The Click Heard Round the World

Thousands take to the street for Occupy Oakland General Strike (pics)

I just spent about an hour at the Occupy Oakland General Strike today near Frank Ogawa Plaza in downtown Oakland.  It was a beautiful day as thousands turned out to peacefully express their various political and economic views.  

Most were calling for some kind of economic reforms -- greater taxes on the rich, curbing corporate excess, and allocating more public funds toward education and jobs, etc.  But there was no "typical protestor;" the folks I saw spanned every age group, racially diverse, and espousing many different causes.  There were communists, labor union organizers, buddhist monks, professors and high school students.

I was impressed by how well-organized the rally seemed to be. There were volunteers directing traffic, a staffed lot to park your bike for free,  first aid, food and water, and many information and book tables.  It had a festive feel with music playing, people drumming, and smiles everywhere. 

As I was leaving, hundreds more appeared to be pouring into the plaza from all directions.  There's another rally at 5pm and a march to the Oakland ports to try and shut them down starting at 4pm.  Hopefully it will remain peaceful and positive throughout the day.  There was no visible police presence while I was there.

My Updated Work Portfolio: Virtual Fossil Digs, Kofi Annan, and Lindy Hop, oh my!

I updated my Work Portfolio to make it easier for people to see my most recent professional accomplishments in one place.  Like this blog (and my life!), it covers a wide range of projects and disciplines, from virtual worlds to public speaking.  And there's of course a lot I didn't include, since I've had such a wide ranging (and sometimes strange) career path.  But my goal is to capture in a quick snapshot the most relevant, recent highlights of my work.

Give it a look, if you are curious.  All feedback appreciated!

Vote for Global Kids to win $1 million to help at-risk teens become global leaders!

I'm excited to announce that Global Kids , a pioneering nonprofit that transforms the lives of thousands of urban teens into global leaders, is in the running for $1 million in the American Giving Awards sponsored by Chase.  If you think that all young people deserve a chance to express themselves on important global issues, serve their communities, and expand their minds, I encourage you to vote for Global Kids now.

Voting ends in just a couple of days, October 5, so please vote now.  Right this instant.  Seriously.  And tell your friends about it. 

Thanks!

On Dress Codes and Controlling Your Message: Look Sharp, Be Sharp

Reading this post on BoingBoing about the dress code for a high end boutique reminded me of something my old boss Bill Pace at the Coalition for the International Criminal Court used say. As an up-and-coming international NGO at the United Nations, we had a pretty steady stream of new staff and interns at the CICC. And Bill would frequently have to orient the new folks to how we worked. Here's the gist of what he used to say about dressing up for the UN:

As a pretty laid back, casual guy, I really hate to ask you all to do this.  But I have to.  I'm going to have to ask all of you to dress as professional as you can when we are in meetings with diplomats at the United Nations.  For the guys, that means a suit and tie, dress shoes, clean-shaven, etc.  For the ladies, dress suits, nice blouses and skirts at a modest length, dress shoes. No sneakers, no flip-flops, no jeans. 

It's not because I want to be the fashion police. It's because we are in the territory of the enemy, we are not generally wanted there.  We are at best tolerated, at worst distrusted and misunderstood. And so we want to do our best to fit in. 

We want to be judged for the quality of our work not our appearance.  So don't make your clothes the focus, make it our mission: creating the world's first global human rights court.  So look sharp, and be sharp.

Years later, I think about Bill's words when I have to put on a grey suit and boring tie to meet up with some government or corporate types.  It's not about becoming a mindless salary-man.  It's about not letting your appearance distract from the impact you are trying to have.

How to Give a Great Presentation, Online or Off : Video and Blog Recap

In case you missed my talk, on August 26, I joined Kivi Leroux Miller, president of the Nonprofit Marketing Guide and Nat Robinson, vice president for business development at SlideRocket, to talk about "Giving Great Presentations." It was a fun online event with lots of great questions from the virtual audience. And now you can watch the whole online here.  

If you just want the main bits, you can also read the blog recap of the main points on TechSoup.

I learned a lot from this session, so hopefully you will too!

"Twitter for Good": a Breezy Primer on the Nonprofit Uses of Twitter [UPDATE e-version FREE Today!]

Twitter for Good by Claire Diaz-Ortiz is a concise primer on how to effectively use the Twitter micro-blogging platform to support your nonprofit or charitable cause.  I received a reviewer's copy last week and found it to be a quick and informative read for the nonprofit professional.

Subtitled "Change the World One Tweet at a Time", Twitter for Good is probably most helpful for an organizational leader wondering how to leverage this particular social media tool to support your group's mission.  Diaz-Ortiz describes a helpful and memorable framework to help you to plan for your use of Twitter by your organization, a structure she calls "T.W.E.E.T." which stands for:

• Target
• Write
• Engage
• Explore
• Track

While this framework was written to focus on Twitter, I think it could easily be applied to helping your group think about any other kind of social media tool, whether it is YouTube, Second Life or FaceBook.

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UPDATE 9/6: Head here to find out how you can get the free e-version of Twitter for Good on your Kindle or Nook! Today only!

This Friday Learn How to Give Great Presentations at NPLive Online Event

 This Friday, August 26, starting at 10am PST, I will be speaking at an online interactive event on "Giving Great Presentations," as part of TechSoup's "Nonprofits Live" series.  Other speakers are :

• Kivi Leroux Miller, speaker, writer, and the president of the Nonprofit Marketing Guide
• Nat Robinson, vice president of SlideRocket, who provides insight into cloud collaboration for virtual teams sharing their work online.

We'll cover everything from being a persuasive speaker, to using slides effectively, to integrating video and other multi-media into your presentations. So whether you are presenting to your board, your church or a convention hall, this session should be interesting for you.

I've learned a few things from keynoting at the Second Life convention, presenting at the National Writing Project's annual conference, and organizing various live, online and mixed-reality events over the years.  So I'm excited to share my tips with others.

Head here for more information and to register. Free and online!

[Photo credit: Leko Littlebird.  Check out all of his pics from SLCC 2011 here.]

Congrats to Global Kids for Winning the $200K Chase Community Award!

I am so excited to share the news that my friends and colleagues at Global Kids, Inc in New York City are the recipients of the $200,000 Chase Community Giving Award for their work with at-risk teenagers.  As someone who has worked there for three years, I can speak to the life-changing work that Global Kids does for marginalized youth, giving them opportunities to serve their communities, travel the world, and lend their voices to important public policy issues.  

I worked in the Online Leadership Program at Global Kids. And in some circles GK is recognized for our work connecting urban teens with technology.  But whatever the technology -- whether it is theater, drumming, spoken word, video games, or machinima -- Global Kids' focus is on giving youth voice to be a part of the public dialogue on issues that effect them.

Congrats to everyone involved in this campaign, including all of the Global Kids youth, supporters, allies, alumni and partners around the world.   

And congratulations to the seven other finalists who all received $43,000 each:

• Architecture for Humanity of San Francisco, CA
• Baltimore Child Abuse Center of Baltimore, MD
• Cass Community Social Services of Detroit, MI
• Crisis Ministries of Charleston, SC
• Institute for Latino Progress of Chicago, IL
• Mt. Hood Kiwanis Camp of Portland, OR
• Resurrection Project of Chicago, IL

Read the full press release from Chase at this link.

You can learn more about Global Kids and find out how you can support their work on their website.

Still Missing Bettina

In a few days it will be the birthday of Bettina Pruckmayr, an old girlfriend of mine who died a long time ago.  I can hardly believe that it was 16 years ago that she was taken from us by an act of evil on December 16, 1995. 

Bettina was a young human rights lawyer who worked for the World Federalist Association, where I was interning.  She was the first legal activist in the world to be 100% devoted to advocating for the International Criminal Court, the world's first global human rights court.  Bettina got to participate in some of the initial negotiations at the United Nations on the proposed tribunal.  But her life was cut short by a mugging gone wrong in December 1995.   She did not live to see the court come into being at the Rome ICC Treaty Conference in August 1998.

Bettina, you were the best of us, and the brightest. You should still be here fighting the good fight -- for human rights for all, for justice for victims of violence, for peace in our time.  Georgetown Law still honors you by giving promising human rights law students with an annual award, which is really awesome. I personally have tried to keep alive your memory by savoring every cup of coffee, every dance, every new friend that I encounter, just as you did.  

I feel so lucky that I got to know you and be loved by you, the brief time we were together.  And I miss you still.

Love, rik

"Where My Bees At?" Awesome Hip-hop Video on Plight of the Honey Bees

 

Haagen-dazs, purveyor some fine fine ice cream, are sponsoring "Help the Honeybees" a campaign to raise awareness and funds for research into the problem of honey bee populations dying out around the world.  According to the site "over the last three years more than one in three honey bee colonies has died nationwide, posing a serious risk to our natural food supply."  It's a truly alarming issue that affects the entire food chain, including us. 

This campaign alone is noteworthy and admirable. But even cooler is this silly, well-produced hip-hop dance video to draw attention to the issue. The combination of krump, break, and irish step dance -- all in those ridiculous outfits -- is too wonderful for words.

Thank you, Haagen-dazs.  I'm going to have have one of your delicious ice cream bars in your honor.  Save the bees!

Hat tip to my buddy Effervescent for the link.