Allison Fine has posted an article in the Personal Democracy Forum that is an expert look at traditional activist organizations making their way into the Web 2.0 world. She focuses on the American Cancer Society. One of her observations is a positive one for anyone anticipating the process:

The journey for ACS was unusual for the connected age in that it didn’t start from the top but from the bottom and the sides. A few years back, ACS tasked an intern with scanning the blogospheric horizon to see where and how ACS was talked about by bloggers and other surfers. The intern’s study reported that more conversations about ACS were happening online, and off their radar screen, and that the conversations were generally positive. It is the last part that is so important for a traditional organization to note. Whether you want them to or not, whether you are facilitating or driving them or not, conversations about your work and your organizations are happening out there - and they are usually more positive than negative. Not that negative comments or posts aren’t made, but that they are outweighed and balanced by the positives.