Upcoming Events

Asia Source I

January 28 - February 04, 2005

Asia Source I was convened by the Tactical Technology Collective in partnership with Mahiti.org and Aspiration. Aspiration managed design of the agenda, and led facilitation of the event, which was aimed at building the technical skills of those working with NGOs in South and South East Asia. The event brought together nearly 100 NGOs and NGO technology support professionals working at the local level across the region, to act as a focal point in increasing the practical uptake of FOSS desktop and tools amongst the voluntary sector in South and South East Asia.

FLOSS Usability Sprint I

February 18-20, 2005

The first-ever FLOSS Usability Sprint brought together programmers, usability experts, project managers, and users to discuss methodologies for improving the usability of Free/Libre Open Source Software (F/LOSS) and to apply those processes towards specific software projects. The goals of the sprint will focus on building community between these groups and focusing efforts on non-profit-focused F/LOSS projects. The event surveyed and designed methodologies for improving the usability of open source software and apply the learnings to real software projects.

Aspiration's Innovation Track at the Nonprofit Technology Conference (NTC)

March 23-25, 2005

Aspiration is organizing a track of 14 sessions and clinics on technology innovation in the nonprofit sector at the NTEN National Technology Conference in Chicago.

The NTC is the largest nonprofit tech conference and aimed at IT staff in nonprofits and the people supporting nonprofits and their IT needs. The Aspiration Innovation Track at the NTC will focus on these themes:

  1. Project/Risk Management: How to you choose software? How do you manage IT projects in your organization? How do you decide whether to build/buy/or bend? How to you manage risk?
  2. Innovation Slams: Learn about tools while having some fun! Partake in Aspiration's famous SpeedGeeks and clinics;
  3. Free and Open Source Software--cheaper, better, faster software tools and development for nonprofits? Why is open source innovative? How do you leverage f/oss for nonprofit organizations?
  4. What’s next for nonprofit technology and software innovation? What's up and coming that NPO techies should be aware of? What do we need to realize the potential of IT for our organizations?

Sessions include: Blogs and RSS, Content Management with Open Source Software, and Successful Project Management of Web Development Projects, to name just a few.

Clinics and speed geeks feature security tools, blogging, taming your website with a CMS, and using Linux in your organization.

Please contact us at info at aspirationtech dot org if you are interested in participating in this track or like to see specific topics covered in the sessions.

We and the designated session designer welcome your input, ideas, and suggestions for this series!

Penguin Day Chicago

Mar 26, 2005

Following on the heels of the 2005 Nonprofit Technology Conference (NTC), Penguin Day Chicago was was co-organized by Aspiration with NPOTechs and Teaming for Technology Chicago. Sessions included Introduction to Free and Open Source Software for Nonprofits, Local resources and who’s-who in the Chicago Free/Open Source community, e-Advocacy platforms and best practices, Selecting an operating system, and Free and Open Source migration strategies, as well as the ever-popular “Speed Geeking”

Penguin Day San Francisco Bay Area

Apr 12, 2005

The first west coast Penguin Day, co-organized by Aspiration and CompuMentor, was held in Oakland and brought nonprofit staff, eRiders, and open source practitioners and developers together for fun, dialog and skill-sharing. A particular focus of this Penguin Day was the role free and open source software plays in hardware recycling, with sessions offered by FreeGeek, Technology Rescue, and Hawaii Open Source Education Foundation (HOSEF). Other sessions addressed CRM solutions for nonprofits, eAdvocacy tools, open content, and yet another round of madcap “Speed Geeking”

Penguin Day New York

May 7, 2005

PD in the Big Apple was big fun, with a diverse group of participants and facilitators. Co-organized by Aspiration in partnership with the LINC Project of the Welfare Law Center and United Way of New York City, the event included sessions on Introduction to Free and Open Source Software for Nonprofits, Local resources and who’s-who in the New York Free/Open Source community, e-Advocacy platforms and best practices, Selecting an operating system, and Free and Open Source migration strategies, and a spirited “Speed Geeking” extravaganza.

Facilitation for Networks Training Convergence

Jun 1, 2005

At the invitation of IDRC and Telecentre.org, Aspiration trained other facilitators in key elements of the event facilitation methodology that Aspiration has developed for nonprofit technology gatherings such as Developer Convergences, sprints, Source Camps, and Penguin Days. Particular emphasis was placed on exploring how the Aspiration approach can be used to build or strengthen collaborative networks, and to lay the foundation for concrete online and offline post-event collaboration, through the effective use of wikis and other online tools used to produce documentation in real time during face to face events. The workshops also provided a springboard for telecentre.org and IDRC planning processes and the development of a ‘facilitation for networks’ methodology which has since been used to organize other events.

Advocacy Dev II

July 11-13, 2005

The second convening of practitioners of open source tools for online advocacy took on an international flavor, with participants traveling from Asia and Europe to join in the festivities. Sessions included Mapping the State of F/OSS eAdvocacy Software, discussing F/OSS Database Tools for NPOs and NGOs, Introducing Aspiration’s eAdvocacy Training Curriculum, Open Database Standards, Hacktivism, Inter-Cultural Issues, and a range of peer-to-peer skillshares.

FLOSS Usability Sprint II: Extreme Usability

August 22-24, 2005

This event brought together programmers, usability experts, project managers, and users to prototype new methodologies for improving the usability of Free/Libre Open Source Software (F/LOSS) and to apply those processes towards specific software projects. Aspiration’s own Social Source Commons platform was one of the focal projects, along with the Chandler project, CiviCRM, and others.

Network Facilitation Training Convergence

Sep 1, 2005

At the invitation of Bellanet’s Harambee project, Aspiration offered a second training in our event facilitation methodology for nonprofit technology gatherings. Participants explored how the Aspiration approach can be used to build or strengthen collaborative networks, and to lay the foundation for concrete online and offline post-event collaboration, including the effective use of wikis and other online tools used to produce documentation in real time during face to face events. The workshops also provided a springboard for planning subsequent Harambee events via the Aspiration process.

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Gunner and the Aspiration team have been an incredible inspiration and resource for us at OpenNews. Their guidance and feedback have shaped everything from how support relationship building amongst cohorts to planning goal-oriented meetings where participants leave with a feeling of accomplishment and a sense of purpose.

Erika Owens, OpenNews
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