myth, clear up some misunderstandings, try to separate it from some of its buzzwordiness, and start a discussion about what nonprofits can stand to gain from this new standard — nonprofits who may be serving audiences trapped on outdated browsers and using slow dialup connections.

We often hear from clients that they want to convert something to HTML5. What they’re often talking about is a need to take something currently in Flash and make it “not Flash”. This is of particular importance as site visitors increasingly use iPhones or other mobile devices that do not display Flash. It’s a tricky request because more often than not what they actually want is not conversion to HTML5 at all. The misunderstanding, as is often the case, is all about definitions.

Many people hear about things that people have done with HTML5 and don’t understand that the whiz-bang awesomeness they just witnessed is actually a combination of HTML/CSS3/JavaScript that may or may not be (or even need to be) HTML5. If things are moving around your screen in a really exciting way, chances are there is some serious CSS3 or JavaScript doing the heavy lifting and HTML5 has only served as the canvas on which those scripting gymnastics occur. Don’t forget that word: “canvas.” That’s a big one in HTML5 that we’ll discuss in the session in March.

HTML5 is merely the latest in a line of HTML specifications that started with HTML 1.0 back in 1995 and (thankfully) sped pretty quickly to HTML 4.0 by the end of 1997. An HTML specification specifies what code we use to build web pages. That’s why it’s called a specification! It defines what tags we can use (<h1></h1>, <p></p>, <em></em>), describes what they are (first level header, paragraph, and emphasize), and outlines any rules about how we can and cannot use them. It does not describe how these elements look (that’s the job for browsers and for CSS) or what neat things we can make them do (JavaScript). In many ways, and with the majority of tags defined in it, HTML5 is nothing new at all.

The exciting news is that there are some really revolutionary new bits in the soup. Some of these new bits are very, very, cool. Some of them add functionality that is going to prove to be indispensible for building mobile apps and all kinds of interesting, dynamic interfaces. Some of these new additions will cut development time we used to have to spend doing all kinds of mundane validation on forms and whatnot. We’ll focus on these new tags in March and discuss how to use them, when to use them, and when we can start using them.

And that’s the real question, isn’t it? When can we start using them? See you in March!

In “Method Tweeting for Nonprofits“, we’ll take advice from the Bard and talk about how to play a role while tweeting on behalf of a nonprofit.  We will pick the brains of people who live this challenge daily – and have a little fun with Shakespeare along the way.

In “Money for Nothing and your Software for Free“, we’ll hear from developers, consultants, and veteran nonprofit staffers about how they use free (and Free) software, and the pitfalls they’ve found in choosing free, open source, and low-cost tools. We’ll also tell you have free software is like free beer… or maybe free kittens.

Now, we can’t wait for March.  Hope to see you in Austin!

The day after Stewart announced his rally, I went to the Web site, expecting some incredibly fancy site with all the bells and whistles that had clearly taken months and months to put together. But I was (pleasantly) surprised. The site was simple, with an almost late-nineties-like design, four buttons (FAQ, Getting There, Forum, Donate) and two features (Share This and email sign up).

And I loved it. Because while the rest of the world saw a simple Web site, I saw developers sipping on margaritas and remaining quite sane in the face of what was probably a crazy Web campaign. It was effective, and yet easy (or at least, that’s how it looks to me).

Now the site has a few more complexities. But it is still beautifully simplistic. And there is much to learn from this simplicity.

• It’s all temporary. Campaigns have a beginning, and more or less, an end. Consider the effort you’ll want to put into what is eventually going to be a short-term project.
• Evolve. The day after the campaign, the rally site was incredibly simple, and offered the minimum of what was needed in order to learn more. As time went on, more pages and features were added. Your site does not have to be 100% of what it will be on day one of your campaign.
• Stay in the box. Use the tools (paid and free), that you have before you, and don’t try to fool with them too much. The rally site uses WordPress. It’s using out-of-the-box Facebook and Twitter feed plugins.
• Don’t re-invent the wheel, or invent something else altogether. As I mentioned above, do your best to use what has already been tested and works. And even if you’re going to create a customized feature, don’t complicate it – look to other sites that are already doing something similar. Even the customized saneornot.com voting feature of the rally took the simplest pieces of functionality from the hotornot.com site.
• Keep your design simple. Stick to a few colors, and try to not to throw in too many fun and fancy design features that usually make your developers grumble (rounded corners, gradients, things that move). Find one thing that will make your site interesting.

• Discovering the meaning of the U-tag in Convio. (It stands for “update”!)
• That look on the audience’s face when they realized they could in fact do almost anything in Convio if they really tried.
• GetActive4ever stickers.
• Finding out that Care2 has a new bridge with Convio – instead of waiting weeks for a spreadsheet of your new acquisitions, you can sync them to Convio and start messaging them while their action is fresh in their minds.
• Surprisingly tasty food, for a conference
• Watching the new advocacy API in action
• Lots of new ideas for how to integrate Convio with social media campaigns

Were you at the Convio Summit?  What was your favorite part?

Cheesy mountain-climbing puns aside, we’re excited to be there, and hope we’ll get to see many of our readers there.

If you’re at the Convio Summit, stop by our booth and say hi! We’re also sponsoring this year’s Innovator Awards Party, which promises to be a good time.

The schedule is packed with great sessions, but you won’t want to miss ours: I Know Kung Fu – Doing more in Convio than you ever thought possible.  Marissa and I will be sharing some little-known Convio secrets, and it may be your only chance to learn the answer to a very important question: how is Convio like The Matrix?  You can find out at 2:30 on Tuesday, and I can almost guarantee you’ll learn something about Convio that you never knew before.

Competition for panels is fierce: last year’s 450 panels were chosen from thousands and thousands of entries. We need your help to make sure that nonprofit programming is a big part of SXSW 2011. Beaconfire has submitted a number of panels that we’re really excited about, and there are a lot of other cool nonprofit-oriented panels in the running.

Whether you love SXSW, or just love seeing nonprofits well represented in the tech world, here’s how you can help:

• Go vote for these panels. It’s fast and easy. (You will need to register, but that’s easy too, I promise.)
• Leave a comment for these panels. (Comment in the Panel Picker, not on this post.) Comments carry more weight than votes. If you’re excited about a topic, or a speaker, say so!
• Share this post on Facebook and Twitter.

Voting starts now, and counts for a lot towards which panels get selected.

These are Beaconfire’s submissions for SXSW 2011. Just click to learn more, and to vote and comment!

You Mobile Non-profit: a play in three acts
Mobile is changing our lives, but it’s also changing the world for the better. We’re dying to share tactics, tools and trip-ups from organizations who have ventured deep into mobile and lived to tell.

Just ‘Cause: Can Technology Make Brand Irrelevant?
Thanks to technology, the line is starting to blur between the power of a household name brand and the passion of scrappy mission-focused organizations. Yet when it feels like nothing short of a crisis will engage people with your cause, how do you compel them to act? The battle of Cause vs Brand is on.

Method Tweeting for nonprofits: Much Ado About Something
When organizations use Twitter to promote themselves, it’s largely about playing a role. The person tweeting is tasked to be on message as the voice of the organization while creating a unique and engaging personality to draw an audience in. If Shakespeare on Twitter, how would he tweet?  We’ll pick the brains of people who live this challenge daily in the nonprofit sector.

Money for Nothing, and your Software for Free
Free beer! Free kittens! Free software! We all love to get something for free, especially when budgets are tight. But free things almost always come with hidden costs, and free software is no different. Some tools give you great power – but you have to know how to use it.  Others limit your options, or ignore what you really need.  Some may even be just what you‘re looking for. We’ll ask: what does free software really cost?

Guerilla Usability Testing: Creative Techniques for Great Results
Usability testing your interfaces is a crucial step in website or application development and evolution. Unfortunately, the sad truth is that the high cost or effort of usability testing often de-rails or excludes this important activity for non-profit organizations and small businesses. However, it doesn’t have to be this way. Learn how to go guerilla with your usability testing.

And here are our other favorite nonprofit-oriented panels from the panel picker:

• The New Citizen Philanthropy: Mixing Offline and Online
• How Social Networking Is Changing Advocacy
• A Conversation About Social Change Through Social Media
• Life After Blackbaud
• Getting Advanced with Social Media for Social Good
• Stalking Success: Privacy and Advocacy Can Be Friends
• How Many Rungs?: Social Change & the Engagement Ladder
• Putting the Public Back in Public Media
• Nonprofit Social Media Jam Session
• Nonprofits and Free Agents in a Networked World
• Crowdsourcing the Corporate/Nonprofit Partnership. Who Wins?
• Digital Campaigning: Views from the Frontline

Have we missed something?  Let us know in the comments!

What was your favorite Session?

• Marissa , Jeff: Browser Automation, FTW!
• Cara: Innovations in Social Media.
• Michael: Without a doubt it was the Science Fair. Don’t get me wrong, there were great sessions this year. Yet, there was a quality in the energy of the Science Fair that took me back to 2000…that feeling that “something’s happening here,” things are breaking, new stuff is on the horizon.

What was your best piece of Swag?

• Jeff, Marissa: The Freerange Tee-shirt. Marissa loves it because it is the perfect color orange for her upcoming MS Walk in DC.
• Cara: Instead of swag, a glass of Champagne.
• Michael: I bypassed all the swag this year. Reducing my carbon footprint and all that jazz.
• Lynn: Champagne and Strawberries

What was the biggest bummer?

• Jeff:  No food at the after the Coca Cola party, particularly since I missed dinner.
• Cara:  The after party felt like it never got off the ground – or maybe I just left too early
• Marissa:  Not being able to see/hear the session on Online Training.
• Michael:  Closing reception on Saturday night.
• Lynn: That I had to leave Friday night.

What was the best surprise?

• Marissa: After giving up on the Online Training session, finding the Browser Automation session.
• Cara:  Running into past colleagues and clients I wasn’t expecting to see, it amazes me how much the conference has grown.
• Michael:  Going to the Salsa fest and catching up with so many colleagues I wasn’t expecting to have time with.
• Lynn: That we had over 1,400 registrants at the conference this year.

What was your favorite one line?

• Marissa: Open source is free. Free as in puppies (Said by Chris Lundberg in the session on the Future of Online Organizing)
• Michael: Squirrel – The Real Housewives of Social Media.

What was the best meal you had?

• Jeff, Marissa, and Cara: The meal they had at Six Feet Under was  the best. Marissa and Cara reveled in their fish tacos, and Jeff, the blackened Catfish.
• Michael: A chili dog at the Atlanta airport.
• Lynn: Roast pork at The Woodfire Grill.

What story will you tell about this year’s NTC over and over again?

It’s unanimous – Polar Bears!

• Marissa : Being made uncomfortable by a large polar bear.
• Jeff:  The crazy coke bear that was oddly creepy.
• Michael: How 12 people, after being hugged by a massive Coca Cola polar bear, all shared a similar thought:  Hmm, polar bears smell a lot like a high school boys locker room when you get up close.

That is why I was a little disappointed at the lack of sessions on the mobile web at NTC. There were a few sessions on mobile fundraising, but they seemed to primarily focus on using SMS.

There seems to be a lot of interest in the non-profit world on creating mobile-enabled web sites and applications. Hopefully, next year, that interest will manifest itself in a few sessions demonstrating some great non-profit work.