Showing posts with label Technology. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Technology. Show all posts

14 November 2009

Tedx

Today I spent the better part of my time sitting in the Syndey Laurence Theatre in the Performing Arts Center in Anchorage. I was excited about the prospects of hearing new ideas and taking myself to another level of understanding. I was attending the first ever Tedx Anchorage event.

If you aren't familiar with Ted, it's a concept to take note of, especially if you consider yourself to be intelligent, enjoy thought-provoking material, and embrace curiosity. If you don't own (or admit to owning) any of these traits, Ted is probably not for you, but I would encourage you to take a peek anyway.

I admit when the concept of Ted was first introduced to me, I thought it would be a place where the quacks of the world come together to talk about quacky things. You know, things that sound like they could be something great, until you realize that the material is what you realized years ago, and mostly relate to common sense principles. I guess it's always good to reevaluate those principles, ones that make up the very fabric of your being, but that's the thing. I guess I assume that since this cognitive understanding is a part of the fabric of me, then why do I need to listen to someone preach about it? I don't. (Though I see the value of the message and I've also seen the impact they have on opening people's eyes and minds to experience life in just another sphere.)

Ted isn't like that. In fact, Ted could very well leave you in the dust if you aren't paying attention, and if your mind and your body aren't already subscribing to these very principles. Am I being vague? Perhaps principles could be replaced with enlightenment. It just sounds a bit pretentious, but I think it probably best describes what I am trying to convey. So if you desire or subscribe to being enlightened (and if you aren't above it), Ted will take you there in ways you wouldn't expect.

TED is a small nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from three worlds: Technology, Entertainment, Design. Since then its scope has become ever broader. Along with the annual TED Conference in Long Beach, California, and the TEDGlobal conference in Oxford UK, TED includes the award-winning TEDTalks video site, the Open Translation Program, the new TEDx community program, this year's TEDIndia Conference and the annual TED Prize.
-Ted.com, read more here





07 September 2009

Social Fundraising- Anchorage Twestival. Meet. Tweet. Give.

With the emergence of social media is coming a whole new world of possibilities for making money. But this isn't just for commerce. People right here locally are raising money for organizations with the help, or sole aide of social media such as Twitter and Facebook.

If you aren't twittering or Facebooking you are missing out on a big piece of the world as we know it. What were originally dismissed forms of communication are now very real pieces to any business or person's marketing strategy.

So what is Twestival? Aside from taking a few times to let it roll of your tongue, it's a fun word to say and a fun concept. In short, it's a global idea to raise awareness and dollars for local non-profits. Cities around the world have chosen to be a part of Twestival including San Francisco, Amsterdam, Beijing and Oslo.

But WAIT! THERE'S MORE!

Using the partnerships of Amiando, Go To Meeting, Blurb, Scribble Live, Causecast, Twibbon, moo.com, Huddle, and Genius Rocket, Twestival has developed a strategy for raising money where 100% of the proceeds go toward the goal. If you have ever been involved in fundraising, you know what this means. If you haven't, you should know that organizations have to pay stiff fees for using credit card processors, online registration modems, printing and advertising that eat at a usually high percentage of the funds raised. All of these services have been provided from these partners allowing every single red cent to be counted toward the goal of each good-doer group goal.

Twestival has even enlisted in the help of Ashton Kutcher and the story has been picked up from news organizations like CNN and even rumored to be showcased by Oprah.



Twestival Anchorage is raising money in support of the Alaska Native Arts Foundation to the tune of $75,000. The events are happening September 11-13 internationally, but there are several large community events happening that weekend (including the 5th Annual Mardi Gras Street Party on 4th Ave.), so the Anchorage event happens September 15 at the newly remodeled Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center.



If you're still cornfused about the whole idea, take a few minutes to try it for yourself! Sign up for a Twitter account and start tweeting!!! If your opinion about social media still includes the word cumbersome, then retweet back to good ole' word of mouth. Talk to people about Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, etc and learn about what they are, how they differ from one another and how you can benefit by connecting with people virtually. And talk to people about Twestival.

With this concept comes much more than even I can understand, including a book of twestivals which will feature A-Town's very own, videos, and blogs.

I was surprised to find many Twestival videos with a simple search on YouTube.

Twestival is an encouraging sign of people caring about their community and finding new and innovative ways to engage, locally, nationally, globally. There is still much to learn and much to create when it comes to virtual tools, but it's nothing to be scared of and it's certainly nothing to dismiss. You will surely see more events like Twestival pop up in the future, and now is a great time to see what it's all about. If meeting in person is still your style, I'll see you September 15 at the Museum. Buy your tickets here, or donate online.

18 July 2009

Engagement- 18th Century Practice in a 21st Century World

This is a guest blog for Josh Hemsath's blog: Transplated An Alaska Dossier

Benjamin Franklin was an engaging man. From creating the first fire department in Philadelphia to currency with anti-counterfeiting techniques for New Jersey, to establishing the first hospital in the United States, to extreme political commitments worldwide, he was a man who made things happen based on the ingenuity of his own mind and the deliverance of his own ideas.

But how did he make all those things happen? He didn’t singlehandedly make the brick and build the hospital, or print and distribute the new currency, or gain a political position just by asking. No, Franklin knew that in order to do what he needed to do, he surrounded himself with people who could help make those things happen.

Franklin embodied a culture and lifestyle engaging to human beings from across the globe. How could one person generate so much common interest and faith in a world that was arguably more diverse than even today? Autobiographies and recollections of his life mention his tolerance and acceptance of religion, a very hot topic and cultural matter of the day. He found a common ground here and people saw in him what they wanted to reflect in their own character and values.

Which bring us back to being engaging. Benjamin Franklin is one in a long line of people who exemplify what it means to engage others. What are the common factors of each individual?

I wonder what Benjamin Franklin would think about virtual engagement. How would he have reacted to the Facebooks and the Tweets of today? Think of the difference between Franklin’s funeral in 1790 with 20,000 people, and Michael Jackson’s funeral with an estimated 5 million people viewing through technology. The way we are engaging people is changing…or is it?

Franklin, an inventor, created the common law so he could marry his adolescent love-interest after she had already been legally married. He signed the Declaration of Independence for our country, and he travelled around the world and had friends by the names of Louis XV, David Hume, and Joseph Pristley - all living in the time of Enlightenment, as scientists and as a piece of real social movement in the 18th Century. I don’t know much about these fellows, except that they were incredibly smart and forward-thinking individuals. From what I do know, each of them was somewhat of a character, and all experienced some reservations and even abolishment from their respective societies. That being said, they all share name recognition in foundational building blocks of the world as we know it.

Today, Ben Franklin, his ideas, his tolerance, his innovation, and his robust passion for life are alive more than ever. Think of these 13 virtues he lived by:

1. "TEMPERANCE. Eat not to dullness; drink not to elevation."

2. "SILENCE. Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling conversation."

3. "ORDER. Let all your things have their places; let each part of your business have its time."

4. "RESOLUTION. Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve."

5. "FRUGALITY. Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself; i.e., waste nothing."

6. "INDUSTRY. Lose no time; be always employ'd in something useful; cut off all unnecessary actions."

7. "SINCERITY. Use no hurtful deceit; think innocently and justly, and, if you speak, speak accordingly."

8. "JUSTICE. Wrong none by doing injuries, or omitting the benefits that are your duty."

9. "MODERATION. Avoid extremes; forbear resenting injuries so much as you think they deserve."

10. "CLEANLINESS. Tolerate no uncleanliness in body, cloaths, or habitation."

11. "TRANQUILLITY. Be not disturbed at trifles, or at accidents common or unavoidable."

12. "CHASTITY. Rarely use venery but for health or offspring, never to dullness, weakness, or the injury of your own or another's peace or reputation."

13. "HUMILITY. Imitate Jesus and Socrates."

Then think about engagement.

It’s not just about the people who are popular, or the ones who are screaming the loudest. I see people looking for something more than passé rhetoric and doing things that are community-minded, civically engaged, socially involved. Sounds like a lot of work? Benjamin Franklin would agree. But if you think about it in the simplest context it’s really quite simple.

Curiosity in people and in the world is engaging. Showing your spirit is engaging. Wearing your heart on your sleeve is engaging. Speaking your mind and listening engages people. Smiling at someone on the street is engaging. Sending a friend request or inviting someone to dinner is engaging. Music is engaging.

There’s no time to waste, and there’s no time like the present. Seek out whatever it is that engages you, however large or small, or whatever it is you feel compelled to do. Do it.

"If you would not be forgotten, as soon as you are dead and rotten, either write things worth reading, or do things worth the writing." ~ B. Franklin