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Current News

Nonprofit Networking: The New Way to Grow
	Martha Lagace's Nonprofit Networking: The New Way to Grow reflects the growing interest in collaboration that has come with the growth of the Internet. The article looks at the research of Jane Wei-Skillern, which supports the idea that networking between organizations is a vast untapped tool for nonprofit effectiveness. Posted: 7/24/05; 11:41:45 PM #

Evolving Communities of Practice: IBM Global Services Experience

I have worked on community building throughout my career, but the Internet has allowed me to affordably test many of my ideas at a large scale. The same has been true of organizations far larger than mine. The IBM Global Services experience with Evolving Communities of Practice, as documented by Gongla and Rizzuto in 2001, remains one of the best descriptions of how the kinds of communities I work with most often grow and change over time. Posted: 7/24/05; 11:35:59 PM #

Conversation Mapping
	Bruce McKenzie's guide to Conversation Mapping (8 page PDF) provides one of the better step by step instructions for using visual mapping to help track and understand a complex conversation. If visual thinking appeals to you, this is a nice little resource to consider. Posted: 7/24/05; 11:26:51 PM #

Tipping Point - Net Version

If you haven't already read Malcolm Gladwell's book The Tipping Point and you don't plan to, you might be interested in Robert Patterson's three page paraphrase, currently making the rounds on various link lists. The Tipping Point - Net Version is also entitled "How to Start a Revolution" and covers all the main concepts of the book. Worth a review if you're thinking about networks. Posted: 7/24/05; 11:21:25 PM #

Virtual Volunteering Guide

Published originally back in 2000, I'm surprised I haven't recommended this sooner. The Virtual Volunteering Guide (138 page PDF) is a superb handbook by the two acknowledged experts in online volunteerism, Susan Ellis and Jayne Cravens. The free ebook covers every issue, including online recruitment, designing online volunteer projects, online project and relationship management, including people with disabilities, and dealing with the idiosyncrasies of online communication. Posted: 7/24/05; 11:14:52 PM #

Community Networking as Radical Practice
	In the current issue of Community Informatics, Garth Graham looks at Community Networking as Radical Practice. As certain parts of the digital divide are bridged, what is it that makes community networking a social change strategy? Posted: 7/24/05; 10:59:48 PM #