Organizers’ Collaborative holds 7th Annual Grassroots Use of
Technology Conference on Saturday, June 17
Longtime Boston Community Leader Mel King hosts post-conference dinner

On Saturday, June 17, 2006 over 200 individuals representing more than 75 community-based and nonprofit organizations throughout the Northeast came together at UMASS Boston for Organizers' Collaborative (OC) Seventh Annual Grassroots Use of Technology Conference. Co-sponsored by the CTC Vista Project at UMASS Boston, this national conference provided valuable training and information to nonprofit professionals and activists on how they could best use technology to effect social change.

This year’s conference theme was Making Technology Relevant to Nonprofit and Social Change Groups, with a focus on helping community organizations to better serve their constituents. "We had a great program this year and received a lot of positive feedback about the conference," said OC's founding director, Rich Cowan. The conference featured over fifteen different workshops and panels geared towards nonprofit organizations, techies, and activists at all levels of technical expertise. One of the highlights of this year’s conference was the Keynote Address by Terra Fredrichs of CitizenActionTeam.org, who discussed how her organization utilized technology to mobilize thousands of aid workers and donors in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Overall the participants found the workshops to be very helpful and also enjoyed the opportunity to network with other nonprofit professionals and activists.

After the conference, 40 people attended OC’s benefit dinner at South Kitchen & Wine Bar. Longtime Boston community leader Mel King hosted the dinner and CitizensAction.org received an award for their outstanding grassroots advocacy.