Collective Heart

Free Hugs Campaign

Jen over at Ebb & Flow reminded me of this fabulous campaign that debuted on YouTube last month. I checked back on its status today-- almost 2million people have viewed it on YouTube alone. In addition, response videos have also received nearly 100,000 views! This is a wonderful example how a viral video can impact a community in a positive way.

Witness pilots a human rights video hub

Witness-- who's slogan is "See it. Film it. Change it"-- recently partnered with Global Voices to pilot a user-generated participatory Video Hub. YouTube and other video portals at the moment have very few videos that get traction in the non-profit/charity/NGO sector. In fact, they don't even have a defined category for people to upload to yet (hint, hint). Witness's latest endeavor will hopefully create a new rich environment for activists, providing "new opportunities to feed the populist shift toward user-generated content with media in the service of global human rights advocacy."

A full released is planned for the summer of 2007. I look forward to the progression. Check out the pilot.

Have Money Will Vlog promotes colombia migration project

Have Money Will Vlog has a wonderful new project they are promoting-- The Maria Gomez-Colombia Migration Project.

Here is a quote from their website around what they look for in projects:

"We usually stray away from commercial projects (but not necessarily); we often smile at people that just want a new HD camera (but we never count it out); we like projects where the creator is sacrificing something to make the project happen (but it isn’t a requirement); we like promoting creators who already have a small network who can donate (but we love unknowns as well); we like projects that attempt to change how we see the world (no exceptions here)."

Maria Gomez, the current vlogger they are promoting, is looking for financial backing to help make the 4 month trip through Colombia. Currently, the site has raised $1423, a little over half of the targeted funds needed. Please take a moment and go to this site, watch Maria's video, and donate to this worthy cause.

Mondonation: Massive "I Believe" Contest Launched

Mondonation just launched a fabulous new project on YouTube, The Massive "I Believe" Contest. (Yes, I do love these guys!) They are asking all YouTubers to post a video response of what they believe. Responses will be judged by their creativity (not belief) under the following categories:

°The most heroic belief
°The most humorous belief
°The most inspiring belief
°The most stupid belief

The deadline is Decemeber 1st, and they plan to announce the winners on International Human Rights Day, December 10th. Great idea Mondonation. I will definitely be entering a video on behalf of my 60 Seconds of Light Project!

On a similar note, please also check out Mondonation founder Ward Bingham's new video experiment in HUMANITY. Keep up the good postings.

Netsquared: Remixing the web for social change

If you are a non-profit organization and want to maximize you success through web-based social networking, then Netsquared is the place for you. Some of the things they offer:

° Community blog: it took me only 20 min to sign up and post a message. Posts are screened and updated regularly, and I was able to see my entry within 24 hours.

° Toolkit: learn how to use wikis, podcasts, feeds, aggrigator, and more to further your cause.

This site was created by the parent site TechSoup. Please visit both sites and explore!

Miniature Earth: Donella Meadows' message via video

I came upon this movie on YouTube today. Although I embedded the movie from their site, I also downloaded a flash version from the creator's site, www.miniature-earth.com-- so I could donate to the small $5 charitable request. This viral video campaign was created in order to promote the ideas around Donella Meadows' original "State of the Village Report." Donella passed away in 2000, but her cause continues to be carried out by Sustainability Institute www.sustainer.org. Here is an excerpt from the creator's site:

"The idea of reducing the world’s population to a community of only 100 people is very useful and important. It makes us easily understand the differences in the world.

There are many types of reports that use the Earth’s population reduced to 100 people, especially in the Internet. Ideas like this should be more often shared, especially nowadays when the world seems to be in need of dialogue and understanding among different cultures, in a way that it has never been before."

This viral movie has reached over 2 million people. Please continue to help spread the word, and visit their site to download a flash version, which, by the way, has lovely music.

MONDONATION: inspiring positive global change

Ward Bingham, the founder of Mondonation was the first person (and only, so far!) to comment on our current project 60 Seconds of Light. Thank you Ward.

The serendipity of the web always amazes me. I was looking for inspiring sites that fit into Collective Heart's mission, and this one just fell in my lap! Not only is it inspirational, but it is a fun idea:

"Mondonation is an experiment built around the idea that if we all share our beliefs on a daily basis, by wearing them on our bodies, they will grow in strength. This will begin to affect the people who wear their beliefs and also everyone they come into contact with. What we do is give people the opportunity to wear their beliefs. You get to choose a charity from a growing list of charities and we give your designated amount ($1, $5, $10, or $20) to that charity."

Please go to their site and buy a t-shirt, pillow, or donate. They have already raised over $20,000. And make sure to watch Ward's very heartfelt story.