Pendulum update: I wrote an article about the Hunger Banquet. Unfortunately, I was not able to include as many details about the actual banquet because the story was due to the paper on Monday and the banquet was on Tuesday. I was able to talk to the two students running the banquet, a professor involved with the banquet, and the professor who would be speaking at the banquet. The story was more of an overview about the banquet and what people were suppose to gain from this banquet.

You can read the article on the page titled “Articles”

Summer of Social Good, in review…

I’m just back from our last weekend get-away for the season, in our family camper. What a difference since our visit from more than a month ago, at the height of summer’s ease. Now, the days are crisp, the colors vivid even as the mood turns somber, and the shadows, of course, continue to lengthen. In this reflective spirit, I’m recalling one of the summer’s most buzzed about social media events—Summer of Social Good, presented by Mashable ~  The Social Media Guide, and Social Media for Social Good. Here, I’m hoping to preserve and carry on the energy and commitment from that worthwhile initiative.  

To me, summer’s lasting gift is the sense of renewal that invigorates and sustains our efforts throughout the rest of the year. Though one commentator points out that the $55,000 raised for the four chosen causes may not have matched the expectations of the fundraiser’s ambitious announcement, or possibly the stature of its sponsors, we would do well to remember that the seeds planted from this milestone event are still bearing fruit, and that any awareness or funds raised during these hard times is that much more significant. As presenter Beth Kanter noted at the Social Good Conference in New York, “Small actions online and offline add up to make a difference.”

One Fund—Four Charities

According to Mashable’s announcement, the Summer of Social Good (which ran from June 1st till August 28th 2009) represents “the first large scale online charitable campaign to raise funds strictly online through the power of Social Media and the Internet over an extended period.”

The goal is to use the power of “Social Influence” via Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, blogs and other online media to raise an unprecedented amount for our fund, benefiting The Humane Society, LIVESTRONG, Oxfam America, and WWF. We are very excited to engage and encourage online communities to truly do something remarkable.

The Social Good Conference

The Social Good Conference, a one-day educational event celebrating the finale of the Summer of Social Good charitable campaign, was held at the prestigious 92nd Street Y in New York City, on August 28th. Mashable’s sponsors, Zappos and MailChimp, donated 100% of all ticket sales to the Summer of Social Good non-profit fund.

The conference featured presentations from well known and respected organizations and professionals within the space focused on “Social Media for Social Good,” including keynotes from Facebook’s Randi Zuckerberg and All For Good’s Jonathan Greenblatt. Thanks to Livestream, if you couldn’t make it to New York City, you can still view the conference videos. 

How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media

According to the conference bio, presenter Beth Kanter, is “the author of Beth’s Blog, one of the longest running and most popular blogs for nonprofits. In 2009, she was named by Fast Company Magazine as one of the most influential women in technology and one of Business Week’s ‘Voices of Innovation for Social Media.’ She is the 2009 Scholar in Residence for Social Media and Nonprofits for the Packard Foundation.”

Kanter describes the Social Good Conference, in her excellent post, Reflections from the Mashable Conference. Especially helpful is Kanter’s summary of keypoints from Randi Zuckerberg’s opening keynote, on how people are using Facebook for online activism, as well as how nonprofits are using it for fundraising.

In her own presentation on how nonprofits can use social media, Kanter describes how she uses her passion for blogging and teaching to raise money online to help children in Cambodia. Specifically, she describes how her blog, a related wiki, the ChipIn Widget, and Twitter help her to fundraise. “Twitter is amazing fertilizer, and our tweets are seeds,” she explains.

The slides below summarize Kanter’s inspiring presentation. ”Tools come and go,” but according to Kanter, ”the 3 Rs remain the same: Relationship-building, Rewards, and Reciprocity.” She also refers to leveraging your social graph, according to the Archimedes Principle, described in New York Times bestseller, Trust Agents (see Kanter’s related post, Using Chris Brogan’s Archimedes Principle To Leverage Nonprofits on Twitter Suggested User List).

Related Links

• Catch the Wave: 3rd Annual Detroit Hydrocephalus WALK (Part I)
• Social Media for Good: Can Twitter and Facebook Help Fight Breast Cancer? 
  

By Deon Roberts, Online Editor

Baton Rouge is the best — and worst — place to live in Louisiana, according to a new study.

Here’s an excerpt from an Associated Press story:

A coalition of groups analyzed 2007 data on health, education and earnings to form a quality of life index.

The “best” rating for Baton Rouge cited a suburban swath of predominantly white southern East Baton Rouge Parish combined with West Baton Rouge Parish. The “worst” rating came for sections of downtown and north Baton Rouge, which are predominantly black.

The report, spearheaded by Oxfam America, the Louisiana Disaster Recovery Foundation and other groups, said someone in the first area “can expect to live, on average, nearly half a decade longer, earns twice as much, is almost three times more likely to have a bachelor’s degree, and is three times less likely to have dropped out of high school” than someone living in the other section.

The differences reflect a broader gap in quality of life across Louisiana between black and white residents, a condition also especially noted in Mississippi, Alabama and Nebraska.

The report adapted a United Nations formula to create a 10-point “human development index,” according to the AP story.

The story also says Kristen Lewis, co-author of the report, said whites in affluent neighborhoods of New Orleans scored as well in the group’s index as top-rated states. “But, she said, ‘African-Americans living in rural Tangipahoa have a score that corresponds to the human development level of the average American in the early 1950s.’”

Here are more excerpts:

Louisiana’s overall score of 3.92 put it above only West Virginia and Mississippi among the 50 states and Washington, D.C., the report said. The group’s national report, using 2005 statistics, put Connecticut first at 6.37, followed by Massachusetts (6.27) and Washington, D.C. (6.14).

The area of Baton Rouge scoring lowest in Louisiana — 2.51 on the index — is 88 percent black. The top-rated area spanning parts of East and West Baton Rouge parishes that scored 5.73 is 70 percent white.

Other sections of East Baton Rouge — one including Zachary, Baker and unincorporated parts of the city, and one including parts of downtown and the LSU campus area — also are in Louisiana’s top 10, with scores of 4.47 and 5.12 respectively.•

Written by Tehneyat Waseem

Mashable came up with the idea of that this summer should focus on the Social Good Charity Drive, launched on June 1st based on seeing the success of previous campaigns such as Tweetsgiving, Twestival and the like. The campaign is the first large scale online charitable campaign by Mashable using the power of Social Influence via social media websites such as Facebook, Twitter and the like to raise money for and promote four causes:

The Humane Society, supporting and seeking a humane and sustainable world for all animals.
LIVESTRONG, a charity set up by Lance Armstrong in support of cancer victims, and bringing cancer to a global agenda.
Oxfam America, working to eradicate hunger.
WWF, working towards a better environment and a sustainable future for the earth.

Mashable, based this campaign on the power of social media through the goodwill of people wanting to spread the word and using social media for social good, alternating and initiating a step towards the greater good, basically using their…I mean our social influence to contribute to making a difference for others. And that in itself pinpoints it: it really does come down to engaging the community we interact in, to make a difference in the rest of the world.

Why is this relevant, and does it really work? Charities, causes, supporting this and that on social media have been blooming, rocketing and hitting the skies lately. I am positive that you are at least member of one of more fan groups supporting a social cause. If not, add me on Facebook or Twitter and see how many I am a fan of! Friends of mine have joined a cause or charity after seeing that I and several of our common friends have joined a cause, and this leads to even more people joining and donating to a cause simply because it feels good to say, I support this!!

That has, the good feeling you get of doing something good, been the drive behind why Mashable had the genius and brilliant idea of using their name to support four critical causes, four charities and bring people together. On summerofsocialgood.com you can choose to tweet your support, become a fan on Facebook, or engage in blogs spreading the word. Ultimately it is about donating money.

The summer of social good ends on August 28th in a one day Social Good Conference (the name just makes me go ‘uh nice’) drawing attention to the charities and organizations mentioned above. Tickets for the conference are being sold, and 100% of the income from the tickets will be given to the above-mentioned charities. If I was in New York, or had the immediate opportunity to go, I’d go. It must be simply amazing to learn how 2 months of engaging the social media community has changed the course of four different causes. The opportunity to meet the people who actually know the value of what every single dollar means to their cause….well I love getting goose bumps and I’m positive there must be a lot of amazing people you’d have the opportunity of meeting. If you can’t be there, I’d strongly suggest you follow the conference as it will be live streamed. If you don’t have time for that, I will be back with an update of the conference for you to enjoy! ☺

Just found out that I a team leader for Mashable’s Summer of Soecial Good fundraising competition. All of the competitions funds will go straight to the Summer of Social Good cause, which benefits the Humane Society, the Lance Armstrong Foundation, WWF, and Oxfam America. The proceeds will be evenly divided among the four causes, and it’s all tax-deductible so please spread the word.

I have till August 7 to beat the other nine teams and then I can win a trip to attend the Social Good Conference in New York City. As you can see from my previous posts and from my post-volunteer tab I love non-profits and this conference sums up what I would like to do with my life. I would love to use my skills with volunteering and my continual interest in social media/tech to better myself and the community I live in (both local and global).

I’m hoping that all of the volunteering that I’ve done in the past will pay off and my non-profit skills that I’ve gained over the last few years will help me work my the networks I’ve worked so long and hard to create.

So if you’re interested in donating to my cause please head over to  http://www.globalgiving.com/dy/fundraiser/prevfund/gg.html?regid=2099. Any amount is deeply appreciated and please check back because I will be post those who have donated on a new fundraising tab.

Thank you and wish me luck!!

My Fundraising Cause

Image via Pedaling Against Poverty

Although this year’s merrymaking has now officially come to a close, I wanted to bid farewell to Bonnaroo 2009 with an interesting story about one musician’s 330 mile journey to the festival…on a bike…with cello and 60 lbs of equipment in tow.

His name is Ben Sollee, and in an effort to reduce his carbon footprint as a musician, he took to the road not in a CO2-emitting van or tour bus, but on an Xtracycle extended-frame bike. An Xtracycle is a bike with a trunk of sorts, allowing riders to haul groceries, luggage, or cellos, apparently.

Ben, who hails from Lexington, Kentucky, embarked on a week-long trek to Bonnaroo in his neighboring state of Tennessee, stopping to perform shows along the way. Ben also promoted Oxfam America’s good work on poverty, hunger, and social justice issues at each gig. Talk about a sustainable tour.

You can read all about it on his blog (complete with videos), Pedaling Against Poverty, and in this informative interview with Jeff Biggers at the Huffington Post.

And the music? I downloaded Ben’s latest album, Learning to Bend, to have a listen for myself. Wow. Although classically trained, he applies some unconventional techniques to this old-school instrument, giving it a folksy, bluesy edge I didn’t know it had. And he’s got a soaring, soulful voice to boot. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, considering Mr. Sollee was named one of National Public Radio’s “Top 10 Unknown Artists of the Year” in 2007.

And this isn’t just a one-time thing. Ben is recording a new album, set to be released in fall 2009, that will raise awareness about the environmental dangers of mountaintop removal strip mining, a cause Ben has helped out with in the past. He’s still touring beyond Bonnaroo, so check to see if he’s performing near you – and pedal to the show on your own bike to show your support!

Okay,Cellist Ben Sollee is running in the photo, but he will be biking to Bonnaroo through The Hills Of Kentucky & Tennessee from June 4 – 14.  I’m thinking about making the trip to Danville if my body can survive the 35 miles from Lexington on my Schwinn.  Ben’s going to update start points and times on Twitter (@bensollee)

Ben Sollee – Only a Song (ft. Jim James) (lyrics)

More info on the trip…

“Ben Sollee’s set was rousing and riveting; by the third song (a reworking of Sam Cooke’s “A Change Is Gonna Come”)…By the time Sollee was halfway through the show, the crowd was fairly mesmerized…Sollee brings the cello out of the realm of classical music and makes it a part of the people’s music…He plays it as funky, country, Appalachian, classical, bluesy, and folksy. Sometimes all in the same song, and it works every time.” – Silas House

On June 4th, Kentucky-born songwriter Ben Sollee will help redefine regional touring by strapping his 1930’s Kay cello to his bicycle and pedal 35 miles from Lexington to Danville, KY – then onward to a different Appalachia town nightly until reaching Bonnaroo on June 11th.

“I always felt like I was missing something during the high speed transportation of conventional touring,” says Ben who aligned with Xtracycle (extended-frame bicycles) for the trip, inspired by its technology to haul gear with relative ease. “I’m hoping the limitations of traveling by bike will cause me to be more present at each place, and be a part of the community.”

The tour has also aligned with Oxfam America, a relief and development organization that works to find lasting solutions for poverty, hunger and injustice. “I suspect there will be some moments when I question the wisdom of hauling 60 lbs. of equipment on a bike through the hills of Southern Appalachia. But it’s important to me.”
Ben is currently touring in support of his second full-length ‘Learning to Bend’ and digital EP ‘Something Worth Keeping’ (featuring the duet “Only a Song” with Jim James of My Morning Jacket). Look for his a new project in late 2009 to promote awareness of the Mountain Top Removal organization, featuring Jim James and Daniel Martin Moore.

SCHEDULE OF SHOWS:

June 4 Frankfort, KY KY Coffee Tree Café
June 5 Danville, KY Danville Community Arts Center
June 6 Brea, KY Brea Coffee and Tea (a/k/a Berea)
June 7 Somerset, KY Carnegie Arts Center
June 8 Albany, KY Clinton county Public Library
June 9 Cookeville, TN Backdoor Playhouse at TN Tech
June 10 McMinnville, TN Capalano’s
June 11-14 Manchester, TN Bonnaroo

Running from June 1st till August 28th 2009, the Summer of Social Good is the first large scale online charitable campaign to raise funds strictly online through the power of Social Media and the Internet over an extended period. The goal is to use the power of “Social Influence” via Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, blogs and other online media to raise an unprecedented amount for our fund benefiting The Humane Society, LIVESTRONG, Oxfam America and WWF. We are very excited to engage and encourage online communities to truly do something remarkable.

In addition, we are also announcing the first ever Social Good Conference. On August 28th at the 92nd Street Y in New York City, we will host a one day conference highlighting the charities and organizations involved. Speakers and presentations will be on the topic of “Social Media for Social Good” and will be livestreamed. Thanks to our two sponsors, MailChimp and Zappos, 100% of the ticket sales for the event will be donated to our fund. The agenda, speaker list and ticket sales will be announced shortly.

This is the first “Social Media for Social Good” initiative by Mashable. 100% of funds raised will be donated to charity through the Summer of Social Good fund. All proceeds will be split equally between our four charities. For full details check our dedicated website: SummerOfSocialGood.com

For the full story and release, please check out the post on Mashable: Announcing the Summer of Social Good Charity Drive.

De: agustín guzmán <kollasuyu@yahoo.com>
Fecha: Mar, 5 de May, 2009 3:58 pm
Asunto: Perú: “La sociedad peruana es discriminadora y no conoce a los pueblos indígenas” (video)

Perú: “La sociedad peruana es discriminadora y no conoce a los pueblos indígenas” (video)

Proud Member of Adrienne's Army

“Adrienne’s Army,” you ask?

There is an interesting quality of human understanding, that we can often underestimate the impact of small things we do.  That is not to say that every little choice you make turns out to be significant. Life is not so simple! It’s that you are unlikely to know -in advance- which one of your action-choices will have a big impact on the other people with whom you interact.

This is why courtesy is so important. YOU or I are unable to estimate in advance the impact of our actions.   So, small positive choices are the way to go! Help others without expectation of gain.

And the details are…

About a year ago, we had been in touch with our neighbor, Adrienne Smith, because she was sick, doing some babysitting for her.  Little did we know then that the sickness would send Adrienne into life-threatening coma resulting from the total collapse of her immune system under attack from a variation of strep, a result of what started as a strep throat. Within hours an army of volunteers and well-wishers were stepping up to serve in various ways.  Friends, relatives and acquaintances took thousands of small actions, food, visits, child-care, love & attention, prayers – each according to their understanding and ability. Jim’s mom prepared a list of contacts with phone numbers; people cooperated and collaborated.  Grandmothers and grandfathers dropped everything to be there, stay with the kids, and provide support.  They communicated not just by phone & face-to-face, but texting & email, churches formed “prayer groups” and members of yoga centers meditated,  creating a world wide web of well-wishers.  Meanwhile, at the South Shore Hospital in Weymouth, Massachusetts, Doctors Jon Pehrson and Alice Coombs were coordinating powerful practices of medical science to keep Adrienne alive against what can truly be described as staggering odds.  Amazingly, Adrienne’s employer Oxfam America supported her, specifically Ray Offenheiser and senior staff, during the entire illness; praise them & consider them for your future social action partnerships! Together this spontaneously assembled group of people in action became Adrienne’s Army.

The outcome of all the efforts is that Adrienne returned to life & home.  After reflecting on the situation, she made us all aware that an impromptu army had sprung up to defend her home, hearth and the hospital space in which her incredible life and death drama unfolded.

Adrienne has started talking “write a book” about that drama and about the shared experience of hundreds of helpers. No one knows what’s inside the book “Adrienne’s Army” yet, but we already know the outline of the wonderful story.  Two of our culture’s master story tellers, Tolkien and C.S.Lewis, pointed out that great drama has the elements of life, death and resurrection.  Adrienne’s story has all of those elements, potentially a best-seller and a  movie to follow.  Great stories take the listener to the despair’s depths and soaring heights before the dénouement.  And Adrienne’s story has that and also happens to have a happy ending!

Jim Smith, Adrienne’s husband, threw a surprise party to celebrate her one-year-at-home; invitations were handled by the evite web site under Event: Adrienne’s Army Celebration.  Lori Murphy,  of the Bryantville Deli, another neighbor, provided the food for the celebration.  Please post your party photos at evite!    My comment is that we are seeing the new digital tools being utilized, along with the older social tools, to empower a new, powerful, dynamic method of people helping each other.  Imagine a world in which armies emerge spontaneously, and appropriately, to lend a hand when someone has a true need,   flashing into existence when needed.  Could that be why people love digital space? Because it enables them to do respond quickly to needs?

When they're dead in two weeks will you still love him?

About a week or so ago I got a comment from a woman saying my remark about women liking shopping was somewhat offensive and marginalizing. While I didn’t mean it that way I could absolutely understand why she thought it might be.

Now with Valentines day less then a week away and all kinds of ads bombarding me I can’t help but thinking boy are these ads marginalizing EVERYONE.

Just about every ad I’ve heard has been some variation of hey fellas if you don’t buy this gift you’re going to end up in the dog house. Now granted this is because I watch a lot of shows that are heavily targeted towards males and I’m sure there are other ads out there but this is what I’ve seen/heard.

As a guy I have a few thoughts on this. As a gender are we really that uncreative/pathetic that the best we can do is the standard: flowers or candy? I’m not saying don’t get those as well, but geez personalize it a little bit. This isn’t the 1950’s where the only thing we cared about was how the wife cooked dinner. As my reader correctly pointed out women are lawyers, doctors, council women, etc and have a wide variety of interests… figure one out!

As a female I would think that would be offensive though too. These ads aren’t saying oh he’s so great because he does all these things for me including this; it’s get me flowers and you’re great don’t you’re a piece of sh*t. I’m not saying that a good chocolate isn’t great but you tell me ladies: is that really the difference between the outhouse and penthouse?

Personally if I was given a box of chocolates for valentines day I’d be kinda disappointed that it was all the thought my girlfriend had put into it.

And Yet… If these commercials didn’t work every year I wouldn’t see them every year.

So this gives marketers an excellent chance to position yourself to the right audience.  My previous employer was very successful with digital  campaigns for Oxfam America. Giving people a chance to give to Oxfam in the form of creative gifts in honor of their loved one. Throw in a box of chocolates to go with it and for the right person you have a great gift.

So as a marketer ask yourself can I be more creative with my ads to say something more then buy my gift or you’ll end up in the doghouse? Can i position my product as a nontraditional gift? and if so for what audience?

And as a person the next time you hear one of these commercials for the same old standard gift I hope you’ll get offended and think… I’m better then that.

International relief and development agency Oxfam America has been awarded $1 million by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to respond to a deadly cholera outbreak in Zimbabwe. The funding will support Oxfam’s work to help 135,000 people have access to safe water and sanitation facilities and reduce the spread of the disease in addition to supporting community awareness efforts.[...]

The funding will enhance Oxfam’s existing response by providing safe water for drinking, cooking and personal hygiene. In addition, the initiative will sensitize community members to effectively identify the disease and instruct them to seek immediate treatment when it occurs, and teach them how to prevent contamination to others. Lastly, the funding will also support community members initiating their own community based Cholera Early Warning Systems to collect data and identify potential risks to their water sources to reduce the spread of the disease.

Source: Oxfam America, 07 Jan 2009

Good gifting, a term used to describe the practice of donating money to charitable organizations in lieu of buying friends and family holiday gifts, has become something of a buzz word of late.

For a good reason.

If you are looking to really make a difference this holiday season by “good gifting,” why not give at least half of what you would normally spend on gifts to charitable organizations? Need some ideas of where you can give? Here are 10 we like a whole lot. Feel free to add more in the comments section.

1. Water Aid America is an international non-profit organization dedicated to helping people escape the poverty and disease caused by living without safe water and sanitation.

2. Nothing But Nets is a charitable organization, supported by the United Nations Foundation, which aims to prevent African children from dying of malaria by purchasing, distributing and teaching the proper use of mosquito bed nets.

3. International Justice Mission is a U.S.-based Christian non-profit human rights organization that operates in countries all over the world to rescue victims of individual human rights abuse, working to combat human trafficking, forced labor slavery, illegal detention, unprosecuted rape, police brutality and illegal land seizure.

4. Oxfam America is a confederation of 13 organizations working with over 3,000 partners in more than 100 countries to find lasting solutions to poverty and injustice.

5. Autism Speaks is an autism advocacy organization that sponsors autism research and conducts awareness and outreach activities aimed at families, governments, and the public.

6. To Write Love On Her Arms is an American non-profit organization which aims to present hope and find help for people struggling with problems such as depression, drug addiction, self-injury, and suicide.

7. Heifer International is a nonprofit charitable organization dedicated to relieving global hunger and poverty.

8. Bread For The World is a non-partisan, Christian citizens’ movement in the United States to end hunger.

9. Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organization that defines its mission as “to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated.”

10. Soles 4 Souls has a simple mission: To impact as many lives as possible with the gift of shoes.