Every month, the NetSquared Community comes together offline at Net Tuesday events around the world to mix, swap stories and ideas, build new relationships, and collaborate to help the local community. Our local organizers are volunteers dedicated to helping create local opportunities for learning, sharing and using technology to make a difference.   In this Organizer Spotlight series we bring you interviews with organizers from around the world.

We're happy to introduce: Elijah van der Giessen!

Eli is an organizer of the Net Tuesday group in Vancouver, BC, Canada.   You can check out his profile and ways to connect on the Net Tuesday Organizer Team page.   Are you in Vancouver?   Connect to the Net Tuesday group here!

Tell us who you are in less than 140 characters:

I prefer doing to thinking. I work with volunteers because they're passionate about the work. I don't have strong technical skills.

How do you spend your time when you're not organizing Net Tuesdays?

When I'm not organizing Net Tuesdays I'm busy binging on information (I'll miss newspapers when they're gone!)  or planning elaborate beach picnics with my friends.

I spend my work days at the David Suzuki Foundation, a environmental nonprofit based out of Vancouver.  I get to play around with social media tools and help campaigners bring their work to the web.

What inspired you to organize local Net Tuesday events in your community?

After two years of take take take, I was finally shamed into contributing to the local community that has given me so much!

When I arrived in Vancouver two years ago I'd never done any work on the web, but this city is full to bursting with generous social change activists with an affinity for the internet.  I'm still in awe that I get to combine my previously separate interests of project management and pure geekery.  Mad props go to  Joe Solomon  for building the Vancouver Net Tuesday community, and to the organizers of the  Web of Change  conference for introducing me to Vancouver's technologists for social change.

What's the hardest part of the job?

Nuthin'! I'm surrounded by amazing people who are always willing to help out.  Need a sponsor?  Need a venue?  Need a speaker?  Just ask and all will be delivered.

How do you measure the success of your events?

• Are people engaged?  Are they staying until the end?
• Am I reaching beyond the technologists to the people doing work day-to-day at local NGOs?
• Are people forming relationships that extend beyond the confines of Net Tuesday?

Tell us about the best Net Tuesday event. What did you learn from the experience?

A recent Net Tuesday experiment was to split the group of 70 into four groups and then send them around to presenters doing introductory mini sessions for 25 minutes on social media tools like Facebook and Flickr.  This varied from the usual format of having experts present a case study for 5-10 minutes.  The new format succeeded in making people feel more comfortable in asking questions and having the audience share their skills (hooray for smaller, more intimate groups!) but stretched the capacity of the venue because of sound bleed and a lack of projectors.

What is the local social-web-tech scene like in Vancouver?

It is insanely productive and supportive.  There's probably an event or bar camp going on several times a week.Some of my favorites:  Web of Change,  Net Tuesday, Change Camp,  Third Tuesday,  Mental Health Camp,  Transit Camp. And those are just the ones organized by people I know!

How do you envision Net Tuesday events evolving over time?

I see Net Tuesday splitting into two steams.  A monthly or bimonthly evening event in which experts give 10 minute case studies and give people a taste of the coolest new projects, and then a bimonthly weekend event which gives hands-on training to nonprofits and others on how to use these fancy new tools in their campaigns.

What's your change-the-world philosophy?

Changing the world is hard.  I won't be able to do it myself.  So I focus on making my immediate community more enjoyable and skilled, and then count on that change rippling out.

What music are you listening to now-a-days?

Magnetic Fields  and  Smog  .  If I can't be depressive myself, I'll experience it vicariously through music.

Learn more:

• Find Net Tuesday in your city
• Learn more about the Net Tuesday Organizers
• Start a group in your city