Cool Embers

Free at last! Free at last!

I have FINALLY broken free of Earthlink. My website and email are now being provided through a very cool ISP dedicated to nonprofits, Electric Embers. I also use them for the listserves for the book clubs I facilitate. I LOVE these people.

If you have any thoughts about changing ISP's or are looking for great (and immediate) service, a bigger array of technical options than big ISP's like earthlink, and lower cost, check them out. In addition to web and DNS hosting, they also can do webmail, listerves (through NPOGroups) and provide a wide array of free tech support.

I recommend them enthusiastically!

Food for thought

When I was just out of graduate school, I decided in one of my fantasies that I would someday open a restaurant called "Food for Thought". Good food, good wine, and everywhere (on the walls, on the tables, on the menu, there would be little quotes, questions, conundrums for diners to consider or discuss. These would be timeless quotes, and issues of the day. People would come for the food and the conversation. There would even be tables or rooms set up for issue discussions.

Nice idea, never happened.

Last Saturday night, I had the next best thing..a dine-around discussion about reading and book clubs with 10 colleagues from the Alliance for Nonprofit Manaagement conference in Chicago. We talked about reading, about book discussions, about what we liked best in nonprofit books, in fiction, and in periodicals.

Lots of fun, lots to read, but a great discussion, nonetheless.

If you want to start thinking about nonprofit reading, go to the Alliance's website and look at the list of winners of the Terry McAdam Award for best new nonprofit books. It's a great place to start.

Authentic and Winning books

Had a good set of book club discussions this week. Liked both the books we read,

Authentic Leadership, by Bill George and Winning, by Jack and Suzy Welch. I thought both books have a lot to offer nonprofits. Our discussions of Welch's book were more controversial, simply because Welch is. A number of participants told us that they read the book with its cover jacket (which features a big picture of Welch) off.

I can't tell you which is better. Both are well organized, and if you like checklists, Winning is the better choice. Both run down a bit at the end.

But two books to put on your list, for sure.

Out of the woods, energized by the Alliance

I'm back from vacation, two weeks of family, friends, hiking, sailing, kayaking, and hanging out.

Reading Tom Friedman's newest: The World Is Flat, and loving it. What a great mind, a fabulous way to see the big strategic picture. I recommend it highly, though it is BIG. But so important.

As I write this I'm in Chicago, getting ready to head out for the Saturday edition of the Alliance for Nonprofit Management's annual conference here. What a fabulous group of people. Even only being with them yesterday afternoon left me more energized, more ready to get back to work than I could ever have done on my own.

Whenever I am with these peers, I am reminded yet again of the power of a group of people who are face to face and working toward a common goal.

Much fun, gotta go have some more.

On the Lake

At Squam Lake in NH with the fam. May post, may not. Will sail, swim, hike and enjoy my people.

Back July 17, if not before.