Yesterday was the first day of the annual Non-Profit Technology Conference, known as NTEN, which is being held at the Hilton in Minneapolis this year. Minneapolis greeted and semi-defeated me with a twelve-inch snow storm, but I made my entrance in my weather inappropriate jean jacket into the world of NTEN ready to chat with new nonprofit folks and learn about their tech needs.
Each year, NTEN hosts fifteen hundred people, mingling around in a series of large banquet rooms. Seventy-five percent of the attendees look like confused new comers - myself included - and the other twenty-five percent are clearly veterans. These diverse groups of NTEN vets and NTEN newbies band together throughout the day.
The rooms are filled with the sound of loud questions along the lines of "what do you do?" or "who do you know?" but people rarely small talk about technology. These conversations are left for later, discussed throughout the day at the breakout sessions and most importantly, at the bar over a liter of one of Minneapolis' fine micro-brews.
One notable break-out session I attended was on Social Media Data. From matching to strategic giving, there is a clear demand for integration between a CRM and social media profiles. Big, yet small, data is valuable to nonprofits trying to understand their key influencers and engagers on different platfroms. How do administrators figure out tastes? How do they integrate into a single platform? And as one of the panelists put it, how can we "be creepy for good?"
We've got the answer. NationBuilder expedites taste and place into one space. Check out more information on our Matching feature here.
If you're at NTEN and want to meet up, email me at [email protected] or send me a tweet @JulieNiemi.