[act-ma] 6/28 Grassroots Use of Technology Conference (Saturday, Lowell)

[Suren Moodliar]

Fellow Peace Movement Activists:

If you're like me, you are wondering about what comes next for our
movement WHILE ALSO working on many projects that you hope will make a
difference. Whatever happens with the elections and Washington's
continued promotion of military solutions, one thing is clear: we need
a robust, active and mobilized peace movement.

Technological solutions and internet mobilization are often presented
as magic bullets for our movement. Anyone with experience using these
tools knows that this is not true. But the converse is equally untrue:
technological change does offer many opportunities to strengthen our
organizing and outreach. It also impacts our ability to shape the
national debate.

I'm therefore writing to let you know that the biggest annual event in
New England for technology and grassroots organizers is just under 2
weeks away!

This is the Grassroots Use of Technology conference, which will be
held for the second straight year at the Wannalancit conference center
at U of Mass Lowell.*

This year's conference is designed to help you with the challenge of
moving your organization and groups further into the digital age.
There are five workshops on social networking, three on using your web
site effectively, two on online collaboration, and five on tech
infrastructure.

As in past years, half of the workshops will be at A BEGINNER LEVEL
and half will be oriented towards more advanced users. This is an
opportunity for you to share strategies and learn from your peers at
many other nonprofits in the area.

Please be sure to let your webmaster/IT volunteers know about the
conference as they might also find it useful!

The latest information please see our conference website at
http://organizerscollaborative.org/conference. Our presenters this
year include:

•       Nick Jehlen online organizer for the Winter Soldier hearings (KEYNOTE!)
•       Tom Kelly from www.Florida-Voters.org
•       Laura Quinn from Idealware with Steve Backman on Web Site Tools
•       Aliza Dichter from Center for International Media Action on
Media Strategy
•       Dan MacNeil from Community Software Lab on Recruiting Tech Volunteers
•       Ben Sheldon from the CTC Vista Project on Facebook and
Traditional Outreach
•       Harold Jordan from Philadelphia ACLU with Martha Rogers on
simple tech tools
•       Rich Cowan from Organizers' Collaborative on Database integration
with Facebook/Linkedin
•       Katie Winterbottom from Grassroots.org on Web Site Promotion
•       Stephen Wilmarth from Center for 21st Century Skills on Social
Networking

Activists and organizers attending the conference will include not
only tech-sector folks, but also people from the peace and social
justice movements.

If you have any questions, please feel free contact me at the number below.

Sincerely,

Suren Moodliar
Executive Director**
617-720-6190

* Check our website--www.OrganizersCollaborative.org--for quick
transport options from Boston.

** Suren Moodliar is also a coordinator of Massachusetts Global
Action/encuentro5
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Suren Moodliar
617-968-0880