GCVS are building a programme of community activities at their Glasgow venue, The Albany. The rooms and facilities at the venue will be available for use at evenings and weekends, hosting a range of practical and creative activities. This is the building where Social Media for Social Good is held and where we deliver GCVS's social media training programme - it's a fantastic space.

You can help shape the programme...you may have a skill (eg. photography, art, social media, IT) you wish to train others in, or you may be looking for space to hold your own events and meetings. 

Get in touch with Nina Honeyman, Development & Community Engagement Officer, GCVS - nina.honeyman@gcvs.org.uk | call on 0141 354 6521 | DM @TheAlbany_GCVS

As some of you will know I volunteer with Scottish Community Foundation, sitting on their National Grants Committee. As part of my role I now sit on the Scottish steering group for localgiving.com, a hyper-local online giving platform owned 50% by Community Foundation Network and 50% by the Ardbrakc Foundation.

Localgiving.com is unique in the fact that various rounds of match funding will be rolled out during 2012, effectively allowing donors to double their money. From 14th May any donation made to Scottish charities registered with Localgiving.com will receive matched funds from a pot worth £15,000.

The Localgiving.com May Match Fund starts at 9am on 14 th May and will continue until the full £15,000 is allocated to Scottish Charities.

By making a donation to a favourite local charity via Localgiving.com, donors can double their gift and the charity receives twice the support as Localgiving.com Scotland matches the amount, with a further 25% coming from Gift Aid. Over 50 Scottish charities have registered with the site, all of which are eligible for match funding. Charities and groups not already registered are encouraged to become part of the initiative by contacting the Scottish Community Foundation or Localgiving.com. Registration is free for the first three months then just £6 per month.

In order to concentrate on my consultancy work with Third Sector Lab and organising Be Good Be Social events I've taken the difficult decision to pass on ownership of Third Sector Forums. That new owner could be you.

Third Sector Forums is arguably the most popular charity and social enterprise forum in the UK with 1550 members and over 7600 posts to date. The forum has a Facebook page with 2320 fans and a Twitter account with 3104 followers. The forum has a team of volunteer super-admins who keep it clear of spam and a highly active user base. The forum also performs really well on Google. The forum is built on the vBulletin platform ensuring it is robust and easily updatable. The new owner would get the full website, userbase, domains, social media accounts, etc.

The right person/organisation could really take Third Sector Forums to the next level. Possible people I'm looking to hear from include:

- Third sector umbrella bodies (CVS, social enterprise bodies, etc).

- Social entrepreneurs.

- A co-operative.

- A funding body, foundation, trust or other philanthropic org.

- A consortium of orgs (possibly a tech firm, charity, social enterprise, etc)

- Charities involved in third sector tech.

- Techy types with a passion for social good.

- A third sector publication (magazine, newsletter, news site, blog, etc).

- A business who works closely with the third sector.

- Anyone else who feels they could run Third Sector Forums.

If you're interested in taking over the forums drop me an email - ross[@]thirdsectorlab.co.uk - or tweet/DM me by Monday 7th May 12pm GMT at the latest. I'm not necessarily looking for money, my main concern is that the forums end up in the right hands.

Bookings can now be made for Scotland's first full-day third sector social media conference - Social Media for Social Good - via the GCVS website. Full programme below.

When: 9am - 4.30pm Thursday 26th April 2012

Where: The Albany Learning and Conference Centre, 44 Ashley St, Glasgow, G3 6DS

Price: £99 for one delegate. £185 for two. Further 20% discount for GCVS members. Prices exc VAT.

We've teamed up with Glasgow Council for the Voluntary Sector to bring you an amazing line-up of speakers and interactive workshops to help you get the most out of digital media for your charity, community group or social enterprise. 

Social media has transformed the way the third sector campaigns, raises funds, sells, recruits volunteers and raises awareness. The online world has truly transformed the way we engage with our beneficiaries, the public & key influencers.

Social media is no longer a 'nice to have' element of your marketing, PR, campaigning and fundraising mix – it's an essential tool which can transform the way your organisation connects with the world.

Our one day conference will be anything but dull, we'll be exploring key case studies, the latest digital media trends and providing you with the skills you need to make a mark with social media.

As well as being an amazing learning experience, ‘Social media for social good’ is a great networking opportunity. Our event is suitable for charities, community groups, social enterprises and other third sector organisations as well as public or private orgs looking to connect with the sector.

Programme

9.00am Registration & Tea/Coffee

9.30am Speaker: 

Ross McCulloch – Third Sector Lab & Be Good Be Social

Third sector social media – A look at why we cannot ignore digital & what 2012 has in store

9.45am Workshop Slot One - choice of 4 workshops:

- Conrad Rossouw - Digital Manager, Shelter Scotland 

Measuring success - Social media monitoring and analysis

- Anna Cook - Content strategist and web copywriter

Better blogging - Making your blog work for your organisation

- Martin Keane - Social Media Strategist, Third Sector Lab & Online Marketing Officer, SCIAF

Facebook tactics - Getting the most out of the world’s biggest social network

- Kate Henderson and June MacLeod - GCVS 

Inbox heaven - Creating email newsletters that people actually want to read

11.00am Tea & Coffee break

11.15am Workshop Slot Two - choice of 4 workshops:

- Conrad Rossouw - Digital Manager, Shelter Scotland 

Measuring success - Social media monitoring and analysis

- Anna Cook - Content strategist and web copywriter

Better blogging - Making your blog work for your organisation

- Martin Keane - Social Media Strategist, Third Sector Lab & Online Marketing Officer, SCIAF

Twitter tactics - How your organisation can make 140 characters work for you

- Kate Henderson and June MacLeod - GCVS 

Inbox heaven - Creating email newsletters that people actually want to read

12.30pm Lunch in the Albany Cafe

1.20pm Speaker:

Jamie Livingstone – Communications and Campaigns Manager, Oxfam Scotland

Digital influencer – How social media can play a key role when working with journalists, politicians and beyond. (15mins talk and 5 mins Q&A)

1.40pm Workshop slot Three – choice of 4 workshops:

- Sara Thomas - Fundraiser, MND Scotland 

Money talks - Online fundraising & social media

- Martin Dewar - Digital Director, Young Scot

Young people - Engaging with 11 to 26 yr olds online

- Ross McCulloch - Founder, Third Sector Lab & Be Good Be Social

Back to basics - Creating the world’s quickest social media strategy

- Alison Hutcheson - Founder, Woods Noble Media

Storytelling with video - Making online videos that people connect with 

2.55pm Workshop slot Four – choice of 4 workshops:

- Sara Thomas - Fundraiser, MND Scotland 

Money talks - Online fundraising & social media

- Martin Dewar - Digital Director, Young Scot

Young people - Engaging with 11 to 26 yr olds online

- Workshop Host TBC - Blackbaud Europe

Fundraising on the move - Getting the most out of mobile technology

- Alison Hutcheson - Founder, Woods Noble Media

Storytelling with video - Making online videos that people connect with

4.10pm Speaker:

Ed Henderson - Jack Draws Anything

The little boy with the big art - How six year old Jack Henderson raised over £31,000 for charity with a little help from social media. (15 mins talk and 5 mins Q&A)

4.30pm Closing comments

BOOK TODAY

Facebook Pages from Strike Anywhere on Vimeo.

So...Timeline for Pages - yea or nay?

CC image courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/richiec

The cost of shooting high quality video is at an all-time low and watching videos online has never been more popular - Cisco predict that 90% of web traffic will be video by 2013. Video can be a powerful way for third sector organisations to bring their work to life.

Part of the GCVS social media training programme, our hands-on workshop will teach you how to plan, shoot, edit and upload video for the web using software and equipment that won't break the bank. You’ll come away from the workshop with working knowledge of storyboarding, planning a shoot, using audio and video equipment, interview techniques, editing your content, how to upload your videos to the major platforms, such as YouTube and Vimeo, and simple ways to attract more viewers. 

The workshop is hosted by Be Good Be Social video wonder woman Erin Maguire - if you've ever been to one of our events she's the one behind the camera and if you've ever watched our talks online it's thanks to her. Erin has 15 years experience as a sound/video/lighting technician, 6 years as a filmmaker and 4 as a web media producer. She knows her stuff. I'll also be on hand during the workshop to help Erin out.

Hope you can join us on 22nd March 9.30am-4.30pm, bookings can be made now via the GCVS website.

Those of you using the new Facebook timeline for pages will notice that you can no longer set a custom application as the default landing tab non-fans see. So no more welcome landing pages badgering people to 'like to unlock' content. While the aggressive social media marketeers out there may weep it is a victory for user experience and it should mean that truly engaging, interesting content floats to the surface.

According to TechCrunch default landing tabs only drive 10% of the total page app traffic. 90% comes from published links and ads, which still function the same without the default landing tab capability. Theoretically therefore it could only cause a maximum of a 10% drop in page app traffic, much of the way pages use apps will stay the same.

So is the death of the Facebook page default landing tab a good thing for users?