Humanity - Social Media Week New York (SMWNYC) - MAY 4

The Difference Between Facebook and Google for Data Marketers

Posted on June 1, 2016 by SMW Staff

In an attempt to figure out how we can do more to change the world, Social Media Week brought five leading thinkers in the data and analytics field to discuss some of the big questions surrounding data’s impact on social change.

Brian Reich, Director, Hive/USA for UNHCR, led a session on why we aren’t doing more with data analytics and science to discover solutions for social good, and what some of the barriers are to doing this.

Panelists included Christine Campigotto (Social Sector Lead, Civis Analytics), Matthew Daniels (Creator, Polygraph), Ari Wallach (CEO, FastCompany Futures), and Mike Williams (Research engineer, Fast Forward Labs).

“Can we solve the world’s more complex problems with big data?” Ari Wallach sums the answer up saying, “desire is there, but the ability to access it across platforms is not there.” Another valid point was voiced from Mike Williams, adding that part of the problem therein lies in getting the human capital (the data scientists) to the table, since the money is elsewhere.

This poses a strong argument that was echoed by others throughout the talk, this idea of getting the best people, those at the top of their fields, to do the right thing with their skills. While this may be a valid reason as to what’s stoping us from solving the big problems, it illuminates an important idea about the altruistic nature of each of us.

Christine Camigotto spoke to this bigger philosophical component of the question, “The unit of measure is a human, and we know that humans don’t always behave rationally.”

If we all assume that someone else will do it, what happens when no one does? There’s no allusion of the truth here, most of us are out for ourselves, but if none of us are mining the solutions to social issues and creating social good for us collectively, who will? How can we change the world if we don’t help?

Data allows us to capture valuable insights, mine and measure information that can aid in changing the entire landscape of a business or cause. The power of data is not lost on any of us who work with social media or with data science.

Read the full session recap at SMW News

Secure your spot in February of 2017 to join 2,000+ leaders in media, entertainment, and technology for a week of inspiring and educational events learning.

Why Does #DiversityInTech Matter? And Why Should We Care?

Posted on February 12, 2016February 12, 2016 by SMW Staff

Lola Banjo is a corporate strategist, a longtime STEM education advocate, and a Young Executive Board member of Code/Interactive, an organization committed to developing the next generation of diverse technology leaders.

Lola is also one of the organizers behind this year’s inaugural “Diversity in Tech Awards” which will take place in New York during Social Media Week. The #DiversityInTech Awards celebrate individuals and organizations championing the nationwide movement to increase diversity in STEM education, and will bring together leaders from tech, government, non-profit and education for the biggest celebration of its kind.

Diversity in the workplace

Earlier this month, Intel made its annual diversity data public and challenged other tech companies to do the same. The company also made a public commitment to addressing its diversity challenge by sharing its plans, which includes a goal for 40% of new employees to be women or underrepresented minorities (black, Latino, Native American) and to reach full representation by 2020. Other notable tech companies have however disagreed with Intel’s approach of setting and/or publicizing metrics driven diversity goals. Whether we agree or disagree with Intel’s approach, the announcement has added to the ongoing conversation about diversity, or the lack thereof, in technology, and has led some to ask the question: why does #DiversityInTech matter anyway and why should we care?

A recent survey by Fortune of nine of the top tech companies in Silicon Valley found that only about a third of the overall workforce is female, while underrepresented minorities (black, Latino, Native American) make up just 10% combined. These numbers shrink even further at the executive ranks. In simple terms, today’s tech companies are predominantly white, Asian, and male. Considering the fact that women make up half the population and underrepresented minorities make up about a third of it, this is a significant gap.

Several factors have been highlighted as the cause for this disparity. Many believe it is a pipeline problem, i.e. not enough women and minorities are studying STEM fields. Others have blamed it on subconscious prejudices of hiring managers who on average, as most humans do, naturally gravitate towards candidates with whom they share commonalities. Lastly, others have opined that an unwelcoming culture in the tech world is what forces diverse talent to exit before making it to leadership.

All of the above should be recognized in order to pave the pathway for solutions. Therefore, increasing diversity in tech requires a three-pronged approach: addressing the pipeline (STEM education), recruitment (hiring practices, metrics), and retention (support mechanisms, employee benefits, company culture).

Why it matters

With rapid advances in technology, the proliferation of social media and an increasingly demanding consumer base, the paradigm of global enterprise has shifted. Change is the norm, and it behooves companies to embrace it. From a business standpoint, diversity is no longer just a social responsibility, it has been shown to lead to tangible benefits such as increased innovation, better employee engagement and an ability to reach a wider array of customers, hereby leading to increased sales. In addition, in today’s information age with consumers making more conscious choices when it comes to companies to patronize, the possible risk of being known as a company that does not embrace diversity carries a heavy cost that most companies are not willing to bear.

Today, companies are embracing diversity in more strategic ways that reach beyond increasing the number of diverse new recruits. For example, Mattel’s recent rebranding of the iconic Barbie doll introduced 33 new dolls that more accurately reflect what women all over the world actually look like. The reaction was swift and positive — Barbie was a trending topic all week with a majority of commenters praising the move. Suffice it to say, a well-received product launch will inevitably generate more sales: a win-win for Mattel.

But beyond the business and the numbers, there is a less directly measurable but all the more impactful reason why #DiversityInTech and #STEM education matters. Representation. From a social cognitive perspective, representation matters because it ignites motivation, it sparks creativity and it inspires actualization.

Without a doubt, there is an amazing amount of power that lies in seeing someone in the same social group you belong to achieve success. I, for example, along with plenty of black girls, grew up feeling like becoming a billionaire is within reach because Oprah is a self-made one. Humans are social beings who form connections based on the ability to relate. To relate is to feel that you belong and the late great psychologist Abraham Maslow said it best: “the need to belong is a major source of human motivation”. After-all, why would anyone aspire to be anywhere where they do not feel they belong?

This feeling of belonging, or lack of, has been cited as one of the root causes for the diversity challenge. It is pervasive from the pipeline all the way to the executive ranks. Even when diverse talent are successfully recruited into tech companies, many have cited not feeling like they belong (which comes out in exit interviews often as lack of support, appreciation, etc.) as reasons why they exit. Some have said the culture of some tech companies is not welcoming for anyone who isn’t white, Asian and male, typically due to subconscious bias. Therefore, while companies are taking steps to increase the number of diverse recruits, they must also work to ensure that the work environments are conducive for all talent to thrive. To retain diverse talent, proper mechanisms to train, nurture and support recruits throughout their careers must be put in place.

My personal journey

STEM has always been a part of my life thanks to my father who started teaching me calculus, astronomy and programming when I was only 6 years old. By the time I was 10, I could solve complex partial differential equations and perform numerical analysis with ease. My Dad, an engineer himself, greatly believed that scientists, mathematicians and engineers made the world go and that the pursuit of STEM education is an indisputable avenue for achieving economic prosperity. Learning about science was a norm in our household. I spoke Newton before I could barely speak English. My Dad would make my brother and I read physics textbooks from cover to cover in a day then quiz us on topics when he got back from work. At first it felt like punishment, but by the time I was in my mid-teens, I was so fascinated by math, science and engineering that I wanted nothing more than to pursue it academically and eventually professionally.

My love for STEM did not always earn me praises, however. As a young girl, I was “different” from most of the other girls my age. I was constantly teased and called a nerd that at many points, I considered abandoning STEM for other fields I was being told both overtly and subtly were more acceptable for a woman to pursue.

Despite the social pressures, I went on to study Engineering in university. I was one of the only ethnic minorities in my classes, and also one of the few women — a double minority. By early in my professional career, I had become so accustomed to this imbalance that it became business as usual. But deep down, it felt lonely. So I started exploring ways I could help with changing the landscape. In addition, once I became familiar with the economic benefits a STEM education could provide, I started to see it as a possible pathway to addressing some of the socioeconomic challenges in our communities. I’d talk to anyone I could within my social networks about engaging more girls and minorities in STEM. I also began volunteering to mentor high schoolers in underserved communities so I could lend some personal anecdotes and get them more excited about STEM as an academic and career option, as well as represent someone who they can relate to.

I am aware of how fortunate I am to have had a strong foundation that encouraged my love for STEM. It is not lost on me that without my father’s not so gentle push (I mean really, how many kids get calculus textbooks for their birthday?), I would likely never have known how much I loved STEM and my life today might have never been exposed to the myriad of opportunities that being a STEM graduate has afforded me.

This is not the norm for many of the youth in our communities. Yet, I am encouraged knowing that support can come in various forms. As the saying goes, “it takes a village to raise a child”. Non-family members can play just as large a part in providing a support system for our youth. This was the case for me during my university education, a time when a number of personal challenges almost derailed my academic pursuit. During this challenging time in my life, it was the support of my school’s Associate Dean of Student Development, a strong advocate of minority engineers, which kept me going. His genuine and personalized approach to taking an interest in his students’ success was a breath of fresh air. He was aware of the personal challenges I was facing, which were making an already tough Engineering curriculum seem impossible to complete, and he took a role as a key member of my support system. He was a sounding board every time I pondered abandoning ship and switching to an “easier” area of study. He would help re-center me with words of encouragement and reminders of how far I had come. Thanks to his support, I completed my Engineering education (with minors in Mathematics, Economics and Computer Science) and went on to graduate study.

A call to action

The foundational analytical skills my STEM education provided me have expanded my career options beyond what I once thought was possible. I wish for all youth in our communities to have this kind of opportunity. Yet, many of those in underserved demographics aren’t exposed to STEM. Today, when I find myself as the only woman or underrepresented minority in the room, I can’t help but think of how many others have missed or are missing out on the opportunity because of a lack of awareness of their ability to explore it. This lack of awareness, in addition to the absence of an ongoing support system that encourages the pursuit of STEM, may have led many to exclude themselves from the playing field. Statements like “I am just not good with numbers” become a self-fulfilling prophecy. In addition, societal pressures to be “cool” may be causing many of our youth to shy away from the stigma that being a “nerd” carries.

When actress Viola Davis won her Emmy for best actress in a drama series, she stated that the only thing that separates women of color from anyone else is opportunity. This can be applicable to almost every professional environment. In order to compete, you have to first know there is a game going on. This is why I believe the most pivotal step in addressing the pipeline challenge is creating awareness of STEM in constructive and efficient ways. It is important to fund programs that encourage STEM education for the youth already interested in it, but we must not forget about exposing that opportunity to those who aren’t currently considering it. Organizations like Code/Interactive (C/I) have achieved success with doing just that. By working with high schoolers in their natural environments, C/I is introducing tech to our youth in fun, engaging and constructive ways and completely changing their purview of what their career options are.

According to the 2014 New York State’s comptroller report, the booming city tech sector is adding jobs three times faster than the city overall and pumping billions into the economy. The average tech salary in the city was $118,600 in 2012, almost 50% higher than the $79,500 average salary citywide. The nationwide increase in demand for tech-skilled professionals represents a $500B opportunity in the next 10 years, yet students of underserved backgrounds are largely left out of the conversation. Currently, access to Tech-Ed is virtually non-existent for students from low income households.

C/I’s programming includes 3 programs aimed at helping underserved students overcome the opportunity gap by equipping them with the skills needed to succeed. By providing hands-on training in today’s most relevant technology subject areas, the program serves as a building block for long-term career paths in tech. Graduates of the program are able to attain tangible skills (coding), sharpen their career acumen, develop lifelong connections and friendships and are sometimes placed in internships with leading tech companies in the city. They are five times as likely as their peers to go to college and are able to earn wages that can double their household income. To date, 600+ students have successfully completed the program.

While there is still a lot of work to do to close the gap, there has been some progress. C/I’s inaugural #DiversityInTech < DIV > awards ceremony will recognize the individuals and organizations championing this movement. The awards aims to raise $45,000 which will make providing computer science scholarships to 100 additional NYC students a possibility. If in the NYC area, please consider attending the event on Thursday, February 25th, or donating if you are unable to. Volunteer opportunities are also available throughout the year.

In conclusion, improving diversity in tech and STEM education is not an easy challenge, but it is one that can be overcome. We can all play a part. Whether it is through mentoring, volunteering, financial support or just taking an interest in the conversation, we can help promote and effect the change we’d like to see and help create a world where every child, regardless of race or economic background, is able to explore the opportunities available to him or her, whether in STEM or otherwise, and unlocks the ability to reach his or her full potential in life.

Lola Banjo is a corporate strategist and longtime STEM education advocate. She serves as a Young Executive Board member of Code/Interactive, an organization committed to developing the next generation of diverse technology leaders. A product of a STEM education herself, Lola believes in the importance of technology and the role it can play in the socioeconomic enhancement of lives. She holds a B.S. in Engineering from Rutgers University — School of Engineering, a M.S. in Financial Engineering from NYU — School of Engineering, and a MBA in Strategy, Finance and Decision Sciences from Emory University — Goizueta Business School.

EVENT SPOTLIGHT: Don’t Call Them Gen-Z, They Call Themselves “The Founders”

Posted on January 27, 2016 by Tyler Becker

When MTV first began researching post-Millennials, none of the generational names currently in play seemed to sum up the essence of the kids themselves. So MTV asked, why not go straight to the source?

The MTV Insights team went to work with a group of 13-14-year-olds in-person and via virtual focus groups who identified more than 500 potential generation names that were ultimately tested in a nationwide, quantitative survey. The top choice? “The Founders”. Yes, seriously… The Founders.

If you’re eager to hear more about what MTV learned and discovered after their conversations with these 13 and 14-year-olds, register for SMW New York, and attend their session on Friday, February 26 at 2:30PM at The TimesCenter (FWD Stage).

Along with this new name comes instructive insights into what drives this generation on-the-horizon, and the responsibility they feel is required to build upon the societal blocks that Millennials are famous for disrupting.

Durex at Social Media Week: Connecting Couples With ‘Real Sex’ Conversations

Posted on February 19, 2014July 11, 2014 by Nicky Yates

Does your partner really know you? Do you tell each other what really turns you on, or what bedroom maneuvers you’ve always wanted to try? Chances are, you haven’t, and you’re not alone. As a nation, we shy away from real pillow-talk with our closest companion, preventing us from going further in the bedroom. Even with constant exposure to sexual content in pop culture and 24/7 access to porn, sex remains one of the most taboo topics of conversation amongst couples. Durex®, a global sexual wellbeing brand, believes everyone should have a healthy and emotionally fulfilling sex life and knows regular communication is key to having great sex. This year, the brand wants to rid the taboos around ‘sex talk’ by encouraging couples to initiate the conversation in the bedroom.

In line with this mission, Durex has created a hub of online tips and videos to help couples talk about sex and their relationships in a healthy way; from sharing what you want in bed to an online fantasy finder for couples to ‘sexplore’ with one another. Durex has also explored the role technology plays in communicating with our loved ones. Given social media has revolutionized how we access everything in our lives, it comes as no surprise that it has impacted and intruded upon our relationships. A recent survey by Durex found that while technology has us using our hands more than ever, all that smartphone tapping has overtaken real touch between couples . When asked what methods they most frequently use to talk to their partner, 77 percent answered using their smartphone, with only 19 percent regularly communicating through touch. Based on these findings, Durex challenged couples to turn off their phones and focus on turning on their partner over the Valentine’s Day Weekend by discovering the Language of Touch.

Building on this, Durex is partnering with Cindy Gallop, founder and CEO of MakeLoveNotPorn.com, to trigger this much-needed conversation at New York Social Media Week, on February 20, 2014. The afternoon session will explore topics including the future of the sex world and what it means for innovators and marketers. The session will also look at the ways that media and entertainment are propagating unrealistic portrayals of sex and how this negatively impacts society, and could be a barrier to real-sex conversations between couples. Representatives from these industries, including Aurore Trepo, Marketing Director for Durex, will discuss how everyone has a part to play in inspiring healthier representation of real sex in the media.

There is a lot to learn from the event itself, but also from our sponsor. Durex has repeatedly created sharable content with viral tendencies to trigger and inspire that all important conversation. To be part of the conversation with Durex and Cindy Gallop at SMW, register here and follow us @Durex_USA and www.facebook.com/durexUSA.

MLK Day of Service: Finding Volunteer Opportunities Via Social Media

Posted on January 20, 2014July 11, 2014 by Lane Blackmer

The third Monday of every January marks the federal holiday to celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday.

But it wasn’t until 1994 — due to former Pennsylvania Senator Harris Wofford and Georgia Congressman John Lewis’s King Holiday and Service Act — that the day was dubbed “Day of Service.”

Suddenly, MLK Day was no longer just time off from work and school, it actually lived up to Dr. King’s legacy by encouraging volunteerism. It was he, after all, who once said “life’s most persistent and urgent question is: ‘what are we doing for others?’”

(As a side note and fun fact: Philadelphia, where I reside, has the largest MLK Day of Service in the nation. See? We’re not just a city of angry sports fans.)

Luckily, LinkedIn has a new function to help you with volunteering — both on MLK Day of Service and on the daily. But there’s also a couple of other ways you can find volunteer opportunities via the interwebs.

*Volunteers in Philadelphia spread mulch on a playground on Martin Luther King Day of Service.*

LinkedIn’s Volunteer Marketplace

The professional networking site launched its much-demanded Volunteer Marketplace last Wednesday. So rather than picking up trash in a park, you can use your professional skill set to volunteer and perhaps have resume material! Two birds, one stone.

More than 600,000 people have voiced interest in volunteer opportunities since August alone, a LinkedIn spokesperson told Mashable. Furthermore, over 3 million users added volunteer experiences to their profiles since 2011.

Volunteer positions or board seats can be posted to the search option — for a fee. But the good news is that these job postings only cost 10% of normal LinkedIn job postings. Those tend to run between $20-40.

What’s better yet is that the company will reinvest revenues back into the program, head of LinkedIn for Good Meg Garlinghouse said. If you haven’t heard of LinkedIn for Good, it’s a part of LinkedIn that connects professionals with “opportunities for social impact.”

I realize that the volunteer opportunities on LinkedIn have a little bit more permanency than desired for participating in MLK Day of Service. However, if you’re planning on living up to what Dr. King said about enhancing others’ lives — you know, every day — then this is a good option for you.

Another benefit to this new search option? I think long-term, it’ll help eliminate those from the full-time job pool. Let’s face it. It’s kind of disappointing to be looking for a job, come across a really cool non-profit one, and then realize it’s an unpaid volunteer gig.

#MLKDay

This is the magic hashtag for MLK Day of Service opportunities. Although, you can probably bet people who are not volunteering will use this tag on Monday. For now, though, most tweets using this hashtag are from non-profits and workday opportunities.

I tried to see if there was a more general volunteer hashtag like “VolunteerPhilly” or “VolunteerNYC,” but those aren’t used very often. (Can we get some influential non-profits to popularize these? It seems like it would be handy!)

If you’re an organization, I also suggest using this hashtag while tweeting photos of volunteers throughout the day on Monday (both live tweet and save some to put on Hootsuite later). Because #MLKDay is being used pretty often, it would be a great way to get your organization’s name out there. Be sure to have a link to your organization in your bio and occasionally tweet a message about what others who couldn’t volunteer on Monday can do to contribute.

Another quick tip for organizations when tweeting on Monday: get and use the volunteers’ Twitter handles. Most people love pictures of themselves. This means a retweet and increased exposure for your organization.

The .gov site

While social media certainly is handy, you can check out the official government website for MLK Day volunteer opportunities.

There’s a handy search option where you can put in your area code and find volunteer opportunities near you. You can also register your organization on the site to ensure volunteerism-seekers will be able to find you.

But I cannot emphasize this enough, whether you’re a volunteer or an organization seeking volunteers: use the #MLKDay hashtag!

Lane Blackmer is a self-employed former journalist. Although she’s no longer a newsie, Lane since discovered other uses for social media such as public relations, marketing, job searching, and trying to win gift cards from her favorite local businesses through contests. Lane inhabits Philadelphia, where’s it’s not always sunny…but at least there’s cheese steaks. You can follow her on Twitter at @LaneBlackmer.

Is the Ability to Use Our Phones “Gate to Gate” a Good Thing?

Posted on January 14, 2014October 16, 2014 by Stephanie Carino

If you took a plane at some point during the recent holiday season, chances are you noticed the flight attendant’s intercom announcement included the allowance of continued Portable Electronic Device (PED) usage, as long as it remained in airplane mode. So what does that change entail?

Back in the day, The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federation Aviation Administration (FAA) claimed that phones needed to be turned off during takeoff and landing because radio signals from the devices could interfere with an aircraft’s communications, navigation, and other systems and therefore cause a safety issue. After an aviation expert study late last year, they discovered that airplanes could in fact handle the radio frequencies from PED’s without interruption. FAA deemed electronic devices such as cell phones, tablets, laptop computers, and e-readers allowed for use from “gate to gate,” with the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) following suite a month later.

Phone calls are still prohibited by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), but they also have a proposal to allow that going forward. Once an airline carrier proves their compliance to the FAA, they can begin participating.

Delta Airlines and JetBlue were the first two airlines to file after the ruling was approved, but a list of additional domestic airlines that are participating can be found here.

Is this new change a good thing? The most noticeable change is that the FAA and airlines are partnering to try to create less of a life disruption when traveling via plane. It does make a difference, especially with the notoriety of trying to get through airport security without a hiccup. Those that need to stay connected for work can now do so with ease, and airline attendants no longer need to police passengers about powering down their phones. It could be argued that another positive aspect of the change is the ability to be reached in case of emergency, but unless action can be taken remotely, nothing can really be done until landing. In the case of Justine Sacco, you could potentially eliminate eleven hours of unknown social media backlash. Of course, that’s assuming the flight provides WiFi, and even then, it needs to be purchased.

What could be seen as a negative side effect, though, is that planes were known as one of few places where someone could not be reached, like underground subways. But that’s changing for both modes of transportation, now. This is a loss of one of the few times when people could get offline; and this fuels the tech addiction that we face daily of needing to be reachable at all times. It adds one more dimension of a phone being almost attached to our fingertips.

Do you think the new policy is a positive change? Share your opinions in the comments below:

Regardless of whether or not this new change of policy is ultimately for the better overall, it is clear that the FAA’s main concern is safety and not making our lives harder, which is comforting news. As technology advances and becomes a more constant of our daily lives, the world around us will continue to mold to fit those needs. And that’s something you can learn more about during SMW NYC, with events like 2020 Vision: Your Life 20 Years From Now and The Third Metric: Redefining Success Beyond Money and Power.

Stephanie Carino has spent over the past 10 years working in the city in the Fashion, Food and Event industries. She currently works in the PR Department at leading Technology and Business Book Publisher, Apress. On the side, she also writes event coverage and reviews for, Socially Superlative, a NYC-based event website, covering predominantly food, travel and entertainment stories. Connect with Stephanie on Twitter.

Photo courtesy of Diana Walker/TIME

A Partnership To Build Community: charity: water on GivingTuesday

Posted on December 16, 2013July 11, 2014 by Nicky Yates

Last week, we announced our weekly Giving Tuesday. We’re committed throughout the rest of December to help support non-profits doing incredible work. We’ll be giving 20% of our pass sales each Tuesday in December will support an incredible non-profit we love.

This week, we’re partnering up with charity: water to support their efforts in Cambodia. 4.6 million people in Cambodia don’t have access to safe drinking water – that’s 33% of their population. That’s where charity: water comes in. Partnering with two local organizations, charity: water helps supply BioSand Filters to families.

A BioSand Filter is a cement box with chambers for filtering dirty water, containing gravel, two layers of sand and a film of microorganisms that eat up to 99% of harmful bacteria in the water poured into them. charity: water covers the material costs of each BSF; the families who receive them contribute $5.

With these filters, families will have access to clean, safe water for years to come.

Join us in supporting this program. Grab your pass today.

Our Weekly GivingTuesday: The Adventure Project, BOND, & SMW NYC

Posted on December 10, 2013July 11, 2014 by Nicky Yates

We’re rapidly approaching February and what promises to be our best SMW NYC ever. Our initial speaker lineup is taking shape and looking awesome and tomorrow we publish the initial schedule of events to give you a taste of what February will have to offer.

Speakers include:
+ Buzzcar & Zipcar’s Robin Chase
+ Cindy Gallop of Make Love Not Porn
+ Steve Case of AOL, Revolution, & The Case Foundation
+ BuzzFeed’s CEO and founder Jonah Peretti
+ Smirnoff’s, Global VP, Michelle Klein

We want to make sure you get in on the action early. Register for an Insider Pass today, and we’ll give you a $50 gift card to mobile gifting startup, BOND.

And in the spirit of giving, every Tuesday for the rest of December, we’re building on #GivingTuesday. We’ll be giving 20% of our pass sales to support an incredible non-profit.

Today, we’re supporting The Adventure Project. The Adventure Project helps empower female entrepreneurs in Haiti. Each year four million people die from chronic exposure to cooking smoke, from cooking over open fires. In addition, cooking over open fires uses a lot of energy from charcoal and firewood. In Haiti, where 90% of the country is deforested, charcoal is mainly imported from the Dominican Republic, at a high price. Families spend 40% of their daily expenses on buying charcoal to cook with.

The Adventure Project works with female vendors in Port au Prince on a solution. They distribute $20 charcoal-efficient stoves, creating jobs, stimulating the local economy, and helping create change. When families in Haiti move from using an open fire to a charcoal-efficient stove, they save $220 in fuel costs each year. The median per capita income is $665. So this impact is incredible for families in Haiti.

Check out the gift options here, grab your Insider Pass here now, and help us support sustainable development.

Eli Pariser: Building the Fastest Growing Media Site Of All Time

Posted on November 22, 2013July 11, 2014 by Nicky Yates

For those who crave a way to share their passion for social change, Eli Pariser and Upworthy are common names. Eli established Upworthy with Chris Hughes of Facebook and Peter Koechly of The Onion with the goal to make important content as viral as Charlie biting your finger.

And it’s worked. Upworthy is the fastest growing media site of all time, bringing the “awesome”, the “meaningful” and the “visual” all together.

Upworthy isn’t Eli’s first venture though. Eli is a true veteran of the Web. He formerly directed the liberal grassroots organization, MoveOn, working as a catalyst for citizen-driven change. Under his stewardship, MoveOn grew 10 times larger and collected more then $120 million in small donations. Eli realized the power of organizing individuals to take small actions for change, tripling the organization’s member base and creating a political shift in the 2006 elections.

“We really need the Internet to be that thing that we all dreamed of it being. We need it to connect us all together. We need it to introduce us to new ideas and new people and different perspectives. And it’s not going to do that if it leaves us all isolated in a Web of one.”

In 2011, after noticing that social media and search engines were eliminating some friends’ posts from his feed and only showing him search results tailored to his tastes, he sounded the alarm on the increasingly narrow lens that social media algorithms and search networks are creating in the name of ‘personalization’ in The Filter Bubble: What the Internet is Hiding From You. His TED talk on the topic has been seen more than 2.5 million times.

Shortly thereafter, he co-founded the company that encompasses both – using his community–organizing expertise to help combat the narrow lens of social media and search algorithms. Upworthy curates meaningful content on social, economic and societal issues that is then massively shared by the site’s community. Upworthy.com routinely breaks its own traffic records, seeing more than 46 million page views in October 2013, and garnering more views than the New York Times, FOX News or BleacherReport.

Join us to hear what he has to say grassroots organization, his experience growing organizations, and the future of Upworthy. Grab your pass now here.

Takeaways From #GivingTuesday

Posted on February 25, 2013February 25, 2013 by Amanda Lehner

Fundraisers have a lot to learn from the success of #GivingTuesday — make it simple, make it social. At the SMWNYC event — Giving Gangham Style: An Ideathon with the #GivingTuesday Team — a social gooderati crowd gathered eager to learn more about the simple-social potion and commune around this holy day.

The #GivingTuesday team panelist, Henry Timms (92Y) Sharon Feder (Mashable) and Aaron Sherinian (UN Foundation) said it all started with a good hook that latched on to the start of the giving season and the Black Friday, Cyber Monday consumer exhaustion. With a good idea in hand, the next step was to go social. Yet this wasn’t to tell everyone what to do, but to invite everyone to the party. The first gift made was this idea to anyone who wanted to get involved.

When 2,600 partners and nonprofits jumped on the platform, the #GivingTuesday team were gracious hosts. They facilitated the event, listened to their guests and then made changes based on their suggestions. Then when someone gave, they felt good about it, felt apart of something and felt ok to brag tweet about their philanthropic ways.

The panel facilitator Susan McPherson (Fenton) outlined three big takeaways:

+ Listen more than you speak.
+ When you have a great idea, collaborate.
+ Use every tool at your disposable.

In other words, anti-nothing and pro-everything is the giving mantra. But how did this diner-menu strategy not become overwhelming? Again, it was that simple hook and hashtag that acted as a north star guiding everyone to one call to action on one day — give on Tuesday. All everyone else had to do is point to that same star and say yes.

@AmandaLehner is a digital strategist based in New York City.

NonProfit Guide to SMW NYC

Posted on February 9, 2013February 9, 2013 by Amanda Lehner

At a Social Media Week party last year, I asked a very accomplished entrepreneur, “so, will I see you at SXSW?” He looked at me and smirked, “I don’t go there anymore because everybody is there.” I see what he means. It’s important for a conference to maintain the right balance of top people in the field, great programming and accessibility — that is Social Media Week.

As a nonprofit professional at SMW, I always feel catered to as there are plenty events on using the powers of social media for social good. I also tend to veer from my track to learn from other industries and network with the speakers post event to pitch a corporate partnership (as any self-respecting nonprofit hustler would do).

Here are my top picks for SMW NYC. Also for networking, looks like the Society & Social Impact Hub at 92Y Tribeca is the place for us. See you there!

Tuesday, February 19
Using Film to Galvanize Lasting Social Change
GIVING GANGNAM STYLE: An Ideathon with the #GivingTuesday Team #SMWGT
Rewiring Government for Openness, Connection, and Choice, Featuring Susan Crawford and Beth Noveck
Open and Unfiltered: Defending the Internet, Featuring Alexis Ohanian and Eli Pariser
Keeping Up with the Agile Consumer
Authors Roundtable: Social at the Intersection of Paid, Owned and Earned Media

Wednesday, February 20
A Conversation with Neil Blumenthal, Co-Founder and CEO, Warby Parker
Content Marketing: How to be Memorable and Measurable in 2013
Lean Startup for Social Good: Create a Compelling Website User Experience Using Lean UX

Thursday, February 21
How Social Is Your Foundation?
Societal Brands In a Social World
Social Media Analytics Helps UNICEF Save Lives

Friday, February 22
Keynote: danah boyd on the Ethics and Challenges of Dealing With “Big Data”

Hub Spotlight: 5 Minutes With 92Y’s Asha Curran

Posted on February 9, 2013February 10, 2013 by Nicky Yates

Each year, we partner with iconic institutions to bring you dedicated content for SMW NYC. 92Y is the city’s premiere nonprofit cultural and community center, and they’ve been all about social good since 1874! 92Y will be serving as our Society & Social Impact Hub, and we couldn’t think of a better home for those conversations. Now, we want you to meet Asha Curran, Director for Center for Innovation & Social Impact at 92Y. As director of the Center for Innovation & Social Impact, Asha Curran works to expand the depth and reach of 92Y’s programming through social media, partnerships and collaboration within 92Y’s diverse programming centers. She’s also been working with our team to help pull together the programming for the week and make sure you have a great experience there, while learning how we can all make the world a little better.

Asha, how did 92Y get involved with SMW NYC?
92Y has become more and more active in programming in the social media space, from hosting the last AllThingsD event with Walt Mossberg, Kara Swisher and Eric Schmidt, to our multi-platform partnerships with places like Mashable, Politico, Buzzfeed, Comedy Central Indecision and others. We’re thrilled to be the Society & Social Impact hub for this year’s SMW, since it’s so aligned with what we do—with social media specifically but with our mission in general. As a Jewish institution, we’ve been serving the community since 1874 have always strived to meet emerging social needs. A commitment to service, as well as a passion for ideas, is core to our mission.

This year, our global theme is “Open & Connected: Principles for a Collaborative World.” How does 92Y embody or support this idea?
92Y is a community center that has been encouraging open dialogue, engagement and enrichment for 139 years, but evolving technology and new media offer us the chance to radically expand our definition of community and engagement. We’re strong advocates of the use of social media to catalyze social change, and of encouraging the connected generation to tackle the world’s biggest challenges by using the technological and new media tools at their disposal. The idea of collaboration is becoming more and more central to what we do—collaborating to draw together all the genius of our various programming departments, to start with, but also reaching outside our organization to partner with NGOs, media companies, other NFPs and big businesses to create amazing collaborative programs, and to leverage those networks to share the content more widely.

The Social Good Summit that we present every fall in partnership with the UNFoundation, Mashable, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and the UN Development Programme is centered entirely on the theme of using social media for social good, and focused on the principles of openness and accessibility, crowd-sourced solutions, grassroots thinking, and empowerment of local communities.

92Y is well known for your incredible programs- from comedy to arts to film. Can you tell us more about how 92Y has evolved and why providing those programs is so crucial to the community?
Intellectual exploration (in whatever form—classes, lectures, art, music, dance) has a more important place than ever in such a frenetic, multi-tasking world. We’re becoming a society which digests a neverending firehose of content in short-form servings, often in solitude, and in which people often gravitate to that content which reinforces what they already think. But vigorous debate is so crucial; the hardest conversations are often the most important ones to have, and real growth and progress can’t happen without being open to new ideas, new positions. It’s the engagement itself which is valuable. Our mission is to provide education and entertainment at with depth and thoughtfulness, with many points of entry and many voices. Most experiences are richer when they’re had with a community.

If you walk through either 92Y location, you might hear the strains of a string quartet rehearsing from the concert hall, or a jazz band in the Tribeca mainstage, the voices of children and their parents, the instructions of an art or jewelry teacher, or a group of strangers getting to know each other over a glass of wine before the start of a lecture. And with our digital work as well, our goal is to get people together, learning, talking, engaging, taking action.

The nonprofit and social impact space is deeply impacted by social and emerging media. What trends do you see taking shape in this area?
Technology now allows us as a not-for-profit (or, as we call ourselves, a for-purpose) to scale our core values of community, connection, conversation, and philanthropy, and reach a much wider audience. That’s an amazing opportunity and we’re taking full advantage of it. We’re big believers in the potential of what we call the “connected generation”—not just young people, but all people who are technologically savvy, engaged, lateral thinkers, and hungry for social change and willing to work to make it happen. The ability of communities—of anyone—to curate powerful, influential conversations via social media, to rally people around an idea, is having a profound impact even on the national agenda. The old power model is changing.

What are some of the success stories from 92Y in social & emerging media?
92Y founded and led #GivingTuesday, a national day of giving to follow on the heels of Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Our original goal was to gather 100 partners in support of the idea. Instead, we had 2,500 by the time the day itself came around. The White House endorsed the idea, as did the Mayors of New York, Philly and Chicago; it received nationwide press and Blackbaud, a not-for-profit software company who gathered analytics for us, estimated that online giving went up over 50% year over year for that date. It was a phenomenal success that spoke to the philanthropic nature of Americans, the sheer power of social media, and the eagerness of communities to rally together in support of a cause.

Our annual Social Good Summit, now in its fourth year, reached a record number of people last year due to the combined social media reach of our partners Mashable, UNFoundation, the Gates Foundation, the UN Development Programme and Ericsson. We held the flagship event here in NYC, livestreamed simultaneously in seven languages, with hub events in Beijing, Nairobi and Mogadishu, as well as over 300 local community meetups around the world in over 150 countries. Each meetup was held around one question: “what can technology and new media do to improve conditions in your community?” We received incredible feedback from localities from Austin to Syria to Bhutan to Bangalore.

92Y also began 92Y American Conversation this past year, which is a multi-platform initiative to share the best in 92Y political content as widely as possible. We partnered with Harvard Kennedy School, Comedy Central Indecision, Politico, the Aspen Institute and many more to create new, original content as well as share the best moments from our stage. We’ve seen hundreds of thousands of views and media pickups from HuffPo to the NY Times.

What should SMW NYC attendees expect to see from 92Y Tribeca and at the Society & Social Impact Hub?
We’ll host a range of great programs on topics from urban development to visual social media to the ethical challenges of “big data.” I’m particularly excited for “Giving Gangnam Style: An Ideathon with the #GivingTuesday Team” (Tuesday, Feb 19th at 12pm) and for “Grassroots + Social=Change” (Wednesday, Feb 20th at 2:30pm), which we’ve programmed in partnership with our good friends at Mashable and which will speak on the theme of social media as a catalyst for societal change, which is at the heart of so much of our work.

Share Your Sandy Experience: Transmedia Project

Posted on January 29, 2013January 29, 2013 by Nicky Yates

By now every New Yorker has a story about Sandy. Some of us faired well but were astonished to see the waters covering the beloved East Village. Some of us were devastated by the destruction. In the end, we all stood together — as New Yorkers. And we continue to stand together.

During Social Media Week New York, our friends at Red on Black Productions will be showcasing the stories of our experiences during Hurricane Sandy through the mobile storytelling platform, Moveable Feast.

They want your stories.

They are looking for the stories of those who experienced the storm firsthand, as well as the hundreds of volunteers who came to help from all over the country. They will be capturing stories through video and audio to share with the others throughout the city and the world, making what we heard and saw through the news come to life.

At SMW NYC select locations, we’ll have touch points where you will be prompted to hear an immersive experience. While free, donations to Sandy Relief and the Red Cross will be accepted.

If you are interested in sharing your story, send an email to contact@redonblackproductions.com. You can record yourself or they can assist with the production. In addition, please feel free to share your personal images and video from Hurricane Sandy and the aftermath to accompany the stories. The deadline is February 1.

Image by David Shankbone via Flickr

Give a Damn: Alexis Ohanian & Eli Pariser

Posted on January 29, 2013January 29, 2013 by Nicky Yates

Last January, the digital world rallied together. Wikipedia, Reddit, and 7,000 other websites joined together for a national awareness service blackout. More than 7 million signatures in opposition of SOPA/PIPA. While the legislation died last year, the battle for an open Internet is far from over.

Few have been more active in defending the Internet than Alexis Ohanian. He’s best known for co-founding the social news website Reddit and now the social enterprise Breadpig, described as a “Newman’s Own For Nerds.” That and telling us to “Give a Damn.”

Joining Alexis will be Eli Pariser, former Executive Director of MoveOn.org and now at Upworthy. If you’re not familiar with Upworthy, the Upworthy community is centered around creating viral meaningful content, spurring people to action.

Having these two going on stage together will provide the perfect opportunity for attendees to go deeper into Open Internet & Civic Engagement. Something that is very important. Thanks to the open internet and sites like Kickstarter, we have the opportunity to create change. With artists, entrepreneurs and social change, an open Internet offers solutions and support. But we can never forget there does exist an online filter, with large implications for who controls that and the possibility of monetizing this filter.

If you want to see where the Internet is going, the Global HQ on Tuesday is where you’ll want to be. Alexis and Eli will address the eye-opening issues that are at the top of their minds, and consider open solutions to information sharing. Make sure you get your Global HQ pass today and join us for this dialogue.

My Top SMW NYC Events

Posted on January 24, 2013January 24, 2013 by Nicky Yates

When I was asked to share my top SMW NYC events, I must admit I got a bit excited. Coming from the non-profit background, I love the tools that SMW NYC provides to organizations seeking to create change and the discussions that evolve around making a positive impact. It’s interlaced in so much that we offer- and that excites me. But the best part is — that’s not all SMW NYC offers. There’s a bit of everything for everyone.

So, when I’m not exploring our new Global HQ (and seriously, why wouldn’t I be with our hands-on classes, disruptive speakers and interactive exhibits), I’ll have my eye on these events for the big week. If you’re there, make sure you swing by and say hey!

1197 Monday Event: Opening Reception 1197Juried Exhibit & SMW PicYourCity
There’s no greater feeling than seeing a project come to fruition; and having spent the past two months manning the PicYourCity competition, I couldn’t be more excited to see the gallery with 1197! Plus, there’s wine & cheese. Monday, evening, I know my plans. And if mobile photography is your thing, 1197 is a weeklong series of events entirely devoted to the topic, brought to us from our friends at Nokia. If you don’t make it out on Monday evening for the reception, I encourage you to check out many of their events throughout the week!

gsummitX- Gamification in NYC
I had the pleasure of hearing Gabe Zichermann drop his gamification knowledge last year. And let me tell you, the man is a phenomenal speaker. I’ve never heard the concepts broken down in such an intuitive and easy to understand manner. So, on Tuesday, if you’re wanting to learn more or wanting to go deep with gamification, loyalty and engagement, be here. There will also be 1-2 demos from companies using gamification in their business model, and Gabe’s unique workshop-like game called “Play for a Cause.”

So You Think You Can Start Up?
Ok, confession time: the recovering reality show junkie in me LOVES pitch events. So, when I saw our friends at Hearst were putting together the ultimate fashion startup pitch event, I was in heaven. On Tuesday, digital fashion start-ups will go head to head in this ultimate “elevator pitch” challenge and demonstration. Teams will have a total of 5 minutes to impress the judges, competing for editorial coverage on ELLE.com. Just make sure we all dress to impress for it.

Giving Gangham Style: An ideation With the #GivingTuesday Team
If you’re into NGO’s, the phenomenon that is #GivingTuesday is something you’re well acquainted with. The backstory: on November 27, 2012, thousands of companies, NGOs, small businesses and individuals came together to celebrate the first-ever #GivingTuesday— a new social media-driven campaign to create a national day of giving. It was a success and on Tuesday of SMW, the creators behind will share what made it a success and how social is a major player in philanthropy.

The Rise of Visual Social Media
Being in community management, the increase in visual is something you learn to deal with. Images are so vital to telling stories. But the ethics of using them is still a bit more nebulous. So, on Tuesday, the WSJ is bringing together photographers and social media editors to talk about how images can be used ethically in social. With everything from copyright issues, elements of a viral photo, photoshopped images, the use of filters and Instagram’s TOS changes, it’s a must if you’re in the field of social media content.

Girls Empowerment & Women’s Empowerment in Real World Social Networks
Kicking things off on Wednesday, She’s the First will touch on the power of education and female empowerment. It’s a serious topic and one we can all contribute to to create more sustainable and lasting change. And the panelists on this event know what they’re talking about.

PSFK: The Future of Work
Ok, another confession for you: over the past 3 years, I’ve become a big PSFK fan girl. If you’ve not read through any of their reports, you’re missing out. And this year, PSFK is delivering big again. They’ll be sharing an exclusive preview of their upcoming Future of Work report, part of a series of in-depth analysis of trends driving key sectors and subject matters. Don’t miss it.

Equalizing the Playing Field
Social media is the great equalizer. It’s been fascinating to see how small and large companies respond to it. Pulling together 3 unique companies of various sizes, we’ll be exploring how each is navigating the space. The best part- it’s got Nokia’s Craig Hepburn. This guy drives some serious discussions around social and doesn’t hold back. If you missed him last year, don’t make the same mistake again.

Daria Musk and Google: Social Media and the Rock Star
Continuing on the trend of exploring case studies, few make a greater example of the power of collaboration on Google+ than Daria Musk. With the power of social media, Daria has become a self-made rock star. Dara will join a fireside chat to talk how social has helped her career (and dreams) grow- and perform a mini-set for all those in attendance. It’s sure to be inspiring, and our friends at Google+ will share tips on how you can maximize the platform. Win- win.

How To Be Funny in 140 Characters or Less, Part Deux
I missed the original last year- and I’ve been kicking myself ever since. Seriously. Our How to Be Funny in 140 Characters or Less was amazing. It was funny; relevant; and informative. I’m not missing the sequel. You better believe come Thursday, I’ll be in the audience taking notes, and all my friends will hope I pick up better jokes and comedic timing. So, join me as we watch Lizz Winstead, Julieanne Smolinski and Jon Friedman break down comedy in brevity and aim to take the #1 trending spot in an hour.

Deep Focus Presents: An Evening of Disruption
We’re big fans of Deep Focus and Advisory Board member Ian Schafer. It’s really hard not to be. They are pulling together some of the industry’s biggest disruptors for a thought-provoking evening of why we should all learn to feel very comfortable being uncomfortable. Knowing them, it’s bound to be insightful, humorous and an all-around great time. Thursday evening, this is where it is.

Betting on Journalism: Andrew Sullivan & Buzzfeed
Ok, if you’re never gotten a chance to view the Buzzfeed offices, you’re missing out. But aside from that, this Thursday event will pull together two seemingly opposite styles of journalism and talk how these models work. Exploring what content counts online and dissecting what everyone means when they talk about “the future of journalism,” this event will be great for the news geek in us all.

Architecting the Future of Social Media

Posted on January 2, 2013January 3, 2013 by Lindsey Taylor Wood

(Part 1 of 3 in the Architects, Inventors, and Collaborators blog series.)

The theme of Social Media Week this year, Open & Connected: Principles for a Collaborative World, has been the catalyst for a number of hot debates in the Social Media Week offices. Identifying what, exactly, openness, connectedness and collaboration mean in an increasingly social world can be, well… tricky.

As conversations around the idea continued to percolate, so did a noticeable shift in their direction. The focus was no longer how to define the social media landscape, but a question of who was defining it. Who are the influencers, producers, and shapers driving social media?

While sifting through the heaps of notable tastemakers, we discovered most belonged to one of three distinct archetypes: Architects, Inventors, or Collaborators. So, we decided to dedicate three days of the conference (and this three part blog series), to exploring what that means.

Architects: devisers, makers, creators. At a time when “openness” is zeitgeist and transparency and collaboration are the very nature of social and digital media, architects must rethink traditional structures and develop new frameworks that reflect those ideals. It’s quite the paradox: design boundary-less boundaries.

This seemingly daunting task has done little to deter trailblazers like Susan Crawford. A visiting professor at the Harvard Kennedy School and former Special Assistant for Science, Technology, and Innovation Policy to President Barack Obama (for more on her laundry list of accomplishments, click here) her Fall class, Solving Problems Using Technology, embodies this type of progressive design process.

Her students, from both Harvard Kennedy School and Harvard’s Graduate School of Design, partnered with three community groups and The Mayor’s Office of New Urban Mechanics in an effort to address Boston’s urban and civic challenges through technology. This month, The Mayor’s Office will select and fund the best of the student’s designs.

It’s this type of innovative approach to 21^st century architecture that will inform the future of social media, and it’s imperative that we embrace and learn from these new models. To learn more about Susan’s work, and the work of other “architects”, join us at our new Global Headquarters on February 18th.

We look forward to seeing you there!

How to Become a SMW Top 10

Posted on December 6, 2012December 6, 2012 by smwnyc

This is a guest post from She’s the First volunteer Andrea Bartz.

Last February, the non-profit She’s the First (STF) had the opportunity to host an event for Social Media Week, in the official Social Good hub. STF, a social media-loving organization that funds girls’ educations in the developing world, started with all of the usual event ideas: Should we do a presentation? A regular ol’ panel? A (snooze) Powerpoint presentation?

Thankfully, we were struck with the idea we could shake things up with a talk show-style event featuring the most genius talking heads in social good, a DJ, Twitter cupcakes, and the best live studio audience ever. The presentation was, literally, standing-room-only, and the campaign around our event landed us a spot in the top 10 moments of Social Media Week worldwide.

Here are the three ingredients that made the event, dubbed “The New Face of Social Good – How to Create Your Own Social Media Magic,” such a blast:

A solid theme

Call it a shtick if you must. Sticking to the talk show theme, we booked a live DJ, gifts for every attendee (one-week yoga passes and some free app downloads from AppTerrier), and delicious cupcakes courtesy of Sprinkles. The organizing principle turned an ordinary panel into a party.

A cool campaign to spread the word and—more importantly—do good

In one night, we changed an entire year in the life of Eli in Tanzania — we encouraged fans to tweet #SMWMagic, and for every tweet, The Think Cloud generously donated $1. Thanks to the magic of social media, we sponsored her senior year of high school—an example, in real time, of how She’s the First’s work can directly empower young women to become the first in their families to graduate.

A killer line-up

Mashable’s (@mashable) managing editor, Emily Banks, introduced four dynamic and charming guests—Tammy Tibbetts (@shesthefirst), She’s the First Founder and President; Adam Braun (@pencilsofpromis), Founder and Executive Director of Pencils of Promise; Mike Padparvar (@HOLSTEE), Co-Founder of HOLSTEE; and Susan McPherson (@susanmcp1), Global Marketing VP of CSR/Fenton Communications—who each shared little-known stories on how ONE social media status update created a spark or started a ripple effect that ultimately launched huge movements and programs, changed lives, and achieved meaningful social change. Attendees (online and in person) were encouraged to tweet in their questions using #stfmagic; they walked away with solid techniques and tips for creating their own social media miracles.

International fashion icon Alek Wek (@TheRealAlekWek), the legendary Sudanese supermodel who had just turned to Twitter and Skype to be a stronger advocate for refugees in Sudan, introduced the event. The star-studded speakers were insightful and passionate, and by casting a wide net, the event drew in journalists, social entrepreneurs, and techies of all stripes—even the ones with an interest in fashion!

Check out the Storify recap of the campaign and event here. See you at SMW again in February!

Andrea Bartz is a STF volunteer and a freelance writer and editor. She lives in Brooklyn and can be found on Twitter at @andibartz.

A Student’s Perspective: Rappathon- Hacking for Change: A New Way of Collaboration

Posted on March 20, 2012November 8, 2012 by smwnyc

Mehrunnisa Wani is a student at Columbia’s School of Journalism. She is one of ten students providing on the ground coverage of SMWNYC- all from the student’s perspective. She is providing her report from Rappathon- Hacking for Change: A New Way of Collaboration.

“What’s the best thing you’ve created? I don’t know. Come around tomorrow.” – Camilo LaCruz

Believe it or not, the ingredients for social change are collaboration, creative minds, and a days worth of idea generating.

With their collaborative methodology RAPP hosted it’s first rappathon workshop, tailored to bring developers and designers together to explore concepts that might someday enrich thousands, if not millions, of lives.

In league, they worked towards creating technology that could work for the people, by the people. This hackathon, much like the others sprouting across the tech scene, are increasingly involving people.

After pairing up individuals and a tidbit of mix –and-matching, groups moved from station to station picking up where the last team left off so others could expand on the idea or share their two cents.

The web apps that came out of this aimed to improve the lives of individuals, or at the very least assist people in some regard. One of the ideas yielded was a map that would track a daily commute, keeping in mind the money, number of calories burned, and the carbon footprint. This would be linked to a social network, which would inform friends, family, coworkers of the commute and in the end, the data would be accumulated over a period of time so that the commuter can ascertain what method is cheaper, less time-consuming, or less arduous.

The apps weren’t launched but the organizers graciously shared the ideas in hopes of someone developing it. It’s still about experimentation and there are still ways of transforming life. If there is a social need, an app can fulfill it.

http://vimeo.com/37074187

Mehrunnisa Wani hails from Kashmir, India. She is currently a masters candidate at the Columbia School of Journalism learning to report stories in various mediums, all the while familiarizing herself with the digital media boom so she can utilize those skills to connect the world one story at a time. In the future she hopes to cover conflict zones, learn to code and change the world – simultaneously. She resides in Queens, New York. Follow her on @mehrwani.

A Student’s Perspective: The Guardian Interviews Alec Ross

Posted on March 19, 2012November 8, 2012 by smwnyc

“What does the Internet have to with foreign policy and diplomacy? In this day and age, if you care about human rights you have to care about the Internet,” said Alec Ross, senior advisor for innovation, Office of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

As evident from the Arab (Internet) Spring, social media was an effective vent for the outrage and the wave of the frustration that swept through Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Yemen, and, most recently, Syria.

Tweeples, Facebookers, and YouTubers worldwide were all proponents of this change. With their succinct slogans, videos, and blog entries they encapsulated the depth of the oppression. The revolution was filled with narratives of twitter handles and even fact-checking was a collaborative effort, or what veterans would call a crowdsourcing activity.

Some dubbed it as the greatest tools of this age and others went as far as crediting it for fermenting the chaos and subsequently, toppling regimes. Despite the divergent views on the platform, it catapulted social justice campaigns worldwide, abetting and enabling leaderless protests.

The role of technology is, of course, integral –and now becoming closely intertwined with diplomacy. With governments realizing this, some are constricting expression and others such as the United States are allowing its ambassadors, some 195 have twitter accounts and 170 have Facebook accounts, according to Ross.

Ross, however, doesn’t credit technology—wholly—for the toppling of dictatorship-based regimes, but he is finding solutions to the gravest health, economic, social problems in developing nations through social media applications. It’s a new wave – the social networking-diplomacy era, where fostering ties between nations is done through programs like Apps4Africa, bringing fifteen nations and discussing solutions which, in the end, will yield innovative methods in tackling economic development issues and paving ways for sustainable long-term projects.

The consensus is that it is a tool for civic engagement, where information is readily available and movements are accelerated, but what happens when people achieve their goal, when governments are overthrown? Who helps with picking up the crumbs? Are plan of actions created?

“Though social media has proven to be a tool for dissent, it has not yet proven to be a successful tool for governance,” said Ross. With tools set forth by the State Department, Ross hopes that governance connects with the governing and social media takes out the implicit elitism in governing. Two things for sure, social media is equalizing the world and creating a forum of communication between the governing bodies and the people. Social media has become the weapon of the first world, but what about the third world?