Got a great note last week from Nick Moraitis about the launch of Social Tech Brewing in Australia. The first event is set for later this week in Sydney, then moving to Melbourne in the coming months. I met Nick when he was here in Toronto working with Taking IT Global and we kicked around some ideas about successful community-led events — thought I’d quickly recount them here:

I’m pretty sad to be missing another fantastic event hosted by Aspiration. Gunner almost managed to get me there with a few well-timed bribes — but, alas, the timing is a bit off. If you’re involved in supporting non-profits and their technology needs, and want to be involved in some of the most important “social tech” conversations this year, consider attending this event (and take good notes for me!):

The Summit will be a first-of-its-kind convening to bring together the range of developers, technologists, managers, eRiders, integrators, users and others who self-identify under the umbrella of “nonprofit software development”. The event will provide an opportunity both to gather as a community and to take stock of the field, while building connections and capacity.

Wow — I was super-stoked to open-up my newsreader this morning to find GreenCamp listed on Upcoming. Last spring David Crow and I bantered about the opportunity for social-mission organizations to use the “unconference” format as a way to facilitate new conversations around progressive ideas. It’s incredible to actually see this happening — And right here in Toronto too! Think I’ll be making it out to that event for sure.

GreenCamp isn’t the only progressive unconference around. There’s a whole new movement afoot, including Chris Messina’s WineCamp, New Organizing Institute’s RootsCamp, and the Media Consortium’s recent ConsortTechCamp. Though not an official “Camp”-style unconference, I like to think of Web of Change as a progressive unconference, and I hope that Misha’s summary of lessons from the recent CopyCamp added to the mix of ideas on how to use the unconference model for change.

Know of other progressive unconferences? Pop ‘em in the comments! :-)

For the past few weeks, I’ve been excited to announce what is sure to be one of the most dynamic conversations about copyright this year. Planning for the event really got under way in June, with the addition of several new team members, and has been racing forward at a break neck speed every since.