Last weekend I was fortunate to be invited to volunteer my time to support New England GiveCamp. A GiveCamp is a several month effort that culminates in a few days where Web Designers, Web Developers, Business Analysts and others donate their time to assist local charities with their technology needs.
The New England GiveCamp was held from Friday evening to Sunday afternoon at the Microsoft New England Research and Development Center in Cambridge Massachusetts. (June 11-13, 2010). (Believe it or not, but over 50 people slept at the Microsoft offices for two nights!) Sponsors included Microsoft, Staples, Best Buy, Green Mountain Coffee, Telerik the Web hosts: DiscountASP.net and NaviSite and several other companies, for a complete list click here.
Non-Profit organizations included Lawrence Youth Soccer Association, The Nave Gallery, Friends of the Concord Free Public Library, EMERGE, Inc., and 16 others.
From the moment we all assembled on Friday evening, many of us after our “day jobs” it was clear this was a special event. The camaraderie, and sense of community and sharing started. There was also a sense of helplessness as it was clear that many organizations are far behind in their use of, understanding of, and dreams of what they could achieve. With the Web as the great equalizer and modern platforms like WordPress, Drupal and the excellent Telerik Sitefinity, several organizations had their Websites transformed dramatically. Other organizations had their Access databases repaired, data normalized, business processes improved, better security measures implemented to protect donor information, and much more.
The Web Hosting community has played a critical role for over 15 years now, enabling Non-Profits, Small Businesses and Enterprises to have a voice, transform their business processes and connect with their customers and donors. We all have a small part to play, each of us individually – and when we give back we can make a difference. Look for a GiveCamp in your community and consider sponsoring or donating your time.
Special thanks goes out to Jim O’Neil one of Microsoft’s Northeast Developer Evangelists, Kelley Muir for their tireless organization and inspiration and Microsoft for hosting the event.
About William Toll
William Toll, VP, Marketing at Yottaa, Inc., has held Marketing and Product Management positions in the Web hosting and Internet infrastructure industry since the late 1990s. Currently William is driving the marketing strategy and implementation for Yottaa, Inc. Yottaa, The Web Performance Company, provides innovative cloud services enabling its customers to assess, benchmark, monitor and optimize their websites and Web applications for a better user experience and improved ROI. Most recently William was at the leading managed hosting and cloud services provider, NaviSite. At NaviSite, William was responsible for developing and marketing the company's hosted product lines, including managed cloud services, managed hosting, managed business applications and shared and dedicated hosting for SMBs. In past positions at companies such as Affinity Internet, Inc., Intermedia.NET, and NTT/VERIO, William was the driving force in launching and enhancing successful SMB focused services including: Shared Hosting services, Microsoft Exchange and hosting add-on services like Online Marketing and Web Design. William received a BA in Marketing from New England College. William Toll can be found on Twitter: @utollwi
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