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How many people does it take to make a awesome interactive campaign on poverty?

The answer is more than you ever have budget for.

So whilst 5 teams of people in cities around the world, are going without sleep, to make awesome happen for GCAP's, in my name project, that will launch on Sept 25. You my lucky reader get to sit back and enjoy as the differnt elements all start to come online.

Today we have got the in my name facebook fanpage publshed, which brings all the feeds from the flickr, tumblr, twitter and eventually www.inmyname.com

So spread the word, readers, and if you are intersted in blogging about what we are doing send an email to blog at inmyname.com so we can send you a special bloggers kit and news alert.

digital elections

I am in New York City at the moment, working a project, inmyname.com that will be launching on September 25th.

Between lots of phone calls, meetings and feeling like I am glued to my laptop, I have been watching the US election unfold, and what is clear is how online is actually leading the news cycling, rather than just commenting upon it.

As the news channels, struggle to fill their blanket coverage, they are looking to blogs to who are breaking the stories, that they once would have. This transference of power from the institutional to the individual changes the dynamic of the whole political spin machine, and party that can deal with this the best, will most likely be the successful one.

As the US election and the techniques used to get the next president into office are pushing new ground, it will be interesting how this will impact how use of digital communications will be used in other national elections, and also in how it legitimizes the use of the digital voice for change.

How do weapons get to landlocked countries in a crisis?

The folks at IANSA - The International Action Network on Small Arms - have found out about a ship that is trying to offload 77 tonnes of weapons and ammo at ports in Southern African countries. Where are the 77 tonnes heading for? Tension filled, landlocked Zimbabwe, that's where.

So far dockers in Durban, South Africa have refused to offload the cargo, and the ship has had to find another port to call into, to get it's cargo out of it's hull.

IANSA, has set up a petition, for you to sign, that will be sent onto the people who have the power to take the decision to stop the cargo from being offloaded at their ports, in the Southern African region.

If you want to give IANSA a hand in promoting their action and keep the arms on board, join their Facebook group , blog about about it and even add this special Google Map to track the progress of the ship, onto your website.




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Jolt campaigning

The Facebook event - Candle in My Window – for Tibet, reminded me how effective Facebook can be for "in the news" campaigning.

As most of the general public, aren't associated with a campaigning organisation that sends them regular updates, and even those that are, don't always have the time to absorb the information when it does arrive, news coverage of an issue can act like a lighting bolt, jolting people into being concerned. Unfortunately once concerned many people just don’t know where to go or what to do, to help.

Due to the unpredictability of these Jolt moments, it has been hard in the past, for campaigning organisations to take advantage of the Jolt, when it happens to the issues they work on, during the very short space of time it may be in the news, or that they can happen without advance warning.

This is where sites like Facebook, are coming into play.

Social networks - particularly ones that have a broad subscriber base - are providing people with the space to quickly coalesce when they get interested in an issue, by Jolt moments. And, increasingly that interest is backed up with a desire to demonstrate that they care, by taking symbolic or direct actions and even lifestyle changes.

Over the last 12 months, organizations - large and small – and individuals have taken advantage of the Jolt, to harness the collective energy of people, and directing it towards campaign activities, to pressure targets, take actions or show solidarity. The Support Burma Monks, and the One Million People Say Sorry groups are just two examples, of effective mobilisation for offline and online actions, after their issues dominated news coverage.

It will be interesting to see how the Candle in My Window - for Tibet event, goes in achieving its aims, to show support for the Tibetan cause by getting 100 millon people to place candles or lights in their windows during the Olympic Opening ceremony.

Feel free to add other examples of Jolt campaigns and how they have been used in social networks to mobilise people.

E-campaigning Forum April 10 - 11, 2008

I was lucky enough to be asked to speak at an E-campaigning Forum, held in Oxford on April 10-11, by the folks at Fairsay.

As well as catching up some lovely people I hadn't seen for ages, it was great to meet with lots of new people from around the world who are as interested interactive campaigning as I am.

The forum was two full days of talking, sharing tips and fleshing out some of the issues facing e-campaigning and online advocacy practitioners. I talked so much I lost my voice by Friday afternoon.

It is an unique event, and it is different each time you attend. Read some of the comments and blogs from other participants , to get a feel for what went on. My personal highlight was listening to Greenpeace campaigner, Fish, talk about how they use interactive tools and channels within China.

Below are some of the links that I talked about during my speech, side sessions and coffee breaks. Feel free to add links to projects that you think are using interactive tools and techniques in interesting ways to enable social change.

• Oxfam at the UN Climate Change Conference - how Oxfam International used different tools to provide a communication channel that worked for different audience needs.
  


• Fairtrade woman: Facebook - Youtube - Myspace - How Oxfam GB used particular channels to engage with the public about FairTrade Fortnight with the aim of deepening people's commitment to choosing FairTrade products.
  


• Ushahidi - A mashup that documents violent incidents during the recent unrest in Kenya.
  


• I Love Mountains - Using Google Earth as way to connect people across the United States to a regional campaign.
  


• Burma Facebook group - Using Facebook as a organising tool, to engage Facebook users around this issue -globally.
  


• Greenpeace International Facebook Page - good use of using new page feature in Facebook to communicate to supporters within Facebook environment.
  


• Who on earth cares, - A nice use of maps to show action and generate a sense of online community across one country.
  


• Sorry Status Change - Interesting way to flash mob people online around a particular day, and it worked!


• 
  Genocide Information Network - Using a number of social networking channels, activities and tacticis, to get people active around their issues.
  


• My Guardian Weekly -
  How traditional newspapers are crowd sourcing for content and generating community space.