Where I'll be at #15NTC!

Each year I follow in the inspiring example of Peter S. Campbell by sharing where I'll be at the You should read Peter's post to see where he will be!

Nonprofit Tech Conference.

The annual NTEN Nonprofit Technology Conference is something I look forward to all year long! This event has helped shape my career and the orgs I have worked for, plus it has impacted a number of orgs and staff I have collaborated or shared with. I love it. Anyway, here is where I will be at #15NTC.

HELP! Last year I made awesome plans to connect with people at Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner, but I don't have any of those plans yet, hit me on Twitter at @steveheye if you want to connect or leave a comment.

Or you can read what I learned at #14NTC to see if it helps you want to go!

Tues, March 3

Volunteering! I will be helping NTEN stuff bags and such all day if you want to come find us to help!

#NTCBeer!
A mix of nerds and brew, need we say more? Celebrate the 7th annual #ntcbeer, the pre-conference party known for good refreshments and better conversation. Catch up with nptech friends old and new over a few brews or whatever. Visit us on Facebook!

Weds, March 4

NTENer Center!
If you want to meet me, hang out with me or just point and laugh, I will be at the NTENer center from 7am-8:30am and 3-3:30pm! The NTENer center will be in the middle of the science fair. Take a minute to grab a lounge chair and chill with me.

Ignite Plenary!
Excited about this even if I a will not be presenting this year. Ignites rock the house with 20 slides, 15 seconds each and in 5 minutes you have a lasting memory! I embedded a video here if you want to relive the song part of my ignite from #14TNC.




Help Desk or Service Desk: Either Way, How Does IT Become a Partner?
I am presenting this with Dar Veverka and John Cronin. Help Desk sessions may sound boring, but this will not be! We all know the traditional meaning behind an IT Help Desk: something breaks, you call, we fix. Moving to an IT Service Desk can add further meaning: we also work with you on the goal. And in case you need another reason to come, check out DJ Help Desk!



Avoiding Disaster - A Practical Guide to Backup Systems and Disaster Recovery Planning
Pretty much every nonprofit has an IT disaster recovery plan in place these days– it’s a standard auditing requirement. But often those plans are just a modified boiler plate that someone snagged off the Internet to satisfy that auditing requirement. No one has ever tested the plan or thought about whether all parts of it are practical, much less kept it up to date.

Thurs, March 5

Strategy, IT\Mission Alignment and Outcomes -- How Do Yours Fit Together?
This stands to be the highlight of #15NTC for me! I have been waiting for years to present this session and excited to have Kelly Trusty bring it! Does an organization’s overall strategy type have anything to do with the extent to which it aligns technology with its mission? We say yes, and a study of 244 organizations agrees. Does that connection have anything to do with how well an organization performs and achieves outcomes? Again, we think so. We would like to share those connections with you and help you see how the relationship between strategy, IT/mission alignment and performance in your organization can be strengthened to help you achieve outcomes.

How to and Where to Get Started with Business Intelligence
This session will provide you with a practical approach for getting started with business intelligence (BI). Using BI will help you understand what drives the success of your organization.

Igniting a Culture of Tech Innovation
If nonprofits don’t innovate, they are going to lose talent, support, and funding to other faster, sexier tech startups. Let’s talk about how to create a culture of tech innovation in nonprofits, because we have people’s interests, not just the bottom line, at heart.

FUN After Hours!
Salesforce Foundation Party
NTC Howdy Hour with TechSoup!

Fri, March 6

How to Perform a Strategic Technology Assessment for Your Nonprofit
Based on over 100 projects performed over the last dozen years for nonprofits big and small, this informative presentation will step participants through the most commonly adopted and time-tested process for performing strategic technology assessments for nonprofits.

FUN!
Geek Games! Bring it!

Sat, March 7 

Fishing with Friends at Lake Travis, I can hardly wait to combine a nonprofit tech conference trip with fishing! Booyah!

SO much Stuff! If you haven't registered, DO IT NOW! If you have registered, change your travel to be there early for the Pre-Conference (Smaller crowds and more info!)

Tech is funny, funny-weird, not funny ha-ha

OK, so I have decided to begin this blog as an effort to get out some of the creative energy that is growing inside of me. So for my first entry I thought it would be fun to just make fun of myself.

It all started back when I decided to get my Bachelors degree in Finance back in the mid 90's. No wait, actually it all started with the Oregon Trail in grade school but that is going back too far. As a part of my Bachelors requirements I took intro to spreadsheets and intro to DOS. That is on my transcript, I chuckle each time I think about how useful my degree and college experience was. Any hoot. I had to bring my diskette with me all the time to college. Computers and technology were not funny, only some people understood them. Most people flocked to movies about how technology was going to destroy the world (Terminator, War Games, etc).

All the techies were so serious (or so it seemed to those not in the circles).

Now technology is everywhere, my kids are creating powerpoints for first grade, my older kids email their high school homework and have online textbooks. But still if you joke or talk about tech too much in the normal world it is still funny weird, not funny ha ha. Are we still too serious about our work in technology?

Finally companies are starting to move this along, what a genius it was for the Apple folks to run the I'm a PC-I'm a Mac commercials. Make technology something everyone can talk about, laugh about and even understand? Lets not go too far. (PLUG ALERT, PLUG ALERT) By the way my church did a great parody of that commercial.

Any hoot, rambling again. Back to the point, for years I have been misunderstood. People ask what I do and I start to tell them and they just gloss over and wave their hands in surrender (unless of course they are funny weird too). I have a passion for trying to help people understand what technology really is and what it can do, but without all the jargon, hoopla, overpromising, technical terms and what not. I say humor is a medium we should all embrace more, and not just humor within our little tech circles...

SHARE IT - BE FUNNY - Not funny weird though. Lets break down the walls that seperate us techies from the rest of the nonprofit world. Even if that means that we have to talk to those overcommitted program staff, CEO with too much vision, paper toting field staff, slide ruler carrying CFO or even the legal and HR Staff?

Any hoot, I hope to make some cool movies, draw some goofy cartoons, tell stories or something to try to make a point and at least make myself laugh a little.