nested strategies

I had no idea that the Red Cross was 97% volunteer-led and was very impressed by the commitment, professionalism, and passion of their volunteers. It was eye-opening and inspiring to learn about how social media as a tool can help accelerate and expand their reach and reduce response time in emergency communications and disaster response situations. American Red Cross Dallas Fort-Worth Digital Communications Manager, Amy Yen said that often they find themselves encouraging people to take immediate shelter due to tornado warning, or just being a supportive voice if they are displaced or missing a loved one.  By monitoring Twitter, they have also been able to identify disaster-struck areas that were not reported and send immediate assistance. Amy is super passionate about the work and her team of digital volunteers and shared, “Sometimes I have to stay up all night watching the weather. But if I can help even one person know what to do in a tornado, it’s all worth it.” 

According to a University of San Francisco survey, more than 70 percent of people in disaster situations use social media to let their families and friends know that they are OK. Social media monitoring and emergency communications are services that are increasingly in demand due to extreme weather patterns, so I am guessing that Twitter will continue to be a very important source of information for humanitarian organizations around the world. FEMA recently developed a smart phone app that maps open shelters, provides emergency meeting location information, and allows people to take and submit GPS photo reports of disasters to be displayed on a public map for others to view.  

Twitter as a platform has the potential to aggregate data and information for social good in many meaningful ways! Join us on our Facebook page to chat about ways Twitter can change the world. And also be sure to check out the Red Cross Dallas Fort-Worth and their DigiDOC resources via @RedCrossDFW #SMEM #digiDFW.

Want to become a Red Cross digital volunteer? Give them a call at 214.678.4800.

Smart, industrious people who want to change the world will now have the power to build a network and make it happen by funding their business or project. That may sound very idealistic, so let me explain it dollars and cents. Due to Title III, those without a ton of capital will be able to own a share of a large commercial building, or a company. It will no longer be a world of public and private companies, but one where start-ups who want access to crowdfunding investors have to be accountable to supporters from the beginning, not just when they go public.

In recent years, technology and social media have allowed nonprofits and companies focused on social good to amplify their message and engage more people.  Millions of individuals have interacted with crowdfunding platforms to either pledge or raise money for innovative products, initiatives, and businesses.  And we have barely scratched the surface of the technology’s potential to tap into innovation and do tons of good in this world.  I can’t wait to see how non-profits and for benefit corporations evolve due to this paradigm shift.

Here are some resources if you want to learn more about crowdfunding and crowdsourcing developments and opportunities:

The Crowd Café; http://www.crowdfunding.biz/

Eight Crowdfunding Sites for Social Entrepreneurs

Crowdfunding for Social Good by Devin Thorpe

Five years later, millenials have a deeper foothold in the digital voice of their organizations, or have started their own businesses, and the silo-free world they expect, one of openness and collaboration, is becoming the rule, not the exception.

As a special treat for those who read til the end, I will leave you with the most interesting top ten list from my Google search today: Top Ten Fascinating Cases of Life Imitating Art

by Amy King, Founder of Nested Strategies

Today they have a network of 58 active chapters in 13 countries, with more than 6,450 volunteer design professionals and 25-30 design fellows. They have launched nine post-disaster programs worldwide, with a focus on long-term sustainable reconstruction. For example, Architecture for Humanity committed to Haiti rebuilding with support from the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund, The Stiller Fund and more, creating the Haiti Rebuilding Center to provide resources and education to local designers and workers, while also engaging in school reconstruction and more.  In 2012, they formed a volunteer team to lead reconstruction post-Hurricane Sandy, with two major projects: ReNew Schools in New York City and Restore the Shore in Seaside, NJ.  They are currently working in the Philippines with the Manila chapter to assess the devastating situation post-Super Taiphoon Haiyan and determine where their efforts will be most needed for the long-term.

Part of what has made the organization work from the beginning is the special sauce of Cameron and Kate’s infectious passion and commitment, combined with intelligence and charisma. Together, they led and inspired fierce commitment from their core staff and volunteers, who continue to make miracles happen with somewhat limited resources. The volunteers from the chapter network will drop everything in their lives to deploy to a foreign city or rural area to lead a community recovery effort hand in hand with local chapter leadership. Cameron’s airline miles have rival those of Richard Branson, as he has trekked the globe to support their projects and enlist high-profile support for the cause.

Truly visionary leaders have a sense for when it’s time to leave their full-grown organization, understanding that it now has legs to stand on its own.  It’s often a very difficult decision, but usually one that leads to continued organizational evolution and sustainability.  And personally, it gives their founders new energy and a fresh perspective to continue to do what they were born to do - innovate and dream up the next big thing to help change the world.

Find out how you can help support Architecture for Humanity’s long-term recovery efforts in the Philippines: click here.

Share Video: About Architecture for Humanity in 90 seconds!

My marketing hero Seth Godin has said that you don’t need to try to appeal to everyone – just be true to your brand. But at what point in your business do you feel pressure to stop being yourself? When do you start trying to please others, or take advice that didn’t really sit right in your gut?

As a small business, you have a competitive advantage to the giants– it’s much easier to be authentic when you aren’t top heavy, don’t have a big communications team or board members to appease. You just need to be you, whoever that is.  Your small business can pave the way for the big guys/gals by staying true to the brand and being honest and transparent with your stakeholders. Having responsible materials sourcing challenges? Share them. Made a mistake in a product launch? Fess up. Feeling inspired or grateful? Share the love.

Another fresh thought from Rachel was that a large part of our identity on social media should be built around RTs and responses to posts. Having conversations with others makes your business look human and builds brand trust. She went so far to say that 75% of your content should be RTs and responses to posts. What a relief to someone who feels the pressure to churn out new ideas daily, knowing that quality can often be sacrificed for the sake of quantity.

Why do many companies not want to know if their employees are happy, or to assess the health of their overall work culture?  As with many things, the attitude comes from the top. Even in a “flat” organization, the CEO sets the tone for the overall culture.  Southwest Airlines Former CEO and Founder made it okay for flight attendants to tell jokes and Zappos.com CEO Tony Hsieh allows customer service reps to use their discretion to go above and beyond to make customers happy. Let the good times roll!  In this type of empowered culture, managers are usually more open with feedback, and accountability will exist at all levels of the organization.

More forward-thinking organizations often secure a top spot in one of the many “Best Places to Work” rankings. I see many of these as well-executed PR jobs, or partial truths.  What is a better solution to get a true sense of the company’s culture?  Perhaps an extension of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) that addresses overall employee happiness and uses metrics that cannot be faked by a skilled PR person. Bhutan created the Gross National Happiness Index (GNH) as a way to gauge what is considered to be the most important measurement of economic health for their country.  With a nod to Bhutan, we could easily create some metrics that indicate a positive or negative corporate culture.

When I found myself moving to Dallas last year, many of my DC friends asked me if all of the stereotypes were true. I gleefully answered "Yes. The stereotypes of big hair, gun-toting religious, conservative zealots are  fairly accurate, but that is just part of the picture. The city is diverse and in many ways progressive. There may be a place for me here."

I recently met with a fellow sustainability leader here in Dallas and she shared with me the origin of "Don't Mess with Texas" was a statewide anti-litter campaign. I was taken aback and more than pleasantly surprised by this tidbit. Not only did they pull of a great pun, but they did a great job targeting those bubbas in pickup trucks who often think it's their god-given right to litter the highway or anywhere for that matter. See everyone? Texas does care about the environment! Or maybe just the appearance of their public highways?

 After spending a year shopping the design around to over 40 product manufacturers and not getting any takers, they started investing their own money into developing a prototype.  It took almost 20k of their own money to get a prototype mold created. The Solecan will be made in the USA of recycled #5 plastic, aka polypropylene. 

 To meet their goal of getting the Solecan into big box stores by early 2014, they decided to turn to Kickstarter, to try out crowd funding and see whether people from around the world would support this lofty goal of changing personal recycling behavior by making recycling unavoidable. They launched an ambitious social media campaign, have attended numerous community events, and have had attention from the media, including Good & Inhabitat, but as of today, they are falling short, having raised $7600 via 246 supporters, which is 10% of their 75k goal. It’s an all or nothing proposition with Kickstarter, so they must reach 75k by Earth Day, April 22. They have a booth at Earth Day Dallas and hope that deadline-oriented do-gooders will flock to their booth to take a chance on the Solecan and get the first Solecan and other cool prizes for their support.  

 As someone who is starting my first small business and working regularly with entrepreneurs, I now truly understand what it feels like to take risks outside of the corporate umbrella. I am working to help create a better support network for entrepreneurs and inventors in Dallas, as these risk takers are the ones who will make the world a better place.  

 For more info on Jeff & Liz and their Solecan project, check out their Kickstarter site: http://kck.st/YUTM0I