Maggie McDonald Author Bio & Tendenci Blog Posts | Tendenci - The Open Source AMS for Non-Profits & Associations

2009-07-15

Training? We’ve got your training!!

At Schipul, we think knowledge is power. Everything we learn, we want to share so we offer tons of free trainings on everything from Twitter to the Tendenci Software that powers some of our clients websites and we’re adding new trainings all the time.

What cool new trainings do we have up our sleeves?

If the term “Analytics” makes you cringe, our trusty SEM is going to be breaking down Web Analytics on Friday, July 24. Join us in the Schipul office for all kinds of search engine goodness!
Still don’t know the difference between a poke, a page and a group, the Intro to Facebook on August 25 course is for you!! The best part about it is that it’s a webinar so you can join in from the comfort of your very own desk!

Check them out and sign up before space runs out. We can’t wait to see you there!

And thank you flickr user sanjibm for the awesome photo!!

2009-07-13

SchipulCon Contest Time! Who wants a Houston Zoo Membership?

If the answer is YOU then we’ve got your perfect contest. You have to do us a tiny favor to win though…. but it’s an easy one, we promise!

Tell us in the comments section what you are most excited about learning or doing at SchipulCon09 by THIS Friday at 12pm CST and you’re automatically entered to win a Supporting Level Houston Zoo Membership. That’s right…. we want YOU to tell us what YOU want to learn and then we’ll give YOU a prize! After all, it’s your conference, right?

HOLY MOLY But that’s not all folks. We’ll be giving a Toby doll away as a second place prize. Yep. You get to take away a toy version of Houston’s favorite Red Panda. What can we say…. We like to give prizes to our peeps!! And we really want to hear your comments.

So to recap, here’s how you win:

Comment below and tell us what you want to learn at SchipulCon09
Wait patiently till Friday at 12pm CST when we’ll draw a winner
Check back here to see if you’ve won!

Easy as pie. But please don’t comment anonymously. We’ll have no way of getting your prize to you!!

2009-06-302014-11-02

We’ve got a SchipulCon Keynote!

SchipulCon09 is all about telling your story online. We’ll be talking everything from this magical “Social Media” thing that everyone from Oprah and everyone else is talking about to managing online conversation with your audiences using your Tendenci, WordPress or Drupal powered websites.

Since there is so much to share, we needed someone super passionate and super smart to kick off SchipulCon09 and get that knowledge ball rolling.

Drum roll please….

We are stoked to announce that our Keynote for SchipulCon09 is going to be Public Relations 2.0 leader herself, Deirdre Breakenridge.

Deirdre is the President of PFS Marketwyse and is the author of three Financial Times business books that focus on Public Relations 2.0. Most recently she co-authored Putting the Public Back in Public Relations with fellow PR guru, Brian Solis and she has spoken on the topic of Public Relations all over the nation.

At SchipulCon Deirdre will be dishing on the convergence of marketing and Public Relations and how they mesh with our online world. She’ll also talk about how to facilitate conversations in this crazy new “Social Media” landscape using applications like as Facebook, Twitter and blogging. It’s out with the old and in with the new and Deirdre will be our guide.

What a great way to get SchipulCon09 started!!

For more information on and writing by Deirdre, check out her PR 2.0 Strategies Blog and watch this video!

For great savings on SchipulCon09 you should definitely register now. We’ve got an early-bird special running this month. From now until July31, you’ll be able to sign up for SchipulCon09 for only $49!! Starting August 1, prices will go up to $99 so why wait?

2009-06-29

Are you a Schipul Facebook Fan Yet? Become a fan and Win!!

We adore all of our Schipul Facebook Fans…. And we think they deserve some goodies on us (just for being awesome).

How do you get in on these goodies? All you’ve got to do is Fan us on Facebook!! Hurry though, to be eligible to win one of our awesome prizes, you’ve got to a Schipul Facebook Fan by Two PM CST TOMORROW!! Not that we’re counting down, but that is only 27 hours…

So what are we giving away anyway?

Dell Inspiron Mini 10 Laptop‘Hate carting around a huge laptop just to log in to twitter now and then? We’ve got the laptop for you! You pick the color, and we’ll ship it out to your place! With this little gal, you’ll always be able to update on the go.
$100 Amazon gift card‘ Schipulites are book fiends, and we want to get you hooked too!
$100 iTunes gift card‘ Can’t get enough music? Need another new app? Let us support your habit!

It’s easy as pie. All you’ve gotta do is become a Schipul Facebook Fan for a chance to win. Leave the rest up to us.

2009-06-26

Friday Fun: Check out our SchipulCon Badges (and our giveaway too!!)

We’ve got SchipulCon badges!! And now you can too.

Simply head over to our Conference Site, grab some code, and post one of our super neat SchipulCon Badges on your site, blog or twitter background to show your love.

That is not all though!! We want to give some of you a free pass to the conference.

Send us the URL (communications@schipul dot com) to your site showing some SchipulCon love and you could win a free pass to the conference! We’ll be giving away random free passes from now until day one of SchipulCom and it’s so easy to win one! Show some love + Win a free pass! That’s it.

2009-06-23

Trend Tuesdays: Smart Phones just keep getting smarter!

alg_blackberry All of the big cell phone companies are currently battling it out in the Smart Phone arena and we’re wondering who can get the smartest phone out the quickest (and which of them will actually be smart)….

The Blackberry Tour 9630: This little girl supposedly has all of the best features from the Blackberry Bold, the Curve and the Storm PLUS a ton of other cool new things that will make her better than ever. It’s going to be available later this summer and (as a crackberry gal) I can’t wait!
My Touch 3G by Google: supposedly thinner than the G1 and smaller than the Apple iPhone, this little one is anticipated to be the sexiest of the smart phones.
The Nokia E75: I’ve already mentioned I’m a blackberry girl, so it’s probably no surprise as the Nokia E75 looks great to me because it’s smart and has a full QWERTY keyboard too. The downside? This little lady is expensive…. topping out at almost $600 (depending on your carrier)!
The iPhone 3G S: The iPhone is already everyone’s favorite…. She needs no words.
The New Palm Pre: Remember a few years ago when everyone had a Palm Pilot and they were the Queen Bee in the Smart Phone Kingdom? Everyone better watch out because Palm is back and better than ever. Some say the Pre is even better than the iPhone.

Which of these little ladies would you want in your corner?

2009-06-19

Friday Fun: FotoFest Online Call for Artists!!

FotoFest Houston Calling all Artists!! FotoFest needs you!!

They want to feature on of you web-savy artisits in their POKE exhibit this fall (September 10-October 24 to be exact) and they’ve issued on online open call to find you. What exactly are the looking for? Art that is content driven and inspired by contemporary life as lived through the filter of the interwebs.

If you’re using Facebook, YouTube, Flickr or twitter (or any of the other billion online tools) then this contest if for you!

So Ready. Set. Create!! You can submit up to ten images via email to exhibits @ fotofest dot org but to be eligible, you’ve got to have your submissions in no later than midnight on July 3.

For more info and the rest of the rules, check out their POKE! Facebook Fanpage!

2009-06-162014-11-02

Save the Date! SchipulCon2009 is taking over the Houston Zoo!!

We’ve been busy as bees here in the Schipul office planning something super special for you guys and it’s time to let the cat out of the bag!

We’ll be taking over the Houston Zoo on October 15 & 16, 2009 for our first ever Schipul Web Marketing Conference! Or as we like to call it…. SchipulCon09!

So save the date!!

We’ve got a passionate team full of subject matter experts on everything from Tendenci to Twitter and we want to share all of this knowledge with you!

Over the next couple of months we will be filling you in on all of the details including a super speaker lineup and all kinds of other awesomeness you’ve come to expect from the Schipul Crew.

We’ll be covering everything from the Web Marketing Fundamentals to how to execute a successful marketing campaign using your Tendenci Software. We’ll dish on social media and we’ll get wild about WordPress. If it has to do with teaching you how to tell your organizations story, we’ll be covering it!

We’ll be mad as wet hens if we leave something out SO WE NEED YOU! What do you want to learn at SchipulCon that we haven’t thought of yet? Visit our Tendenci Forums and drop us a line or a question. We couldn’t do what we do without YOU!

Keep your eye on the Blog Ladies and Gentleman, because pre-registration will be opening soon and we’ll announce it here first!

Just like all of our in-house trainings and webinars, SchipulCon is open to everyone, not just clients! There will be multiple tracks to choose from and there is plenty of brain candy to go around.