Thanks for the free copy of Blogging Tips, Lorelle

Blogging Tips
Blogging Tips

Lorelle on WordPress, who gave the Kicking Ass Content Connections talk at Wordcamp, sent out a free copy of her book Blogging Tips: What bloggers won’t tell you about blogging to conference attendees. I got my copy this past weekend and of course I’ve been reading it for the past few days. I’ve been looking for a simple book that described the basics of blogging to present to others, as well as give me some ideas on how to improve my blog (got to find the right header images, among other things). However, while I know this book was meant to be general in terms of blogging (and thereby make it more for novices and help it stand up for the future), I couldn’t help but wonder if there couldn’t be more specific tips like plugins for WordPress, Movable Type, or Firefox to make some of the recommended things like XML sitemaps. The general approach works, though, and therefore makes Blogging Tips a recommendable tome for the would-be-blogger.

Craigslist Bootcamp 2007 in Berkeley

Craigslist FoundationMy previous boss in Berkeley, Sylvia, introduced me to the nonprofit scene in the Bay Area, taking me to 501 Tech Clubs from NTEN and the Craigslist Foundation. I enjoyed this scene, so I made it a priority to come back to Berkeley for the Craigslist Foundation’s 2007 Nonprofit Bootcamp. It’s a fantastic conference with tips on starting a nonprofit, marketing it, and much more.

At first, I didn’t realize how Bay Area oriented the conference would be, but I guess I shouldn’t be surprised as nonprofits generally have tight budgets for travel. This made it a bit harder for me to network with other conference attendees, as I wouldn’t really get a chance to see them in the future. However, I did spend a lot of time talking to the salesmen in the sponsored areas. Obviously, they were trying to sell me their services, but I still enjoyed talking to them and the services they provided. In particular, I liked NPO Orbit about Salesforce customization, TriNet about HR outsourcing, and Mobilecause about getting the nonprofit mobile services. These are all services that would seemingly work with any nonprofit, and though I haven’t worked with them yet, they all look promising.

So all in all a good conference. Sadly no pictures. I’ve heard there was a possibility of a Los Angeles area bootcamp; I’m up for joy with that thought.

"How we set up a non-profit by the seat of our pants"

A few months ago, I wrote up a list of Startup guides where people like Evan Williams and Nick Denton gave a list of which web apps they were using to help their web companies. I also said they were good for a nonprofit, as well as a startup. Well, after scouring the web for a while, I found this guide to “setting up a non-profit by the seat of our pants”. As time goes, I’ll probably write of these myself soon. Stay tuned.

Craigslist Bootcamp 2007 in Berkeley

Craigslist FoundationMy previous boss in Berkeley, Sylvia, introduced me to the nonprofit scene in the Bay Area, taking me to 501 Tech Clubs from NTEN and the Craigslist Foundation. I enjoyed this scene, so I made it a priority to come back to Berkeley for the Craigslist Foundation’s 2007 Nonprofit Bootcamp. It’s a fantastic conference with tips on starting a nonprofit, marketing it, and much more.

At first, I didn’t realize how Bay Area oriented the conference would be, but I guess I shouldn’t be surprised as nonprofits generally have tight budgets for travel. This made it a bit harder for me to network with other conference attendees, as I wouldn’t really get a chance to see them in the future. However, I did spend a lot of time talking to the salesmen in the sponsored areas. Obviously, they were trying to sell me their services, but I still enjoyed talking to them and the services they provided. In particular, I liked discussing with NPO Orbit about Salesforce customization, TriNet about HR outsourcing, and Mobilecause about getting the nonprofit mobile services. These are all services that would seemingly work with any nonprofit, and though I haven’t worked with them yet, they all look promising.

So all in all a good conference. Sadly no pictures. I’ve heard there was a possibility of a Los Angeles area bootcamp; I’m up for joy with that thought.