Reposted from my post on the NTEN blog
Photo by Marta Evry
Has this happened to your nonprofit? One staff person or select members of the communications team are assigned to manage all of your organization’s social media. While this might make sense, it can be a lonely and complicated job speaking for an entire organization to the outside world.
Instead of siloing social media into “that stuff that so-and-so does,” what would a more integrated approach look like?
Since social media relies on social networks, let’s examine junctures in various organizational relationships where social media could be useful. Read more…
My Video for @EndIsolation: Immigration Detention Separates Families
This is a video I made for Community Initiatives for Visiting Immigrants in Confinement (CIVIC) using old audio “tape” from a conversation with someone in immigration detention. I was inspired by my colleague Bianca Giaever’s excellent video “The Scared is Scared” to use text and other images to illustrate the story. Upworthy shared it which resulted in over 7,000 views!
This Venn diagram (left) helps describe how my 2013 is starting out.
I’ve been learning more about the attributes of radio storytelling since attending the excellent Transom Story Workshop. As a result, I’ve been experimenting more with audio as part of social media content strategies with my clients.
And now coincidentally, I’ve just published two blog posts for these two different (but overlapping?) audiences. Check them out:
- Nonprofit Technology Network: What Nonprofits Can Learn from Public Radio about Storytelling
- Transom.org – A Showcase & Workshop for New Public Radio: How Radio Producers Can Make the Most of Social Media
via John Haydon
If you’re like most people who work at nonprofits, you’re inspired by quietly changing the world each and every day.
But sometimes it’s not easy to stay inspired – especially because you’re a human being with good days and bad days!
Re-inspire your sense of mission by participating in the Heart & Soul grant
The CTK Foundation has just launched the 2012/2013 Heart & Soul Grants, with over $55,000 to assist nonprofits like yours in accomplishing your mission.
But, more important than the money is the process for applying, which is unlike any other grant program!
How do you apply for these grants? Read more…
As may know, lately I’ve been exploring digital storytelling through audio. I’ve been curious about how nonprofits and foundations can learn from the expertise of public radio producers in creating compelling stories.
With that in mind, I created this recent experimental piece about Antoine Jenkins who I met recently on a canvassing trip to Las Vegas. As soon as I met Antoine, I knew I’d found a great “character” for a story.
While recording Antoine, I kept thinking about an excellent presentation by Planet Money’s reporter Robert Smith at the Third Coast Audio Festival. Smith carries a diagram of a story structurein his wallet: a story “embryo” by Dan Harmon, the creator of the TV Show “Community.” See the stages in the diagram on the left.
I realized that for a better story, I needed to record Antoine going somewhere and doing something. So I made a point of following him as he canvassed for the Obama campaign. Antoine had already entered an unfamiliar situation and had to adapt to it. I included all the door knocking to show the drudgery of the task and how unfulfilling it could it. In the end, Antoine meets an actual voter. But how did Antoine change in the end? I think he felt more confident and like he contributed something important to Obama’s campaign. For me, this was an exercise in constructing an effective story. Let me know what you think.
If your organization wants to do the same, how would you put together a compelling story about a supporter or the community you serve?
Read more on these blogs that shared my audio story.
For the past ten weeks, I’ve been working on a project supported by a 2012 SoundCloud Fellowship. “Working Now” is all about the working lives of people in the US and around the world. It’s also an homage to the great Studs Terkel and his book “Working” which will be 40 years old soon.
Here’s my audio recap of the project:
Google+ Hangout on Air:
Example of Integrating Easy Content Creation into Your Social Media Strategy
Today as part of the SPIN Academy in New York, I did a presentation on how to share effectively via social media. I invited folks from the excellent Undocubus/No Papers No Fear to join us via a video chat: B. Loewe, Marisa Franco and Tania Uzueta. Here’s the link to my prezi: 6 Ways to Share Effectively. This was my first experience using a video chat in a live presentation… so I apologize for the shots of the back of my head.
I’m excited by Google+ Hangouts on Air because it’s a great tool for easily recording interviews with folks without assigning them to write or make something for you (see # 6 in my prezi). And after all, even CNN and the LA Times are using webcams these days!
