Thanks to everyone that came out to the Feb. 19 NetSquared DC Meetup that was graciously hosted by Google in their cool new office space and featured OneWorld.net. A record number of Net2DC folks gave their insight and expert feedback to help OneWorld.net effectively redesign their site.

OneWorld.net is an online hub for individuals & organizations that think beyond their own borders. OneWorld publishes U.S. and international perspectives on global issues gathered largely from our NGO partners around the world. In the United States, OneWorld also provides outreach and support to U.S.-based nonprofit organizations that share our global values and want to participate in our network.

Roshani Kothari, Partnership Director of OneWorld U.S., provided an overview of the current site and discussed how it can be redesigned using Drupal and integrating cutting-edge tools to better serve its community. Roshani went through the OneWorld website and shared a few examples of how they aggregate news and other information from nonprofits, making it easier for readers to find this information. She also provided some backgound information about OneWorld centers in different regions and countries. She explained that each center focuses on the needs of organizations and communities in their regions, but OneWorld centers collaborate on projects together. One example of a recent collaboration between the U.S. and UK centers, was in providing innovative coverage of the climate change conference in Bali through Second Life.

Questions from OneWorld.net
Roshani talked about how OneWorld.net in the U.S. is going through a redesign process using Drupal. She shared the mock-up design of the new site. She explained that they are moving in the direction of making OneWorld.net more interactive and user-friendly. She asked for feedback on how they can use Open Social or another type of widget for creating profiles. Here are some of the other questions they are looking at:

• If you know designers that design Drupal skins, please let us know.
• What are some up and coming new technologies they should consider?
• What are some effective Drupal modules they should consider for advertising, delivering content via cell phones and creating online communities?
• What are virtual worlds similar to Second Life they should look at for creating virtual events?

Suggestions & Resource Links
Here are some of the suggestions received from meeting participants during and after the meeting. If you don't see your suggestion or would like to add a suggestion, feel free to comment below.

• Drupal's organic groups module can be used for creating user profiles and communities. OpenSocial can also be considered for social networking.
• Use del.icio.us bookmarks, tagging, Digg.com, StumbleUpon.com and other similar sites to help drive traffic to your site.
• Take a look at the Salesforce and Facebook mashup--Faceforce mashup for profiles and constituent relationship management.
• For virtual worlds, to engage teens check out cyworld and for hosting virtual meetings which runs in a browser check out transmutable.com's Tomorrow Space and for a commercial version take a look at Unisfair.
• Streamy.com was suggested as a way to aggregate content and create user interaction. Here's a link to a video demo on how it works.
• Create a widget that provides your content, so nonprofits and site users can put it on their site, blogs and profiles.
• Consider entering the Net2 Mashup challenge to suggest a Facebook application or a map where you can click on a place and see the latest stories.

See also: pictures and blog post about the event, courtesy of Net2DCer Jared Goralnick.

Next month, guest speakers Greg Elin and Josh Ruihley from Sunlight Labs will demonstrate how nonprofits can use APIs to share and disseminate data. Should be an informative evening, especially for all of you entering the Mashup challenge!