Growing your capacity: Local media changes, part-time job openings in Ward 8, better meetings, finding joy, more! — Anacostia Parks and Community Collaborative

Local Events and Resources

The DC Line is a new local media outlet. Who's involved: Chris Kain, Cuneyt Dil, and Graham Vyse, to name a few. Their niche:

Even though DC doesn’t share the kind of news desert that some communities face, there are serious gaps in the coverage that are obvious to those active in community affairs. The DC Line seeks to offer a first stop for residents to find the information they need to be active participants in hometown DC.

Our mission as a nonprofit, independent and nonpartisan news site is threefold:

to provide high-quality journalism about local DC with coverage of subjects such as politics, public policy, schools, the natural and built environment, and arts and culture;
to foster civic participation by offering a forum for civil public discussion;
and to help provide the tools necessary for active engagement.

After nearly 10 years, my final NewsPlus https://t.co/3SaU25Bp17
— Mark Segraves (@SegravesNBC4) May 22, 2018

"Ward 8 Woods" Hiring Park Stewards: The Anacostia Coordinating Council is hiring five Park Stewards for their new project, “Engaging Ward 8 Residents in Woodland Restoration,” “Ward 8 Woods” for short. The project's goals are to remove as much trash and invasive species as possible from several large wooded areas in Ward 8 and to engage Ward 8 residents in a part-time employment experience. Learn more about the project in Committee to Restore Shepherd Parkway’s innovative approach to park and waterways.

Free basic bike repair clinics at Anacostia Library this summer: The longstanding free bike repair clinic at Anacostia Library (1800 Good Hope Rd SE) is back! A collaboration between DC Public Library, WABA, The Bike House, Velocity Bike Co-op, Gearin’ Up, and Phoenix Bikes, the clinic is a perfect spot for quick fixes and troubleshooting with your bike. Clinic dates: Saturday, June 23; Saturday, July 14; Saturday, July 28; Saturday, August 11; and Saturday, August 25. All clinics run from Noon to 2:30 pm. Learn more at the Facebook event and thebikehouse@gmail.com. Want to volunteer? Sign up online.

Tools and Resources

Wild Apricot's 10 Inexpensive (or Free) Nonprofit Marketing Tools That Create Stunning Visuals has some terrific suggestions. Crello, for example, is a graphic design tool, like Canva. Mobile app Legend transforms text into a moving image. Animaker, with free and paid options, creates animated vids.
Need guidance for planning an event? Head over to The Media Event Party Planner and you'll find a comprehensive list of what to do when. And you can ignore the media part! (ResourceMedia)
The questions in 10 Facebook Event FAQs: Answers for Marketers are timely and answers easily understood. Yay! (Social Media Examiner)
Screenshot Guru takes high-resolution screen captures of any website or tweet.
How to Build an Email List for Your Nonprofit is a must-read. (Wired Impact)
This: Why Your Nonprofit Should Retweet Its Own Tweets – and How to Do It (Nonprofit Tech for Good).

At work

Developing Employees is Like Brushing Your Teeth describes the change in HR practice. (Julie WG)
Ask These 9 Questions Before Every Meeting To Avoid Wasting Time (Fast Company)
There's a lot to read and digest in Nonprofit Tech for Good's 22 Must-Read Research Reports for the Nonprofit Sector. Here's a tip for getting through them: Divvy among staff and have them share summaries. It's skill building, information-sharing, and leadership all in one!
How to Run a Conference Panel That Isn't Horrible is not only full of useful tips (duh, it's Adam Grant) but it's a nudge to do an event or two this way. The comments are also useful. Bookmark.
This. This. This. Simple Tips for Reminding People That You are on Social Media by Jayne Corso.

. . . display social media icons at the top of your website. Some organizations put these at the bottom of their website where they usually get lost—when was the last time you scrolled all the way to the bottom of a website?

You are already sending emails to your followers or database, so why not tell them about your social media channels? You can do this in a very simple way, by adding the icons to your email template, or you can call out your social channels in your emails. Try doing a dedicated email promoting your social channels.

Learn something

Improve your meetings. Springboard Partners and Simons Strategy & Communications have just released Strategic Facilitation Meeting Planning Guide to help organizations make the most of meetings. Springboard Partners is also doing a webinar on the guide Wednesday, July 18 from 1:00-2:00 pm. To receive a calendar invitation by email, sign up online.
Free Webinar: Creating Partnerships to Promote Citizen Science and Advocacy, July 17, free: Learn how to create effective partnerships, share data, maximize data collection efforts, discuss findings with others as you go rather than at the time of a report release.
SDG Academy "creates and curates free, graduate-level courses on sustainable development for students around the world."

Good reads

How to Trick People Into Saving Money (The Atlantic)
The Myth of 'Learning Styles' (The Atlantic via Adam Grant)
Spaced Repetition Promotes Efficient and Effective Learning: Policy Implications for Instruction (Dartmouth)
CityObservatory, in The Week Observed: June 15, 2018, wrote:

Many Americans are rooted in place. A new survey published by the Federal Reserve has a number of interesting insights about American behavior. One finding caught our eye: A majority of Americans live near the place they attended High School. The study asked respondents to share the zip code of their current residence and of the place they completed high school.

According to the Fed study, moving long distances was correlated both with education and income; those who went further geographically, went further economically. As the study concludes: "A major predictor of whether individuals move away from their hometown is their level of education. Three-fifths of adults with a bachelor's degree live more than 10 miles away from where they grew up, versus two-fifths of those who have a high school degree or less."