My 7th Cleveland GiveCamp - Free Tech Solutions for Nonprofits in 2016

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

Cleveland GiveCamp (@CleGiveCamp) weekend on July 29-31, 2016, marked the seventh year of serving nonprofits from the Cleveland and Akron areas. I am fortunate to to be part of Cleveland GiveCamp every year.

Cleveland continues to have many creative people volunteering (over 225 registered for 2016). It is believed that Cleveland has the largest GiveCamp (@GiveCamp) in the nation. It is exciting that again this year there were so many volunteers that the tech volunteer tickets sold out, and a waiting list had to be started. (Note: For future reference, tech volunteers should still sign up to be on the waiting list, since additional opportunities to help do arise as the weekend approaches. In 2016, I heard that many on the waiting list were called into action! Also, it is understood that some people need to cancel, but know that you are needed! If you can't attend GiveCamp, please release your ticket so others can fill your space to help a local charity.)

CodeSmiths - Proud of My Sons' Involvement

In 2014, Cleveland GiveCamp volunteer Heidi Cool (@hacool) wrote "CodeSmiths share their GiveCamp experience" to describe my family's involvement in year five. I like the term "CodeSmiths," and enjoy using it here as I share a bit of what my sons and I did at Cleveland GiveCamp this year. I am very proud that now, as adults, my sons continue to be active in helping local charities as Cleveland GiveCamp volunteers.

Mike Smith is now an "old-timer" at Cleveland GiveCamp. He volunteered the first year (2010), working on his first WordPress website, and has only missed Cleveland GiveCamp once in all these years. (See @WEWS's Volunteers help local groups with websites 2010 video [at 0:48], which was shared for "Throwback Thusday" on Twitter here.) This year, Mike contributed to building a WordPress website for Loyola Retreat House, Inc.

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LoyolaRetreatHouse.com

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Loyola Retreat House Team - Cleveland GiveCamp 2016
 

See all 2016 Cleveland GiveCamp Team Photos by Albert Bell (@PhotoAlBell)

This was Kevin Smith's fourth year working on the Cleveland GiveCamp social media team. In addition to contributing to the @CleGiveCamp Twitter feed and posting to Facebook.com/CLEGiveCamp, he was responsible for creating the official Cleveland GiveCamp YouTube video for the third consecutive year.

Once other teams building websites learned that Kevin had video editing experience, the Loyola Retreat House, Inc. and EYEJ: Empowering Youth, Exploring Justice (@eyejcleveland) teams had him edit videos to be used for their new websites. Here is the Loyola Retreat House video which will act as an online tour of the retreat house.

You can learn more about Kevin through his blog: Kevin's Journal | Poetry From The Heart

YouTube.com/user/ClevelandGiveCamp

View and share 2016 via Facebook Video here.

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2016 Cleveland GiveCamp Social Media Team
 

See all 2016 Cleveland GiveCamp Team Photos by Albert Bell (@PhotoAlBell)

I continue to work on the Cleveland GiveCamp Steering Committee year-round, assisting with the planning for the weekend, managing the ClevelandGiveCamp.org website, and coordinating some of the social media activities. During this year's Cleveland GiveCamp weekend, I served with my son Kevin on the social media team.

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2016 Cleveland GiveCamp Steering Committee
and "Red Shirt" Tech Experts Floater Team
 

See all 2016 Cleveland GiveCamp Team Photos by Albert Bell (@PhotoAlBell)

2016 Cleveland GiveCamp Steering Committee:

• Nick Barendt (@nickbarendt)
• Matt Beyer (@beyermatthew)
• Jim Gorjup
• Carolyn Kearney
• Jonathan Knapp (@coffeeandcode)
• Mike Kvintus (@MikeKvintus)
• Dan Nelson (@TheOneDanNelson)
• Mark Schumann (@MarkWSchumann)
• Stuart O. Smith, Jr. (@sos_jr)
• Amy C. Wong (@AmyCWong)
• Ashley Young (@ChefAsh216)

 

My Cleveland GiveCamp Photos and Videos

Here are my photos and videos from Cleveland GiveCamp weekend. In the list below of other bloggers who wrote about the weekend, you will note that I contributed my photos for others to use.

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

2016 Cleveland GiveCamp Nonprofit Partners

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See all 23 2016 Cleveland GiveCamp Team Photos by Albert Bell (@PhotoAlBell)
on the Cleveland GiveCamp @CLEGiveCamp Facebook page

Here is the list of the 19 Cleveland GiveCamp Nonprofit Partners for 2016 (one nonprofit lost the opportunity since their representative could not attend the weekend). All received a new or updated website, except for Neighborhood Housing Services of Greater Cleveland, which had a security team audit, and The Nightlight Cinema, which received a special data management dashboard.

For 2016, there were enough volunteers to also create a 20th team which worked on updating the Cleveland GiveCamp website. I look forward to promoting Cleveland GiveCamp 2017 on the new website when it goes live.

1. Blossom Hill (@BlossomHillHome)

2. Cleveland Grays Armory Museum (@GraysArmory)

3. Euclid Hunger Task Force, Inc.

4. EYEJ: Empowering Youth, Exploring Justice (@eyejCleveland)

5. Gordon Square Arts District (@GordonSquare)

6. Great Lakes Light Opera (@GLLO_Cleveland)

7. Harvard Community Services Center (@HarvardCSC)

8. Jewish Secular Community of Cleveland

9. Loyola Retreat House, Inc.

10. Neighborhood Housing Services of Greater Cleveland (@NHSCleveland)

11. The New Agrarian Center (@CityFresh)

12. The Nightlight Cinema (@NightlightAkron) 
     
    Please read my PechaKucha Night at the Akron Civic Theatre blog post to learn more about The Nightlight Cinema Executive Director Kurtiss Hare's PechaKucha Night Akron (@PKAkron) talk.

13. North Union Farmers Market (@NUFarmersMarket)

14. Northeast Ohio Voter Advocates

15. Redeemer (ICH) Crisis Center

16. Summit County Community Partnership (@CPSummitCounty)

17. Summit Food Policy Coalition

18. Women’s Network of Northeast Ohio (@WomensNetworkOh)

19. Working Animals Giving Service for Kids (@WAGS4KIDS)

Cleveland GiveCamp 2016 Sponsors

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A big thank-you to the Cleveland GiveCamp sponsors who make it possible to serve the Cleveland GiveCamp Nonprofit Partners. Here is the list of 2016 sponsors, along with information from the Cleveland GiveCamp sponsors official web page explaining their importance.

Of special note is the unique and beautiful location for Cleveland GiveCamp. Thank you, Arras Keathley Agency (@AKACleveland), Burke Lakefront Airport (@BurkeLakefront), and LeanDog (@LeanDog).

Be sure to see the photos I share in my slideshow and on Twitter to see what it was like for the teams working in the Arras Keathley Agency and LeanDog offices, which are located on a boat! In addition, Burke Lakefront Airport is filled with interesting technology and historical displays from the International Women's Air & Space Museum (@WomenintheAir).

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Incredible views of Cleveland's Terminal Tower (@TowerLightsCLE), Rock & Roll Hall of Fame (@Rock_Hall), Great Lakes Science Center (@GLScienceCtr), USS COD Submarine (@SubmarineCod - @USSCod), and the city skyline can be seen during Cleveland GiveCamp -- It is just a great place to work for the weekend.

Remembering Andy Craze - Cleveland GiveCamp Co-Founder

Cleveland GiveCamp co-founder Andy Craze passed away on Sunday, July 24, 2016, one week before everyone came together to help local nonprofits at Cleveland GiveCamp. The weekend was a fitting tribute to what he started in our city, and which will continue on into the future.

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Andy used to run the stand-up meetings at Cleveland GiveCamp, so in his honor, there was a moment of silence at the first stand-up meeting of the weekend. My son, Kevin Smith, came up with the idea of adding a tribute to Andy to the official Cleveland GiveCamp 2016 YouTube video, and worked with Andy's partner, Jane Winik, to choose appropriate photos.

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At the Cleveland GiveCamp closing ceremony, Andy's partner, Jane Winik, along with Bob Coppedge of Simplex-IT (@Simplex_IT), surprised all the attendees by announcing the creation of the annual “Craze eCool Award” with the goal of supporting a local nonprofit with a cash donation in memory of Andy Craze.

For this first year, a cash donation was given to both EYEJ: Empowering Youth, Exploring Justice (@eyejCleveland) and the Northeast Ohio Voter Advocates. Read all the details in the Simplex-IT blog post: Simplex-IT helps start new award to remember Andy Craze

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Attending the August 5, 2016, Andy Craze memorial, I learned more about Andy's life. It was an honor to know him.

Tweets & Retweets

Here are my @sos_jr tweets and retweets sharing the experience which was Cleveland GiveCamp 2016. Please share any photos and videos that you find interesting by retweeting. Clicking on Twitter photos will enlarge them! Note that I organized them into five sections.

Cleveland GiveCamp Resources

Here are some of the technical resources, and resources for nonprofits, that were shared over the weekend:

• For all seven years, Cleveland GiveCamp volunteer Heidi Cool (@hacool) has provided tech assistance and training for WordPress (@WordPress) web software. See her Care and Feeding of your WordPress Site website for resources she used during the training.

• For the second year, Cleveland GiveCamp had a security team providing high level web security assistance to nonprofits during the weekend, and a Web Security for Nonprofits training. The Microsoft PowerPoint slides from the security training can be viewed online at http://bit.ly/2016CGCSecurity or in the following PDF file:
  
  Click to Read Security Slides PDF
   

• Currently, there is a "beta" version of Cleveland GiveCamp Volunteer Resources on the website. I don't know if these resources will be on the new website, but for now, go to: ClevelandGiveCamp.org/Resources/

• Slack (@SlackHQ) -- "A messaging app for teams" -- was used during Cleveland GiveCamp to communicate to all teams. Also, some teams created their own Slack channel.

  • Here is a screenshot of Cleveland GiveCamp Steering Committee member Jonathan Knapp's (@cc_jonknapp) Cleveland GiveCamp Slack welcome message.
    
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  • "Slack is free to use for as long as you want, for teams of all sizes" -- see the pricing guide for more information.

  • If you have not used Slack before, learn the basics online here, and watch this overview video:

• In my Cleveland GiveCamp 2014 - 5th Year! blog post, I also have a list of resources you might find useful. 

• It was shared at Cleveland GiveCamp that the Lynda.com (@lynda) online learning platform for business, software, technology, and creative skills is now available for free through local libraries! This can be very useful for the nonprofits' leaders/volunteers wanting Lynda.com WordPress classes to assist them in managing their new websites. 
   
  I have been taking Lynda.com classes for years, so I think it is great that anyone with a library card can further their education through these local libraries:

  • Akron-Summit County Public Library's Lynda.com online training (@AkronLibrary)

  • Cleveland Public Library - Lynda.com (@Cleveland_PL)

  • Cuyahoga County Public Library resources: Lynda.com (@CuyahogaLib)

• Thank you to BVU's Director of Communications and Technology, Melanie Meyer (@MelanieAMeyer), for reaching out to me to share this information with Cleveland GiveCamp attendees about the following two BVU: The Center for Nonprofit Excellence (@BVUVolunteers) programs:

  • "Volunteer 4 hours and receive 2 tickets to a select Indians Game" - During Cleveland GiveCamp, volunteers were encouraged to sign up for these free tickets, since they put in many, many more hours than the minimum number required. 
     
    Of more importance is that Cleveland area nonprofits should know that this Indians (@Indians) game offer was NOT a Cleveland GiveCamp program, but open to ALL nonprofits. Spread the word so more nonprofits use this program to thank their volunteers.

  • Nonprofit Technology & Communications Summit - Check out the website at BVUtech.org for all the details of this Friday, September 30, 2016, technology event for nonprofits. Thank you to Melanie Meyer for suggesting that Cleveland GiveCamp have a table at the event. I look forward to participating.
    
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If you are interested in GiveCamp (@GiveCamp) in other cities around our nation, please check out the Twitter list that I developed for @CleGiveCamp. Not all these groups are active, so check their Twitter feeds and websites to see if they are meeting. Many other GiveCamps occur in the fall.

What Others Say

Here are some of the articles and blog posts about Cleveland GiveCamp 2016. I always like to include what others have shared about events I attend. If you know of additional blogs/articles, please feel free to add a comment below or mention it to me at my @sos_jr Twitter account.

• Hyland Software among latest companies hosting weekend hackathon for a greater good
  By Marcia Pledger, The Plain Dealer (@marciapledger - @ClevelandDotCom) on December 18, 2015 at 1:00 PM, updated December 18, 2015 at 2:09 PM  
   
  See the section of the article about LeanDog sponsoring Cleveland GiveCamp.

• “Empowering and Giving Voice to Non Profits in a Web and Data Centric World”
  By Kevin Goodman on April 28, 2016 
   
  A BIG thank-you to Kevin for the kind words about my volunteer work in his blog post!

• Taking care of the community should be woven into the DNA of every company
  By Kevin J Goodman (@kevingoodmanBBN) in CBC Magazine (@CBCmagazine) on May 10, 2016 
   
  Thank you again, Kevin, for mentioning me in your blog post.
   

  • Reprinted in Kevin Goodman's blog post on May 11, 2016:
    Taking care of the community should be woven into the DNA of every company

• Cleveland GiveCamp Highlights City's Spirit
  EYEJ: Empowering Youth, Exploring Justice (@eyejcleveland) blog post on 7/28/2016

• Give Camp Thank You
  By Diane Zellmer of the Redeemer Crisis Center on July 31, 2016

• 2016 Cleveland GiveCamp Recap
  By Byron Delpinal (@ByronDelpinal) of Coffee and Code (@CoffeeAndCode) on 01 Aug 2016 
   
  I contributed a photo to Coffee and Code's blog post.

• Cleveland GiveCamp 2016 in Review
  By Sarah Dutkiewicz (@sadukie) - Coding Geekette blog on August 1, 2016

• Simplex-IT helps start new award to remember Andy Craze
  By Bob Coppedge of Simplex-IT (@Simplex_IT) on Tuesday, 02 August 2016 
   
  I contributed photos to Simplex-IT's blog post.

• GO2 at GiveCamp 2016
  By GO2 Advertising #GO2atGiveCamp (@GO2Advertising - #GO2atGiveCamp on August 2, 2016

• August 03rd, 2016
  EYEJ: Empowering Youth, Exploring Justice (@eyejcleveland) blog post on 8/3/2016

• World Synergy Participates in Cleveland GiveCamp 2016
  Posted on August 11, 2016 by World Synergy

• 2016 Cleveland GiveCamp
  By James Gifford (@jrgifford) on August 13, 2016 
   
  Thank you, James, for including my tweet in your Army of Minions blog post about GiveCamp 2016.

My Past Cleveland GiveCamp Blog Posts

Photos, nonprofits served, resources, and more. You can read about some of the past Cleveland GiveCamps here:

• Cleveland GiveCamp 2012: Coding for Charity

• Coding For Cleveland Charities: GiveCamp 2013

• Cleveland GiveCamp 2014 - 5th Year!

• Cleveland GiveCamp 2015: Sixth Year of Free Tech for Nonprofits

 

2017 will be the eighth year that Cleveland GiveCamp volunteers will provide free tech solutions to local charities. Please tell everyone you know about this opportunity for nonprofits. We want to let nonprofits that don't know about this resource learn how to apply to be served in future years.  Thank you.