Project management consulting and training for social change organisations.
Last year when I was finishing up my work with Greenpeace UK and about to begin development with Amnesty International I thought "Hey, I should really introduce the Greenpeace UK web team to the Amnesty web team — they're both going to be using Drupal and there are bound to be opportunities for knowledge sharing. Maybe even co-development!"
I'd been talking to Oxfam International at the time as well and now they're moving to Drupal (and there's Comic Relief who I know run at least one Drupal site and Concern Worldwide who I'm working with now) — there are a lot of NGOs in the UK (and nearby) who are using Drupal and who could benefit from meeting up face-to-face on a monthly or bi-monthly basis to share information and experiences.
And I'm happy to report that it now looks like this is definitely going to happen!
Some time in early June, possibly at the Amnesty office on Easton Street but definitely in London, a group of people from a number of the organisations mentioned above and myself will be hosting the first meeting of Drupal for NGOs: an approximately 2 hour get together (followed by drinks at a nearby pub) to talk about Drupal, which contributed modules we're using, what our experiences have been and, I hope, what our plans are for the future.
PLUS: it may be the case that Jeff Robbins of Lullabot will be in town at the same time and will deliver a bit of a keynote to the group following on from his "How Drupal Will Save the World" post last year.
If you're interested in attending, please comment here or send me an email. I'll create an event in Upcoming once the details have been finalised and post an official announcement here and on the Drupal UK users site.
Huzzah!
amnesty, comicrelief, concern, drupal, greenpeaceuk, importantprojects, lullabot, nptech, oxfam, softwaredevelopment
Thanks Rob - you're doing a fantastic job at connecting people and organisations to make things happen.
There are also more events being planned for other sectors, and we have some very interesting venues lined up for them - more news soon ;-)
http://www.drupal.org.uk/user-case-meetings
Sounds like a great idea. I'm primarily using drupal/civicrm with much smaller organisations, and am really keen to see what opportunities the big players' adoption of it will open up for the wider community.
Posted by: James Stewart at April 29, 2008 07:45 PMHi Rob, I'm interested in attending the London meeting.
Also please have a look at my nonprofit resource page
http://matslats.net/resources
Matthew
Posted by: Matthew Slater at April 30, 2008 09:56 AMHi Rob
Depending on how loose your definition of NGO is (we're a professional body and trade union), I'd love to attend.
We're building a case now for switching our sites to Drupal in 2009. I've already spoken to Daryl at Amnesty and am keen to collaborate where we can.
R
Posted by: Rob Ledger at May 2, 2008 09:51 AMAnd I should have mentioned that we're the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy - www.csp.org.uk
Posted by: Rob Ledger at May 2, 2008 09:52 AMRob, you're a star. Such a great idea.
I'd love to attend, and invite some of our NGO clients who are using Drupal systems that we've developed.
Would also love to offer to present some stuff - do you have an idea for who the audience will be, or an idea of agenda? Maybe we (the community) could draft some ideas on a wiki somewhere?
@Rob - you should totally come :)
@Nic - let me get back to you re the agenda. I'm collaborating on it with the other organisers as we speak :)
Posted by: Rob at May 2, 2008 10:51 AMHello Rob,
That is a great idea. The Concern web team would be delighted to get involved!
Talk to you soon.
Posted by: Niall - Concern Worldwide at May 2, 2008 12:31 PM
