Overview
The first NTRS was held November 10th, 2005 at CompuMentor. The focus was "Optimizing the Consultant / Nonprofit Relationship". Approximately 35 people attended. The meeting was 2hrs. There was a good mix of IT and non-IT, and consultant and nonprofit staff. We also had a few for profit software vendors in the room. The format was one facilitator leading a discussion among the audience - there was very little presentation, no computer technology assistance generally.
Networking Notes
There were several terrific meet-ups during the event. One nonprofit received an offer for 10 free hours of consulting from an attendee. Another received a free short consultation. Some attendees are interested to help organize future sessions. One attendee is interested to tackle an article on "Return on Investment" for nonprofits engaging in technology projects.
CompuMentor staff in attendance made several direct connections, it was a great opportunity for staff to get some face time with the people we serve and vice-versa.
General Discussion
http://www.consultantcommons.org/node/342
Possible Future Topics
http://www.consultantcommons.org/node/383
Feedback
The evaluations were generally very positive. Anecdotally, comments on the session organization were excellent. Folks thought the facilitation was strong, some folks wanted more structure and presentation while others wanted less. The topic was very engaging for the audience, several nonprofits enjoyed having an opportunity to engage more deeply with service providers, while service providers enjoyed learning more about nonprofit needs and expectations for service providers.
We are compiling the results from our evaluation forms and will post here soon.