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Current News

New Referral Program: A Simple Three-for-One Model for Free Online Seminars

One of our readers asked a great question recently: What happens if I refer people to you for training? We've taken some time since, and developed the simplest possible Seminar Referral Program we could manage. We looked at other programs and they all seemed kind of stingy, so what we decided was this: You refer three people to us, and you can get a free seminar. The details are predictable and please read on for them, but that is pretty much it. Thank you, Rebecca! Posted: 11/18/08; 3:21:45 PM #

Goldman Rips Off Non-Profits, Endowments, Foundations, And Charities?

I pay some attention to The Consumerist for grassroots information about customer service issues and similar matters. In a break from what he usually writes about, Ben Popkin shares the story of a Goldman Sachs trader telling him he constantly rips off endowments, charities, and foundations when they would call up and want to invest. He says he was told, "whenever I hear it's a non-prof, then you just ladle on the extra fees." Posted: 11/17/08; 6:06:37 PM #

When It Comes to Social Change, The Machine Metaphor Has Limits

One of the things that the juxtaposition of information technology and civil society has done is affect the metaphors that we use to describe our work, our organizations, and our movements. As I see it, there are two conflicting categories of metaphors that have been encouraged: mechanistic comparisons that treat social systems as machines and organic metaphors that treat them as ecosystems. As anyone who reads me will know, I have always favored the latter. In When It Comes to Social Change, The Machine Metaphor Has Limits, Virginia Lacayo describes in very specific and practical terms why the former is so damaging. Posted: 11/17/08; 5:55:14 PM #

It's Not What We Teach; It's What They Learn

I recommended the work of Alfie Kohn to blogger Asher Bey and he returned the favor by pointing me to Kohn's recent article entitled It's Not What We Teach; It's What They Learn. It's remarkable to me how many people would easily agree with this assertion and yet not let it change how they work in any way. Let me ask you: What are people actually learning from a quick visit to your website? Or from repeated receipt of your fundraising solicitations? Posted: 11/17/08; 3:35:44 PM #

Remembering that War is a Racket on Remembrance Day
	Today is Remembrance Day. It's a good day to remember that War is a Racket. Posted: 11/11/08; 10:17:20 PM #

Social Networking Strategies and Tactics Seminar Now Available On Demand

We continue to expand our on-demand seminar catalog. This week, we're rolling out Social Networking Strategies and Tactics: A Guide to Maximum Return and Minimum Lock-In. This topic is just getting more and more important as time goes on. This workshop focuses on giving you a perspective on social networking that will help you evaluate particular existing online communities and websites to determine whether and how to invest in them as well as how to pursue social networking strategies without creating dependency on these sites. Posted: 11/11/08; 12:11:05 PM #

Actions for Restoring America: How to Begin Repairing the Damage to Freedom in America After Bush

Everyone has their wish list for the Obama administration, a reflection of just how broad the destruction has been over the course of the reactionary era of American history and especially the last 8 years. Unfortunately, a wish list is not an organizing plan and I really hope to see more of those in the coming weeks. In the mean time, I'll share with you a wish list around which I know for certain there will be some serious organizing. The ACLU has prepared a document covering actions that can be taken immediately by the new administration and actions that could fruitfully be taken in the first 100 days: Actions for Restoring America: How to Begin Repairing the Damage to Freedom in America After Bush. As painful as it may be to read in one place even this slice of what's been done to us by the Bush cabal, we need to come together around it. Posted: 11/10/08; 2:39:05 PM #