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  Reflections On A #4Change Twitter Chat

  Zero Strategist 3:12 pm on February 19, 2010 | Comments Permalink | Reply
  Tags: #4change (6), Collaboration (2), Community (2), Conversation (2), Microblog (3), Reflection, Social Change (7), Social Media (11), Twitter

  Last week I facilitated the #4Change global twitter chat with Tom on Cause Fatigue. It was an awesome one. When the chat ended I was left with what I have just call in the past “the feeling.” The purpose of this article is to explore exactly what that “feeling” is and why it is important.

  Describing “The Feeling” of A Great Twitter Chat

  When I participate in or moderate a twitter chat that has gone well I experience a range of emotions which I will attempt to describe here:

  Convergence - Diverse and distributed individuals coming together to make something common happen in real time.

  Discovery - The exploration of ourselves, each other, our thoughts, common issues, topics, information, links, articles, books, videos and other resources which are not always know by any one individual, expert or practitioner.

  Conversation - Intense, thoughtful, deep conversation about something which is of interest.

  Connection - Forging lasting connections because of meaningful interactions around common actions.

  Collaboration - The contributions of individuals to co-create something together, which is otherwise not possible.

  Serendipity - The experience of encountering “randomness” or “pseudo-randomness” (I don’t think they are random at all but that is for another article), the bridging of degrees of social, societal, organizational and global separations.

  Openness – An open door through a relatively open platform, though which any peer can step at anytime. All opinions welcome, wanted and valued.

  Rich Discussion – When participating in the face to face chats with different sized groups there are certain physical limits. With the microblog medium it is possible to participate in multiple conversations or conversation threads at once. The conversation can converge, diverge and re-converge whenever it needs to. A more rich conversation can happen where once it was limited physically.

  Learning - Often times when joining in a microblog chat (or any meeting for that matter), people think or believe that they may already know a good deal about a subject or topic. But through the virtual convening of eclectic individuals, perspectives and backgrounds in open conversation a greater truth, knowledge or experience has the potential to reveal itself to all.

  The feeling that I have described above is the not like any other feeling I have experienced in life. To be completely honest it can indeed be quite compelling, borderline intoxicating. It is this overwhelming sense of so many “things” mashed together that it becomes a nearly nonsensical and indescribable emotional mashup. But the first time you feel it, you just know somewhere deep inside and something changes in you forever. It is a sense of awe and amazement, the one you first experienced as a kid discovering the world.

  Your “reality” is not the same as it was before feeling that (social media working). You don’t look at things or think about things the same way that you did before. The mind begins to race with the possibility of change on a much grander scale then imagined in previous moments. The ideas come in waves like tsunamis, time becomes some elusive thing that you need more of to make so much more happen. Something is working and happening on a higher level that was not really possible before these social web technologies emerged and took flight on the Internet a half a decade ago.

  Why I Participate In #4Change Microblog Chats

  Everyone has their own reason for joining different events, conversations and happenings both virtual and real. The reason I participate in the #4Change Twitter Chats (microblog chats) is because of two things which I know to be at the heart of social media and social change:

  1. The Feeling (As described above)
  2. My Peers (#4Change team/fellow tweeps)

  Disclosure – This article has been cross posted to Zero Strategist
  

  
   

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• 

  Cause Fatigue #4Change Recap

  Zero Strategist 5:39 pm on February 12, 2010 | Comments Permalink | Reply
  Tags: #4change (6), Campaigning (5), Cause (2), Events (2), Fatigue (2), Microblog (3), Social Media (11), Twitter

  Thanks everyone who attended or contributed to February’s #4Change Chat on the topic of Cause Fatigue, the chat was indeed interesting and lively! This is not at complete transcript of the conversation, but rather a curated recap which aims to tie the conversation threads together.

  If you have any additional ideas, insights, resources or writings on cause fatigue please leave comments, post links or use the #4change hashtag to tweet your post! You can always review the entire chat by searching the #4Change hashtag on twitter.

  Q1. How do you define cause fatigue?

  amycarolwolff Cause fatigue is what occurs when communication about an issue becomes uncreative and stagnant.

  tomjd I think Cause Fatigue is when stories no longer resonate – ppl get used to issue, it comes normal, acceptable. Loss of outrage.

  zerostrategist @amycarolwolff A1: I think #cause #fatigue is when you dread having to support a cause that you really love supporting

  realize_ink @tomjd Agreed. I’d add that it’s what happens when comms re: issue no longer tap their core values. Values may’ve changed

  zerostrategist @tomjd A1: I think Cause Fatigue is when people lose all passion to act for a cause to which they are dedicated or do believe in

  Q2. What are some of the contributing factors to cause fatigue?

  tomjd Another factor is loss of belief in change. Ppl accept status quo. Consider all parties “interest groups”, all equally suspicious.

  zerostrategist A2: Inefficiency in general, lack of a cohesively communicated & executed strategy, few resources can be big factors in c-fatigue

  memeshift @zerostrategist I think *attention* is just such a resource internally (org)/externally(supporters)

  tomjd @memeshift Totally agree with “attention” as a resource to be more carefully managed. This is why I Q all the big giving comps

  tomjd @memeshift like Chase, Pepsi, etc – when orgs r repeatedly mobilizing supporters for these comps their attention resource dwindles

  zerostrategist A2: Also lack of top cover, the absence of strong leadership or change champions can lead to cause drift, a lack of direction

  realize_ink @tomjd Good pt re: Chase & Pepsi, etc. More collaboration b/t companies might cr8 less fatigue, more change in long run.

  zerostrategist @memeshift Couldn’t agree more I have seen lack of internal engagement increase the turnover rates of organizations

  memeshift @tomjd keen call, man. Attention is valuable. If something *really* important comes along, than what?

  tomjd @memeshift Exactly. And while some orgs do win big from these comps most end up w nothing except lost time/energy

  memeshift @zerostrategist leaders to step up. Absolutely. They gotta be passionate too.

  Q3. What strategies can be used to reinvigorate support for a cause when supporters get burned out?

  tomjd @zerostrategist Making it personal is important – sharing personal stories, not just statistics, not just portraying victims

  memeshift @tomjd dig that – not just portraying victims. Easy to take dignity away, difficult to restore.

  yellowbuzz Perhaps getting away frm the ‘victim’ language is crucial. “victim” objectifies people in need – taking away thr agency

  zerostrategist @yellowbuzz For sure the language you choose to use matters deeply should be customized for audience, empowering & calls to action

  yellowbuzz @memeshift @zerostrategist Collaboration with other orgs/networks/indiv = a solution cure Cause Fatigue?

  zerostrategist @yellowbuzz Yes I def think that collaboration + cross pollination with other orgs/networks/indiv = a strategy 4 stopping fatigue

  memeshift @zerostrategist cross training #4change sounds like it could be a new cause in itself!

  zerostrategist @memeshift Heck yes! The great thing is that cross training partners would learn the pit falls, instead of learning the hard way

  realize_ink A3: Obvious answer is refined, more targeted messaging so it really resonates. Also need the *right* messengers.

  zerostrategist @memeshift @tomjd I think that burning social capital on contests / repeat mobilizing can cause burnout fatigue + diminish brand

  realize_ink So what’s keeping orgs from collaborating more if we know non-collab leads to c-fatigue? Brand protection? Is it worth it?

  karitas A3 celebrating successes of partner causes brings positivity across your movement

  zerostrategist @karitas RE A3 Making a point to celebrate victories & important milestones helps to re-energize across partner causes

  meshugavi A3 Bring emotion and faces into the way you communicate your mission.

  karitas @realize_ink its about going from a legacy mindset to a Put-yourself-out-of-business mindset. Collab is essential to meeting mission

  realize_ink @karitas Spot on! Wish more ppl, orgs, org leaders would share this view

  karitas @realize_ink me too! And when we don’t see how much our partners are doing, new orgs pop to “fill in the gap” and stratify support

  dpmichel 3. look to what is resonating and how your cause fits into that

  zerostrategist A3: Rotating your people across different sub-causes & partner campaigns can keep them fresh + lend more perspectives & ideas

  zerostrategist A3: Making sure everyone gets + are taking adequate vacation & sick time when they are ill goes a long way to improve participation

  neddotcom “strategies” used to reinvigorate support? Impact reporting. Traction and results. Quick feedback loops. Open collaboration.

  Q4. When do you expand your campaign to outreach to new supporters?

  tomjd @zerostrategist I would think those would be 2 diff campaigns – one for existing supporters, one for new. Need diff communication

  yellowbuzz @tomjd maybe the distinction is not so hard. a organizer-operator-supporter-peripheralsupporter-propagator continuum? #4change

  zerostrategist @yellowbuzz Like the idea here of the O-O-S-PS-P continuum, wish the there was no distinction. But there is much of the time.

  realize_ink I’m with @tomjd – sounds like 2 diff campaigns w diff messenging and messenger, but same ask #4Change

  zerostrategist @realize_ink @tomjd They do require different comm strategies as long as the objectives are different, but combine what you can.

  Q5. When do you contract your campaign to focus on the supporters you do have?

  MeganMurray A5 #4Change Consistently.. but with respect to their time. Consistency is important.

  zerostrategist @MeganMurray RE A5 Meaning that keeping the campaign effective, requires continuous trimming? No big cuts or sudden drops?

  MeganMurray @zerostrategist #4Change Moderating vs. trimming. These are relationships. They operate in waves, you have to respond to those rhythms.

  Q6. What tools can be used to keep communities engaged in the midst of cause fatigue?

  memeshift @zerostrategist A6 a simple hello (Tweet, email, txt, call) before you even need anything, I reckon.

  socialedge #4Change chat is pondering What strategies can be used to reinvigorate support for a cause when supporters get burned out? RT’d by hnajam

  socialedge #4change @bbravo http://bit.ly/aUOJLZ @hildygottlieb @kanter http://bit.ly/9fTkU8 great resources for #socialmedia cure for cause fatigue

  realize_ink @socialedge Gr8 @kanter post, but even Soc Med fatigue exists. I hear “not another FB fan page!” a lot. Need variety of pltfrms

  realize_ink @zerostrategist A6: communication that doesn’t involve an ask. And, plenty of thank yous along the way.

  zerostrategist @realize_ink I like ur A6 I think that a soft approach tends to be more effective too! TYs are critical.

  yellowbuzz A6: a blog that archives work in progress. Documenting process engages communities, interested or semi-interested

  MeganMurray A6: Reward mechanisms and balanced engagement (meaning = ratio of rally & fun)

  rootwork A6: Describing your past successes – storytelling!

  memeshift Yes! RT’d @rootwork

  MeganMurray @rootwork Good one! Excellent point.

  rootwork @MeganMurray To me, organizational/movement histories are one of the key things that create sustainability, but often aren’t done

  MeganMurray @rootwork So true. Generally as a species we have a lil trouble learning from our past.

  realize_ink A6: opportunity for change agents to “own” part of the process. Implement their own ideas working toward common goal.

  memeshift Yes! RT’d @real

  meshugavi A6 Celebrating small victories

  tomjd @meshugavi And identifying clearly how the work of supporters contributed to those victories

  insearchofsanuk Say Thank you. Often.

  meshugavi @tomjd yes @350 does a great job of that

  zerostrategist The KISS answer to A6: #blogs #wikis #forums #mashups #geo #microblogs #socialnetworks #socialbookmarks #cloudcomputing #badges

  yellowbuzz @zerostrategist How about something in-person, like an ice cream social?

  zerostrategist @yellowbuzz You know funny that you bring that up because cupcake socials seem to be a #socialmedia #meme & have raised a lot of $$

  yellowbuzz @zerostrategist Yes – FOOD #4change! We’ve mobilized lots of artists/enthusiasts/supporters with pancakes, donuts, cupcakes, scones indeed!

  memeshift @yellowbuzz nice! My current FB tagline: “media arts + pizza”

  realize_ink @zerostrategist I’m a huge fan of collaboration & working w multiple groups 2 time R asks & vary them so ppl dont get overloaded

  zerostrategist @yellowbuzz Something tasty (pastries, microbrews, eats) can be a powerful force to converge, mobilize, #4change and combat #cause #fatigue

  realize_ink @yellowbuzz @memeshift I know I’m always motivated by food. And, hey, I’m most causes’ target audience.

  realize_ink @socialedge Yes! Almost unusual to hear “offline” contact these days, but still so necessary. Long live meet-ups!

  zerostrategist A6: Use the tech tools sparingly (cause it can be the source of the burnout), have real world events that allow people to just be

  realize_ink A6: Also fond of influencer strat. Citizen ambassadors (non-celebrities!!) who champion the issue & inspire others 2 take action.

  rootwork @realize_ink Yes – and thus, map your network of support first (shades of @valdiskrebs)

  rootwork lesson #4change RT @echoditto Ben Wikler fr @avaaz on tcktcktck “Key to doing this effectively is listening to ppl you’re trying to inspire”

  Q7. How do economic conditions effect cause fatigue?

  rootwork #4change A7: People who have to work more are (or at least feel that they should be) volunteering less

  yellowbuzz @rootwork true, although unemployment can lead to more time for reflecting/mobilizing/getting-involved.

  rootwork @yellowbuzz I think it depends on your socioeconomic base. Those with means can volunteer for awhile, it’s true.

  rootwork @yellowbuzz NYT actually wrote about the phenomenon of well-to-do unemployed volunteering at higher rates http://nyti.ms/9CPyuL

  zerostrategist #4Change A7: Those with jobs will be expected to more for less…or else! Those who don’t will become more become more active!

  yellowbuzz A7: economic downturn motivates ppl to question status quo and existing social condition (one hopes). An opportunity #4change. 2 optimistic?

  zerostrategist A7: …as a result #change #fatigue will go up on both sides of the cause, creating pressure + stress, but also making opportunity

  socialedge @pamelahawley tips on engaging folks as volunteers http://bit.ly/a7cLb6 in bad econ-be part of something greater, gain new skills

  Q8. How can cause fatigue be prevented?

  insearchofsanuk Best strategy is not to let them get burnt out. Work #4change for the right reasons and dont let supporters loose sight of those.

  realize_ink @zerostrategist A8: keep campaign realistic and asks under control. And, whenever possible, collaborate, collaborate, collaborate.

  yellowbuzz A8: streamlined mission statement with clearly defined goals. a strong communication network that allows flexibility/feedback.

  zerostrategist @yellowbuzz You are right Wendy if you don’t have those things lined up, #cause #fatigue will ensue…the trick is to be dynamic 2

  zerostrategist A8: I think an emphasis on the informal tends to be a most effective way to involve and educate is what lasts over the long term

  dwightturner Variety. Have diverse ways people can participate. Know the signs of burn out. Make people take breaks.

  zerostrategist I think @dwightturner is right on this one, the secret to preventing #cause #fatigue is to know the signs and know your people

  yellowbuzz @dwightturner totally agreed. Spread the networks widely. a #4Change diaspora? agents in various locations/backgrounds can refresh org

  realize_ink A8: Needs to be fairly organic. Let change agents, not org, play key role. Org sets goals, agents can guide tactics, platforms.

  yellowbuzz A8: media/event-detox – reconnect with close friends and family – reevaluate/reflect life’s mission
  Q9. How do you “recharge” when completely fatigued?

  rootwork Is Q9 about us as organizers/staffers, or how we encourage supporters/volunteers to recharge?

  realize_ink @zerostrategist are we talking internal recharge?

  zerostrategist @realize_ink Totally an open question answer it however YOU like!

  realize_ink A9: If internal, I’d again lead with the thank yous. Not nearly enuf expressed to staff, organizers.

  rootwork A9: Valentines to your volunteers!

  insearchofsanuk Why did you participate to begin with? Clear distractions & let the initial energy be used to reinvigorate you.

  realize_ink A9: Personally, I go back to root source & remind myself why I’m championing the cause in the 1st place. Works wonders!

  insearchofsanuk @realize_ink whoa. we tweet alike

  zerostrategist A9: The way I recharge #4Change: disconnect from technology, be with family, friends, nature, ocean and just being me http://bit.ly/aMySug

  socialedge “what if we could create a way to give back that doesn’t feel like sacrifice at all?” http://bit.ly/dvOxr7

  realize_ink A9: Our shop has volunteer days -use work days 2 cr8 hands-on change. Often gets folks recharged. Goes back to letting agents lead.

  realize_ink @zerostrategist Yes! Falling off the grid is a fabulous recharge. Think we all need to do it more often.

  zerostrategist Lastly I want to dedicate today / this month’s #4Change Chat to @engagejoe who is currently recharging in the mountains of Vermont

  Chat Resource Roundup

  I know everyone appreciates case studies and links to resources that #4Change Chat participants share. While the conversation is happening not everyone has the time to click through and read all of the resources. So here is a round up of the relevant links shared:

  Disaster Donations in the age of Disruption -

  http://philanthropy.blogspot.com/2010/01/disaster-donations-in-age-of-disruption.html

  Why We are in the Age of the Citizen Philanthropist –

  http://mashable.com/2010/01/28/citizen-philanthropist/

  Issue Fighting for Attention and Funds in an Aware World –

  http://www.socialedge.org/discussions/funding/issue-fatigue-2013-fighting-for-attention-and-funds-in-an-aware-world-1

  Chase Community Giving Contest Ends With Yet More Controversy –

  http://beth.typepad.com/beths_blog/2010/01/chase-giving-contest-winners-announced-amidst-controversy-.html?cid=6a00d8345159b069e20120a801b3a7970b

  Without a Job, but Working on the Campaign Trail –

  http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/08/nyregion/08campaigns.html?_r=1

  Help Maximizing Volunteer Impact -

  http://www.socialedge.org/discussions/business-building/archive/2009/09/10/help-maximizing-volunteer-impact

  Issue Fatigue: What’s The Cure? –

  http://havefundogood.blogspot.com/2009/02/issue-fatigue-whats-cure.html

  The Social Enterprise Conference: Reflections on Service –

  http://www.socialearth.org/reflections-on-service-and-the-social-enterprise-conference

  Disclosure – This post is cross-posted on Zero Strategist and #4Change Blog

   
• 

  #4Change February Twitter Chat Topic: Cause Fatigue

  Zero Strategist 5:57 pm on February 9, 2010 | Comments Permalink | Reply
  Tags: #4change (6), Campaigning (5), Cause (2), Events (2), Fatigue (2), Microblog (3), Social Media (11), Twitter

  Running campaigns in support of one or many great causes can be very time consuming and demanding for all of those who are determined to make a change. It seems easier in the beginning when a fresh campaign for a cause is just launched – supporters are jumping on board, influencers are engaged, buzz is flying about, awareness is spreading, change is happening. But what happens when the social magic begins to wear off and change starts to feel more like a chore then a contribution?

  The #4Change Topic for February is Cause Fatigue. The Twitter chat will occur on Thursday, February 11th 2010 at 5PM EST / 2PM PST US. The topic idea for this month’s chat was spawned during last month’s #4Change chat on campaigning. In keeping with the tradition of these chats, we want to keep things open, organic, and dynamic.

  Definitions:

  Fatigue (Noun)

  • temporary loss of strength and energy resulting from hard physical or mental work
  • boredom resulting from overexposure to something
  • the feeling of being bored by something tedious
  • a flaw or weak point

  Fatigue (Verb)

  • get tired of something or somebody
  • exhaust or tire through overuse or great strain or stress

  Source: Visual Thesaurus

  #4Change February Chat Questions:

  1. How do you define cause fatigue?
  2. What are some of the contributing factors to cause fatigue?
  3. What strategies can be used to reinvigorate support for a cause when supporters get burned out?
  4. When do you expand your campaign to outreach to new supporters?
  5. When do you contract your campaign to focus on the supporters you do have?
  6. What tools can be used to keep communities engaged in the midst of cause fatigue?
  7. How do economic conditions effect cause fatigue?
  8. How can cause fatigue be prevented?
  9. How do you “recharge” when completely fatigued?

  New to #4Change? Learn More:

  To learn more about #4Change monthly twitter chat go to the #4Change Blog, read about #4Change and search twitter for #4Change. To participate just join in twitter conversation from anywhere in the world.

  Disclosure – This post is cross-posted on Zero Strategist and #4Change Blogs

   
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  January #4Change Topic: Campaigning

  amysampleward 2:59 pm on January 3, 2010 | Comments Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Campaigning (5), campaigns, case studies, Delicious, Online Communities (3), Social Media (11), Social Network (2), strategy, Twitter

  The January #4Change Twitter Chat will focus on the use of Twitter and other social media tools in campaigning.

  About the Topic

  Campaigning can mean many different things and we want to keep the definition of the topic fairly open for this chat, in order to keep insights, resources and conversation in the Q/A format as open to valuable input as possible.  Here are some ways that campaigning can be framed for the purpose of this chat:

  • moving canvassing door to door to online networks
  • political action
  • local community building
  • tying communications, partners, and actions together via social media
  • social change projects or programs locally or globally

  The way we examine the use of social media in campaigning can be further framed in some of these ways:

  1. change campaigns (internal vs external), also organization type variations
  2. social media change campaigns (specific nuances)
  3. change campaigns vs political campaigns (similarities vs differences)
  4. educational campaigns (organizational / institutional / internet) riffing off of last month’s topic
  5. building campaign coalitions & recruiting campaign champions

  How to Participate

  Share your ideas now:

  You can share your ideas about the topic as well as any resources, case studies, examples, research etc. by leaving a comment on this blog post.  Or, you can tag your resources or posts using Delicious with the tag “4change” and we’ll pick it up for you.

  Join the Twitter chat:

  1. If you want to contribute to the conversation, you’ll need to have a twitter account (it’s free).
  2. To follow the conversation (whether you are planning to contribute or not), use http://search.twitter.com or another application to search on Twitter for #4Change
  3. Jump in to the conversation by adding #4Change to your Twitter message
  4. Feeling brave? Check out TweetChat – it’s a great application that integrates with your Twitter account and makes chats more fun! You can turn it off after the chat.

  Rules for #4Change Chat

  1. #4Change will be structured around a series of questions which all participants can respond to. Send your questions to @memeshift to have them considered.
  2. Introduce yourself in 1 tweet at the start or when you join.
  3. Stay on topic!
  4. Be cool.

  Details

  • Date: January, 14th 2010
  • When: 2 – 4 pm US Pacific Time, 5 – 7 pm US Eastern Time, 10pm – 12am London, UK (Late!)
  • Where: Twitter (search for #4Change)
  • Topic: Campaigning: How is social/new media affecting the the way we build and conduct campaigns? and more!

  We’ll update this post with specific questions to be asked during the chat and will capture resources and conversations from the chat, too.  Send us your ideas!

  —–

  UPDATE: Here are the conversation starters we’ll be using in tonight’s chat.

  1. How do we define campaigning in the context of social media?
  - does growing a Facebook Fan page numbers count?
  - does growing an email list count?
  - what about calls to action that aren’t online?

  2. Given our definition, what are some of the best examples you’ve seen? Why?

  3. What are elements in these examples that are integral to the campaign’s success?

  4. What are the most difficult aspects of managing/running a campaign?

  5. What are the best ways for would-be campaigners to identify possible collaborators/partners?
  - other orgs to champion campaign
  - sponsors to put some skin ($) in the game
  - influencers and influential communities to reach out to and engage

  

   
• 

  Vote for 4Change at SXSW

  amysampleward 6:05 am on August 24, 2009 | Comments Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Challenges, Community (2), Competitions, Innovation, Social Change (7), SXSW Interactive, Twitter

  

  Vote here!

  The #4Change crew threw in an idea to the SXSW Interactive conference for next year and we are excited to make it happen, will you help us?!

  VOTE HERE

  or read on to learn more….

  Our Panel Idea

  “Competition > Innovation > Change: Examining Competitions For Social Change”

  Organizations, foundations, even individuals are creating social innovation competitions, hoping to drive social change projects and solutions into the global marketplace.  What are these new competitions about—are they working? How do we—innovators, entrepreneurs—know what’s going to make real-world impact and where do we start? Let’s discuss: join us!

  Here are some of the questions we hope to answer (or at least ask!) in the presentation:

  1. What are social innovation challenges?
  2. Why are challenges important? What need do they serve?
  3. What are the different types of competitions and which work best in driving change?
  4. How can challenges/competitions be used to discover, support, and accelerate social change projects and solutions?
  5. Do social innovation competitions spur real world impact?
  6. Does the success of competitions rely on the judges or the prize money?
  7. What’s required to create competitions that will generate real innovations?
  8. How can challenges support collaboration between projects?
  9. How can communities or groups start their own challenges to solve local issues?
  10. What’s the future of how we use challenges to drive social change?

  How to Vote

  Visit SXSW’s PanelPicker page here and give us a thumbs up!

  Voting will open on August 17th and close on September 4th – so be sure to vote today!

  About SXSW Interactive

  “SXSW Interactive features five days of compelling presentations from the brightest minds in emerging technology, scores of exciting networking events hosted by industry leaders and an unbeatable line up of special programs showcasing the best new websites, video games and startup ideas the community has to offer. Join us March 2010 for the panels, the parties, the 13th Annual Web Awards, the ScreenBurn at SXSW Arcade, the Film and Interactive Trade Show and Exhibition, Accelerator at SXSW and, of course, the inspirational experience that only SXSW can deliver.”

  About the #4Change Team Presenters

  The panel is comprised of the #4Change team, a group of individuals collaborating to propel the social media for social change conversation forward via monthly Twitter-based chats.  Competitions for change is an important topic to the #4Change community and a Compendium of Competitions has started growing. More at http://4change.memeshift.com

  
   
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  August #4Change Chat: Opportunities for Collaboration

  amysampleward 6:43 am on August 10, 2009 | Comments Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Amnesty International, Collaboration (2), Global, International, Online Communities (3), Social Media (11), Social Network (2), Twitter

  The next #4change chat is this Thursday – I hope you can join us!

  Details:

  • Date: August, 13th
  • Where: Twitter (search for #4Change)
  • When: 5 – 7 pm US Eastern Time
  • Topic: How do social media open new doors for collaboration (especially internationally)?

  Starting the Conversations

  Unfortunately for me, I will unable to join the chat this Thursday; so, I’d like to offer some conversation starters now to get you thinking of questions, ideas, and stories you want to share!

  Here are some questions to consider:

  • has your organization found new collaborators (other organizations, companies, networks, etc.) for your work via social media use/presence?
  • have you reached out, either as an individual or an organization, with opportunities to collaborate to others you only connected with via social media? why?
  • what issues are unique to collaborations of this type?
  • what kind of reassurances (and what are the mechanisms for providing them) are unique to parties entering collaborations via social media?
  • how could collaborations enabled or maintained via social media be more or less sustainable than traditional tools/outlets?

  And here are some examples to consider:

  • SocialActions – a great example of social media powering the sharing and aggregation (and thus the collaboration and partnership) of social action opportunity portals all over the world
  • Amnesty International, Red Cross, and others – organizers working globally/locally have changed the way they campaign or operate now that they are really in the same space (online)
  • Journalism – writers are now using their social media platforms (whether it’s Twitter or Facebook, or even the newspaper’s comment-enabled websites) to collaborate with witnesses, locals, and experts for their contributions to the story

  Join the Conversation

  1. If you want to contribute to the conversation, you’ll need to have a twitter account (it’s free).
  2. To follow the conversation (whether you are planning to contribute or not), use http://search.twitter.com or another application to search on Twitter for “#4Change”
  3. Jump in to the conversation by adding “#4Change” (without the “”) to your Twitter message

  Rules for #Change Chats

  1. #4Change will be structured around a series of questions which all participants can respond to. Send your questions to @tomjd without the hash tag (to keep them out of the stream) to have them considered.
  2. Introduce yourself in 1 tweet at the start or when you join.
  3. Stay on topic!
  4. Stay cool.

  Join us for the chat this Thursday – looking forward to discussing the role social media play in collaboration!

  
   
• 

  Lessons Learned: Using Twitter for a Global Conversation

  amysampleward 3:09 am on July 16, 2009 | Comments Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Conversation (2), Global Community, Hashtags, Lessons Learned, Online Communities (3), Twitter

  Over the last few months, we have seen Twitter serve the global community by playing an important role in communications – whether it’s finding new friends (#FollowFriday), or telling the world about your government/election/political state (#IranElection), whether it’s having a conversation together (#4Change), or non-linearly replacing your RSS feed.  What do those # mean? That’s part of the key to success when using Twitter for a Global conversation. Using hashtags lets you mark your message as pertaining to a certain topic, then automatically include that message in a stream with everyone else’s that include the same hashtag.  Using Twitter search or other tools, you can watch news and updates about the election in Iran by using #IranElection; or, find interesting people to follow and connect with using #FollowFriday to peruse the recommendations that pile up on Fridays.

  There are many opportunities to see hashtags in action!  There are also more and more opportunities emerging for people to coordinate global conversations that happen at the same time, instead of disconnected over time (still tied together via hashtag).  I am part of the planning team working on the monthly chat series behind #4Change.  There is also a Twitter-based chat starting up for consultants who work with social benefit organizations.

  I wanted to share some of the lessons I’ve learned from my involvement with organizing Twitter chats.  I’m looking forward to your ideas, too!

  1. Build a landing pad

  It is helpful to have some place where you can send people interested in your topic or chat that haven’t participated before – whether it’s a website, a blog, or just a separate Twitter account.  If you have a landing pad somewhere online where you can refer people and provide information about your chats, your group, or your purpose in more than 140 characters, it will save you a lot of extra tweeting!  Plus, it will provide a natural and obviously place to aggregate your content, thoughts, updates, and promotion of the chats.

  2. Brainstorm lots of questions but pick a few

  It seems obvious that people using a communication tool like Twitter, and then electing to participate in a large-scale public chat would not require much prodding to keep conversation going.  But, it is actually just this reason that it’s more important to pre-select your questions.  Twitter chats are slower moving than you’d expect because everyone is waiting on the Twitter search to refresh with new posts.  It works best to have 3-5 questions selected ahead of time and shared with a core group of chat leaders or guides.  This way, there is a group of people helping keep the conversation on track, focused on one question at a time.  Otherwise, the group can quickly and easily splinter off to other topics using other hashtags, after all, that’s what Twitter enables all day, every day.

  3. Consider your time

  If you really want to pull in participants from all over the world, it’s important to consider what time you are holding the chat.  It’s also important to consider how long you want the chat to be.  Knowing that Twitter based chats are slower in development and pace than something like a live web chat, you don’t want it to be too narrow of a window, but you can only hold people’s attention for so long as well.

  4. Narrow your focus

  #4Change or #NPCons (nonprofit consultants) seem like pretty obvious topics. But coordinating a conversation would be far too difficult without a specific topic for that chat because the possibilities for questions or specific ideas within those two general topics are endless.  For example, recent 4Change topics have included using competitions for social change and Twitter as a political/revolutionary tool.  This also means people can identify ahead of time any resources they want to share during the chat and if they are interested in the specific topic of the month or not.

  5. Invite your audience

  If you have your topic for the month picked out, you may have some experts, prominent thinkers, or maybe organizations/companies/ groups that are known for working in or with that topic that you want to explicitly invite to participate.  Ensuring that fresh voices participate is important – we could all talk to the same group of people without organizing a public conversation.  Promoting the chat widely via Twitter and other social networks is a great way to find more participants, too.

  6. Never underestimate the technology

  I already mentioned that Twitter-based chats aren’t as fast-paced as live web chats or some other technologies.  But, you also have to remember that Twitter isn’t in your control!  If the server has a glitch, if there’s scheduled maintenance, or if search tools lag, then your Twitter chat will dramatically suffer.  This happened during the July #4Change chat and caused us to call the chat off half-way through as search was 15 minutes behind and many participants’ messages weren’t showing up at all.

  7. Participate!

  #4Change:
  If you want to learn more about the #4Change monthly chat series, visit http://4change.memeshift.com  The next chat topic will be announced there and on Twitter using #4Change.

  #NPCons:
  Join the first #NPCons chat this coming Tuesday, 21 July, at 1pm US Pacific time.  These chats will be monthly, on the 3rd Tuesdays, at 1 pm Pacific.

  
   
• 

  4Change Chat: Revolutionary social media - social tools for revolts, protests

  amysampleward 2:56 pm on July 7, 2009 | Comments Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Campaigning (5), Organizing, Revolt, Revolution, Social Change (7), Social Media (11), Twitter

  The next #4change chat has been announced and I hope you can join in!
  

  Details:

  • Date: Thursday, July 9 (moved to July, 23rd – today! – same time)
  • Where: Twitter (search for #4Change)
  • When: 5 – 7 pm US Eastern Time
  • Topic: Revolutionary social media: Exploring social tools for revolts, upheavals & protests

  Why are we doing this and why would you want to join? Great questions:

  Social media is becoming a key driver of social change, allowing for the dissemination of new ideas, the formation of new communities and coalitions and the realization of new efficiencies and reach by existing social change groups. Throughout the world activists, organizers and non-profit professionals are exploring how best to use these tools, and sharing the results using the tools themselves. However these conversations are less international and therefore less effective than they could be.

  We have so much to learn from each other. From new forms of political campaigning in the United States, experiments in e-government and civic participation in England, from the fight against internet censorship in Australia and New Zealand and from start-ups in Canada and France. And beyond.

  We need a platform for light-weight, easily-organized and openly accessible conversations involving people from numerous countries. Twitter, I believe, provides us with such a platform.

  When do the chats take place?

  Chats are on the second Thursday of each month between 5-7pm US Eastern Time (GMT-4).

  Who is leading and participating in these chats?

  #4Change was initially proposed by Tom Dawkins (@tomjd) in Washington DC who is joined by Todd Pitt (@zerostrategist – Washington DC), Morgan Sully (@memeshfit – Oakland, California), Natasha Judd (@tashjudd – London, England), Edward Harran (@edwardharran – Brisbane, Australia) and Vibewire (@vibewire – Sydney, Australia).

  But the #4Change chats are open to everyone interested in discussing social media’s role in social change! Don’t be shy about joining—that’s one great thing about an open, public chat like this, you can follow along silently until you have something you want to say and no one will know

  How can you follow along or join the conversation?

  1. If you want to contribute to the conversation, you’ll need to have a twitter account (it’s free).
  2. To follow the conversation (whether you are planning to contribute or not), use http://search.twitter.com or another application to search on Twitter for “#4Change”
  3. Jump in to the conversation by adding “#4Change” (without the “”) to one of your Twitter messages

  Are there any rules for #Change Chats?

  1. #4Change will be structured around a series of questions which all participants can respond to. Send your questions to @tomjd without the hash tag (to keep them out of the stream) to have them considered.
  2. Introduce yourself in 1 tweet at the start or when you join.
  3. Stay on topic!
  4. Stay cool.

  Join me for the chat this Thursday – looking forward to discussing the role competitions play in social change!

   
• 

  Another Twitter event: #SocEntChat

  tomjd 10:01 pm on June 29, 2009 | Comments Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Ashoka, Lemelson Foundation, Socentchat, Social Entrepreneurship (2), Twitter

  In addition to instigating the #4change chats I have also been involved in establishing another monthly twitter-based conversation for social entrepreneurs, their supporters and partners called #SocEntChat. Having just written this post for SocialEarth I thought people visiting here would also be interested in knowing about it:

  Twitter is proving to be an incredibly powerful tool for entrepreneurs, activists and researchers to share their stories, ideas and causes, building tribes of followers who can help them in their missions. #SocEntChat uses Twitter as a platform to bring these people together, convening monthly real-time forums to help identify promising initiatives and techniques, connect with possible allies and partners and share knowledge and insights.

  I initiated #SocEntChat (short of Social Entrepreneur Chat) as part of my role as Digital Marketing Strategist at Ashoka, an international citizen-sector organization founded by Bill Drayton, often called “the father of social entrepreneurship,” which seeks to create an Everyone a Changemaker world. After 28 years of supporting leading social entrepreneurs in over 70 countries and building infrastructure to support changemakers we see an incredibly important part of our mission as convening social entrepreneurs and their supporters to help accelerate change.

  So the question I asked myself as I launched our account @AshokaTweets earlier this year was, how could Twitter help us further this mission? After having been inspired by the success of the weekly #Journchat discussions, which focus on how technology is impacting journalism and PR, we made the decision to use our networks to host an equivalent monthly event for social entrepreneurs. Nathaniel Whittemore, social entrepreneurship blogger at Change.org agreed to be my co-host and the first #SocEntChat was held in April to try and capture the learnings from the Skoll World Forum. Since then we have covered Social Entrepreneurship on Campuses and Green Entrepreneurship. You can read the transcripts here, here, and here. You can also read the reflections from David Strelneck, coordinator of Green Initiatives at Ashoka, on the last #SocEntChat here.

  We have been thrilled by the response and the quality of the conversations help so far. Despite the severe length limitations of Twitter the discussions have reached a surprising depth, whether in considering how new voices could be heard at the Skoll World Forum, how to better connect students and off-campus communities or the best role for Government in fostering green innovation.

  This Wednesday from 4-6pm US EDT (GMT-4) we’ll explore the exciting possibilities of Mobile Innovation, a week after Ashoka and the Lemelson Foundation co-hosted an event in Nairobi Kenya on this topic. Innovation in the use of mobile technologies for social change are leaping rapidly ahead, whether in the form of The Extraordinaries use of smart phones for volunteering, using SMS to share the daily price of goods at market so that rural farmers in Africa get a better deal or mobile phones being used for banking in the absence of more traditional  financial infrastructure.

  I hope you’ll join us!

  
   
• 

  4Change Chat focused on Competitions for Social Change

  amysampleward 1:44 am on June 26, 2009 | Comments Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Competition (2), Social Change (7), Twitter

  June 11 was the June #4Change chat.  These monthly online discussions take place via Twitter – participants add to the conversation by tweeting messages and using the tag #4change; this lets people follow the conversation, whether they have a Twitter account or not, by following the tag #4change on search.twitter.com. This month’s topic was Challenges and Competitions for Social Innovation.

  You can see the recap of the chat here.

  The main 3 questions for this chat were:

  1. How can challenges/competitions be used to discover, support, and accelerate social change projects and solutions?
  2. What are the different types of competitions and which work best in driving change?
  3. How can challenges support collaboration btw projects?

  We are pulling together some of the key takeaways and would love to hear from you if you watched or participated, or even if you didn’t (you can read the transcript from the chat and add your thoughts, too!).

  Two key takeaways from Morgan and two from me include:

  • the potential for future collaboration with other projects should be put into the judging criteria
  • competitions can surface stories and causes that might not otherwise get any attention
  • when creating a competition or challenge, it is incredibly important to be clear about the context (who is involved, who is targeted, what the ideas will be directed towards, etc.)
  • there is a real interest in creating a compendium of competitions and their characteristics (I’ll be helping us wrangle this one and providing more details and opportunities for the community to start creating the compendium soon!)

  Share your takeaways, read the transcript, and more!

  Read more about #4Change, the Why, How and Who behind the monthly conversation series.