Photo of myself and Mark Horvath (@hardlynormal) after SOBCon 2010 by @ManaMica
When we started Zoetica, the dream was to affect change by using our communications skills to enable causes and CSR efforts to maximize their efforts. For me, this was a realization that my best skill set was online communications and that digging wells was probably not a good use of my time on earth. To change the world I see myself best serving as a roll player to help those that can deliver real actions for the world.
Managing Nonprofit Day at SOBCon 2010 this past Sunday was an honor, but the experience was invaluable. Watching all of those bloggers come together to crowdsource social media strategy for the four charities — Anixter, Ashoka, InvisiblePeopleTV and Vitamin Angels — was simply incredible.
If you could only see the attendees’ eyes during Nonprofit Day… Many were full of tears. You could see people felt the societal pains the causes were attempting to fix. There was an incredible sense of purpose in the room.
Everyone gave back on Sunday, but you got the feeling that, as Terry Starbucker said, people were transformed. In my mind, it’s likely that a good handful of the bloggers will do more than a day of service, and become change agents in their own right. That is an incredible thing. Whether that’s using companies to give back or on own own personal level, it’s always incredible to touch people so they awaken to their possible impact.
When I made my move and announced that I’d be focusing on change organizations and corporate programs solely, it was somewhat of a departure. In many ways my social networks have shifted to focus solely on the change marketplace. To bring this work back to my peers — the best bloggers in the country — was so special. And to see that impact across an entire room made me realize that the hard work and new focus to impact the world was working. Dreams can be realized.
Thank you to Liz Strauss and Terry for asking me to participate in SOBCon 2010. It was special, and I look forward to next year!