I’m at Day 1 of the Netsquared conference in San Jose, CA. (Netsquared is an organization that helps non-profits use the web for social good.)

Hundreds of organizations submitted their web projects to be considered for Netsquared’s $25,000 prize. The 21 finalists are giving lightning pitches right now.

Here’s my take on some of the coolest:

• Volunteer Now!

(see video blog here)

Description: Get alerts from your mobile phone about volunteer opportunities that you can do right there, right now.

My take: Very cool idea. Meets people where they are. Makes altruism easy. Big fan.

• AskYourLawmaker.org

(see video blog here)

Description: Capitalnewsconnections.org-powered system. You submit questions for accredited journalists pose to lawmakers and decision-makers in D.C. and other places. Submit your questions via their website or a widget.

My take: Power to the people. Would be a lot more satisfying than just adding your name to a petition or a robo-email.

More after the jump…

• Squarepeg.org

(See video blog here)
Description: A networking tool that uses a recommender system (similar to netflix.com or amazon.com) to help individuals and organizations understand which opportunities they are most likely to find interesting.

My take: If the engine works, it’s a very cool idea. But the devil’s in the details.

• Mashup.SocialActions.com

(see video blog here)

Description: Search for social action campaigns across 29 platforms

My take: Just like the above. Great idea, but the engine has to be comprehensive to have utility. If I can’t be sure that the engine is returning every action out there (within reason), then this could be one utility I use, but not the only one. (The search engine isn’t there yet.)

• Assetmap.org/uganda

Description: Digitzes community asset-mapping in northern Uganda. Helps communities identify common assets that can be pooled for the greater good.

My take: Promising idea.

• MetaVid

(see video blog here)

Description: Digitizes legislative video (C-Span, etc) more accessible so people can keep tabs on their representatives. Open source.

My take: Awesome. Could allow 1 million Jon Stewart-style video satires/critiques to bloom.

• Freecycle Cellular Osmosis

(see more coverage of this here)
Description: Already-existing org that facilitates gift economy (like a Craigslist for free items). They want to add mobile mapping functionality. Snap a photo of something you’d otherwise throw away. Then that item’s GPS coordinates go up to the database, thus becoming accessible to someone who might want it.

My take: Very exciting idea: As smart phone get more and more market penetration, this idea could have legs.

• Knowmore.org Firefox Extension

(see video blog here)
Description: Get Alerts of Corporate Abuses When You Visit Company/Brand/Product Websites

My take: Beautiful. The underlying technology is cool. Wikimedia-powered database of companies’ and organizations’ social responsibility levels. That means everyday citizens ar eresponsible for writing the articles. But Knowmore’s staff translates those articles into a ranking.

But the Firefox extension could take it to the next level. Just like Compete.com gives you an at-a-glance ranking (however flawed) of a given website’s traffic, this Firefox extension could instantly help you decide whether you want to patronize a given company. Example: You’re Googling snow shoes to purchase. You can instantly choose between a company that’s socially responsible and one that’s not. Could be game-changing. Not only be empowering consumers, but also for shaming offending companies into cleaning up their act.