This article is written by Tess Gauthier, Project Manager at the Snelling Center for Government The Snelling Center for Government has created and redeveloped a total of 18 municipal websites through the Vermont Digital Economy Project. Recent changes in the state’s Open Meeting Law, which is intended to promote participation in government and advance public…
By connecting compelling visuals to a story, a good video can inspire, inform, agitate, or promote an organization or cause. Just a few years ago, creating an inspiring video was out of reach for most small nonprofits, but advances in technology and the availability of free online tools have opened up a new way for any organization to tell…
You may have seen my previous article about Pat Corcoran, the founder of IBM’s Business Continuity & Resiliency Services Group and one of the world’s premier experts in business continuity. After completing the hands-on disaster preparedness for nonprofits workshop for the more than 20 Vermont food shelf representatives, Pat was kind enough to share his…
This article was written with the help of Tess Gauthier, Project Manager at the Snelling Center for Government As part of the Vermont Digital Economy Project, our partners at the Snelling Center for Government have now successfully implemented new or updated websites for 15 towns across Vermont, and they plan to create another 10 by…
The most important part of creating a new downtown Wi-Fi zone is not the technology involved. Certainly, the equipment that we have been using, produced by a West-Coast company called Meraki that was founded by two MIT grad students and is now owned by Cisco, is enterprise-level stuff, able to withstand even Vermont’s harsh winters.…
“There’s only so much time in a day!” That’s a common response from my nonprofit clients when I advise them that their community organization should be posting on Facebook 3 to 5 times every week. And, to be honest, many of them are ready to completely give up when I get around to explaining how…
Our project has highlighted the role and power of social media, especially Facebook, in assisting both nonprofit organizations and small businesses in expanding their audience, getting donations, and increasing sales revenue. It has also touted the role that Front Porch Forum can play in bringing a community closer to together. Lately, I’ve been thinking about…
Many organizations assume that when they post something to their organization’s Facebook page, everyone who has liked the page will see it. This is not the case. Just as your Facebook friends don’t see everything you post, neither do the fans of your page. In fact, late last year, Facebook tweaked its algorithm for determining…
Since we started this project, we have been working hard to implement Wi-Fi zones and Hotspots in towns across the state. We now have 17 active Zones and Hotspots (some of which are still in progress), using a total of 33 pieces of equipment, so we thought it was a good time to look back…
Vermont’s emergency managers have embraced social media and digital communications to keep Vermonters as informed as possible and recently added messages on Front Porch Forum to their outreach strategy. That’s why we asked Mark Bosma, the Vermont Department of Emergency Management & Homeland Security (DEMHS) Public Information Officer, to tell us more about this strategy.…