So it’s been a week since the Net Squared Conference.  I’ve had some time to catch up on my myriad emails and other assorted office things that piled up in my absence, and I’d like to offer up some of my impressions.

For the past few months, I’ve been avidly squeezing all that I could from Net Squared.  I’m a pretty stereotypical accidental techie here at Interplast, and I have been relying on the Net2 community to point me in the right direction for understanding Web 2.0 tools and technologies.  Even though I watch the videos and keep the Net2Learn sections as handy references, I seem to get the most out of the personal connections I’ve made. 

Eddie taught me how to upload videos onto our blog.  Beth taught me how to add a “Donate Now” button to each blog post.  Marshall taught me how to record interviews with our doctors in developing countries and turn them into podcasts.  Billy and Marnie help me grasp the bigger picture.  Gina has made me breakfast.  The list goes on and on.  I’ve investigated Wikispaces, CiviCRM, Goodstorm and Meetup and pondered if/how Interplast can use these tools.

I hope that Compumentor doesn’t treat the Net2 world as just an appetizer to an annual or otherwise conference.  I thought it was neat to hear from people whose opinions I respect, but for me the real value was talking to other nonprofits.  The most useful session for me was the one where the audience peppered presenters from the American Cancer Society and Linden Labs about how ACS fundraises and raises awareness within Second Life.  There were lots of skeptics (myself included), but we got to find out how a real NGO uses technology in an innovative way while balancing staff time, ROI, etc.  But besides that, most sessions involved quasi-celebrities talking very vaguely. 

I have to admit, I was as excited as anyone by the caliber of speakers.  I bet these folks (who probably made this thing happen) wanted lots of high profile people, media attention, etc.  The big presenters probably helped to draw media attention, and maybe lots of others really got a lot out of the panel discussions.   

But for me, the real value of Net2 was and has been connecting of those of us in the nonprofit world with each other and the tool makers.  The first day had tons of people that were pretty schmoozy and interested in making deals.  But by the second day, lots of them were gone and the rest of us could strap on some galoshes and get down and dirty with what we knew, what we could teach and what we wanted to learn. 

Net Squared is at its best when it’s getting smallish groups of people together to collaborate and share ideas.  A big conference is great in that it attracts lots of people I would never meet or interact with, but it’s hard to feel that everyone is a part of an integrated community.  It’s hard to merge “Big” with “Community”, and Net Squared is trying hard to do that.  It worked really well the second day, not so well the first.

I want to see Net Squared continue to be small, regardless of whether there is more big.  A big conference once in a while is fine, but I think the focus should be on creating small communities in lots of places where we can really get to know each other.  The website (I’m sorta confused as to what the difference is between share and build) and blog are great places to go to with lessons learned and puzzling ideas.  Let’s keep the Net Tuesday events rolling around the country (and world?) and let’s use this blog to post our successes and our failures.  Maybe some of the Net Tuesday events could be less speakery and more skill-sharey.  Small might not be sexy, but it’s probably cheaper, easier to plan and more hands-on.