Archive for the ‘Zoetica’ Category

Tuesday Tune-Up: Interesting Reads

Posted on: November 30th, 2010 by Geoff Livingston

Rocky Mountain Sunrise

Some interesting reads this morning around the social web, which you may enjoy:

The New America Foundation breaks down three types of collaborative design for community technology, human centered, appropriate and participatory. Designing a product or service for communities requires thought towards outcomes, approach and research, amongst many other things. Creating social technology products for communities and lasting change really falls under the traditional guise of product marketing for those who may have geek nomenclature issues.

When people follow information blindly on the web, they fall down rabbit holes. Valeria Maltoni discusses the need for average citizens to dig deeper online, inspired by this weekend’s stellar New York Times article about DecorMyEyes.com. This article shows digital hucksterism at its best.

Lucy Bernholtz looks at two technologies that may reshape online giving. One is Kickstarter a seed funder that works for both nonprofits and traditional companies. The second is MissionMarkets, which is working towards a regulated exchange for equity investments in social enterprises.

Richard Becker takes Porsche to task for being the latest company to do the numbers race without looking at the quality of its social community. You’d think Porsche would have been faster on the pedal with both the #s and the community. Engineering, right?

There has been a lot of buzz about Jumo in the nonprofit space, a platform created by Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes. Zoetica CEO Beth Kanter takes a look at the new service today on her blog. Steve McLaughlin breaks down the five Ws and tells readers why they should be excited.

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The Red Cross Releases #crisisdata Findings, New Plans

Posted on: October 25th, 2010 by Geoff Livingston

The Path Forward – ARC Crisis Data Summit Wrap-Up

Last August, Zoetica helped the American Red Cross (ARC) host the crisisdata conference here in Washington, DC. The effort sparked hundreds of fantastic conversations on the social web, and many have been waiting for the final white paper findings from their creative input. Today, the American Red Cross published those findings on Scribd.

There are several critical takeaways from the conference. The need to reach out to communities to train, build expectations, identify possible solutions, and find answers in advance of a disaster were the overarching themes from the roundtable discussions at the August 12, 2010, Summit. From my own experiences at the conference, there was a great deal that needed to be worked out with governance, protocol, and setting expectations with the general public.

For next steps and to help foster that process, ARC is setting up five working groups to address them. Those working groups are:

  • Public Awareness and Education
  • Next Generation of Emergency Management Tools
  • Collaboration, Processes and Governance
  • Citizen Helping Citizen
  • Overcoming Barriers to Access

The Red Cross is looking for leaders in each of these areas. Further, it will moderate and host #crisisdata chats on Twitter in the near future. #crisisdata remains a hashtag for general public discussion of this issue as well.

Thanks again for all of those who participated in this critical conference, with its impact on our society as a whole. I hope you will reach out the American Red Cross and continue to support their valiant effort to better understand and support social media generated data in times of crisis.

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Free eGuide on Cause Marketing via Social Media

Posted on: October 5th, 2010 by Geoff Livingston

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Zoetica teamed with Network for Good to co-author Cause Marketing through Social Media, a free eGuide (you can download it here). The twenty page guide covers five basic steps:

  • The Basics
  • Frame the Campaign
  • Get People to Act
  • Build on Momentum
  • CSR In Times of Disaster

There are many types of corporate-sponsored social good campaigns of all types. Companies deploy matching grant contests that ask participants to rally the most donations for their favorite causes. Some prefer crowdsourced voting contests that reward the most popular charities with corporate grants. And others offer campaigns that ask people to pledge volunteer time, acts of kindness or donation dollars to achieve a common goal.

As the CSR movement evolves, companies will continue to leverage cause marketing initiatives to meet new, triple bottom line demands and create a halo effect for brands. The potential for online social good campaigns to achieve real impact – both in terms of return on marketing spend and return on social good – remains high, if companies are thoughtful and strategic in how they structure their cause marketing programs.

Cause Marketing is at its best when all the pieces – relevant cause, strong marketing proposition, and compelling call to action – come together. It’s difficult to do, but really worth it.

We understand the challenges and rewards of online social good campaigns and offer this eGuide to ensure that your company’s foray into online cause marketing thoughtfully achieves both your marketing goals (a positive impact on the bottom line) and your social good goals (real help for the community). If you seek to avoid the controversies that arise from misguided campaign planning and execution that can severely undermine brands in the public eye, keep reading!

P.S. Special thanks to Kate Olsen for spearheading this effort!

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