Johannesburg

It is almost time for the SANGONeT "Social Media for NGOs" Conference - or #sango09 as we're referring to it all over the web - here are some last minute details:

• Registration for the conference starts at 9am on Thursday, 15 October 2009
  
• The conference itself will start at 10am sharp - please be seated by then!
• Parking: There is plenty of free parking at the venue - Turnbine Hall in Newtown
• Speaking of the venue, you can find a map to it right here
• Last minute problems? Call Nhlanhla at the registration desk on 076 258 5363

Don't forget:

• Your laptop
• Your cellphone (but keep it on silent!)

Using Social Media @sango09 (aka practising what we preach)

You've heard about them, you've heard them mentioned in our previous email but what really is the buzz with all these social media tools being used at the SANGONeT Conference 2009?  Here is a short lesson to inspire and inform you:

F is for face roll

What: A face roll is a method of showing participants' faces on the SANGONeT conference site. Head-and-shoulder pics are taken of participants holding up their name tags so that we can all put names to faces!  These pics are uploaded to Flickr and then streamed into the conference front page.  The aim of the face roll is to assist participants in recognising one another at the event and to facilitate networking.

When: During registration at 9:00 on Thursday, 15 October 2009, all participants will be invited to have their pic taken.

What YOU need to do:  Bring a big smile.

F is also for Flickr

What:  Flickr is the world's largest online photograph (and more recently video) repository, where people can register for free and upload and share their photographs with their friends, communities and the digital universe.  Flickr is a social networking site, which means it encourages conversation and community through the creation of groups around subjects or issues.  People are also able to comment on one another's pics and videos.  Conference participants are invited to upload their snaps taken at the event.  Anyone can download or view photos on Flickr, but you need to set up an account if you wish to upload photographs.  If you do upload, remember to use the official SANGONeT Conference tag - #sango09 (see below for more info).

When:  Anytime, anywhere...

What YOU need to do:  Bring your mobile phone or digital camera, open a Flickr account, and upload your pics. Remember to use the tag ‘#sango09’

L is for live blogging

What:  A live blog is a specific template that is embedded into the conference site, which enables the blogger to write a live report of sessions as they unfold.  The template records the minutes as the blog is written, so that readers can literally read a minute-by-minute broadcast.  The live blog is similar to instant messaging in terms of look and feel.  The most powerful aspect of the live blog is that both participants and those who are not at the event can visit the conference site and are able to add their own comments, and even ask questions.

When:  The following sessions will be live blogged:

Day 1:

• 10:15 - 11:30 Keynote and Opening Plenary Session
• 11:45 - 13:15: Parallel Sessions A and B
• 15:00 - 16:30: Parallel Sessions A, B and C

Day 2:

14:00 - 16:30: Social Impact Labs. The Big Picture, Round-up and Closure

What YOU need to do:  First, spread the word to your wider network who won't be in attendance. Then log onto the conference site at the specified live blog time (as above) and click on the live blog post on the front page with the title of the session you would like to follow.  Sit back and enjoy the show - and if you have any burning comments or questions, feel free to add these through the live blog comment box.

S is for Slideshare

What: Slideshare is a social networking site for sharing, rating, commenting on and downloading presentations, documents and pdfs. It is a very active community that enables individuals and organisations to share ideas, connect with others, and generate leads for their businesses - all around slideshow presentations. The slides from all SANGONeT conference speakers will be shared and made available for download through Slideshare - so look out for the feed on the front page of the conference website.

When: During and after the event

What YOU need to do: Look out for your favourite speakers’ presentation on Slideshare. If you’re a presenter, remember to upload your presentation or e-mail it to botswang@sangonet.org.za and tag it #sango09 (see below).

T is for Tags

What:  On the internet, categorising and cataloguing objects such as pictures, photographs and videos, are ordered by tags.  Tags are essentially keywords or descriptive words about an object.  When a search is done on the particular website, such as Flickr, the objects with the same tag are grouped together.

When:  Everything that is uploaded to websites on the internet such as YouTube, Flickr and Twitter should be tagged. We’ve standardized the tag to #sango09 to make it easy to remember.

What YOU need to do:  When you upload and share photos, tweets or other media captured at the event remember to tag, tag, tag! These are case-sensitive, so replicate the tag exactly as stated above and remember to include the #!

W is for Wiki

What: A wiki is a collaborative website which allows multiple users to create, modify and organize content together. The best-known wiki is Wikipedia - the largest, collaborative online encyclopedia in the world. The Social Media for NGOs wiki was established at the beginning of 2009 and is a collaboration between SANGONeT and the African Commons Project to share information around social media and its application by and for South African NGOs. During the conference we’ll be developing the resources on the wiki to document the case studies and examples, challenges and solutions, discussed at the event, with the aim of creating a repository of South African specific applications of social media in the NGO context.

When: We’ll be wiki documenting during the event, and will be ‘wiki gardening’ shortly after the event to make sure the wiki is easy to use and understandable.

What YOU need to do: Join us at http://socialmedia.ngopulse.org by sharing your experiences or adding to any information that is documented in this space - it is a collaborative website after all!