Adelaide NetSquared - The Follow Up Event

It's already a month since Adelaide's Inaugural NetSquared Event: Tech for Social Good and this month saw a different format, designed to be much more interactive. There were two main speaker sessions where the group was presented with:

• A pressing issue
• A current trend which could address the issue
• A discussion question on how online technologies could be used to address the issue

As the night progressed, it was clear that sharing ideas in collective group brought out some brilliant ideas that we hope to move forward with. The following is a summary of what was presented and discussed. To view the slides used during the night, please visit our SlideShare account.

Funding Nonprofits

Many nonprofits have very similar struggles, and Ian Beaton from Technical Aid for the Disabled - SA (TADSA) was able to articulate the challenges they face. The main issue for TADSA was raising enough funds to support their work. Even though they had a volunteer basis of over 60 people, their strengths were in developing fantastic equipment, not in fundraising. While TADSA had received government grants in the past, this funding was now finishing and an alternative has to be found. Along with the issue of funding, other aspects also needed to be addressed such as:

• Making sure funding is sustained for future projects
• Raising awareness of TADSA, including the engagement of new audiences and supporters
• Overcoming challenges of online media, including website content and the use of social media

The NetSquared participants were then presented with a brief, light-hearted, look at the potential of using online resources (such as crowdfunding) to raise money for a cause or project. Participants were separated into groups to look at how social media can be used to raise money for an organisation such as TADSA.

The groups looked at the benefits of using social media as a means of fundraising

• Ability to extend beyond regular, face-to-face networking, and across geographical boundaries
• Social media gives a much more personal approach to asking for funding - especially if it comes from a friend
• Online transactions have become a lot easier through systems such as PayPal and mobile technology
• Online channels are media rich, allowing for video, audio, images and blogs to be utilized to tell the story
• Social media platforms are free to use - although there may be a cost involved in learning how to use them, or employing someone to manage it.

The really exciting part of the discussion, however, was listening to the ways that people were coming up with to solve the problems:

• Challenges: TADSA's work is quite technical, and operated by a team of over 60 volunteers. One idea was to find a project which was challenging even the season volunteers, and take it to one of the universities to offer to their engineering students as a challenge. This engages the wider community, raises awareness of the cause, and also results in a quality product being developed.
• The use of personal accounts: The power of testimony is clear. Even if it's something as short as a status update, it can have a much more lasting impact than a PR or marketing statement. Personal accounts from the recipients of TADSA's services could make a powerful statement about what they are doing. Developing the website to include blogs, short testimonials or even a wiki style page. This humanises the cause and adds an emotional flavour to what's being communicated.
• Garnering support from celebrities is also a powerful tool for raising awareness for any cause. Finding someone who can relate to your cause is even better. In TADSA's case, someone such as comedian, Adam Hills could be a great ambassador for what TADSA sets out to achieve.
• Online fundraising/crowdfunding/microdonations: Every little bit counts - the person donating $1 is just as important as the person donating $1,000. They still have networks, they still have the capacity to share and advocate, they still have the ability to inspire others to give. Using a platform such as Start Some Good allows people to participate in raising money, but also gives them a link to share.
• Displaying results: Being on social media often brings with it a need to be more open and transparent as you engage people online. Part of this could also include some sort of graphic or explanation of where the money people are giving is going specifically.

The underlying theme to all of this is about making it personal. Whether it's volunteers sharing personal accounts of what they're doing or recipients sharing how their lives have been changed. It even extends to individuals personalising the fundraising effort where they can run their own events to raise money for a given cause. The personal, word-of-mouth recommendation is vital to social media.

NOTE: In the follow up discussions about the future of NetSquared Adelaide, it was suggested that some sort of project be explored to help TADSA in their cause. Exciting! 

Social Media for Emergencies

Devin Mancuso was next to present. He did a fantastic report on his research on the use of Twitter in times of crisis and emergency. He explained that the major problem with current forms of communication being used by the Australian government has used is the latency in getting useful information out to individuals caught in the crisis zone. Likewise, the ability for the people in the thick of it to give information back is also a challenge.

Devin also showed how different social media platforms have been crucial to the way in which information has been shared in recent world events. In case of emergency, social media has proven successful in communicating vital information. Twitter, in particular, offers an effective channel to share information rapidly by its use of hashtags, its self-regulating community, its ubiquity and retweets.

Groups were then challenged with a question about the possibilities of using social media platforms in the future to communicate during times of emergency and crisis.

Not surprisingly, there were a number of concerns:

• The reliance on reception/battery life/electricity is a huge limit (a suggestion of a 'social media emergency kit' including a solar powered battery charger was offered!)
• Not everyone uses it, including those most at risk such as the elderly
• There is also a lack of education (or practice) in the government sector on how to use it effectively
• How will it be governed during the crisis? For example, on Twitter, who sets the 'official' hashtag, or is it just the most popular one that gets used?
• Government will need to understand that social media is driven by the community, and needs to have a leadership role, rather than a 'control' role.
• Hence, social media will be very much a supplementary service to traditional alerts.

However, just like the first session, there were some fantastic ideas when it came to its implementation:

• Crowdsourcing apps: Information from both government sources and individuals could be aggregated, including geolocation could be mapped and shared to show areas of concern (an example of Ushahidi used in Kenya was given).
• Development of emergency technologies: Social media's clear reliance on other technology means that there needs to be research into alternative ways to access the Internet and communicate (such as the serval batphone).
• Emergency only accounts: Official government accounts could be set up that would only be used during emergencies. These would essentially be a warning bell for social media users, and could be used to initially set up necessary hashtags and links. It gives them to lead the conversation about what goes on, but allowing the wider community to also provide information.

The use of social media by governments to communicate will be interesting to watch in the future. At NetSquared Adelaide, we hope that there will be continued collaboration by governments with individuals and communities to find out the most efficient and effective ways of using online technologies - especially in disasters.

Where to From Here?

This final session was one of the most exciting - and inspiring. The question of where NetSquared Adelaide needs to be directed in the future was given to the groups to discuss. The overwhelming response from the discussions around the tables is that NetSquared needs to be about action and not just talk. Here are some points that were brought up:

• Identifying how NetSquared differs from similar groups in Adelaide, and finding out where we overlap with others and collaborate with them.
• Creation of online and offline space for people to communicate between NetSquared meetings.
• Starting projects which are inspired by discussions and ideas coming from NetSquared.
• Forming an organisational group of volunteers to help get NetSquared running

The future for NetSquared Adelaide looks bright. There are so many bright minds coming together to share their ideas, that it’s hard not to get caught up in the excitement. This is matched by that overwhelming desire to actually do something.

These are exciting times. Watch this space, because NetSquared Adelaide is just warming up!