There are a lot of well-intentioned people in the world with groundbreaking ideas to make a real difference.  They'll sit down and strategize how to raise the funds, what they're going to do and where they're going to go.  However, often times a very fundamental piece of the equation is left out: Story-telling.

This is not your 5-year-olds definition of story-telling, this is the concept of effectively spreading the word about your mission in a passionate and compelling way, and at the same time, reaching those people who want and/or need to hear it.

It can not be denied that a relatively ample time is spent on the internet, particularly on social networking sites, keeping one engrossed with virtual passive or active interactions. Who, in this techno-savvy times , has not tried a hand on creating his or her own facebook, twitter, multiply,or friendster account? How many of us felt the urge to uncover the essay writer in us through designing and managing our own online journals through sites like blogspot.com, wordpress.com, or livejournal.com? Who has not been tempted to enrol in online tutorial portals for a more convenient and speedy academic aide?

This Thursday, October 15, is Blog Action Day.  This year's focus is Climate Change.  "Blog Action Day is an annual event that unites the world's bloggers in posting about the same issue on the same day on their own blogs with the aim of sparking discussion around an issue of global importance. Blog Action Day 2009 will be the largest-ever social change event on the web. One day. One issue. Thousands of voices."  

Find out how you can join in!

Hey All,

So I received a few responsest to my post last week about how can N2 engage the community better.  Most came privately to my email address, and it is a theme in those emails that I want to use as this next engagement email.   Here is what one person wrote to me (this is only a portion of a much longer email about a variety of topics):

Oxfam, The Global Call to Action Against Poverty, Comic Relief, Save the Children, and others are teaming up with YouTube and Black Eyed Peas’ frontman, will.i.am to launch a new song and video. The song will inspire individuals to take action and hold their leaders to account for their Millennium Development Goal commitments. The launch coincides with the UN High Level Event on the MDGs being held September 25th, in New York. The inter-agency campaign team is blogging their experience as they build and launch the action.
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Periodically we here at TechSoup like to share what we're reading. The latest blog gem that I've added to my feed reader is Cause Global, a blog which covers social media for social change and the people involved in using technology tools to make the world a better place.

Creating Social Change is a project of Global Partnerships for Activism & cross-cultural Training. The purpose of this blog will be to share our knowledge, encounters and interests about the process of creating social change. Articles should be useful to the end user and assist them in learning more about running their own projects.

What can I do with Creating Social Change?

Lots of do-good bloggy "Days" coming up!

Blog Day
August 31st
A day for bloggers to recommend 5 new blogs to their readers,"preferably Blogs that are different from their own culture, point of view and attitude." For more info. go to www.blogday.org.

About two months ago, a small group of you participated in a short poll about the #1 reason you read the NetSquared Blog. Almost half of you said it was to read about, "Case Studies of Nonprofits Using the Social Web."

I'd love to hear more about the kind of information you are looking for.  Do you want . . .

Stories about how a social web tool was used as part of an organization's campaign?

Stories about how to convince reluctant team members to try social web tools?

Stories about how to use online tools to inspire offline action?

Stories about using the social web to build community?

It's been a little over 2 months since the NetSquared Conference (N2Y3) where the 21 NetSquared Mashup Challenge Featured Projects presented their ideas.  The Conference may have ended, but their work has not. 

I've created a list below of the 21 Projects' web sites, blog feeds, Twitter feeds, news feeds and Facebook groups so that you can follow their work as it progresses. (Note: Many of the proejcts also have e-newletters or mailing lists that you can join through their sites).  If I've missed any feeds or sites, please let me know in the comments and I'll add them to the list.

If you are interested in helping a project out, you can contact them directly, or contact Billy Bicket at bbicket AT compumentor DOT org about joining the NetSquared Innovator Support Network.

A Mashup of 29+ Social Action Platforms -- Social Actions
* Third Place Winner

Project site: http://mashup.socialactions.com/
Supporting org site: http://www.socialactions.com
Blog: http://blog.socialactions.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/socialactions
Social Actions on Facebook