Wouldn't it be great if complicated technology concepts were explained in a simple way that's easy to understand? Imagine how something like this could assist you in training sessions for patrons or staff. Well look no further, Common Craft creates explanatory videos "in plain English" that cover topics like money, society, and technology.
 
In this free webinar, Stephanie Gerding from TechSoup will interview Lee LeFever, from Common Craft to learn more about their learning videos and how they are created. We will also hear how librarians are using these videos to support the needs of their community.

Wednesday, November 18, 11 a.m. Pacific time (12 p.m. Mountain time, 1 p.m. Central time, 2 p.m. Eastern time)

Space is limited, register today!

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Whether you're a regular TechSoup user or haven't heard of us til now, we've got a free webinar coming up that will likely show you something new about how you can get more out of the variety of (free) services we offer to nonprofits and libraries.

Learn How TechSoup Can Help Your Organization

Join TechSoup.org content creators, community leaders, and customer service support on November 12 from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon Pacific for a tour of how your organization can use all that TechSoup has to offer to improve your technology and help reach your mission. TechSoup, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, is working toward a time when every nonprofit and social benefit organization will have the technology resources and knowledge they need to operate at their full potential.

We'll walk you through the process of registering and requesting donated and discounted products from more than 35 donor partners like Microsoft and Adobe. We'll also take you on a virtual tour of other resources in TechSoup's tech arsenal including;

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On Wednesday, November 4 TechSoup Talks! will be conducting two webinars that highlight specific Microsoft programs or services useful to nonprofits and libraries.

This webinar, with environmental experts from Microsoft, will be broken into two 45-minute parts; one for small organizations and one for large organizations. These will help you learn how to reduce the environmental impact of your information technology and how to effectively use IT to improve your organizations' efficiency.

TechSoup is a nonprofit that partners with corporations to distribute software and hardware donations to nonprofits and libraries. You may already know about our donation programs that can save nonprofits and libraries approximately 90% on Microsoft products and Symantec's Norton Antivirus donations but did you know we offer a typing program, discount on Flickr, and more? Attend this free webinar at 11 a.m. Pacific on Wednesday, October 28 and learn about TechSoup for Libraries and how we can help you offer more to your patrons and staff while saving money.

Are you tracking your data through multiple spreadsheets, emails and sheets of paper found throughout your office? You're not alone.

Join us on Wednesday, October 21 at 10 a.m. Pacific to learn about Telosa's Exceed! Basic, a tool that can help you organize your data, especially that which is donor related. Not only will you learn how to get your data into one place, but we'll discuss how you can use this tool to streamline and automate many of the routine, yet time-consuming tasks associated with fundraising and donor management.

The Internet is a great tool for communicating and connecting. We now have a variety of ways to do so, but which one is best suited for your needs? Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn? Each serves its purpose and audience, but what if your needs aren't served with these tools? Create your own!

Ning is a powerful tool that allows you to not only create a dynamic, easy to update website, but its functionality allows your community to create accounts, share information, connect with you and other people in your community and work collaboratively.

Kami Griffiths will interview Manny Hernandez, author of Ning For Dummies who will give an overview of Ning and how it is being used by several organizations. Learn what it takes to get a Ning site set-up and the resources needed to keep it going.

Please join us on Thursday, October 15, 11 a.m. Pacific time. Space is limited so register today!

TechSoup is about to embark on a grand series of events to help nonprofits learn and demonstrate ways to effectively tell their stories. Some of my favorite causes have captured my loyalty and heart strings through amazing use of video and images. Last year, I blogged about what a hoot the AARP voting video was. I not only signed up for their list (even though I'm far from their 55-year-old target age), I also forwarded it to everyone in my address book. I did the same for The Story of Stuff and The Girl Effect, which we've also mentioned on this blog in the past. Elliot blogged about a group that gives cameras to local groups around the world in order to share their stories. Our partner in Canada featured tips on creating digital stories at a recent Net Tuesday event.

The use of telling stories through photos has also been discussed here various times, with tips on different photo-sharing and slideshow tools discussed. All of these are great examples of using video and images to tell compelling, poignant, and memorable stories about the important work nonprofits contribute for the benefit of the world.

These stories don't need to be fancy or expensive. You don't need a professional videographer or even a professional grade camera to capture video or photos. One of our newest partners, Flip Video, joined TechSoup's donation program this week and is offering low-cost, handheld video cameras to nonprofits for this very purpose. Learn how to use them as well as how to craft your digital story, with these three, upcoming webinars.

What: NTEN is holding an online workshop on social media using a Choose Your Own Expert format. They've gathered a group of nonprofit social media experts to help you devise a solid organizational strategy and learn the secrets of a variety of social media tools.  After an opening plenary by Beth Kanter, you'll choose one of 4 breakout sessions:

Later today, TechSoup will be hosting a free TechSoup Talks! webinar with one of our donor partners, Acteva, to discuss the features and answer questions about their event-registration, ticketing, and management tool. Here are more details:

Acteva: Event Registration Made Easy
11 am Pacific today!

Are you planning an event for your organization? Have a big fundraising banquet coming up? What about a member conference or alumni gathering? Maybe you run a theater or hold paid training events for community members. Acteva might be the right event registration solution for your nonprofit or library!

Through TechSoup, Acteva Plus event registration, ticketing, and payment management solutions is available for donation to nonprofit organizations and public libraries for a $50 admin fee.

In this webinar, TechSoup's Becky Wiegand will interview Ed Lemire, Acteva's Executive Vice President, and Jonathan Cohen from Cohen Camps — sponsors of Camps Pembroke, Tel Noar, and Tevya — who recently held two events for his camp alumni using Acteva. We'll discuss the overall features of Acteva's toolset and the ins and outs of planning your next successful event!

Join us at 11 Pacific: https://cc.readytalk.com/cc/schedule /display.do?udc=1ljm0iyzznp2

In addition to this webinar, we'd like to invite you to share your experiences using Acteva to plan an event at your organization, to ask any questions about how their tool functions, or about their donation program for nonprofits and libraries through TechSoup. You're welcome to discuss your thoughts on other event registration, payment processing, and ticketing tools you've used as well.

Kevin blogged last week about the upcoming Online Nonprofit Technology Conference that NTEN is hosting on September 16-17. I want to add a bit more to the discussion about it here.

First, TechSoup users are eligible to get a 25% discount off the registration price just for being part of TechSoup. Type "TS25" as your discount code when you register.