If you're a Salsa user, you'll be hearing a lot more about it over the next four months, but for now, just stick a pin in the calendar:

Salsa Users Conference
June 24-25
Washington, DC

This will be our second user conference. The first (in June 2008) was a huge hit, highlighted by a Lawrence Lessig keynote address.

No Lessig slated this year (at least not yet), but that's all the excuse we need for this remix of his recent Colbert Report appearance.

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Our friends at OneWorld have a free teleconference this Wednesday the 22nd entitled Leveraging the Power of Online Communities. It's a pitch, as free events are wont to be, whose hook is using social networking and community sites.

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With apologies that fatigue and connectivity issues (I think every tech conference I've been to this year has had wireless problems ...), a few random snippets from the Nonprofit Tech Conference.

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Wednesday, April 4 Vendor fair. No iPods won (note: for a Nano, I'll link to Satan himself), but an adequate haul of swag -- GoLightly has the stroke of genius with shot glasses for which their moniker is singularly apt. (But why do they come containing jelly beans?) DIA and PICnet collaborate on a good way to use them: the unofficial NTC drinking game (.pdf), readily adaptable to all manner of similar events. Our table gives away Salsa. With a smile.

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The sequel to Day One of these notes from the New Organizing Institute, with Day Two spent ill abed.

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Greg Green, Blue State Digital

Difference between CRM & CMS Use CRM to track and contact campaign's supporter Use CMS to edit web site w/o a lot of updating Handy for 1. when there are a lot of people on the campaign updating things 2. when there are people in different locations who all need to access/update data 3. essential if there's a pretty large database of people you're contacting regularly and trying to track (e.g., you want to make sure you don't ask for money the day after they gave...)

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They're not pretty, but they're breathy with the immediacy of being there -- the New Organizing Institute training, to be exact. Oh, and Item! What prominent e-politics blogger actually takes his notes longhand? We won't tell, but he's ... ah, the devil, it's Colin at e.politics. The completeness, precision and comprehensibility of these notes are not warrantied.

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Morning session: Madeleine Stanionis, "Raising $$$ and Activating Supporters with Email"

Computer being obnoxious so parentheticals following are ex post facto recollections of an excellent presentation.

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Kicking it at the redoubtable Freedom To Connect conclave today, and came back with a bit of darkly indistinct video of the feature presentation by Yochai Benkler. ... and ...

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And in characteristic DIA style, you're invited to the party. Please join us after hours, and deep into the wee hours, at Rumberos just a block north of the Columbia Heights metro on the Green Line. (map) Users current and prospective, friends, consultants, and interested parties of every stripe (and attendees of the Politics Online Conference, which kicks off that day ... and for which you can register at the DIA-discounted rate of $250 using the code polc031507) ... come join us at the christening.

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Just a reminder: Through Monday, you can register for N-TEN's 2007 Nonprofit Technology Conference at a $200 early-bird discount. (Be a pal and pick "DIA" from the "How did you hear?" menu, eh?) The sticker price is an absolute bargain, especially since it'll be a while before Beltway denizens can once again do this without airfare or per diems. We're quite excited to have this event taking place in our own backyard and not only because it gives us an excuse to throw a bash of our own. (Details pending.)

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Two spring D.C. mucky-mucks of interest for online advocate types have early-bird registration deadlines approaching. The March 15-16 Politics Online Conference of the Institute for Politics, Democracy & the Internet has $375 registrations through Dec. 29. NTEN's Apr. 4-6 Nonprofit Technology Conference has, through Jan. 15, member and non-member prices $200 cheaper than it'll cost at the door.

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Dec. 14: Be there, aloha. (Click the pic to RSVP)

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