Community Tips: Host a Charity Book Drive at Your Next User Group Event

Gathering a group of talented minds for your next Code Camp, PodCamp, SQL Saturday, LinuxFest, conference or summit? Borrow a page from the St. Louis Day of .NET organizers and host a charity book drive. The surrounding community (and your tired, dusty bookshelves) will thank you.

Some quick tips:  

• Ask attendees to consider bringing gently used technology books to your event as a donation. Maybe they’ve moved on to a new technology, or the book covers an older version or product release – one person’s trash is another’s treasure!
• Designate a staffed “donation station” near the registration table for easy drop-off.
• Transfer items to centrally located Book Fair tables for resale between sessions. St. Louis Day of .NET requested a $3.00 donation per title and 100% of the proceeds were donated to the United Way of Greater St. Louis.
• Use Twitter, Facebook, posters or megaphones to invite everyone to start shopping! 

Have a unique idea? Share below and inspire other community leaders to give it a try.