Another event to add to your planner - Social Tech Training is geared towards training social change-minded organizations in using the web to activate, communicate and inspire.

Held June 22 – 24 in Toronto, the faculty of web geeks on a mission brings a comprehensive agenda designed to teach groups (including many NPOs and NGOs) all aspects of using contemporary communication tactics and web 2.0/social media tools to spread their messages.

The 3-day event is taking place at the MaRS Center in Toronto's Discovery District and is put on by Web of Change and MaRS and is divided into focused days:

• Goal for the day: Get started on your Web 2.0 plans
  Focus: Outreach
• Goal for the day: Fill in plans with specific tactics
  Focus: Engagement
• Goal for the day: Start thinking about effective implementation
  Focus: Organization and Leadership

The aforementioned faculty and speakers feature many talented friends of the RCS clan - including the webby-worthy hactivist Dr. Alexandra Samuel of Social Signal, and Jason Mogus, the serial sustainability entrepreneur from Communicopia, plus Raincity President Kris Krug who will kick off the event with a "lay of the Web 2.0 land" type address.

Other Speakers Include:

• Beka Economopoulos - Greenpeace USA
• Clay Johnson
• Cristen Perks - EchoDitto
• David Averill - ONE/NW
• Eli Singer - Segal Communications
• Jon Warnow - Step It Up
• Mike McDerment - Freshbooks
• Phillp King - Artez
• Ricken Patel - Avaaz

The event is appropriate for groups just starting to get online too. As Communications and Outreach Manager Sarah Pullman, says:

These days, it's becoming ever more important for social change organizations to "have it together" online. The opportunities for outreach and engagement offered by online web tools and services are huge, and success stories abound. Many organizations find themselves with more questions than answers, however. Where is the greatest return for your investment? How can you make the most of the increasingly limited attention spans of your constituents? Do you need to be "techy" to do it right? Twitter, Drupal, Facebook, Ning... ack!

Participants will gain new technical, creative, and leadership skills, tap into a powerful network, and leave with a customized, comprehensive “Web 2.0 Plan” for their organization.

So if you find yourself or your organization unable to take advantage of the web and its many opportunities, this may be the training you need - check out the Registration page for additional info. Be sure to say hi to Kris if you make it there.