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PANUI Issue #73, May 2008.
The CommunityNet Aotearoa monthly newsletter.
“News and views on community networking throughout Aotearoa.”
Contents.
- Panui News
- Community News
- New Community Sites
- CommunityNet Events: Events coming up soon.
- CommunityNet Tip: Cloud Computing.
- Web Tip of the Month: A pinch of salt and pepper.
- What’s Hot on CommunityNet
Panui News
Community News
Help evaluate NZ Webguide.
The Waikato 2020 Communications Trust, along with its partners, has been developing Webguide and we are currently evaluating recent updates to the Webguide. We invite you to give about 10 minutes of your time to complete a brief survey to give us your views on how we can make Webguide even better.
www.community.net.nz/hottopics/digital-strategy/news/evaluate-webguide.htm
Skilled Migrant Programme – Interns Available.
Are there projects on your desk that need completing, tasks that need doing, but not enough people to do them? Do you need an extra staff member – a person with excellent skills, motivation, education and work experience? We are seeking placements for the latest intake of skilled migrants on the Workplace Communications Programme at Victoria University.
www.community.net.nz/communitycentre/news/national/skilled-migrants.htm
Help recognise extra-special volunteers.
Volunteering Canterbury needs your help to identify those Extra-Special Volunteers who make an outstanding contribution to our community. If you’re involved with a not-for-profit organisation or project in Canterbury and would like a Special Volunteer to get recognition for the work they do, why not nominate them for the 2008 Volunteer Recognition Awards?
www.community.net.nz/communitycentre/news/Canterbury/volunteer-awards.htm
May 15 is Families Day.
The Families Commission is challenging New Zealanders to get together on 15 May – Families Day. The day is about making a special effort to spend time with family. We will be using the week from May 12 to May 18 to raise awareness of Families Day and encourage New Zealanders to take time out of their busy lives to celebrate with their families.
www.community.net.nz/communitycentre/news/national/family-day.htm
Balloon Day volunteers needed.
Saturday 10 May is Balloon Day, the highlight of the Asthma and Respiratory Foundation’s annual awareness and fundraising campaign. We’re looking for volunteers to blow up balloons, fry sausages or serve food, hold collection buckets or paint faces all in the name of raising money for resarch that will benefit children with asthma.
www.community.net.nz/communitycentre/news/national/balloon-volunteers.htm
Payroll Giving – a whole lot easier to give.
Philanthropy New Zealand says putting payroll-giving into action in New Zealand workplaces should bring about a stronger culture of giving and generosity. In welcoming the Government announcement on payroll giving, Philanthropy New Zealand’s Executive Director Robyn Scott said giving in a planned manner will now be much easier. “Payroll Giving means many working New Zealanders will be able to give money to their chosen causes and receive an immediate tax benefit by way of a PAYE credit.
www.community.net.nz/communitycentre/news/national/payroll-giving.htm
Government support of giving will strengthen local communities.
Members of ComVoices, an independent coalition of Tangata Whenua, community and voluntary sector, say the introduction of a voluntary payroll giving system will positively impact sector organisations that rely on multiple funding streams to sustain services to the community.
www.community.net.nz/communitycentre/news/national/giving.htm
Election Enrolment Drive Starts 5 May.
If you’re enrolled to vote you’ll be sent an enrolment update pack in the mail in the week of 5 May. This is part of a major enrolment drive for the 2008 General Election. When you get your pack check your details are correct, and update them if needed.
www.community.net.nz/communitycentre/news/national/election-drive.htm
New titles in Skylight Youth Support leaflet series.
This series for young people has proven to be very successful and effective throughout New Zealand in a wide range of contexts, including schools, tertiary training centres, youth work, community centres, medical centres, hospitals and churches.
www.community.net.nz/communitycentre/news/national/skylight-titles.htm
NZ charities to benefit from Paul Newman’s Own.
Movie star Paul Newman’s 2008 charity campaign will see NZ$100,000 donated to New Zealand charities. The Newman’s Own Foundation was formed in 1984 with the purpose of allocating the profits from sales of Paul Newman’s products to charity groups worldwide. This year the Newman’s Own Foundation will allocate up to NZ$20,000 to each successful charity and submissions for funding can be made from Tuesday 1 April 2008.
www.community.net.nz/communitycentre/news/national/newmans.htm
Volunteer host families needed for exchange students.
EF Foundation for Foreign Studies is looking for volunteer host families anywhere in the Wellington region, including Kapiti and the Wairarapa, to help make a student’s dream come true! You can match a student that suits your family from 26 different nationalities, so you can start making the world a smaller, friendlier place.
www.community.net.nz/communitycentre/news/national/ef-foundation.htm
Free media for Hamilton community groups.
The launch of the annual Community Media Grant on Thursday, 1 May offers a major boost for Hamilton’s not-for-profit sector. The grant is an initiative of Community Radio Hamilton, Bettle Advertising, and Hamilton City Council’s City News magazine and provides one local charitable organisation with an advertising campaign valued at more than $15,000.
www.community.net.nz/communitycentre/news/national/media-grant.htm
Consultation on Draft Digital Strategy 2.0 extended.
The consultation period on the Draft Digital Strategy 2.0 is being extended to 5.00pm Friday 23 May, 2008. Consultation on the Draft Digital Strategy 2.0 includes opportunities for feedback via a wiki and online dialogue boxes.
ww.community.net.nz/communitycentre/news/national/extension.htm
Latest community news, events, jobs and ads are online at:
www.community.net.nz/communitycentre/news.
New Community Links
SF Auckland.
SF Auckland – Supporting Families in Mental Illness. We support families and whanau to provide the best possible quality of life and recovery to their loved one who has a mental illness including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, anxiety and phobias, depression, personality disorders and borderline personality disorder.
Ngati Toa Venturers.
The Official Homepage of the Ngati Toa Venturer Unit. A team of 6 lead this 25+ unit of Venturers with 4 awesome leaders backing us up. We set up crazy activities and things we’ve always wanted to do, help out in the community and compete regularly in events against other units.
My Helensville.
A Community Wiki, provided to Helensville and Districts Community, to inform the community with relevant collated information regarding events and discussions such as rates, royal commission and proposed power station in Kaukapakapa.
Al-Huda Islamic Charitable Trust.
The Al-Huda Islamic Charitable Trust (HICT) is a charitable non-profit organisation that offers a variety of educational and cultural services to all residents of Canterbury. HICT is the parent organisation of Al-Huda Islamic School (HIS).
Auckland Latin American Community Inc.
Auckland LatÃn American Community (ALAC) Inc., was set up in 1994. The not-for-profit organisation provides social and cultural services and education to the Latin American community in Auckland and throughout New Zealand.
NZ Sign Language Week.
The purpose of New Zealand Sign Language Week is to raise awareness that New Zealand Sign Language is now our third official language and recognised as part of New Zealand’s culture! We also aim to focus on language and communication for all Deaf New Zealanders.
2CU community services directory.
This site caters for every service in the Northland Community and has been endorsed by the Whangarei District Council as the preferred first point of reference for all services. It will eventually be available in all Communities throughout New Zealand.
You’ll find these and more links at:
www.community.net.nz/links.
CommunityNet Events: Events coming up soon
Events.
These Events are coming up in the next few weeks. Find details at:
www.community.net.nz/communitycentre/events.
- Human Rights Film Festival 2008, National.
- Strategic Planning Workshop, North Shore City.
- Workshops with American Educational Consultant Tim Burns, Palmerston North.
- Funding Expo 2008, Nelson
- Playback Introductory workshop, Wellington.
- 2nd New Zealand Hindu Conference, Auckland.
- Connecting Up 2008, Brisbane.
- Beating Burnout Workshop, Christchurch.
- Playback Performance ‘Close calls’, Wellington.
- Pregnancy Help Garage Sale, Christchurch
- Fundraising Institute of NZ South Pacific Conference 2008, Auckland.
- Fuel Poverty Workshop, Christchurch.
- Traditional Knowledge Conference 2008, Auckland.
- Long-term conditions framework workshops, National.
- Get Reel film series, Hamilton.
Training.
These Training events are coming up in the next few weeks. Find details at:
www.community.net.nz/communitycentre/training.
- Legal Education for Community Workers, Wellington.
- The Art of Facilitation, Auckland.
- Why Volunteer?, Christchurch.
- Free Telephone Support Training, Wellington.
- Depression or Expression, Christchurch.
- Psychodrama – Being in Action, Auckland.
- Iyengar yoga, Christchurch.
- Crystal Clear – Relationship Enhancement Skills, Christchurch.
- Do You Have Clutter?, Christchurch.
- Interactive Drawing Therapy – Foundation Courses, Palmerston North and Wellington.
- Law In Our Communities Education Programme: Series 2, Auckland
CommunityNet tip: Cloud Computing.
At the recent Engage your Community conference in Hamilton, Mike
Riversdale ran a workshop about using the free Google Apps (word
processing, spreadsheets, presentations, calendar), rather than using
Office applications on your own computer.
http://webguide.net.nz/engage-your-community
http://work.miramarmike.co.nz/2008/04/engage-your-community-workshop-links.html
This is known as ‘cloud computing’ — your documents are stored on a
server on the Internet, instead of on your own computer. You store and
edit documents online, sometimes in collaboration with others. If you
like, you can also save the files to your own computer.
If you have access to broadband connections, there are quite a lot of
advantages to doing this.
- Your documents are stored on the Internet. You can access them from
any computer, if you have the correct login information. No longer
worry about leaving important files behind when you attend a meeting. - If you like, share a document with others. Decide whether or not
they need a password to access the file, and whether or not they are
allowed to edit it. - Make documents *immediately* available to others, because they are
on a website. Forget emailing attachments. - You don’t need to keep Office software on your own computer, and to
keep updating it. - If you lose your computer, for example if it’s stolen, your
documents are still safe in their online home. - If you’re travelling across US borders with a computer, “border
security officers at international airports can search personal
computers without requiring any specific evidence of criminal
activity”. Any personal private information, or organisation or
company confidential information is now open to the view of US
officials. (Source:
http://apcmag.com//prepare_for_your_laptop_to_be_searched.htm)
Google Apps isn’t the only way to store and edit Office documents ‘in
the cloud’, but it’s a useful place to start. Cost: free. Try it out.
Website tip: A pinch of salt and pepper.
You may have heard about Web 2.0, social sites, services and
applications such as Flickr, YouTube, Facebook, MySpace, Bebo,
Basecamp, Twitter, Delicious, Google maps, Google Earth, LinkedIn,
TumbleLog, Viddler, Wikipedia, Skype, AdSense, blogs, wikis, podcasts,
RSS feeds and so on. We write about many of them here and in the
Groupings blog:
After reading that list you’re probably exhausted, and may be panicked
about how an already stretched community organisation can possibly
keep up and do all those things. The good news is that you don’t have
to do all those things at all — you simply have to be willing to
know a little bit about them, and to consider using them in your work.
Salt to taste.
It’s like salt and pepper — you’d never empty the whole shaker on to
a meal; rather you’d sprinkle a little of each, or either, or neither,
according to taste.
It all depends on your audience. If you’re trying to communicate to or
engage with a particular group of people then it’s crucial to figure
out who they are, what they do, where they can be found, and how they
can find you. Then you can decide on the appropriate channels for
interacting with them — be they blogs, Facebook, podcasts, phone
calls, printed leaflets, TV ads or some other means.
The number of tools and opportunities at your disposal is increasing
almost exponentially. Even those of us who are fascinated by new
technologies and new ways of doing things can’t keep up. But instead
of flinging up your hands in defeat, just try a 30 day trial.
The 30 day trial.
In his personal development blog Steve Pavlina explains his concept of
the 30 day trial as a way to experiment with new things:
www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2005/04/30-days-to-success
Just pick one thing you’ve heard of and have an interest in —
perhaps Twitter. Get one or more friends or colleagues to try it out
with you and commit to working with it for at least a few minutes 5
days a week for 30 days. Be dedicated. Take it seriously. Play with
it. Have some fun. Give it a workout.
When the 30 days is up make some notes and decide what to do. Maybe
even report back to your committee or board on how that tool might or
might not fit with your organisation.
You may be hooked, in which case you’ll probably continue to use it.
Or you may decide it could have its uses, but not right now. Note that
down in your journal with a few comments to help you know in 6 months
time what was good and bad or useful and not useful.
Or you may decide it’s a tool you could never use, and you’re unlikely
to bother with it in the future. Again, make some notes about why you
reached that conclusion.
There is no failure.
There’s a horrible tendency in our society to see choices and
decisions as ‘wrong’ or ‘bad’ or ‘failures’. The 30-day trial isn’t
committing your organisation to a lifelong direction. You won’t be
‘failing’ if you try something out for 30 days and decide it’s not
appropriate for you. Instead you’ll be learning a bit more about your
web environment, and adding a bit of spice to your day.
Start here.
Don’t know where to start, what to do first? Mike Riversdale has
written on his blog about the workshop he presented at the Engage your
Community conference held in Hamilton in April 2008. More details from
the other workshops should also be online soon at the Webguide wiki.
Look in those two spots for some inspiration:
http://work.miramarmike.co.nz/2008/04/engage-your-community-workshop-links.html
http://webguide.net.nz/guide/doku.php?id=eyc-workshops:start
Report back.
We’d love to hear your comments about your 30-day trial and have set
up a post on the Groupings blog to collect them. Please visit and add
your thoughts:
http://webguide.net.nz/2008/comments-please
Panui tips contributed by Miraz Jordan, http://mactips.info/
Past Website tips are all available on CommunityNet Aotearoa.
What’s Hot on CommunityNet
Web statistics.
In April 2008 there were 40,555 visits (March: 35,712).
Last month, 59 new community items were published.
- 11 news articles.
- 11 links to new websites.
- 10 jobs advertised.
- 18 events advertised.
- 09 training courses or resources.
Send in your free community notice or advertisement at:
www.community.net.nz/about/submit.
File downloads.
There were 7,285 files downloaded (March: 7,222). The most popular file download in was the Employment section of the Community Resource Kit with 373 downloads. In March this was the MOU Template (333 Downloads).
Find CommunityNet statistics at:
www.community.net.nz/about/website/statistics.htm.
Remember: please forward the complete Panui to others who’ll find it useful.
Nick Stanley, Web Content Writer.
Notes
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