Yesterday at the January chapter of IABC the topic was social media. Read this previous post Social Media Crystal Ball Event brought to you by IABC Washington DC for details on the event. In the picture are guest Shannon Renee and John Taylor of Sprint Nextel Corporation one of the panelists at the event. Other panelists include Shashi Bellamkonda ( author) , Director of social media and "social media swami" for Network Solutions; Torod Neptune, senior vice president/Global Public Affairs practice leader and general manager of Waggener Edstrom Worldwide's DC, office; and Paul Sherman, co-founder and editor-in-chief of Tech Wire Publications. Daria Steigman, former chapter president and founder of Steigman Communications moderated the panel.
At the start of the event Shonali Burke President of IABC DC made a very bold decision and told the 60 odd communicators in the audience that she was turning 40 the next day. After gasps of disbelief and some encouraging shouts the audience broke into a spontaneous singing of "Happy Birthday Shonali". There was a reason for the announcment and Shonali has been asking her social network to help a cause using the passion and enthusiasm that birthday greetings usually create. Her email signature from probably a week before was "Why I'd like you to know how old I am: http://tr.im/K6Yi" . People who wanted to wish Shonali could do so by using a application on Facebook http://apps.facebook.com/causes/birthdays/251828 . At the time of writing this article she had raised more than $1141 when her goal was $800. This is a great example of how social networks can help with good causes. Being passionate about the cause definitely is a good thing.
Here is Shonali's ( right in the picture ) response to my question about using her birthday and declaring her age for a social cause.:
We live in a society that focuses on youth and delaying aging as much as possible. Unfortunately, like taxes, aging is the one thing we really don't have any control over - it's going to happen whether we like it or not. So I think it's important for everyone, but especially for women - and women in business - to claim their age. Youth is a wonderful thing, but so are the experiences you gain as you grow older. For me, my 30s were way better than my 20s, and as I enter my 40s, I can't wait to see what life brings me.
That's why I decided to "announce" my age very publicly this year by turning it into a fundraiser for Kids with Cameras via Facebook's Causes application (and you can learn more about why I feel for KWC from last year's birthday post on my blog Waxing Unlyrical ). I've been overwhelmed by the kindness of people from all over the world - some of whom I haven't met "IRL," who've donated what they can. As of this writing, they helped me not just reach, but overtake my goal of $800 (that was the maximum that FB would allow me to set) - so far we've raised $1141 for the organization! This touched me particularly because of the devastation that's been wrought in Haiti, and naturally folks are focusing their attention and giving there - but the fact that they also found it in their hearts to give to my cause really touched me.
We CAN change the world. We just have to decide to do it.
Photos: courtesy (cc) Shashi Bellamkonda Social Media Swami Network Solutions
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