Making Media Connections 2009

I cross posted this at the npcommunicator blog

Pulling together a list of books for the bookseller’s table at Making Media Connections. Reams of reports on communications and other great resources are fresh and new:

• Simon Perazza drew my attention to this one from Arts Work Fund, for arts groups, here
• last fall’s evaluating communications guide under the auspices of the Communications Network by Edith Asibey here (you will need to scroll down to the 3rd item on the page),
• Ford Foundation’s GrantCraft is producing a report on strategic communications next month, too

But we don’t have much between covers on our field.

Since we are having a book seller at our conference who helpfully asked us–what kind of books would your attendees find useful? we did some brainstorming but I suspect we are missing a few gems.

Here’s what we came up with–what are we missing? (these are alphabetical by title):

• AP Stylebook by Associated Press: (The indispensable for communicators)
• Bowling Alone by Robert D. Putnam: (Classic on social capital, a term of art in today’s nonprofit practice)
• Branding Faith: Why Some Churches and Nonprofits Impact Culture and Others Don’t by Phil Cooke: (haven’t read it, but sounds intriguing)
• CMW Editorial Handbook by CMW: (A nascent publication that’ll come in handy we think–a digest of our recent articles, full of hands-on tips)
• Don’t Make Me Think by Steve Krug: Costly but worth it…for principles of web design (a quick read)
• Don’t Think of An Elephant by George Lakoff: Feels kinda like talking to grandpa…but still important concepts (along the lines of “we ride on the shoulders of giants, to poop in their ears)
• Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations by Clay Shirky: (I don’t always understand the pretty diagrams but I buy the argument on what happens when the cost to gather information is radically reduced)
• Leading Through Conflict: How Successful Leaders Transform Differences into Opportunities by Mark Gerzon: I heard this guy speak recently, and was entranced with his ideas of democratic dialogue
• Level Best: How Small and Grassroots Nonprofits Can Tackle Evaluation and Talk Results by Marcia Festen and Marianne Philbin: Changed how we look at eval
• Made to Stick by Chip Heath and Dan Heath: Encapsulates almost everything we need to know about strategy
• Making the News by Jason Salzman: My first textbook… aging but great
• On Writing Well by William Zinsser: Classic on how to write better
• Presentation Zen: Simple Ideas on Presentation Design and Delivery by Garr Reynolds: This is the book on the list that I want to read!
• Publicity for Nonprofits: Generating Media Exposure That Leads to Awareness, Growth, and Contributions by Sandra Beckwith: I found this an ok guide, others might be more enthusiastic
• Robin Hood Marketing by Katya Andresen: Current, from a leading practitioner
• SPIN handbook by Robert Bray: Still a great hands-on resource–if only for Robert’s “brother-in-law” story¨
• Strategic Communications for Nonprofits: A Step-by-Step Guide to Working with the Media (The Jossey-Bass Nonprofit Guidebook Series) by Kathy Bonk, Emily Tynes, Henry Griggs, Phil Sparks: updated–the newest entry in the field
• The Future of the Internet–And How to Stop It by Jonathan Zittrain: Provocative!
• The New Rules of Marketing and PR: How to Use News Releases, Blogs, Podcasting, Viral Marketing and Online Media to Reach Buyers Directly by David Meerman Scott: Is this the right one? Picked at random from a bunch of similar entrants at Amazon
• The Nonprofit Strategy Revolution: Real Time Strategic Planing in a Rapid Response World by David LaPiana: Changed how I look at strategic planning, saving hours of sitzfleisch time
• Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us by Seth Godin: Latest from the Internet guru, gotta have Seth, right?
• We’re Alll Journalists Now by Scott Gant: We need something about citizen journalism, right?

What do you think? Good? Bad? Ugly? Your recommendations welcome! Comment or email me