Dumbfounded.

I hope you’ve experienced feeling dumbfounded… To feel confounded, astonished by something to the point of being left dumb, unable to speak.

Dumbfounded. Specifically, dumbfounded by the generosity of others. That’s the best description I can muster of how I felt coming out of last week’s meetup for OCGood. Dumbfounded. I couldn’t even write up a quick description of the get-together at first; unable to speak.

Why is that a good thing? Because it’s a another way to describe feeling overwhelmed by generosity. I hope you all feel that at some point, and I hope you all experience dumbfounding someone else with your generosity. That’s the powerful, virtuous circle of giving and receiving.

Give your help. Ask for help. That’s the foundation of conscious living. Ohana.

What has happened so far with OCGood?

Last week under this little cabana, around a big square table, some exceptional professionals from a broad range of disciplines sat down to talk. What emerged during the conversation was a river of good will and generosity. We did some brainstorming, dreaming and visioning. We talked about some nonprofits we know, and we shared some food, drink (and of course, technical recommendations like Hahlo.com and uservoice.com).

Ted Nguyen even whipped out his iPhone and did a couple Audioboo interviews, (boo.fm). Darin McClure shot a video. Needless to say, both were posted and tweeted before the conversation was even over.

Then, we turned our attention to next steps. What is the next indicated step?

We agreed to firm up our mission statement (connecting service-minded internet professionals with struggling local nonprofits), and set a course for how to collaborate and deliver valuable services to those nonprofits.

OCGoodCamp and Launch Event

Our short-term vision is to create a free, one-day unconference (barcamp style event) for nonprofits in South Orange County, followed by an official launch event for the OCGood initiative.  We also envision a regular, periodic evening lecture series of stellar keynote speakers combined with valuable social networking, fueled by good food, drink and ohana.

We are currently looking to do the following:

• Recruit OCGood members
• Meet and inform OC nonprofits of our mission
• Solicit corporate sponsorships to support this mission
• Gather an unbiased assessment of the online technology needs of local nonprofits
• Partner with individuals, companies, foundations, or agencies to help local nonprofits use Internet, mobile and social media tools
• Embody and model best practices for collaboration and transparent operation

It is only just beginning. Tons of great ideas are just starting to take form, and even more haven’t entered the conversation yet. Please, jump right in… Let’s do some OCGood.

What are your thoughts, suggestions, hopes, and dreams for OCGood?