The good news is that we already have a number of great sponsors in place, including iParty , Valvoline Instant Oil Change , Zipcar , Harvard Pilgrim Health Care , Clif Bar , Hershey’s , Energy Star , Uno’s Chicago Grill  and Citizen’s Bank . You can also find Holt on Twitter at @holtmurray . Like Jack Skellington  my cause marketing team lives in Halloween Town twelve months a year. No sooner is Halloween over and just like in the movie the Mayor of Halloween Town (aka Joanna MacDonald ) is hustling through my door, arms full, with plans for next

I just returned from a great outing at Cause Marketing Forum’s 7th Annual Conference in Chicago last week. Check out the Twitter feed from the event here ). Since the last CMF conference in May 2008 I’ve really worked hard to connect with other fundraisers and cause marketers via social networks (Linked-In, Facebook, but especially through Twitter). Turns Despite the economy that has impacted us all, David Hessekiel, Founder & President of CMF , pulled together a great show. (Check The conference featured some wonderfully entertaining and informative speakers,

For more information, or to register, visit the Chronicle of Philanthropy’s site . Twitter Island Rescheduled: June 6, 2009 Chicago Art Department 1837 South Halsted Chicago Twitter Island II , the next step in artists Lauri Apple and Seth Gershberg ’s project documenting the dynamics of twitter interaction, has been rescheduled for June 6. Read all about Twitter Island in my two-part interview with Lauri, here and here . Lots of good stuff coming up for you, both online and in-person. New Ways for Arts Organizations to Finance their Operations Thursday, May 28, 2009 12 noon Eastern Time Online discussion Presented jointly by the Nonprofit Finance Fund and the Chronicle of Philanthropy ( @philanthropy ), this online discussion addresses the challenges the recession poses as the number of ticket buyers decline and donors cut back on spending.