New tools

Last week, I spent too much time watching demos from DEMO, which is this twice yearly event that showcases the most bleeding edge internet technology. It looked quite like it might be a fun event to be at, but the hefty $3000 price tag for admission wasn’t something that I could possibly stomach, so I sat in front of my laptop, watching people describe new tools.

There weren’t a whole lot of new tools that looked especially useful in the short term for nonprofits, but I’ll highlight a few that I think might be.

• Of course, there is a lot of buzz about Sprout.  Sproutbuilder is this amazing drag-and-drop widget maker you’ve just gotta try (invite here – just start, and it will prompt you to create an account when you want to save your sprout.)  Carnet Williams, of nptech fame, did a demo of Sprout at Demo.
• Another really amazing tool is Blist. Think of Blist as a really interesting combination of really pretty Excel, with some very cool features thrown in from FileMakerPro, in a sweet looking interface, that works in any web browser. It’s being billed as the “easiest database” and I pretty much have to agree.  Have a look at the demo. It’s still in “private” beta (ask for an invite, you’ll probably get one – I did.) There are a lot of features that are unfinished, but what’s done is polished, and pretty smooth. You can share these Blists. So this is definitely a tool to watch.
• good2gether is an interesting concept. Watch the demo. Basically, they partner with localized web media outlets, and provide widgets that contain information about local nonprofits that are connected to content. So if the article is about a fire, you might see on the widget information about the American Red Cross, or other local nonprofits that address the needs of victims of fire. Corporations sponsor the widget, so there is a brand showing. As a nonprofit, what you would do is set up a profile, and I imagine tags or keywords would indicate where your link would show up.
• Seesmic is also getting a lot of buzz, certainly in the “twitterverse,” but also elsewhere. Seesmic is a video conversation site. It’s an interesting concept. I think like a lot of Web 2.0 stuff, I think it will take a while to figure out how nonprofits can use it. I am, of course, waiting for Beth to tell us.

There were a bunch of other tools, and I look forward to seeing which of them emerges to become more mainstream.