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: Amy Sample Ward!

Amy is the organizer of the Net Tuesday group in London, UK. You can check out her profile and ways to connect on the Net Tuesday Organizer Team page. Are you in London? Connect to the Net Tuesday group here!

Tell us who you are in less than 140 characters:

Collaborator, connector, catalyst for changemakers and social innovators; another voice in the conversation on #socialchange #nptech

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

I love collaborating with others in the tech + change sector and as such have found myself in quite a few projects. Women Who Tech is a network for women working in or with technology; the main event is an annual telesummit which bring together women from around the world to teach and learn from each other. Social by Social is a handbook about using technology for social benefit work that I co-authored and, along with David Wilcox and Andy Gibson, have combined with the Social Media Game to develop a Social by Social workshop to help spur conversations and ideas about innovative uses of technology for social benefit.

Also do lots of cooking and baking (gluten free and vegan) and exploring the world!

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

I first organized the Portland, Oregon Net Tuesday group as a chance to bring the local tech and social change communities together. I was really compelled by the value created when you facilitate opportunities that let people talk to each other that would otherwise never have a chance to meet, let alone share ideas and collaborate on something new. My experiences in Portland undoubtedly confirmed that any city I live in, I will start a Net Tuesday! (And now I live in London, and have done just that!)

What's the hardest part of the job?

I think the hardest part for me with Net Tuesdys is the same as it is for most things: documentation. I really want to provide those who can't come to an event the inforamtion and value that others received that could be there in person. That means taking notes, gathering links, and so on - and sharing them back to the full group. I think it's really worth it, it just takes time.

How do you measure the success of your events?

I'm a quality over quantity person - so even if only one person showed up for an event, it would still be successful if there was some real value created in connecting and discussing with just that one person. Now, we have never had only one person come, but it holds true: I use the engagement of participants during the event (if people are active with questions, and so on) and the comments people provide after the event about how it went to get a feel for the success, and not purely the numbers.

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

One of my favorite Net Tuesday events was actually the very first one in London: we focused on blogging platforms but took a pretty fun angle by having participants who personally use one of the platforms act as a representative, collecting 5 different teams of spokespeople, then letting the other participants ask questions that the teams would answer from experience. I really love creating opportunities for members of the group to share knowledge, instead of traditional "experts" and "listeners."

What's the local social-web-tech scene like in London?

It's vast and diverse: tech + art, change, service delivery, government, community development, theatre, and more. There are many, many groups and gatherings that focus on one or more of those intersections and it's great to have Net Tuesday be part of the local mix.

How do you envision Net Tuesday events evolving over time?

I think there is great potential for Net Tuesday groups to fully ebb and flow with the options of a global network: create hyper-local events and opportunities that meet the needs of the specific locality and also plug into global events or networked opportunities for engagement.

What's your change-the-world philosophy?

Change is possible.

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

Very happy to have the new Sunset Rubdown album; listen to This American Life and Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me podcasts during lunch each day. Otherwise lots of Last.fm.

Learn more:

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