Notwithstanding the tidal wave of modern publicity, the organic movement is by no means a new movement. In 1940, Rodale, a Pennsylvania agriculturalist coined the term to describe a superior practice of farming which was free of pesticides. And throughout, the organic movement has occupied somewhat conflicting ground. The field is certainly beset by overlapping regulatory authorities encompassing the Department of Agriculture, states and private organizations.

There are at least tens of thousands of certified organic farmers in the US. Last year alone, US consumer spent billions of dollars on organic fruit, vegetables and meat. And against this backdrop, is an entire industry of professional lobbyists, consumer advocates, business trade associations and ranchers.

So what do all of these divergent groups have in common? Apart from their shared goal in advancing the organic movement, all will benefit from the use of new technologies.

Indeed, many organic groups could benefit from the use of new technologies that facilitate teleconferencing and collaboration. Whether it be free conference solutions including Rondee that facilitate web arranged conferencing to new generation email newsletter systems, there has not been a more ideal time to leverage new technologies to further the organic mission. The following suggestions are just a handful of tips.

Deploy an automated electronic newsletter system

It was not that long ago that sending out an electronic newsletter was time consuming and difficult. This has now changed. On-line services such as Mynewsletterbuilding, Sevista, and Enewsletterpro are making it possible to create scalable newsletters. These services slash the work load by as much as 70% and in so doing allow organic groups to focus on content creation rather than content delivery.

Develop your online professional networking

The most advanced organic advocacy groups create networks of supporters who believe in their values and goals. While the term networking sometimes gets an undesirable reputation, the general reality is that these networks can provide substantial aid to organic advocacy organizations. Today in the San Francisco Bay Area, the expectation is that professional people will have at least a rudimentary profile page on LinkedIn.

Leverage a free teleconference service

In the last five years, there has been growing collaboration between geographically diverse organic advocacy groups. One cause of this trend has been lower air travel costs – a trend that may now be reversing with jumping oil costs.

A separate driver is the accessibility of free conferencing companies. A lot of these sorts of free conference call services, including the product offered by Rondee work on the same underlying principle. They give you a PIN and a toll number to call. If all teleconference users dial the same number and enter the same code, they are put into the call.

Desktop sharing

Some organic advocacy groups have far flung leadership groups, and it is difficult to expect face-to-face meetings. Technology is addressing this problem by way of desktop sharing. Whether it's viewing a PowerPoint document displaying the group's fundraising initiatives or a spreadsheet showing the tracking of volunteer participation desktop sharing can be quite useful for many organic groups.

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Bob Letterman contributes to the free conferencing solution which was first pioneered by the Rondee corporation. Letterman is a leader when it comes to conference calling and related issues of concern to the organic community.