Mozilla Community Changing more than just your Web Browser
	Posted by Corey Pudhorodsky at Aug 18, 2009 06:00 AM CDT Categories: NPtech, Social Media, Technology, Volunteerism

When most people hear the word Mozilla, they think of the popular open source browser, Firefox and the plug-ins that help many of us to do our daily work on the web.  The Mozilla community includes a diverse international crowd of developers and supporters working to make the web better.   This September 14-21, 2009, tech lovers and specialists are coming together to improve local communities all over the world in support of Mozilla Service Week.   At Convio, we think that’s a pretty cool thing which is why we are encouraging our employees, partners, and clients to participate in Mozilla Service week also!

For Organizations and Causes:
If you work for a cause or organization, the first thing you should do is think about needs and talents that would help your efforts.  Get creative and find projects that have been on the back burner because of lack of resources or knowledge.  Need some help thinking of ideas?  Check out some of the projects that people have shared already on the Service Week Stories and Inspiration page or by browsing the Idealist.org opportunities database.  Registering and adding opportunities is absolutely free and available to all organizations with technology needs.

For Individuals:
There are a several things that individuals can do to support this effort:

1. Register and Pledge the hours that you’ll volunteer September 14-21.
   There are already more than 2,500 hours pledged on the Service Week home page. Adding your hours early will increase the community’s excitement for the event and give everyone a better idea of how successful the effort is going to be.
   
2. Share your stories about what you are planning to work on or the causes you are volunteering for.
   After registering on the site, you can share a short description of your project or link to online media with more information.  These stories will help people image how they can work for change in their own communities.
   
3. Spread word about the event to other organizations and co-workers.
   You can download site badges, banners, and buttons; print flyers and posters to post at your office, local shops and tech gatherings, or even install a personalized persona Firefox skin for Mozilla Service Week.  The success of this event will be largely dependent on two things: getting the needs posted in the database and making sure the right techies are aware of the needs for volunteers.   

   Those of us who work with web technologies everyday often forget about the barriers that people in our local communities face using and accessing the Internet.  Mozilla Service Week is a great opportunity for us to work together and make a huge impact in short amount of time.  Please consider helping out and supporting this effort one of the ways that I’ve suggested above. 

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