People of the Butterflies by Arto Teräs

Some of the most exciting conversations happening this summer are the discussions occurring among organizations that are preparing to take their work, projects, and events to the next level. What's really admirable is that across my favorite organizations - teams are having these discussions out loud and inviting feedback from you - the community!

This seems to be a slow summer - although I think under-the-surface it's more of a transformative one. Check out some examples to see what I mean - and then Join the Conversations!

NetSquared recently followed up with the N2Y3 Featured Projects to develop these short case studies, with the goal to expand the knowledgebase of best practices for applying social media in the nonprofit context. We interviewed participants from the N2Y3 Featured Project teams to gain a better understanding of the way they used social media to increase their reach and carry out their missions. We are very happy to bring you their stories!

Today's spotlight: Social Actions!

In the middle of the Ecampaigning Forum, I'm trying to turn my notes about Monday's "pre-ECF" session on Social Actions and the Change The Web contest into a blog post. Peter Deitz presented his vision on making opportunities for social activism available on the web, and together with Janelle Ward, Thiago Carrapatoso, Romina Oliverio, George Irish, Amy Sample Ward and Jonathan Waddingham, we looked at 8 of the submitted application for the Change The Web contest (deadline for submissions is this Friday!). Here are my notes of the discussions we had.

Check out this video about Social Actions' Change the Web Challenge. Thanks Convio for putting this video together and spreading the word about Change the Web.

Social Actions is grateful to Convio for being one of three official sponsors of the Change the Web Challenge.

Below is a special MLK day / Obama inauguration version of the Social Actions round-up. We have added a section with links to MLK and Obama-related initiatives. Feel free to add resources by posting a comment.

MLK / Day of Service / Obama Inauguration

CauseGlobal posts a guide to participating in the Obama inaurguration using social media.

Seth Godin reflects on the National Day of Service.

Online giving markets and other websites that facilitate online action hit the ground running in 2009. Below is our latest weekly round-up of news and recent discoveries.

News Roundup

SocialEdge is welcoming applications for the annual Global Social Benefit Incubator Competition.

RisingVoices is welcoming applications for its annual new media outreach micro-grants of $5k.

Hello NetSquared. Joe, Eric, Christine, and I wanted you all to be among the first to know about the latest web application from Social Actions. This one is a biggy. It would never have come together without the support and connections we made at N2Y3.

Below is a excerpt from the launch announcement, called AdWords-Style Widget Recommends Related Ways to Take Action

Hi Net2, Wow, I can't believe it's already been two months since the NetSquared Mashup Challenge. Since you gave Social Actions the huge honor of a third place finish at the conference, I've been keeping extremely busy and have officially brought two consultants on to help: Joe Solomon (of the KnowMore Firefox Extension) and Christine Egger (my co-presentor at N2Y3). I'll be posting a video update for all of you shortly with details on much of the work we have been doing and have planned.

For now, Christine, Joe, and I would like to invite you to a conference call about the work we've been doing for the last few months.

Here are the details

Please RSVP to this event >>

Join Social Actions founder Peter Deitz as well as Platform Liaison Christine Egger and Lead Scientist and Evangelist Joe Solomon for a 1.5 hour conference call about Social Actions and the future of micro-philanthropy. Peter, Christine, and Joe will each take 10-15 minutes to present their work on Social Actions since the NetSquared Mashup Challenge in May 2008.

We will then open the conference line for a Q&A about Social Actions and the social action platforms we're trying to help. Of course, please bring questions as well as ideas for where the project and the sector should be headed.

How to get there:

On July 30, 2008 at 2:00pm EDT (New York time), call:

+1 616-597-8000 from your U.S. phone or Skype

Access Code: 1002410#

Please RSVP to this event. We want to know how many people to expect. Thanks, Peter

I just put together this YouTube video to thank the NetSquared voters who added A Mashup of 29+ Social Action Platforms to their ballots.

If you voted for A Mashup of 29+ Social Action Platforms, please send me an email. This is the only way I know when and to whom to send thank you notes.

"A Mashup of 29+ Social Action Platforms" is ready for test driving. Over the weekend, we finished the initial build out of the system. NetSquared Mashup voters are welcome to test drive the system at: http://mashup.socialactions.com.

The initial version of the mashup allows users to: