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Aspiration Events History

Over the past nineteen years, we have convened and co-organized almost 850 highly interactive events in over 50 countries across the globe as well as online. Explore our past event archive below. We build agendas around participant-driven dialog and collaboration that connect all the stakeholders in strategy, design and development processes, and model our events, see our Upcoming Events, or learn about Aspiration's Events Services.

2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004

2023

Gathering on Open Science Hardware (GOSH) Open Hardware in the Context of Open Science - Workshop II

Virtual // March 2023

Content Moderator Summit

Berlin, Germany // March 2023

OSHWA Open Science Hardware Fellows Peer Learning Workshop V

Virtual // March 2023

Capacity Builders Convergence February 2023

Virtual // February 2023

OSHWA Open Science Hardware Fellows Peer Learning Workshop IV

Virtual // February 2023

Digital Policy Leadership Summit

Brussels, Belgium // February 2023

Gathering on Open Science Hardware (GOSH) Open Hardware in the Context of Open Science - Workshop I

Virtual // February 2023

Ushahidi Team Retreat

Cape Town, South Africa // January 2023

Digital Practices for Environmental Justice Archiving

Virtual // January 2023

OSHWA Open Science Hardware Fellows Peer Learning Workshop III

Virtual // January 2023

2022

EDRi Funders Open House II

Virtual // December 2022

Capacity Builders Convergence November 2022

Virtual // November 2022

2022 Nonprofit Software Development Summit

Preservation Park, Oakland California USA // November 2022

EDRi Funders Open House I

Virtual // November 2022

2022 Nonprofit Software Development Summit - Virtual Session

Virtual // November 2022

Freedom of the Press Foundation Digital Security Team Retreat

Brooklyn, New York USA // November 2022

OSHWA Open Science Hardware Fellows Peer Learning Workshop II

Virtual // November 2022

Reproducible Builds Summit VI

Venice, Italy // November 2022

Electronic Frontier Foundation Management Retreat

San Francisco, California USA // October 2022

European Policy Skills Workshop III

Virtual // October 2022

OSHWA Open Science Hardware Fellows Peer Learning Workshop I

Virtual // October 2022

Least Authority Team Summit

Berlin, Germany // October 2022

Shuttleworth Fellows Gathering

Madrid, Spain // October 2022

Greenpeace Technology Department Retreat

Athens, Greece // October 2022

EDRi Mid-point Strategy Workshop II

Virtual // September 2022

Capacity Builders Convergence September 2022

Virtual // September 2022

EDRi Mid-point Strategy Workshop I

Virtual // September 2022

European Policy Skills Workshop II

Virtual // September 2022

Digital Futures Gathering 2022

Berlin, Germany // September 2022

Freedom of the Press Foundation All-Staff

Brooklyn, New York USA // July 2022

Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team Board Screen2Screen

Virtual // July 2022

Wikimedia Legal Leads Retreat

San Francisco, California USA // June 2022

Capacity Builders Convergence June 2022

Virtual // June 2022

Preservation Practices Roundtable

Virtual // May 2022

Transatlantic Consumer Dialog Annual Meeting

Virtual // May 2022

Evidence Gathering Summit

Virtual // April 2022

Greenpeace USA People Power Retreat

Virtual // April 2022

HACS 2022 Workshop

Virtual // April 2022

Capacity Builders Convergence 2022

Virtual // April 2022

Technology and Border Management in the EU

Virtual // March 2022

Open Referral Network Summit

Virtual // March 2022

Ushahidi Team Retreat

Watamu Kenya // March 2022

EDRi State Surveillance Briefing

Virtual // February 2022

Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team Board Screen2Screen

Virtual // February 2022

EDRi Policy and Campaigns Workplanning Series

Virtual // February 2022

European Policy Skills Workshop

Virtual // February 2022

2021

ARDC Board Retreat

San Diego, California USA // December 2021

2021 Nonprofit Software Development Summit

Location: online // November 2021

James B. McClatchy Foundation LIFT Summit

Virtual // November 2021

Artificial Intelligence Act Strategy Workshop III

Virtual // November 2021

ARDC Community Visioning Workshop

Virtual // November 2021

Artificial Intelligence Act Strategy Workshop II

Virtual // November 2021

Shuttleworth Fellows Gathering

Virtual // November 2021

Artificial Intelligence Act Strategy Workshop I

Virtual // October 2021

Tails Project Summit

Virtual // October 2021

Reset.tech Staff Retreat

Virtual // October 2021

EDRi Disinformation Workshop

Virtual // October 2021

Jolocom Governance Design Workshop

Berlin, Germany // October 2021

Summit on Decentralized Infrastructure

New York, NY USA // September 2021

Greenpeace US Board Retreat

Virtual // September 2021

Tails Project Governance Sprint

Virtual // September 2021

EDRi Digital Services Act (DSA) / Digital Market Act (DMA) Strategy Workshop

Virtual // September 2021

Gathering on Open Science Hardware (GOSH) Funders Salon III

Virtual // July 2021

Electronic Frontier Foundation Management Retreat

Virtual // June 2021

European Digital Rights Funders Meeting

Virtual // June 2021

Gathering on Open Science Hardware (GOSH) Funders Salon II

Virtual // June 2021

Center for Democracy and Technology Automated Content Moderation Workshop

Virtual // June 2021

Gathering on Open Science Hardware (GOSH) Funders Salon I

Virtual // June 2021

Policy and Research Impact Metrics Workshop

Virtual // June 2021

Gathering on Open Science Hardware (GOSH) International Policy Workshop

Virtual // June 2021

Shuttleworth Fellows Gathering

Virtual // May 2021

HACS 2021 Workshop

Virtual // April 2021

Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team Board Screen2Screen

Virtual // April 2021

Gathering on Open Science Hardware (GOSH) Events Workshop

Virtual // April 2021

Hypha Developers Summit

Virtual // March 2021

Wikimedia Foundation Public Policy Team Retreat

Virtual // March 2021

Mozilla Festival

Virtual // March 2021

Digital Freedom Fund 2021 Strategy Meeting

Virtual // February 2021

2020

JSI Facilitation Trainings

Virtual // December 2020

New Harvest Safety Initiative Workshop III

Virtual // December 2020

EDRi Strategy Workshop

Virtual // November 2020

2020 Nonprofit Software Development Summit

Virtual // November 2020

New Harvest Safety Initiative Workshop II

Virtual // October 2020

California Department of Technology Facilitation Training Series

Virtual // October 2020

Creative Commons 2020 Summit

Virtual // October 2020

Shuttleworth Fellows Gathering

Virtual // October 2020

Creative Commons Staff Strategy Sessions

Virtual // September 2020

New Harvest Safety Initiative Workshop I

Virtual // September 2020

HACS Virtual Session

Virtual // September 2020

Hyperledger Member Summit

Virtual // September 2020

Tails Project Summit

Virtual // August 2020

Open Networking Foundation Pronto Project Kickoff

Virtual // July 2020

Alternative Technologies Staff Retreat

Virtual // June 2020

FOSS Responders UPLIFT!

Virtual // May 2020

Shuttleworth Fellows Gathering

Virtual // April 2020

OpenStreetMap Foundation 2020 Board Retreat

Virtual // March 2020

Open Society Foundations Climate Strategy Roundtable

Virtual // March 2020

W3C Web Accessibility Initiative Advisory Group Meeting

Virtual // March 2020

Internet Security Research Group 2020 Board Retreat

Napa, California USA // March 2020

Open Referral / Greater Houston Coalition Convening on the Social Determinants of Health

Houston, Texas USA // February 2020

Digital Freedom Fund Digital Rights 2020 Strategy Meeting

Berlin, Germany // February 2020

Technovation Staff Strategy Retreat

San Francisco, California USA // February 2020

Sustain Open Source 2020 Summit

Brussels, Belgium // January 2020

California DHHS Office of Innovation Strategy Retreat

Sacramento, California USA // January 2020

High-Assurance Software Engineering 2020 Workshop

New Orleans, Louisiana USA // January 2020

HACS 2020 Workshop

New York, New York USA // January 2020

2019

Silicon Valley Community Foundation Transportation Policy Roundtable

San Mateo, California USA // December 2019

Reproducible Builds Summit V

Marrakech, Morocco // December 2019

2019 Nonprofit Software Development Summit

Preservation Park, Oakland, CA // November 2019

Mozilla Festival

London, England // October 2019

Alluma Strategy and Innovation Staff Retreat

Oakland, California USA // October 2019

Shuttleworth Fellows Gathering

Charlotte, North Carolina USA // October 2019

Digital Freedom Fund GDRP Workshop

Berlin, Germany // September 2019

Silicon Valley Community Foundation Executive Leaders of Color Roundtable

Los Altos, California USA // September 2019

California Health and Human Services Facilitation 2019 Workshop III

Sacramento, California USA // August 2019

Silicon Valley Community Foundation Regional Strategy Session on RV Housing

Los Altos, California USA // July 2019

MakerEd Staff Retreat

Berkeley, California USA // July 2019

California Nonprofit Technology Festival, Los Angeles 2019

Los Angeles, California USA // July 2019

California Health and Human Services Facilitation 2019 Workshop II

Sacramento, California USA // July 2019

California Health and Human Services Facilitation 2019 Workshop I

Sacramento, California USA // July 2019

Silicon Valley Community Foundation Regional Strategy Session on RV Housing

Los Altos, California USA // July 2019

Open Society Foundations 2019 Finance Conference

Yerevan, Armenia // June 2019

UNICEF Global Volunteer Skill Share

Antequera, Spain // June 2019

Online Advertising Data Disclosure Best Practices Retreat

Washington, DC USA // June 2019

Digital Freedom Fund Digital Rights and Academia

Amsterdam, Netherlands // June 2019

Shuttleworth Fellows Gathering

Vilnius, Lithuania // May 2019

Iran Cyber Dialogue

Washington, DC USA // May 2019

Mozilla Festival Planning Retreat

Barcelona, Spain // May 2019

OpenStreetMap Foundation Board Retreat

Brussels, Belgium // May 2019

EDRi Staff and Board Retreat

Brussels, Belgium // May 2019

Compton Foundation Board Retreat

Sundance, Utah USA // April 2019

DataKind Staff Planning Day

New York, New York USA // April 2019

Mozilla Misinformation Convening

Paris, France // March 2019

Mozilla EU Policy Challengers Roundtable

Brussels, Belgium // March 2019

Digital Freedom Fund Digital Rights Strategy Meeting

Berlin, Germany // February 2019

Silicon Valley Community Foundation Conversation on Shared Equity Housing Models

San Mateo, California USA // February 2019

Benetech DIAGRAM Project Meeting

Washington, DC USA // February 2019

DataKind Chapters Summit

New York, New York USA // February 2019

Open Society Foundations Legal Empowerment Workshop

New Orleans, Louisiana USA // January 2019

High-Assurance Software Engineering 2019 Workshop

Mountain View, California USA // January 2019

Iridescent Learning Technology Strategy Retreat

Los Angeles, California USA // January 2019

European Digital Rights Funder Strategy Meeting

Amsterdam, Netherlands // January 2019

2018

Immigrant Legal Resource Center Ready California Meeting

San Francisco, California USA // December 2018

Credential Registry Learn and Build Summit

Rockville, Maryland USA // December 2018

Reproducible Builds Summit IV

Paris, France // December 2018

2018 Nonprofit Software Development Summit

Oakland, California USA // November 2018
Expand

This collaborative three-day gathering is designed for everyone from grassroots activists to software developers, bringing together participants from around the world to share knowledge, build relationships, and collectively envision the future of free and open technology to support social change.

Internet Society Collaborative Leadership Exchange

Paris, France // November 2018

DataKind Alumni Strategy Meeting

New York, New York USA // November 2018

Shuttleworth Fellows Gathering

Marrakech, Morocco // November 2018

Shuttleworth Fellows Gathering

Marrakech, Morocco // November 2018

Acterra Clean Energy Access for All Design Sprint

Fremont, California USA // October 2018

Sustain Open Source Summit

London, England // October 2018

UNICEF NatCom Volunteer Skill Share

Rome, Italy // October 2018

OpenStreetMap US Board Retreat

Detroit Michigan USA // October 2018

Mobilisation Lab Challenges and Opportunities in Modern Advocacy

London, England // October 2018

Mozilla Festival

London, England // October 2018

Ruckus Society Staff Retreat

San Francisco, California USA // October 2018

Freedom of the Press Foundation Staff Retreat

Oakland, California USA // September 2018

Digital Freedom Fund Future Digital Rights Worshop

Berlin, Germany // September 2018

Center for Democracy & Technology Staff Retreat

Washington, DC USA // September 2018

Greenpeace US Board Retreat

Tiburon, California USA // September 2018

California Health and Human Services Facilitation Workshop II

Sacramento, California USA // July 2018

Internet Archive DWeb Summit

San Francisco, California USA // July 2018

Silicon Valley Community Foundation Civic Participation Strategy Meeting

Mountain View, California USA // July 2018

Internet Society North America Chapters Campaign Strategy Meeting

Washington, DC USA // July 2018

Open Society Foundations Management Committee Retreat

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania USA // July 2018

California Nonprofit Technology Festival - Fresno 2018

Fresno, California USA // June 2018

Open Society Foundations 2018 Finance Conference

Budapest, Hungary // June 2018

Committee to Protect Journalists Staff Retreat

Mount Tremper, New York USA // June 2018

Open Society Foundations 2018 Finance Retreat

Budapest, Hungary // June 2018

California Health and Human Services Facilitation Workshop I

Sacramento, California USA // June 2018

Information Safety & Capacity Project 2018 Global Workshop

Washington, DC USA // May 2018

Disinformation Countermeasures Workshop II

San Francisco, California USA // May 2018

Shuttleworth Fellows Gathering

Windsor, England // May 2018

Iran Cyber Dialogue

Toronto, Canada // May 2018

Open Society Foundations Strategy Process Audit Retreat

New York, New York USA // April 2018

Disinformation Countermeasures Workshop I

New York, New York USA // April 2018

Internet Freedom Festival Funders and Fellows Meetings

Valencia, Spain // March 2018

Immigrant Legal Resource Center Ready California Meeting

Los Altos, California USA // March 2018

Tor Developers Meeting

Rome, Italy // March 2018

Open Society Foundations Executive Office Retreat

Birmingham, Alabama USA // March 2018

Benetech Service Net Strategy Meeting

San Francisco, California USA // February 2018

Rainforest Action Network Strategic Planning Retreat

Marin Headlands, California USA // February 2018

UNICEF Global Volunteer Skill Share

Athens, Greece // February 2018

Digital Freedom Fund Digital Rights Strategy Meeting

Berlin, Germany // February 2018

High-Assurance Cryptographic Software 2018 Workshop

Zurich, Switzerland // January 2018

Open Society Foundations Office of the COO Retreat

Washington, DC USA // January 2018

Ruckus Society Staff Retreat

San Francisco, California USA // January 2018

2017

Electronic Frontier Foundation Management Retreat

San Francisco, California USA // December 2017

Electronic Frontier Foundation Management Retreat San Francisco

California USA, December 2017 // December 2017

2017 Nonprofit Software Development Summit

Oakland, California USA // November 2017

CampaignCon 2017

Johannesburg, South Africa // November 2017

Reproducible Builds Summit III

Berlin, Germany // November 2017

Digital Freedom Fund Listening Tour

London, Berlin, and Amsterdam // November 2017

Movement Hosting Work Day

San Francisco, California USA // November 2017

Immigrant Legal Resource Center Ready California Meeting

San Francisco, California USA // October 2017

2017 Mozilla Festival

London, England // October 2017

Open Society Foundation Human Resources Department Retreat

Baltimore, Maryland, USA // October 2017

Tor Project Meeting

Montreal, Canada // October 2017

Greenpeace USA Board Retreat

San Isidro de Peñas Blancas, Costa Rica // September 2017

Ford Foundation Internet Freedom Grantees Retreat

Point Lookout, Maine USA // August 2017

New York Community Technology Skillshare

New York, NY // July 2017

Forward Change Retreat

Bodega Bay, California USA // July 2017

Benetech DIAGRAM Summit

Leesburg, Virginia USA // June 2017

Sustain Open Source

San Francisco, California USA // June 2017

Open Society Foundations Facilities Department Retreat

New York, New York USA // June 2017

Movement Hosting Summit

Montreal, Canada // June 2017

Rainforest Action Network Staff Retreat

Marin Headlands, California USA // June 2017

Shuttleworth Fellows Gathering

Vancouver, Canada // May 2017

Information Safety & Capacity Project 2017 Global Workshop

Washington, DC USA // May 2017

Open Society Foundations 2017 Finance Conference

Tirana, Albania // May 2017

Immigrant Legal Resource Center Ready California Meeting

Los Angeles, California USA // April 2017

Committee to Protect Journalists Technology Strategy Retreat

New York, New York USA // April 2017

Mobilisation Lab Strategy Session

San Francisco, California USA // April 2017

Greenpeace Backstage

Oakland, California USA // April 2017

Tor Project Meeting

Amsterdam, The Netherlands // March 2017

Vietnam Cyber Dialogue

Valencia, Spain // March 2017

Open Society Foundations Executive Office Retreat

Stevensville, Maryland USA // March 2017

Iran Cyber Dialogues

Brussels, Belgium // March 2017

Civic Hall Labs Civic Health Ideation Retreat

New York, New York USA // March 2017

Taking Stock of Tech Infrastructure for Civil Society

San Francisco, California USA // February 2017

Copyright for Creativity General Assembly

Brussels, Belgium // February 2017

SAFETAG Retreat

Berlin, Germany // February 2017

Immigrant Legal Resource Center Ready California Meeting

San Francisco, California USA // January 2017

High-Assurance Cryptographic Software 2017 Workshop

New York, New York USA // January 2017

2016

Reproducible Builds Summit II

Berlin, Germany // December 2016

WRI Global Gathering Paris

Paris, France // December 2016

RWJF National SSDB

Princeton, New Jersey USA // December 2016

OSF ROOT Meeting

New York, New York USA // December 2016

2016 Nonprofit Software Development Summit

Oakland, California USA // November 2016

Code for America 2016 Fellows Wrap-Up

Marin Headlands, California USA // November 2016

Open Society Foundation Human Resources Department Retreat

Lisbon, Portugal // November 2016

CampaignCon

Barcelona, Spain // October 2016

Open Technology Fund Advisory Council Meeting

Baltimore, Maryland, USA // October 2016

2016 Mozilla Festival

London, England // October 2016

Open Technology Fund Projects Summit

Baltimore, Maryland, USA // October 2016

Mozilla Festival European Digital Rights Funders Meeting

London, England // October 2016

Shuttleworth Fellows Gathering

Solčava, Slovenia // October 2016

Consumer Reports Privacy Testing Protocol Design Sprint II

New York, New York, USA // October 2016

Techno-Activism Third Monday

San Francisco, California USA // September 2016

Greenpeace International Retreat

Amsterdam, The Netherlands // September 2016

Tor Developers Meeting

Seattle, Washington, USA // September 2016

Greenpeace USA Board Retreat

San Isidro de Peñas Blancas, Costa Rica // September 2016

San Francisco August digital responder meetup

San Francisco, California USA // August 2016

Open Society Foundations National and Regional Foundations Roundtable

New York, New York USA // July 2016

Consumer Reports Privacy Testing Protocol Design Sprint

New York, New York USA // July 2016

Google/Linux Foundation Core Internet Infrastructure Summit

New York, New York USA // July 2016

Ford Foundation Public Interest Infrastructure Workshop

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania USA // July 2016

Mozilla Open Web Fellows Hosts Planning Meeting

New York, New York USA // July 2016

West Coast digital responder meetup

San Francisco, California USA // June 2016

Humanitarian TechFest 2016 East Coast

Cambridge, MA USA // June 2016

Open Society Foundations Applications Team Retreat

New York, New York USA // June 2016

Code for America 2016 Fellows Mid-Year Retreat

Marin Headlands, California USA // June 2016

Locking the Web Open

San Francisco, California USA // June 2016

Consumer Reports' “Hack at the Track” Automotive Hackathon

East Haddam, Connecticut USA // June 2016

Amnesty International Global Digital Campaigning Strategy Workshop

London, England // June 2016

Information Security Coalition 2016 Global Workshop

Washington, DC USA // June 2016

Greenpeace US Retreat

Pacific Grove, California USA // May 2016

Open Society Foundations 2016 Grants Management Retreat

Lake Balaton, Hungary // May 2016

Open Society Foundations 2016 Finance Conference

Vienna, Austria // May 2016

California Nonprofit Technology Festival

Watsonville, California USA // April 2016

Shuttleworth Fellows Gathering

Littlehampton, England // April 2016

Hellman Foundation Grantees Meeting

San Francisco, California USA // April 2016

Open Society Foundations Intranet User Needs Meeting

New York, New York USA // April 2016

Future of Human Rights Technology

Mexico City, Mexico // April 2016

Monk School of Global Affairs – Create 2016

Toronto, Canada // March 2016

Iran Cyber Dialogues

San Francisco, California USA // March 2016

Open Technology Fund Corporate Rapid Response Roundtable

Valencia, Spain // March 2016

Greenpeace USA Board Meeting

San Francisco, California USA // March 2016

European Digital Rights Funder Summit

Berlin, Germany // February 2016

Tor Developers Meeting

Valencia, Spain // February 2016

Code for America 2016 Fellows Kick-Off

Marin Headlands, California USA // February 2016

European Digital Rights Summit

Berlin, Germany // February 2016

Open Technology Fund Projects Communications Lab

New York, New York USA // February 2016

Open Society Foundations Global Finance Retreat

New York, New York USA // January 2016

Greenpeace Food for Life Summit

Avigliano Umbro, Italy // January 2016

High-Assurance Cryptographic Software Workshop

Palo Alto, California USA // January 2016

TOTEM Platform Design Sprint

Berlin, Germany // January 2016

2015

IREX S.A.F.E. Retreat

Washington, DC USA // December 2015

Reproducible Builds Summit I

Athens, Greece // December 2015

2015 Nonprofit Software Development Summit

Oakland, California USA // November 2015

Media Democracy Fund Net Neutrality Visualization Workshop

Washington, DC USA // November 2015

Code for America 2015 Fellows Wrap-Up

Marin Headlands, California USA // November 2015

Global Witness Strategy Design Charette

New York, New York USA // November 2015

Mozilla Festival

London, England // November 2015

ASL19 Open Elections

Washington, DC USA // November 2015

Women in Cybersecurity

Menlo Park, California USA // November 2015

BADCamp Nonprofit Summit

Berkeley, California USA // October 2015

Open Technology Fund Projects Summit

Washington, DC USA // October 2015

Boston Civic Media Consortium

Cambridge, Massachusetts USA // October 2015

Open Technology Institute Staff Retreat

Annapolis, Maryland USA // October 2015

Greenpeace Mobiles x Mobilisation

Berlin, Germany // October 2015

Open Technology Fund Team Retreat

Washington, DC USA // October 2015

Shuttleworth Fellows Gathering

Temozón Sur, Yucatan Mexico // October 2015

Amnesty International Digital Campaigning in Crisis Response

London, England // October 2015

Tor Developers Meeting

Berlin, Germany // September 2015

Greenpeace Global Climate and Energy Meeting

Girona, Spain // September 2015

Simply Secure Board Retreat

Brooklyn, New York USA // September 2015

Global Goals Community Data Event

Washington, DC USA // September 2015

Mozilla Open Web Fellows Retreat

New York, New York USA // September 2015

Greenpeace USA Board Retreat

San Isidro de Peñas Blancas, Costa Rica // September 2015

Open Society Foundations Facilitation Training

New York, New York USA // September 2015

WRI Forest Perimeter Defense Unconference

San Francisco, California USA // September 2015

Open Society Foundations Grants Management Retreat

Barcelona, Spain // September 2015

Buntwani Innovation for Good Governance

Johannesburg, South Africa // August 2015

Ford Internet Rights Meeting

Point Lookout, Maine USA // August 2015

Ford NetGain Public Interest Technology Talent Pipeline Meeting

Point Lookout, Maine USA // August 2015

Open Society Foundations Access to Knowledge Strategy Meeting

London, England // August 2015

Centralized and Distributed Organization workshop

Stockholm, Sweden // August 2015

California Nonprofit Tech Leadership Summit

Bakersfield, California USA // July 2015

Google/Linux Foundation Core Internet Infrastructure Summit

Madrid, Spain // July 2015

Open Technology Fund Rapid Response Roundtable

Berlin, Germany // July 2015

Mozilla Festival Planning Retreat

Fife, Scotland // July 2015

Open Society Foundations Talking Transition DC Debrief

Washington, DC USA // July 2015

Greenpeace Open Campaigns Camp

Berlin, Germany // July 2015

Lantern Project Team Retreat

Los Angeles, California USA // July 2015

Benetech 3D Printing for Accessible Education

San Jose, California USA // June 2015

Mozilla PR Team Retreat

Vancouver, Canada // June 2015

Code for America 2015 Fellows Mid-Year Retreat

Marin Headlands, California USA // June 2015

Mozilla Open Badges Strategy Meeting

Los Angeles, California USA // June 2015

Allied Media Conference 2015

Detroit, Michigan USA // June 2015

Mozilla Work Week Whistler

Whistler, Canada // June 2015

International Workshop on Misogyny and the Internet

Cambridge, Massachusetts USA // June 2015

Tor Leadership Meeting

Boston, Massachusetts USA // June 2015

Humanitarian Technology Festival

Cambridge, Massachusetts USA // May 2015

Talleres de Comunicaciones para Organizadores Comunitarios

Los Angeles, California USA // May 2015

Social Justice Technology Skillshare in Los Angeles

Los Angeles, California USA // May 2015

Open Society Foundations Finance Conference

New York, New York USA // May 2015

International Open Data Conference Pre-Events

Ottawa, Canada // May 2015

Ford Foundation Grantee Digital Security Needs Focus Group

New York, New York USA // May 2015

FLUXX User Gathering

San Francisco, California USA // May 2015

EARN Staff Retreat

San Francisco, California USA // May 2015

Open Society Foundations Strategy Unit Retreat

New York, New York USA // May 2015

Shuttleworth Fellows Gathering

Toronto, Canada // May 2015

Procesos para Comunicaciones con Impacto

San Francisco, California USA // April 2015

Hypothes.is Staff Retreat

San Francisco, California USA // April 2015

I Annotate Conference

San Francisco, California USA // April 2015

Community Based Adaption Conference

Nairobi, Kenya // April 2015

Information Security Coalition 2015 Global Workshop

Washington, DC USA // April 2015

Cybersecurity for Internet of Things

Menlo Park, California USA // April 2015

Attention for Democracy Strategy Meeting

Pocantico, New York USA // April 2015

Benetech Bookshare Advisory Meeting

Palo Alto, California USA // April 2015

Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Curriculum Sprint

Washington, DC USA // April 2015

Dialling Up Resilience

Nairobi, Kenya // April 2015

Grameen Foundation Senior Management Retreat

San Francisco, California USA // April 2015

Coordinando sus Canales de Comunicaciones en Línea

March 2015

Digital and Distributed Disaster Response

Cambridge, Massachusetts USA // March 2015

Google Ideas Copcast Body-Worn Cameras Planning Meeting

New York, New York USA // March 2015

Tor Developers Meeting

Valencia, Spain // March 2015

Iran Cyber Dialogues

Valencia, Spain // March 2015

Electronic Frontier Foundation Directors Meeting

San Francisco, California USA // March 2015

Center for Economic and Social Rights User Convening

Tunis, Tunisia // March 2015

Lantern Project Team Retreat

Valencia, Spain // March 2015

Circumvention Technology Festival in Valencia, Spain | 2015

March 2015

Open Technology Fund Staff Retreat

Washington, DC USA // February 2015

OpenStreetMap Board Retreat

Berlin, Germany // February 2015

The Future of Human Rights Technology

Menlo Park, California USA // February 2015

Antioch University Urban Sustainability Retreat

Los Angeles, California USA // February 2015

TABridge Follow The Money Workshop

Berlin, Germany // January 2015

Google/Linux Foundation Core Internet Infrastructure Summit

London, England // January 2015

Code for America 2015 Fellows Kick-Off

Marin Headlands, California USA // January 2015

2014

Mozilla Work Week Portland

Portland, Oregon USA // December 2014

Open Society Foundations Strategy Unit Spinoff Meeting

New York, New York USA // December 2014

Open Society Foundations Applications Team Retreat

New York, New York USA // December 2014

FabRiders Data Strategies for Activist Campaigns

San Francisco, California USA // November 2014

2014 Nonprofit Software Development Summit

Oakland, California USA // November 2014

Ford/OSF Technology Funders Roundtable

New York, New York USA // November 2014

Code for America 2014 Fellows Retreat

Marin Headlands, California USA // November 2014

Greenpeace Global Programme Leaders Meeting

Amsterdam, Netherlands // November 2014

The Access Initiative Global Gathering

Bogota, Colombia // October 2014

Electronic Frontier Foundation Activism Retreat

Point Reyes Station, CA USA // October 2014

Mozilla Festival

London, England // October 2014

Open Society Foundations Spinoff Kit Sprint

New York, New York USA // October 2014

Shuttleworth Fellows Gathering

Valletta, Malta // October 2014

Responsible Data Forum Resource Sprint

Budapest, Hungary // September 2014

California Nonprofit Technology Festival

Richmond, California USA // September 2014

CA Technology Festival Community Call | 2014

September 2014

Internet Society Collaborative Leadership Exchange

Istanbul, Turkey // September 2014

Ethics of Data

Palo Alto, California USA // September 2014

OSF Strategy Unit Retreat

New Paltz, New York USA // September 2014

Open Technology Fund Projects Summit

Washington, DC USA // September 2014

Simply Secure Board Retreat

London, England // September 2014

Maker Party: Simple HTML for Nonprofits

San Francisco, California USA // August 2014

Open Society Foundations Global Drug Policy Strategy Charette

New York, New York USA // August 2014

Open Technology Whistleblowing Platform Roundtable

Berlin, Germany // July 2014

Humanitarian Open Streetmap Board Retreat

Washington, DC USA // July 2014

Open Society Foundations Staff Facilitation Skillshare

New York, New York USA // July 2014

Open Society Foundations Global Finance Retreat

Budapest, Hungary // July 2014

Open Technology Institute Staff Retreat

Annapolis, Maryland USA // July 2014

Tor Developers Meeting

Paris, France // June 2014

MAPLight Platform User Stories Sprint

San Francisco, California USA // June 2014

Journalism After Snowden

San Francisco, California USA // June 2014

Benetech DIAGRAM Summit

Warrenton, Virginia USA // June 2014

Google Ideas Obfuscation Lab

Seattle, Washington USA // June 2014

Code for America 2014 Fellows Retreat

Marin Headlands, California USA // June 2014

Online Advocacy and Community Building Training

Los Angeles, California USA // May 2014

Information Security Coalition 2014 Global Workshop

Washington, DC USA // May 2014

Shuttleworth Fellows Gathering

Budapest, Hungary // May 2014

PICnet Soapbox Summit

Washington, DC USA // May 2014

CiviCon 2014

San Francisco, California USA // April 2014

California Nonprofit Technology Festival

Los Angeles, California USA // April 2014

Mozilla Foundation All-Hands

San Francisco, California USA // April 2014

Governance Data Alliance Design Meeting

Washington, DC USA // April 2014

Open Society Foundations HR Budget Roundtable

New York, New York USA // April 2014

Online Communications for Grassroots Nonprofits

Ceres, California USA // March 2014

Penguin Day DC 2014

Washington, DC USA // March 2014

Responsible Data Forum Kickoff

Oakland, California USA // March 2014

Iran Cyber Dialogue

Toronto, Canada // March 2014

MIT Civic Media Lab Facilitation Skillshare

Boston, Massachusetts USA // March 2014

Four Processes for High Impact Communications Workshop

San Francisco, California USA // February 2014

Open Cambodia 2014

Sihanoukville, Cambodia // February 2014

Greenpeace Digital Mobilisation Skillshare 2014

Avigliano Umbro, Italy // February 2014

Open Society Foundations Post-2015 Strategy Charette

New York, New York USA // February 2014

Code for America 2013 Fellows Kick-Off

Marin Headlands, California USA // January 2014

Open Society Foundations Budget Retreat

New Paltz, New York USA // January 2014

UC Berkeley Labor Center eAdvocacy Training

Berkeley, California USA // January 2014

Open Society Foundations Strategy Retreat

New York, New York USA // January 2014

2013

Open Society Foundations Strategy Budget Roundtable

New York, New York USA // December 2013

2013 Nonprofit Software Development Summit

Oakland, California USA // November 2013

Advancing Data-Informed Philanthropy

Los Altos, California USA // November 2013

Code for America 2013 Fellows Retreat

Marin Headlands, California USA // November 2013

Sacramento Social Media Club eAdvocacy Workshop

Sacramento, California USA // November 2013

OSF Strategic Budget Process Mapping Workshop

New York, New York USA // November 2013

FLOSSManuals/Google Summer of Code Doc Sprint

Mountain View, California USA // October 2013

Mozilla Festival 2013

London, England // October 2013

OpenITP Circumvention Technology Summit

Berlin, Germany // October 2013

Community Technology Alliance Mobile4All Summit

Redwood City, California USA // October 2013

Code for America 2013 Summit

San Francisco, California USA // October 2013

New America Foundation Management Retreat

Washington, DC USA // October 2013

Mozilla Summit

Santa Clara, California USA // October 2013

California Nonprofit Technology Festival

Sacramento, California USA // September 2013

Roadmap Digital Security Learning Lab

Oakland, California USA // September 2013

Cautionary Story Sprint

New York, New York USA // September 2013

Open Technology Fund Projects Summit

Washington, DC USA // September 2013

Mozilla Foundation Management Off-Site

Toronto, Canada // September 2013

TABridge Mentors Roundtable

London, England // September 2013

Open Badges Vision Summit

Toronto, Canada // August 2013

Silicon Valley Community Foundation Design Deep Dive

Mountain View, California USA // August 2013

Code for America 2013 Accelerator Kick-Off

San Francisco, California USA // August 2013

Ford Privacy Roundtable

Bangor, Maine USA // August 2013

Code for America Staff Retreat

San Francisco, California USA // July 2013

TorDev Summer 2013

Munich, Germany // July 2013

ArtSpark Online Media Skillshare

Albuquerque, New Mexico USA // July 2013

Code for America 2013 Fellows Retreat

Marin Headlands, California USA // July 2013

SEATTI Technology for Transparency

Jakarta, Indonesia // July 2013

Mercy Corps Social Innovation Retreat

Portland, Oregon USA // July 2013

UC Berkeley Labor Center eAdvocacy Training

Berkeley, California USA // June 2013

Code for America Senior Staff Retreat

San Francisco, California USA // June 2013

ABRE LATAM

Montevideo, Uruguay // June 2013

California Teachers Association Region 1 Training

Burlingame, California USA // June 2013

OONI Project Sprint

Berlin, Germany // June 2013

Allied Media Conference

Detroit, Michigan USA // June 2013

California Nonprofit Technology Festival

Coachella, California USA // May 2013

Mozilla Tribeca Hacks

New York, New York USA // May 2013

Mozilla Foundation All-Hands

Toronto, Canada // May 2013

PICnet Soapbox Summit

Washington, DC USA // May 2013

Third Rail Economy Roundtable

San Francisco, California USA // May 2013

Reimagining Education

Washington, DC USA // May 2013

California WIC Association Annual Conference

San Jose, California USA // April 2013

OpenITP Circumvention Technology Summit

Hong Kong, China // April 2013

Information Security Coalition Global Workshop

Washington, DC USA // April 2013

Open Technology Institute Staff Retreat

Natural Bridge, Virginia USA // April 2013

CiviCon SF

Berkeley, California USA // April 2013

Silicon Valley Community Foundation Design Jam

Mountain View, California USA // April 2013

OpenITP Staff Retreat

Washington, DC USA // April 2013

Strategic Tech Teach-In

Oakland, California USA // March 2013

IAI Leadership Off-Site

San Jose, California USA // March 2013

First 5 Fresno Sustainability Workshop

Fresno, California USA // March 2013

Mozilla Webmaker Training Days

Athens, Greece // March 2013

Development Executives Roundtable CRM Teach-In

San Francisco, California USA // March 2013

Open Society Foundations Souk Jam

New York, New York USA // March 2013

Code for America 2013 Fellows Retreat

Marin Headlands, California USA // March 2013

Greenpeace Digital Mobilisation Skillshare 2013

Barcelona, Spain // February 2013

Silicon Valley Community Foundation Idea Jam

Mountain View, California USA // February 2013

Environmental Working Group Skin Deep User Roundtable

Washington, DC USA // February 2013

TABridge Mentors Roundtable

London, England // February 2013

Code for America 2013 Fellows Kick-Off

Marin Headlands, California USA // January 2013

Ushahidi 2013 Staff Summit

Lamu, Kenya // January 2013

2012

Code for America 2013 Planning Retreat

Napa, California USA // December 2012

Digital Security Curriculum Sprint

Mill Valley, California USA // December 2012

Code for America Staff Retreat

Napa, California USA // December 2012

FLOSSManuals Digital Security Sprint

Mill Valley, California USA // December 2012

Google Summer of Code Document Sprint 2012

Mountain View, California USA // December 2012

Information Activism Planning Retreat

Barcelona, Spain // December 2012

FLOSSManuals/Google Summer of Code Doc Sprint

Mountain View, California USA // December 2012

Info Activism Planning Retreat

Barcelona, Spain // December 2012

2012 Nonprofit Software Development Summit

Oakland, California USA // November 2012

Code for America Fellows Retreat

Rodeo Valley, California USA // November 2012

Transparency and Accountability Bridging Session II

Glen Cove, New York USA // November 2012

Rose Foundation Grantee Summit Workshop

Berkeley, California USA // October 2012

Coalition On Regional Equity Fall Convening

Sacramento, California USA // October 2012

NAFMNP Annual Conference

San Francisco, California USA // October 2012

E-Newsletters for Nonprofits

San Francisco, California USA // September 2012

ArtSpark Online Communications Learning Event

Albuquerque, New Mexico USA // September 2012

Calendaring Messaging for your Nonprofit

San Francisco, California USA // August 2012

Coordinating your Online Channels with a Publishing Matrix

San Francisco, California USA // August 2012

WKKF Food and Fitness Youth Summit

Boston, Massachusetts USA // August 2012

TCE BHC Zerodivide Learning Community Series

Oakland, California USA // August 2012

Shaping Shareable's Future

Mountain View, California USA // July 2012

Aspiration eAdvocacy Cohort Meeting

San Francisco, California USA // July 2012

TorDev Summer 2012

Florence, Italy // July 2012

TCE BHC Fresno Listening Tour

Fresno, California USA // June 2012

Calaveras Child Care Council Workshop

Calaveras County, California USA // June 2012

Knight Mozilla MIT OpenNews Story Hack

Boston, Massachusetts, USA // June 2012

San Francisco Department of Environment Staff Summit

San Francisco, California USA // June 2012

UC Berkeley Labor Center eAdvocacy Teach-In

Berkeley, California USA // June 2012

Benetech DIAGRAM Offsite

Pacific Grove, California, USA // June 2012

Coordinating your Online Channels with a Publishing Matrix

San Francisco, California USA // May 2012

E-Newsletters for Nonprofits

San Francisco, California USA // May 2012

Intro to Analytics for Nonprofits

San Francisco, California USA // May 2012

TCE BHC South Sacramento Listening Tour

Sacramento, California USA // May 2012

Joyce Foundation Staff Technology Summit

Chicago, Illinois, USA // May 2012

Mozilla NESTA Learning HackJam

London, England // May 2012

Guardian Project Freebird

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil // May 2012

Code for America 2012 Fellows Offsite

Marin Headlands, California USA // May 2012

TCE BHC Long Beach ListeningTour

Long Beach, California USA // May 2012

CVNL of Marin Online Communications Training

San Rafael, California USA // May 2012

Shuttleworth Fellows Meeting

Berlin, Germany // May 2012

Mozilla Webmaker Educators Teach-In

Boston, Massachusetts, USA // May 2012

Knight Foundation Technology for Engagement Summit

Boston, Massachusetts, USA // May 2012

ConnectingUp 2012

Sydney, Australia // May 2012

Managing your Nonprofits Online Identity

San Francisco, California USA // April 2012

Internet Society Collaborative Leadership Exchange

Geneva, Switzerland // April 2012

PICnet Soapbox Summit

Washington, DC USA // April 2012

Wall Street Journal Data Transparency Weekend

New York, New York, USA // April 2012

Penguin Day San Francisco 2012

San Francisco, California USA // April 2012

Coordinating your Online Channels with a Publishing Matrix

San Francisco, California USA // April 2012

CiviCon 2012

San Francisco, California USA // April 2012

CWA Annual Conference and Trade Show

Palm Desert, California USA // April 2012

Wall Street Journal Data Transparency Weekend

New York, New York, USA // April 2012

Internet Society Collaborative Leadership Exchange

Geneva, Switzerland // April 2012

Neighborworks Online Communications Training

San Francisco, California USA // April 2012

Penguin Day San Francisco 2012

San Francisco, California USA // April 2012

PICnet Soapbox Summit

Washington, DC, USA // April 2012

Mozilla Ignite Hackjam

Los Angeles, California, USA // March 2012

CANFIT Youth eAdvocacy Workshops

Richmond, California USA // March 2012

Code for America 2012 Fellows XX

San Francisco, California USA // March 2012

Microsoft Innovation 4 Good

Seattle, Washington, USA // March 2012

Building a Social Media Dashboard

San Francisco, California USA // March 2012

Coordinating your Online Channels with a Publishing Matrix

San Francisco, California USA // February 2012

How to Create a Message Calendar

San Francisco, California USA // February 2012

Introduction to Online Analytics

San Francisco, California USA // February 2012

Mozilla HTML5 Games Work Week

Toronto, Canada // February 2012

Greenpeace Digital Moblisation Skillshare

Amsterdam, Netherlands // February 2012

TCE BHC Media Coordinators Convening

Los Angeles, California USA // February 2012

ArtSpark Learning Event

San Francisco, California USA // January 2012

Nonprofit Tech Teach-In

Mountain View, California USA // January 2012

Ushahidi 2012 Staff Summit

Lamu, Kenya // January 2012

Code for America 2012 Fellows Kick off

Marin Headlands, California USA // January 2012

2011

Inveneo Staff Summit

San Francisco, California USA // December 2011

Gates RFP Sprint

New York, New York USA // December 2011

Allied Media Network Summit

Detroit Michigan USA // December 2011

CDI Staff Retreat

San Francisco, California USA // December 2011

2011 Nonprofit Software Development Summit

Oakland, California USA // November 2011

Technology for Transparency

New York, New York USA // November 2011

Mozilla Festival – Media, Freedom, and the Web

London, England // November 2011

How to Create a Message Calendar

San Francisco, California USA // October 2011

Building Online Communications for Grassroots Nonprofits

Modesto, California // October 2011

Building a Social Media Dashboard

San Francisco, California USA // October 2011

California WIC Association Conference

Bakersfield, California USA // October 2011

CCPF Central Valley eAdvocacy Training

Modesto, California USA // October 2011

FLOSS Manuals Summer of Code Doc Sprint

Mountain View, California USA // October 2011

Mozilla CBC HTML5 Hackfest

Toronto, Canada // October 2011

Code for America 2012 Cities Kick-Off

San Francisco, California USA // October 2011

Coordinating Your Online Communications Channels with a Publishing Matrix

San Francisco, California USA // September 2011

Email Newsletters for Nonprofits

Fresno, California USA // September 2011

Mozilla MoJo Hackfest

Berlin, Germany // September 2011

Open Cambodia

Phnom Penh, Cambodia // September 2011

Building Online Communications at Your Nonprofit

Sacramento, California USA // August 2011

NTEN Cloud Summit

San Francisco, California USA // August 2011

IAMAW Social Media Skillshare

Ontario, California USA // August 2011

Effective Online Advocacy for Grassroots Organizations July 2011

Los Angeles, California USA // July 2011

Joomla! Leadership Summit

San Jose, California USA // July 2011

CCPF eAdvocacy Training

Los Angeles, California USA // July 2011

Starting Your Nonprofit on Social Media

Sacramento, California USA // July 2011
Expand

Join us for a collaborative training designed to help nonprofits coordinate their online communications and make sense of using different online tools like Facebook, Twitter, and blogs.

The training will be conversational and feature opportunities to get your questions answered about online communications. It is ideal for anyone trying to juggle all the different online tools for their organization and those interested in new tools.

The agenda will be driven by the participants but will likely include sessions on "Intro to Blogging", "Social Networks for Organizing" or "Building a Publishing Matrix to Coordinate Your Online Channels."

Come with your stories, doubts, and questions! The training is small and suitable for all skill levels so reserve your spot today because space is limited.

    When?
    Friday, July 1, 2011
    12:30 - 4:30 pm

The Central Valley eAdvocacy Program is generously funded by the California Consumer Protection Foundation. Big thanks to CMC in Sacramento for their great support and the Nonprofit Innovation Center for providing the event space.


Starting Your Nonprofit on Social Media

Sacramento, California USA // June 2011
Expand

Join us for a collaborative training designed to help nonprofits coordinate their online communications and make sense of using different online tools like Facebook, Twitter, and emails.

The training will be conversational and feature opportunities to get your questions answered about online communications. It is ideal for anyone trying to juggle all the different online tools for their organization and those interested in new tools.

The agenda will be driven by the participants but will likely include sessions on "Intro to Twitter and Facebook for Organizing" and "Building a Publishing Matrix to Coordinate Your Online Channels."

Come with your stories, doubts, and questions! The training is small and suitable for all skill levels so reserve your spot today because space is limited.

    When?
    Thursday, June 30, 2011
    12:30 - 4:30 pm
    Where?
    Nonprofit Innovation Center
    1331 Garden Highway
    Sacramento, CA 95833
    (Click for Map)

The Central Valley eAdvocacy Program is generously funded by the California Consumer Protection Foundation. Big thanks to CMC in Sacramento for their great support and the Nonprofit Innovation Center for providing the event space.


Building Online Communications in Grassroots Nonprofits

Fresno, California USA // June 2011

Ruckus Society Tech Teach-In

Oakland, California USA // June 2011

Ruckus Society Tech Teach-In

Oakland, California USA // June 2011

ArtSpark Online Communications Training

Albuquerque, New Mexico USA // June 2011

IAMAW Social Media Skillshare

Toronto, Canada // June 2011

TechCamp Lithuania

Vilnius, Lithuania // June 2011

Starting Your Nonprofit on Social Media - Modesto

Modesto, California USA // May 2011
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Thanks to everyone who attended the May 17 Modesto training, Starting Your Nonprofit on Social Media, as part of the Central Valley eAdvocacy Program.

We hope you found the training useful and now have a better understanding of using different online tools for your organization.

The following are the materials used during the training.

These materials are distributed under a Creative Commons license, and we encourage re-use, modification, and re-distribution in any situation where they may be useful.

  • Training Introduction
  • Spectrums of Engagement
  • Build A Publishing Matrix
  • Publishing Matrix Template
  • Introduction to Facebook
  • Introduction to Twitter

We will continue to create discussions and feature opportunities to get your questions answered about online communications. Any feedback is much appreciated!

The Central Valley eAdvocacy Program is generously funded by the California Consumer Protection Foundation. Big thanks to Congregations Building Community for their great support and El Concilio for providing the event space.

CCPF Central Valley eAdvocacy Training

Sacramento, California USA // May 2011

TechCamp Jakarta

Jakarta, Indonesia // May 2011

UC Berkeley Labor Center eAdvocacy Teach-In

Berkeley, California USA // May 2011

Mozilla “Book of the Web” Sprint

Toronto, Canada // May 2011

Starting Your Nonprofit on Social Media - Fresno

Fresno, California USA // April 2011
Expand

We continued our Central Valley eAdvocacy Capacity Building Program with a training in Fresno, CA on Wed, April 6 from 12:30 to 4:30 pm. This collaborative and hands on training provided nonprofits a better understanding of how to start using social media, like Twitter, Facebook, or blogging, for their organization.

The following are the materials used during the training.

These materials are distributed under a Creative Commons license, and we encourage re-use, modification, and re-distribution in any situation where they may be useful.

  • Training Introduction
  • Spectrums of Engagement
  • Intro to Blogging
  • Facebook & Twitter 101

The Central Valley eAdvocacy Program is generously funded by the California Consumer Protection Foundation. Special thanks to the Center for Multicultural Cooperation for coordinating the event space and providing interests of the Central Valley.

Questions? Email centralvalley@aspirationtech.org

Ushahidi Staff Summit

Miami, Florida USA // April 2011

Mozilla Open Science Hackfest

Beijing, China // March 2011

Penguin Day DC 2011

Washington, DC USA // March 2011
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Learn about Free and Open Source for nonprofits!

Penguin Day returned to Washington DC right after the 2011 NTC. We got to collaborate with lots of friends, old and new alike at the Josephine Butler Parks Center.

Penguin Days are designed to let nonprofits and social justice activists learn about free and open source software that can support their work and potentially save them money, including tools for web publishing, fundraising, blogging, and campaigning.

Sessions included...

  • Introduction to Free and Open Source Software
  • Making sense of Free and Open Source Content Management Systems
  • Participating in Free and Open Source Communities
  • Introduction to Blogging with Wordpress
  • Introduction to Free and Open Source Desktop Applications
  • Free Culture, Creative Commons And Open Content
  • Managing Constituents with CiviCRM
  • Mozilla Drumbeat and the Open Web

<

p>Penguin Day DC 2011 was organized by Aspiration and PICnet.

It was a great day and we hope to see lots of you at the next one!

PrivacyCamp Toronto

Toronto, Canada // March 2011

San Francisco Interactive Media Summit 2011

San Francisco, California USA // March 2011
Expand

We're excited to be partnering with Department of Media Studies at the University of San Francisco for SF-IM Summit 2011, aka “New Tools for the Public Good” On Saturday, March 5, 2011, from 9:00 AM – 3:30 PM.

The Aspiration team will facilitate sessions that include “Facebook and Twitter 101”, "Intro to blogging", "Beginning and Intermediate WordPress”, “Listening Online with a Social Media Dashboard”, “Managing Online Channels with a Publishing Matrix”, and “How to Build a Good Nonprofit Web Site for Almost Nothing.”

The theme of SF-IM is using social media and other emerging technologies for the public good. Sessions will feature opportunities for discussion and hands-on learning. Importantly, the focus of SF-IM is on peer-to-peer learning and conversation, not tech-talk and PowerPoints. SF-IM’s programming is ideal for anyone interested the public possibilities of the emerging media technologies, and is suitable for a wide range of abilities, from beginner to advanced.

Mozilla Global Melt

Berlin, Germany // March 2011

TechSoup Global Network Summit

San Jose, California USA // February 2011
Expand

Big thanks and love bombs to TechSoup Global for inviting us to design and run their 2011 Contributors' Summit earlier this month. The event brought together an amazing bunch of folks from over 40 countries, for collaborative discussions on topics ranging from disaster response and accessibility to cloud computing and the future of philanthropy.

Check out the Day 1 and Day 2 blog posts from the amazing Beth Kanter.

RFP Round Table

February 2011
Expand

February 8th, 2011 2pm-4pm

The "Request for Proposal", or RFP, is a critical element of any well-executed technology project that involves soliciting the services of external vendors and solution providers. But the concept of RFPs can be daunting to those who have not authored one, and even for those who understand the importance, many nonprofits are confused about how to write one, and what to include.

This interactive workshop will invite participants to share their knowledge and organizational practices with RFPs, and hear how others manage the same. In addition, Aspiration will demonstrate the templates and processes we use for the "RFP Coaching" that we provide to nonprofits when they need to solicit bids for web sites or other technology projects. Come with your stories and your questions, and be prepared to share both!

Building a Social Media Dashboard

San Francisco, California USA // February 2011
Expand

February 2nd, 2011 2pm-4pm

Many nonprofits have no idea how their online messages are propagating and what is being said about them online. This hands-on, learner-driven event allowed participants to set up their own "listening dashboard" where they can track the impact of their online communication efforts (websites, blogs, Twitter, and more), while also tracking issues pertinent to their organization, all from a single free online space. Participants used the free Netvibes tool to create their dashboards.

The following are the materials used during the training.

These materials are distributed under a Creative Commons license, and we encourage re-use, modification, and re-distribution in any situation where they may be useful.

  • Training Slides
  • Listening Matrix

Protecting Your Nonprofit's Online Identity

San Francisco, California USA // January 2011
Expand

January 21st, 2011 2pm - 4pm

The advent of the internet and the emergence of "cloud" computing have slowly but surely created new categories of institutional vulnerabilities for nonprofit organizations over the past 15 years. From ownership of domains and hosting of web sites, to safeguarding remotely stored data, to managing virtual relationships, there exit best practices for security and sustainability that are understood by far too few nonprofits.

This workshop will provide an overview of considerations in managing organizational online identity, and demonstrate processes, best practices and rules of thumb for effectively safeguarding and protecting the virtual side of your nonprofit organization.

Coordinating Online Communications Channels with a Publishing Matrix

San Francisco, California USA // January 2011
Expand

January 14th, 2011 2pm-4pm

As options for online engagement proliferate, many nonprofits find it confusing to manage and effectively coordinate organizational messages and campaigns. This training gave nonprofits who are starting out in social media and online communications a framework in which to look at different communications channels as effective for organizational goals. In this hands-on workshop, participants put together actual tools that they can use as an organization to inform and structure processes surrounding how, when and why to use the mind-numbing plethora of social media outlets, blogs and communications channels.

This training also gave participants a structure in which to think of these channels so that it is no longer a huge array of strangely-named tools to learn. Rather, a selection of tools for an organization to choose from to achieve broader organizational goals.

The following are the materials used during the training.

These materials are distributed under a Creative Commons license, and we encourage re-use, modification, and re-distribution in any situation where they may be useful

  • Training Overview
  • Spectrums of Engagement
  • Publishing Matrix Walkthrough

Code for America 2011 Fellows Kick-Off

San Francisco, California USA // January 2011
Expand

We got to stay in our own neck of the San Francisco woods to design and facilitate Code for America's first-ever all-hands planning and strategy meeting. The fact that we got to co-conspire with our fine friend and inspiration David Eaves and open democracy thinker Tim Oreilly made it all the more excellent.

The day brought together CfA Staff and Board with 24 incoming Fellows who will be working in Boston, Philadelphia, Seattle and Washington, DC. Meeting together for the first time as a whole team, and this event focused on planning and strategizing for 2011 by collaboratively sharing knowledge and mapping knowns, unknowns and project priorities.

We're excited to see where the Code for America project leads, and we wish them the very best as they set out to change the way municipal governments do both technology and democracy.

2010

TechCamp Santiago

Santiago, Chile // November 2010
Expand

We happily answered a call from the amazing folks at Personal Democracy Forum to partner on some work for The Man in Chile.

In collaboration with PDF and the Tech@State team, we led design of the Spanish-language agenda for TechCamp Santiago, trained the facilitation team, and oversaw the proceedings. En Espanol, no less!

<

p>The goals of the event were two-fold. First, to bring together techies and NGO stakeholders from across South America for discussion on how technology could better support NGO and community needs in the region. And second, to generate some problem statements for hacking on at the December 4th Random Hacks of Kindness events taking place around the world.

We heartily thank PDF for getting us involved in this first-of-its-kind event, and to all our Aspiration allies across Latin America, including EducaLibre, Nunklaki Comunicações and Chile Ayuda for their amazing help lighting up participants and keeping the event facilitation real.

2010 Nonprofit Software Development Summit

Oakland, California USA // November 2010
Expand

The 2010 Nonprofit Software Development Summit in Oakland, California was a smashing, sold-out success!

Check out:

  • Full Event Agenda and Schedule
  • The latest Session Slate by Thematic Area.
  • We heartily thank all our Agenda Partners!

A big love bomb of thanks to all who joined us for this high-spirited, fully-interactive festival of folks who are passionate about developing software tools to support the work of social change organizations and community activists.

You can also check out the proceedings from the 2009, 2008, and 2007 Nonprofit Software Development Summits.

Mozilla Drumbeat Festival

Barcelona, Spain // November 2010
Expand

We were excited to continue our collaboration with Mozilla and the Drumbeat initiative at the first-ever Drumbeat Festival - Freedom, Learning and the Web in Barcelona.

Aspiration helped with interactive facilitation and agenda design in the tents and spaces that made up the event venue. We also bottom-lining social media efforts at the event, and worked to keep things as unpredictably collaborative as we could.

Among other things, we partnered with Peer 2 Peer University on the Badge Lab and co-conspired to create cool code with WebMadeMovies.

Other fun activities on the agenda included:

  • Learn how to organize a Peer 2 Peer University course
  • Help build a 'digital backpack' to track credentials for online learners
  • Convert a public square into a learning lab with the Hackbus
  • Trade ideas about teaching the open web
  • Share best practices for open web hackers
  • Integrate Wikipedia into your learning project

We got to see lots of Aspiration friends and allies there, and we look forward to working more with Mozilla in 2011!

Peer 2 Peer University Community Meeting

Barcelona, Spain // October 2010
Expand

Fresh off the fun of the Peer 2 Peer University Open Assessment Workshop, we were delighted to partner with P2PU again to design and run their annual global community workshop.

Taking place before the Mozilla Drumbeat Festival and Open Ed 2010 conference, the workshop provided a venue for the P2PU community leadership to take stock of growth and successes of the past year, while also addressing issues of governance, community, sustainability and of course learning.

The Peer 2 Peer University is a grassroots education project that organizes learning outside of institutional walls. Leveraging the internet and educational materials openly available online, P2PU provides the social environment necessary for meaningful learning and mechanisms for validation of achieved learning. P2PU is teaching and learning by peers for peers and it is run and governed by volunteers. We are grateful to work with them as they rethink education in the online context.

Joomla! Day West 2010

San Jose, California USA // October 2010
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We continued our collaborative love affair with the Joomla! Project at Joomla! Day West 2010, held at eBay Town Hall.

The event focused on building knowledge about Joomla!, a GPL-licensed content management system which is proving increasingly popular for publishing nonprofit web sites.

The event brought together members of the Joomla! Leadership Teams, and board members from Open Source Matters, along with over 150 members of the Joomla! community to talk about all things Joomla!, including the upcoming 1.6 release, template and extension design, business models, and plenty of participant-driven sessions. Aspiration employed our collaborative event methodology to drive a fast-paced agenda focused on knowledge sharing, interactivity and community building.

We also had the pleasure of facilitating Product Leadership Team meetings before and after the event. Thanks to the whole amazing Joomla! posse for inviting us along for the fun.

Open Education Resources Summit

Palo Alto, California USA // October 2010

Open Subtitles Design Summit

September 2010
Expand

Open Plans was the host with the most as we partnered with the Participatory Culture Foundation to convene the first-ever Open Subtitles Design Summit at the Open Plans penthouse meeting space in New York City.

Held as part of the Universal Subtitles project, the event brought together a broad array of people passionate about making video subtitling technologies more open and accessible. Outcomes included a Quality Manifesto and an inventory of subtitle formats.

It was an honor and a pleasure to collaborate with the fine folks at PCF. We really salute their leadership and vision in building a broad-based coalition of stakeholders to move the open subtitles field forward. The event was generously supported the Open Society Institute.

OSPCon I

September 2010
Expand

In the latest chapter of our ongoing collaboration with the United States Institute of Peace, we traveled to DC to run the first-ever Open Simulation Platform Conference.

The Open Simulation Platform is a new and state-of-the-art open source learning platform for teaching conflict resolution. Based on an interactive role-playing paradigm, the platform lets instructors author multi-user role-playing simulations and then run them in synchronous or asynchronous learning environments. This disruptive technology will provide an open alternative to expensive and proprietary simulation tools which have historically been the norm in the field.

The event was structured as a simulation authoring sprint, with a dozen sims created over the course of 3 fun and collaborative days of work.

We had a blast collaborating with USIP, Partners for Democratic Change and Positive Relating to pull the event together. And we look forward to OSPCon II in 2011!

P2PU Open Assessment Workshop

September 2010
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In the fertile foothills of Palo Alto, California, we enjoyed the opportunity to partner with Peer 2 Peer University and host their first-ever Open Assessment Workshop, an intimate meeting of educators on the leading edge of open assessment.

The workshop focused on how P2PU and other innovators in online education could best apply learnings from various models for assessment and reputation modeling in order to certify learners in P2PU online courses and other virtual learning domains. Event proceedings were captured on the wiki, and a mailing list was established for ongoing collaboration.

The event was generously hosted by The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching at their headquarters. We look forward to working further with P2PU in Barcelona at their annual meeting as well as at the Mozilla Drumbeat Festival.

LearnPhilanthropy Symposium

July 2010
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The LearnPhilanthropy Symposium brought together invited leaders from across the country who represent the stakeholder organizations in grantmaker education and learning, ranging from the learners themselves to those who develop, provide, present, or invest in grantmaker education.

We were excited to be part of the amazing team that planned and facilitated the event.

The LearnPhilanthropy Initiative is bringing people together to create a stronger, more rational, and less fragmented system for grantmaker learning than exists today -- one that builds a new culture of professional development in the field, works better for the individual learners involved in philanthropy, and better for the many groups and organizations that provide learning programs and resources. Aspiration is providing technology leadership as the project continues into its second phase.

Crisis Congress

July 2010
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We journeyed to the World Bank headquarters in Washington DC to design and drive the agenda for the 2010 Crisis Congress. Aspiration's travel and participation was supported by the generosity of Mozilla as a part of their Drumbeat initiative.

The first-ever face-to-face meeting of all the city leads in the Crisis Commons community was a high-energy opportunity for an international network of crisis response practitioners to convene in person for the first time. Topics ranged from assessing the responses to the earthquakes in Haiti and Chile, to discussing collaborative technology development, open standards, volunteer engagement and project sustainability. Participant travel to The Congress was supported by the generosity of the The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.

Aspiration also designed and facilitated three focus groups on the day before the Congress at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, engaging peer NGOs, representatives from the private sector, and academia to discuss both how better to employ these stakeholders in crisis response, as well as how Crisis Commons could better support the efforts of those networks.

Event proceedings were streamed live, and notes were captured on the Crisis Commons wiki. Thanks to Mozilla and Crisis Commons for a great time in DC!

Drumbeat Sao Paulo

June 2010
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Building on the event model developed at Drumbeat Berlin and Drumbeat Toronto, we headed south to Sao Paulo, epicenter to a rising and internationalist digital culture full of optimism and energy, to partake of the building Mozilla Drumbeat momentum in Brazil.

Partnering with Casa da Cultura Digital, we co-designed and delivered a full-day training for 30 Drumbeat Local organizers in Brazil, followed the next day by Drumbeat Sao Paulo. Both events were facilitated in Portuguese, with translation handled masterfully by our local partners.

Many thanks to our local hosts for incredible hospitality and collaborative fun!

Drumbeat Berlin

May 2010
Expand

Calling Everyone Who Loves the Open Web to Drumbeat Berlin!

Drumbeat is Mozilla's initiative to keep the web open for the next 100 years and beyond. Aspiration is partnering with Mozilla to lead the Drumbeat Local Event strategy.

Drumbeat Berlin was an invitation to get involved for teachers, artists, lawyers, filmmakers and other everyday internet users who can do things that will make the web better, and keep it open for the long haul.

Online, Drumbeat is catalyzing new open web projects that address critical needs and make the Web healthier.

Come to Drumbeat Berlin to learn about, work on, or even propose a new Drumbeat project!

Like all Aspiration-led events, Drumbeat Berlin will be:

  • Active and participatory: we’re going to be making and building the Open Web. Less talk, more action!
  • Inviting to people who love the Web, but may not be geeks. As part of Drumbeat, people can make more than software. Videos, universal subtitling, design projects, training courses, books, and more!
  • Opportunities to weave together local networks of creative, Web-loving people and share their exciting local work with the global community.

Come prepared to share your vision for the future of the Web, the challenges you have with the Web in your work, ideas you have for new projects to address those challenges. Most importantly, come prepared to collaborate and build the Open Web!

AHRQ Capstone Meeting on Health IT

Arlington, Virginia USA // May 2010

Drumbeat Toronto

April 2010
Expand

Aspiration was delighted to kick off our Drumbeat Local Event partnership with Mozilla at the Gladstone Hotel in Toronto. Drumbeat is Mozilla's initiative to keep the web open for the next 100 years and beyond, and local events around the world are a core component of the strategy.

Check out pictures from the event.

Drumbeat Toronto was an open invitation to get involved targeted at teachers, artists, lawyers, filmmakers and other everyday internet users who can do things that will make the web better, and keep it open for the long haul.

Online, Drumbeat is catalyzing new open web projects that address critical needs and make the Web healthier.

Like all Aspiration-led events, Drumbeat Toronto was active and participatory, with a focus on exploring things participants can actually do today to keep the web open. It was also an opportunity to weave together local networks of creative, web-loving people and to share their exciting local work with the global Drumbeat community.

Ushahidi Staff Summit

Miami, Florida USA // April 2010

Public Broadcasting Tech Strategy Summit

Washington, DC USA // April 2010

Mozilla Jetpack for Learning Design Camp

March 2010
Expand

Aspiration traveled to Austin to run a 3-day Design Camp that culminated Mozilla's Jetpack for Learning Design Challenge. Ten projects from the Challenge were invited to the Camp, which took place prior to South By Southwest Interactive 2010. Aspiration designed and led the event in partnership with Mozilla, along with Philipp Schmidt, Jetpack for Learning (JFL) Coordinator, and Brian King and Andy Edmonds, JFL Course Leads.

The camp brought together developers, designers, and educators who are connecting the best ideas from open education with the coolest new open internet technologies. Design Challenge prototypes were finalized with support from the course leaders, and additional agenda time was spent discussing and working toward a shared vision for social learning in the open web. Selection and announcement of ultimate Design Challenge winner took place during Mozilla's SXSW Interactive event.

In addition to enhancing the ten great Jetpack for Learning projects, the Design Camp had several additional objectives:

  • Strengthen the community of practice among practitioners working in the Jetpack for Learning space;
  • Engage in visioning and collaboration around the future of open web technologies in the context of education;
  • Address participant questions and learning needs regarding all aspects of Jetpack and Firefox development.

Managing Nonprofit Technology Projects - Washington DC 2010

February 2010
Expand

Thanks to all the folks whose positive attitudes contributed to a very fun and productive MNTP DC 2010 in spite of the winter madness. And apologies for craziness beyond our control to all of you who were unable to get in for the event. Also, big thanks to Community IT Innovators (CITI) for hosting the event when our original venue was forced to close.

Event Overview

After a very successful DC debut in July 2009, Aspiration and Community IT Innovators (CITI) hosted the fourth Nonprofit Technology Project Management event in Washington DC on the 8th and 9th of February, 2010.

Managing Nonprofit Technology Projects (MNTP) examined the tools and best practices that help nonprofits deliver successful technology solutions - whether it be websites, packaged software implementations, or custom applications.

Feel free to join the event on Facebook and continue the conversation.

Check out the agenda and the list of excellent facilitators.

Interactive sessions and demos allowed participants to compare processes, tools, successes, and lessons learned. Discussion topics included team collaboration, project planning, software selection, migration, and project rollout, and mapping out software tools – from project management packages to collaborative communication to issue tracking and more – that support successful technology projects.

Feel free to join the MNTP discussion list, which we use to continue the collaboration.

Aspiration’s skill in facilitating practitioner knowledge combined with CITI's experience in managing nonprofit technology projects contributed to an informal, collaborative, and information-rich event.

What Are They Saying?

The feedback from our previous MNTP events was roundly enthusiastic. Just a few of the comments from participants:

  • "The event was very energizing, and renewed my enthusiasm for tackling some complex issues"
  • "This gathering will inform everything I do in IT from here on."
  • "I used to be super intimidated - now I feel more empowered about what I do know and how to find answers to what I don't"
  • "It was a fun, casual, open, responsive learning environment for non-techies"
  • "I learned that I'm not alone, and I can learn from a rich community of people facing similar challenges"
  • "I was impressed with all that happened - it was amazing"

What were the Goals?

MNTP DC had three primary goals:

  • To strengthen the community of practice among those who identify themselves as nonprofit technology project managers
  • To enhance the knowledge and capacity of technology project managers within a rich, sharing environment
  • To map out the range of tools and best practices being employed in nonprofit technology project management

Participants exchanged project management tools and techniques that they can apply to the management of many projects, and discuss project management processes – from project initiation to project planning, project execution, monitoring and control, to project closure – in the context of stories and experiences. Participants also inventoried resources and best practices for nonprofit IT project management, ranging from templates to trainings, and shared useful software packages as they are used in actual nonprofits.

Significant time was spent discussing appropriate practices and processes for defining requirements in nonprofit software projects to inform the "build, buy, or rent" decisions that vex nonprofit technology managers on a regular basis.

Who Came?

MNTP focused on the growing community of nonprofit technology project managers, aiming to provide support to those practicing as project managers, while also recruiting and offering support to those new to (or bewildered by) this craft, and creating a space for the “accidental project managers” to share their stories, discover their allies, and grow into more “intentional” project managers. A significant part of the event was built around mentoring relationships; experienced individuals with knowledge and stories to share collaborated with participants who wanted to learn more.

<

p>Participants were encouraged to bring real-world projects to MNTP, and vet them with some real-time project management, coaching, and assessment.

What was on the Agenda?

The agenda was designed specifically to ensure participants interact with and learn from each other, while also providing solid grounding in essential topics. The following workshops were included in the proceedings:

  • Nonprofit Technology Project Management 101: For those who self-identify as new to the discipline, this session provided an overview of nonprofit technology project management. Essential topics, truths, and tools were presented, with the second half of the session employing a question-driven format.
  • Anatomy of a Well-Managed Technology Project: Drawing from case studies good, bad and ugly, this session focused on key aspects of successful project management. The primary take-away was guidelines on how project managers can maintain control of their projects.
  • Designing and Redesigning Web Sites: Any nonprofit that has published a web site understands the frustrating nature of the process. This session considered how best to take on the task of casting organizational identity on the web while also serving target audiences and delivering value to web visitors accordingly.
  • What Should a Web Site Cost? One of the most vexing questions in any project is “what are appropriate costs for technology and labor?” This session utilized anecdotal data and participant input to explore costing for different types of web sites, from simple “brochure-ware” sites to custom, database-backed applications and points in between.
  • Mapping Communication Tools to Tasks: There are a range of ways to collaborate with partners and stakeholders in any project. But which tools work best for which types of collaboration? This session will sort out appropriate times to employ email, instant messaging and chat, wikis, phone calls, file sharing, forums and other tools.
  • Using Wikis for Effective Collaboration: Over the past several years, wikis have demonstrated their value as a key tool in certain project management processes. This session mapped out best practices and techniques for successfully utilizing wiki technology for project collaboration. Also discussed was when not to use wikis, and when more structured information sharing tools are advisable.
  • Managing Nonprofit Software Development Projects: While a best practice for nonprofits technologists is to try and utilize existing tools and services, there are invariably times when the appropriate tools and applications don’t exist. But software development is not a core competency of most nonprofits, and too often nonprofit software development efforts spiral out of control or end in less-than-complete realization of vision. This session will explore how best to get from concept to running code with out losing focus on mission.
  • Managing Consultants and Dealing with Vendors: This peer sharing workshop invited participants to compare their processes and tactics for managing critical project relationships that fall outside of organizational boundaries.
  • Horrific Tales of Miserable Project Management Failure: Nothing is more instructive than the mistakes of others. Participants will be invited to swap stories and cautionary tales of the many speed bumps, pot holes, and multi-vehicles pile-ups on the road to project management success.
  • A Whirlwind Discussion of Project Management Software Utilities: This fast-paced session allowed participants to share the various project management utilities available, including time tracking, task management, source code control, and more.
  • Software Share: Basecamp, MS Project, DreamTeam and more – Nonprofit practitioners provided a variety of 10-15 minute software demos to allow participants to see the packages in real-life situations and compare the strengths and weaknesses.

Stay informed about key dates and registration information by signing up for our low-volume announcements list.

Want more information?

Contact us at info@aspirationtech.org.

Join Us for the February Edition of Aspiration's Social Media Sewing Circle!

February 2010
Expand

If you are interested in being more effective with your use of social media in 2010, attending one of these two events will be a great way to build some momentum.

Each seminar is entitled "Building Your Own Social Media Dashboard", and will be held at two times:

  • Wednesday, February 3rd from 2pm to 4pm
  • Thursday, February 4th from 2pm to 4pm

The goal of the workshops is to help nonprofit staff learn both about social media as well as how they can track the impact and reach of their messaging.

These hands-on, learner-driven events will allow participants to set up their own "listening dashboard" where they can track the impact of their online communication efforts (web, Facebook, Twitter, and more), while also tracking issues pertinent to their organization, all with a single free online tool. Participants will use the NetVibes platform to create their dashboards.

The workshops are designed for those starting out in social media as well as those who have established a social media presence but don't know how to start assessing the reach of their messages and the online activity around their programmatic issue areas.

Because the workshops will be participant-driven, we'll encourage discussion amongst the group, so bring your stories, questions and frustrations and we'll see if we can sift out some answers and solutions.

Slides from the presentation can be found here: http://www.aspirationtech.org/files/BuildingYourOwnSMDashboard.pdf

Creative Commons Staff Retreat

San Francisco, California USA // February 2010

Join Us for the January Edition of Aspiration's Social Media Sewing Circle!

January 2010
Expand

If you are interested in being more effective with your use of social media in 2010, this event is a great way to start off the year with momentum.

The seminar is entitled "Building Your Own Social Media Dashboard", and will be held on

Friday, January 8th from 2pm to 3:30pm

The goal of the workshop is to help nonprofit staff learn both about social media as well as how they can track the impact and reach of their messaging.

This hands-on, learner-driven event will allow participants to set up their own "listening dashboard" where they can track the impact of their online communication efforts (web, Facebook, Twitter, and more), while also tracking issues pertinent to their organization, all with a single free online tool. Participants will use the NetVibes platform to create their dashboards.

The workshop is designed for those starting out in social media as well as those who have established a social media presence but don't know how to start assessing the reach of their messages and the online activity around their programmatic issue areas.

Because the workshop will be participant-driven, we'll encourage discussion amongst the group, so bring your stories, questions and frustrations and we'll see if we can sift out some answers and solutions.

Craigslist Foundation What Works

San Francisco, California USA // January 2010

Mozilla Privacy Forum

Mountain View, California USA // January 2010

2009

2009 Nonprofit Software Development Summit

Oakland, California USA // November 2009
Expand

The 2009 Nonprofit Software Development Summit was the third annual convening of people and organizations developing software tools, web applications and other technology to support social justice causes. Bringing together a diverse range of users, developers, technologists, managers, eRiders, integrators and other practitioners who self-identify under the umbrella of “developing nonprofit software”, the 2009 DevSummit provided an opportunity both to gather as a community and to take stock of the field, while building connections and capacity.

You can check out the Agenda and session notes on the event wiki. Also, check out event pictures and tweets from the event.

The event targeted a range of audiences, including users who know what they still need developed, developers writing code to support nonprofit needs, integrators deploying tools for nonprofit and social justice organizations, and individuals who just care about seeing better technology developed to address the broad range of issues we face as a global community.

Feel free to join the Event Mailing List to participate in discussions about nonprofit software development.

Twitter hashtags: #devsummit, #aspirationtech

<

p>

Goals of the Dev Summit

The Dev Summit had as its primary goals the following:

  • To convene and strengthen connections between the networks of stakeholders in the nonprofit software ecosystem, providing a fun and creative environment for celebrating successes and leadership in the field.
  • To share skills and knowledge in a highly collaborative, peer-to-peer fashion.
  • To map and discuss what is available and what is missing across the nonprofit software landscape in specific software “verticals”, and to posit solutions for addressing the gaps.
  • To offer a point of entry for software developers interested in offering their skills to nonprofit sector.

Participant-Driven Agenda!

The agenda took a concrete and hands-on approach to topics and challenges, focusing on transferring skills and process knowledge in interactive and fun ways. Panels and slideware were in short supply as with any Aspiration event, supplanted by participant-driven collaborations and small-group formats.

And as with all Aspiration events, the agenda was extremely participant-driven, developed in collaboration with participants and session facilitators in the time leading up to and during the Summit.

We thank everyone who helped to make this and past Nonprofit Software Development Summits a huge success, and we look forward to hosting the next!

Aspiration Co-Organizes and Facilitates Asia Source III

November 2009
Expand

Aspiration traveled to the Philippines to co-organize Asia Source 3 (AS3). The event was a six-day hands-on workshop aimed at building the Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) technical skills of those working with NGOs in South and South East Asia. It took place at Silang, Cavite, Philippines from November 7th to 12th, 2009.

The event was co-organized in partnership with The International Open Source Network (IOSN) ASEAN+3, Centre for Internet and Society, and Tactical Technology Collective, with support from Mozilla Foundation, Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, InWEnt Capacity Building International, ASEAN Foundation, and Open Society Institute Information Program.

AS3 was the third event of the Asia Source camp series. Asia Source I was held in Bangalore, India in 2005 and Asia Source II in Sukabumi, Indonesia in 2007. The 6-day collaborative event was held on the lush greens and in the quiet cool environs of the Yen Center, home to the Headquarters and Regional Center for Asia of the International Institute of Rural Reconstruction (IIRR), and located in Silang, a landlocked municipality south of Metro Manila, within the historic Province of Cavite.

In the tradition of previous camps, Asia Source 3 brought in participants from across Asia, who shared the common goal of pursuing FOSS advocacy and its promotion and use among non-profit organizations, small-to-medium enterprises and youth networks. The primary objective of the event was to act as a focal point in increasing the practical uptake of F/OSS desktop and tools amongst the voluntary sector in South and South East Asia.

Aspiration Facilitates Plone Video Sprint

October 2009
Expand

Aspiration was delighted to partner with EngageMedia and Plone4Artists to run the Plone Video Sprint at this year's Plone Conference in Budapest, Hungary. The 4-day sprint convened about 20 developers to collaborate on open video technologies on the Plone Content Management System (CMS).

Aspiration led the facilitation to help the group focus on priorities. Those include building a shared road map for video on Plone, working on key technical needs such as large file handling, transcoding and BitTorrent support, improving support for FOSS video codecs, publishing and viewing content with mobile devices, bug fixing existing video related Plone collective products and improving documentation.

The Plone Video Sprint was supported by the generosity of the Open Society Institute.

As Engage Media points points out, online video has exploded in recent years, being a major source of the “web 2.0” boom. YouTube, YAHOO Video and other video sharing spaces have been celebrated for making major advances in facilitating citizen media. Despite their success, however, there are many limitations to these proprietary platforms, such as YouTube’s limit on video size, its frequent censorship, the difficulty in downloading videos, the low quality of the flash video employed, and terms of use that allow YouTube to do nearly anything with posted video content.

The ability to host and manage your own content using free, libre and open source (FLOSS) tools is essential for independent media organizations and non-profits.

The aims for the sprint are the following:

  • Increased communication and collaboration between Python, Zope and Plone developers working in the area of open video technologies.
  • Direct improvement of key video technologies and the video feature set available in the Plone CMS so as to increase uptake and improve those sites already implementing Plone video technologies.
  • Improved the ease of use, install and set up of Plumi via technical and documentation enhancements, opening it up to a broader set of users and contributors.
  • Increased skill set among sprint participants regarding how to implement and develop with the Plumi CMS and for video technologies more generally in the Plone CMS.
  • Increase the community of developers working on Plone and video and their effectiveness.

The organizers hope to follow up related work from around the FLOSS video scene – such as Transmission.cc network, Plone4Artists, the recent Open Video Conference in NYC, the annual set of FOMS conferences, and the free documentation work of FLOSSManuals.

An additional aim was to contribute to constructing online spaces where independent media networks can flourish in an open, accessible and transparent way. EngageMedia will continue work on Plumi, their Plone-based video CMS, as a FLOSS tool for local communities and activists to use as a democratic online video sharing space.

Aspiration Co-Designs and Directs 'Innovation on the Lake' in Italy

October 2009
Expand

Aspiration was honored and delighted to co-organize Innovation on the Lake, in partnership with Common Ground. The event brought together a group of 15 Ashoka Fellows along with experienced practitioners in social media and technological innovation for an interactive weekend on Lake Como. The three-day gathering was generously supported by the Rockefeller Foundation and took place at their Bellagio Center in Northern Italy.

The goal of the event was to help Ashoka grantees explore how they might apply social media strategies and tactics to support their respective projects in Africa, Asia, India, South America and the US, working on issues including human trafficking, climate change, rural development, government corruption, micro-lending and homelessness. The focus was on generating ideas and solutions to the specific problems that each of the attending Fellows work on and how their social change work can be accelerated with the use of innovative communications technologies. Each participant was invited to consider innovative ways in which to design and introduce network production models (aka "crowdsourcing") into their programmatic work.

A team of experienced social media practitioners facilitated sessions on a range of topics. The team gave generously of their time and passions in service to the Fellows, and included:

  • Amy Sample Ward, Global Community Builder for NetSquared
  • Anna Maybank, Coordinator of The Social Innovation Camp
  • David Taylor, Online Director for Rainforest Action Network
  • Dwayne Spradlin, President and Chief Executive Officer of InnoCentive, Inc.
  • Lena Zuniga, Crocodyl Project Lead at Corpwatch and co-founder of Sula Batsu
  • Nicholas Reville, Executive Director and co-founder of Participatory Culture Foundation
  • Skylar Woodward, Lead API Developer for Kiva

The agenda was collaboratively designed by the participants and facilitators using Aspiration’s participatory event methodology.

Bellagio was a beautiful event venue, and meetings there have generated important social policy ideas for 60 years. Rockefeller generously provided the resources necessary to convene a productive and transformative event.

Ashoka is an international network of social innovators. Fellows are vetted through an exhaustive process designed to validate the scalability of their innovations. Each of the Fellows in attendance had been nominated by Ashoka as either already using interactive media tools as the platform for their social innovation, or eager to explore the potential of these tools for their work.

Aspiration thanks Rosanne Haggerty at Common Ground for inviting us into such a fruitful and collaborative project, and we hope to create similar events in the future.

Aspiration Facilitates Regenstrief Institute Annual Conference on Open Health Methodologies

September 2009
Expand

Aspiration was grateful to be invited to facilitate the Eleventh Biennial Regenstrief Conference in French Lick, Indiana.

The event focused on Open Health Methodologies, and invited participants to challenge the old paradigms in health methodologies, and to create the tools and and processes to engage in open collaboration.

Regenstrief Institute is also home to one of Aspiration's favorite open source software projects OpenMRS. The project is a fountain of open source best practices, and the platform itself is making a profound difference in healthcare in Africa and around the globe.

The agenda was collaboratively designed by Aspiration and the Regenstrief organizers, and proceedings were captured on the event wiki.

We are inspired by all the great work and vision that Regenstrief Institute is investing in open health methodologies, and we look forward to future collaborations.

Grab a Seat at the Social Media Sewing Circle

September 2009
Expand

Join us for hands-on learner-driven Social Media lessons

As part of Mozilla Service Week, Aspiration and the San Francisco Nonprofit Technology Center will be hosting an afternoon of open learning labs we're calling the Social Media Sewing Circle.

The goal is to help nonprofit staff both learn about social media, and just as importantly, learn how to track and assess the impact of their social media efforts.

This hands-on event will enable participants to explore:

  • Social Media Tracking: How to assess the reach and impact of your social media efforts
  • Publishing strategies for social media channels: how to make it all make sense together
  • Facebook and Twitter essentials, including setup, core skills, etiquette, and best practices
  • Beginning and advanced blogging skills, including basic concepts, blog setup, publicity strategies, and search engine optimization
  • Any questions you have about the relevance of social media in your work

The Social Media Sewing Circle will take place on

Tuesday, September 15th from 1pm to 4pm

at the

San Francisco Nonprofit Technology Center
1370 Mission Street, 4th Floor
San Francisco, CA 94103
415.839.6456

This is a free and open event, but space is limited, so please RSVP to info@aspirationtech.org.

We invite anyone who's curious about enhancing their social media skills and knowledge to join us for this hands-on learning event.

California eAdvocacy Training Road Show IV

California, USA // September 2009

Managing Nonprofit Technology Projects - Washington DC

July 2009
Expand

Aspiration and Community IT Innovators (CITI) hosted the third Nonprofit Technology Project Management event in Washington DC on the 22nd and 23rd of July.

Managing Nonprofit Technology Projects DC examined the tools and best practices that help nonprofits deliver successful technology solutions - whether it be websites, packaged software implementations, or custom applications.

You can check out the event agenda and the list of excellent facilitators. As with all Aspiration events, participants were encouraged to add sessions to the agenda.

Interactive sessions and demos allowed participants to compare processes, tools, successes, and lessons learned. Discussion topics included team collaboration, project planning, software selection, migration, and project rollout, and mapping out software tools – from project management packages to collaborative communication to issue tracking and more – that support successful technology projects.

Feel free to join the MNTP discussion list, which we use to discuss MNTP-related topics.

Aspiration’s skill in facilitating practitioner knowledge combined with CITI's experience in managing nonprofit technology projects contributed to an informal, collaborative, and information-rich event.

What Are They Saying?

The feedback from our previous MNTP events was roundly enthusiastic. Just a few of the comments from participants:

  • "The event was very energizing, and renewed my enthusiasm for tackling some complex issues"
  • "This gathering will inform everything I do in IT from here on."
  • "I used to be super intimidated - now I feel more empowered about what I do know and how to find answers to what I don't"
  • "It was a fun, casual, open, responsive learning environment for non-techies"
  • "I learned that I'm not alone, and I can learn from a rich community of people facing similar challenges"
  • "I was impressed with all that happened - it was amazing"

What are the Goals?

MNTP DC had three primary goals:

  • To strengthen the community of practice among those who identify themselves as nonprofit technology project managers
  • To enhance the knowledge and capacity of technology project managers within a rich, sharing environment
  • To map out the range of tools and best practices being employed in nonprofit technology project management

Participants exchanged project management tools and techniques that they can apply to the management of many projects, and discuss project management processes – from project initiation to project planning, project execution, monitoring and control, to project closure – in the context of stories and experiences. Participants inventoried resources and best practices for nonprofit IT project management, ranging from templates to trainings, and shared useful software packages as they are used in actual nonprofits.

Significant time was spent discussing appropriate practices and processes for defining requirements in nonprofit software projects to inform the "build, buy, or rent" decisions that vex nonprofit technology managers on a regular basis.

Who Came?

MNTP DC was focused on the growing community of nonprofit technology project managers, aiming to provide support to those practicing as project managers, while also recruiting and offering support to those new to (or bewildered by) this craft, and creating a space for the “accidental project managers” to share their stories, discover their allies, and grow into more “intentional” project managers. A significant part of the event was built around mentoring relationships; experienced individuals with knowledge and stories to share collaborated with participants who wanted to learn more.

Participants were encouraged to bring real-world projects to MNTP, and vet them with some real-time project management, coaching, and assessment.

What was on the Agenda?

The agenda was designed specifically to ensure participants interact with and learn from each other, while also providing solid grounding in essential topics. The following workshops were included in the proceedings:

  • Nonprofit Technology Project Management 101: For those who self-identify as new to the discipline, this session provided an overview of nonprofit technology project management. Essential topics, truths, and tools were presented, with the second half of the session employing a question-driven format.
  • Anatomy of a Well-Managed Technology Project: Drawing from case studies good, bad and ugly, this session focused on key aspects of successful project management. The primary take-away was guidelines on how project managers can maintain control of their projects.
  • Designing and Redesigning Web Sites: Any nonprofit that has published a web site understands the frustrating nature of the process. This session considered how best to take on the task of casting organizational identity on the web while also serving target audiences and delivering value to web visitors accordingly.
  • What Should a Web Site Cost? One of the most vexing questions in any project is “what are appropriate costs for technology and labor?” This session utilized anecdotal data and participant input to explore costing for different types of web sites, from simple “brochure-ware” sites to custom, database-backed applications and points in between.
  • Mapping Communication Tools to Tasks: There are a range of ways to collaborate with partners and stakeholders in any project. But which tools work best for which types of collaboration? This session will sort out appropriate times to employ email, instant messaging and chat, wikis, phone calls, file sharing, forums and other tools.
  • Using Wikis for Effective Collaboration: Over the past several years, wikis have demonstrated their value as a key tool in certain project management processes. This session mapped out best practices and techniques for successfully utilizing wiki technology for project collaboration. Also discussed was when not to use wikis, and when more structured information sharing tools are advisable.
  • Managing Nonprofit Software Development Projects: While a best practice for nonprofits technologists is to try and utilize existing tools and services, there are invariably times when the appropriate tools and applications don’t exist. But software development is not a core competency of most nonprofits, and too often nonprofit software development efforts spiral out of control or end in less-than-complete realization of vision. This session will explore how best to get from concept to running code with out losing focus on mission.
  • Managing Consultants and Dealing with Vendors: This peer sharing workshop invited participants to compare their processes and tactics for managing critical project relationships that fall outside of organizational boundaries.
  • Horrific Tales of Miserable Project Management Failure: Nothing is more instructive than the mistakes of others. Participants will be invited to swap stories and cautionary tales of the many speed bumps, pot holes, and multi-vehicles pile-ups on the road to project management success.
  • A Whirlwind Discussion of Project Management Software Utilities: This fast-paced session allowed participants to share the various project management utilities available, including time tracking, task management, source code control, and more.
  • Software Share: Basecamp, MS Project, DreamTeam and more – Nonprofit practitioners provided a variety of 10-15 minute software demos to allow participants to see the packages in real-life situations and compare the strengths and weaknesses.

Want more information?

Contact us at info@aspirationtech.org.

Open Translation Tools 2009

June 2009
Expand

Aspiration was delighted to organize Open Translation Tools 2009 (OTT09), in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, from 22-24 June, 2009. The event was followed by an Open Translation "Book Sprint" which produced a first-of-its-kind volume on tools and best practices in the field of Open Translation, "Open Translation Tools".

Also see blog coverage from participants, including Ethan Zuckerman (OTT09 and Book Sprint), David Sasaki, TAUS, and Engage Media.

Both events were co-organized in partnership with FLOSSManuals.net and Translate.org.za, and generously supported by the Open Society Institute and the Ford Foundation.

Agenda partners for the event included Creative Commons, Global Voices Online, WorldWide Lexicon, Meedan, and DotSUB.

OTT09 built upon the work and collaboration from Open Translation Tools 2007 (OTT07; see paper, video, and toolbox). The event convened stakeholders in the field of open content translation to assess the state of software tools that support translation of content that is licensed under free or open content licenses such as Creative Commons or Free Document License. The event served to map out what’s available, what’s missing, who’s doing what, and to recommend strategic next steps to address those needs, with a particular focus on delivering value to open education, open knowledge, and human rights blogging communities.

Primary focus was placed on supporting and enabling distributed human translation of content, but the role of machine translation was also considered. “Open content” encompassed a range of resource types, from educational materials to books to manuals to documents to blog content to video and multimedia.

The agenda goals of the 2009 event were several:

  • Address the Translation Challenges Faced by the Open Education, Open Content, and human rights blogging communities, and mapping requirements to available open solutions.
  • Build on the vision and exploring new use cases for the Global Voices Lingua Translation Exchange
  • Document the state of the art in distributed human translation, and discussing how to further tap the tremendous translation potential of the net
  • Make tools talk better: realizing a standards-driven approach to open translation
  • Explore and sketch out Open Translation API Designs, building on existing work and models
  • Document workflow requirements for missing open translation tools
  • Match-make between open source tools and open content projects
  • Map of available tools to open translation use cases

See the Agenda Overview for elaboration and more details about what transpired.

Most importantly, the agenda centered on the needs and knowledge of the participating projects, structuring sessions and collaborations to focus on designing appropriate processes and selecting appropriate tools to support open content projects and inform further development of open source translation tools.

In addition, OTT09 continued the knowledge sharing for the open translation community, and continue discussion on other identified needs from OTT07. The agenda for this event was greatly informed by open education, open content and human rights blogging projects with specific translation needs, and a number of sessions were structured to both characterize requirements and propose solutions to respective projects' translation requirements.

OTT07 mapped out a hefty list of Open Translation Tools. Participants at OTT09 surveyed what has change over the past 18 months, and assessed the most pressing remaining gaps.

For more information, email info@aspirationtech.org or call +1.415.839.6456.

NetSquared N2Y4

San Jose, California USA // May 2009

Penguin Day San Francisco

April 2009
Expand

Penguin Day San Francisco brought together participants to share knowledge and discuss the state of Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) in nonprofit organizations, in a festive and collaborative environment designed to answer questions and curiosities. PD SF took place Saturday, April 25th, at Odd Fellows Hall.

Penguin Day San Francisco was generously sponsored by Google.

Sessions included:

  • Introduction to Free and Open Source Software
  • Introduction to Free and Open Source Desktop Applications
  • Introduction to Linux
  • Publishing on the Web: Making sense of Free and Open Source Content Management Systems
  • Introduction to Blogging
  • Intro and Advanced sessions on Joomla! and Drupal
  • Managing Organizational Contacts—Intro to CiviCRM 2.0
  • CiviCRM 2.0 - Advanced Topics
  • Increasing Access with Community Broadband
  • Learnings from Summers of Code
  • Mobile Volunteering: The ExtraOrdinaries Project
  • Healthy and Sustainable Free and Open Source Communities
  • Helping Techies and Non-Techies Communicate and Cooperate
  • Free And Open Source Online Advocacy: Tools And Best Practices
  • Creative Commons And Open Content
  • Free and Open Source Firewalls

Penguin Day San Francisco was organized by Aspiration, NOSI, PICnet, and CiviCRM.

What in the world is a Penguin Day?

Are you passionate or curious about the reality, the potential and the role of Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) in nonprofit organizations? Do you want to learn about latest free and open web publishing tools and technologies? Would you like to meet other like-minded and passionate participants, including developers, activists, and nonprofit "techies"?

Penguin Day New Orleans will bring together nonprofit technology staff with free and open source software (FOSS) developers for a day of learning and conversation.

We'll explore and explain open source for nonprofits, frankly address the challenges of developing open source tools for nonprofits, and celebrate strengths and successes of open source in the nonprofit sector. Leading open source innovators in the nonprofit sector will share their stories and knowledge, and focus on answering your questions!

If you are curious about open source software for your nonprofit organization, Penguin Days are for you!

Who is organizing Penguin Day in San Francisco?

Penguin Day San Francisco is being made possible with the help of Aspiration, NOSI, PICnet, CiviCRM, Chicago Technology Cooperative, local partners and YOU!

What will I take away from Penguin Day?

Penguin Day features a packed agenda of interactive workshops, round tables, and "SpeedGeeks." Topics include:

  • Introduction to Free and Open Source Software for Nonprofits
  • Local resources and who’s-who in the Free/Open Source community
  • Helping techies and non-techies communicate
  • Overview of Free and Open Source desktop applications
  • e-Advocacy platforms
  • Making sense of Free and Open Source Content Management Systems
  • Healthy and Sustainable Free and Open Source Communities
  • How Users Can Influence FOSS Development
  • Business Models for FOSS developers and providers
  • Content Management System (CMS) Crash Courses -- Plone, Joomla, and Drupal
  • Creative Commons and Open Content
  • SpeedGeeking (a lively tour of projects and tools)

What Are Others Saying About Penguin Days?

"I had a wonderful time at Penguin Day. It was one of the best IT related conferences I've been to. I'm definitely in a position to help my current and future non-profits with MUCH needed tools. I thank y'all on their behalf. Keep up the good work and positive energy." - Steve Garrison, SolarBoy.org

"Penguin Day was great - I had an excellent day - made new friends, put a lot of faces to email addresses, had a whole load of fun - and got introduced to some new applications and distributions! Thanks again to everyone who organised the day, ran sessions etc - it made my 4,500 mile trip worthwhile!" - Ian, from London, UK

"Penguin Days are a fantastic opportunity to get together with a wide variety of people and understand more about the issues that surround open source. Unlike a lot of conference/gatherings, the emphasis in these is on meeting people and making connections that you carry out of them room. And that works." - Marnie from San Francisco

"Now on to Penguin Day… Wow. For my part I was impressed by the international scope of the audience, folks from Great Britain, Canada, Kenya, Turkey, Ghana, Chicago and all points in between. The energy was great and the range of topics on the agenda meant there was something for everyone….suffice it to say Penguin Day set the mark against which all other events will be measured in my mind." - John from Chicago

Background

Since 2004, Penguin Days have been held in Philadelphia, Portland, Oregon; London, England; Toronto, Canada, Chicago, San Francisco, New York, Texas and Seattle.

Hundreds of nonprofit staff, programmers, and activists have attended Penguin Days. Penguin Days feature humorous "SpeedGeeking" sessions (playfully modeled after speed-dating) to bring programmers and organizations together to learn more about each other and free and open source software.

The Penguin is the symbol adopted in the early days of Linux as the mascot of this growing software movement.

About Aspiration: Aspiration, connects nonprofit organizations with software solutions that help them better carry out their work. We want nonprofit organizations to obtain and use the best software to maximize their effectiveness and impact so that they, in turn, can change the world. We identify what is available and what is missing in NGO software arena, and foster relationships, delivery systems, and sustainability strategies between NGOs around the world.

About PICnet: PICnet, empowers the missions of non-profits through the use of unique open source software solutions. PICnet moves beyond the nuts and bolts of technology, rising to find new and effective ways to assist organizations in meeting their goals.

About NOSI: NOSI was formed with three goals: to facilitate and encourage the use of free and open source software in the nonprofit sector, to bring nonprofit organizations together with free and open source developers and projects in ways that both can benefit, and to promote the understanding of the ways in which the fundamental values of each are similar.

eAdvocacy Book Sprint

April 2009
Expand

Aspiration brought together some of our brightest and most passionate eAdvocacy allies to lay down the content for the Online Organizer's Almanac, a comprehensive volume about online advocacy, eActivism, and internet-based organizing.

The almanac was written at a 5-day Book Sprint in San Francisco. The authors collaborated both in person and remotely, nonstop from a Monday morning to a Friday evening to create these materials. The content was assembled on the FLOSSManuals.net platform, a collaborative online environment for authoring open documentation and manuals.

<

p>Understanding online tools, tactics and technologies is an ongoing learning challenge for all activists and organizers. The Almanac was written for what are lovingly called the "Accidental Online Organizers", those individuals who as a result of happenstance, fate, passion or an advanced ability to type have found themselves tasked with selecting, implementing and/or learning to use online tools to campaign and advocate.

<

p>The Almanac is an attempt to capture and contextualize the best practices the authors believe in based on our trials and errors, successes and failures. It represents the collected learnings from working both individually and together over many years, exploring how the internet can be effectively and sustainably utilized to support activists and movements in the struggles for social change and social justice.

The authoring team included:

<

ul>

  • David Taylor, founder of Radical Designs and Online Director for Rainforest Action Network
  • Matt Holland, Director of TrueMajority
  • Chris Michael, coordinator with WITNESS
  • Arnold Chandler, policy advocate, researcher and technology strategist
  • Beka Economopoulos, grassroots field and online organizer
  • Kip Williams, Online Campaign Strategist
  • Allen Gunn, Executive Director of Aspiration
  • Aspiration Runs Joomla! Day Las Vegas

    April 2009
    Expand

    Aspiration was honored and delighted to direct the festivities at Joomla! Day Las Vegas, held at the oh-so-Elvis-compatible Montelago Village Resort off the strip. The event focused on building knowledge about Joomla!, a GPL-licensed content management system which is proving increasingly popular for publishing nonprofit web sites.

    The event brought together the Joomla! core development team, the Open Source Matters team, and almost 100 members of the Joomla! community to talk about all things Joomla!, including the upcoming 1.6 release, template and extension design, and plenty of participant-driven sessions.

    Aspiration employed our open licensed, collaborative event methodology to drive a fast-paced agenda focused on knowledge sharing, interactivity and community building.

    The extended post-event debrief took place at various collaborative venues along The Strip.

    The Open Planning Project Staff Retreat

    Brooklyn, New York USA // March 2009

    Information Activism Camp

    February 2009
    Expand

    Aspiration led development of the curricula and directed the facilitation at an intensive seven day, hands-on workshop that brought together 130 advocates at a retreat-style venue in Bangalore, India, in partnership with Tactical Technology Collective. The aim of the event was to enable advocates to creatively implement digital advocacy tactics by connecting them with others facing similar challenges, showcasing examples of successful tactics, helping them find the right solutions to meet their needs and giving them the hard-skills to implement ideas.

    NEH Workshop: User Needs for Digital Heritage

    Berkeley, California USA // January 2009

    2008

    2008 Nonprofit Software Development Summit

    Oakland, California USA // November 2008
    Expand

    The 2008 Nonprofit Software Development Summit was the second annual convening of people and organizations developing software tools, web applications and other technology to support social justice causes. Bringing together a diverse range of developers, technologists, managers, eRiders, integrators, users and other practitioners who self-identify under the umbrella of roles around “developing nonprofit software”, the 2008 DevSummit provided an opportunity both to gather as a community and to take stock of the field, while building connections and capacity.

    The event targeted a range of audiences, including developers writing code to support nonprofit needs, nonprofit users with strong opinions about what software you need developed to empower your programs and operations, integrators deploying tools for nonprofit and social justice organizations, and individuals who just care about seeing better technology developed to address the broad range of issues we face as a global community.

    The event was supported by the generosity of 2008 Dev Summit sponsors Sun, NetSquared, Google, Open Source Matters, and CiviCRM, as well as anonymous donors.

    To learn more about what went down...

    Check out the Event Schedule and Sessions List.

    Feel free to join the Event Mailing List to participate in discussions about this and the next Summit!

    Send any outstanding questions or comments you have to info@aspirationtech.org.

    Goals of the Summit

    The Summit had as its primary goals the following:

    • To convene and strengthen connections between the networks of stakeholders in the nonprofit software ecosystem, providing a fun and creative environment for celebrating successes and leadership in the field.
    • To share skills and knowledge in a highly collaborative, peer-to-peer fashion.
    • To map and discuss what is available and what is missing across the nonprofit software landscape in specific software “verticals”, and to posit solutions for addressing the gaps.
    • To offer a point of entry for software developers interested in offering their skills to nonprofit sector.

    The agenda took a concrete and hands-on approach to topics and challenges, focusing on transferring skills and process knowledge in interactive and fun ways. Panels and slideware were in short supply as with any Aspiration event, supplanted by participant-driven collaborations and small-group formats.

    Event partners working with Aspiration to design the agenda and sessions included Blue Oxen Associates, Brattleboro Technology Collective, Chandler, Change.org, Chicago Technology Cooperative, CITI, CiviCRM, Craigslist Foundation, DemocracyInAction, Drupal, EarthJustice, Floatleft, FLOSSManuals.net, Gotham Gazette, Jacob Appelbaum, Joomla!, MAPLight, MobileVoter, Nonprofit Open Source Initiative (NOSI), NetSquared, Newscloud, OpenMRS, The Open Planning Project, PICnet, protest.net, Radical Designs, Salesforce.com Foundation, SFCCP, SproutBuilder, TechCafeteria, Tim Bishop, United States Institute of Peace and WiredForChange.

    As with all Aspiration events, the agenda was extremely participant-driven, developed in collaboration with participants and session facilitators. Sessions for the event included:

    • Open Source CMS Mini-Summit
    • Listening to Users and Designing Appropriate Tools
    • eAdvocacy Platform and API survey
    • Open Source Case Management
    • The State of Nonprofit CRM
    • API Review: Where Are We At With Tool and Platform Integration?
    • Business Models for Nonprofit Software Development
    • Building Usability into Nonprofit Tools
    • Software Project Management
    • Engineering for Accessibility and Inclusion
    • Helping Non-Techies and Techies Build Successful Software Projects
    • Going Green: Serving Sites on Less Carbon

    We thank everyone who helped to make the 2008 Nonprofit Software Development Summit a huge success!

    Joomla! Day West 2008

    September 2008
    Expand

    Aspiration was honored and delighted to direct the festivities at Joomla! Day West 2008, held at Google Headquarters. The event focused on building knowledge about Joomla!, a GPL-licensed content management system which is proving increasingly popular for publishing nonprofit web sites.

    The event brought together members of the Joomla! core development team, the Open Source Matters team, and almost 100 members of the Joomla! community to talk about all things Joomla!, including the upcoming 1.6 release, template and extension design, and plenty of participant-driven sessions. Aspiration employed our open licensed, collaborative event methodology to drive a fast-paced agenda focused on knowledge sharing, interactivity and community building.

    California eAdvocacy Training Road Show III

    California, USA // June 2008

    Managing Nonprofit Technology Projects II - West Coast!

    May 2008
    Expand

    Aspiration and Idealware hosted the second Nonprofit Technology Project Management event in Oakland, California.

    Managing Nonprofit Technology Projects examined the tools and best practices that help nonprofits deliver successful technology solutions - whether websites, packaged software implementations, or custom applications.

    Interactive sessions and demos allowed a diverse group of participants to compare processes, tools, successes, and lessons learned. Discussion topics included team collaboration, project planning, software selection, migration, and project rollout, and mapping out software tools – from project management packages to collaborative communication to issue tracking and more – that support successful technology projects.

    You can check out the agenda and session notes on the MNTP Wiki

    And feel free to join the MNTP discussion list, which we're be using to continue the dialog.

    Aspiration’s skill in facilitating practitioner knowledge combined with Idealware’s experience in providing mental frameworks and research based information contributed to an informal, collaborative, and information-rich event.

    What Are They Saying?

    The feedback from our New York Project Management event was equally enthusiastic. Just a few of the comments from participants:

    • "The event was very energizing, and renewed my enthusiasm for tackling some complex issues"
    • "This gathering will inform everything I do in IT from here on."
    • "I used to be super intimidated - now I feel more empowered about what I do know and how to find answers to what I don't"
    • "It was a fun, casual, open, responsive learning environment for non-techies"
    • "I learned that I'm not alone, and I can learn from a rich community of people facing similar challenges"
    • "I was impressed with all that happened - it was amazing"

    What were the Goals?

    MNTP had three primary goals:

    • To strengthen the community of practice among those who identify themselves as nonprofit technology project managers
    • To enhance the knowledge and capacity of technology project managers within a rich, sharing environment
    • To map out the range of tools and best practices being employed in nonprofit technology project management

    Participants exchanged project management tools and techniques that they could apply to the management of many projects, and discussed project management processes – from project initiation to project planning, project execution, monitoring and control, to project closure – in the context of stories and experiences. Participants inventoried resources and best practices for nonprofit IT project management, ranging from templates to trainings, and showed useful software packages as they are used in actual nonprofits.

    Significant time was spent discussing appropriate practices and processes for defining requirements in nonprofit software projects to inform the "build, buy, or rent" decisions that vex nonprofit technology managers on a regular basis.

    Who Came?

    MNTP focused on the growing community of nonprofit technology project managers by providing support to those practicing as project managers, recruiting and offering support to those new to (or bewildered by) this craft, and creating a space for the "accidental project managers" to share their stories, discover their allies, and grow into more "intentional" project managers. A significant part of the event was built around mentoring relationships; experienced individuals with knowledge and stories to share collaborated with participants who wanted to learn more.

    Participants were encouraged to bring real-world projects to MNTP, and were met with some real-time project management, coaching, and assessment.

    What was on the Agenda?

    The agenda was designed specifically to ensure participants interacted with and learned from each other, while also providing solid grounding in essential topics. The following workshops were included in the proceedings:

    • Nonprofit Technology Project Management 101: For those who self-identify as new to the discipline, this session provided an overview of nonprofit technology project management. Essential topics, truths, and tools were presented, with the second half of the session employing a question-driven format.
    • Anatomy of a Well-Managed Technology Project: Drawing from case studies good, bad and ugly, this session focused on key aspects of successful project management. The primary take-away was guidelines on how project managers can maintain control of their projects.
    • Designing and Redesigning Web Sites: Any nonprofit that has published a web site understands the frustrating nature of the process. This session considered how best to take on the task of casting organizational identity on the web while also serving target audiences and delivering value to web visitors accordingly.
    • What Should a Web Site Cost? One of the most vexing questions in any project is “what are appropriate costs for technology and labor?” This session utilized anecdotal data and participant input to explore costing for different types of web sites, from simple “brochure-ware” sites to custom, database-backed applications and points in between.
    • Mapping Communication Tools to Tasks: There are a range of ways to collaborate with partners and stakeholders in any project. But which tools work best for which types of collaboration? This session will sort out appropriate times to employ email, instant messaging and chat, wikis, phone calls, file sharing, forums and other tools.
    • Using Wikis for Effective Collaboration: Over the past several years, wikis have demonstrated their value as a key tool in certain project management processes. This session mapped out best practices and techniques for successfully utilizing wiki technology for project collaboration. Also discussed was when not to use wikis, and when more structured information sharing tools are advisable.
    • Selecting and Recommending Tools – The Idealware Process: Laura Quinn described the Idealware methodology for gathering collective software knowledge in specific software categories, as well as their approach to assessing tools and evaluating appropriate uses. Case studies detailed past tool reports, and participants work through key steps in the Idealware process, in a software category decided by the group in the session.
    • Managing Nonprofit Software Development Projects: While a best practice for nonprofits technologists is to try and utilize existing tools and services, there are invariably times when the appropriate tools and applications don't exist. But software development is not a core competency of most nonprofits, and too often nonprofit software development efforts spiral out of control or end in less-than-complete realization of vision. This session will explore how best to get from concept to running code with out losing focus on mission.
    • Managing Consultants and Dealing with Vendors: This peer sharing workshop invited participants to compare their processes and tactics for managing critical project relationships that fall outside of organizational boundaries.
    • Horrific Tales of Miserable Project Management Failure: Nothing is more instructive than the mistakes of others. Participants will be invited to swap stories and cautionary tales of the many speed bumps, pot holes, and multi-vehicles pile-ups on the road to project management success.
    • A Whirlwind Discussion of Project Management Software Utilities: This fast-paced session allowed participants to share the various project management utilities available, including time tracking, task management, source code control, and more.
    • Software Share: Basecamp, MS Project, DreamTeam and more – Nonprofit practitioners provided a variety of 10-15 minute software demos to allow participants to see the packages in real-life situations and compare the strengths and weaknesses.

    Stay informed about key dates and registration information by signing up for our low-volume announcements list

    Help to shape the agenda and focus by joining the agenda discussion list.

    Want more information?

    Contact us at info@aspirationtech.org or mntp@idealware.org.

    Penguin Day New Orleans

    March 2008
    Expand

    Penguin Day New Orleans was a grand success! Participants explored the potential and the role of Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) in nonprofit organizations, in sessions designed to answer questions and curiosities!

    <

    p>Penguin Day New Orleans took place Saturday, March 22nd, at Basin Street Station, right next to the Easy Rider Cemetery.

    Penguin Day New Orleans was organized by Aspiration, NOSI, PICnet, Joomla! and Chicago Technology Cooperative.

    What in the world is a Penguin Day?

    Are you passionate or curious about the reality, the potential and the role of Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) in nonprofit organizations? Do you want to learn about latest free and open web publishing tools and technologies? Would you like to meet other like-minded and passionate participants, including developers, activists, and nonprofit "techies"?

    Penguin Day New Orleans will bring together nonprofit technology staff with free and open source software (FOSS) developers for a day of learning and conversation.

    We'll explore and explain open source for nonprofits, frankly address the challenges of developing open source tools for nonprofits, and celebrate strengths and successes of open source in the nonprofit sector. Leading open source innovators in the nonprofit sector will share their stories and knowledge, and focus on answering your questions!

    If you are curious about open source software for your nonprofit organization, Penguin Days are for you!

    Who organized Penguin Day in New Orleans?

    Penguin Day New Orleans was made possible with the help of Aspiration, NOSI, PICnet, Joomla!, Chicago Technology Cooperative, local partners and YOU!

    What will I take away from Penguin Day?

    Penguin Day features a packed agenda of interactive workshops, round tables, and "SpeedGeeks." Topics include:

    • Introduction to Free and Open Source Software for Nonprofits
    • Local resources and who’s-who in the Free/Open Source community
    • Helping techies and non-techies communicate
    • Overview of Free and Open Source desktop applications
    • e-Advocacy platforms
    • Making sense of Free and Open Source Content Management Systems
    • Healthy and Sustainable Free and Open Source Communities
    • How Users Can Influence FOSS Development
    • Business Models for FOSS developers and providers
    • Content Management System (CMS) Crash Courses -- Plone, Joomla, and Drupal
    • Creative Commons and Open Content
    • SpeedGeeking (a lively tour of projects and tools)

    What Are Others Saying About Penguin Days?

    "I had a wonderful time at Penguin Day. It was one of the best IT related conferences I've been to. I'm definitely in a position to help my current and future non-profits with MUCH needed tools. I thank y'all on their behalf. Keep up the good work and positive energy." - Steve Garrison, SolarBoy.org

    "Penguin Day was great - I had an excellent day - made new friends, put a lot of faces to email addresses, had a whole load of fun - and got introduced to some new applications and distributions! Thanks again to everyone who organised the day, ran sessions etc - it made my 4,500 mile trip worthwhile!" - Ian, from London, UK

    "Penguin Days are a fantastic opportunity to get together with a wide variety of people and understand more about the issues that surround open source. Unlike a lot of conference/gatherings, the emphasis in these is on meeting people and making connections that you carry out of them room. And that works." - Marnie from San Francisco

    "Now on to Penguin Day… Wow. For my part I was impressed by the international scope of the audience, folks from Great Britain, Canada, Kenya, Turkey, Ghana, Chicago and all points in between. The energy was great and the range of topics on the agenda meant there was something for everyone….suffice it to say Penguin Day set the mark against which all other events will be measured in my mind." - John from Chicago

    Background

    Since 2004, Penguin Days have been held in Philadelphia, Portland, Oregon; London, England; Toronto, Canada, Chicago, San Francisco, New York, Texas and Seattle.

    Hundreds of nonprofit staff, programmers, and activists have attended Penguin Days. Penguin Days feature humorous "SpeedGeeking" sessions (playfully modeled after speed-dating) to bring programmers and organizations together to learn more about each other and free and open source software.

    The Penguin is the symbol adopted in the early days of Linux as the mascot of this growing software movement.

    To register for an upcoming Penguin Day, go to www.penguinday.org.

    About Aspiration: Aspiration, connects nonprofit organizations with software solutions that help them better carry out their work. We want nonprofit organizations to obtain and use the best software to maximize their effectiveness and impact so that they, in turn, can change the world. We identify what is available and what is missing in NGO software arena, and foster relationships, delivery systems, and sustainability strategies between NGOs around the world.

    About PICnet: PICnet, empowers the missions of non-profits through the use of unique open source software solutions. PICnet moves beyond the nuts and bolts of technology, rising to find new and effective ways to assist organizations in meeting their goals.

    About NOSI: NOSI was formed with three goals: to facilitate and encourage the use of free and open source software in the nonprofit sector, to bring nonprofit organizations together with free and open source developers and projects in ways that both can benefit, and to promote the understanding of the ways in which the fundamental values of each are similar.

    5 Things Every Nonprofit Should Know About Their Hosted Data

    March 2008

    Managing Nonprofit Technology Projects - NY

    January 2008
    Expand

    Aspiration and Idealware hosted the first-ever Nonprofit Technology Project Management event in New York in January 2008.

    Managing Nonprofit Technology Projects examined the tools and best practices that help nonprofits deliver successful technology solutions - whether websites, packaged software implementations, or custom applications.

    Interactive sessions and demos allowed a diverse group of participants to compare processes, tools, successes, and lessons learned. Topics discussed included team collaboration, project planning, software selection, migration, and project rollout, and map out the software tools – from project management packages to collaborative communication to issue tracking and more – that support successful technology projects.

    Feel free to join the MNTP discussion list, which we're using to continue the dialog.

    What were the Goals?

    MNTP had three primary goals:

    • To strengthen the community of practice among those who identify themselves as nonprofit technology project managers
    • To enhance the knowledge and capacity of technology project managers within a rich, sharing environment
    • To map out the range of tools and best practices being employed in nonprofit technology project management

    Participants exchanged project management tools and techniques that they could immediately apply to the management of any project, and discussed project management processes – from project initiation to project planning, project execution, monitoring and control, to project closure – in the context of stories and experiences. We inventoried resources and best practices for nonprofit IT project management, ranging from templates to trainings, and showed useful software packages as they are used in actual nonprofits.

    Significant time was spent discussing appropriate practices and processes for defining requirements in nonprofit software projects to inform the "build, buy, or rent" decisions that vex nonprofit technology managers on a regular basis.

    Who Was There?

    MNTP was focused on growing the community of nonprofit technology project managers by providing support to those currently practicing as project managers, recruiting and offering support to those new to (or bewildered by) this craft, and creating a space for the "accidental project managers" to share their stories, discover their allies, and grow into more "intentional" project managers. A significant part of the event was built around mentoring relationships; experienced individuals with knowledge and stories to share will collaborate with participants who wanted to learn more.

    Participants were encouraged to bring real-world projects to MNTP. We did some real-time project management, coaching, and assessment, and tried to measure our progress by the end of MNTP and beyond.

    What Was On the Agenda?

    The agenda was designed specifically to ensure participants interacted with and learned from each other, while also providing a solid grounding in essential topics. The following workshops were included in the proceedings:

    • Nonprofit Technology Project Management 101: For those who self-identify as new to the discipline, this session will provide an overview of nonprofit technology project management. Essential topics, truths, and tools will be presented, with the second half of the session employing a question-driven format.
    • Anatomy of a Well-Managed Technology Project: Drawing from case studies good, bad and ugly, this session will focus on key aspects of successful project management. The primary take-away will be guidelines on how project managers can maintain control of their projects.
    • Designing and Redesigning Web Sites: Any nonprofit that has published a web site understands the frustrating nature of the process. This session will consider how best to take on the task of casting organizational identity on the web while also serving target audiences and delivering value to web visitors accordingly.
    • What Should a Web Site Cost? One of the most vexing questions in any project is “what are appropriate costs for technology and labor?” This session will utilize anecdotal data and participant input to explore costing for different types of web sites, from simple “brochure-ware” sites to custom, database-backed applications and points in between.
    • Mapping Communication Tools to Tasks: There are a range of ways to collaborate with partners and stakeholders in any project. But which tools work best for which types of collaboration? This session will sort out appropriate times to employ email, instant messaging and chat, wikis, phone calls, file sharing, forums and other tools.
    • Using Wikis for Effective Collaboration: Over the past several years, wikis have demonstrated their value as a key tool in certain project management processes. This session will map out best practices and techniques for successfully utilizing wiki technology for project collaboration. Also discussed will be when not to use wikis, and when more structured information sharing tools are advisable.
    • Selecting and Recommending Tools – The Idealware Process: Laura Quinn will describe the Idealware methodology for gathering collective software knowledge in specific software categories, as well as their approach to assessing tools and evaluating appropriate uses. Case studies will detail past tool reports, and participants will work through key steps in the Idealware process in a software category decided by the group in the session.
    • Managing Nonprofit Software Development Projects: While a best practice for nonprofits technologists is to try and utilize existing tools and services, there are invariably times when the appropriate tools and applications don't exist. But software development is not a core competency of most nonprofits, and too often nonprofit software development efforts spiral out of control or end in less-than-complete realization of vision. This session will explore how best to get from concept to running code with out losing focus on mission.
    • Managing Consultants and Dealing with Vendors: This peer sharing workshop will invite participants to compare their processes and tactics for managing critical project relationships that fall outside of organizational boundaries.
    • Horrific Tales of Miserable Project Management Failure: Nothing is more instructive than the mistakes of others. Participants will be invited to swap stories and cautionary tales of the many speed bumps, pot holes, and multi-vehicles pile-ups on the road to project management success.
    • A Whirlwind Discussion of Project Management Software Utilities: This fast-paced session will allow participants to share the various project management utilities available, including time tracking, task management, source code control, and more.
    • Software Share: Basecamp, MS Project, DreamTeam and more – Nonprofit practitioners will provide a variety of 10-15 minute software demos to allow participants to see the packages in real-life situations and compare the strengths and weaknesses.

    How can I stay informed and get involved?

    Stay informed about key dates and registration information by signing up for our low-volume announcements list

    Want more information?

    Contact us at info@aspirationtech.org or mntp@idealware.org.

    2007

    Aspiration Leads Telecentre Leaders' Forum at GK3

    December 2007
    Expand

    Aspiration was delighted to lead event design and facilitation of the Telecentre Leaders' Forum that took place before Global Knowledge 3 in Kuala Lumpur.

    The Forum provided a unique opportunity for people leading grassroots telecentre networks around the world to deepen relationships, share skills and shape the future of the telecentre.org community.

    The agenda followed Aspiration's standard interactive and collaborative patterns, and was designed to help network leaders share their knowledge while seeking insights and finding answers to challenges they are facing in their work. Sessions featured projects and innovative practices, while also addressing issues of strategy and sustainability. Network leaders were able to get involved in shaping, leading and growing the telecentre.org community.

    All participants were encouraged to take an active role in shaping the dialog and creating concrete event outcomes based on four primary objectives:

    1. Gather network leaders to shape the future of the telecentre.org community, with the aim of catalyzing increased collaboration across the telecentre movement.
    2. Share concrete strategies and services that networks are using to support grassroots telecentres.
    3. Define specific collaborative activities amongst telecentre networks, especially in: telecentre manager training; sustainability; network capacity; research; and knowledge sharing.
    4. Explore what it means to belong to the telecentre.org community, and develop a concrete vision that will guide this community into the future.

    Aspiration was delighted to once again be working with an amazing network of telecentre leaders and practitioners brought together by telecentre.org and IDRC.

    Aspiration was also invited by the Global Knowledge Partnership to facilitate a session at GK3 entitled Multi-Stakeholder Partnerships in Education, where over 40 participants worked through highly collaborative processes to identify common areas of interest for partnership, and then engage in discussions on potential partnership opportunities.

    Open Translation Tools 2007

    November 2007
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    Aspiration designed and hosted the first-ever “Open Translation Tools Convergence”. This 3-day event brought together two passionate communities: those creating open source software tools to support translating open content, and those with a need for better tools to support translation of the open content they create.

    Aspiration published a paper entitled "Open Translation Tools: Disruptive Potential to Broaden Access to Knowledge", documenting learnings and outcomes from the event. In addition, a video and inventory of open translation tools were also produced.

    The event took place in Zagreb, Croatia, from 29 November to 1 December 2007, and was co-organized by Aspiration and Multimedia Institute - [MI2]. Open Translation Tools 2007 was supported by the generosity of the Open Society Institute, with additional support provided by TechSoup.

    The event was convened to:

    • Document the open source translation tool landscape - What's out there? And what should we create to fill the gaps?
    • Inventory “open content translation use cases” - What translation support is needed?
    • Strengthen the community of practice around open source translation tools for open content, with a particular focus on delivering value to nonprofit and non-governmental organizations (NPOs and NGOs).

    The agenda was collaboratively developed by participants in the time leading up to and during the gathering. Also see additional event background.

    Overall, we followed a user-driven approach to map tools to use cases, assessing what is supported by currently available open source software tools and services, and identifying the most pressing needs. Primary focus was placed on supporting and enabling distributed human translation of content, but the role of machine translation was also considered. “Open content” encompasses a range of resource types, from books to manuals to documents to blog posts to multimedia.

    The event targeted three complementary outcomes:

    • A mapping of the open source translation tool landscape, enumerating tools and tool categories as well as services, projects and resources, and assessing gaps and opportunities for development. There is currently very little in terms of a directory of translation tools for content publishers, and this event will serve to create such an inventory.
    • An inventory of “open content translation use cases”, with open content creators and publishers describing how they would like open source software tools and technologies to support their translation needs. These use cases will cover a range of tasks (“I need to translate a document into a second language”) and usage scenarios (“I need a widget for my blog that links to open content translation request services and lists available translated versions of my content”).
    • A strengthened community of practice around translation tools for open content for NPO and NGO needs. While many amazing projects are in play all around the globe, there are relatively few opportunities for practitioners in the field of open content translation to meet and collaborate as a community. Open Translation Tools 2007 will provide such a venue.

    For more information, email info@aspirationtech.org or call +1.415.839.6456.

    Aspiration MC's "No Slide Zone" at Oracle OpenWorld

    November 2007
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    Oracle invited Aspiration to MC and facilitate the first-ever No Slide Zone at Oracle OpenWorld 2007. Bucking long-held conference and trade show tradition, the No Slide Zone track prohibited the use of projected "slideware" decks, instead encouraging presenters to engage in creative and interactive presentation formats.

    Sessions included a Jeopardy spoof focused on database security, a caged death match between old school and new school database admins, a content management cook-off, and a mad scientist laboratory cooking up "Enterprise 2.0" experiments.

    While it was a tad outside of our nonprofit technology mission focus, the event provided Aspiration a great opportunity to introduce our collaborative event philosophy and participant-driven session formats to a very large new audience at this 42,000-attendee gathering. Plus it was fun to play with all the high-tech event toys not normally found in the nonprofit sector, including state-of-the-art SWAG.

    FLOSS Usability Sprint V

    November 2007
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    Aspiration and Blue Oxen Associates co-hosted the fifth FLOSS Usability Sprint November 2-4, 2007. FLOSS Usability alums Daniel Schwartz and Jon Slenk stepped up to lead the event planning, outreach and logistics. Once again, Google graciously hosted the event at their headquarters in Mountain View. Project participants included Firefox, Chandler, and WiserEarth.

    "FLOSS" stands for Free/Libre/Open Source Software, and at FLOSS Usability Sprints, open source software projects partner with usability practitioners to address specific usability challenges in the software tools they are creating. Each team identifies usability outcomes they want to achieve during the course of the 3-day sprint, then collaboratively designs and implements processes for realizing the stated outcomes.

    YouthNoise Youth Summit Orlando

    Orlando, Florida USA // November 2007

    Aspiration Directs "Good to Great FOSS" event in Nairobi

    October 2007
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    At the invitation of IDRC and in partnership with PRIDE Africa, Aspiration directed the first-ever “Good to Great FOSS: Open Source Software Development in Africa” convening in Nairobi from October 24-26. The workshop provided a collaborative venue for discussion on Open Source software development in a developing country context, and was attended by a diverse group of open source projects and practitioners. The workshop goal was to facilitate an open assessment on how ‘Open Source’ approaches do (and do not) improve the impact of software initiatives in a developing country context. Also discussed and documented were reflections on the most successful approaches and strategy to implementing Open Source.

    Participating projects included AVOIR, DrumNet, OpenMRS, Grameen Mifos and TradeNet.

    The main objectives of this workshop were:

    • To provide an opportunity for reflection and learning about how to develop successful Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) initiatives in Africa;
    • To promote collaboration and understanding of what it takes to have a successful FOSS project;
    • To document community processes and tool sets of featured projects, profiling best practices required to apply FOSS expertise to add value to various technology driven IDRC-funded projects;
    • To provide knowledge on business process in the context of FOSS projects.

    Following from the event, Aspiration will be authoring a paper that details community processes and tool sets of featured projects from the event; a profile of best practices, required resources and processes in the developing country context; as well as points of disagreement on the subject of how to develop an Open Source project in the African context; and finally, recommendations for focus areas in future support and collaboration.

    Sun Digital Divide Summit

    October 2007
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    Sun invited Aspiration to design and facilitate an event that brought together senior Sun executives and technologists with Sun Foundation staff to discuss how Sun could play a role in addressing the digital divide on a global level.

    The day-long meeting was an extremely interactive opportunity for participants to cast long-term visions and to weigh in on what was viable and advisable in applying Sun technologies to assist those living and working in under-served and offline parts of the world.

    Mott Foundation Grantee Focus Group San Francisco

    San Francisco, California USA // October 2007

    YouthNoise Youth Summit Minneapolis

    Minneapolis, Minnesota USA // October 2007

    Mott Foundation Grantee Focus Group DC

    Washington, DC USA // October 2007

    Mott Grantee Focus Groups

    September 2007

    YouthNoise Youth Summits

    September 2007

    Making Waves

    July 2007

    Aspiration's eAdvocacy Jamboree 2007

    July 2007
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    Aspiration hosted our annual eAdvocacy shindig, which we lovingly named the "eAdvocacy Jamboree", from July 17-20 at Preservation Park in Oakland. The main event ran July 18-20, with a pre-day of eAdvocacy trainings on July 17 for those wanting to ramp up their eAdvocacy skills.

    Electric Embers also hosted their third annual Most Excellent AdvocacyDev Veggie-Friendly BBQ Shindig, continuing to raise the bar for NPTech hospitality!

    The final agenda is online. We continued to expand the format this year, and offered several interleaved tracks:

    • Training Fest: A full day of in-depth trainings was offered on Tuesday the 17th, before the main Jamboree, on a range of topics including eAdvocacy 101, Web 2.0 Tools and Tactics, eAdvocacy Best Practices, Strategic Blogging, Intro and Advanced sessions on Democracy in Action, CiviCRM, Non-Profit Soapbox, Drupal, and Joomla.
    • Interactive Track: participants were able to workshop their current campaigns with facilitators and other participants, participate in peer web site reviews, brainstorm new campaign ideas, and engage in skillshares on any topic they wanted to discuss. Spectators were few and far between!
    • Strategy Track - Tools, Tactics and Best Practices: eOrganizers and eAdvocacy practitioners from a broad base of causes and sectors discussed what they've got in their toolboxes and the tactics and strategies they're currently employing. Sessions considered the challenges of messaging and maintaining supporter bases across campaigns. A particular focus was on developing best practices in eCampaiging process and engagement models. Participants also related how they're using emerging web 2.0 and other technologies to augment their eAdvocacy efforts. User/Developer sessions allowed stakeholders across the eAdvocacy landscape to discuss how we can all work together more effectively.
    • Developer Track - Open Source eAdvocacy Platforms: Where are we, what's new, and how will it all interoperate? We continued the dialog from past AdvocacyDev convergences and looked for more opportunities to write tools that make life easier for campaigners and organizers. Latest releases of all relevant platforms were demo'd and compared, and participants were invited to drink from the fountain of cool technology Koolaid.
    • eAdvocacy Capacity Track - Addressing the Challenge: The most consistently vexing problem in the eAdvocacy space is how to develop more capacity. Campaigns and causes go wanting for able staff and consultants who could help them craft and execute appropriate online campaigns and strategies. This track mapped what's already being done in terms of training and documentation, while opening up the floor for discussion on how better to scale eAdvocacy communities of practice and pool various documentation resources.

    As always, participant input dramatically shaped what happened at the event.

    Event partners who worked with Aspiration to design the agenda and sessions included Blue Oxen Associates, Caltha.pl (Warsaw, Poland), Change.org, CiviCRM, CivicSpace, DemocracyInAction, Drupal, Joomla!, MobileVoter, New Organizing Institute, Non-Profit Soapbox/PICnet, Protest.net, and Radical Designs.

    Penguin Day Lowell

    Lowell, Massachusetts USA // June 2007

    iSummit Open Education Track

    June 2007
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    iCommons and The Shuttleworth Foundation invited Aspiration to co-design and lead facilitation of the Open Education Track at the 2007 iSummit. The track was designed as a loosely integrated collection of sessions with a common focus on how to bring the commons model and philosophy into education. Sessions used participatory, interactive methods to support a shared conversation and convergence amongst people with a passion for open education. The sessions provided a space to showcase emerging open education initiatives and to explore ways to better create, share and evolve open educational materials.

    Salesforce.com Nonprofit Roadmap Summit

    June 2007
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    Salesforce.com Foundation invited Aspiration to design and facilitate a summit meeting of developers and users of the Salesforce.com Nonprofit Template.

    The goals of this convening were to:

    • Take measure of both the successes and outstanding issues with the Nonprofit Template
    • Share perspectives on needs and priorities of the nonprofit Salesforce.com community
    • Collectively cast a vision for the future of Salesforce.com's nonprofit offerings, and
    • Translate that vision into actionable initiatives, milestones, and roles rendered in the form of a product "roadmap".

    New and experienced implementors, developers, users, administrators, and consultants were encouraged to attend and lend their perspective to the proceedings.

    Wiki Data Sharing Summit

    June 2007
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    Aspiration convened a number of open data platforms to discuss how such technologies could better interoperate. Purple Wiki, Wagn, Wiser Earth, Craigslist Foundation, Radical Designs AMP, and Social Source Commons shared their respective data models and information architectures, and brainstormed use cases for the how the various platforms might share data.

    Aspiration Runs Joomla! Core Team Summit and Joomla! Day USA West at Google

    May 2007
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    Aspiration was delighted to collaborate with Google in co-organizing two events focused on the Joomla! open source content management system.

    Aspiration facilitated the Joomla! Core Team Summit, which took place May 8-11 and brought together 20 Joomla! Core Team members. The core team is distributed across the globe, and this was the first in-person meeting in over a year. The agenda combined visioning and team-building sessions with working group meetings to move the project forward on a range of fronts, all aimed at delivering Joomla! Version 1.5. The team enjoyed the righteous hospitality of Google, and lots of extracurricular fun was had by all.

    Following the Core Team Summit, Joomla! Day USA West brought over 100 users, developers and service providers from across the western US together to share knowledge, meet other Joomla! community members, and collaborate in the Joomlasphere. The convergence followed the Aspiration event format, meaning that the community determined what was discussed, powerpoints were an endangered species, and nary a panel was seated. Joomla! Core Team members stood by to answer questions, offer insights and explain the exciting new Joomla! Version 1.5.

    Aspiration thanks Google and Joomla! for inviting us to help out at such great events!

    Joomla! Core Team Summit

    Mountain View, California USA // May 2007

    Joomla! Day West 2007

    Mountain View, California USA // May 2007

    Penguin Day Austin

    April 2007

    Penguin Day DC

    April 2007
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    Penguin Day took place in Washington, DC, right after the Nonprofit Technology Conference (NTC). As at every Penguin Day, we explored the potential and the role of Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) in nonprofit organizations, in sessions designed to answer questions and curiosities!

    Penguin Day DC took place Saturday, April 7th at Josephine Butler Parks Center.

    You can see the Penguin Day DC Agenda.

    Penguin Day DC was organized by Aspiration, PICnet and NOSI.

    What in the world is a Penguin Day?

    Are you passionate or curious about the reality, the potential and the role of Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) in nonprofit organizations? Do you want to learn about latest free and open web publishing tools and technologies? Would you like to meet other like-minded and passionate participants, including developers, activists, and nonprofit "techies"?

    Penguin Day DC will bring together nonprofit technology staff with free and open source software (FOSS) developers for a day of learning and conversation.

    We'll explore and explain open source for nonprofits, frankly address the challenges of developing open source tools for nonprofits, and celebrate strengths and successes of open source in the nonprofit sector. Leading open source innovators in the nonprofit sector will share their stories and knowledge, and focus on answering your questions!

    If you are curious about open source software for your nonprofit organization, Penguin Days are for you!

    Who is organizing Penguin Day in DC?

    Penguin Day DC is made possible with the help of Aspiration, PICnet and NOSI, local partners and YOU!

    What will I take away from Penguin Day?

    Penguin Day features a packed agenda of interactive workshops, round tables, and "SpeedGeeks." Topics include:

    • Introduction to Free and Open Source Software for Nonprofits
    • Local resources and who’s-who in the Free/Open Source community
    • Helping techies and non-techies communicate
    • Overview of Free and Open Source desktop applications
    • e-Advocacy platforms
    • Making sense of Free and Open Source Content Management Systems
    • Healthy and Sustainable Free and Open Source Communities
    • How Users Can Influence FOSS Development
    • Business Models for FOSS developers and providers
    • Content Management System (CMS) Crash Courses -- Plone, Joomla, and Drupal
    • Creative Commons and Open Content
    • SpeedGeeking (a lively tour of projects and tools)

    What Are Others Saying About Penguin Days?

    "I had a wonderful time at Penguin Day. It was one of the best IT related conferences I've been to. I'm definitely in a position to help my current and future non-profits with MUCH needed tools. I thank y'all on their behalf. Keep up the good work and positive energy." - Steve Garrison, SolarBoy.org

    "Penguin Day was great - I had an excellent day - made new friends, put a lot of faces to email addresses, had a whole load of fun - and got introduced to some new applications and distributions! Thanks again to everyone who organised the day, ran sessions etc - it made my 4,500 mile trip worthwhile!" - Ian, from London, UK

    "Penguin Days are a fantastic opportunity to get together with a wide variety of people and understand more about the issues that surround open source. Unlike a lot of conference/gatherings, the emphasis in these is on meeting people and making connections that you carry out of them room. And that works." - Marnie from San Francisco

    "Now on to Penguin Day… Wow. For my part I was impressed by the international scope of the audience, folks from Great Britain, Canada, Kenya, Turkey, Ghana, Chicago and all points in between. The energy was great and the range of topics on the agenda meant there was something for everyone….suffice it to say Penguin Day set the mark against which all other events will be measured in my mind." - John from Chicago

    Background

    Since 2004, Penguin Days have been held in Philadelphia, Portland, Oregon; London, England; Toronto, Canada, Chicago, San Francisco, New York, Texas and Seattle.

    Hundreds of nonprofit staff, programmers, and activists have attended Penguin Days. Penguin Days feature humorous "SpeedGeeking" sessions (playfully modeled after speed-dating) to bring programmers and organizations together to learn more about each other and free and open source software.

    The Penguin is the symbol adopted in the early days of Linux as the mascot of this growing software movement.

    About Aspiration: Aspiration, connects nonprofit organizations with software solutions that help them better carry out their work. We want nonprofit organizations to obtain and use the best software to maximize their effectiveness and impact so that they, in turn, can change the world. We identify what is available and what is missing in NGO software arena, and foster relationships, delivery systems, and sustainability strategies between NGOs around the world.

    About PICnet: PICnet, empowers the missions of non-profits through the use of unique open source software solutions. PICnet moves beyond the nuts and bolts of technology, rising to find new and effective ways to assist organizations in meeting their goals.

    About NOSI: NOSI was formed with three goals: to facilitate and encourage the use of free and open source software in the nonprofit sector, to bring nonprofit organizations together with free and open source developers and projects in ways that both can benefit, and to promote the understanding of the ways in which the fundamental values of each are similar.

    FLOSS Usability Sprint IV

    March 2007
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    Aspiration and Blue Oxen Associates co-hosted the fourth FLOSS Usability Sprint March 9-11, 2007. Once again, Google graciously hosted the event at their headquarters in Mountain View. Project participants included Firefox, Drupal, WiserEarth, and Aspiration's own Social Source Commons.

    2007 Nonprofit Software Development Summit

    Oakland, California USA // February 2007
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    The 2007 Nonprofit Software Development Summit was a first-of-its-kind convening to bring together the range of developers, technologists, managers, eRiders, integrators, users and other practitioners who self-identify under the umbrella of roles around “developing nonprofit software”. The event provided an opportunity both to gather as a community and to take stock of the field, while building connections and capacity.

    Aspiration Co-Organizes Asia Source II

    January 2007
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    <

    p>Aspiration traveled to Indonesia to oversee the agenda and facilitation at Asia Source II: Free and Open Source Technologies for NGOs (Non Government Organisations) and SMEs (Small and Medium Enterprises). The event took place in Sukabumi, near Jakarta.

    Aspiration partnered with fellow event organizers International Open Source Network, Tactical Technology Collective, InWEnt, ICT Watch, and Yayasan AirPutih. The event was targeted at those practitioners actively working with the NGO or SME sectors in South Asia and South East Asia, with focus on service and advocacy NGOs, educational organisations, NGO resource centres, community centres, health information organisations, SMEs and SME support agencies. Over 100 sessions were scheduled, including learning tracks on:

    • Open Publishing and Broadcasting: Communication Strategies and Writing Effectively, Graphic Design, Web Tools (Content Management Systems, Blogs, Wikis) and Audio/Video Production and Streaming
    • Alternative Hardware and Access: Refurbished Hardware, Thin Clients, Hardware Hacking, Wireless Solutions and Community Radio
    • FOSS Implementation and Migration: Moving an NGO or SME from proprietary software to FOSS. Participatory Design and Planning, Evaluating FOSS, End-User Training and Support Techniques, Dealing with Desktops, Proxy Server, Firewall, Mail Server and Groupware
    • Information Management: Mapping Information Sources and Requirements. Best practices for Creating Specifications, Information Architecture and User Interface Design

    As with all Aspiration-facilitated events, Asia Source II was built around a participant-driven agenda, peer-to-peer knowledge and skill sharing, and capacity building through strengthened social networks.

    Session proceedings were chronicled on alocal wiki. Asia Source II is the latest in Source Events series, which has included Summer Source, Africa Source I and II, and Asia Source I.

    2006

    Aspiration leads facilitation at Telecentre Leaders Forum in Benin, West Africa

    November 2006
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    Aspiration was delighted to lead the facilitation at the Africa Telecentre Leaders' Forum 2006. The event convened telecentre practitioners, network leaders, researchers and development partners from across Africa and took place at Centre Songhai in Port Novo in Benin from November 28 - December 2, 2006. The Africa TLF was jointly organized by Centre Songhai, IDRC, Microsoft, OKN, SDC and UNESCO under the banner of telecentre.org.

    The primary goals of the event were to

    • Develop a spirit of networking, learning and collaboration within the African telecentre movement.
    • Provide leaders of telecentres and other Community ICT Centres a chance to gain practical skills and learn about new services that can be used in their own networks and telecentres.
    • Search for common solutions to challenges faced by African Community ICT Centres such as sustainability, content, services, connectivity and impact.
    • Encourage the development of concrete collaborative activities that offer solutions to these challenges.

    Aspiration guided a 1-day facilitator training before the main event, and then collaborated with a team of 12 facilitators from all walks of telecentre life as they guided discussions and collaborative sessions. Interactive SpeedGeeks and Spectrograms kept the proceedings lively, and the agenda content was designed in large part by the participants at the Forum. The event was facilitated in a fully bilingual format, balancing French and English discourse and demonstration.

    Open(Data)/Open[Gov]

    November 2006
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    The Sunlight Foundation invited Aspiration to design and facilitate the agenda for their first-ever Open(Data)/Open[Gov] meeting. The event, co-hosted by the Mitchell Kapor Foundation, brought together a diverse group of 60 practitioners focused on various aspects of making government data more open to citizens. The group spent the day wrestling with the challenges and opportunities facing activists and technologists working to open up and demystify publicly available data for the average web users. Sessions addressed how to create successful developer networks, how to facilitate open exchange between Congress and citizens, and a look at various APIs, microformats and possible mashups. Also addressed were gaps in existing data sets, sustainable business models for this type of work, and the unintended consequences of transparency.

    FLOSS Usability Sprint III

    October 2006
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    Aspiration and Blue Oxen co-organized FLOSS Usability Sprint III, which took place October 27-29, 2006 at Google in Mountain View, California. Many thanks to Leslie Hawthorn, Rick Boardman and Google for hosting the event!

    Programmers, usability practitioners, project managers, and users gathered to discuss methodologies for improving the usability of Free/Libre/Open Source Software (FLOSS) and to apply those processes towards specific projects. The goals were two-fold: To improve the usability of the participating projects, and to catalyze greater shared understanding and ongoing collaboration between the usability and open source communities. Aspiration’s own Social Source Commons platform was one of the focal projects, along with Drupal, HyperScope, Socialtext Open and Sustainable Civil Society.

    To see pictures from the event click here.

    California eAdvocacy Training Road Show II

    September 2006
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    Aspiration took its open eAdvocacy curriculum back on the road to nonprofits in Los Angeles and San Francisco. The two-day “Web Sites For Advocacy and Community Organizing: Basics, Essentials, and Best Practices” training covers web essentials, development process, design essentials, developing web strategy, as well as best practices for privacy, and security. The trainings were designed to enable grassroots nonprofits to learn effective process and tactics in using email in their campaigns and strategic work. The training materials have been prepared by Aspiration in partnership with Radical Designs, and funded by the Community Technology Foundation of California. All materials are being distributed under Creative Commons license.

    AdvocacyDev III

    Oakland, California USA // July 2006
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    Aspiration was delighted to host AdvocacyDev III from July 31 to August 2 in Oakland, California. The third annual convening of developers, organizers, and activists working with open source tools for online activism brought together 45 practitioners for discussion, collaboration, and trainings. Electric Embers hosted their second annual Most Excellent AdvocacyDev Veggie-Friendly BBQ Shindig Sessions included...

    • Show and tell on all the latest open source eAdvocacy platforms and tools, including the latest from CivicSpace/CiviCRM, Radical Designs Activist Mobilization Platform (AMP), GoodStorm, and others.
    • ScoutSeven's DotOrganize project, and the findings of their research on needs and gaps in nonprofit eAdvocacy and database capabilities.
    • MobileVoter shared the latest in Cell phone/SMS organizing techniques, and joined in discussion on how to better integrate SMS support into open source eAdvocacy tools.
    • PICnet demo'd their brand-new NonprofitSoapbox platform, which integrates other open source tools and platforms.
    • Emerging technologies: Discussions of the role of VOIP and the Asterisk platform, and How-To's on activist blogging.
    • Prototyping new advocacy tools: Using Ruby on Rails to do rapid web development.
    • Building and configuring CivicSpace/CiviCRM sites
    • In-depth Drupal development session: Module development and theming
    • Business Development: How to pay the bills and work on advocacy development projects)
    • eAdvocacy Capacity Building: What trainings, documentation and knowledge sharing is necessary to grow the pool of practitioners in the eAdvocacy space. What is needed to better empower local organizers with local causes to use these tools?
    • Open standards and open API's (Application Programmer Interfaces) for eAdvocacy: what's needed to allow better data sharing, pooling of legislative and other public data, and enable feature interoperability between platforms? What eAdvocacy “mashups” are useful and possible?
    • Email Deliverability: While features and functionality of open source advocacy platforms continue to grow, deliverability of associated email blasts continues to decrease as service providers raise spam barriers and network neutrality is threatened.
    • Usability: how can online activist tools be made friendlier and more accessible for organizers and activists?
    • Trainings and skillshares on various platforms, tactics, and techniques.

    The event took place at East Bay Community Foundation Conference Center in Downtown Oakland.

    CTCNet 2006

    Washington, DC USA // July 2006

    Open Curriculum Convergence

    June 2006

    California eAdvocacy Training Road Show

    May 2006
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    Aspiration took its open eAdvocacy curriculum on the road to nonprofits all over California for a week of trainings in Sacramento, Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco. The one-day “Email For Advocacy and Community Organizing: Basics, Essentials, and Best Practices” training covers email campaigns, how to write effective email campaign messages, tracking open rates and responses, how to manage and sustain email lists, as well as best practices for privacy, security, and avoiding “spammer” status. The trainings were designed to enable grassroots nonprofits to learn effective process and tactics in using email in their campaigns and strategic work. The training materials have been prepared by Aspiration in partnership with Radical Designs and ScoutSeven, and funded by the Community Technology Foundation of California. All materials are being distributed under Creative Commons license.

    GKP International Partners Forum and Members Meeting

    Colombo, Sri Lanka // May 2006

    LiveWire Summit

    April 2006

    Shuttleworth Foundation Kusasa Project Sprint

    April 2006
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    Aspiration designed the agenda and facilitated this convening of educators and technologists meeting to discuss new approaches to teaching analytical skills through computer programming in the South African educational context. The goal was to consider how to develop a self taught, peer mentored program, which can be effectively evaluated without expert supervision, and to provide tools for analysis that will be general useful across the range of disciplines being taught at any given age. A range of leading thinkers, including Alan Kay, Guido Van Rossum, and Mark Shuttleworth, and a range of practitioners in computer software instruction met for 2 days to collaboratively advise the Foundation on project scope and direction.

    LiveWire Summit

    San Francisco, California USA // April 2006

    Penguin Day Seattle

    March 2006
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    Penguin Day Seattle took place on March 25th in downtown Seattle. Almost 90 participants joined in the festivities, which included a rich agenda. News Forge provided some excellent coverage. Penguin Day Seattle pictures are posted on Flickr. The mischief makers over at PICnet also perpetrated a little pre-PD mischief. We’re in the planning stages for inaugural Penguin Days in Boston and Washington DC, and well as the second PD San Francisco.

    Innovation Funders Network Summit

    January 2006
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    The Innovation Funders Network 2006 Summit took place in San Francisco on January 30th & 31st. Aspiration was honored and delighted to direct the agenda and oversee event facilitation.

    The event convened funders, invited affiliate organizations and thought leaders from around the world at Wharton West in San Francisco to explore the role of innovation and networks in the nonprofit and philanthropic sectors. Over 100 participants, coming from a range of perspectives and experiences, discussed challenges and opportunities across the fast-changing landscape of innovation funding.

    Over the past decade, the emergence of the internet, cellular phones and other innovations in Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs) has brought about profound social and economic change. We are now living in a networked society. These networks provide new ways to collaborate, express ourselves politically and culturally, address social and economic issues, and build local and global communities. The event addressed a range of topics, including:

    • the use of ICTs in recent humanitarian relief efforts, online advocacy, community Internet, telecentres and community technology centers.
    • innovative uses of networks to deliver social and humanitarian services, advocate policy positions, communicate with constituents and the media, build collaborations and raise funds.
    • How do we ensure access? How do we equitably distribute benefits enabled by these networks? How do we foster innovation communities within the social sectors? How do we scale these innovations across issue areas and geographic regions?
    • different funding models including traditional and corporate philanthropy, social venture, peer to peer investing, online fundraising, microfinance. We will explore the use of these networks to foster collaboration amongst funders.

    Africa Source II

    Kalangala, Uganda // January 2006
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    Aspiration managed the facilitation of Africa Source II, an eight-day hands-on workshop aimed at building the technical skills of those working with and within NGOs on the African continent. The event took place on Kalangala Island on Victoria Lake, working with our favorite collaborators and event organizers, Tactical Technology Collective, and in partnership with local organizations including Wougnet and Linux Solutions.

    Aspiration Executive Director Allen Gunn was interviewed about Africa Source II by Tectonic and News Forge. Photos from the event can be viewed with the Flickr tag africasource2.

    Africa Source II focused on how technology, in particular Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) can be integrated into the project work of NGO’s. Over a hundred thirty NGO Support Professionals and NGO Staff working at the local level across the region were present at this meeting. Together with a handful of field leaders from Africa, Europe, North America and Asia, they explored how technology can best serve the non-profit sector in Africa both in terms of access and content.

    2005

    Telecentre.org Leaders Forum at WSIS

    November 2005
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    The Telecentre Leaders Forum brought together those working in telecentres, running telecentre networks, and doing telecentre research, and provided a venue for people from across the globe with a passion for grassroots technology to connect, share stories and swap practical ideas. Aspiration led facilitation across four days of collaborative workshops, following an agenda co-designed with Telecentre.org and their partner network.

    Penguin Day San Antonio

    November 2005

    California Community Wireless Summit

    October 2005
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    Aspiration designed the agenda and facilitated this event, where participants explored strategies for community participation in municipal projects and creating community demand for wireless services through education and outreach. The Summit brought together representatives from community based organizations, activists, community technology and wireless experts, community Internet policy advocates, and local policymakers.Our objective is to build a statewide network of advocates working to bring Internet access and resources to all Californians.

    MobileActive Convergence

    September 2005
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    Aspiration and Green Media Toolshed convened a working session of global activists, communications staff, technology experts, and foundation staff to mine a wide variety of experience, expertise and vision. The goal of the MobileActive was to explore the power of the cell phone as an organizing and campaign communication tool with leading activists from all over the world; to share knowledge, stories, and strategies; and accelerate the use of cell phones as a successful tool in campaigns, human rights efforts and field organizing. Activists from across the world including Africa, South Korea, the Philippines, India, the Ukraine, and the Americas participated in the first-of-its-kind event.

    Network Facilitation Training Convergence

    September 2005
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    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.

    FLOSS Usability Sprint II: Extreme Usability

    August 2005

    Advocacy Dev II

    Oakland, California USA // July 2005

    Facilitation for Networks Training Convergence

    June 2005
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    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.

    Penguin Day New York

    May 2005
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    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.

    Penguin Day San Francisco Bay Area

    April 2005
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    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 Chicago

    March 2005

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

    March 2005
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    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!

    FLOSS Usability Sprint I

    February 2005

    Asia Source I

    January 2005
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    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.

    2004

    Aspiration facilitated first-ever Developer Roadshow in South Africa

    December 2004
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    Free/Libre and Open Source Software (FLOSS) offers a promising alternative for meeting the software needs of civil society across the African continent. But much work remains to be done in building understanding, capacity and community among developers interested in creating tools to support the sector.

    The first FLOSS Developer Roadshow convened African software developers to meet one another, share skills and build knowledge, while designing and implementing appropriate tools for civil society. The event was aimed at meeting sustainable development needs while enhancing the pool of appropriate software skills in the regions. Participants left with with a better understanding of the potential and reality of FLOSS for civil society, new expertise and an enhanced network of contacts and potential collaborators.

    Allen Gunn of Aspiration facilitated the event. The Developer Roadshow was hosted by our colleagues at CSIR and supported by a grant from the Open Society Institute.

    Localization Developers Sprint

    Warsaw, Poland // November 2004

    ICT and Human Rights

    November 2004

    APC ActionApps Developer Camp

    Cape Town, South Africa // October 2004
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    Aspiration designed the agenda and facilitated this convergence of developer and users of the ActionApps web publishing platform, who traveled from all over the world to discuss the vision and direction for the platform, and plan for capacity building and sustainability of their open source community. Focus areas including training materials development, support for online advocacy features, multi-lingual web sites, and hands-on skillshares. The content management system (CMS) landscape was mapped and discussed, and user survey results were presented.

    SMS Sprint

    September 2004

    Wireless 4 Development Conference

    September 2004

    VoIP Developer Sprint

    August 2004

    AdvocacyDev I

    San Francisco, California USA // June 2004
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    The first Advocacy Developers Convergence brought together developers and allies focused on internet advocacy software. The convergence yielded a valuable and popular web resource (wiki.advocacydev.org) that continues to grow in popularity, has led several projects to merge efforts and share code, and has generated several new projects, including an open database initiative for shared data standards, an Open Source Almanac for nonprofits, a localization working group, and applications from the VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) and SMS (Short Message Services) sprint events.

    Network Funding Models Conference

    June 2004

    Penguin Day Philadelphia

    March 2004
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    Penguin Days were established with the intent to bring together open source developers and technology support staff for nonprofits. The first in March 2004 began an important conversation about the challenges and opportunities extant in realizing the promise of free and open source software in the nonprofit sector. The event spawned a host of similar gatherings in Portland (Oregon), London, Toronto, San Francisco, New York, Chicago and Seattle. Aspiration created replicable, self-documenting materials for local organizations to run the events, with the intention of adapting the process and content model to other types of events.

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    Our Mission

    Aspiration's mission is to connect nonprofit organizations, free and open source projects, philanthropic funders and activists with strategic frameworks, technology solutions, digital practices and data skills that help them more fully realize their missions.

    We want those working for social, racial and climate justice to be able to find and use the best digital tools, resources and practices available, so that they maximize their effectiveness and impact and, in turn, change the world.

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