I should really say that I was looking forward to taking advantage of some of the “open to the public” presentations and events being held during the conference. I knew that I couldn’t make the trip to BlogWorld Expo in Las Vegas this year (incidentally one of the largest blog conferences in the world) taking place on the same weekend. I also knew that going to Nashville early would mean that I could squeeze two conferences into one trip with BarCamp Nashville taking place on Saturday.

Unfortunately, as the week’s schedule started taking shape, I realized that I would only be able to attend events and activities on Friday. I figured that I wouldn’t quite be able to experience the conference the way I’d hoped despite the fact that I’d be able to get a taste of what was going on via Twitter.

Now, I already knew what the conference hashtag was going to be; it’s #presconf if you’re wondering. Creating one for Twitter has almost become a requirement for events, allowing folks who aren’t able to attend to glean from tweets of those who are lucky enough to be there. It also, by way of sites like What the hashtag? allow for organizers to measure how frequently the tag was used as well as provide an easy way for a collection/log of tweets to be made.

Well, given the country’s current economic situation, the National Trust decided to take the idea of being a virtual attendee to another level.

It’s not so much that it’s anything new being done on the National Trust’s Virtual Attendee page of their official website. Many of these tools have been implemented for BarCamps and WordCamps across the world. It’ll be easy for those that know about it to be able to follow live blog chats during presentations, webcasts of featured talks, watch the photos get added to Flickr and get a sense of the buzz going on in Twitterville.

The point that I’d hammer home is this is not an unconference, but probably one of the largest gatherings of historic preservationists taking place in the Western hemisphere every year doing this. It’s not necessarily the first group of folks you’d identify with providing open access to conference presentations. Or are they?

Wouldn’t it make the most sense to help spread the word about the benefits of encouraging preservation projects in your community by making informational sessions available on the web? Doesn’t the fact that the hashtag has the potential to be a trending topic on Twitter or photos suddenly flooding the Flickr pool mean that the preservation movement can be shared with a whole new group of folks who probably didn’t even know that the conference was taking place? Can these tools encourage conversations in forums or groups that they’ve never taken place in before? Can this be transformed into a new perk for supporters? Will this impact how other organizations choose to hold and organize their conferences in the future? How much do we lose out on without the ability to talk with others face to face?

Well, in my case, it makes it a little easier to accept arriving at the conference late knowing that I’ll at least have some idea of what’s been going on.

I’m interested in what you think about it…

Photo: Hello Nashville! Farin Salahuddin, National Trust Conference Coordinator(PreservationNation)/Flickr

Maybe this is one example of what collaboration is supposed to look and sound like?

The sounds of fingers hitting keys on laptops filled the large conference room in the NBC 13 studios high atop Red Mountain in Birmingham, AL on October 7. The city’s statue of Vulcan stood outside bathed in a sea of pink in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Inside, bloggers from across the region had the opportunity to interview experts and community leaders while participating in a blog-a-thon focused on an issue that may not get as much visible exposure this month – domestic violence. This is despite national initiatives and a Presidential proclamation.

It was definitely not your typical blog-a-thon. For those of us who’ve participated in this kind of virtual event before, it’s an opportunity to raise awareness about a given issue by dedicating space on your site. This donation of time, space and opinion normally take very different forms as participants are not necessarily exposed to the same resources or at the same level of being able to use the tools available. You basically don’t participate if you’re only looking to increase traffic to your site as that is not something that is guaranteed, though it is possible. What Blogging Against Violence attempted to do was see what happens when you try to provide ways for anyone that wants to participate in that event to have access to the same wide range of tools and resources.

Conversations with those that participated in the event (which actually continues online until October 15 – incidentally Blog Action Day) should lead those interested in doing a similar project to believe that it can be successful. Bloggers feel as though they have a chance to produce a piece of work that they may not normally have the ability to because of the resources provided by the organizers. Organizers are pleased with the chance to provide an opportunity for the facts to be presented to bloggers to share with their readership. The use of the hashtag #wfundbham by the bloggers and supporters led to use and exposure by folks in New York and Wisconsin of things being done in their communities.

It may not have led to an immediate increase in donations (which people are able to make at any time), but it did increase its exposure and people’s awareness about the issue, both helpful when asks are made in the future.

It also provided a chance for folks that know of each other only virtually to at least be in the same room and feed off of each person’s energy, no doubt leading to potentially more partnerships and collaborative efforts later on.

While we’d be providing different points of view we’d be speaking in one voice. If that’s the case, Sam Davidson’s observations on collaboration could be applied not just to nonprofits and churches but all forms of for profits ventures and city governments.

Just think of the changes that could come from such a change in mindset.

I’m optimistic that we’ll get a chance to do it again very soon and that we’ll be able to get more folks to participate and help spread the word. It’d be nice to hear from you of any other examples that may be out there of similar collaborative efforts…

Photo: Women’s Fund Blogathon. acnatta/Flickr

It’s a lesson that we’ve been taught and reminded about forever – our first instinct should be to listen to what’s going on around us and not necessarily to assume what you’re going to hear as the answer.

Many people get into business because they listened to a need in their community and they decided they would try to fill it. I’m sure that many of us would admit that those businesses that continue to listen to their clientele and react effectively to what they hear are the ones that are most successful. I would comb over comment cards from my days managing an inn hoping that I could improve the quality of service based on what those who took the time to fill out the cards had to say. Well, nowadays listening means not just paying attention to the words on the comment card in your hand but to the words shared on blogs, Facebook and Yelp to name only a few outlets in the virtual world. (We’ll take a look at them and others as we go along).

One thing to keep in mind before hanging your shingle out in the world of social media is that you want to hang out at some of the outposts and do some listening, either about yourself or other comparable businesses. You may find that what you think is the necessary need is only part of the problem or not even the problem at all. You may also find some ways to solve those problems effectively without spinning your wheels.

Amber Naslund‘s e-book provides essential information for those businesses that are attempting to step off the ledge and those lessons and suggestions can easily be applied to non profits and governments. Listen and, once you’re comfortable, be prepared to answer on that stage. People are said to be looking for transparency in their government nowadays. That transparency includes being able to interact with them at every level and in as many ways as possible. The best way to do that is to take a moment each day and be all ears (and every once in a while enjoy the silence when it happens).

Photo: The bar’s jumping at Local 44. acnatta/Flickr