Twitter Me to Safety

Over a coffee this morning while reviewing a PowerPoint with an uber smart fellow, Jon Husband, I had a Twitter revelation.

I'm no fan of Twitting (sic?) it seems ... it seems ... unnecessary.

But Jon's presentation referenced a use of Twitter for social activism, namely assuring the safety of activists in dangerous places.

The example was given of Egyptian activist Alaa Abd El Fattah, who has been detained many times and who uses Twitter to constantly let people know where he is, as a form of personal protection through publicity - if he stops twittering, his friends know that something is wrong.

With this example and being aware of the actions of the Junta in Burma, mobile Twittering takes on a greater importance.

On-line activism such as petitioning using Avaaz, or creating an on-line digest like Burma Digest, and posting videos like this one to You Tube or Google ...



feel like an established practice for digital activism that help the World become aware and witness social outrage.

Twitter could be a much more powerful tool in the hands of activists who don't have the benefit of an existing broad public profile.

Imagine, now I have a reason to recommend using Twitter.

[note this post also appears at ned]
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Tags for information about: for:vsef, Social Activism, Technology

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[TechSoup/Stock] Business Objects: Crystal Reports

Wanted to send along the 'heads up' on the availability of Crystal Reports, a Business Objects application, for nonprofits and currently available via CompuMentor's TechSoup programme.

Crystal Reports is a report-sharing service allowing organizations to instantly share crucial information via the Web. Organizations can make their reports
available for up to 10 people to view on the Web from anywhere in the world, whether or not they have Crystal Reports installed on their computers.

Information captured using Crystal Reports can also be shared in PDF, Excel, and Word formats.

This product is available at TechSoup Stock for an admin fee of US$85 (compared to a retail value of US$3,600), thanks to a generous donation from Business Objects.

Learn more and place a product donation request at TechSoup.

Learn about all donated products from Business Objects.

Ask your questions about Crystal Reports in this forum.

Business Objects is a Vancouver based company. Maybe Pat Bjerrisgaard, Senior Director, WW Community at Business Objects, or Steve Williams, Senior Product Marketing Manager at Business Objects OnDemand, will stop in and expand on why nonprofits would use Crystal Reports.
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Interested in learning more about social enterprise? Take a browse through the Vancouver Social Enterprise Book Store (Vancouver | United Kingdom | United States) and see what other social entrepreneurs recommend reading.

Tags for information about: for:vsef, Social Economy, Nonprofit, TechSoup

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[Random Idea] LabourFair+Craigslist meets Homeless Nation

At the new blog associated with the Social Enterprise Reporter, SE Blog, Tom posted about LaborFair.

Similar social websites have been around for creatives forever - by internet standards. In fact Craigslist comes quickly to mind.

But how could Homeless Nation use this concept? Any suggestions? Ideas? Who's already doing something?

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Tags for information about: for:vsef, Social Economy, Civil Society

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[Help] GiveMeaning and Global Cultures Television

Vancouverite Craig Volker has a vision to use images that foster cultural/environmental sensitivity and promote peace. His project is called Global Cultures Television.

After some consideration, Craig has decided to use another Vancouver based project, GiveMeaning, to build community and assist his project funding needs.

Here's where the help would be appreciated ...

GiveMeaning is using a 100 vote threshold to advance projects as "qualified fundraising projects".

Here's how Craig explained it to us:

What you're "voting" on is whether you feel the proposed project is worthwhile. When you vote, you're not making a financial commitment of any kind; you're simply indicating that you think it's a good idea and should go ahead.

With enough votes, I can work towards making the idea a reality.

Feel like helping?

Then please go here to vote for Global Cultures Television at GiveMeaning.

Thank you.

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Tags for information about: for:vsef, Social Economy, Social Enterprise

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