Earlier this week I was at the Minnesota Council on Nonprofits conference. I was there to give a presentation with my friend and colleague David Erickson from e-Strategy. We spoke about Web 2.0; you can see the PowerPoint slides online. (I’m working on a fun way to get the info on these new applications in the next Blandin eNews.)

I love this conference. It’s a great place to see a lot of people I have met online over the year or people who are primarily online buddies. The notion of the online social networks was a big theme this year.

MCN awarded the first annual .Org awards:

Rainbow Rumpus for Awesome Audience Awareness
Twin Cities Media Alliance’s Twin Cities Daily Planet for Journalism 2.0
Minnesota Historical Society’s Greatest Generation Project for Storytelling for the Ages
The Cedar Cultural Center for Community Convergence

Six Honorable Mentions
Textile Center
Youth Express
FamilyMeans
Minnesota Film and TV Board
Renewing the Countryside
PACER Center

It was noted that a common these on the sites was the ability to appeal to the target audience and create a community for/of that audience. Some were technically advanced and others were clever in their use of less technical resources.

One of my favorite moments in the conference was a conversation I had with Jeremy Iggers from TC Daily Planet, Mike Wassenaar from SPNN, Mary Treacy from MN COGI, and Rick Birmingham from MAP. We were talking about the need for public spaces online. That although Mike represented cable TV, Jeremy online newspapers, Mary online government, and Rick nonprofits – the goal was the same to give voice to the citizens. I feel like the tools are out there to do it – both “traditional” tools such as web sites but also new tools such as Twitter. The barrier to entry is getting lower but the requirement is the access to technology and the know-how to use it.