Our organization has been in an unusual position since Hurricane Ike slammed us a week and some change ago. Houston is just now reverting to normalcy... though a complete recovery is months away, if at all possible. The Blood Center shut down its operations for four days in response to Ike and began collecting again last Tuesday, calling for the public to give blood and replenish the supply.

We've got six Net Tuesdays meeting next week all over the country, and in Canada:

Austin, TX NEW!
Topic: Launch party

Chicago, IL
Topic: Pimp My Non-Profit

Houston, TX
Topic: Project LIFT Houston

Not only do the fun folks at Net Tuesday Houston have great photos (left), they have also started a snazzy, new Net Tuesday Houston Blog. Check it out and give 'em a warm welcome to the blogosphere.

Photo by Ed Schipul.

I just loved the photos from the Net Tuesday Houston Flickr Stream and wanted to share some of them with you. The one to the left is of Ernesto of KPFT speaking at Netsquared Houston in October 2007.

The Net Tuesday Houston group is one of the oldest Net Tuesday Meetups, along with Net Tuesday DC. Both groups will celebrate their 2-year anniversary in February 2008.

This year their Houston's speakers and topics have included:

• Silona Bonewald of the League of Technical Voters

Net Tuesday Houston's co-organizer, Ed Shipul, has proposed a SXSW Interactive panel, Pimp My Nonprofit: Real Nonprofits Kicking Ass with Online Technology.

Panelists will include Ed representing Schipul: The Web Marketing Company, nonprofit tech consultant and superstar Beth Kanter, Revenue and Brand Strategist for Nonprofit and Social Enterprise, Rachel Weidinger, former Communications and Technology Coordinator of Interplast Seth Mazow, and Erin Denny, Senior Product Manager of YouthNoise Initiatives.

You can vote here till September 21.

I joined what I would officially call a crowd at the Houston NetSquared meeting last night. Ed Schipul (Schipul) has just returned from a week long crash course for the new iPhone. I would say he was just showing off except he was so damn excited about the whole thing I can only conclude he was genuinely happy to be sharing all his discoveries, frustrations, and optimism about this latest gadget. There was a brief (very brief) and nasty rumor that someone was going to win an iPhone, but I think this may have been the wine and appetizers talking.

Thought this was pretty on the mark with the discussion we had at the Houston NetSquared meeting almost a year ago...

http://www.netsquared.org/blog/jj-lassberg/connecting-with-our-troops

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Last November 1, as the sun rose over a farm near Dover, New Hampshire the Eyes Wide Open crew once again began laying out more than two thousand pairs of boots representing the U.S. military personnel killed in Iraq. But this was not a standard stop on the nation-wide tour of AFSC's acclaimed anti-war exhibit.

The boots were being prepared to play a role in a music video for blues musician Robert Cray's poignant new song, "Twenty", telling the story of a young soldier...

View this amazing video now, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqG_nYAZ9RI >>

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The Houston NetSquared gang is incredibly happy to have Reggie Bibbs (http://www.reggiebibbs.com) and the Texas Neurofibromatosis Foundation (http://www.texasnf.org) will be joining Houston NetSquared for our June Meetup.

Reggie will discuss his work promoting awareness of Neurofibromatosis and growing a strong support community through Web, viral and public service projects. Online technology has shaped his global communication efforts in a huge way - let's discuss the good and the bad of running a grassroots campaign online!

We've got five NetSquared Meetups coming up in March in Washington DC, San Francisco, Houston, Chicago and Atlanta.  Join a Net Tuesday happening near you next month, or email us at net2@techsoup.org if you would like to start a NetSquared Meetup in your town.

Also, if you know of someone who might want to speak at one of the Meetups, feel free to contact the organizer, or email us at net2@techsoup.org and we'll forward your email on to them.

The Houston NetSquared December meetup was one of the best yet.  Kathy Payton from Houston's 5th Ward Community Re-development Corporation spoke with us on their efforts to improve the quality of life in this historically impoverished and crime-ridden area.