Workshop: Becoming a ‘New Organizer’

I’m giving a workshop at Power Shift this weekend entitled “Becoming a New Organizer” and thought I would post the resources that I am handing out to folks…

Email, the Internet and cellphone technology are revolutionizing the way activism is done and the advocacy world is desperate for smart young new organizers to help run the campaigns that will restore our country and heal our world.

Below are some resources to help get you rolling on the road to becoming a new organizer.  And remember the best resource is your own curiosity and imagination, have fun!

Training Resources for New Organizers

New Organizing Institute – In person and webinar training for NGO and campaign organizers.
http://www.neworganizing.com/

Aspiration – Great new organizing trainings, mostly in the bay area.
http://www.aspirationtech.org/

Idealware – Lots of good articles and frequent webinars.
http://www.idealware.org/

NTEN – Lots of articles, resources and webinars (costs money to join though)
http://www.nten.org/

W3 Schools – Online tutorials for the building blocks of online media.
http://www.w3schools.com/

Tech Soup – Lots of great resources and free webinars.
http://www.techsoup.org/

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Events and Conferences for New Organizers

Roots Camp – The ‘un-conference’ for new organizers.
http://www.rootscamp.org

NTC – The conference for non-profit technology professionals.
http://www.nten.org/ntc

South by Southwest (SXSW) – Learn about new media all day, party all night.
http://sxsw.com/

Netroots Nation – Bloggers, techies and politicos converge to wonk out and drink beer.
http://netrootsnation.org/

NSY4 – NetSquared’s annual conference.
http://www.netsquared.org/conference/n2y4

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Small Groups/Meet-ups

Net Tuesdays – Tuesday evening meetups affiliated with NetSquared.
http://www.netsquared.org/share/meetup

Meet Up – All kinds of local tech groups to plug into here.  Just search or start one.
http://www.meetup.com/

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New Organizing Job Boards

NOI Jobs List – Lots of fulltime jobs listings.
http://groups.google.com/group/noi-jobs

Progressive Exchange – All kinds of jobs.
http://www.progressiveexchange.org

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Other Resources

Social Source Commons – Database of tech tools and services for new organizers.
http://socialsourcecommons.org

Mobile Active – Resources and information for mobile phone organizing.
http://mobileactive.org/

OneNorthwest Toolkit – Lots of articles and best practices for online organizing
http://www.onenw.org/toolkit

RealFoodChallenge.org

EnergyActionCoalition.org

PowerShift07.org

PowerVote.org

Network Visualization

This is from a cool app on Facebook that creates a circular map of all of your contacts…

kinda cool.

Transformers

The U.S. military is the best in the world… for fighting intergalactic robots. Too bad it is not better equipped to handle the actual problems we face. Maybe we should stop firing translators and start rebuilding the trust and respect that we have so efficiently destroyed. Anyway, its a kick ass movie go check it out.

Youth Climate Movement Memes

Kurt Vonnegurt

I haven’t had much time to read for the last few months so I was excited to get into some good books during my down time in Santa Cruz. I picked up Vonnegurt’s A Man Without a Country along with a couple thicker books. Though I purposely avoided buying anything that bore any relation to my work, Vonnegurt has a bunch to say about oil in the environment. I guess its not possible to escape work when you work on one of the most prescient issues of your time. Well I thought I’d share an expert of his thoughts on oil. Vonnegurt, as with every subject brings a perspective and style that is refreshing and effective…

I once had a high that not even crack cocaine could match. That was when I got my first driver’s license ~ look out, world, here comes Kurt Vonnegut!And my car back then, a Studebaker as I recall, was powered, as almost all means of transportation and other machinery today, by the most abused, addictive, and destructive drugs of all: fossil fuels.

When you got here, even when I got here, the industrialized world was already hopelessly hooked on fossil fuels, and very soon now there wont be any left. Cold turkey.

Can I tell you the truth? I mean this isn’t the TV news is it? Here’s what I think the truth is: We are all addicts on fossil fuels in a state of denial.  And like so many addicts about to face cold turkey, our leaders are now committing violent crimes to get what little is left of what we’re hooked on.

- Kurt Vonnegurt, RIP

Back to Cali

Flew in to Oakland yesterday, and spent the day working in the Energy Action Coalition SF office. I’m a little bitter about the digs out here, our office in DC is stuffy and a little claustrophobic. DC has some of the most expensive office space in the country, rivaling Manhattan. It has something to do with the fact that you cant build a building higher than the capitol or something like that. Anyway, check out the SF office…

I drove down the 1 this afternoon to Santa Cruz and am sitting on my boat having a beer now. Three weeks of this and im not sure anyones going to get me on a plane back to DC.