Community Mobilization

MMORG Philanthropy

There have been few articles I have read on MMORG and game development that really get me thinking about philanthropy and the possibilities of philanthropic activities. However I did get some inspiration from the Game Developer Magazine article 'Purchasing Power' by Taiyoung Ryu and Kyuhwan Oh. It was a very straightforward review of item based payment models in Korean games but the purpose of purchase intrigued me. What most people are not considering is the basic premise that high fashion virtual items are as relevant to gamers as as a coach purse is to a soccer mom. That being said there is a robust branding and product development industry solely to serve causes and virtual space is not being engaged the way it could be. finding the nexus between the cause missions and the gamers needs is where the real mutual payoff lies.

Dopplr Opens Up Registration

Dopplr is one of my new favorite web applications. I use it to catalog all of my travel and post it online so that all of the others that I have invited to use Dopplr can see where I am and when. It makes a lot of sense for people in a similar field because I know who is going to what conference and meeting and can actively try to get face time with them. The BBC reported that at Le Web Dopplr announced that it was opening up to anyone who wants to register. Joi Ito Invited me to Dopplr originally and I continue to add friends I know in the technology and social space field. Privacy is truly gone for those of us who work in the social field so why not open up everything? Part of the comfort level with being open is that we respect each other's space and information.

Frozen Peas Fun - Why It Is Working

The concepts surrounding the flash that is Frozen Peas Friday are rooted in the intricate interpersonal web of connectivity and communication. The question I have been asked a number of times in the last week is, "So why is it that this groups of people care so much about frozen peas and cancer?" The answer has many facets and I will try my best to break them down as I see them.

#1. They may 'care' about cancer but they do not CARE about cancer. They care about Susan Reynolds and her personal situation and want to help and support her. As a fund raiser we know the fundamental truth is that people give money to support the causes important to those they care about. I care deeply about cancer, but if my mother asked me to take up a fund raising drive for AIDS awareness I would do so quickly.
#2. The rapid adoption of the project is two fold - one the communication web between the first adopters is dense and fast. Communication today is multi layered via social network spaces blog posts, twitter feeds, profile updates, direct messages, instant messages ... chances are we all got at least three contacts about this project from the same person. Viral word of mouth information distribution followed.
#3. We like to try new things, and trying to raise money and awareness on a micro blogging site like Twitter is a challenge. We like Twitter, and this was a chance to show some real value in the system beyond letting the world know what I am doing right now.
#4. It is fun and it feels good. People spent real time photo-shopping their Pea-based avatars and it required a bit of creativity. It was fun coming up with an image and making it as good as the next guy's or girl's. And it feels good to do good things. Each donation to support the fund deals good to us and we are happy to give and participate.
#5. The American Cancer Society was sharp enough to pick up on the project and support it. Often technological memes such as these are overlooked by other organizations but in this case the positive energy had a place to be focused - the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer program.

So in the spirit of fun here is a frozen pea video from the Social Media Club in Florida here is a very nice video in support of the Frozen Pea Fund.

The Future of Futureology

I have been sitting on this blog post for a bit watching the other futurists talk about it and its ramifications. When a deputy editor at the Economist Robert Cottrell slams your profession professionals seem to take exception. The study of the future is not a precise one, instead it is a vision of possibilities and potential outcomes to be used in preparation and preplanning. Trend analysis and extrapolated thinking are of infinite value when done by a trained and insightful professional. Future studies and the tool kit for future studies is even evolving, and the practitioners are refining their techniques. As our environment changes the possibilities of the future change as well. Societal advents, technology break through all radically impact future scenarios. Long term scenarios must be updated frequently, which is why the classic 'flying car' adage from the 50's is such a thorn in our side - it was wishful thinking and a designer's dream. But the Electric car is another story!

Jamais Cascio of Open The Future has a fantastic line by line analysis of the offending article and I suggest that you read it in depth. His thoughts are precise and his refutations even handed.

Michele Bowman at Fringehog has another very well though out response to the article and I agree with her assessment of the dangers of lambasting an entire field of thought. As we begin to open our eyes to longer term possibilities, as the me generation begins to think beyond their own existence, those who think big, think long term, will be the ones to help the rest vision a better world and then act towards it.

Twitter, Frozen Peas, and The American Cacner Society

frozen peas
Originally uploaded by randalcmoss.

What happens when you combine frozen peas, The American Cancer Society, Susan Reynolds - new media consultant and Twitter? Technology driven awareness and fund raising... that and a very cool campaign.  I am changing my avatar on Twitter and am making a donation to the American Cancer Society's Making Strides Against Breast Cancer program at the Frozen Peas fund website.  The event has been covered by the BBC, Tech Crunch, and even the Twitter Blog. It is a very cool meme flynig through the tech space. Insider 411 says that as of this afternoon we have 88 donations and well over $2,600 collected from all over the world including Canada and as far as the Philippines.

Sir Arthur C Clark has a 90th Birthday Message

Sir Arthur C. Clarke has a 90th birthday message out on You Tube. It is utterly amazing when you hear someone as brilliant wax about technological innovations and provide such unprecedented perspective. The observation of the dichotomy of communication technology proliferation, juxtaposed next to the most barbaric century in history. We talk more but still are not saying the right things. He is brilliant and introspective and the message is just amazing.

The Great Box Debate; Get out or Stay In

I know I am late pointing to this WSJ article 'thinking out of the box is a waste of time'. One of the big catch phrases I heard when I got into the area of Futuring and Innovation was 'think outside of the box'. Of course this often came out of the mouths of the people asking for ideas not the ones developing them. I did read Rushkoff's book 'Get Back In The Box' and it really put some much needed perspective on ideating and creative solution solving.

The problem with innovation as a practice being done by internal constituencies is that we tend to think there is no more fertile ground internally for ideas to grow in. We HAVE to look out of the box because we assume we have exhausted everything inside. If there were good ideas and innovations left we would not have created this department ... duh! Not so - patience and perspective are key to pulling out the most valuable ideas and innovation from inside the organization. Honestly, who knows your company better than your employees? So why not count on them to speak up on the process improvements, major strategic goals, and even product design and construction. Innovation is about application of technology 
to solve problems and trust me, our employees know more about your problems than you do!

Virtual Worlds, Real Laws

One of the major intellectual quandaries in the virtual space arena is what are the roles of real world laws, if any? New York University Law School and Harvard's Berkman Center, with the direction of Professor Beth Noveck, even set up the State of Play conference to address some of the concerns. They included legal questions on Intellectual Property rights, taxation, pornography, and free speech. Now Virtual Worlds Management is conducting a Virtual World Law conference in New York this spring. I am not sure of the attendees or the nature of the presenters, academic or professional, but their conferences have been well attended in the past and their content is consistently very good. The conference will involve the American Bar Association's committee on Virtual Worlds and Multiuser Online Games. Their participation will help in world business owners address legal questions they have in the wake of some of the more public virtual world law suits.

World Future Society 2007 and 2008 trends

The World Future Society has compiled their 2007 and 2008 trends into great U-Tube videos. I have embedded them below. They are eye opening and provide a real sense of long term view and long term importance of considering ecological impacts on business and our lives.

More Crowd Sourcing real estate prices

Part of what impacts home prices are the outside forces such as interest rates, supply, demand, schools, and other business and neighborhood factors. Personal perception is a major factor in the market value of a home or neighborhood, and it is valuable information for any buy looking to get a fair deal, and any seller looking to market their property at a reasonable price. So here is Home Predict, website that is allowing people from all over predict the value of homes and neighborhoods. What is important is that market value is a function of the Wisdom of Crowds. If 90 of 100 people think that a neighborhood's average home is worth $200,000 it is good bet that as a buyer  you should be looking to pay about that much, and as a seller it would be wise to list it as such. In the market boom what we saw collectively was a skewing of the perception of value. We all thought homes were worth more, and therefore the price tags went up. Now as the market cools, and the economy slows we collectively are correcting our perception.  Potential buyer's value perception are the most important information to have, but a community wide poll would probably return similar results. I'd like to see a group of us getting on and helping to set the value of our homes and real estate here in Cincinnati.