RAN’s webmaster and myself just returned from South By SouthWest down in Austin, TX. The conference-festival has long been a staple in the independent movies and music commmunity and draws thousands to the heart of progressive Texas in a two week explosion of art, community, live music, performance and now geeks.

The interactive portion of SXSW sprung up back in 1994 and has been only growing over it’s 12 year lifetime. It has become one of the prime gathering spots for bloggers, online developers, programmers, web designers, social theorists, internet gods and everyone and anyone in between.

Over 4 days, panels ranging from secrets to CSS programming language to Bloggers in Love to keynotes by Craig (he’s got a list you may know of) Newmark, Jason Kottke and Jason Fried of 37 Signals in Chicago. Its quite a collection of people at the cutting edge of where the internet and creative technology is taking us.

So why the hell did two RAN employees head out to be amongst this very tight-knit and influtential crowd?

For one, its part of our job description. Stan as the lead designer and webmaster for the organization and myself as an online organizer and blogger. It was a tremendous opportunity to get RAN’s name into a community of folks who normally had no idea who we were (strangely, some acutally had heard of us). Also, it was a chance to pickup some connections in a crowd of tremendous entepreneurs and creative thinkers.

Second, it’s high time that environmentalists embrace technology on this level. For too long the green movement (or whatever you want to call it) has been left in the dust when it comes to advancing our cause through the use of strategic internet campaigns. RAN is trying to adapt in a new era of connectivity, where many of the people we want to reach are online. Since enviros have not been known as the most technological bunch we think its time to prove that we can hold our weight in the online world.

Granted, some groups and individuals are making strides in this area. Energy Action, the student network of affiliated green university groups is creating some very solid tools online. Enviro blogs like Grist, Its Getting Hot in Here and Real Climate have sprung up with impressive and dedicated readerships. But really, no NGO or environmental non-profit has led the charge with organizing tools that would mobilize a grassroots explosion, connect a universal community of activists and concerned citizens and bring about the real social-environmental change we all hunger for.

A very real hurdle in this effort to bring greens online is the fact that for the past decade greens have not been the community that is well represented on the internet. We’re not necessarily a bunch of tree-huggers living in the woods but we also don’t carry laptops around with us either (well…thats changing). Most environmental groups are still using the internet as a mere extension of their archaic programs and campaigns. What most of us don’t realize is that the internet has already transformed the way we all live, but it has yet to transform the way the green community approaches organizing and community building.

So how do we get there? Well, attending techie conferences like SXSW is one step. Another would be to hire the best and brightest web developers, designers, online organizers and programmers you can get your hands on. Jason Fried of 37 Signals makes a great point: “Hire generalists. They’re the ones who can do multiple tasks well and will learn the fastest.” Fried’s company is 7 people and they do an amazing job of cultivating an aura of efficiency all the while creating some fantastic software for companies to manage their web development backends. But these generalists should also have experience. Many groups are simply creating positions and hoping new hires will be able to “figure it out,” but more often than not this assumption ignores the more major structural changes that the organization as a whole will need to address. RAN is beginnning to dig into these issues and seeing that “being online” is more than just hiring a a couple web dudes.

Whats the payoff? Learning how to utilize the world’s foremost communication tool to build broad communities around specific issues while empowering all with the opportunity to address the problems and solutions in any given situation.

The future of green techies could be rich if the ground is seeded. We met with Greenpeace International who sent two delegates from Amsterdam (we had all the same challenges and concerns working for NGOs and it was great to share experiences on that level). A few other NGOs had reps there but really it was dominated by internet startups, design firms, consultants, bloggers and developers. The question is, will groups like the Sierra Club, Nature Conservancy, WWF and other groups establish a strong online presence that mirrors a strong offline presence grounded in democratic bottom-up participation. It won’t be simply hiring people who can write good emails and grow a green grassroots. It’s about re-establishing a commitment to communicating to the world, via the internet, the culture of environmentalism.

SXSW has opened the door to this potential to all and although it was great to see fellow orgs like Greenpeace actively seeking growth in the online world, it was amazing to realize that no other major environmental NGOs were there.

It was a great experience and we learned a ton. For those of you who ever get a chance to checkout Austin, I highly recommend the Halcyon coffee and bar on 4th. Great atmosphere and free wireless.