I haven't used this blog for three years, but the time seems ripe for return.

We--13 people from TechSoup Global--are in Brussels this week to participate in am ambitious project staged by the European Foundation Centre, which is roughly the equivalent of the U.S. Council on Foundations. Foundations in Europe and the States have both similarities and differences. You can find my somewhat mordant thoughts on the differences in this blog entry for Alliance Magazine, whose blog team Rebecca Masisak and I were honored to be invited to join.

http://alliancemag.wordpress.com/2010/05/26/a-tale-of-two-cultures/

The first half of the week is aimed at exposing foundations to decision-makers and the general public. We've organized this session for tomorrow and I think the room will be packed to hear some truly unique perspectives:

“Leading the charge: innovative uses of technology and information to connect funders to communities”

 

Date: 1st June 2010
Location: SQUARE, Brussels Meeting Centre, Mont des Arts 22, 1000 Brussels, Belgium
Room: 213
Time: 14:00 – 16:00
Cost: Free Admission

About the Session: Foundations, corporations, policy makers, and civil society organisations (CSOs) all have a shared mandate to strengthen communities. Yet the combination of a financial crisis and complex social needs is challenging the effectiveness of established organisations, as well as groups taking innovative approaches to engage all members of society.  Fundacja TechSoup and its European partners use technology and information to more efficiently connect funders and CSOs and to build critical capacity in the sector. Join us to discuss how Fundacja TechSoup can help identify, highlight, resource and foster innovation to support and strengthen the efforts of CSOs working on the world’s most pressing social issues.

Speakers:
Gabriel Rissola, Director, Dynamic Organization Thinking (D.O.T), Spain
Gyula Vamosi, Kaskosan.com and Roma Community member, Hungary
Lenka Surotchak, Director, Pontis Foundation, Slovakia
Sylvie Laffarge, Director, Microsoft Community Affairs, EMEA

 

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Then, on Wednesday, I'll be on this panel:

Social media: A fad or the future?

Room: 213

A number of foundations are embracing new media channels and online environments such as Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. For some, the goal is to use these media to get on the radar of groups that foundations would otherwise be unable to reach. For others, these media offer an opportunity to raise further funds for their activities. In some cases, foundations may wish to simply illustrate that they are moving with the times. No matter what the reason, the real question for those organisations that have yet to incorporate such media into their communications strategy, is whether these media have an impact and are worthwhile investing resources? The aim of the session is to explore the pros and cons of such media and provide guidance to those foundations (whatever their size) that wish to make use of them. Panellists include foundation representatives and communications experts who have first-hand experience of implementing social media technologies.

Moderator: James Ketchell, Charities Aid Foundation 

Speakers:

Daniel Ben-Horin, TechSoup Global

Filiz Bikmen Bugay, Sabanci Foundation

Maribel Königer, ERSTE Stiftung

 

There is a freshness in Europe in general and the foundation sector in particular regarding social media. They are not overwhelmed by widgets (yet) and think about the new stuff in the context of their work and less as an end in itself.

More in this blog as the week goes on...