Attend the Mobilize Your Cause Bootcamp in NYC

Take charge of social & mobile media for your cause or campaign

At the Personal Democracy Forum in New York on June 2, Katrin Verclas — founder of MobileActive and a partner in Socialbrite — and I will be presenting the first Mobilize Your Cause Bootcamp. I’ve been giving social media bootcamps for some time, and Katrin jets off to another continent every other week to give presentations on mobile activism, so this should be a special event.

Please tweet, post to Facebook or share the word with your own networks.

We’re setting aside part of the afternoon for talks and Q&As with Craig Newmark, founder of Craigslist, Nicola Wells of the Fair Immigration Reform Movement and Rachel LaBruyere of the Reform Immigration FOR America campaign. I’ll also be on a panel at Personal Democracy Forum the next day.

See below for details and how to register.

What

For the first time, Personal Democracy Forum is bringing you an interactive workshop that will dive deeply into strategy, tactics and tools available to activists and change agents.

Program

The bootcamp will offer a deep look at the following:

• Social media for social good: Examples of how campaigns or ongoing initiatives have been successful in raising awareness, participation or funds for social causes, nonprofits and political movements.
• Mobile action: Examples of how text/SMS campaigns and mobile applications are gaining momentum as a platform for social change, with an emphasis on U.S. campaigns.
• How to build an activist community: We’ll explore how different organizations have successfully used social and mobile tools to activate their members, spread awareness, engage members and raise funds.
• New technologies: An overview of the best “social good” tools and resources available for advocates looking to make a difference.

Who should come

• Social media/community managers at nonprofit organizations
• Editors & managers of political and political reform sites
• Communications, marketing and PR professionals
• Techies, geeks, nerds and mobile fanboys & fangirls
• CUNY students and faculty
• Activists, advocates and those who want to make the world a better place

Speakers

Katrin Verclas is founder and executive editor of MobileActive.org. She has spoken at Skoll World Forum, TED, Pop!Tech, SXSW, the Nonprofit Technology Conference, the Politics Online Conference, We Media and the Open Society Institute, among other places. She is an experienced trainer currently engaged in a six-country engagement focusing on social and new media for NGOs focused on transparency and governance in repressive media.

JD Lasica is founder of Socialbrite.org – social tools for social change – and a pioneer in social media. JD also runs the consultancy Socialmedia.biz and was co-founder of Ourmedia.org, the world’s first free video hosting and sharing site. He has presented at social media bootcamps, SXSW, Macworld, Digital Hollywood, Blogworld, Harvard’s Berkman Center, Stanford, MIT, NYU, UC Berkeley, universities in Sweden, the Citizen Reporters’ Forum in Seoul, the Cannes Film Festival and elsewhere.

Special guests

	The bootcamp will include a special appearance by Craig Newmark, founder of Craigslist and a political reform advocate. Craig will join in a conversation about developments in the social change sector and how to build an activist community. Bootcamp participants will engage in a Q&A with the speakers during this 45-minute segment.
	The bootcamp will also feature a discussion with Nicola Wells, an organizer for the Fair Immigration Reform Movement, a national coalition of grassroots immigrant rights organizations, a project of the Center for Community Change. Nicola focuses her work on building strong state-based campaign for federal immigration reform.
	Appearing with Nicola will be Rachel LaBruyere, deputy online director for the Reform Immigration FOR America (RI4A) campaign. She manages the RI4A cell phone action network, a text message network harnessing mobile technology to fight for comprehensive immigration reform. Rachel runs the Center for Community Change’s 100,000-strong mobile list, one of the largest lists for advocacy in the U.S.

When

Wednesday, June 2, from noon to 5 pm – the day before the full conference begins.

Where

CUNY Graduate School of Journalism
219 W. 40th Street
Room 308
New York, NY 10018
Map & directions

How much

• $199 for one Registration. Receive 25% off for two or more bootcamp registrations from the same company.
• Non-CUNY students and faculty: $40 (email me for discount code)

Format

The bootcamp will use a roundtable approach: In small groups we will delve into strategies and tactics and encourage dialogue, skepticism and interaction throughout. The presenters will also provide handouts and a plethora of resources for you to take home.

Wiki

The bootcamp wiki is at http://mobilizeyourcauses.wikispaces.com/. Please add your name and affiliation so other attendees will know who’s coming. We will ask you prior to the workshop to ask questions of issues and topics you would like to see addressed, and to share links & resources.

Food and drinks

Attendees are encouraged to bring a brown bag lunch. We’ll have a mid-afternoon break, and tea, snacks and water will be provided.JD Lasica, founder and former editor of Socialbrite, is co-founder of Cruiseable. Contact JD or follow him on Twitter or Google Plus.