Learnings from the Connecting Up Conferences in Sydney (Australia)

 The post was originally published May 3, 2012 on Ontario 211: Where to Turn

By Guest Blogger: Kelly Bergeron at Ontario 211

If you have yet to become a member of NTEN (Nonprofit Technology Network), this post may convince you to run out and get yourself (and your organization) a membership. Thanks to them, I was lucky enough to win a full scholarship to attend the Connecting Up conference, a nonprofit tech, marketing and social media conference in Sydney, Australia.

Over the 3 days, here are some of the topics that were covered and key takeaways:

1. Learned more about the cloud and how we as users have to ensure our privacy is protected.
2. Discovered Microsoft’s new cloud offering, SkyDrive – available to Hotmail users and providing up to 7GB of storage, for free.
3. Watched many presentations on social media and marketing tactics and strategies. It’s important to understand your audience’s personas and not try to appeal to too many demographics at once. Focusing in on one or two types of groups can be effective.
4. We heard from an amazing 23 year old Australian, who works for the Global Poverty Project and spearheaded the #endofpolio campaign which not only drew support from the Australian Prime Minister but also raised 100 million dollars.

You can check out all the event Twitter action via the #CU12 hashtag

Some of the other highlights included:

-The location at Darling Wharf was stunning
-Meeting the friendly and hospitable team from Connecting Up
-The food was a delight! (Hello cannoli!) Someone created a hashtag solely for the food at #CU12FOOD.
-The awesome hug I got from Connecting Up’s CEO, Doug. He also shared his praise for our community tech partners, TechSoup Canada.
-Meeting all the personable and knowledgeable speakers like Allen Gunn, Nancy Schwartz and Michael Sheldrick. They brought some great ideas to the table and inspired me to look globally for insights and solutions.
-Last but not least, meeting all of the hardworking folks in the nonprofit sector in Australia. Your warmth towards this Canadian will always be cherished.

Darling Harbour, Sydney

Having the opportunity to come to Australia was a huge honour and so very important for our organization, Ontario 211.

Thanks again NTEN and Connecting Up for making this happen. It’s organizations like you who knit our nonprofit communities together (sometimes across oceans) and make us all work together towards building strong and sustainable relationships. I feel truly blessed to be a part of it all.

Kelly Bergeron is the Online Initiatives Manager at Ontario 211. 211 is a three-digit phone number and website that provides information and referral to community and social services in Ontario. 211′s phone service is open 24 hours a day, every day of the year, and is available in more than 150 languages.