How to Use Social Meetings and Tweetups As Platforms For Change

Dwight Turner — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 05:30:23 +0000

We’ve been busy building a community where people can collaborate on actively creating change. From posh parties to taking over street vendors, we’re having fun and making a difference in Bangkok. So as the world gears up to celebrate Twestival and many of you are brainstorming other ways to support charity through social media, I wanted to share a few things that have made our events successful.

You don’t have to be using social media to benefit from these tips. They can be applied to almost any social meeting, whether you’re managing events for a nonprofit or want to have a birthday where you do something to give back.

Small Stones, Big Ripples: Start with your friends and organize people around your plan to save the world. Refine your plan and make it realistic. Get the word out about what you’re doing and connect with other groups in your area. Soon you’ll find you have a small community. Choose a cause you’re passionate about and consider the variety of ways to contribute with your event. You may want to read my interview with Tom Potisit as an example of a small project making big ripples.

Transparency Required: Be ready to show people results. Transparency must be cultivated before, during, and after your event. Keep in mind, building integrity is about more than where the money goes. You should spend time connecting people attending your fundraiser with chances to participate in your cause. I love the feeling the day after the event when I have an inbox full of comments and emails to answer about how people can begin volunteering. As people see the benefits of what you’re doing they’ll be both more interested and more likely to give.

Plan Well, Care Less: Plan well and commit to your cause. When I decided something should be done to help urban refugees, I was determined to be a part of the solution whether or not my event was a success. I was able to care less in many situations because my commitment to change actually freed me from some of the anxieties of event organizing. Don’t let negativity or tight pockets shoot down your goals. When potential sponsors don’t answer your emails or return your phone calls, the need for change still exists. Social change DOES NOT require big sponsors or celebrities. Use me as proof. In Search of Sanuk has accomplished a great deal through our community and we haven’t hosted a sponsored event yet. How much more will you be able accomplish with all your connections?

The Law of Harry & Hurry: What I call the “Law of Harry and Hurry” is an extension of the above idea. No one wants a guilt trip about going to see Harry Potter instead of showing up at your charity event. People are busy. You can’t expect them to match your level of commitment, so don’t make them feel bad about their Harry or their hurry. Relax. Tell them not to worry if they can’t make it and make sure they know how they can get involved in other ways. You could always ask in a loud voice, “What do you have against ORPHANS?!” But I’m not sure how effective that would be. Show you’re committed with or without them. When they recognize this, they’ll be even more eager to work with you. In Bangkok we’re determined to make a difference, come take part.

Passion Wanted: Attract passionate people to your event. When we host the Bangkok Tweetup, I’m always amazed at the how diverse the crowd can be. They love travel, they’re business owners, and an array of other interesting pursuits. Remember, when all else fails cold beer and cool people wins you more high quality members than any amount of themes, raffles, or door prizes. Spend less time printing fancy name tags and more time engaging people about your cause and encouraging them to meet the other great people who came.

I hope these suggestions have been helpful. We’re volunteering almost every weekend and we’re hosting Twestival Bangkok in September. We will keep providing outlets for change to happen here. Let me know what you’re doing where you are!

“Dream big, work smart, start local.”

~Dwight

Over Entertained & Under Challenged

Dwight Turner — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 22:27:34 +0000

Would you consider you or your community over entertained and/or under challenged? When you finish reading, share your thoughts and enjoy the social entrepreneurship video from the Skoll Foundation.

Blame it on the ubiquity of advertising that has made every inch of public space available for purchase. Blame it on being submerged in a tourism dependent economy, overrun with hedonistic invitations. Blame it on our personal laziness. Regardless of where it feels most comfortable for you to pile up the blame, we need to realize too many of us are over-entertained and under-challenged.

This week as I listened to the founders of Imagine Thailand talk about the conflict in Southern Thailand. I couldn’t help but wonder why the situation had never been explained to me with such depth before. I’ve lived in Bangkok for a total of two years and I’ve been educating myself about everything Thai, including the language, for nearly three years. Yet Cavelle Dove’s description of the conflict blatantly exposed my minuscule knowledge and all the superficial explanations I had ever been given. Am I surrounded by heartless people or are they just as poorly informed? Are they just too distracted to care?

Perhaps poorly informed is less harsh than over entertained and under challenged. However, the latter most accurately explains my experiences. I know how long I desired so strongly to be a part of something meaningful that I was willing to join any number of organizations to feel I was contributing something. That’s because months of doing everything else the city had to offer left me tired, unfulfilled, and dejected. Yup, it’s the same miserable feeling you get after overdoing it at an expensive hotel buffet. That was my experience in Bangkok, and the seeds of how I came to begin my search for sanuk.

Living abroad has given me a more pronounced understanding of the quote, “The opposite of love isn’t hate, but indifference.” Especially when a Thai friend remarked, “Well Dwight, I’m really surprised because I grew up here and I’ve never been to a slum before.” Again I asked myself, are we really so out of touch? Is it our environment? How often are we really given opportunities to give back? Do we even know how to help people or how much fun it can be? Are we just avoiding a challenge?

Consider what avenues exist to discuss helping the less fortunate or marginalized in your community. What are they? Are you a part of the discussion? I fear so few of us are not even having these discussions. When they do occur, it happens in niches so isolated that they’re inaccessible to both other groups having similar discussions or people who are not members of these segmented communities.

It’s my passion to change this where I can.

Tonight In Search of Sanuk is hosting a party called LUSH to raise funds for the urban garden project. As I prepare, I wonder whether or not I should really have to get people drunk to convince them to give to a good cause. Whether we’ll ever stand united to battle the forces keeping us complacent. Whether one day we’ll plead with our friends to understand how tightly linked our well being is to those we’re indifferent to.