Hi folks,
Trellon is beginning work on a new book about building effective social networks and social media platforms using Drupal. We are looking for an organization that would be interesed in having us build out a social networking platform for them to build stronger relationships with their constituents. All we ask in return is that you allow us to use the platform as the example site for our book. You can read more details below.
This is a great opportunity for an organization with a great cause to jump into the social web. There is no extensive application process. We just request a one page explanation of your organization, mission and why you feel you will benefit from the use of a social networking platform to engage your constituency base.
Contact us at http://trellon.com/contact_us or email Michael Haggerty at mhaggerty@trellon.com if you are interested.
Thanks,
Riche
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Riche Zamor | Senior Internet Strategist | Trellon, LLC
web www.trellon.com | email rzamor@trellon.com
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Dear NPO Technologist -
My name is Michael Haggerty and I am the Chief Internet Strategist for Trellon, LLC. We are a strategy and development firm specializing in the use of social media for creating web sites, online communities, social networks and CRM solutions for non-profits, NGOs, political campaigns and socially responsible businesses.
We are constructing a training series focused on open source software and working on the first component of the series, which will be a book about building social networks with Drupal. This is intended to be an authoritative reference on what you can do with Drupal in terms of social networking and how to do it, written from a very pragmatic perspective. As part of this volume, we plan on putting together a web site to demonstrate the concepts used, which will include the use of personalized user profiles, user generated media, personal networks, groups where users can self-organize, online collaboration tools, qualitative rating systems, connecting with Facebook and Twitter, and much more.
In conjunction with the book, we are looking for one organization to work with who could benefit from having a social network in place and use it for a good cause. We would provide you with a completed, working system, built to high standards and similar to Facebook in some ways, that includes a complete content management system and training on how to use the tools. If you are currently using Ning, Kickapps, or Social Go to maintain a network, this could easily replace that system and become a more powerful substitute.
When delivered, you would be responsible for hosting and administering the system, albeit with some help from us in setting it up and showing your team how to use it. We would expect feedback on the pros and cons of the system for your purposes in return. Work on the system will begin in July, and we expect to deliver the finished product in early September.
We are accepting applications from organizations who would like to work with us in this effort from now until June 30, 2009. We will be making decisions about who to work with based on the importance of the organizational mission, the financial need of the organization, the potential to benefit from the presence of a social network, and the alignment of that potential with the actual topics discussed in the book. We are pretty nice people here at Trellon, and realize most people at non-profits have a lot going on, so there is no need to make your application overly formal, a one page description of why you want to do this would be perfect.
The one major caveat to be aware of is that we plan on distributing the finished site with the book to demonstrate the concepts discussed. This is open source software, and we are really interested in helping broad groups of people understand what you can do with it. Only apply if you are comfortable with the idea that other people could be setting up something very similar in the near future.
Questions? Concerns? Please feel free to get in touch with me at mhaggerty@trellon.com. Otherwise, you can apply for this opportunity using the contact us form on Trellon.com. Otherwise, I look forward to hearing from some organizations who are ready to get social!
Best Regards,
Michael Haggerty