After a refreshing summer break, we’re pleased to be starting our biweekly series of PdF Network conference calls up next week with a good friend of PdF, Cheryl Contee, Partner at Fission Strategy & blogger at JackandJillPolitics.com. Her timely topic: “How to Harness the Changing Nature of African American Participation Online.”
“Is it premature to toll the bells for the death of the digital divide?” asks Contee.
In July, a report from the Pew Internet and American Life Center found that African-Americans are not only the most active users of mobile Internet, they are also the fastest growing group to adopt the technology. This comes on top of earlier Pew research showing that one of beneficial effects of Barack Obama’s campaign for President in 2008 was a rapid shrinking of the overall gap between whites and blacks in terms of who goes online for political information.
But reaching out to African-Americans online is not as simple as thinking along racial or ethnic lines, says Contee. On this call we’ll explore what the rising participation of African-Americans online means for non-profits, advocacy organizations and campaigns looking to engage a rapidly transforming demographic.
The call is Thursday September 24th, 1:00-2:00pm EST. Go here to register, or to first join the PdF Network. Upcoming calls include:
–Measuring Online Advocacy & Fundraising: Learnings from the 2009 eNonprofit Benchmarks Study; Thursday, October 1st, 1:00-2:00pm EST.
Guest: Marc Ruben & Karen Matheson, M+R Strategic Services
–Thirty Staffers and No Office: How to Make the Virtual Organization Work, the MoveOn Model; Thursday, October 8th, 1:00-2:00pm EST.
Guest: Ilyse Hogue, Campaign Director, MoveOn.org
–Mobile Volunteers: How to Harness Microvolunteering for Your Cause; Thursday, October 22nd, 1:00-2:00pm EST.
Guest: Jacob Colker, Co-Founder and CEO, The Extraordinaries
September 14, 2009