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Conversational Marketing: Fact or Fiction?

Sean Carton's explanation of how the Obama campaign enrolled its supporters in the creation of its brand is worth careful consideration. In Conversational Marketing: Fact or Fiction, he pushes us in the direction of looking for hybrid models for working with our stakeholders. We must neither abandon the conversation, nor quash it, of course. But organizations play a unique roll in turning conversations into collaborations. Good reading. Posted: 11/23/08; 9:46:38 PM #

Top 25 Censored Stories for 2009

It astonishes me how often people in civil society organizations, caught up with their particular issue, are as subject to the distortions of mainstream media as anyone else. Because I believe we need to know about the world we're trying to save, I recommend to you Project Censored's Top 25 Censored Stories for 2009: (1) Over One Million Iraqi Deaths Caused by US Occupation, (2) Security and Prosperity Partnership: Militarized NAFTA, (3) InfraGard: The FBI Deputizes Business, (4) ILEA: Is the US Restarting Dirty Wars in Latin America?, (5) Seizing War Protesters’ Assets, (6) The Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act, (7) Guest Workers Inc.: Fraud and Human Trafficking, (8) Executive Orders Can Be Changed Secretly, (9) Iraq and Afghanistan Vets Testify, (10) APA Complicit in CIA Torture, (11) El Salvador’s Water Privatization and the Global War on Terror, (12) Bush Profiteers Collect Billions From No Child Left Behind, (13) Tracking Billions of Dollars Lost in Iraq, (14) Mainstreaming Nuclear Waste, (15) Worldwide Slavery, (16) Annual Survey on Trade Union Rights, (17) UN’s Empty Declaration of Indigenous Rights, (18) Cruelty and Death in Juvenile Detention Centers, (19) Indigenous Herders and Small Farmers Fight Livestock Extinction, (20) Marijuana Arrests Set New Record, (21) NATO Considers “First Strike” Nuclear Option, (22) CARE Rejects US Food Aid, (23) FDA Complicit in Pushing Pharmaceutical Drugs, (24) Japan Questions 9/11 and the Global War on Terror, and (25) Bush’s Real Problem with Eliot Spitzer. Posted: 11/23/08; 9:41:39 PM #

The Art of The Finish

I have started a lot of projects over the years. (I even had a business card for a while that read "Professional Beginner", of which I was inordinately proud.) I have a character flaw that I think is shared by many in civil society: I don't always know when to finish, wrap up, quit. I'm a lot better about this than I was a decade ago or even just a few years ago, but that's an ongoing lesson for me, without a doubt. I want to share with you Keith Robinson's 2006 article on The Art of The Finish, a great compendium of ways to get into wrapping things up. I've been fortunate enough to partner with people who are great at finishing, but he shows that that's not the only solution. Posted: 11/23/08; 9:37:04 PM #

Economic Effects on Philanthropy
	We're all writing about how the economic downturn will affect the sector. (This seems second only to telling President Elect Obama what he should do in office.) Naturally, lots of people are worried about the effect on giving. So, Robert Weiner collected nine links to articles and reports on the Economic Effects on Philanthropy at TechSoup. Posted: 11/23/08; 9:05:45 PM #