Yesterday I was working frantically to set up a roundtable discussion about general operating support. (This conversation between a nonprofit ally and some of our grantmaker members will be used as the basis for a story in our print publication Giving Forum.) The emails were flying and the phone wires humming. Some of the invited participants responded without hesitation: “I’d love to join in!” “Let me send you my blog postings on this subject.”
Others were more hesitant: “Who are the other participants?” “Do you know what they will say?” This reaction is certainly valid, too. After all, don’t we have an obligation to manage our organizations’ images? And shouldn’t we be fearful of a venue in which we don’t control the message and the conversation might become spirited or a little contentious?
But maybe that’s old-style thinking. New media may have changed the rules of the communications game. Spontaneous, uncontrolled interaction in digital media can led to new insights, greater openness and more inclusivity. Remember the old days when those of us on the outside were wondering what business decisions were being made in the executive washroom or on the country club golf course? In the new media of blogs and wikis and social networks, everyone (well, at least those not adversely affected by the digital divide) can join in for a healthy discussion of diverse points of view. It may be scary at first, but maybe we should welcome these new voices to the vast, not-to-be-defined roundtable of digital communication.
Join the conversation: What do you think? Is the philanthropy community ready to embrace new media? Are you and your colleagues ready to stop printing and start blogging?
- Wendy Wehr, MCF vice president of communications and information services
