Category Archive: Blog

Weekly Update: The Holiday Spirit has Arrived

December 9, 2011

December 9, 2011

The Holiday Spirit has arrived in the Tri-Cities

Don’t want to be a scrooge this year? Looking for fun ways to ring in the holiday season with family and friends? Never fear, the Tri-Cities has you covered. In Old Towne, you won’t want to miss the 32nd Annual Trees of Christmas featuring 27 trees designed by various organizations, businesses and schools in the Southside area. The Petersburg Festival Chorus also presents Sounds of the Season this coming weekend. The Petersburg Public Library and Appomattox Regional Library System are offering family-friendly, holiday programming all month long. And finally, Prince George Regional Heritage Center celebrates the season with their vintage toy display. Find all your holiday happenings with ConnecctSouthside’s Calendar of Community Events this season.

News in the Community:

Southside Community Partners is a program of the Appomattox Regional Library System working to build a strong Southside community

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Shari’s Nonprofit Pick: Social Media Galore

December 5, 2011

December 5, 2011

Did you miss our Social Media conference last week? You may want to read one, or several, of the following books to help you shore up your social media savvy! Check them out.

30 Days to Social Media Success by Gail Z. Martin

Content Rules by Ann Handley & C.C. Chapman

The Digital Handshake by Paul Chaney

The Dragonfly Effect by Jennifer Lynn Aaker

Flip the Funnel by Joseph Jaffe

The Social Media Bible by Lon Safko

Social Media for Social Good by Heather Mansfield

This is Social Media by Guy Clapperton

Twitter for Good by Claire Diaz-Ortiz

We First by Simon Mainwaring

 

 

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Weekly Community Update: Tis the Season

December 2, 2011

December 2, 2011

Tis the Season for Year-End Giving!

December is a big giving month as the holiday spirit arrives (and tax breaks for donations made before the end of the year). Many Americans think it’s important to give to charity this holiday season as proven by a  recent poll from the American Red Cross. Are you part of the 72% of the population who plans to give this year? If so, these are five tips that GuideStar suggests to help donors get the most out of their end-of the year charitable giving:

  1. Clarify values and preferences
  2. Focus on the mission
  3. Verify a charity’s legitimacy
  4. Get the cold, hard facts
  5. Trust your instincts

Looking for a charity to make your donations? Be sure to visit our database of local organizations as well as GiveSouthsideVA.

News in the Community

Southside Community Partners is a program of the Appomattox Regional Library System working to build a strong Southside community

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Amnesia thriller is tense and creepy

November 30, 2011

November 30, 2011

“Before I go to sleep by S.J. Watson is one of the better debut novels of 2011. The story is told by Christine, a woman who wakes up every morning not knowing where or who she is. Her problem is a serious case of amnesia- from an accident or an attack, depending on who she talks to.

Christine lives an isolated life, heavily dependent on her husband Ben who is very selective about discussing her past. She forms a bond with a psychologist in secret, hoping to regain some of her memory, and part of the therapy consists of keeping a secret journal in which she tries to reconstruct her past. She reviews her journal every morning after he leaves for work. “Don’t trust Ben” is one of her messages to herself. Is Ben trying to save her from pain, or is there another motive at work? Or is it the psychologist himself who is the problem? Adding to the complexity is re-discovering her relationship with a woman who was her best friend- and the fact that she once had a son- is he still alive?

Watson is able to unfold the details of Christine’s past in a tense way. While her medical problem is frustrating and extreme, the author is able to keep the narrative endurable by granting her occasional glimpses of her strongest memories- so her case does have traces of hope. When a final plot twist kicks the suspense into high gear, we are firmly on her side! Despite the British setting, this novel would be hard to put down for most American readers, with the clever combination of memory science and who-can-I-trust suspense.

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Shari’s Nonprofit Pick: Quit Whining!

November 28, 2011

November 28, 2011

The No Complaining Rule: Positive Ways to Deal with Negativity at Work by Jon Gordon

 

Jon Gordon, author of the bestselling The Energy Bus (coming soon!) has written another winner. Written in story format (you’ll meet a great gal named Hope who is working on complaining less) you’ll fly through this book and be glad that you did. By the end of 137 pages based on a real-life company that implementing the No Complaining Rule, you will have learned all sorts of innovative ideas and down-to-earth solutions to move your organizational environment from complaining to positive. Check it out.

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Weekly Community Update: New ConnectVA Logo Unveiled!

November 23, 2011

November 23, 2011

The winning design of the new ConnectVA Regional Logo Contest was announced to a crowded room of representatives from nonprofit, business and government groups at a celebratory unveiling event last week. The new design uses adjoining arrows and merged N’s to express the core brand essence of connecting while the speech bubble reflects the notion of giving voice to the community.
Created by Ashlee Snider, this design will serve as the official logo of ConnectVA, the redesigned online platform that will unify ConnectRichmond and ConnectSouthside. The new system will continue to be a nonprofit and civic hub that provides information-sharing tools and resources in a uniquely local user experience. Stay tuned for more information about the rebuild.
ConnectVA is your community network.

News in the Community:

Southside Community Partners is a program of the Appomattox Regional Library System working to build a strong Southside community

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Shari’s Nonprofit Pick: Rewards on a Shoestring Budget

November 21, 2011

November 21, 2011

A Guide to Non-cash Reward by Michael Rose

 

Most nonprofit organizations are operating on especially tight budgets these days. This brief, easy-to-follow book will show you how to learn the value of recognition, reward staff at virtually no cost, and improve your organizational performance. You’ll learn why recognition is important, what, when, and how to recognize people, and all about using non-cash awards. This book will help you set up recognition plans for staff, board members, and volunteers. Check it out.

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Weekly Community Update: Free Online Grant Writing Tutorial

November 18, 2011

November 18, 2011

Free Online Grant Wring Tutorial Now Available

We are excited to announce the launch of a new online Grant Writing Tutorial as part of several new capacity building initiatives. Free access is available on ConnectSouthside. Developed in-house by SCP staff, the new tutorial is an easy-to-use tool that offers practical, step-by-step guidelines, tips and resources to help organizations secure funds in support of their mission. You’ll be walked through each aspect of grant proposal writing including ideas worth funding, assessing capacity, using funding databases, approaching foundations, developing timelines, gaining familiarity with the key components of grants, and more. Each page is accompanied by direct links to forms, samples and book titles, all of which are available at the SCP Nonprofit Resource Center.

News in the Community

Southside Community Partners is a program of the Appomattox Regional Library System working to build a strong Southside community

Want to receive daily updates of community events and news? Join our email group

 

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Will Zombie Novel Have an Audience?

November 17, 2011

November 17, 2011

Colson Whitehead is a well respected young literary writer. In his latest effort, Zone One, he makes the weird choice to write about a future USA that is swarming with zombies.

Told in a series of flashbacks, this is the story of “Mark Spitz”- a troubled young man who has lost everything he ever knew. It’s not his real name, and we never do find out much about him. It’s a bleak tale of a nation suffering from social, economic, and environmental challenges galore- and then a legion of living dead start rampaging!

There is plenty of food for thought here, but do zombie fans really want to think about life in contemporary America? For that matter, do serious literary readers want to deal with shambling ex-human hordes? Bottom line, this is a well written and thoughtful novel that does not seem to have a readership.

Next up:
Before I go to sleep by S.J. Watson might be the scariest thriller of 2011. If you are interested in a review, please use the comment box below!

Read more book reviews on Library Blogs.

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“When She Woke” is remarkable, controversial

November 16, 2011

November 16, 2011

Hillary Jordan may not be a well-known writer, but she is a talented creator of socially aware fiction. Her new novel, When She Woke, is a disturbing futuristic story of an America dominated by theocracy. Beginning as a bold exploration of social, religious, and political ideas that intentionally shadows Hawthorne’s “The Scarlet Letter”, it soon grows into something deeper.

We are introduced to Hannah Payne as a convict whose skin has been dyed red as punishment for her crime of abortion, and for refusing to reveal the identities of her lover or her doctor despite her own feeling of guilt. Her punishment will not be prison, but rather to be cast loose in society where everyone will be hostile to her.

When Hannah is targeted by a vigilante group, she is rescued by an underground group and offered a chance to escape. Her race for freedom changes the novel into a work of suspense. As the story progresses, Jordan reaches deeper into her characters, and the reader realizes that the story is not anti-religion, but merely pro-human. Her book clearly lends itself to lively discussion, especially in a book group setting! Check out our book group schedule to get in on the discussion.

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