I've been fortunate to have worked in the nptech world since 2000 and have attended nearly every NTEN Roundup / NTC conference since 2001. It's quite amazing to witness the evolution of this industry and this signature conference. Today I arrived after 8 hrs of travel (but I'm definitely not complaining, I've heard stories of 32 hr travel from folks already) weary yet excited.
Why am I excited? Will I finally come to appreciate the value of twitter? Doubtful; or discover the next new tech thing which all nonprofits will flock to adopt? Hopefully; or will I meet some amazingly smart people doing cool things that I'll begin to follow when I get back to the grind? Yeah... probably; but that's not what has me excited. I'm pumped because attending the NTC is like a high school reunion where only the nice people were invited :). Seriously, already today I've had great conversations with Judi Sohn, Michelle Murrain, several Beaconfire peeps and many others. I've rubbed elbows with staff from Sierra Club, Mercy Corps and NARAL. I had dinner with the new Firefly team and caught up with two of my GetActive mentor's Bill Pease and Sheeraz Haji.
I cannot overstate this... if you work for a nonprofit, or provide services to nonprofits and your work involves technology (excluding hardware stuff), you need to be here.
Tomorrow will be a busy day... my mission, more reunions and good conversations and find someone who can convince me twitter is worth the effort.
