Blog Action Day: Passions and Actions

October 15, 2008

 When I first heard of Blog Action Day 2008, I knew I had to take part, but I didn’t know what I could do or if there was anything in particular that I could say regarding Poverty to really make a difference. 

I spent a couple weeks thinking about it and ended up doing a self-evaluation, looking at who I am, what my passions are and actions I’ve taken to those ends. Going to see Call+Response definitely helped me along this path. 

If anyone asked me to pick two topics that I’m extremely passionate about, without blinking, I’d say Health and Education. I was raised by a phenomenal woman who has spent 25+ years teaching in the NYC Dept of Education, and I had the true PRIVILEGE of getting a great education both in and out of the classroom. My education led me to the start of my career in health care communication, and though I have moved on, in no way have I left my passion for health behind. 

How do I relate this to poverty?

We all have work to do when it comes to living in good health, but as always, those living in the poorest of conditions have the least access to information and resources which, depending on lifestyle, can be a formula for poor health. With an education, I believe we can empower the most disadvantaged person to improve their life and the lives of those around them overall. 

What am I really getting at? 

The thing that became apparent through my self-evaluation was that my passions and actions didn’t line up. In this blog, and in general, I’ve shared my passion for PR but not the other issues which are just as important to me. That’s going to change, both here and offline.

I’ve already begun to make some progress towards my goal by volunteering with Level Ten Leaders, an Education non-profit focused on closing the achievement gap, but it’s only the start. I have not got it completely planned out, but with inspiring bloggers like these people, I’ll find my way.

I encourage you to line up your passions and actions, and I hope you find your way as well! 

As Twitter overflows with the many great Blog Action Day posts, I’ll update this post to share the links with you. Hopefully, they will inspire you to take action against poverty in the best way you know how.

Other Blog Action Day Posts

Blog Action Day 08: Container City

The Vicious Cycle of Poverty (Or Why Jessie Won’t Go to College)

Carolina Transplant

Rock for Hunger

Direct Marketing Observations: It’s Blog Action Day and I have a Story to Tell

Blog Action Day: Why I Think the Internet Is Key to Combating Poverty

The 22% Club: All Aboard for Blog Action Day

Blog Action Day 08: We Don’t Need Coins, We Need Change

Why Should You Care? (My Blog Action Day Post)

Blog Action Day – Justin

Subject To Change

3 Comments | Gen Y, Just Fun, Resource, Resources, Social Initiatives | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by jaywalk1

Hunter College – Coach Fiasco

May 8, 2008

Ok so I’m a little late on this one, but I chose to write about it because while there has been a lot of talk about how terrible the campaign was, I have yet to see any posts providing constructive criticism with suggestions of what the students at Hunter College could have done instead.

In case you haven’t heard about the Hunter College – Coach campaign take a look below at the recap which appeared in PR Week.

Background: “A PR campaign designed by students at Hunter College in New York ,and sponsored by the Coach fashion label, is coming under criticism for promoting a fake persona complete with a Facebook profile and blog, according to AdWeek. As part of the campaign, which aimed to promote the anti-counterfeiting goals of Coach and the International AntiCounterfeiting Coalition, posters that read “Missing – $500 reward!!” with a picture of a student named Heidi Cee, asking for the return of her Coach bag were planted around the campus. Tear-off tabs included Cee’s phone number and addresses to her blog, MySpace page, and Facebook profile.

An elaborate story describing how a fake bag was returned instead of her real one ensued. The nonexistent Cee then turned to blogging about fake designer bags and linking them to child labor and terrorism.”

Here’s the campaign video:

Diagnosis: This is simple. The campaign is a clear case of Astroturfing. Astroturfing is, for many, a big no-no in the PR industry, and the fact that this campaign was allowed to go on shows, in my opinion, a clear lack of guidance. If the students who put the campaign together had been receiving guidance, they would have known about the Anti-astroturfing campaign championed by Paull Young and Trevor Cook.

Bob LeDrew, author of the PR blog FlackLife, posted a truly interesting interview with Stuart Ewen, professor of Film and Media Studies at Hunter College and author of the industry book “PR! A Social History of Spin.” Those students could have really used Ewen’s experience and perspective. He might have been able to steer them towards another route. While it was truly creative and made very good use of social media, I think the campaign was a bad idea.

Prescription: So what could the Hunter College students have done differently?

They could have created a campaign, from a student’s perspective, that explored the creation of a Coach bag, from the leather to the store to their closets. Along the way, they could have profiled the people who actually help manufacture the bag and then show how the counterfeiting industry hurts these people and their livelihoods. If it was done correctly and balanced with on-campus events, the campaign proposed here could have been very powerful while maintaining the industry’s ethical standards.

Just a thought…

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Posted by jaywalk1

Next Wave Action Summit 2008

April 6, 2008

Over the last two and a half days, I’ve had the great honor of being among the next generation of DC’s great social entrepreneurs at the Next Wave Action Summit. Organized by Creative Cause’s founder Tambra Stevenson, the Next Wave Action Summit was created to gather young professionals and students committed to leading change through social enterprise and political leadership in their communities.

I had the opportunity to join two other PR and Marketing Pros on a panel and share my thoughts on how you can Market Your Cause Creatively, and I learned so much from all of the speakers and other people in attendance. As they spoke, I jotted down some of their inspiring words and interesting thoughts:

“There’s a lot of talk about experience this days…but don’t discount your passion.”

“If the vision is pure, the provision will come.”

“If you are looking to start a venture, you want to seek other professionals to help you and if you’re thinking of seeking the self-employment plunge, you may want to seek professional help”

The speaker who shared the last thought drew a few laughs, but I half way took him seriously. Could you imagine quitting your job and having no benefits, no secure source of income? I commend everyone who has successfully made the plunge. Maybe one day…

For any of you looking to make the plunge or looking to help those who have, these are some great people to talk to:

Tambra Stevenson

Rosetta Thurman

Joshua Humbert

Tamara Haye

Andrew Einhorn

3 Comments | Gen Y, Politics, Public Relations, Resources, Social Initiatives | Tagged: , , , , | Permalink
Posted by jaywalk1

Ad Council and US Army come together for “Boost”

March 24, 2008

Boost Up

Background: A 2005 study conducted by the Urban Institute reported that every 29 seconds, another student gives up on school, resulting in 1 million students dropping out every year.

To respond to this problem, the Ad Council teamed up with the US Army to “give teens a ‘boost’ to stay in school in December of 2007.

The “Boost” campaign, an extension of the high school dropout prevention initiative launched in 2000, incorporates several communication vehicles to get the message out teens across the nation: PSA commercials , email communication, text messaging, user-generated content on YouTube and social networking sites Facebook and MySpace. All of these components connect to the campaign’s website www.boostup.org. Over 15,000 boosts have been sent to date.

Diagnosis: They get it! The Ad Council really gets it! Here’s a nice interactive campaign which allows people to send boosts to high school students who need a little encouragement to make it to graduation. The boosts get to students where they already spend time online and can also be sent via text and email. By going about it this way, engagement is not an issue because you are interacting with the target audience in their own space, and to help out the public sending the messages, there are several pre-made messages for people to choose from.

Prescription: Make the Boost campaign bigger.

I’d really like to see more students and their stories featured on the site. While there is an option to send a boost to someone you know, it would be great if you could sign someone up to receive boosts from everyone.

I’m sure that there we’ve all encountered a couple kids who could use a little non-traditional encouragement to keep them going, and one way to make that happen is to create the space for people to post the stories of students they know who need the help. Site visitors would be able to send these students boosts, and hopefully when the boosts really started to come in, they’d know that finishing school was worth it and that people care.

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Posted by jaywalk1

Social Initiatives: FreeRice.com

March 22, 2008

Free Rice

Background: According to the United Nations, the cost to end world hunger completely (accounting for diseases related to hunger and poverty) is almost $200 billion a year. 50 year-old FreeRice.com creator, John Breen*, has come up with what I think is a simple yet clever way to engage people in the fight to end hunger, a vocabulary game. FreeRice.com site visitors are greeted by a clean, nicely-designed web page which breaks it all down:

  • Click on the answer that best defines the word.
  • If you get it right, you get a harder word. If wrong, you get an easier word.
  • For each word you get right, we donate 20 grains of rice to the United Nations World Food Program.

    • Diagnosis: This campaign is healthy and full of life. Rob Walker says it best in his NY Times column: “It’s a self-improvement time killer on behalf of a greater good.” Initiatives like this are great examples of how we can communicate effectively about important issues and make it engaging at the same time.

    Prescription: Take the good to the next level. Pitch FreeRice.com to the schools.

    (Disclosure: I am the son of a tough, NYC Dept of Education teacher from the Caribbean school of thought. Education is a HUGE issue for me.)

    Site vistors at FreeRice.com range from 300,000 to 500,000 people daily, so there’s no doubt that that the initiative is on the right track. I would take the good to the next level by targeting high school students. 9th – 12th graders are a great audience because they can use the site to improve their SAT verbal skills, but they are also in the key stage in life when you begin to figure out who you really are and decide what your personal morals and values will be.

    It would be great if the initiatives like FreeRice.com could be woven into school curriculums across the country, providing students with a useful tool and an entrée into online social initiatives. The overall goal: Encouraging the digitally-minded students of this generation to become the social initiative creators of the next.

    * John Breen is also the creator of Poverty.com.

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    Posted by jaywalk1