May Workshop

On Friday, May 8th T4T Chicago will be hosting a workshop to introduce their new website at www.t4tchicago.org scheduled to be launched on May 1st (the current site is grossly outdated as you may see by visiting the site).
By attending the workshop you'll not only learn the new features of the site, but also earn points toward new computers for your own organization. To RSVP, either e-mail rdill@uw-mc.org or visit our Facebook group and sign-up on our May Workshop event. If you don't know how to do this, you should definitely be attending our workshops.

New Look - Same Goal

If you've taken notice, you'll see that we've gone from our classic orange/green combo to a blue on blue looks. We think it looks a bit sharper, but it hasn't changed our program.
We continue to host monthly workshops - including our workshop tomorrow on using Event Brite - and we're really looking forward to the launch of our new website, coming at the end of April. Once up, you'll see links to this blog, our Facebook group (look for "Teaming 4 Technology") and our Twitter (name "Team4tech") account. All of which you can of course begin to follow by clicking on the links provided.
If you've not already signed up for our monthly newsletter, you can do so by sending an e-mail to rdill@uw-mc.org or posting a comment on this blog.

Let's Surf the Web 2.0

Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, Blogger-you've heard these names and you've heard of Web 2.0, but how can they help your non-profit?

No, I didn't come up with the title for this blog, but "Let's Surf the Web 2.0" is the name of a great event in which either you or your favorite charitable non-profit organization should participate.

On Friday, October 31st (Halloween), Deloitte and T4T is hosting a free workshop at 111 S. Wacker to discuss social networking and strategies you can use to market your organization to a wider audience. Learn how Web 2.0 can help you cost-effectively:
- Attract volunteers and donations
- Advertise events
- Drive traffic to your Web site
- Build awareness for your organization and cause

Since 2007, Deloitte has partnered with Teaming for Technology on their annual "Impact Day" to provide IT consulting services to Chicago's charitable non-profit agencies. The feedback from these events in addition to the newly created "First Friday" series has been so positive that Deloitte and T4T decided to partner once again this year for a follow-up session to address web 2.0 technologies.

This is a complementary event, but space is limited. To confirm your spot, RSVP via e-mail to uschidclc@deloitte.com no later than Friday, October 24th.

Facebook Your Group

Do you have a Facebook profile? Chances are if you've made your way to this blog the answer is yes... in which case read on and send this to people who otherwise need to get the message on behalf of their NPO. If not, we highly encourage you to go to www.Facebook.com and sign up. Creating a profile is free and relatively simple, yet the Facebook application is a very powerful tool and can help spread the message about your favorite organization. Once you’ve created a profile (or if you have a profile), one extra step we recommend you to perform is to create a group. You can name this group anything, upload photos, logos, etc. and then go about inviting others to join. Creating a group for your organization helps to create a captive audience for you to inform about upcoming events and programs. You can also post videos and news feeds about current events impacting your organization. Of course, you may also find that a group for your organization already exists, in which case you can just as easily join to stay up-to-date on what is going on with your organization. Facebook also offers a host of tools that enable you to search for groups that are similar and may offer some “best practices” opportunities for you as well.
Teaming for Technology will be hosting a workshop designed to introduce Facebook and go through setting up a profile and a group in their forthcoming “First Friday” seminar on Friday, October 3rd at 560 W. Lake from 1:00-2:30PM. As always, participation only requires an RSVP to Randy Dill at rdill@uw-mc.org or call 312-906-2404.

Deloitte's Saving Grace

For 11 years, Teaming for Technology has been in Chicago... but you wouldn't know it by the way we operate. As great as our concept is, the structure behind T4T Chicago has fallen far behind the times. When T4T first began, it was part of the AmeriCorps Vista program - which supplied T4T with volunteers on a one-year assignment. That was great for bodies, but terrible for sustaining relationships and continuous progression. Today, AmeriCorps has dropped their support (and rightly so) and it's up to the discretion of United Way of Metropolitan Chicago to breathe new life into this program or to let it fall by the way side.
So far, UW is huffing and puffing - thanks to Deloitte.
Deloitte sees the value in T4T - which is to provide small to mid-size non-profits with IT insight and help determine best practices. Before heading to the rescue of other non-profits, however, Deloitte and UW see the need to get T4T Chicago itself up to speed, which is why you don't see a website connected to this blog. Before we drive ahead, we're getting our own house in order - and you can expect to see a post on this blog when the site is up and we're fully operational.
In the interim, we are reaching out in simple but effective ways. We've carved out a niche in UW of Metro Chicago's outreach newsletter by providing "Tech tips" that include pieces such as creating a Twitter profile and also supplementing these tips with monthly workshops on the topic.
The bottom line it twofold - you don't have to be high tech to help people gain access to high tech, and realizing sustainability through a deliberate plan of action is vital to continued existence. Thanks to the grace and dedication of Deloitte, we'll all be realizing the benefits of both. Stay tuned for further advancement, and in the meantime please do reach out. We may not have all the bells and whistles, but we can and will help.

T4Twitter

Teaming 4 Technology will be hosting a free, 2-hour seminar on setting up a Twitter profile and using it to attract people to your charity. It'll be hosted at the United Way of Metro Chicago on Friday, Sept. 4 and goes from 1-3PM. This is meant to be a very simple, straight-forward workshop that gets you set-up and shows you how to find others. To register just drop us an e-mail to t4tchicago@gmail.com or t4tchgo@gmail.com.

Under Construction

Teaming for Technology is not new - we've been around for 10 years but at present are a bit scattered. What we're doing in Chicago is doing a complete overhaul of everything. With the help of our friends at Deloitte, we're aiming to have a new site launched by year's end.
In the interim, we're catching up and making contacts with Chicago's tech community while preparing to reach out to the other Teaming for Technologies that may already be out there in other cities. We're fortunate here to have some great connections with other groups such as our friends over at Tech Cocktail and United Way of Metro Chicago. Both have been wonderful supporters and we mutually anticipate great partnerships in forging ahead in the coming months.
For now, you can find us over at the United Way building in Chicago (560 W. Lake St.) - or just drop us a line here and we'll be checking our blog regulary while hosting a workshop just about every month. If you've any tech-realted interests from either side of the industry (non-profits needing tech help or tech companies wanting to reach out to charities) let us know.
Until next time,
T4T Chicago