My dear friend Andy Kim has launched a new website, a news aggregator powered by you and me rather than a roomful of editors concerned with readership and revenue.  I like it!  So, you know… find your favorite news and put in a good word.

http://putinagoodword.com/

Sign-on letter from the Global Justice Center on exclusion of women from Burma’s 2010 elections and ongoing sexual violence with impunity by Burma’s army

ResolveUganda’s in-district lobby day called “Knock Knock” – great compliment to the amazing lobby days in DC they have pulled off with hundreds of Uganda activists

Very useful podcasts from Echoing Green on social entrepreneurship: “Be Bold”

The Human Rights Center of UC Berkeley will be holding a conference on human rights and technology May 4 and 5, with a remote location in NYC organized by yours truly

Our client, a global media firm, is seeking a Personal Assistant/Airplane Steward to support the CEO during all of his/her travels. Of highest importance, the Personal Assistant will provide the executive and his/her guests with outstanding customer service while performing all necessary duties as requested by the pilot in command. The person in this role will not only provide excellent and efficient food service, but also will be extremely attentive to all guests. He will anticipate guest needs and proactively address them with thoughtful planning and service.

This is a great opportunity to travel all around the world!

I think about people losing their homes because they’ve lost their jobs, and then I think about CEOs like this guy still whizzing around in private jets, or even the 28-year-old guy I know who just got laid off from a corporate bank in New York with a hefty $30k severance package after working there less than a year.  And I get mad.

And another link to Michael Wolff’s Newser piece portending New York Post editor Col Allan’s firing.

And I wouldn’t want to forget to highlight Allan’s previous post, How to Buy a Small Nonprofit IT System, which cannot but mention Google Apps, free for organizations with 501c3 IRS status.  Did you know you can send text messages via Google Chat now?  I want even begin to talk about how Google’s new video chat is vastly superior to Skype.  I (heart) Google.

Rootscamp 2008 was an open conference for progressive online and offline organizers who worked on the 2008 election cycle, held at Trinity College in Washington, DC.

A note first on the conference format:  This was the first time I had been to an Open Space event with more than 10 people in attendance (600+!), and I feel the format worked out quite well.  Perhaps the most important outcome of this format, was the genuine promise for collaboration that came out of each session.  One could be confident that session leaders were passionate about their topics and were seeking out partnerships, not just responding to the interests of conference organizers.  It was an exciting weekend, all around.

Highlights included sessions led by Obama campaign Western Regional Field Director Buffy Wicks and Professor Marshall Ganz, father of the teams model of organizing implemented nation-wide by the Obama campaign.

More highlights:

• A ‘What should we do now?’ session run by Rootscamp sponsor MoveOn,
• A volunteer-management workshop led by Jefferson Smith of the Bus Project and now a member of the Oregon State House,
• Sessions on testing, data, and new best practices by folks from VAN (yes, the VAN), Catalist and the Analyst Institute, and
• Video 101 and 202 led by Max Glass of the Obama campaign’s New Media Team.

High on everyone’s agenda: How do we professionalize progressive organizing and create a nation-wide infrastructure of local, sustainable, progressive organizers?  And, of course, what’s next?