May 2006

Dear Friend:

If you were at the Michigan Nonprofit Superconference in Detroit earlier this week, you may have heard my colleague Dan Moore speak, or you might have met him and another colleague, Karen Rayzor, at the GuideStar exhibit. If you missed the Superconference, you will have another chance to meet a number of us at the Council of Foundations conference next week or at several other events over the summer (see the list at the end of this article).

Why this attention to conferences? It's simple: we are determined to make GuideStar an organization that is driven by your needs and interests. We want to learn everything we can about what data to collect, how to present it to you, and what types of products and services we can offer to help you do your job more easily and more effectively.

GuideStar gains so much from attending these gatherings. They give us the opportunity to introduce new people to our site and database. They enable us to show current users features and services of which they are unaware. Most important, they give us the chance to get feedback from you.

When we meet GuideStar users at conferences, they generously share how they use our site, what they like about it, what does not meet their needs, and what they would like to see us provide in the future. We use these comments to improve the services we offer.

I hope we will see you soon in Pittsburgh, San Jose, New York, New Orleans, Palm Beach, Nashville, Hampton Roads, Las Vegas, or Orlando. If you have an upcoming event that we can attend or if you would like us to make a presentation or speak to a group of GuideStar users, please write to me at president@guidestar.org. And if we can't meet soon in person, I hope you'll e-mail me or call with your ideas on how to make GuideStar better.

Sincerely,

Bob Ottenhoff
President and CEO
president@guidestar.org

GuideStar on the Road, May-August 2006

May 1-3	Michigan Nonprofit Superconference, Detroit, Mich. Vice president for public affairs Dan Moore spoke and staffed the GuideStar exhibit with national outreach manager Karen Rayzor.
May 6-9	Council on Foundations 57th Annual Conference, Pittsburgh, Pa. Meet vice president for technology Jim Dobrzeniecki, executive vice president Lee Glenn, president and CEO Bob Ottenhoff, director of development Megan Stockton, and directors of business development Kathy Pisterzi and Asif Talukdar at the GuideStar exhibit.
May 30-31	NetSquared Conference, San Jose, Calif. GuideStar is proud to be a sponsor of this nonprofit technology conference. Look for the GuideStar table and meet director of business development Tony Rodriguez.
June 20	Global Development Strategies & Initiatives for Nonprofits: Capacity-Building through Creating & Sustaining Effective Multi-Sector Partnership, Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, New York University Hear director of business development Bunkie Righter speak.
June 20-22	United eWay National Conference, Nashville, Tenn. Look for director of business development Asif Talukdar.
June 24-27	American Library Association, New Orleans, La. Meet directors of business development Kathy Pisterzi, Bunkie Righter, and Tony Rodriguez at the GuideStar exhibit.
June 28	Center for Nonprofit Excellence, Palm Beach, Fla. Hear national outreach manager Karen Rayzor speak.
July 13	Cultural Alliance of Greater Hampton Roads Leadership Forum, Hampton Roads, Virginia Hear GuideStar representatives speak.
July 27	Alliance of Professional Associations, Las Vegas, Nev. Hear national outreach manager Karen Rayzor speak.
Aug. 9-12	American Prospect Researchers Association International Conference, Orlando, Fla. Don't miss the GuideStar exhibit.