Calendar of 2010 social change conferences
Holly Ross, executive director, NTEN (Photo by JD Lasica)
Superguide to events for nonprofits & social change organizations
Following is a roundup of conferences and events scheduled in the nonprofit and social change sector in 2010, with a few educational events tossed in as well.
If you know of other must-attend events, please add them by posting in the comments at the bottom and I’ll add them within a day or two.
Note that we’ve published an “ultimate calendar” of 2010 conferences in social media, tech and marketing on our sister site, Socialmedia.biz.
January | February | March | April | May | June | July | August | September | October | November | December
| Conference | Date | Place |
|---|---|---|
| January | ||
| NETA | Jan. 12-15 | Las Vegas |
| Discussions and presentations about public television at the National Educational Telecommunications Association. | ||
| WordCamp | Jan. 23 onward | Various |
| WordCamps, where WordPress aficionados congregate, are happening in dozens of cities this year, including Boston (Jan. 23), Miami (Feb. 20), Ireland (March 6-7), Toronto (March 27-28) and elsewhere. |  |
|
| IRE Workshops | Jan. 23-24 | New Orleans |
| Ethnic media watchdog workshops help journalists sharpen their skills, learn new approaches and add depth to their reporting. | ||
| World Economic Forum | Jan. 27-31 | Davos, Switzerland |
| The World Economic Forum Annual Meeting (better known simply as Davos) has engaged leaders from all walks of life to shape the global agenda. Socialbrite’s own Sloane Berrent will be covering the event. |  |
|
| Twiistup | Jan. 28 | Los Angeles |
| More than just a conference, Twiistup is LA’s biggest technology event. Twiistup combines a showcase for innovation, a platform for thought leaders and an audience of entrepreneurs, media and investors all wrapped in a unique, stylized environment that rivals a Hollywood production. |  |
|
| She’s Geeky | Jan. 29 | Mountain View, Calif. |
| The third Bay Area event takes place at the Computer History Museum. She’s Geeky hosts unconferences across the U.S. to give women in science, tech, engineering and math a chance to get together to learn from each other and discuss the issues they face in their fields. | ||
| A Helluva Camp for Nonprofit Rebels | Jan. 30 | San Francisco |
| As the economy faces a jobless recovery, social entrepreneurs are emerging in all sectors and industries. This content-packed camp features new faces and new ideas for the rebels who want to shake up the nonprofit world. | ||
| BarCamp | Jan. onward | Worldwide |
| BarCamp is an international network of user-created unconferences – open, participatory workshops – whose content is provided by users. Also look for offshoots of the BarCamp model, such as HealthCamp. |  |
|
| PodCamp | Jan. onward | Worldwide |
| A PodCamp is typically a free BarCamp-style community unconference for new media enthusiasts and professionals including bloggers, podcasters, YouTubers, social networkers and anyone curious about new media. | ||
| February | ||
| CSR Performance Summit | Feb. 1-3 | San Francisco |
| Many corporations have proved that corporate responsibility initiatives are essential to their bottom-line success. At CSR Performance Summit you will learn to align each initiative with strategy and to establish a foundation in meaningful metrics, research and industry best practices. | ||
| Social Media Week* | Feb. 1-5 | Various cities |
| Learn about the potential of social media in a series of events in these cities: New York, San Francisco, London, Berlin, Toronto and São Paulo. | ||
| TED | Feb. 9-13 | Long Beach, Calif. |
| TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) is where the world’s leading thinkers and doers gather to share ideas worth spreading. TEDActive, a simulcast experience, takes place in Palm Springs. TEDx brings the TED experience to local communities. |  |
|
| NonProfit 2.0 | Feb. 12 | Washington, DC |
| A conference on the next generation Web, NonProfit 2.0 offers keynote sessions led by Amanda Rose, founder of Twestival, then shifts into full-on unconference mode. | ||
| edSocialMedia Bootcamp | Feb. 16 | Boston |
| Are you trying to understand social media and how it can be used at your school? Do you need a better grasp of the benefits and challenges of social media before jumping in? This one-day summit will tackle how social media can be used in education. |  |
|
| RootsCampDC | Feb. 20-21 | Washington, DC |
| RootsCamp is an “unconference” convened by the New Organizing Institute and relying on attendees to identify the topics they want to talk about and the stories they want to share. | ||
| Social Enterprise Conference | Feb. 27-28 | Cambridge, Mass. |
| The Social Enterprise Conference is one of the world’s leading forums to engage in dialogue, debate and expression around social enterprise with leaders from across the world. | ||
| March | ||
| Global Ignite Week | March 1-4 | Worldwide |
| Ignite brings together geeks to do 5-minute talks in front of small audiences — with slides that rotate every 15 seconds. Global Ignite Week features 500 talks in 40 cities, including New York, LA, the Bay Area, Boston, Madrid, Manila, Paris and Sydney. |  |
|
| Journalism Diversity Symposium | March 4 | Palo Alto, Calif. |
| News and Inclusion: Journalism and the Politics of Diversity will focus on the role of journalism in multicultural societies, with scholars from Singapore, Finland, Australia, The Netherlands, Canada, England and the U.S. | ||
| GoingGreen East | March 8-10 | Boston |
| Here is where green-tech CEOs and industry executives meet investors. This executive event features CEO presentations and high-level debates on the most promising emerging green technologies and new entrepreneurial opportunities. | ||
| South by Southwest | March 12-21 | Austin |
| Counterculture meets geek techies, indie filmmakers and alt bands. This year’s SXSW schedule: Interactive, March 12-16; Film, March 12-20; Music, March 17-21. |  |
|
| eCampaigning Forum | March 23-24 | Oxford, UK |
| The event for e-campaigning practitioners to share their expertise. | ||
| Twestival | March 25 | Global |
| People in hundreds of cities around the world will come together offline to rally around the cause of education by hosting local events to have fun and create awareness. Twestival (or Twitter Festival) uses social media for social good. |  |
|
| Transparency Camp | March 27-28 | Washington, DC |
| This unconference will convene a trans-partisan tribe of open government advocates — government reps, technologists, journalists, developers, NGOs, wonks, activists — to share knowledge on how to use new technologies to make our government transparent, accountable and accessible to the public. | ||
| April | ||
| Nonprofit Technology | April 8-10 | Atlanta |
| NTEN and the Georgia Center for Nonprofits will come together to provide an unparalleled meeting ground for drawing on the expertise and commitment of the nonprofit community. |  |
|
| AFP International Conference on Fundraising | April 11-14 | Baltimore, Md. |
| The 47th AFP International Conference on Fundraising honors 50 years of working to advance the profession while celebrating fundraising’s bright future and its impact on people and societies around the world. Fundraisers from more than 20 countries will examine best practices, discuss new ideas and trends and share experiences to improve our organizations. |  |
|
| Skoll World Forum | April 14-16 | Oxford, UK |
| The Skoll World Forum focuses on catalysing collaboration for large scale change. This year’s Forum will engage the world’s most influential social entrepreneurs, social investors and thought leaders to create partnerships, networks, knowledge and collaborative pathways between the social, policy, academic and private sectors. |  |
|
| Global Engagement Summit | April 14-18 | Evanston, Ill. |
| The Global Engagement Summit (GES) is a five-day training conference for students committed to global change. Delegates come together to understand the opportunities for their engagement; to hone the skills and mindsets that will enable them to better plan and participate in change-based projects; and to connect with like-minded peers from around the world. |  |
|
| Earth Day Build-a-thon | April 17-20 | Oakland, Calif. |
| Turn the tide, one home at a time, with this hands-on neighborhood revitalization program, no construction experience needed. | ||
| Global Philanthropy Forum | April 18-21 | Redwood City, Calif. |
| Defy barriers, effect change: A conference about access to health, food and water. The conference will include breakout tracks, an awards banquet, musical performances and invite-only sessions. |  |
|
| Government 2010 | April 22 | London |
| A series of events in the United Kingdom during 2010 exploring Government 2.0. | ||
| Investment, Influence, Impact: Seizing the Moment | April 22-24 | Denver |
| The conference will focus on how together we can seize the moment by increasing our investment, influence and impact to create positive, structural and long-lasting change for communities throughout the world. | ||
| ReVisioning Value 2010 Conference | April 26-27 | Portland, Ore. |
| ReVV 2010 is a one-day conference that will explore the leading ideas and promising results of how new financial and organizational models are increasing the flow of needed capital to those who will use it to create a more just and sustainable world. The conference is followed by a day of hands-on workshops and roundtables designed to help participants apply the ideas offered at the conference to their own organizations. |  |
|
| Social Enterprise Alliance Summit | April 28-30 | San Francisco |
| This international forum advocates for increased social impact through social enterprise. Join over 700 social entrepreneurs to learn, grow, be inspired, make new connections from around the globe and become part of this expanding movement. | ||
| Wisdom 2.0 | April 30-May 2 | Mountain View, Calif. |
| This three-day event brings together technology leaders from companies such as Google, Facebook and Twitter, along with Zen teachers, neuroscientists and others to explore how we can live in greater balance with, and more successfully use, the great technologies of our age. | ||
| May | ||
| Journalism Innovations III | May 1 | San Francisco |
| The third Journalism Innovations program will be coming from Independent Arts & Media, the Society for Professional Journalists and the University of San Francisco. | ||
| NYC Symposium for Social Change | May 3 | New York |
| The NYC Symposium for Social Change brings together the powerful economic tools of Wall Street with the entrepreneurship of social innovation to impact New York City’s most pressing issues in education, environment and impact investing. |  |
|
| Global Voices Citizen Media Summit | May 6-7 | Santiago, Chile |
| Global Voices Online gathers with a diverse group of bloggers, activists, technologists and journalists from around the world for two days of public discussions and workshops. The theme of the meeting is “Next generation citizen media, public access and citizen participation.” |  |
|
| SHINE | May 13-15 | London |
| As an antidote to business conferences or other social enterprise events, this unconference sets out to provide the space, place and time where people setting up their social enterprise could grow their business, learn from others in the same situation, and come away with their questions answered. | ||
| Games for Change Festival | May 24-27 | New York |
| The seventh annual event takes place at Parsons The New School for Design. |  |
|
| Gov 2.0 Expo | May 25-27 | Washington, DC |
| Government 2.0 is about empowering government employees to serve citizens better and opening up the government into a platform that enables citizens to better help their communities. |  |
|
| June | ||
| Cause Marketing Forum | June 2-3 | Chicago |
| The 8th annual Cause Marketing Forum brings together business, nonprofit and agency executives dedicated to doing well by doing good together. |  |
|
| Personal Democracy Forum | June 3-5 | New York City |
| The annual gathering of political activists, government reform advocates and techies, with an “unconference” for the Saturday after the formal conference ends. |  |
|
| Journalism That Matters | June 3-6 | Detroit |
| Journalism that Matters invites persons of color — journalists, entrepreneurs, programmers, technologists, bloggers, videographers, venture capitalists, artists, funders, educators — to a “mashup” to explore how voices often unheard or misrepresented can reshape the future of journalism. |  |
|
| IJ7 & JTM | June 7-11 | Palo Alto, Calif. |
| The 7th Conference on Innovation Journalism and Journalism That Matters will be held back to back at Stanford University with a look at journalism in the innovation economy. |  |
|
| New Media Consortium | June 9-12 | Anaheim, Calif. |
| The NMC’s annual conference is an opportunity to learn about how higher-education institutions are using new media to improve teaching, learning and research. This conference offers presentations, workshops and networking opportunities and attracts an audience of hundreds of highly skilled professionals interested in the integration of emerging technologies into teaching, learning and creative inquiry. |  |
|
| Allied Media Conference | June 18-20 | Detroit |
| The conference seeks to cultivate strategies for a more just and creative world. Attendees come together to share tools and tactics for transforming our communities through media-based organizing. |  |
|
| Salsa Community Conference | June 24-25 | Washington, DC |
| The conference brings together savvy strategists, Salsa users extraordinaires, important partners, great speakers and more. Get hands-on training with the Salsa-savvy support team and fellow users, have one-on-ones with leading strategists, geek out with customizations and integrations in Salsa with SalsaScript, the Salsa Market and more. |  |
|
| NCTech4Good | June 25 | Chapel Hill, NC |
| This conference brings together people from the nonprofit and technology sectors to identify and address the technology needs of the nonprofit community in North Carolina. |  |
|
| Nonprofit 2.0 Unconference | June 25 | Washington, DC |
| Ever attend a conference, for a keynote, and find the rest of the content to be wanting? Nonprofit 2.0 delivers the best of both worlds, offering great keynote sessions led by Amanda Rose, founder of Twestival, and Wendy Harman, Social Media Manager for the American Red Cross — in an unconference format — at SEIU. | ||
| National Conference on Volunteering and Service | June 28-30 | New York City |
| The annual event provides attendees with an opportunity to learn, connect and be inspired through exciting and informative plenary sessions, workshops, special events, service projects, exhibits, specialized corporate tracks and more. |  |
|
| July | ||
| Aspen Ideas Festival | July 5-11 | Apen, Colo. |
| The Aspen Institute has been the nation’s premier gathering place for world leaders to engage in deep and inquisitive discussion of the ideas and issues that both shape our lives and challenge our times. The institute now seeks to engage a broader audience in a discussion of the significant issues that touch all parts of our society. |  |
|
| International Development Design Summit | July 7-30 | Fort Collins, CO |
| The fourth annual summit brings together people from around the globe to build technologies that improve the lives of people in the developing world. It is the goal of IDDS 2010 to guide project teams through the process of becoming viable ventures with business plans to disseminate their innovations at scale. Participants will have the opportunity to explore the challenges of entrepreneurship and technology dissemination for developing markets with a diverse group of people from around the globe. |  |
|
| OSCON | July 19-23 | Portland, OR |
| In its 12th year, OSCON continues to be the premier meeting ground for everyone using open source. At OSCON, you’ll participate in hundreds of sessions covering open source languages and platforms, practical tutorials, inspirational keynotes, an Expo Hall, and great networking events. Join over 2,500 people who are passionate about open source. |  |
|
| Netroots Nation | July 22-25 | Las Vegas, Nev. |
| The Center for American Progress Action Fund, Netroots Nation and America’s Voice collaborate for the annual gathering of digital progressives. |  |
|
| Bridge to Integrated Marketing & Fundraising | July 26-28 | Maryland |
| The 5th Annual Bridge to Integrated Marketing and Fundraising Conference combines the resources of two major organizations: The Association of Fundraising Professionals, Washington, DC Metro Area Chapter (AFP/DC), and the Direct Marketing Association of Washington (DMAW). Designed to bring together some of the biggest buyers, sellers and users of fundraising and direct marketing products and services, this three-day event features nationally and internationally renowned speakers and top cutting-edge educational programming. |  |
|
| August | ||
| Craigslist Foundation Boot Camp | Aug. 14 | Berkeley, Calif. |
| Craigslist Foundation believes strong communities and neighborhoods are cornerstone of society. Boot Camp helps people learn how to make a positive impact in their communities and neighborhoods. The expanded focus aims at community builders and people engaged with their neighborhoods and social good across all sectors. |  |
|
| September | ||
| Clinton Global Initiative | Sept. 21-23 | New York City |
| Building on President Clinton’s lifetime in public service, the Clinton Global Initiative reflects his belief that governments need collaboration from the private sector, non-governmental organizations and global leaders to confront the world’s most pressing problems. |  |
|
| Web of Change | Sept. 22-26 | Hollyhock, Cortes Island |
| This 10th gathering has grown to about 90 participants who are seeking ways to harness the power of the Internet to effect social change. | ||
| Communicating Sustainability | Sept. 22-23 | Santa Clara, Calif. |
| Communicating Sustainability 2010: Integrating Social Responsibility Into Your Organization’s DNA will provide you with new tools and some inspiring new models of sustainability and communications that every organization could benefit from knowing about. |  |
|
| Mobile Giving Conference | Sept. 27-28 | Malibu, Calif. |
| This conference will focus on offering nonprofits — education, faith-based, disaster and cause-related organizations — best practice tools and solutions to communicate, serve, broaden awareness and raise financial support through mobile giving and other wireless services. Attending will be leaders from the carrier, wireless, technology, nonprofit and social entrepreneurship spaces to address the rapidly evolving mobile fundraising and communication marketplace. |  |
|
| The IdeaFestival | Sep. 29-Oct. 2 | Louisville, Ky. |
| I spoke not long ago at the IdeaFestival, a world-class event that attracts highly diverse thinkers from around the globe to explore and celebrate innovation, imagination and cutting-edge ideas. |  |
|
| GoingGreen West | Sept. 14-16 | San Francisco |
| The third year of the green technologies conference organized by AlwaysOn. | ||
| Women in Computing | Sep. 28-Oct. 2 | Atlanta |
| A program of the Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology, this gathering is designed to advance the research and career interests of women in computing. | ||
| October | ||
| Open Video Conference | Oct. 1-2 | New York City |
| Michael Wesch is giving a keynote address at the second Open Video Conference. Dubbed “the explainer” by Wired magazine, Michael Wesch is a cultural anthropologist exploring the effects of new media on society and culture. The conference gathers top thinkers looking to bring open source alternatives to the often proprietary world of online video. |  |
|
| Social Capital Markets* | Oct. 4-6 | San Francisco |
| Social Capital Markets (SoCap) will return this fall for its third gathering of social entrepreneurs and other change-makers. |  |
|
| Direct Marketing Association | Oct. 9-14 | San Francisco |
| DMA2010 offers the latest technology, current research, renegade thinkers, industry giants, hundreds of educational sessions, thousands of your peers and the world’s largest exhibition for direct and interactive marketers. DMA2010 will feature hundreds of educational sessions, roundtables, forums and case studies led by the direct marketing community’s best and brightest thought leaders. | |
|
| The Feast Conference | October 14-16 | New York, NY |
| The Feast Conference gathers the world’s greatest innovators from across industries and society to empower, inspire and engage each other in creating world-shaking change. |  |
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| Bioneers | Oct. 15-17 | San Rafael, Calif. |
| Bioneers is the premier environmental conference where social and scientific innovators focus on solutions inspired by nature and human ingenuity. |  |
|
| Blackbaud’s Conference for Nonprofits | Oct. 20–22 | Washington, D.C. |
| The gathering provides three days of educational content dedicated to your specific needs and opportunities to network and interact with your peers and industry experts. Keynote speakers will help you learn about the key issues while offering engaging and inspiring stories. |  |
|
| Pop!Tech | Oct. 20-23 | Camden, Maine |
| Pop!Tech is a network of remarkable people, extraordinary conferences, powerful ideas and innovative projects that are changing the world. I attended one year — it’s a great gathering. |  |
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| November | ||
| BigTent | Nov. 18–20 | Houston, TX |
| The BigTent Conference is an unprecedented 3 day gathering of youth leaders, educators, advocates and young people who will share strategies, philosophies and tools to advance the health and wellbeing of families and children. The conference combines inspiring presentations, practical workshops, celebratory community building, and a challenging call to action aimed at motivating and equipping individuals, organizations, and communities to do their part to ensure that children and youth are ready for college, work, and life by age 21. |  |
|
| December | ||
| Green Awards | December 2 | London |
| The Green Awards has become a fixture the global eco calendar as the leading industry awards for sustainability in marketing and communications. The Green Awards recognizes excellence in 16 categories. |  |
|
| Conference on Philanthropy and the Leadership Forum | Dec. 3 | Boston |
| Presenters will deliver 75-minute sessions on a topic within their expertise. Roundtable facilitators guide a topic-specific conversation with other conference attendees during lunch. The process this year is fully online in an effort to both conserve resources and streamline administration. | ||
Other gatherings will include social change or nonprofit tracks, including Social Media World Forum Europe, BlogWorld Expo and others.
Could not find any 2010 listing for:
• Momentum (held in Sept. 2009 in San Francisco)
• Beyond Broadcast (held in June 2009 in LA)
• TweetCamp (held in June 2009 in the UK)
• Reboot Britain (held in July 2009 in the UK)
• ISKME’s Big Ideas Fest (held in December 2009 in Half Moon Bay, Calif.)
• Organizing 2.0 (held on Dec. 5 in New York)
• Alliance for Community Media (ACM) regional conferences
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JD Lasica works with nonprofits, social change organizations and businesses on social media strategies. See his profile, visit his business blog, contact JD or leave a comment.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported.
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