Connecting people in their “Thanks a Million” efforts around the world

Recently the team at fusedlogic inc. joined in with others on TinyChat to coordinate efforts around the Thanks a Million Food Bank Challenge and A Million High Fives (#AMHF) with @BJMendelson.  We chatted and exchanged ideas with @sedonapies, @ckieff, @third_age, @suzviews and more that joined in during the conversation.  It was somewhat surreal sitting in a TinyChat room with others across the planet who are passionate about collecting 1 million Food Bank donations for those less fortunate. For me it confirmed the power of social media and simple conversations between like minded people.  Often people think of social media as just another marketing tool, but it can be so much more than that and it has the power to change the world.

My personal goal is to give at least $5 in Food Bank donations every week until December 15, 2009.  For me, that’s the price of a Caramel Macchiato from Starbucks.   I’m lucky enough that I have that option in my life — that I have the discretionary income to spend on luxuries like fancy coffees from Starbucks.  Maybe for you that’s riding your bike to work rather than spending $5 in gas to get there.  Maybe that’s one less drink at the bar on a Friday night.  Maybe you borrow that book from the library, rather than buy a brand new one (and it saves paper too!)

While $5 doesn’t seem like much to some of us, for many it’s the difference between life and death.    Reading the statistic that every six seconds a child dies from hunger or related causes reminds me that I have a choice.  And my choice is to make a difference.   So we invite you to make a difference with the rest of the world. The fusedlogic “Thanks a Million” campaign isn’t really about us as a company at all, it’s about the community –worldwide – and how if we all work together, we will make a difference in the lives of millions around the world.

We are looking for local ambassadors — those who are excited about giving back in their communities and who want to lead the way and gather donations, documenting the journey by snapping pictures.  By posting the photos online at www.thanksamillion.ca you join a worldwide initiative to see change take place.  Or you can tweet the picture on Twitter and tag it with #1MPics or #thanksamillion and we’ll add it to the page. This project is meant to inspire hope, to show that you aren’t alone in your desire to help others, but that millions around the world hold that same dream, that same passion for change.

Are you interested in getting involved?   Email us at kelly@fusedlogic.com or genoa@fusedlogic.com or leave us a comment.  I love feedback and I look forward to starting conversations with you and with others around the world.

Get off the social media couch!

fusedlogic Food Bank Challenge Leads to a “Happy Mind.”

This is about the little boy or girl sitting at a table, hungry and waiting for mom and dad to put a bowl of food in front of them…and nothing happens.  They can’t afford to eat.  This is about the homeless person who shows up to a mission for a hot meal only to return to a box under a bridge when it’s done.  This is about the single mom trying to make ends meet and feed her hungry family.  This is about the dad who has lost his wife and is devastated, depressed and somehow finds himself in a place struggling to feed his family.

If our challenge helps one more person, child, family eat- it was WELL WORTH the effort.

Many may have thought that we forgot about this charitable social media project, the Facebook group and flickr groups have seemingly been ignored and it’s all over before it really got started…WRONG!  Our work has been to inspire and organize and then inspire and organize some more. Starting with keeping Edmonton’s Food Bank in the loop, which has led to a discussion at the provincial level with the Alberta Food Bank Network Association, we hope to involve the national and international organizations shortly.

Achieving a “happy mind.”

The fragmented photo group approach wasn’t going to work.  So we found some great and very giving people for the construction of a centralized website to house all the photos.  This is being donated by Victor Rubba and his Crazed Coders of Edmonton.  Victor assures us that the site which is to be located at www.happymind.ca will be fully operational on August 15th, 2009.  We chose “happymind” by the way because it represents two things:  One, the state of mind after donating.  Two, D-DAY or donation day for this challenge will be in support of and coordination with the central message from His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, who is scheduled to speak in Calgary, Alberta on October 1st, 2009.

We want to get his attention by scheduling this on September 30th, 2009.

SIDEBAR:  I was invited to meet with and speak to the University of Calgary steering committee on the topic of social media at one of their meetings this summer.  This great group of people responsible for inviting the Dalai Lama to speak inspired me to align this challenge with their efforts around actNOW and what we’re doing perfectly supports the message from the Dalai Lama of achieving a “happy mind.”

Trying to collect 1 million photographs representing 1 million donations from people around the world predominantly via social media is a daunting task and one I know we’re all up for.  There have been many social media initiatives for the purposes of charity that have done very well in the past.  Twestival comes to mind, I attended the Edmonton event and that model is brilliant and we’d love to inspire a similar effect in cities around the world.  The 12 for 12K gang continues to do great work each and every day as well.  The real challenge here is to get folks not only to donate food but then take a picture and upload it.  We hope you’ll agree, that in this day and age of uber connected citizens, donating a picture is not too much to ask in order to achieve a “happymind.”

Our plan remains simple.

Go out to the universe and ask for your help.  To support you, we’re working through Rotary International and still need to reach higher within that organization.  Anyone know John Kenny President of Rotary International?  By the way, Rotary has 1.2 million members and great communication channels within their organization, Rotarians are very special people and their help would be spectacular.  We’re also approaching other organizations with considerable size such as the Lutheran Church of Canada and Edmonton’s World Trade Centre organization.  We’ve had numerous discussions with Share Our Strength on their ability to help promote and support this initiative.  They have agreed to promote this to their 40 thousand newsletter subscribers and we are very grateful for that.  Wouldn’t it be fantastic if President Obama, Prime Minister Harper made a donation and posted a twitpic?  They both have twitter accounts, so does Premier Stelmach for that matter.  What about other world leaders?  How about the United Nations?  There are people out there with connections to get folks like this involved.  Please reach out and touch them…

Does anyone know somebody at Feeding America or having anything to do with the Pound for Pound Challenge?  Please contact me at walter[at]fusedlogic.com your help is greatly appreciated.

What about brands?  How can your corporation benefit?  Simple, own this event, put your brand behind it, your marketing message of inspiration.  We want to share this experience with you, it’s about feeding the hungry for us and we know we cannot do it alone.

How can you help?

1.) Donate, take a picture and upload it to www.happymind.ca once it goes live or the facebook, flickr groups already in place today.

2.) Inspire everyone in your personal network to donate food and a picture at work, home, friends and family and the world at large via all means possible on or before September 30th, 2009.

3.) Be creative, persistent and inspirational in your communications regarding this world changing challenge, we won’t stop after September 30th and we must surpass the 1 million photos.  Hold tweetup food drives in your city on September 30th and post the pictures.  Write a song, make a video to inspire others and post it on Youtube, (our channel).

4.) Be an Ambassador!  Get your local organizations like the food bank, Second Harvest, Rotary Club, chamber of commerce, church, mass media, politicians, schools etc involved.  Send them the link to this blog post or others that explain the goal and what to do.

5.) Use Social Media: On Twitter (@fusedlogic) please use the hashtag #happymind, on your blogs please consider posting a “happymind” badge.  Spread the word through Facebook, with well over 200 million people, we can do it folks, take minute to inspire others.

VERY IMPORTANT: Please tag your photo with “HAPPYMIND.”

Making progress towards one million photos

On December 15 we kicked off the fusedlogic Food Bank Challenge where we’re attempting to get one million photos of one million food bank donations in one year.

We are making progress towards that goal. Our Facebook food bank group has grown to 92 people. We have many new donation pictures on our Flickr food bank page too.

If you haven’t made a donation and taken a picture yet, please do so. It’s for a great cause. It can be as simple as getting someone to take a picture with your cell phone while you make a donation at a food bank box at the grocery store.

It’s not about the quantity you give. If you can give, that’s what counts. Canned and non-perishable food items really help out the food bank, as do cash donations. Your donations now will really help the food bank get through the next few months.

It must be a nerve wracking job for food bank workers to keep just ahead of the growing demand for their services. After checking out the food bank here in Edmonton, I was surprised just how large an operation it is. They send out more than 10,000 hampers per month!

We’re lucky in Alberta to be blessed with an abundance of resources and we thank everyone who takes the time to give, whether in goods, cash or time, to their favourite charities. It’s surprising the number of charities there are in this city that need help. I hear about them all the time when listening to local radio or reading the newspaper.

Let’s hope you and your family are not in need of the help of the many charities in Edmonton and that you’re able to help them out a little.

From everyone at fusedlogic, we wish all the best to you and your family and hope your holiday has been a great one so far.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

CPRS Edmonton gives back…

…”Oh the weather outside is frightful….”  However, what’s going to be delightful is the fact that at a presentation to a group of public relations professionals today we’ll get to raise more food bank donations.

I want to thank the folks from CPRS Edmonton from the bottom of my heart for not only inviting me to speak with them today but more importantly for supporting Edmonton’s Food Bank and the fusedlogic Food Bank Challenge in particular.

As many of you can tell from our blog and (even a bit of press, yeah baby!) or the section entitled “Food Bank” we’ve got something going on with Edmonton’s Food Bank.  As mentioned above it’s the fusedlogic Food Bank Challenge.

This really is exciting because outside of our daily client work we can focus on having some fun with our social pals, friends and acquaintances and explore our collective desire to give back.  Contrary to what others may think, I think it’s in our human nature to want to give.  This exercise will help prove my hypothesis.  1 million pictures of 1 million donations in 1 year.  WOW, talk about being able to measure results.  Regardless of where we end up (past our goal…) this will be a great learning experience for all concerned.  Human nature, social conversation and even the advantages and disadvantages of some of the technology…lot’s to observe and learn from.

Plus, for the gadget freaks we get to play with our digital cameras too.  Speaking of which I’ll ensure we get lot’s of photos of the donations made by the Edmonton’s PR society today and post them on our Facebook group

Oh and by the way, look out Calgary, Edmonton’s gunning for ya…I know that my pals in Calgary who are reading this right now are shakin in their space boots (it’s in their nature).  You better go take some pictures of your donation drives before we here in Edmonton get too much of a jump on you…and Flames fans this goes double for you.  Oilers fans will never stand for it…

Welcome to the new Battle of Alberta!

Walter Schwabe

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