Kyla visited several organizations in the San Francisco and Atlanta areas that provide community services and information. Some of the key organizations visited include: - Eden Information & Referral in Hayward, CA, which operates a 211 service connecting people with social services and has been operating for over 30 years. - TechSoup in San Francisco, which provides technology resources and training to non-profits. Kyla learned about their library program that could potentially expand to include Australia. - Various locations in Atlanta during the Nonprofit Technology Conference, including learning about using social media and games to promote social change from presentations.

1. Kyla’s trip to the USA

2. When I arrived in San Francisco it was raining 

3. I visited Eden Information &Referral in HaywardThe organisation operates a 211 service

4. What is 211? 2-1-1 is an easy to remember telephone number that connects people with important community services and volunteer opportunities. In 2009, 2-1-1 services in the United States answered more than 16.2 million calls. Every hour of every day, hundreds of people need essential human services - they are looking for training, employment, food pantries, help for an aging parent, addiction prevention programs for their teenage children, affordable housing options, support groups and ways of becoming part of their community. 2-1-1 allows people to give help and to get help.

6. Meet Barbara – the Director of Eden I & R

8. There was a squirrel at Eden I & R!

9. Eden Information & ReferralHas been operating for over 30 yearsHas an innovative Executive DirectorProduces ‘The Big Blue Book’ a directory of human services for the Alameda Countyis this sounding familiar.....

10. Eden Information & ReferralCall centre operates 24/7The organisation has 2 main databasesSocial servicesHousingBoth are ‘Filemaker Pro’ and maintained by anin-house tech guy

11. Eden Information & ReferralTo supplement funding Eden I & R also does lots of vetting type servicesManaging all the different contracts is an administrative nightmare, but the income is essential for organisational sustainability

12. Eden Information & ReferralOperate after hours phone service for local councilConduct initial phone screening to determine eligibility for programs such as food stamps & tax helpProvide phone service for ‘Bank of Oakland’ programProvide client lists for charity programs like ‘toys for tots’

14. www.edenir.org

15. The Hayward Public Library was nearby so I called in and said hi!

18. At TechSoup I met with many members of the global team and gained an overview of how thecustomer service team works – it is very different to the operations at DonorTec. I also found about TechSoup for Libraries.

19. More ‘call centre’ styleNo ability for customer to leave phone message – placed on hold with recording of tips about TechSoup ProgramTeam members tasks very structured Great posters “I’m a Nonprofit”

20. Met with Sarah Washburn, Library Program ManagerProgram started several years ago with a grant from the Gates FoundationVery keen to add Australia to the programCould be an expansion of TS for Libraries site, or we could run our own siteSarah has developed relationships with many librarians in the USSite has resources, library spotlights, webinars and monthly newsletter

21. Alcatraz

24. I took a walk across the Golden Gate Bridge

25. and undertook some more Community Information research

26. After my walk I headed off to Atlanta

27. #10ntcI joined a breakfast discussion “Social Media – personal & professional”Participants expressed fear at ideas expressed via social media haunting them in the futureDiscomfort at expressing political views onlineBlog posts used in court case

28. The trouble with Slacktivisim"the act of participating in obviously pointless activities as an expedient alternative to actually expending effort to fix a problem.“Examples of cause-oriented slacktivism are numerous, from turning your Twitter profile photos green in solidarity with Iranian protesters to short-term boycotts such as the recent Earth HourMixed emotions about “slacktivism”Wendy Harman from US Red Cross spoke about how her attitude to social media and “slacktivism” transformed as she watched the Haiti response unfold

29. What a bunch of ‘Slackers’

30. The Networked Nonprofit: Using Social Media to Power Social Networks for Change The book is coming soon!Networked Nonprofits are defined not by websites and software, but by the “networked” culture that they fully embrace

31. Seven Critical Qualities Of A Networked NonprofitTransparentValue networksComfort with toolsNetworked ecosystemCourageousTrustingAthletic

32. That's Not Funny: Using Humour in Online Communications I don’t get American humour! Presenter thought about writing a book titled “Nonprofit Humour” and someone asked him – ‘is that a pamphlet?’Rules Be nice Be topicalGive humour a goDon’t be mean!

33. The Real Housewives of Social Media

34. The Real Housewives of Social MediaSocial media needs to be part of your organisations communications strategyCollaborate with others in your sectorTools – monitor (REALLY important), be bold, add video, analyse (there are tools 4 this)Measurement – important to pick the right outcome to measureIdentify influencers and get them firstReflect – if something didn’t work give it a Joyful funeral – then move on!

35. ToolsWhat the hashtag – to promote #nptechauTwitalyzer – serious analytics for social mediaViralheat – more analyticsTweetbeep – find out what people are saying about us on twitterAnd there are many more tools

36. Games For ChangeAsiBurak from gamesforchange.org gave a fantastic keynote about using gaming to spread awareness of social/political issuesCheckout the website – all kinds of games for kids and adultsThe game ‘Peacemaker’, all about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was demonstrated. You can view a game preview at www.peacemakergame.com

37. After all that I was ready to relax at World of Coca Cola

38. I also called in to the Atlanta Public Library Service

39. And took a stroll around the neighbourhood

41. Anyone need their shoes cleaned?

42. Before returning home I toured the headquarters of CNN