My Top 6 NCVS Session Picks

May 26, 2011


by Jessica Kirkwood, Vice President for Interactive Strategy, Points of Light Institute

The countdown is on! The National Conference on Volunteering and Service is almost here!

While all the content looks great this year, here are six sessions that I’m really looking forward to attending:


This social media pre-conference session features J.D. Lasica of Socialbrite and George Weiner of DoSomething.org.

If you’re not already a reader of Socialbrite, you should be. It’s a great blog that posts really useful information for nonprofit technologists.

George and JD are always a great help to me. I always walk away from conversations with them or sessions that they’re leading with great ideas.

Information to Impact: Tracking your Action
Monday, June 6th, 1:00 – 2:30 p.m.

Not to start a love fest for George Weiner, but…

George Weiner is one of my favorite Nonprofit Tech Geeks.

If you care about making sound decisions based on real data, George is your man.

Bringing Community Organizing Into Online Campaigns
Tuesday, June 7th, 8:30 – 10:00 a.m.

Debra Askanase and Amy Sample Ward have designed this workshop to
give you resources (and encouragement) to develop a strong online volunteer campaign. (Click here for a complete session description.)


LinkDebra Askanase is an Engagement Strategist and you should be reading her great blog at Community Organizer 2.0!

Amy Sample Ward is the Membership Director at NTEN and she also publishes an amazing blog that you should be reading — Amy’s Version of NPTech!


Interactive Strategy Forum
Tuesday, June 7th, 2:00 – 3:30 p.m.


The Interactive Strategy Forum will feature more than 20 discussion tables, all staffed by leaders in nonprofit technology, all leading relevant, timely discussions and Q&A on topics you care about.

Participants can rotate to different tables/topics during the session, learn best practices & innovative approaches, hear about new tools and get answers to burning questions.

For a complete list of the presenters and topics, click here.


Citizen Centered Service
Wednesday, June 8th, 8:30 – 10:00 a.m.


When it comes to civic engagement dialogue and deliberation programs sometimes get criticized for failing to move from words to action.

On the other hand volunteer and service programs sometimes get criticized for being all action or overly episodic.

A few years ago a nascent movement surfaced which combined the best of both worlds encouraging citizen-led dialog and action as opposed to expert-driven agendas and campaigns.

This “citizen-centered” approach to civic engagement found its roots in traditional organizing deliberation and volunteer action but combining all three has shown promise in motivating
individuals to get engaged and form lasting solutions.

I’m looking forward to joining Michael Smith, Senior Vice President of Social Innovation at the Case Foundation for a new look at Citizen Centered Engagement.

Brands & Causes: Secrets of Brand/Nonprofit Partnerships
Wednesday, June 8th, 10:00 – 11:30 a.m.

Chris Noble, CEO of Causemedia Group, routinely builds cause marketing campaigns in social media. His company brings brands, celebrities and causes together to do meaningful work online.

Earlier this year Causemedia Group helped to create a campaign called
TwitChange that won one of the prestigeous Mashable Awards for Most Creative Social Good Campaign.

Causemedia Group companies StudioGood and Kompolt worked with Shaun King on this astoundingly successful auction that raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for aHomeInHaiti.org.

In this session, Chris will discuss what he’s learned about building successful partnerships between brands and causes.

You won’t want to miss it!


Points of Light

We are champions of civic engagement with a mission to inspire, equip and mobilize people to take action that changes the world.