Cleveland GiveCamp 2015: Sixth Year of Free Tech for Nonprofits

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The Mission of Cleveland GiveCamp is to pair creative and technology talent with nonprofits in need.

The tech and design volunteers at Cleveland GiveCamp (@CleGiveCamp) 2015 really "wowed" the nonprofit partners served this year with some incredible projects. The many tweets I embedded in this blog really give a flavor of the weekend. I recommend scanning through them and reading those that pique your interest.

I have been fortunate to be able to attend all six Cleveland GiveCamp weekends! Cleveland GiveCamp is believed to be the largest in the United States. Read on to learn how so many volunteers come together to make a huge difference in our community.

 

 

Pre-Cleveland GiveCamp 2015

This is my fifth year of having the honor of serving on the Cleveland GiveCamp Steering Committee. Of all the organizations that I have been associated with, I need to say the Cleveland GiveCamp Steering Committee is the most unique in how the team works together so incredibly seamlessly. The individuals on the team recruit sponsors, volunteers, and nonprofit partners, and organize meals and facilities for the weekend. We don't have a chair that leads us -- we just meet regularly to organize our tasks on Trello.com, so that we reach our annual goals!

 

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2015 Cleveland GiveCamp Steering Committee

See all the Cleveland GiveCamp 2015 Team Photos by Albert Bell (@PhotoAlBell)

2015 Cleveland GiveCamp Steering Committee:

• Nick Barendt (@nickbarendt)
• Matt Beyer (@beyermatthew)
• Andrew Craze (@AndrewCr)
• Jim Gorjup
• Becky Horvath (@beckyhorvath)
• Carolyn Kearney
• Jonathan Knapp (@coffeeandcode)
• Dan Nelson (@TheOneDanNelson)
• Mark Schumann (@MarkWSchumann)
• Stuart O. Smith, Jr. (@sos_jr)
• Jane Winik
• Amy C. Wong (@AmyCWong)
• Ashley Young (@ChefAsh216)

 

Financial sponsors are key to Cleveland GiveCamp's success in feeding and caring for so many talented volunteers for the weekend. They donated a record amount in 2015, and assisted in promoting the event to the tech community. I am pleased that I have had friends approach me this year about how their tech companies can get involved.

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Thank you to Cleveland GiveCamp 2015 sponsors:

Download PDF of
2015 Cleveland GiveCamp Sponsor Information

 

If you guys have an opportunity, and you have the skils, please help somebody else. Because GiveCamp really made a huge difference in our world!

On May 28, 2015, I was fortunate to hear Katrina Blatt (@KatrinaBlatt) from Malachi House (@MalachiHouse) present at the 2015 CDPUG (Cleveland Digital Publishing Users Group - @CDPUG) 11th Annual CDPUG Showcase. She shared the important mission of Malachi House, plus discussed how Cleveland GiveCamp made it possible to have a website to convey this mission to the greater community.

Please invite nonprofit leaders to view this video to learn how Cleveland GiveCamp could possibility assist them!

Here are some of my tweets and retweets from before the Cleveland GiveCamp weekend. They will give you an idea of the promotion and online activity that occurred before the event even started.

 

 

Day 1: Friday, July 17th, Cleveland GiveCamp 2015

My sons, Kevin and Mike, always come with me early Friday afternoon to help set up.

What a difference it makes this being the sixth year - Cleveland GiveCamp is such a "well-oiled machine" of productive volunteers! When we got there, everything from the set-up of chairs and tables, to the establishment of a temporary kitchen was already done. We had nothing to do!

Please click on this photo to view my Day One photos. There is also a full screen button to open a large slideshow.

If your device does not support Flickr.com photos/videos,
please view them here.

There was a record number of tech and design volunteers this year. Therefore, I served on the Social Media Team with my son, Kevin, instead of on a team building websites for nonprofits. Mike served on the TrueNorth Cultural Arts Team.

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2015 Cleveland GiveCamp Social Media Team

See all the Cleveland GiveCamp 2015 Team Photos by Albert Bell (@PhotoAlBell)

 

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I also noticed that Cleveland GiveCamp is serving more nonprofits from the Akron area this year. Cleveland GiveCamp has always served nonprofits from all over the Northeast Ohio area. It is great that the word is getting out to neighboring communities beyond Cuyahoga County.

There were also a lot more tents this year than in the past. Volunteers really want to live the Cleveland GiveCamp experience for every minute of the weekend.

Learn more about the day by viewing my tweets/retweets, which include great photos that were shared. Please retweet what you find interesting.

 

 

Day 2: Saturday, July 18th, Cleveland GiveCamp 2015

Mike was the main man of the Smiths attending! I am so proud of my son for working from 8:30 am to past 12:00 midnight on the TrueNorth Cultural Arts Team. Every time I looked in on his team, he was busy working with his head down doing coding.

The WordPress theme that his team built used a type of markup that I will need to have Mike teach me, since it was not something I have used before. I really like the design that the TrueNorth Cultural Arts Team created for the new website. I heard in the closing presentations about the new functionality it offers in allowing artists to register online.

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TrueNorth Cultural Arts Team - Cleveland GiveCamp 2015

See all the Cleveland GiveCamp 2015 Team Photos by Albert Bell (@PhotoAlBell)

 

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I do have to say that when it got dark outside, the team that Mike was on had the coolest office at Cleveland GiveCamp, if not all of Cleveland. They were on the top deck of the LeanDog Software (@LeanDog)/Arras Keathley Agency (@AKACleveland) boat. To be on Lake Erie with view of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum (@Rock_Hall) is an incredible workspace.

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As I have mentioned in past years' blogs (see links below), one of the things that I like about Cleveland GiveCamp is its location that supports creativity. In addition to the boat, I like seeing all the airplanes at Burke Lakefront Airport (@BurkeLakefront). Plus, as an added benefit of being at this Cleveland airport, visitors can view all the International Women's Air & Space Museum (@WomenInTheAir) exhibits for free.

Please click on this photo to view all my Day Two photos and videos. There is also a full screen button to open a large slideshow.

If your device does not support Flickr.com photos/videos,
please view them here.

Day two tweets and retweets.

Note in the tweets the resources from the following two new Cleveland GiveCamp training sessions that were added in 2015:

• Nonprofit Marketing Session with Jacqueline Lapine (@LapineLive) and Tom Keathley (@ThomasKeathley) of Arras Keathley Agency (@AKACleveland)

• Security Session with Tom Pieragastini. (See Introduction to Web Vulnerabilities slides here.) If you want to learn more about web security, please come to my WebSigCleveland.org meeting on September 19, 2015. I have arranged for a talk on security by Tom Pieragastini, who was the security consultant at Cleveland GiveCamp 2015.

 

 

Day 3: Sunday, July 19th, Cleveland GiveCamp 2015 - SUCCESS!

You really had to be there to understand the strong feelings experienced at the closing ceremony. Attendees are tired from a weekend of hard work, and at the same time very energized by the experience!

To get a sense of the closing, I invite you to see the videos posted on GreatLakesGeek.Com (@GreatLakesGeek) by Dan Hanson (@DanHanson) at: Cleveland GiveCamp 2015 19 Non-Profits Helped July 17-19, 2015

Here are the 19 Cleveland GiveCamp 2015 nonprofit partners!

Please click on this photo to view my Day Three photos. There is also a full screen button to open a large slideshow.

If your device does not support Flickr.com photos/videos,
please view them here.

Day three tweets and retweets.

In addition to tweets about the great success of the weekend, you might also find useful the resources shared by Heidi Cool (@hacool) in her WordPress training. We are fortunate to have had Heidi Cool share her knowledge to the nonprofit leaders over the weekend, plus she has spoken publicly at my WebSigCleveland.org meetings and elsewhere.

 

 

Take Action for 2016

Take action! Please help Cleveland GiveCamp assist more Cleveland charities in 2016 by doing the following:

• Start checking ClevelandGiveCamp.org in early 2016
• Follow @CleGiveCamp on Twitter and watch the hashtag: #CleGC
• Like Facebook.com/CLEGiveCamp
• Join Cleveland GiveCamp on Google Plus: https://plus.google.com/communities/112138207984280768043
• Establish professional relationships with Cleveland GiveCamp Members on LinkedIn
• Plan on volunteering your time and/or making a donation.
• Help Cleveland charities learn how they can be served by GiveCamp

Since Cleveland is welcoming the 41^st Republican National Convention (@2016CLE - #2016cle) on July 18-21 2016, Cleveland GiveCamp will not be on its normal third Saturday in July next year. Watch for announcements with further details.

Read more about experiences at Cleveland GiveCamp in the following blog posts/articles, and share links to the blogs with others:

• Ask me what I did over the weekend. Really, ask me. - Amy Wong (@AmyCWong), July 28, 2015

• Cleveland GiveCamp 2015 19 Non-Profits Helped July 17-19, 2015 - See videos posted on GreatLakesGeek.Com (@GreatLakesGeek) by Dan Hanson (@DanHanson)

• GiveCamp 2015 - Stacy Harrison (@StacyEHarrison), July 20, 2015

• GiveCamp Crushes Support for Local Non-Profits Again in 2015 - Brad Nellis (@OHTec_Nellis), July 24, 2015

• Through Giving We Ultimately Are Able To Receive - Albert Bell (@PhotoAlBell), July 20, 2015

The more people read and learn about Cleveland GiveCamp, the more the chance of new nonprofits being reached in future years. If you wrote a blog post or article about Cleveland GiveCamp, please let me know by leaving a comment below, or sharing with me on Twitter. I will add it to this list.

I highly recommend seeing the Cleveland GiveCamp Facebook Photo Album:

• Cleveland GiveCamp 2015 Team Photos

• 2015 Day 1 GiveCamp

• Cle GiveCamp 2015 day 2 - misc. photos

• 2015 GiveCamp Day 3

There has been a lot of Twitter activity since the weekend. Here is some I captured for this blog post:

Learn more about Cleveland GiveCamp in my blog posts from past Cleveland GiveCamp weekends:

• Mon Aug 6^th 2012 - Cleveland GiveCamp 2012: Coding for Charity

• Wed Jul 31^st 2013 - Coding For Cleveland Charities: GiveCamp 2013

• Wed Aug 6^th 2014 - Cleveland GiveCamp 2014 - 5^th Year!

See you in 2016!