Social marketing-related tips from across the planet converge in this very spot…
- Use walkscore.com to rate the “walkability” of your home or work. The site looks at how many places like restaurants, grocery stores and shopping centers are within walking distance, based on information found in Google Maps. Hungry Girl (a fun newsletter geared toward people watching their weight) points out that the average resident of a walkable neighborhood is seven pounds lighter than someone who lives in an inconvenient neighborhood. I checked my old and new addresses, and found that my new neighborhood in the city scored a 60, while the old house in the suburbs only scored a 37. Living in walking distance to places I would have driven to previously is definitely making a difference in my activity level.
- Lest I feel too good about my newly walkable state, a report has come out from environmentalist Chris Goodall, author of “How to Live a Low-Carbon Life,” that walking does more damage to the environment than if I were to drive the same distance. He says that the increased physical activity would require more calories from food that creates more carbon emissions to produce than driving a car emits. If you are not a vegan, apparently the ideal is to just sit at home without moving, though preferably not in front of the TV. Hmmm…I wonder how much carbon is emitted during coronary bypass surgery.
- And in other related news, television’s Jack Bauer will be fighting global warming on the next season of 24. And while he’s fighting terrorists threatening to walk to the store rather than drive a Prius, the Fox network will also be taking steps to reduce and offset the carbon emissions of the show’s production. They will be switching to a biodiesel blend in the show’s vehicles and generators, purchasing renewable-energy credits as part of its electricity bills and sending scripts and other documents via e-mail rather than hand-delivering them by car. The show’s website features a PSA by star Kiefer Sutherland and tips for how viewers can take action.
- Bibliomulas are a very old instrument of very new change in Venezuela. The “book mules” are essentially four-legged libraries that take books into remote communities, coordinated by the University of Momboy. Schoolchildren and farmers are learning to read as a result, and the mules are also bringing technology to the villages they visit. Though the villages are isolated, they are becoming connected to the world around them through the efforts of the university and its book-mule-biles.
- Stanford’s Persuasive Technology Lab put together a list of seven categories of how mobile texting can be used to promote health that I think are useful to get your mind thinking about how you could use it for your issue. They are:
- Remind you to do health behavior
- Collect data from you
- Offer you words of inspiration
- Keep you on schedule/routine
- Alert you to health issue or crisis
- Send you lab results
- Give you health info on demand
- Pachelbel as police aid? The city of Tacoma, Washington has started to pipe classical music into its transit center to keep away criminals who make drug deals at the bus stop or use public transportation to go cause trouble. They are trying to change the environment to make it inhospitable to the people who are engaging in undesirable behaviors. Whether hearing the soaring strains of orchestral music will be so grating to criminal ears that they decide to stay home is yet to be seen. I have a feeling it will not be as effective as playing rap music would be in keeping classical music lovers away from a particular place. Though perhaps an increased level of music appreciation will emerge and serve to soothe the savage breast.
- The nonprofit presence in Second Life continues to flourish even as the hype and hoopla about the virtual world continues to fade. I think this means that those who came into SL for the right reasons (i.e., collaboration, learning, connection) are still there, while those who jumped into the world expecting that this latest shiny object would automatically sell more of their widgets (the old-fashioned kind) were disappointed. Nonprofits now have a brand-new dedicated space in the Nonprofit Commons, where 32 organizations have virtual offices. They will be having a grand opening celebration on Tuesday, August 14 at 5:30 pm PT/SLT at the new virtual location as well as live in San Francisco and at participating nonprofits. Attire is “avatar fabulous.”
- Beth points us to CogDogRoo’s 50 Web 2.0 Ways to Tell a Story. He shows us that these days, online storytelling is as easy as slipping out the back, Jack and making a new plan, Stan. The three steps are outlining a story idea, finding some media and picking a tool to build your story. And yes, there are actually even more than 50 tools on the list, which Alan used to tell the same story in many different ways.
Until next time…
Photo Credit: nicolemperle
Technorati Tags: exercise, physical activity, global warming, environment, 24, libraries, mobile, music, second life, storytelling
Nedra helps nonprofits and public agencies create positive change on health and social issues through social marketing and transmedia storytelling strategies at Weinreich Communications since founding the company in 1995. She helps organizations make a difference for the populations they serve by strategically designing programs that draw on state-of-the-art behavior change techniques, digital media approaches and the power of stories. 
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