For the first time in its nine year history, the Information Systems Forum will meet as a face-to-face affinity group at the Nonprofit Technology Conference!
The ISF is an email distribution list that boasts about 4,500 members who are interested in using information and communication technologies to increase organizational effectiveness. It's all very simple, and works with a minimum of infrastructure. All year around, nonprofit professionals (and the technology experts that serve them) use it as an online resource and reality check. No technology question is too elementary to be seriously addressed, and the needs of distraught technophobies are treated with respect. If you can send a plain text email, you can put in your query and receive feedback within hours from your counterparts in other nonprofit organizations.
Every so often, those of us who are lucky enough to travel to conferences are able to meet face-to-face. This year, encouraged by Holly Ross of NTEN, I applied on behalf of the Information Systems Forum for an affinity group time slot at the New Orleans Nonprofit Technology Conference. This will be the ISF's first get-together at a national event.
I'm very excited about this, because I think that meeting face-to-face will always be superior to meeting online, when it comes to building a community. I often find that strong online collaborations are greatly enhanced after a face-to-face meeting.
The downside of this ISF affinity group meeting is that it convenes at 8:30 am on Tuesday, March 19th. Many folks will still be in transit, and a good number of those who have arrived will be planning to participate in the Day Of Service. However, we have to start somewhere, and I figure that this meeting, which is scheduled at the very beginning of the conference, will give ISF members a chance to cement alliances and friendships that will help them feel less lost in a crowd of more than 1,000 convention attendees.
I have created an online database for ISF members who will be in New Orleans for the conference, so that they can make plans to get together at the appointed time or any other convenient moment during the three days.
