-What value do you see in communicating effectively in times of austerity?

Most of us- who attend the Making Media Connections conference – work in organizations providing essential public services. In difficult times, it is more important than ever to make sure folks know what resources are available.  And because we want to reserve the bulk of our resources to provide services – we need skills and resources available to us to get our message out effectively and efficiently.

-What do you love most about working at the Metropolitan Tenants Organization?

I’m all about working with organizations where people really believe our work can change the world.  The folks at MTO really care about what they are doing and really collaborate with the people we are working to support.  I value that commitment.

-Why did you feel it necessary to invest in attending this year’s Making Media Connections Conference?

Community Media Workshop is a real asset to Chicago.  I wonder how many cities have an organization that is committed to supporting their non-profit community tell their stories?  This conference brings the non-profit community face to face with the cities’ preeminent journalists. We learn from their experience and have the opportunity to workshop ideas and learn new approaches.  It’s like an annual one-stop-shopping opportunity for the non-profit communications professional.

-What do you plan to do with what you learn at the conference?

We just completed a strategic planning process that we will be working to implement over the next three years.  We want to increase our visibility in the community.  I’m hoping to take what I learn at the conference and implement it to get our message out in fresh new ways.  This conference really provides you with ideas you can immediately implement.  You don’t have to ‘hire a consultant’ or ‘invest in a program’.  You can go back to the office and start trying ideas out!

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