Bagels & Bytes on a Boat Meeting Notes – June 2014

We had perfect weather for our summer outing, Bagels & Bytes on a Boat!  A big thank you to RiverQuest and to the riverboat staff who made this meeting possible!

As usual, the Bayer Center gave away prizes during the meeting, including a one-year individual NTEN membership, a NetSquared mug and a bunch of NetSquared stickers!  (Thanks, Eli!!)

Note that B&B-Allegheny goes on hiatus for July and will return the first Wednesday of August at the usual time.  We’ll be meeting at Rodef Shalom in Shadyside.

Here are the notes from the meeting:

Generational Differences and Tech

• The younger generation knows tech, the older generation knows business need.
• Both generations can learn from each other.

QuickBooks Online

• Doesn’t work well with Windows XP.
• QuickBooks support, however, is really good.  They will help you with workarounds if needed.

Local Tech Vendors

• Steel River Techs
• NET Xperts
• Ideal Integrations

Other Tech Vendors / Websites

• Consistent Computer Bargains
• TigerDirect
• TechSoup

The Cloud

• If your org is mostly or wholly cloud-based, you need excellent Internet speed.
• The cloud isn’t for everyone.  You have to be okay with being heavily reliant on your Internet connection and on the third party software or hardware providers.
• Important to find reliable cloud-provider companies.

Funding the Cloud

• Capital vs. operating expense
• Tech-wise, nonprofits aren’t much difference from small businesses.  Where they differ the most is that businesses tend to be better about having a tech plan and about budgeting for tech.
• More difficult to get grant funding for operating expenses like cloud hardware or software.  Foundations tend to look at those expenditures as the cost of doing business.

Other Topics and Ideas

• BoardBookit – board collaboration and management software (cloud-based)
• Tech Committees are a good practice for all orgs.  It’s important to put together a diverse group of people across organizational functions and with varied skill sets.
• Office 365 – the migration is reported to be pretty smooth.  Cost is ~$4.50 per user per month and can be purchased at TechSoup.  Rollouts go best when staff is prepped in advance and provided with training post-migration.
• Lantek – provides informational sessions on Office 365 periodically.
• Re-Use Technology Collaborative
• GTECH
• Office 2013 – slight difference in menus (saving files, etc.)
• There is an MS SharePoint group that meets monthly in the Microsoft building on the North Shore.

Bagels & Bytes Meeting Notes – May 2014

Haller House at the Frick Art & Historical Center.

This month was our final meeting at the Frick Art & Historical Center this year.  Thank you once again to Linda and the Frick staff for hosting us! Join us next month for Bagels & Bytes on a Boat, located on the RiverQuest boat Explorer near the Carnegie Science Center!

Here are the meeting notes for May:

For the Reading List

• The New New Thing by Mike Lewis

Social Media

• What is the shelf-life of a social media channel?
• As long as the company is making money, will probably stick around.
• Look at what teens are using to see what’s up-and-coming
  • Snapchat
  • Instagram
  • Facebook

Zero Day Vulnerability

• Discussion about which orgs have applied the IE patch to date.
• Most are communicating instructions to staff via email.
• Also need to deal with the Windows XP security patch, which we suspect many orgs are still using, including government entities.
• Can probably keep using XP machines if stay unconnected from the Internet.
• Several people reported having good experiences with upgrading older PCs from XP to 7.

Hosted Raiser’s Edge

• Costs extra for this version, but is nice to have Blackbaud worry about data backups, security, etc.
• It is good to have a redundant Internet connection (multiple ISPs), particularly if using a lot of apps in the cloud.

Phone Service/ISP Providers

• AEC Group
• Earthlink
• Comcast
• Verizon
• Consolidated Communications
• Windstream
• Related:  phone/ISP service brokers:  Opticom Consulting and Connectel

If you could tell your board anything about technology at nonprofit, what would you say?

• Even though technology isn’t splashy (doesn’t get your org’s name in the paper), it’s still important and it needs to be funded, even if it’s not causing problems.
• Need to make the investment in infrastructure.
• Tech touches every piece of what every staff member is doing – it’s critical.
• You can’t assume it’s working well just because it appears to be working.
• Tech isn’t like a utility – you can’t flip a switch and it magically works.
• Technology evolves. An org has to stay on top of it, keep evolving with it and investing in it.
• The board shouldn’t micromanage the tech function.
• The board should/could look at technology investing as part of its legacy to the org.
• Board members can be champions for technology – advocating for it.
• Techies push the wave, need to be the board thinking about tech.
• Organizations should have a technology committee.
• Have to find balance between budget oversight and over-scrutiny.
• Reporting tech-related outcomes to the board at least once per year might be beneficial.
• Sometimes tech staff sees something that could be done with existing tech, but needs backup / tech plan / support from the E.D. and board.
• Tech should be given a seat at the table, not be housed under the CFO or finance department.
• An organization can have the grandest program ideas in the world but still need tech infrastructure to make anything work.
• An org can never sit still with technology – it evolves too quickly. Orgs constantly have to be scanning and looking ahead.
• Best to chip away a little each year at tech needs and projects, rather than let them pile up and overwhelm the org and its budget.
• Never assume that your org is “done” with tech.
• IT has to be allowed to take risks in order to move the organization forward.  Failures can sometimes happen and boards can be risk-averse, but risk is part and parcel of IT otherwise stagnation can result.
• An org should never do tech for its own sake.  Always look at the business needs first.

Bagels & Bytes on a Boat – June 2012

On June 13, we had our annual summer outing, Bagels & Bytes on a Boat!  The perfect weather and great bunch of attendees made for a fun and informative event!  Check out this great-looking bunch:

Notes/discussion from the meeting:

• Social media strategy and management
  • You have to “hook” people with the story.
  • Having a consistent voice is a big challenge.
  • Have to figure out social media goals first and foremost.
  • Some orgs have the community in place and have to figure out the story, while others have the story down pat but must work to engage the community.
  • How much time to spend?  Who will do it?  (Who can/will appropriately represent the voice of the organization?)
  • Sometimes there’s a fear of the message getting out of hand.
  • Monitoring helps – if you make time to do it.  It can be dangerous if you don’t watch social media messaging constantly.
  • Social media can be reaffirming for your dedicated supporters.
  • People want to connect with people, not brands or orgs.  (Article “New Research: Americans Hate Social Media Promotions“)
  • How do you make it personal enough?  (Goes back to the idea of storytelling.)
  • What’s the ROI?  Need for measuring this.
  • Staff wasting time on social media is a HR/performance issue to be addressed with policy and education.
  • Facebook search can be more effective than Google search – includes extended and more personalized search results.
  • Book (was door prize):  “101 Social Media Tactics for Nonprofits: A Field Guide“
• Email
  • We are load shifting our messaging from one type to another.
  • How to best manage email load?
  • Everyone has to make a decision on how you want to be communicated with and “train” others to that style

Reminder: we have no July B&B meeting. Our next meeting will be Wednesday, August 1, at Rodef Shalom in Shadyside from 8:30-10 am.  See you there!

View the 2012 Bagels & Bytes Calendar.