Community Mobilization

SharingHope.tv - ACS Opens up to User Created Content

Shrainghope.tv is now fully underway and attracting some amazing content form American Cancer Society volunteers. One of the more interesting features of this site is that there is a growing collection of creative commons music that users can use in creating slide shows and other media mash-ups. I hope you will take the time to make it over to Sharing Hope and see the incredible media contributions and creations for yourself.

Meme Box- a Future Scanning Project

MemeBox is a great futures scanning toll launched by a friend of mine Alvis Brigis. MemeBox is a collective space for people to drop in clippings of the future, and it is a great resource for people looking to expand their horizons and thinking.

Map Mashups for Fundraisers

I just found a really good map mashup for the greater New York area that shows the locations of all of the Relay For Life events on a map. Creating mashups like these are neat for visual learners and those who like to see where events that are taking place are close to them.

As mashups continue to proliferate we will see additional medias being combined. Sharing Hope .TV is a site that encourages users to upload their own content about their cancer experience. Best part is that the site allows constituents to license their content Creative Commons. All of this is important to seeding mashups.

Video Sharing Website Grow

The Pew Internet & American Life Project has just released findings showing that 48% of internet users have been to video-sharing sites such as YouTube. In 2007 48% of internet users said they had ever visited a video-sharing site such as YouTube. Pew conducted a similar interview and found that in December 2006, 33% of internet users said they had ever visited such sites. 15% of respondents said they had used a video-sharing site "yesterday" - the day before they were contacted for our survey. A year ago, 8% had visited such a site "yesterday."

So from a community perspective this is good news, I think. More people are going to these sites and I hope it is because there is more compelling content. The growth of these sites also points to the need of individuals to share in a media rich way. We are seeing the evolution of a delivery platform of information. Blogs are to news papers as pod casts are to talk radio as video is to TV. Fun question will be what is the internet to the internet?

Utterz - Multimedia Microcasting

My great friend and colleague Jemarion just turned me onto Utterz, a multi media micro-casting site. Right now I am in the process of exploring Utterz and will certainly be loading it onto this blog for trail and investigation. My initial impression is that it allows users to upload micro-casts (snippets of media)including text, audio, pictures, and video. In short the system is creating a DIY multimedia empire building kit that fits into the palm of your hand... literally ... use your mobile phone to transmit the minutia of life or capture the gleaming moments. The challenge of course will be filtering the best from the rest.

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.

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.

Forester Report: Virtual Worlds Part of the Knowledge Workspace

A recent Forester Research report states that virtual worlds and spaces a re a key component of the knowledge workspace. The report identifies several Web 2.0 technologies that companies should adopt for stronger information connections: RSS, blogs, rich Internet applications (RIAs), tagging, wikis, and virtual worlds. The article goes forward and suggests that to get these current technologies integrated companies should look inward before they turn to consultant. Virtual Worlds Weekly catalogs the Seven Tenets of the Knowledge Workplace as:

The seven tenets are that:
1. Work should be contextual: Forrester envisions RSS feeds pushing information to workers in their portals instead of forcing them to go to multiple applications to catch up on work. Forrester sees virtual worlds as a bonus here, where workers can interact in a 3D environment and access files in the same way they would in the real world.

2. Portals should be individualized, allowing users to customize their space in a wiki, RSS, or virtual world.

3. Work should be seamless. Virtual worlds aren't mentioned specifically here, but the idea is that instead of clicking between applications or folders, information should be tagged in one location. A virtual space makes for an interesting way to browse. See, for example, projects the intelligence community is working on for a virtual work space.

4. Information should be presented visually, which seems like a pretty clear tie-in to the previous tenet for virtual worlds.

5. Technology should be multi-modal. I.e., it should allow for mashups.

6. Information should be social. Again, this has been one of the major arguments for a 3D virtual work environment that allows users to collaboratively access and edit information in real time.

7. Information should be quick. Instead of working with local software, businesses should focus on Service-Oriented Architecture.

The seven tenets are that:
1. Work should be contextual: Forrester envisions RSS feeds pushing information to workers in their portals instead of forcing them to go to multiple applications to catch up on work. Forrester sees virtual worlds as a bonus here, where workers can interact in a 3D environment and access files in the same way they would in the real world.

2. Portals should be individualized, allowing users to customize their space in a wiki, RSS, or virtual world.

3. Work should be seamless. Virtual worlds aren't mentioned specifically here, but the idea is that instead of clicking between applications or folders, information should be tagged in one location. A virtual space makes for an interesting way to browse. See, for example, projects the intelligence community is working on for a virtual work space.

4. Information should be presented visually, which seems like a pretty clear tie-in to the previous tenet for virtual worlds.

5. Technology should be multi-modal. I.e., it should allow for mashups.

6. Information should be social. Again, this has been one of the major arguments for a 3D virtual work environment that allows users to collaboratively access and edit information in real time.

7. Information should be quick. Instead of working with local software, businesses should focus on Service-Oriented Architecture.

Herbie Hancock Remix Contest - Speaks VOLUMES!

I know it is a bad play on words but the fact that Herbie Hancock is running a contest asking for a remix of his own music speaks volumes about community engagement. Herbie is opening up his art form (ironically jazz its self is a very open art from taking cues from so many various genres) and allowing the creative community to play. As a measure of course he is encouraging a new level of interaction with his art - from listening to co-creating. If only other brand and marketers could feel comfortable with constituents, admirers co-creating the experience. I admire the fact that this is in conjunction with the launch of the Pangea Island (supported by Universal music Germany) in SL. More on that in a later post.

Consumer Reviews of Meds now on WebMD

Web Md has opened up a comments section on its site under each of the medicines that it categories. It is allowing consumers of the medicines to comment on how they felt the drug worked, how easy it was to use, as well as if they found any specific side effects. Although a bit cumbersome to use the site is allowing people to really make extended comments on their experience with the drug.

Some would think that the drug companies would have conniptions that their drug is being negatively reviewed, while others would take the opportunity to look into the concerns of the users and view this as an open product review session. If there are side effects that did not show up in the clinical trials, but are emerging for certain populations here is a great way to find out. Patients tell doctors, who tell drug reps, who send the message up the chain. Lots of chances to get that message lost in translation. Here on this site you get (hopefully) honest feedback straight and unfiltered which in my book is the best thing you can do.