Immigration authorities held Antonio Montejano in jail for days even though he is a US citizen. Learn more about how Secure Communities affects U.S. citizens at http://www.aclu-sc.org

Videography by Loris Guzzetta. Production and editing by me.

Here’s more on the experience of making the segment (reposted from Transom.org):

After playing this piece at the Listening Event in Woods Hole, the first question I got was “Are you a reporter?” I said no but I did have concerns that the piece had become “newsy”. It wasn’t an intimate first person story but I do see it as the story of a government agency (New Bedford’s police) trying to build a relationship with a community of Central American immigrants.

From the outset, I was interested in doing something about immigration in Southeast Massachusetts. I have worked for immigrant rights nonprofits for most of my career but I didn’t want to make something that was straight up/in your face advocacy. Initially I wanted to focus on larger political implications around the federal “Secure Communities” program. But my teacher Rob and my classmates helped me refocus on interesting scenes I found, like the police officers’ Spanish class.

In fact, I considered making the Spanish class the overall focus of the piece but realized that I needed to bring in more voices. At the same time, I also have this tendency to gather more tape as a way to put off editing. I lucked out by attending the community meeting at Our Lady of Guadalupe and then stumbling on the band practice in the church basement. It was so interesting to me that these two isolated meetings where happening on the same day. Truthfully, if I had had more time, I would have liked to get into more stories like Diego’s or the other instances of violent crime I had heard about.

Due to the subject, juggling two languages was part of the production. Even so, I wondered why I chose something that added complexity. Plus here I was showcasing how much work my own Spanish pronunciation needs!

At the end of the day, the project really taught me a lot about boiling down complex issues to comprehensible stories. There was much more information to add but there just wasn’t time to gather or include it. While I could have mentioned the “Secure Communities” by name, I liked the way the story mentions the uncomfortable “love triangle” that the federal government plans to create in New Bedford and in other cities around the US. My hope is that the listener wants to know more.

• Read more from my teacher and classmates here.
• Apply to attend the Workshop in the spring here.

Transom Story Workshop participants on Halloween (that's me with the ear)

For the month of October and most of November, I’m participating in Transom.org‘s first-ever Radio Story Workshop. I’ve learned so much from the Transom website; it’s an even greater privilege to learn in person from these visionary radio producers.

“Why radio?” you may ask. Well, throughout my online work, I’m continually reminded that “content is king.” Nonprofits and foundations can set up all the blogs, Facebook pages and Twitter accounts we want, but we still need to have something worthwhile and compelling to say with these tools. I figure that organizations can learn from radio producers about what it takes to craft stories that pull the audience in and create those “driveway moments” (when you can’t get out of the car for fear of missing the end of a great story). I’ve also been struck by the ways in which audio is such a fundamental element to digital media (i.e. videos without good audio are much harder to watch). And finally, I’m also curious about how to teach better storytelling to others.

The course is seven weeks long but it’s flying by. I’m learning lots. This week, my classmates and I took time to reflect on what we’ve learned so far. Here’s what I wrote:

One thing that struck me early on about the workshop (and radio in general) it’s a great excuse to talk to strangers.

I came to the Transom Story Workshop after years of working for various nonprofits that focus on large social and political issues. So the challenge for me has been boiling larger issues down to a story with one main idea (“that a seventh grader could grasp”). It’s so much more than pointing a mic (or a video camera) at someone and collecting their testimony. It’s about crafting something that gets at the heart of their story and pulls the listener in. That ain’t easy… but Rob Rosentahal is making it much easier to tackle.

Read comments from my classmates here.

Stay tuned for updates! In the meantime, you can follow our live tweets with #radiostory on Twitter and check out our photos below.

A wide range of faith, immigrant rights, and community-based organizations joined Detention Watch Network recently announced the launch of its “Dignity, Not Detention” campaign, calling on Congress to repeal all laws mandating the detention of immigrants.

Through its Dignity, Not Detention campaign, Detention Watch Network is calling on Congress and the Obama Administration to:

• Repeal all laws mandating the detention of non-citizens.
• Put an end to all policies and programs that use the criminal justice system to target people for detention and deportation.
• Bring the U.S. into compliance with its obligations under international human rights law, which prohibits arbitrary detention.

Endorse the campaign now!

Share this video with these buttons! (Below the advertisement, if there is one below.)

Installation by Os Gêmeos at MOCA's Art in the Streets Exhibit in Los Angeles

Everyone, including me, needs help sorting through today’s “data tsunami” as Steven Rosenbaum calls it. In his recent book Curation Nation: How to Win in a World Where Consumers are Creators, Rosenbaum writes that

Curation replaces noise with clarity. And it’s the clarity of your choosing; the things that people you trust help you find.

And I would argue that when organizations offer clarity amidst the noise, they build trust among supporters.

I recently realized that I have been curating content for several years now. Not so long ago, many of us used email listserves to share articles and information on specific themes. These days, I’ve made the switch to social media where I regularly find and share relevant content for projects such as the Freedom from Fear Awards and Detention Watch Network.

I’ve discovered that curation is the best way to build an organization’s following and it’s often the first step in engaging supporters: first as audience members and then as contributors. With social media, nonprofits and foundations are quickly becoming like local television stations sharing the latest news on their issues to build an audience for the values we’re “selling”. As Rosenbaum puts it, content curation is “about adding value from humans who add their qualitative judgement to whatever is being gathered and organized.”

Below are a few things that I’ve learned in my gathering and organizing. I’m curious what you think of these practices and if you have any tips of your own.

1. Scan and monitor the web for relevant content every day. To find content that relates to my project, I follow lots of blogs of partner organizations and allies through Google Reader (RSS subscription service), as well as by getting news updates from Google Alerts, and friends/colleagues in my Facebook and Twitter newsfeeds.
   
2. Share links to relevant CORPORATE media articles via Twitter and sparingly on Facebook. Remember those people who sent too many articles on email listserves? Well, this energy can be redirected to Twitter where it seems that you can never share enough. Your Facebook fans are more fickle however: Too many posts from your organization can get in the way of news from their friends (i.e. baby and pet photos). On Facebook, try to share corporate media articles only once or twice per day.
   
3. Never post entire articles from CORPORATE media or ad-supported blogs on your own blog. Corporate media and many blogs make their money from web traffic. Reposting entire blog posts is essentially stealing their potential advertising revenue… which is NOT the best way to make friends. If you feel strongly about sharing an article on your blog, only post an excerpt and link to the entire article on the original website.
4. For original nonprofit content, ask permission of the author or photographer before reposting written articles or photos on your blog. Partner organizations and allies often like for you to help share their content. But ask first! Email them and ask if you can repost it on your blog with a link to the original post. If you don’t know how to reach the writer or photographer, don’t share it on your blog (tweet it!).
   
5. Always include a visual image with written blog posts. Text-only blogs are frankly boring to the eye. Start stockpiling photos of your own, open source clip art or Creative Commons licensed photos from photo-sharing sites like Flickr and Picasa. I’ve experimented a little with embedding images from their original sources by getting the weblink through Firefox’s Firebug (but this might be contraversial and contrary to #4 above. Any advice?).
6. Mix up the type of content you curate on your blog. Perhaps I’m contributing to the “Death of American Culture” here, but don’t rely solely on only written blog posts. Experiment with blog posts that are composed of audio clips, video, slideshows, infographics, graphic art, etc. On blog platforms, you can embed most Youtube/Vimeo videos and/or MP3s (unless they’re on a corporate media site). If the person who uploaded the content used the appropriate settings for embedding on other websites, that means they’re okay with you putting it on your blog.
7. When embedding video or audio content on your blog, cite your source. In the title or just under it, tell readers who created the content or how you came across the video or audio clip. i.e. “via ___”. I like using Twitter handles in titles so that the creators know I’m sharing their content.
8. For optimal sharing, make sure your titles are less than 120 characters. You want your supporters to share your content and create even more supporters. Make it easier for them with short catchy titles (read more here).
9. Love your mediamakers! Whether we want to admit it or not, the number of people who enjoy creating free media content as a hobby are a rare breed. Whenever I come across people who like to write, create video or audio, I want to reach out and hug them in cyberspace. Tell these mediamakers that you love them and their work at every opportunity, give them shoutouts whenever possible, send them flowers, etc.
10. Get creative in capturing content. Everyone is so busy these days and strapped for time. I’ve been trying to think of ways to integrate content creation into work and events already happening. I always remind people to document their live events with photos or video. I’ve also tried turning email discussions on listserves into blog posts and opting to record conference call presentations. My next big experiment is recording video check-ins via Skype that take less than five minutes.

Let me know what you think of these tips and if you have any of your own. You can also share your insights as part of Netsquared’s “think tank” on curating content.

For a state whose theme song should be “Don’t Fence Me In”, it was stunning that intractable Californians had listened to public officials and largely stayed home. The LA Times quoted Mayor Villaraigosa as saying, “We had hoped this would happen. People have answered the call. They have stepped up to the plate in recognizing that the best way to do this is to stay out of their cars.”

Perhaps it takes a massive media machine to get a city like L.A. to listen but I think there’s more to learn here. LA’s experience got me wondering what this can teach nonprofits and activists about effective media messaging.

1. Wordsmith: The best messages are concise and evocative. It’s too early to tell if we’ll soon see “Carmageddon” like we do the overly paranoid term “Y2K”. Even so, it was useful. While writing this post, it saves me from writing “construction crews closed a major freeway in order to demolish a bridge which caused everyone to fear massive traffic jams.” Even though the title was stolen from a video game and hinged on a familiarity with the New Testament’s war to end all wars,it was easy to say and share. I found myself wishing people a “Good Carmageddon” weekend.
   

   via GOOD

2. Share values but allow for different messages: Angelenos of all backgrounds want to avoid traffic. It’s something we universally hate. Throughout all the media generated about the 405 closure, the core value was avoiding traffic headaches. The messages that came from this value were all slightly different. Cyclists and public transportation activists saw the closure as cause for celebration and pedestrian enjoyment of the city. Meanwhile, a local TV station ABC 7 and an app designer Waze suggested ways to still drive but avoid the jams.
3. Personalize the impact of the issue: Despite the logistical complexities of closing a large portion of a major freeway, it was clear how the audience would be affected as individuals. It was a story about the city but it would effect me and you directly. The idea of compounding the time we waste sitting in traffic turned off lots of people because we could envision how we’d experience it.
4. Suggest Alternatives: The Carmageddon message was more than simply “Don’t Drive”. The media suggested that people could avoid the horrors of massive traffic delays, by staying home, shopping local, or having a barbeque or pool party. All of these sounded more fun (which brings me to my last point).
5. Fun: One of my favorite parts of the media coverage was the race between Jetblue and the Wolfpack Hustle cyclists to Long Beach. As you may have heard, Jetblue airlines offered a $4 between Burbank and Long Beach, to fly over the expected Carmageddon traffic nightmare. Local cyclist activists flew from Burbank while their friends went by bicycle to see who’d get to Long Beach first. Not surprisingly, the cyclists won. The story captured the attention of corporate media and bloggers alike, demonstrating that even if we can’t drive, flying isn’t much better.

For these reasons and more, movements and organizations working to change public opinion on social issues should look to the Carmageddon experience as one to learn from. As a testament to its effective, only look as far as LA’s near empty streets.

Even without a national media machine at your disposal, we possess the means to shape digital media messages that are actually heard and heeded by the public. In short what would it look like for your organizations to create wordsmithed value-based, personalizable message that suggests alternatives and includes an element of fun?

Below is one of my tips:

Our Netsquared Meetup met last night and here’s some audio from the presentations of the guest speakers.

So how do you make your content stand out? Social media users love snazzy titles for the things that they will consume and share. Here are a few ideas to give them just that:

1. Be conversational. Social media is known for being personal and informal, basically sounding the way that people really talk. Don’t use wonky, jargony or highly technical terms if you don’t have to. Imagine a title that newbies or outsiders to your field (like your parents) would understand. For example, instead of “Coalition of Advocacy Groups Releases Report on the State of Secondary Education and Calls for Immediate Reform“, try “New Report Reveals How Our State is Letting Down High School Students and What We Can Do About It”.
2. Employ active verbs. It’s difficult to make interesting titles composed of mostly nouns and articles, i.e. “My Summer Vacation“. Instead add an active (not passive) verb: ie. “How my summer vacation rocked!“
3. Use opinionated adjectives. Social media thrives on strong opinions. Don’t be afraid to use adjectives that reflect your feelings on the subject of your content or the quality of the content itself. For example, “Check out this thought-provoking video on composting!” That said, stay away from over-used adjectives like “important”, etc.
4. Be descriptive but not completely. This is a tricky one in our sound-bite era. I’m pretty sure there are lots of people out there (including yours truly, on occasion) that share content without actually reading, watching or listening to it first. While you want to create an interesting title that folks will want to share, you also want it to be intriguing enough that they will also click through to see what’s there. For example: “Newly Disclosed Documents Reveal How Federal Officials Deliberately Misled Local Police Departments.“
5. Highlight multimedia or non-text content in blog posts. Over the years, bloggers have started following a convention for titling posts that aren’t just written text: If there’s a video in the post, start the title with “Video:” or “Watch:“. If the post is audio-based, start the title with “Audio:” or “Listen:“. Other titles for multimedia posts could include  “Slideshow” or “Infographic“. This practice alerts potential consumers that there’s something extra and multimedia in the blog post. For example: “Video: DREAM Students Engage in Fearless Civil Disobedience in Atlanta”
6. Optimize your titles for Twitter. If you’ve hooked up the RSS from your blog, video channel or audio host to feed to Twitter, think of ways to title content that saves you time (i.e. not needing to figure out a second title to use in a tweet).
   

• The shorter the better (but less than 120 characters). If you want folks to share your content on Twitter, be sure the title is less than 120 characters (including spaces). Why 120? Tweets can only be 140 characters (including spaces) so if you figure in the tweeter’s username, a hashtag and possibly “RT” (re-tweet) or “via”, that leaves roughly 120 characters to play with. For example, use “&” instead of “and” to save space.
• Create active Twitter links to subjects, sources and/or abbreviations. Lately I’ve been experimenting with using Twitter usernames (or “handle”) and select hashtags in titles to ensure that the subject and/or interest groups see and share the content. Even though titles should be uncluttered and comprehensible, using a Twitter handle and/or a hashtag with commonly used abbreviations can maximize your content’s impact whenever it’s shared. For example, instead of “President Obama says that NAFTA reform is possible“, try using “Pres. @BarackObama says that #NAFTA reform is possible” These active links serve many functions. For President Obama (or whoever is administering the Twitter account), this tweet demonstrates what the public is saying about his policies and easily marks it for the White House’s social media listening. You can also use Twitter handles to praise, call out or shame the subject of your content. Using #NAFTA also alerts people who are following this hashtag on Twitter. But also note: Too many hashtags can be distracting. Try to use only one per title and only with abbreviations (but not real words which are already searchable). On blogs, you can also use Twitter handles to give props to media makers and cite the sources of embedded content, i.e. “Video by @AmericaStories:…“

7. Ignore all of the above suggestions and experiment! Take risks: Try questions, word play, equations (i.e. with +, =), puns on popular culture, etc. The point is to give your titles some thought, nearly as much thought and creativity as you put into creating your content.

Let me know that you think of these ideas and recommendations. Tell me your own ideas for creating great titles that grab attention online. Leave a comment below.

[video via Youtube]

In the recent years, you and your nonprofit have undoubtedly encountered online video as part of your work. You may have been the subject of a video or even started experimenting with making your own. Regardless of where you are in video production, it’s important to optimally set up your organization’s online infrastructure on Youtube.

You don’t even need to have made your own videos in order to have a presence on Youtube. On Google, video search results are now more prominently displayed. This means that if a potential supporter googles the cause or issue you work on, they are more likely to come across videos about your organization… no matter if they’re made by you or by others. Why not take advantage of this attention? An active and fleshed out Youtube channel demonstrates how important this type of digital communication is to your organization.

In less than 30 minutes, you can follow the first three steps below to create an optimal Youtube channel (Steps 4 & 5 take more time). Once all your ducks are in a row, videos about your organization will have more impact.

To start off, you may ask, why Youtube and not Vimeo, BlipTV, or any number of other video websites? While these sites might equally useful and have their own pluses, I’m focusing on Youtube because of it’s popularity and all the tools and perks they offer to nonprofit organizations.

First off, Youtube terms: Every Youtube account has a unique “username” and “channel”:

• A username is what you use to sign into your account with and to upload/interact on the website. It is also part of the unique web address for your channel, ie. http://www.youtube.com/user/[username] Once created, you can’t change your username.
  
• A channel is your own webpage on Youtube where you can choose the title, layout and videos to display. Your channel is often the primary landing page for people when they look for you on Youtube or the webpage you should link to from your own website. Your username and channel title don’t have to be the same. You can always change the title of your channel.

Whether or not you have a Youtube channel yet, here’s a checklist of things to do when setting up your account (or if you’ve already got an account, steps that you take to optimize it). The first three steps will take less than 30 minutes to complete.

1. Create a Youtube account that’s accessible to your staff (now and in the future)

A. To activate an account, use a unique email address that more than one staff person has access to. If it exists, I recommend using the info@[your organization].org account for your organization. If you don’t have one of these, consider creating a Gmail account that links to the Youtube account (both sites are part of the same company).

B. Choose a username that relates to the name of your organization. Your username can only contain up to 20 letters A-Z or numbers 0-9. Your first choice might not be available so it might take time to find something available. Once you set up your account, you will use this username and password to access the channel. Later you can change the title of your channel (below).

C. When Youtube sends you an email to activate your account, save the email message. It’s vital that you save a “digital trail” for future staff. This email leaves a bread crumb showing what email the Youtube account is attached to. Archive this setup email message somewhere where others can find it in the future.

D. Create an accessible Word or Excel document that includes the username and password in it. With staff turnovers, it’s important to have this saved outside any one person’s brain. You can change the email attached to your Youtube account. But you can only have one Youtube channel per email address.

2. Apply for Youtube’s nonprofit program (see video above)

Youtube offers great perks for nonprofits like listing you in their directory, donate buttons and making it possible for you to embed clickable links to external websites like your own. While this might not seem important when you first start out, the approval process takes time. Why not go ahead and apply to get in the queue? Lots of other organizations are applying for this partnership, so why wait? Plus, once you’re approved, you’ll be able to experiment with and utilize these tools right when you need them. You must have current IRS 501(c)(3) status in order to be considered for this program.

To apply, you will need your organization’s Federal Tax ID number * and the names and contact information for key staff. To help you see what you’ll be asked, I’ve posted a PDF screenshot here.

First, make sure you’re logged in on your organization’s account. At the bottom of Youtube’s homepage, click “Creators and Partners” and then, on the left-side under “Partner Showcase“, click “Nonprofit Program“. Under the video, see the “Apply Now” section and click the Apply button to complete the online application.

* If your organization does not yet have 501(c)(3) status, use the name and Federal Tax ID number of your fiscal sponsor. For example, if you are fiscally-sponsored by the Tides Center, apply under the name “Tides Center – [your organization name]”. There is nothing wrong with this: you are using your sponsor’s tax ID while you applying for your own. You’re also avoiding getting automatically kicked out by Youtube’s application system.

3. Flesh out your channel

Once you’ve created your account and sign in, your username appears on the upper right of the Youtube webpage. Click on the arrow next to your username for a the drop-down menu to view your channel, inbox, etc.

A. Fill out your profile. Youtube offers you the opportunity to tell something about your organization in your profile: why not take advantage of it?

There are two ways to do this: Once signed in, find your username at the top right of any Youtube webpage. Click the arrow for the drop-down menu and select “Account” where you can edit your informaiton. You can also edit some of these sections directly on your channel (go to “My Channel” in the drop down menu).

• Add the web address for your organization’s website.
• Cut and paste “About” information from your website in your Youtube profile.
• Add your logo as your profile image.

B. Choose a channel title and layout

Arrow shows where to type title

As mentioned earlier, you can choose your channel’s title (different from your username) and appearance. For example, you might like to title your channel with your organization’s real name, spaces and all. Once signed in, find your username at the top right of any Youtube webpage. Click the arrow for the drop-down menu and select “My Channel”. On your channel, towards the top of the page, are tabs for you to change “Settings” (like your channel name and “tags” or keywords), “Themes and Colors”, “Modules”, etc. Youtube offers several  color schemes and moveable modules for your channel. You can make your channel match your organization’s website. It’s also possible to upload a background image.

• Change title of your channel.
• Add channel tags.
• Change the theme and colors for your channel.

C. Search for videos that spotlight your staff or organization and “favorite” them.

Two ways to "favorite" a video

Most likely there are already videos about your organization, cause, community or issue on Youtube. If you like them, “favorite” them (under each video) so supporters can see them too when they visit your channel (there are two ways to do this, see image to left). In the spirit of “share and share alike”, you can also create playlists of videos from partners and allies. You can also select what video you want as the central video on your channel: it doesn’t need to be your own but can be one of your favorites created by someone else.

• Favorite 2 videos on your issue or cause.
• Favorite 2 videos that feature your organization or staff.

D. Add friends and subscriptions.

Example of subscribe & friend buttons

Subscribe to the channels of your favorite video-makers. The subscribe button is usually next to their image or logo. You can “friend” individuals and other organizations on Youtube. This might seem superfluous but helps control commenting on your videos.

• Subscribe to 3-4 other Youtube channels (i.e partner organizations, supporters, etc.).
• Add 3-4 other Youtube users as friends (i.e partner organizations, supporters, etc.).

4. Help people find you

Let your supporters and followers know how to find your Youtube channel:

Example

• Put a Youtube icon, button or link on your organization’s website.
• Add the channel web address to your Facebook fan page.
• Through your Yotube profile, connect your channel to your Twitter account and Facebook fan page. Youtube will automatically send a tweet when you upload a video.
  

  Screenshot of inbox

5. Upkeep at least once a month

Just like pets and houseplants, Youtube channels need care and attention even if you don’t have new videos to upload.

• Check your inbox for new friends requests and only add people you really know. To access your inbox, sign in. Find your username at the top right of any Youtube webpage. Click the arrow for the drop-down menu and select “Inbox”. Look for highlighted items like Comments and Friend Invites.
• As you come across new videos on your issue or cause, favorite them (once you’re signed in).
• Add partner or supporter videos to playlists (under each video).

Now you’re set!

I’ll have more tips of optimal uploading soon.

Let me know how you fare with these steps. Leave a comment below or drop me an email.