The Business of Meaning

small stars mosaicIn so many places, we’ve taken the Jewish out of the experience of working at Jewish communal organizations.

by Liz Fisher

As a Jewish communal professional myself, and as someone who has interviewed, supervised, and mentored dozens of young Jewish professionals, I’ve read the recent eJewish Philanthropy stories by Mark Young and Ken Gordon with great interest. Rather than compete, they actually complement one another; compensation and passion, the two theses presented, are indeed crucial.

I can’t help but wonder, though, where the Jewish piece comes in. We are not MIT Media Labs. We are not Google. We are Jewish organizations with budgets of varying size, finding ourselves under constant pressure to operate more leanly and to spend less on overhead (i.e. ourselves) while spending more on programs and our clients. Yes – we are getting more professional, strategic, and efficient, all very important things. And as we do so, it is crucial that we continue to remember who we are.

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Engaging the Second Screen: Fans, Consumers and The Jewish Community

When we are crafting opportunities for engagement and leadership development, we need to think about the context for the programs we create. Are there clear paths to deeper engagement? Are there opportunities to expand connection of an idea or mission so that it permeates the overstimulated minds of our audiences meaningfully, but organically?

2nd screenby Esther D. Kustanowitz

(This is the first in a two-part series on how second-screen experiences relates to Jewish leadership and programming.)

Today’s attention span, the availability of personal online devices, and indeed, the pace of business, demands that we do multiple things at once, like reading our email in meetings and checking Facebook and Twitter throughout the day via desktop browsers and mobile apps. It’s barely even considered rude anymore – it’s considered acceptable, and increasingly, necessary.

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Seeding Homegrown Innovators in St. Petersburg

by Katya Potapova St. Petersburg is the Paris of the North. Actually, it’s better. And colder. It boasts what we think is the world’s worst weather and what we know is the breathtaking White Nights. It is the most snobbish, vibrant and … [Continue reading]

Jewish Ed Tech Macher Says Tech Is Not – NOT – the Answer to Affordability

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Technology should be a method of enhancement, never a cost-efficient replacement for face-to-face learning experiences, or a smokescreen to distract from other cost-efficiencies. by Russel Neiss “There must be a revolution in education in which … [Continue reading]

How To Establish Thought Leadership For Your Nonprofit

thought leadership

Start with content marketing, activate intellectual capital and go from there. by Caroline Avakian Content marketing has risen to the forefront in recent years as an important tool in the nonprofit communication toolbox. It’s about … [Continue reading]

ROI 2013: Who Are You?

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The final list of participants in the 2013 iteration of the ROI Summit was released recently. The ROI summit is an annual gathering that brings together a select group of 150 young Jews from across the world for an almost all expenses paid, intense, … [Continue reading]