Spare Change: November 2010

Spare Change

making a difference with social marketing
by Nedra Kline Weinreich

About Nedra Weinreich

Nedra is a social marketing consultant, author and speaker who works with nonprofits and government agencies for positive health and social change using social media, transmedia storytelling and entertainment education approaches at Weinreich Communications.

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11.22.2010

New Edition of 'Hands-On Social Marketing' is Here!

Back when I first started consulting in the mid-90s, I saw a big gap in the field of social marketing. There were some good books on social marketing out that explained the key concepts of the field (particularly Alan Andreasen's Marketing Social Change book), but not much on how to actually DO social marketing. The closest to what I had in mind was the National Cancer Institute's "Pink Bible" (as many of us in the field call it), which is filled with practical how-to advice on designing health communication programs, but it was not comprehensive enough. So, I decided to write it myself.

I completed the final draft and sent it to the publisher days before my first child was born. The book itself was born in 1999, titled Hands-On Social Marketing: A Step-by-Step Guide. Over the years it was translated into several languages, used by practitioners in the US and around the world, and integrated as a textbook into college and graduate programs. The book held up pretty well for many years, because of its emphasis on the timeless concepts and process. But around 2005, something happened that made the book feel more and more out of date as the years went on. It was called social media. Over the past several years I've been working on and off on updating the book and identifying the changes in the field that needed to be included in a new edition.

I'm happy to say that the second edition of the book is now out! It's been renamed Hands-On Social Marketing: A Step-by-Step Guide to Designing Change for Good, to make clear that the book is about social marketing, not social media marketing (though the book certainly touches on that topic as well). The book still explains key social marketing concepts and takes you through the steps of the social marketing process (now six rather than five - I've divided the "planning" step into "analysis" and "strategy development"). It still has extensive worksheets that help you apply the concepts in each chapter to your own program, and sidebars with how-tos and useful resources. But it has new chapters and emphasis on incorporating social media into your program, as well as using the design approach to create behavior change. While the first book had more of a focus on public health applications (my own background), the examples in the new book span the range of social, environmental and, yes, health topics to which social marketing can be applied.

For more information about the book, you can take a look at HandsOnSocialMarketing.com. The site includes a detailed table of contents and some sample chapters, as well as an online version of the social marketing resource list included in the book's appendix. Soon the publisher will be providing me with pdf versions of the worksheets to post as well.

You can buy a copy of the book on Amazon.com. If you teach a course related to social marketing and would like a complimentary review copy, you can request it via the publisher, Sage Publications. If you're interested in reviewing the book on your blog or for other publications, please let me know. I would be especially appreciative if, after you buy the book, you would post your review of it on Amazon - I'd love to know what you think of it and how you are using it. And if you like it, you can also join the fan page for the book on Facebook to find out about the latest developments.

Finally, on my YouTube debut, you can see me talking about the book on video (below). I've been encouraged to create a limited series of short videos on topics from the book, so I'm considering that. What do you think?

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Open Our Eyes: Seeing the Invisible People of Homelessness

When I received a note from Kevin Hendricks asking me to contribute my thoughts to a book to support Mark Horvath's nonprofit InvisiblePeople.tv, I jumped at the chance. I first came across Mark (@hardlynormal) on Twitter about two years ago, and was drawn in by his ongoing narrative describing his day-to-day work at a homeless shelter, forays onto the streets to do video interviews of homeless people, and worries about becoming homeless himself (again). I marveled at what he had been able to accomplish with a videocamera and an outdated laptop to give homeless people the opportunity to tell their own stories. (I challenge you to watch some of the videos on the InvisiblePeople.tv site and not come away seeing the people you pass every day in a whole new light.)

When Mark won $50,000 in the Pepsi Refresh grant program at SXSW last year, he used it to create a new project called We Are Visible, which empowers homeless people to connect with others via social media. He also just returned from a road trip across the U.S. to raise awareness of homelessness and to share the stories of the homeless people he met in each city. Throughout all of this, Mark has been on the verge of homelessness himself.

Kevin wanted to find a way to help support Mark in his important work and came up with the idea of creating a book that has just been released -- Open Our Eyes: Seeing the Invisible People of Homelessness -- as a joint fundraising/awareness-building project. When you purchase a copy of this book, 100% of the profits will go directly to Mark and InvisiblePeople.tv. The book includes the stories Mark has chronicled on the InvisiblePeople.tv site, along with short essays from people whose lives Mark has touched and ideas for how readers can make a difference for people who are homeless.

Below is my contribution to the book, but please buy the book to read the rest of it as well. Other contributors include: Brad Abare, Chris Brogan, Wendy Cohen, Lee Fox, Jessica Gottlieb, Alan Graham, David Henderson, Jeff Holden, Michael Ian, Becky Kanis, Natalie Profant Komuro, Jeff Lilley, Geoff Livingston, Heather Meeker, Brandon Mendelson, Stefanie Michaels, Scott Monty, Shannon Moriarty, Chloe Noble, Stephanie Rudat, Kari Saratovsky, Lisa Truong, and Scott Williams.

Hero by Example

Mark Horvath is my hero. Not just because he selflessly devotes himself to raising awareness of the issue of homelessness, something that most people prefer not to contemplate, but because of how he is doing it. Mark does not just make noise, screaming “Someone has to do something about this problem!” He grabs a bag of socks and heads out to tell the stories of homeless people, one by one. And he pulls the rest of us along at the same time.

The Invisible People project is truly a poster child for what can be done in the social media era. When people complain to me that their budget is too small to make a difference, I point them to what Mark has been able to accomplish with a budget of—essentially—zero. Though I’m sure he would prefer to have a fancy video production and editing set-up, the constraints of his equipment have actually worked in favor of what he is trying to accomplish. The raw, unedited footage parallels the raw emotions that the stories often evoke in viewers.

By giving homeless people a voice, Mark is helping the people most affected by the problem to be part of the solution. When he gives them the opportunity to tell their stories, he reminds us that they are human beings first, above all. We can no longer pretend that the shabby figure with the shopping cart does not experience the same emotions as we do, or that they prefer to live on the street. And Mark has opened our eyes to the fact that beautiful children and babies are homeless too.

If all the project did was just to make us “see” the homeless people we pass every day, that would be a major accomplishment. But the larger picture is that Mark sets an example that inspires others to take action. Mark is one of the biggest mensches that I know. The Yiddish word mensch doesn’t just mean a good person, but someone who does the right thing no matter how inconvenient or difficult. Despite the fact that he is constantly on the verge of becoming homeless himself, as soon as he finds out that someone needs assistance, he does whatever he must to help that person.

The biggest payoff of the Invisible People project is that it pushes us to get out of our comfort zone and follow Mark’s example. People are hurting everywhere, so much so that the problem seems overwhelming. But he shows us that each of us—one person at a time, just like Mark— can use our unique talents to help one person at a time.

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All proceeds from this book support the work of Mark's nonprofit InvisiblePeople.tv. You can also support InvisiblePeople.tv directly by making a donation.

Buy it from Amazon for $9.99.
Buy it for the Kindle for $3.99.
Other digital versions are also available.

Better yet, if your organization could use someone who is an expert at using social media to make people care about an issue, offer him a job. How have his talents and passion not been snapped up by a smart advocacy organization yet?

[Full disclosure: I am a board member of InvisiblePeople.tv, for which I am not paid.]

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11.01.2010

Immersive Technology for Social Change

I recently attended the Immersive Technology Summit, which was a daylong showcase of how organizations, storytellers and researchers are using technology to transport people to alternate realities. The term Immersive Technology "refers to simulated realities, interactive devices, and applications that are combined to create an 'immersive' experience into technology. It includes, but is not limited to, technology that blurs, if not erases, the line of distinction between the confined physical world and the boundless digital world."

As Harold Tan, one of the summit organizers, noted when talking about why immersive technology is important, life is about experiences, and technology can be used to immerse yourself in other people’s experiences; you can live a hi-res depiction of an artist’s imagination.

Though I was only able to attend the morning sessions, I was pleased to note how many projects have nonprofit applications. I’ll share some of the highlights here.

Fred Nikgohar of RoboDynamics described how robots are being used to bring people together across time and space. Robots are serving as a mobile telepresence to bring together geographically dispersed talent within a workplace, or to allow an out-of-town manager to be present to oversee his employees on the factory floor. Fred noted that it only takes an average of five days for staff to make the mental adjustment of referring to the robot representation by the remote employee’s name. This has obvious applications for telemedicine and education in geographically remote areas.

Mark Bolas at USC’s Institute for Creative Technology demonstrated how his lab is creating virtual environments for training and simulations, transforming real space into a walkable virtual location using virtual reality headsets and warehouse space. Military and hospital simulations stretch space through redirection tricks like flipping the door to a different wall without the user noticing to minimize the physical space needed. One of the demonstrations in the exhibit hall showed another way of allowing the user to explore a virtual location with a stationary hamster ball-type of apparatus synched with the view in the VR goggles.

Bonnie Bucker and Garry Hare of Imagined Communities talked about their design-based educational experience that connects students with their communities. After rendering their neighborhood in 3-D, youth identify areas of need in the community to reimagine how it could be improved. For example, a blighted area could be turned into a community garden. The youth give virtual walking tours of the neighborhood, and residents can vote on the changes they like the most. The new design can then be realized in the real world. I loved when Garry said, "I'm interested in the political troublemaking aspects of augmented reality."

Jacquelyn Ford Morie, also from USC's Institute of Creative Technologies, talked about the virtual humans and avatars the ICT has created for various purposes. She demonstrated Ada and Grace, the virtual human museum guides at the Boston Museum of Science. They can understand and respond to natural spoken language, engaging visitors in both explaining the science exhibits and in demonstrating applied computer science.

In addition, ICT created the "Coming Home" project (also known as Transitional Online Post-Deployment Soldier Support in Virtual Worlds), which provides mental health support to returning soldiers in Second Life. This virtual veterans center provides real-time in-world stress reduction and mindfulness classes and areas where soldiers can come together for peer support. This includes the Warrior's Journey - a narrative component where individuals' avatars enter a tower and follow their choice of classic warrior stories from various cultures that depict values like duty and dedication. At the end of the journey, they meet the avatar of that character and can have a conversation with him. This is an opportunity for returning soldiers to "rewrite" and reframe their own personal stories, which they may feel conflicted about. They can then add their own story online by uploading pictures and text.

I think the technology is getting to a point where nonprofits can start looking at whether the immersive approach can help them further their goals. As a panelist noted, when "Jackass 3D" gets the highest weekly box-office ratings, it means that immersive media is making its way to the mainstream. I'm sure we can find better uses than that!

For more reading on augmented reality:

How nonprofits are using augmented reality - Geoff Livingston
Augmented reality business models - Gary Hayes
Augmented reality platforms and mlearning - Dianne Rees
Ambient Intelligence and Immersive Virtual Telepresence in Health Care - Giuseppe Riva

Photo Credit: janjochemo

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