Who are you and what do you do?

I am the Director of Communications for the Arts Foundation of Cape Cod, so I manage all the print and digital communications for the regional arts agency on Cape Cod. I also write a nonprofit technology blog, www.smalldots.wordpress.com, that covers how nonprofit organizations can use social media and the internet to advance their missions.

What services/products do you offer?

In my role at the Arts Foundation of Cape Cod, I manage several programs that go beyond the usual PR and marketing duties of a Communications Director. I am responsible for the Citizens Bank Summer Concert Series, which the Arts Foundation of Cape Cod now presents in eight towns across Cape Cod. These free, family-friendly concerts feature live, local bands, performing on a different village green each weeknight evening in Falmouth, Sandwich, Mashpee, Osterville, Hyannis, Dennis, Harwich, and Eastham. I also coordinate the Passport to the Arts program, which is a $20 booklet that offers the bearer 50% off admission to 46 cultural destinations on Cape Cod — museums, theaters, historical sites, the symphony — if you’ve heard of it, it’s probably on the Passport to the Arts. I also coordinate the Arts Foundation of Cape Cod’s educational and training programs for artists and cultural organizations, which we offer throughout the year to help the creative community learn new skills in marketing, media, and promotions. And of course we do all this with the support of our members, our generous sponsors, and the proceeds from the annual TD Banknorth Pops by the Sea concert, which is Cape Cod’s largest annual cultural event, featuring the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra, conductor Keith Lockhart, and a celebrity guest conductor. This event is our major fundraiser, and provides us with the resources which we are able to cycle back into the cultural community in the form of grants and the collaborative marketing and educational programs I just described.

As the writer of Small Dots, I cover a lot of ground in the field of nonprofit technology. This could take the form of a review of, for example, Constituent Relationship Management (CRM) software, that helps organizations track their members, donors, volunteers, and prospects; an exploration of new Content Management Systems (CMS), software that manages how your information is presented on the web; or practical advice to the nonprofit who wants to integrate the two systems. So I spend a lot of time demystifying these technologies, and translating their pros and cons to the layperson. I also focus a great deal on the emerging uses of social media, like blogs, podcasts, and social networking sites, to build community and raise awareness about the mission of your nonprofit.

I really enjoy being both a practitioner, at the Arts Foundation of Cape Cod, and an analyst, on Small Dots. The two really feed each other and help me learn, digest, and encourage others to join the conversation as well.

Recently I’ve been able to fuse the two into a new course I’m offering through the Arts Foundation of Cape Cod that teaches artists and cultural organizations how to use technology for personal branding, marketing, and PR. We’re covering blogging, websites, podcasting, and social networking, in addition to the more traditional skills of writing press releases, developing a print marketing strategy, and giving effective interviews with the press. It’s called “What’s Your Story: Personal Branding, PR, and New Media for Artists” and it runs eight weeks this spring, beginning on April 1.

Who/where is your audience?

Again, I have these two spheres in which I move. In my daily work life, I serve this very discrete population on Cape Cod. At the Arts Foundation of Cape Cod, we serve artists and cultural organizations, but we also serve the wider community by connecting them to arts education opportunities, and by promoting the cultural offerings of the whole region under a common banner. We are the voice of the arts on Cape Cod, which is a pretty broad and powerful mandate in such a storied cultural mecca.

And then, on my own time, I write Small Dots, which enlarges my audience — my community — to a much wider scale. I collaborate with other nonprofit technologists throughout the US on various projects, including the recently concluded America’s Giving Challenge, sponsored by Parade Magazine and the Case Foundation, to encourage the use of the internet in philanthropy and fundraising. A bunch of nonprofit bloggers banded together to raise funds for The Sharing Foundation, a organization that helps raise Cambodian children out of poverty. We just found out that we won first place, so The Sharing Foundation will receive not just the $41,000 we helped raise through our networks, but also a $50,000 grand prize.

Small Dots has a dedicated readership that includes subscribers from across the US and around the world. I correspond with other nonprofit technology bloggers on a variety of topics, and I’ve also recently joined an international team that is working on an online tool to help nonprofits design online campaigns, which is an exciting project that is drawing on the expertise of people from around the globe.

What is the website?

www.artsfoundation.org
www.smalldots.wordpress.com

Well-Funded or Bootstrapped?

The Arts Foundation of Cape Cod is a 501c3 nonprofit organization with support from national, regional, and local entities. We keep our overhead lean, but powerful, so that we can most effectively cycle these resources back into the community.

Small Dots is extremely well-funded with the only currency it needs — my time and passion. That isn’t running out any time soon.

Where do you see yourself in 5 years? 10 years?

As time goes on, I’d like to be doing more in-depth work with other nonprofits by helping them leverage technology in effective and meaningful ways.

Where were you born - where do you live now?

I live in my hometown, oddly enough. I was born and raised on Cape Cod, in Dennis. I went off to college at Mount Holyoke, in the western part of Massachusetts, then to grad school in Syracuse, then stayed in Central New York for several years after that. Then, about five years ago, I moved back to Cape Cod to be near my family and the ocean, which I had missed very much.

PC or Mac?

I grew up using the Apple II line, and always considered myself a Mac person, until I became a poor grad student and had to pay for my own computers. Then it was just easier to have a friend build me a PC and maintain it for me (in lieu of rent, I believe it was). But last year I bought an iPhone, and it has lured me back in to the arms of Apple. I am now saving for a new MacBook, and I can’t wait to switch back.

Where did you go to school?

Dennis-Yarmouth Regional High School
Mount Holyoke College
Syracuse University

What Social Networks are you on?

Twitter
Facebook
LinkedIn

Greatest invention ever?

The internet, of course.

Person you believe has contributed most to the world of technology?

Jimmy Wales, Founder of Wikipedia.

He really got the ball rolling with tapping into the “wisdom of the crowds” with Wikipedia. Wales, and his projects, have weathered some serious storms about trust, accuracy, verifiability, and credentials that would have crumbled lesser folks and less committed communities. Wikipedia has emerged a stronger project — and a stronger community — because they faced these issues head-on and dealt with them in ways that were consistent with their ethos. And this led the way for many other innovations, most of which don’t even know how much they have Jimmy Wales (and his global community) to thank for.

Where have you traveled in your life?

As a geology student (which is what my undergrad and graduate studies were in) I did field work in Banff and Jasper Parks in Canada, the Salzkammergut in Austria, and Pennsylvania. For leisure travel, I’ve been to The Netherlands, Italy, France, Switzerland, and the UK. I’ve been across the US a couple of times, and even tried living in California (both southern and northern) for a while. Turns out I like New England the best. But Amsterdam was pretty nice.

Why set up shop on Cape Cod?

My family is here, I love the ocean, and there’s something about the seasons that alternate between insane, crowded activity and quiet, hermit-like isolation that really appeals to me. But I do try to get to Boston and New York as often as possible.

5 Websites you go to every day?

www.chrisbrogan.com
www.web-strategist.com
www.beth.typepad.com
www.qwantz.com
www.xkcd.com

What’s on your iPod right now?

The Decemberists (the whole collection)
Augie March
Arcade Fire
Barenaked Ladies
The Muppets and John Denver Christmas Album
various geeky podcasts

What is on your desktop/screensaver right now?

Ha! A volunteer at the Arts Foundation just gave me a disk with screensavers and wallpaper from Mount Holyoke (she attended about 45 years before I enrolled) that the office of development mailed her. She had no use for it, so she gave it to me. It’s gorgeous — they happen to have an image on the disk that is basically what the view out my lakeside dorm window was during my junior year in college. So far, it’s making me feel very young and inspired!

You are on a deserted island - do you bring a laptop or book?

Book. Sorry. Probably Jane Eyre. Possibly the collected works of Shakespeare.

Phone call or text message?

I prefer phone calls. It’s faster, and it’s much easier for humor to come across during voice conversations than over text.

Feel free to tell us anything else….?

I am a master of Victorian sock knitting techniques. The lacier and cablier, the smaller the needles, the more obscure the yarn, the better.

Thank you for your time, Beth!