What would you say if I gave your donations to someone whom (until recently) I never met, who used it on a country I've never been, and helped people I've never seen?
What you would get is this video:
First, it must be said that this is far less sketchy than it seems. Rohan was a friend of mine long before I sent him a dime. I trusted him enough as a friend before I entrusted him with part of this project. That, of course, does limit how often I can do things like this.
Second, there is a specific reason I wanted ...
Why I Went to VidCon
[caption id="attachment_2489" align="aligncenter" width="481" caption="Hank & John Start VidCon Early in the Morning (thus the rare shot of empty seats)"][/caption]
VidCon. In a word? WOW. As one friend put it, "it's like the internet exploded into real life". It was surreal, amazing, & awesome to meet people that I've only been able to see through my computer screen.
Even though there wasn't nearly enough time, I'm in awe at how seamlessly online friends turned into "real life" friends. In most cases it's like you've known someone for ages and are just hanging out.
[caption id="attachment_2488" align="aligncenter" width="482" caption="This photo makes me look more ...
My 5 Fact Pitch to Save the Children
It's the first of April, and I'm standing in a dimly lit room with a bright projector light blinding me. In front of me, some high ranking officials who came to hear me speak. This is no April's Fools joke: this was my presentation to Save the Children USA's Global HQ.
[caption id="attachment_2423" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Save the Children's USA HQ (pic by Madge Canning)"][/caption]
After an hour of Keynote slides, graphs, and videos I was pleased to see that my presentation was well received. Lots of nodding heads. But I needed one more thing. I need to drive the message home. It ...
Does Steve Jobs Care about Global Poverty?
Less than 24 hours ago, Apple surpassed Microsoft to become the world's biggest tech company. As someone who used to spell Microsoft with a dollar sign, I can't believe what I'm about to say: this is a bad thing for the world.
The only thing I love more than Apple is what I use my Mac gear for: fighting poverty in developing countries. In this regard, unlike Microsoft & Bill Gates, Apple & Steve Jobs don't seem to care much about poverty and global development.
[caption id="attachment_2235" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="One runs the biggest tech company in the world, the other is a global ...
One Million Views. And, as of a few hours ago, this project is more popular on YouTube than even The ONE Campaign. I think we just pwned Bono
I said before that I like to focus on one difference at a time and I’m not doing this to become a celebrity. So why does it matter how many views this project gets or how popular this project is?
That’s because – even though I don’t like to play the numbers game – there are organizations that do play that game. And we just sent a big message to them.
You don’t need big PR dollars to engage people on the issue of global poverty, you don’t need to guilt people to get them to donate, and you don’t need big name celebrities to get people interested in your work.
Let’s continue to change the conversation. I’ll need your help every step of the way.
Following-up on my blog post about the Tour de Nerdfighting – here’s my video from that event. There is also lots of deleted scenes and bonus footage from this event up on my secondary channel. Hope you check it out!
[UPDATE: The Project 1010 guys took the video down but I'm told the a new version will be up soon. I'll fix the video link in this post when that happens.]
I recently stumbled upon this charity in Kenya called The 1010 Project. I just had to share this with you. Why? Just look at the video:
I also want to get in touch with these guys because I want to know how they were able to get permission to use Sigur Ros’s music. A while back I tried to get permission but I never heard back from those guys…
Save the Children does amazing work – that’s why I love using this project to highlight the good work that they do. One of the reasons for this is because they are very much on the same wavelength as me on a lot of issues.
If you’ve been following this project for a while, you know I want to change the conversation about global poverty. Coming back home I’ve found charity-related commercials full of sad images, sad music, and guilt-inducing please for donations.
What I admire about Save the Children is they haven’t resorted to those kinds of tactics. I’ve seen a lot of commercials and promo materials from Save the Children and I have yet to find a single one that is a guilt-trip or portrays the poor as objects of pity.
Save the Children is also willing to try new things when it comes to interacting with people over the internet. I’m really thrilled that when I came up with Challenge Poverty – Save the Children jumped on board and even made a video response:
This project is less about me and more about the online community that is supporting this journey every step of the way. Here’s a new video from a friend of mine by the name of Matt. He votes for the pond sand filter part of Challenge Poverty in a really creative and passionate way. I have to admit I never thought of the issue like that until I saw Matt’s video.
Hello from Plano, Texas! I’ve got some great news. First, I got to meet Hank & John Green. They are even more amazing in real life than they are online. If you want to see them, they are going on a Cross-America trip called the Tour de Nerdfighting. Check this map to see when and where they will be next – you can even RSVP by clicking on the city location.
Second, if you’ve ever wanted to make a donation but 1) Can’t or don’t want to use PayPal and 2) Don’t like how PayPal takes a cut of every donation – than there is a great opportunity for you to get involved in this project in a way that guarantees 100% of your donation is used. And best of all? I don’t ever have to touch a dime.
Hank and John will be accepting donations at every stop of their tour up until November 12th. On November 12th, they’ll be in Westport, Conneticut – the home town of Save the Children USA. If all goes according to plan – they’ll be handing over the donations directly to Save the Children. That money will be spent based on how you guys vote in my Challenge Poverty video. Voting is still open – so please do get involved!
I don’t have to touch your money, 100% of the funds raised go straight to helping the poor, you get to decide how it’s spent, and it all helps one of the world’s greatest international charities. How more awesome can it get?
Click the jump for some photos from the Plano event…
This is not a charity, organization, or anything formal. It’s my journey to try and make the world a better place - one meaningful difference at a time. It’s about inspiring others to believe that we can be the generation that ends extreme poverty. Hopefully, this project can also show the big multinational organizations that there is a better way to engage people on the issue of global poverty.
About Me
I'm Shawn - a 29 year old Canadian from Toronto. Before starting this project, I was a graduate student on scholarship at Notre Dame University. My life took a turn after I met Dr. Jeffrey Sachs (author of the book "The End of Poverty") when he came to give a speech at Notre Dame. That speech inspired me to withdraw from grad school, liquidate my savings, and begin this journey to try and make the world a better place - one meaningful difference at a time.
