Grass Roots Media Relations and Social Media for the Small Non-Profit

Our local PRSA chapter (The Greater Fort Worth PRSA) held a free workshop for small non-profit organizations as this year's community service project. The workshop included a free presentation and panel: "'Grass Roots' Media Relations and Social Media for the Small Non-Profit" and was held at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth.

Small non-profits, operating on limited budgets, need information, assistance and training to use media relations, social media and other public relations tools to help raise awareness of their important missions. The free workshop was our chapter's way of providing some insight in these areas for local non-profit organizations.

I was fortunate enough to be one of the panelists along with (L-R) Sandra Brodniki, APR, Gigi Westerman APR, and Nancy Farrar, our moderator.

The following is our presentation:

Grass Roots Media Relations and Social Media for the Small Non-Profit

View more presentations from Richie Escovedo

Special thanks to PRSA members Kendal Lake and Dustin Van Orne from the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth for organizing the community service event.

I enjoy participating in these types of panels because I usually end up coming away with some great insights from the others. This one was no different.

The solid reminders in the areas of media relations and storytelling from Sandra and Gigi, plus the guiding discussion from Nancy made this a wonderful professional development opportunity.

8 Takeaways from the DFW Nonprofit Communicators Conference

Last month, I attended and presented at the DFW Nonprofit Communicators Conference here in Ft. Worth.

The sessions that interested me the most were on social media policies/guidelines and crisis communications. (I suppose being in school public relations, I'd gravitate to these two areas of concern since knowledge in these areas is often needed.)

Below are 8 key takeaways from these two sessions:

Legal Policies for Social Media Communicators
presented by Whitney Presley, Sr. Director of Digital Communications, American Heart Association

1. There's a difference between social media policies and guidelines: policies protect the organization and employee while guidelines should give the rules for how to behave.
2. Create commenting/posting disclaimer for networks and define difference between personal/professional use of social media and social networks for the organization's perspective.
3. Check the Social Media Governance website for examples of corporate and nonprofit social media policies or the online Policy Tool for Social Media to get started.
4. What makes a good social media guideline/policy for an organization? According to Presley, those that at their core tell employees to be honest, stay on message, and don't be stupid. (I'll add organizations should also look into implementing a social media gatekeeper system to keep the properties within their proper control.)

Crisis Communication:A crash course that leads to developing a crisis plan
presented by Jacqueline Lambiase, Ph.D., Texas Christian University

1. In a crisis, you must determine audience awareness: media relations, community relations, employee relations among the top concerns.
2. Develop realistic (and reassuring) messages based on audience concerns.
3. Establish credibility with fast honesty.
4. Get pre-approved for some “boilerplate” messaging, press releases, information bulletins, safety warnings, and apologies. (Example used of airlines with pre-written initial press releases for plane crashes that only require flight number and locations which is a little disturbing even if it is efficient.)
   
   [Check out Jacqueline's presentation slides over on Slideshare for some additional tips, tactics, and thoughts on crisis communication.]

Bonus takeaway for Dallas/Fort Worth nonprofits: Pay close attention to progress/plans from Stacy Caldwell and her team at Dallas Social Venture Partners. Great stuff. Stacy was the conference luncheon keynote speaker and has an infectious energy and passion for engaging philanthropists and investing in nonprofits for social innovation and the common good. My favorite quote from her keynote was, "Communicators for nonprofits need to be thought of as stewards of the mission."

The Opposite of Influence is Neutral

There has been and no doubt will be many more posts, projects, campaigns and discussions about influence.

Some of them have been enlightening, interesting, and useful for PR pros while others seemed to be not much more than over-hyped failed puffery.

I'm not going to try muddy the waters of defining what influence is. However, I do think influence can be clarified and meaningful for an individual by thinking a little about what it's not.

The opposite of being influential is being neutral. 

Neutral is defined as "not aligned with or supporting any side or position in a controversy; of no particular kind, characteristics, etc.; and not causing or reflecting a change in something." That last part is the one that strikes me as particularly important as we start a new year.

Not causing or reflecting a change in something sounds like a pretty apathetic existence to me. So how can you be an influencer in 2011?

1. Be a student.
2. Be a teacher.
3. Be a mentor.
4. Be good at what you do.
5. Be a remarkable spouse, parent, caregiver, and friend.
6. Listen like you mean it.
7. Do your work ethically.
8. Do something outside your comfort box.
9. Pay attention to the details.
10. Get off the cruise ship and get on the battle ship for your family, work, and life.
11. Laugh with (not at) other people.
12. Share your knowledge.
13. Help others grow personally and professionally.
14. Study something new. 
15. Explore your surroundings.
16. Share your findings.
17. Take calculated risks.
18. Take a stand.
19. Stand for good.
20. Go get (finish) that degree, advanced degree, and/or accreditation.
21. Change your mind.
22. Help make good changes.
23. Give good news.
24. Give of your time, talent, and treasure for meaningful causes.
25. Let people know you care.

There are plenty of ways for you to be influential. Do some of these and people will take notice. That's how I think you can be influential: Recognize that people matter.  

Neutral is idling with the vehicle running and wasting energy. Put 2011 in Drive then Go.

PR pros, don't be digital media drop-outs

Image via Wikipedia
I really appreciate how our media friends have embraced the conversation on ways to improve education. From special reports on CNN to NBC's Education Nation, bringing education to the forefront of the dialogue is encouraging.

Perhaps the new conversation is tinged with typical politics for the election season and nothing new will come of it. On the other hand, having education in the public discourse through media like Oprah and even as the central theme in an upcoming documentary film, tells me it might be something more.

The stats are grim when taken as a whole. Bottom-line, we can all do better. School systems should operate like works-in-progress just as the students they teach and attempt to reach.

There is also a lesson for PR pros: Don't be a digital media drop-out. Don't be satisfied with where you are in your professional learning. I chose digital media specifically because that seems to be the area in our profession that is currently getting the bulk of the conversation. Social media integration concepts will continue to spread. It is my hope that PR pros won't take the easy road and, like a high school drop-out, just barely scratch the surface of usefulness of education for themselves.

Being a life-long learner would be a great example to set for students today and I believe that's a lesson worth sharing.
---
Special thanks to Shane Haggerty for bringing up this issue for other school PR people and framing the dialogue to advance and highlight local school district programs for communities.

Also, if you haven't seen it, I'd encourage you to check out the trailer for the documentary mentioned earlier:

#HAPPO Trails to You, Until We Tweet Again

HAPPO trails to you, until we tweet again.
HAPPO trails to you, keep smilin' until then...

Image by Calsidyrose via Flickr

Now that you have this altered version of Roy Rogers and Dale Evans' classic duet planted in your head, I'll take a moment to add my thoughts on what is turning out to be a unique twist to the it's all in who you know networking mantra for getting hired.

Help a PR Pro Out
On Friday, February 19 a rapidly growing community of online communicators and PR professionals will attempt to dedicate four solid hours (10:00 am – 2:00 pm CST) to helping fellow PR folks.

Help a PR Pro Out is a community based effort to help those seeking jobs in the Public Relations industry thanks to the coordinating efforts of Arik Hanson and Valerie Simon.

We are hoping to have flurries (hat tip to the folks snowed in) of Tweets, blog posts, job pitches, on/offline chats, videos, Facebook status updates, (and maybe even a few Google Buzz updates) all centered on connecting employers with job seekers.

Follow the fun via Twitter Search (#HAPPO), follow HAPPO on Twitter, on the Facebook fan page, in addition to getting involved in other ways:

• For PR job seekers – If you have a blog, write a creative post on why potential employers should grant that interview. Post it via Twitter with a link back to it. There is a good potential that we'll have a huge audience picking up and peaking in to this initiative so see and be seen. Use the #happo hashtag so we can retweet your information. Offer an email where potential employers can contact you. No blog? Then consider making a video and posting it to YouTube (like Michael did) or leave your details in the comments below. Be sure to also check out the DFW Communicators Job Bank, PRSA JobCenter, and the Ragan Communications Career Center to get started.
  
  
• For employers hiring PR talent – Follow the hashtag #HAPPO on Friday, Feb. 19 and share your openings. Market champions will do their best to connect you with talent they think matches your specific needs. Or leave job details in the blog posts that are going up of the folks you’re interested in, or email them directly. Pay attention to the creativity we are hoping they display as they accentuate their digital footprints.
  
  
• For people that know of open PR jobs – Please leave a comment here, via Twitter, or just e-mail me so we can get that information out and positions filled.
  
  
• For my Dallas/Fort Worth friends, please feel free to contact me directly (or any of the other volunteer HAPPO market champions listed below) and let us connect you.
  

The Chorus
Over this next week leading up to Feb. 19, we will post and tweet about the event. Make sure you are connected with the Regional Champions if you’re a job seeker or an employer looking for PR talent. That will help us all get on down that HAPPO trail.

• Jeremy Pepper (National)
• Mary Deming Barber (National)
• Jeremy Porter (Atlanta)
• Kellye Crane (Atlanta)
• Doug Haslam (Boston)
• Jennifer Wilbur (Southern CA)
• Gini Dietrich (Chicago)
• Sarah Evans (Chicago)
• Allan Schoenberg (Chicago)
• Lauren Fernandez (Dallas/Fort Worth)
• Richie Escovedo (Dallas/Fort Worth)
• Jamie Floer (Florida)
• John Sternal (Florida)
• Justin Goldsborough (Kansas City)
• Arik Hanson (Minneapolis/ St. Paul)
• PR Cog (New York Metro)
• Deidre Breakenridge (New York Metro)
• Valerie Simon (New York Metro)
• Heather Whaling (Ohio)
• Anne Buchanan (Philadelphia)
• Abbie Fink (Phoenix)
• Deanna Ferrari (Pittsburgh)
• Adrienne Biggs (San Francisco)
• Danny Brown (Toronto)
• Dave Fleet (Toronto)
• Shonali Burke (Washington, DC)
• Mike Shaffer (Washington, DC)
• Heather Huhman (Washington, DC)

I am so thrilled to play a part in the HAPPO community initiative. It has been impressive and inspiring to watch as it has bloomed. Help a PR Pro Out has received accolades and  has even been featured on the podcast For Immediate Release: The Hobson & Holtz Report, in PR Week, and even PR Daily News. Also, bloggers such as Sarah Evans, Dave Fleet, Allan Schoenberg, David Mullen, Shonali Burke, Rachel Kay, Diedre Breakenridge, Danny Brown, Heather Whaling, Gini Dietrich and others will or have already posted some thoughtful writings.

(Quick hint for my readers: I've added all of these links to resources and bloggers because they are among the best for PR industry news, posts, links, and topics for discussions.)

Now it's your turn: Can you Help a PR Pro Out? The comments are yours.

...HAPPO trails to you, 'till we tweet again.

Nonprofit Facebook Primer

Nonprofit Facebook Primer

View more documents from Richie Escovedo.

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Above is the presentation slides from yesterday's social media session on Facebook for the Fort Worth Funding Information Center. The group was kind enough to invite me back to give this follow-up session on Facebook after my first presentation last Spring on nonprofit social networking.

For attendees: What did you think of the information presented? Do you have any additional questions that did not get asked? What other topics would you have liked to receive?

For non-attendees: I certainly appreciate any thoughts from you as well.

The comments are yours.

Giving Thanks on #tweetsgiving and the Turkey Song

Thanksgiving 2009 happens to also be the second annual TweetsGiving, where people are encouraged to express their thanks through a variety of online communities and tools. The site hopes to create "a global celebration that seeks to change the world through the power of gratitude."

While this may seem a lofty, it does strike me as a simple, yet remarkable opportunity to offer thanks framed around a great cause.

So with that in mind, I offer my gratitude for:

• the unconditional love freely given from my God;
  
• my loving wife, who encourages and keeps me motivated;
• our two amazing kids, who help me to view the world through optimistic and curious eyes;
• the blessings from the work that I get to do;
• all of the support and love from my family and friends through life's challenges; and
  
• those of you that stop by my little corner of the blogosphere to read and discuss the often strange ruminations I leave here.

Thank you and Happy Thanksgiving.

Of course, I can't leave you with sappy. No, I want to share a quick video that offers a bit of the holiday, humor, and harmony of Thanksgiving that could only come from The Addams Family...


What are you thankful for? As always, the comments are yours.

Related articles located by me with some help from Zemanta

• Waiting for Thanksgiving; T.V. Tray Style (my wife's blog)
  
• Happy Tweetsgiving!
  
• Giving Thanks
  

Starting clean for #Movember

The fact that I am not a hairy man makes me (and my wife) happy. My inability to grow facial hair into a full beard or goatee leaves me to wonder where my genes came from since there are beard and moustache-wearing guys among my male relatives. It usually doesn't bug me too much accept during the month of Movember because I know my mo won't be as robust as most of the others. But then, that's not the point.

Movember
Movember is a moustache growing charity event held during the month of November every year that raises funds and awareness for men's health - specifically prostate and testicular cancer. The month-long campaign this year will benefit The Prostate Cancer Foundation and the Lance Armstrong Foundation.

The Movember campaign is one worth checking out even if you don't want to participate because it has integrated some social media outposts like YouTube, Flickr, Facebook, and Twitter profiles in addition to a sites for the foundation and launch. The fun has an edge and seriousness to it.

Here's the Intro video for 2009:



The cause is worthy. The rules are easy. The campaign is cool. The benefits are noble. Change the face of men's health. Grow a Mo. 

Besides, what else do you have going this month? And so goes day #1 of Movember.

Going Green for Good and #BAD09

On Wednesday, October 14, the Greater Ft. Worth PRSA chapter held a program entitled The PR Impact of Being Environmentally Proactive, and had the following speakers:

• Chris Smith - Environmental Defense Fund (Texas) 
• Tom Burke, APR - IBM 
• Brian Boerner - City of Ft. Worth Environmental Management

Most people understand that being environmentally conscious is good for the environment, but the question remains is it good your company or client? Each panelist provided green and sustainability perspectives from their organizations and what it can mean for progress.

If not now, when?

One of the most interesting things about the program was just how much this theme seemed to resonate with attendees. From a public relations standpoint, we should always pay attention to how our organizations are perceived. The environmental impact view is just one more lens through which we need to monitor and help counsel leadership. Does this mean we need to be experts in environmental policy? Not necessarily, but it does mean we need to determine what our stakeholders expect from us in the areas of being green and sustainable meaning we look to meet business needs in ways that minimize environmental impacts.

The lessons went a bit beyond public relations since the speakers provided insight from global, national and city perspectives. The topic was also perfectly timed for the Blog Action Day 2009 theme of Climate Change.
(hence the #BAD09 in the post's title)

I appreciated what Chris Smith provided from the Environmental Defense Fund. Her organization seems to be taking the smart approach in targeting practical solutions based on science, business, and communities to find environmental ideas that work. She presented a short clip from a video of Fred Krupp, president of the Environmental Defense Fund that is worth a watch.

I found a related video on the EDF channel on Climate Change. (I loved the call to action at the 2:22 mark.)


Other interesting bits:

• IBM has had a corporate policy on environmental affairs since 1971.
• IBM was listed as #5 in Newsweek's 2009 Green Rankings List
• Tom Burke, APR mentioned the Pecan Street Project (of which IBM and EDF are among the partnering organizations) 
• The project has a goal of ensuring "Austin’s leadership in the creation of the next generation electrical system, including utility and community infrastructure, consumer systems, State and local policy and regulation, economic development opportunities, new venture creation, and community engagement." Think of it as Energy 2.0.

While I'm impressed with Austin, I am especially proud of Ft. Worth because according to Brian Boerner...

• Ft. Worth was named #15 on Popular Science's 2008 'America's 50 Greenest Cities' list  
• The water reuse program saved 3,667,137,480 gallons of water for the year.
• They converted three city soccer/rugby fields to artificial turf and is saving 11.5 million gallons of water annually.
• Over 22% (62,000 tons) of the residential waste stream was recycled and diverted from area landfills.
• We have six USDA approved Farmers Markets in Ft. Worth.

Communication Carry-out: Start small, start where you can. Sustainability is a process not a product.  Look at the bigger picture beyond your organization. Change is required. How can we balance customer expectations as they relate to environmental issues with customer service? Yes, we need to be paying attention.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Pete Altman: The US Chamber's Continuing Climate Credibility Crisis
• IBM's Jim Spohrer on the Smarter Planet University Jam

Following @childfund is a worthy cause and case study

Earlier this month, Geoff Livingston wrote on his blog about an awareness campaign for the rebranding of ChildFund International:

Follow @childfund and Help Change Children’s Lives

In his post, Geoff explains...

[t]o celebrate, ChildFund International is giving gifts of agricultural love and hope from the organization’s gift catalog for every 200 Twitter followers @childfund receives.  These efforts will directly benefit children in Gambia, Zambia, Kenya and Ethiopia. There is no cap on on followers, and the offer will continue through July 27. 

Each country has different needs so the gifts vary:

• Chickens for a school in the Gambia
• A goat for a family farm in Zambia
• Mango trees in Kenya
• Vegetable seeds in Ethiopia

This piqued my interest first for being what appeared to be a good cause and a simple way to help in a tangible way. It is worth noting that the veracity of the campaign was at one point called in to question, but a subsequent post cleared up any confusion.

Campaign as a case study

Another reason this community-building Twitter campaign is interesting is by observing it through the lens of a nonprofit. Nonprofits looking for good examples of other efforts to gain awareness should pay close attention to this one. It is especially important to note how the follow-up post explains the parameters for the campaign:

To be clear: The Twitter campaign isn’t about raising money, either. It’s about raising awareness of the work that ChildFund does for deprived, excluded and vulnerable children in the 31 countries where we work.

I hope you caught that. It's not always about the ask.

Communication efforts for a nonprofit should serve the organization through empowerment of the mission and supporters. As one Twitter friend noted in last Sunday's #blogchat on how nonprofits use social media, nonprofit organizations need to invest in marketing and communications as programmatic. It reinforces mission and builds the development framework.

I look forward to watching this campaign develop and observing best-practices that could scale down to other organizational needs.


In addition to following @Childfund (before July 27), you might also be interested in ChildFund International's Facebook , blogging and YouTube outposts as well.

(Photo credit: ChildFund International)

Related articles gathered by Richie Escovedo and Zemanta

• Geoff Livingston Guest Post: Follow @childfund and Help Feed Children
• Questions about the @ChildFund Twitter campaign 
• Answers About, Insights Into the @childfund Twitter Effort
• Twitter Follow-and-Fundraise: 7 Tips to Make it Worth the Bait 
• 1,500 Followers, Seven Gifts and Counting
• #blogchat 7-19 recap, how non-profits use social media with @wharman
  
  

Last day to share your information needs with the Knight Foundation

Image by Knight Foundation via Flickr

We have less than a day left to share our information needs with a group developing quantitative research on community needs: The Knight Commission on the Information Needs of Communities in a Democracy.

The Commission launched in June 2008 with an aggressive agenda to assess the information needs of citizens from a variety of different types of communities in order to make concrete recommendations to public policy makers about improving local information flow and filling the information voids. The free flow of news and information in communities is essential to effective democracy. With the digital age transforming media worldwide, reducing traditional journalism in a number of communities, the Commission is focused on how Americans will get the news and information they need to make informed decisions. 

What are your information needs?
The Knight Foundation along with PBS Engage have created a public input tool to answer basic questions about community information needs:

• Where do you find your information? Newspapers? Online? Television? Radio?
• In your local community, what kinds of information do you need to inform the decisions you make and improve your understanding of the community in which you live?
• How can local governments improve public access to the information communities need?
• Do you think everyone in your community has access to the networks they need (online or in-person) to find important information?
• How would you improve the quality of information available to the general public?

The public input period will end 11:59 p.m. EDT on Friday, May 8, 2009.

Related articles

• Knight Commission Invites Public Input on Community Information Needs 
• DRAFT REPORT: The Knight Commission on the Information Needs of Communities in a Democracy (Also here)
• 24 Hours Remaining For Public to Comment on Future of Community Information Needs 
• We Need Your Input on Community Information Needs
• Help Identify the Information Needs of Communities in a Democracy
• Google Is Good For Journalism
  

33 Things Every PR Person Should Read

You might be asking yourself, "why '33' things? I mean that seems like a random number."

The reason is simple. Today is my 33rd birthday and I wanted to give you a present. So I present to you the 33 tips, trends, and thoughts that struck me as worthy of sharing with you from some of the best writers that I've come across:

1. Let Them Be Heard (The Buzz Bin)
2. Implementing Social Media on your campus (Squaredpeg.com)
3. Why communicators should get to know SEO (Shannon Paul's Very Offical Blog)
4. Do you know who you're talking to? (Logic + Emotion)
5. "I'm Just the PR Person" (PR Squared)
6. Selling PR Measurement at Work: Rehashed (The Intersection of Online and Offline)
   
7. Grow Bigger Ears in 10 Minutes (Chris Brogan)
8. 8 Excellent Tools to Extract Insights from Twitter Streams (Grey Review) 
9. A Quick ‘n Dirty Guide to Setting up Social Media Monitoring (Social Media Explorer) 
10. A Social Media Glossary (The Buzz Bin) 
    
11. 11 Ways to Find Brands & Companies on Twitter (Online Marketing Blog)
    
12. E-Book on Social Media Marketing (PR Squared)
13. Your News Page is the New Newsroom (Conversation Agent)
14. How Journalists Can Leverage Social Media (Social Media Explorer)
15. Social media transparency: How realistic is it? (The Harte of Marketing)   
16. Being successful with social media = creating value for others (The Viral Garden)
17. Licensed or not, Public Relations is a profession (a shel of my former self)
18. How parenting skills (or lack of) affect customer relationship building (Communicators Anonymous)
19. Getting Social Media Approved By Your Boss (The Bizz Bin)
20. What Does the PRo of the Future Look Like? (PRos in Training)
21. The Micro-Sociology of Networks (Logic + Emotion)
22. Mirror Image: PR pros v. Salesman Sam (LAF)
23. The Thin Line Between Confidence and Arrogance (Flacker) 
24. How to Present While People are Twittering (Pistachio)
25. Five Tips for Media Relations Success (David Mullen)
26. Creating social media guidelines for your employees (Bryan Person)
    
27. 
    
    Personal Branding is Your Interview Suit (T-Mo's Garage)
28. How to Become a Superstar: Give Your Knowledge Away (Communication Overtones)
29. Social Media Ghostwriting: The Great Marketing/PR Debate (The Harte of Marketing)  
30. This is not a newspaper: Why ghostblogging doesn't work (Shannon Paul's Very Offical Blog)
31. The Practical Guide To Content Tagging In Social Bookmarking (Social Media Explorer)
32. People don't trust company blogs. What you should do about it.  (groundswell Blog)
33. The Ultimate Productivity Toolbox for Creative People (Lateral Action)

Whew! That's a long list. I know I have a few source repeats, but I read some pretty great stuff. I hope you take some time and go through this gift of resources. You may even find new writers to follow. I know I have. Also, let me know if you have a particular post that is of interest that you'd like to share in the comments below. The party is yours.

Photo credit: kentigern

Social Media can be Good (and Fast)

Tonight we witnessed something pretty amazing.

Those of us tuned into a handful of social media tools saw a good (and fast) example of community, caring, and giving.

A request on Twitter by David Armano (author of the Logic + Emotion blog) was simple:

 In part, here is how the blog post read: 

Daniela recently divorced her husband after years of physical abuse. In recent years her mortgage went unpaid and she's lost her house. As of this moment, Daniela's family is staying at our house and we are trying to help her find a one bedroom apartment for her family to live in.  With Evelyn, her youngest having Down's Syndrome and Daniela herself being a Romanian immigrant with very little family support she literally has no one to turn to. Except us (all of us).

Daniela cleans houses when she can leave her family. I'm not even going to tell you what she gets paid—it's obscene. Right now her options are pretty limited, aside from an apartment, there is only a group shelter. Not very pretty. 

Here's what we are asking. Right now, Belinda and I are opening our home, but it's tight as we have no basement. We've committed to giving as much as we can spare, diverting funds from other places.  I'm asking if you could think about doing the same. Or at the very least, helping get the word out about this. We are looking to raise 5k for Daniela and her family. Enough so that she doesn't have to worry about a deposit or rent for a while.

The Community Responds
In about two hours the original tweet had been Retweeted many times and the request spread on Twitter, it went to Digg, it started trending on search.twitter, and no doubt there will be multiple blog posts that spread or cover this phenomenon, and most importantly, they exceeded the $5K goal (as of this writing, over $9,000 had been rasied with more on the way.)

It is very hard to argue with results like this. We saw something very special tonight.
And it was just a Tuesday night.

Here's David Armano's Thank You video in response:

Related articles and links by Zemanta and Richie Escovedo

• Please Help Us Help Daniela's Family
• Blogger David Armano Uses His Network To Raise over $8,000 to help an out of luck family   
• Using Social Media for Good Causes
  
• Clive Thompson on How Twitter Creates a Social Sixth Sense
• Safe Haven of Tarrant County
  

Sharing to save Darfur

Image via Wikipedia Today is the 60th Anniversary of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Yesterday, December 9, was the 60th Anniversary of the United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.

Unfortunately, it is fitting that 60 years later our world has another horrible example of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes in Darfur by the Sudanese government.

Since early 2004, the Security Council has also passed more than two dozen resolutions concerning the situation in Darfur. Khartoum has violated nearly every single provision in them, seemingly without consequence. To date, the member states of the [U.N.] Security Council have failed to adopt and implement a comprehensive strategy to end this man-made tragedy.

I don't claim to know all of the ins and outs of this situation, but I do know that there is something that can be done to make an impact on the situation from here in the United States. You can Be a Voice for Darfur. I would like to dedicate my tiny outpost here on the Internet to drawing attention to this worthy cause. It doesn't cost you anything but a few moments in time to add your name to the call for change to make sure that ending the genocide in Darfur is a top-priority for the Obama Administration as already promised by the President-elect. You could also participate with the petition application on Facebook to reach your circle of influence.

However you choose to take action, be sure to let your voice be heard on this remarkable cause and simultaneously demonstrate the power of effective social media integration.

(Note: If you happen to use Twitter, please be sure to use the Twitter hashtag: #voice4darfur.)

Related articles by Zemanta and Richie Escovedo

• Council Backs Idea to Indict Sudan Leader
• The Tragedy of Sudan
• Help Us Save Darfur
• Be a Voice for Darfur
• Vote for Obama to end the genocide in Darfur
• The Save Darfur Coalition’s "Be A Voice For Darfur" - A Stellar Example of A Multi-Channel Campaign