| Should Nonprofit Professionals Attend Technology Conferences? |
 |
| Written by Lorna Doone Brewer | ||||||||
| Monday, 28 November 2011 12:57 | ||||||||
 With limited budgets and the proliferation of information on the Internet, it’s questionable whether or not a nonprofit organization should go to the expense and logistics of sending staff members to technology conferences.
By using your personal and professional network, it is reasonable to think that you can get good recommendations and feedback on products that are available.
But, there is something to be said for attending these conferences. Technology is growing and changing at an amazing rate, and conferences like this are the places where new advances are often introduced. Add to that the competition for donor dollars, and it may very well be worth it to get a peek into where the industry is going. Of course, it makes the most sense to choose conferences that focus specifically on the nonprofit realm. These will generally include presentations and panels by professionals who are chosen specifically for what they have to offer to this specific market. Topics will vary widely, which allows you to choose those that are most pertinent. It can also provide a nice cross-section of areas in which to gain more understanding. For example, you may be able to attend one session on using your database to more efficiently manage volunteers, while the next one introduces you to the best blogging software to engage your supporters. With that increasing competition for donations, attending a nonprofit technology conference can also help you make decisions regarding the direction you want your organization to take. You will be privy to new developments before the competition and be able to have them implemented and the bugs worked out before others are even aware of what has become available. In addition to workshops and sessions, you’ll likely get to tour a number of vendors in order to learn first-hand about the products they have to offer. By assessing your organization’s needs, you can review upcoming conferences in order to determine which might meet the most. Planning ahead can save a considerable amount on airfare and hotel reservations. If you’re really shoe-stringing it, consider conferences that are within driving distance or that are in cities where staff members have family or friends to reduce the cost of lodging. Finally, if you have a staff member of volunteer who is particularly interested in technology, sending him or her to a conference can be a great way to build skills while offering recognition for hard work and commitment. It’s a win-win situation because both the individual and the organization benefit. | ||||||||
|
About the Author: Kurt Martin is a Founder and Group Publisher of Progressive Media Group (PMG) and the Publisher of Nonprofit Technology News. During his 4 years as Publisher of The NonProfit Times, he grew the imprint from a single newspaper to a community of websites, online job boards, email newsletters and digital editions of the print editions. Prior to taking the role of Publisher he was the East Coast Sales Manager for Broad Daylight, Inc. a knowledgebase company. He also held management roles in advertising and ciruclation sales at American Banker/Bond Buyer (Thomson), Faulkner & Grey (Thomson) and SourceMedia (Investcorp.) Kurt graduated from Montclair State University with a B.A. in Political Science and Public Administration. |
Wow! What a succinct and thorough post in support of nonprofit technology conferences! At NTEN, we provide lots of educational programs (about 120 webinars per year!) as well as many ways to network and learn with peers (listservs, Communities of Practice, Tech Clubs, etc.). But, for all of the reasons you've outlined here, and the fact that gathering together helps all of us learn and grow in ways we didn't expect, we hold the Nonprofit Technology Conference each spring.
We often seek out information we know we are looking for online, we look for the webinar on the topic we want, we sign up to onling groups that focus on our same job/program area, etc. But we hear from so many attendees each year that the conference helped them find and connect with people they hadn't expected, have conversations about tools and strategiest that were valuable but they wouldn't have been able to predict or seek them out, and, last but not least, make friends and meet others working to tackle similar obstacles and launch similar initiatives.
I could totally be biased, but I love the NTC! And I'm happy to answer questions about it (as is the rest of the NTEN team) anytime: http://nten.org/ntc