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Michelle Murrain, Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology Blog
Michelle and I are graduates (so is Deborah Finn) of Bennington College, a very small liberal arts college in Vermont, where everyone knows everyone's name. What's very funny is that we were in school during the same two year period, but we never met! That's because Michelle was in the Science Building on one end of campus, while I in the Music Building way on the other side.
Although Michelle has some deeply geeky skills, she writes from the perspective of a neo-luddite. Her blog is filled with insightful pieces that cut through the hype of new technologies and often ask the hard probing questions that haven't been asked.
Michelle most recently published a white paper in collaboration with NTEN called "Let's Talk: How Open APIs Can Change How Nonprofits Manage Data" It is a topic of critical importance in the nonprofit tech space. The paper is a must read. She is also the coordinator for NOSI - Nonprofit Open Source Initiative. You can learn more about her impressive accomplishments by reading the official CV/Bio at her web site.
I had a chance to reconnect again with Michelle when she signed up to volunteer for the NTC Day of Service. Here's my interview:
1. Like many of us out there, you work as an independent consultant - so you are paid for your expertise and knowledge. Why the heck would you ever want to give it a way for free by volunteering?
I've been an educator for pretty much all of my adult life (even at Bennington, I was a tutor, and taught some classes in technology.) And so education comes naturally for me, so translating what I know in ways that other people can understand has always been important to me, and I've done it whether I've been paid to do it or not. I want people to understand things better, I want people to be able to approach technology with less fear and trepidation, with less intimidation.
When I first started out consulting, one of the first pieces of advice I got was that giving things away free is an avenue to getting business. I can't really quantify whether this has been the case for me - but between my natural inclinations, and that advice, I certainly got into the habit of doing it. At this point in my life, I'm not worrying about getting business so much - I'm thinking a lot more about a bigger picture of things, and assuming that it will all work out in the end.
That's the more spiritual approach to things - the calling is in relating to people, and in providing information to organizations that helps them accomplish their mission better.
2. How do you see gift economies operating in the nonprofit open source community, the nonprofit blogosphere, and nonprofit tech community in general? Is there a downside to gift economies?
I am a big believer in gift economies. I think that the nonprofit tech community in general operates a lot out of a gift economy model. Of course, open source is one big gift economy, although it certainly intersects with the "real" economy, and there are some interesting things that happen in those moments. I see a general desire to provide information and support for free - it's amazing how many responses people get on email lists to a specific problem that they are trying to solve. People seem to be in this field because it matters in some way to them - to the world.
I don't see any downsides to gift economies, honestly. I wish the whole world worked that way. :-)
3. Let's talk about your blog(s) - specifically Zen and Nptech which you launched a few months ago. What value do you get from it? What is most exciting to you personally and professionally as it relates to blogging?
What I get from it primarily is a venue to air my ideas about technology and human beings, as they form more and more in my mind. I guess I also get out of it feedback and push back on my ideas - which I'm always looking for. It's a good excuse to read lots of other people's blogs, and feed into the general nptech blogosphere, which is fun. It's really a soapbox,
