Back when I was young and foolish (i.e., May 2005), I volunteered to design a session for our regional conference on nonprofit technology.

It's slowly dawning on me that there's some poetic justice operating here:  I've been known to complain that there's nothing less conducive to building new skills than watching talking heads.  Whether it's a panel discussion or speaker giving a PowerPoint presentation, it may expose me to some new ideas, but it just isn't hands-on learning.

So now I have to come up with a format that goes beyond talking heads.  Of course, if talking heads are too boring, then there's an equally unattractive option at the other end of the spectrum:  what a dear colleague of mine refers to as a "human diorama."  It's the overly creative workshop format that puts everyone on the spot by borrowing too much from the practices of team-building and group therapy.

In a way, it would be easier if the session were devoted to purely technical skills; we could set up desktop systems for the attendees, and go through some exercises.  However, I doubt that that many desktops will be available, and that this is the best way to teach strategic skills in nonprofit technology.

What I keep coming back to is Gregory Heller's article on "a  new paradigm for the tech conference."  In it, he proposes that we minimize air time devoted to workshops and keynote speakers, and go straight to informal peer learning.  Would it be enough to structure a session in which a number of nonprofit techies interested in the same strategic problems gather together in one room and teach each other what they know?

Reflections, suggestions, and comments on this topic are very welcome.


Talking Heads was also the name of a perfectly wonderful music group, and no disrespect to them is intended here.


  nptech