I admit there seems to be something oxymoronic about “tweeting with a purpose.” The very tentacles of the social media octopus seem, in many ways, to perpetuate a lack of purpose. If that is taking it too far, at the very least, it’s a dangerous time-drain.
I know for me, without beckoning monastic-like discipline, I can easily get lost in the Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn abyss. Only to wake up weeks later, wondering why it was I felt compelled to “Tweet this” or “Facebook that.” Alas, I breathe easily knowing such information has a 5-second shelf life—at best. No longer are the days when you have to wait for the next morning’s newspapers to bump your story to the bottom of the birdcage.
If posts, tweets and ‘what’s on your mind?’ are replaced almost immediately after you click the cold plastic keys, is there really justification in engaging? Are nonprofits and businesses creating new and valuable networks over the ethers? Can it help your bottom line or bottom lines (for those in public sphere)? What’s the point?
As the moon made way for the sun I decided to pull a small sampling from my Facebook stream. Here’s a peek, just as they appeared, in order and without edits:
Chico Bag: “The fan photo contest for a FREE ChicoBag ends today at noon! Only a few hours left to get your photos in.”
ARC of Butte County: “The Arc of the U.S. and all children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families lost its all time legislative champion with the death last night of Senator Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA).”
Arnold Schwarzenegger: “Video of my tour at Twitter HQ yesterday with co-founders Biz Stone & Evan Williams.”
Friend: “Madonna’s “Sticky and Sweet” tour gets more of a sticky than sweet response when she stands up and speaks out against discrimination.”
Friend: “Golden Valley Bank Founders BBQ tonight.”
Friend: “It’s that awkward time of year when the first three weeks of the U.S. Chess League season conflicts with the WNBA.”
Friend: “I am looking for a husband. Any takers?”
I found this exercise oddly rewarding. First of all, I learned something. I learned quite a few things actually. I didn’t know about the ChicoBag contest and I absolutely love ChicoBags. A few months ago, I was in a World Market in Bend Oregon, and as I reached to grab a pack of gum I bumped into a basket of ChicoBags. The clerk and fellow patrons must’ve thought I’d been stung by a bee. I got so excited to see the little recyclable bags.
I had a similar experience last weekend in the De Young Museum in San Francisco. Here I was taking a cappuccino break in the cafeteria after consuming toxic but scintillating amounts of art, when I caught the reflection of a green labeled Sierra Nevada Pale Ale behind the counter—again, with unadulterated enthusiasm. I don’t know about you but there is a sense of what must only be described as undeserving pride whenever I see such Chico gems outside our city lines.
Clearly, I’ve digressed.
This morning’s Facebook thread taught me about the late Senator Kennedy’s legislative work for people with disabilities. Healthcare, yes, but that he fought hard for children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families, I had not known. Our local Golden Valley Bank was having a BBQ—cool. Madonna was talking about something of significance—awesome. The U.S. Chess League conflicts with the Women’s National Basketball Association—um, ok.
But, other than learning stuff, does this better my business? Can these networks be mobilized to action?
The truth is, and not surprisingly, I don’t have definitive answers. A great deal of research has already been done about the impact and role of social media. There are ways to develop effective social media strategies (and tools) for outreach, fundraising, networking and branding.
In fact, I have been working with colleagues to train hundreds of local and international nonprofits about these very things. The North Valley Community Foundation’s curriculum at our Nonprofit Leadership Institute is plowing through new fields, exposing pitfalls to avoid and worthy mountains to climb.
There are countless ways to justify time spent on social media forums. But defining your measurement for success and holding yourself (or your staff) to that measurement is critical. Defining goals and outcomes will reveal what impact these tools are having.
Don’t just do it because (nearly) everyone is doing it…do it with a purpose!
For example, if you don’t have an audience on Twitter, then it doesn’t matter how often you tweet—to whom are you tweeting? If after great consideration, you believe this to be a social tool for you, then the first step would be to build your “twitter followers.” Chris Brogan (one of the best of the best) gives you the play by play in “Get More Twitter Followers TODAY.” Google him—trust me.
Speaking of trust, for most of you, your social media life has something to do with networking. But, that’s a means not an end. Ultimately, we want to be able to mobilize our networks to: donate to our cause, buy products, attend events, etcetera.
If our social media networks have yet to be mobilized, is all for naught? Of course not. You, your company or your organization, are establishing trust. Then, and only then, will you be able to pull off an effective online fundraiser or announce an event and have your e-network attend.
The point here is to be vigilant with your posts. Only share those things that will promote a greater understanding of your business or nonprofit. Make sure that your online presence correlates with the story a client or donor would hear if they left the ether-sphere and entered your bricks and mortar.
Be consistent. Be honest. Share the information and contacts you value most.
I’ll end by sharing the greatest social media gem I have stumbled upon. For anyone, at any point in their social media evolution, meet “Beth’s Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media.” Tweet it. Facebook it. Blog it. Grab a number #2 pencil or your Underwood Typewriter—just jot it down.
You’ll find a little more purpose behind your tweets, if you do!
Alexa Valavanis is the chief executive officer of the North Valley Community Foundation; a Northern California based nonprofit public charity, managing more than $6.5 million in assets – www.nvcf.org.

By Alexa Valavanis

By Ryne Johnson

On a beautiful but hot May day in 2001, I rode up to Peter Chu’s restaurant on my newly assembled “townie” and met Steve Kay for the first time. Three hours later, Steve and I had shared personal stories, professional experiences and scribbled out the initial business plan for what would become The ChicoProject, on a dinner napkin. Thus, literally, our company was forged on the very green concept of riding a bike to work.
By steadfastly following a simple ride to work, ride wherever around town approach, my physical condition evolved remarkably and rapidly. In less than a year, I completed my first Wildflower Century then went on that summer to finish the Davis Double Century, the Eastern Sierras Double Century and the first two-thirds of the Terrible Two Double Century—I met my match that day!
Riding my bike to work had become a passion that transformed my physical condition enormously, enhanced my creative thinking, I believe, and gave The ChicoProject a truly unique personality. Simply put, people thought I was the strangest person they had ever had a professional meeting with. “Oh, you rode your bike,” I would hear regularly, “how unusual.”
At first I didn’t pay much attention to these comments. I looked upon being able to ride to work as the one of the great benefits of coming back to Chico after years of commuter slavery in big cities. Within two years, however, notwithstanding all the very clear personal benefits of riding, it became harder and harder to maintain a ride-to-work lifestyle for two inescapable reasons: First, as the success of my company grew, I simply found it increasingly awkward to arrive to meetings sweaty and looking like I had just come from the gym, wearing shorts because I didn’t want my pant leg to get greasy. Second, I just couldn’t find a viable solution for getting my 6-year-old son to and from school in a semi convenient fashion on a bike. He just never could figure out why his father made him ride to school when all his friend’s parents, most of who lived closer to his school than we did, got to drive everyday—very uncool.
The handwriting was on the wall; my days on the bike were numbered. Ultimately, it became a personal struggle to maintain my odd riding lifestyle in the face of professional decorum, family harmony and simple convenience. The forces of modernity ultimately won out and I parked my bike to simply make my life work more simplistically.
Except for the occasional twinge I would experience whenever I would come across a finisher’s patch from a century ride over the next seven years, I really never gave my riding days much thought. I drove an air conditioned car, I arrived to meetings only five minutes late and my son developed a strong since of belonging to his environmentally unfriendly cohort. So what if I put on 20 lbs and elevated my cholesterol to the threshold of needing prescription therapy. I was living the American dream a gallon at a time.
Then Chico’s Ride to Work initiative came along and threw me out of my easy chair. The event really struck a chord with our organization, and I’m pleased to be able to boast that The ChicoProject has won its division two years running. What I’m not pleased about is the fact that both years, I was low man on the contribution list. Why? Well, nothing has changed in eight years: I still can’t afford to arrive to meetings sweaty with a greasy pant leg and my son now needs to be carted all over town, not just to school and don’t get me started on the 8th grade cool thing!
I know there are some hardcore bikers out there who are rolling their eyes saying “Give me a break, wimp,” with their kids riding next to them or strapped in a tow-behind cart. But here’s the point to this article: It’s not about the hardcore converted riders. Or at least it shouldn’t be. Bike to Work Week should be about everyone else as well, and it shouldn’t be just a week. It should be about getting regular people, people who have regular jobs and regular kids to work, school, shopping or play on a bike every day that it’s not pouring rain. If we figure that out, we might change the world.
So how do we do that? First we need to change the dress code and maybe even how we dress. If we made it to “Casual Friday” we can make it to “Bike Friendly Friday” then expand from there to Monday–Thursday. We have “technical” clothing for every other activity, what would it take to develop a fashionable line of clothes with zippered pant cuffs, vented shirts and chafe-proof inseams? Sounds like an entrepreneurial idea that our municipal organizations and community minded businesses could help launch by requesting employees to serve as role models and ride to work sporting their new “Esigner” (for Eco-design) clothes. Employees might find that they could pay for their new togs with their savings at the gas pump and over the long-term, lower healthcare costs.
The spin-off benefits of this transformation might be really interesting to watch. Bike shops might begin to replace car lots. By the way, if you want to see some of the few winners from last year’s gas price hikes that sent everyone else into an economic tail spin, go talk to your neighborhood bike shop owner. Trek and Specialized are huge fans of OPEC and so are their dealers!
Next, imagine if everyone was doing an hour more exercise each day by simply pedaling to and from the office? What would our calorie intake suddenly look like? Our food consumption and composition would likely change dramatically. Back in my riding days I ate anything I wanted and still lost weight. Ultimately, I gravitated to healthier food products that provided me more useful energy. Extrapolated to a community level, we might opt to grow more local healthy food and even develop more useful energy enriched food products to power our pedaling clientele, which sounds like another entrepreneurial opportunity that should also amplify the health benefits of this proposed revolution. Over the long run, we may not need all those health insurance benefits we lost in part due to the oil shock exacerbated recession.
In time we’ll develop new bikes with new solar assist motors to help ease the pain of getting to work, though many of us might choose to live closer to work, town or our children’s school to reduce commute output. This might help change property values and encourage more people to live closer to town while still relieving traffic from our streets. We would telecommute to more distant locations, adding impetus to the development of new bike mounted, voice activated mobile telephone equipment, etc., etc., etc.
Finally, if our kids see us ride to work, the grocery store and the movies they might get back on their bikes with enthusiasm as some of us can remember before we all developed a drive wherever philosophy. We will know we have arrived when our children say, “Ah Dad, do we have to drive? It’s only sprinkling!”
So the next time someone shows up to a meeting at your office with a little sweat on their brow because they chose to ride to the office instead of drive, consider refraining from referring to them as “unusual.” Revolutions have a tendency to start with a few meager souls who tend to appear a bit strange at first but sometimes go on to cause big changes in the world. I look forward to seeing more two-wheeled revolutionaries at meetings that I attend this year.

Ryne Johnson is the CEO of The ChicoProject, LLC, and is also the director for the Center for Entrepreneurship at Chico State. He can be contacted at rjohnson@thechicoproject.com.

By Keith McElroy
Are we in the middle of an accident caused by human error, or are we in a catastrophe that was an inevitable shift? The influence of the Internet and related technologies over the last 20 years points our attention to a shift in the economy. Other factors catalyzed the shift. Baby boomers staging for retirement with lots of money to invest is a factor. The changes in China’s economy and of course 9/11. A crumbling of some things that we have taken for granted can be interpreted as a reminder that changing focus to survive may lead to opportunity.
I recall, years ago, watching a business owner save his company from a major financial loss by bringing his employees together and explaining the economic realities while also providing assurance that he had a plan to survive and would do all in his power to retain jobs. The following six months were dramatic in that margins more than doubled and the deficit loss was followed by exceeding performance beyond what would have happened if the loss had not occurred. His bold leadership paid off.

Opportunities to thrive?

Retail and business spending has a cause-effect aspect that opens doors to observant entrepreneurs. Dramatic reduction in traditional workforce positions leaves under-serviced markets. Corporations will contract out work to smaller, capable companies that understand the critical needs. Consumers will be on the search for ways to improve their quality of life on a frugal budget. For example, the reduction of car purchases will breed new needs for faster, cheaper and easier ways to extend the lives of our aging cars as well as better ways to get around. The movement of baby boomers through the aging process with better health than their ancestors (but diminishing income) will create demand for bridge housing that provides the ease of life of a retirement facility with the youthful independence of a time share. Less driving means we will want to be closer to shopping, dining and mass transit and we will seek to invest less time trying to find what we need.
Consider repositioning yourself or your organization as a facilitator of problem solving amidst the disaster. Learning from the lesson of US Air 1549, imminent danger is followed by heroic leadership, followed by success, followed by jubilation and reflection on the value of pulling together and the seasoned experience of a veteran pilot who responded to the need.

Tools to grow by

Applying technology to the opportunities before you can be a smoother path than you might imagine. Take, for example, these ideas that can accelerate the breeding of a new idea:

1. Use a monthly Intranet service to keep track of your projects and your growing client list. See www.37signals.com and www.salesforce.com. Cost $10 per month and up

2. Rent “by the month” Call Center and automated response. See www.angel.com. Cost $100 per month and up.

3. Develop an informational Web site about your industry. Cost $15 per month and up.

4. Reach out more proactively to existing and new clients with a focus on innovation and problem-solving. See www.constantcontact.com. Cost $20 per month and up.

5. Upgrade the accounting software. Quick Books online provides access anywhere which is handy when you are working hard on a shoe string. See www.quickbooksonline.com. Cost $50 per month and up.

The economic shift is real and the road is difficult. Consider making a migration toward the new global business landscape with technology that does not stretch your budget and increases your value to those you serve.

Keith McElroy is an independent software consultant specializing in development of software for a broad range of businesses and government agencies. Keith may be reached by e-mail at keith@mcelroy-tech.com or by phone at 530-591-3052.

While on vacation in China, Pat Furr’s tour guide said that the Chinese tell their students they need to be proficient in two things to succeed in the future—English and computers. This comment stuck with Furr and led her to develop a successful computer renovating organization in Chico, Calif.

“I realized that in America we had very few computers in schools at that time, so I decided to refurbish donated computers and give them to the schools,” Furr said.

In 1993, she got Chico Unified School District to work with her and become a part of her dream, and she started Computers for Classrooms.

In the 21 schools comprising CUSD, there were only about 600 computers in all compared to over 6,000 today, she said.

In 2002, Furr decided to supply computers to low-income families and nonprofits as well, in hopes that everyone will be able to have access to computers, technology and the internet.

A lot of people everyday stop by with equipment for the program, Furr said.

“The past few years we have been placing 5,000 computers per year in schools with non-profits and low-income families,” she said.

The program is run throughout California and is currently sending out 260 computers to middle schools in San Diego and LA. They will be working with Computers for Youth to train parents how to help their children do homework on the computer.

This will really impact the middle school students and their ability to do homework, Furr said.

On top of trying to connect people with technology, they are also working hard to reuse everything that gets sent in.

“Everyone assumes that recycling is great, but that is not true for electronics,” she said “By extending the life of technology, we lessen the need for creating new systems, and the greatest energy expenditure comes during the building of the new product.”

Reusing 100 computers is equivalent to removing 48 passenger cars from the road per year and it saves enough electricity to power 68 U.S. households in a year, she said.

“Reusing is 25 times better for our environment than recycling,” Furr said. “Reduce, reuse and then recycle.

Computers for Classrooms provides incentives for volunteers who devote their time to being a part of this program. The organization has about 40 volunteers that work there a week.

“If volunteers work for 50 hours, they can get a free computer or a laptop,” Furr said. “We have them working on computers, so they also get to learn a lot at the same time.”

Furr’s program has been so prosperous that she was hired by Microsoft last year when the company saw the manual she had made for creating a successful computer reuse program. She created a complete series of PowerPoint presentations and programs with several photographs showing you exactly how to do a complete refurnishing operation, so that Microsoft could create a similar program and give free computers to people in third world countries that really need them.

“They tested the material out in Kenya and Uganda and they had really good reports come back, she said. “They didn’t have anything negative to say.”

The organization also performs studies to find out the importance of computers for students. Last year they worked with Butte College to study how having a home computer can help minority students succeed in school. They came to find that it made a huge difference.

This year they are doing a one-year study with Chico Middle schools and the freshman class at Chico Senior, as well as working with Rob Fairly of UC Santa Cruz to study the effects of having a home computer.

“It’s kind of exciting that we can do these studies that are UC California approved,” Furr said. “Studies that can have national significance.”

Furr’s main goal is to “close the digital divide” and place systems with those least likely to have them.

“I passionately believe that everyone needs access to technology and the Internet,” she said. “It isn’t fair for students to compete for college scholarships or grades when some can afford to have computers at home while others can’t. It would be my hope to have access to computers and the Internet for everyone.”

If you have a computer you’d like to donate, drop it off at Computers for Classrooms anywhere from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information on the program or to become a volunteer contact Furr at 530-895-4175.

- Kayla Cook