Michael’s Ramblings . . .

This week I am fortunate to attend a CIO NPO symposiums of sorts sponsored by one of our tech providers, CDW - these guys not only sell every tech related thing under the sun and are well underway to servicing the non profit sector in more areas which this conference is geared towards. More on the CDW experience later, for now I want to talk about see3.

I had mentioned about my trip to Chicago sort of in passing a week ago via Twitter when one of my followers, http://twitter.com/Michael_Hoffman replied and was hoping to hook up when I arrived in Chi-Town.

Michael is President and CEO of see3 communications http://www.see3.net/ based in Chicago - a group I had the pleasure of being introduced to several years ago at an NTEN session in DC. I was impressed with their technology and services back then, even more now. As this incredible interactive video marketing piece from the American Cancer Society will attest to http://bit.ly/ZDew0

When talking with some of my program folks at National Wildlife Federation, in particular Julie Lalo http://twitter.com/jlalo who's the Regional Representative of the Chesapeake Mid Atlantic affiliate group, we had a lively discussion about the challenges of the affiliates in sharing each others experiences and stories. How video could be such a powerful tool and how they each have so many stories to tell and more importantly to share. Not only would the general public have a far richer experience, they could easily learn from one another, if . . . and that that's a big word - IF they had the means to easily access, post and follow a video oriented system.

The tools are out there, "see3" is a perfect example - the trick is bringing all the ingredients into the one pot.

When it all comes together the stew has the potential for tasting delish, but to follow the analogy one more step, if you put too many chefs in the kitchen who knows what the results will be. I'm hoping that I can swing a hook up with Michael - I mean we have the same name, that's one of the rules of Michael's we're drawn to one another by name alone - but seriously, I'm not sure at this point if I have the right the ingredients not to mention a big enough pot to promote these amazing tools and services. NWF is one of those groups with a lot of moving parts, trying to understand and follow it all is daunting.

It would take a concerted effort to pull not only the affiliates together but also the staff. I like the concept of giving them a pot to share their ideas in while contributing to the stirring and blending to come up with a unified message.

Aren't cooking analogies the best? Maybe I shouldn't be blogging before I eat?

Specialization without integration is fragmentation - Peter Forbes

Michael Sola is the Director of IT and lead technologist at the National Wildlife Federation. NWF is the United States' largest private, nonprofit conservation education and advocacy organization, with over 4 million members and supporters in 48 state-affiliated organizations

Ok, here's the deal: The Internet Service Provider "Hurricane Electric" which hosts the web site for The Yes Men, who are trying to fix the world one huge prank after another, was forced to bar them off their service or face a lawsuit.

I guess Chamber President Tom Donohue here can't take the joke, well it's not really a joke. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/23/chamber-of-commerce-stron_n_332087.html

In the process of adhering to the "letter" Hurricane Electric had to shut down, for what ended up being several hours, hundreds of other legitimate client web sites. All because the US Chamber of Commerce threatened legal action against the ISP provider.

I wonder, what about the Service Level Agreement the hundreds of other clients signed into agreement with and expected from the ISP provider? If I was one of their clients who were shut down for no cause I would be talking to a lawyer about compensation and lost business!

You would think there could have been other ways to fix this. For instance: they could have told The Yes Men to shut down voluntarily or be forced off per their normal contract agreements due to violations as cited by the US Chamber. They could have limited their bandwidth - instead they hard shut the circuit and forced hundreds of client to be in the dark.

Nice customer service!

Here is the video

I recently shared a commentary on my Facebook profile regarding an observation when seeing the movie 'Taking Woodstock' - I had found the word of mouth sharing of the event fascinating given the timeframe: the lack of Internet, email, Twitter, no social networking tools of any kind. Yet the sheer numbers and passion of the people who gathered for Woodstock was a sight to behold.

I had asked the question "why is it so hard in today's world to garner that same type of mobilization and passion?" We have as many passionate people today as back then and God knows there are a ton of heart wrenching causes. A friend of mine answered that questions in a few simple words:

"It's because we no longer have a sense of community." and she is right.

This piece I saw in the Sept 21 issue of Time hit a nerve, while the focus of the article speaks towards consumerism it would seem that this particular action of consumerism has brought people together. When the Time poll concluded that 68% of Americans "think they do not live up to their responsibilities as citizens" - I had to wonder, what does that mean?

Perhaps we are not passionate about our responsibilities or is it we are afraid to speak out for fear we won't be perceived well or not "politically correct". I'm not sure what that means anymore and maybe that's part of the problem, what is bringing us together? What is galvanizing us? What is keeping us from being stronger?

I recently saw Gallagher on his "Stuck in the 60's" tour http://www.gallaghersmash.com/ at 63 he is as witty and bright as ever and exercising freedom of speech to a brand new generation. So in the words of the "smartest man alive" : Freedom of speech includes volume.

That's right my bald headed friend: Crank it up, and let's get responsible in style!

Talk Like a Pirate Day is today - Sept 19, 2009 - learn how to talk Pirate.
So Yo-Ho matey, aye!

Cap'n Mike signing off

I love the tag line ". . . as Americans we're not only connected to this land, we're connected by it." How simple an idea is that?

I know where I'll be on Sept 27 at 8pm EST - where will you be?

So - Ellen D, next judge on American Idol - you go girl! I've always like Ellen going way back. Should be a whole new twist!

I love this message - Lance Armstrong no matter the hype no matter the critics is an inspiration. So many count on him.

As he states in this very simple yet hard hitting piece, when he says he's "not back on this bike for them . . . " the message is clear who he's riding for, it's for those that can't - at least not yet.

I have this urge to go out and pedal.

www.livestrong.org/