My name is Alex Steed.

Somewhere around twice a week, I will (obviously) be tackling subjects relevant to Internet technology and your engagement with the nonprofit world. I will specifically focus on:

• Highlighting best-practices of organizations that are successfully integrating new communications technologies into their every day routines.
• Sharing industry anecdotes that help to convey the importance of maintaining a multi-fasceted communication strategy.
• Using terminology and language that is comprehendible by folks of all skill-levels.

I am particularly interested in the latter focus due to my experience with informational blogging and conference communities. I have begun to sense levels of (seemingly unintended) exclusivity in the language of those who understand, to varrying degrees, how to use these technologies. Ihave also noticed, as a result, a rift created between those in the know, and those who are not quite there yet. This hunch has been validated over time, as I have been told by friends, colleagues and clients on the latter end of the spectrum that they feel excluded from overall conversation once the discussion grows heavy with tech-terminology.

I am a freelance writer and tech consultant based in Boston, Massachusetts and Portland, Maine. My writing has appeared in TRACE, Big Shot, and TIME Magazines.

I have worked:

• As an organizer for an office of civic engagement with a grant from Americorps.
• For the Democratic Party as a field organizer during the 2006 Congressional elections.
• In partnership with Northwestern University, where I co-organized a two-month collaborative research project in which I studied on-the-ground NGO organization in 25 different countries.
• As an outreach coordinator at Change.org and then as a full-time blogger with The Point, a website that promotes social action through offering cutting edge, tipping point-based incentives for engagement.

At present I am putting together a somewhat substantial research and documentation tour. From October through November, I will travel to 35 cities across the United States to meet fellow millennial activists and learn about their ideas about the the future of organizing. I aim to examine the methodology of these politically and socially energized young people, and to listen to, record, and share their stories with present and future doers. During and after the tour, readers will be able to find my video analysis, thoughts, and discoveries on this and other blogs.

But in the meantime, I look forward to getting to know you as well as sharing some tips, thoughts, and stories with you here.