5 Things You Can do in Less Than an Hour to Fight Poverty

"One Issue, Thousands of Voices." That is the purpose of Blog Action Day and this year's focus is Poverty. As I think about this topic I can't help but reflect on a trip I took to Tanzania a couple of years ago. During that trip I got to see first hand what poverty really is. Driving through towns and seeing houses made of dung and cardboard, passing by children who were obviously malnourished and starving. That experience really made me feel guilty for ever complaining about anything in my life when I really am so fortunate. But there are things that YOU and I can do NOW to fight against poverty and help those in need. Here are just a few things I was able to do TODAY (in less than an hour):

1. Cleaned out my closet and donated my clothes
2. Commented on this blog where $1 will be donated to a food bank to feed the poor
3. Clicked a link on The Hunger Site to give 1.1 cups of food to the hungry
4. Donated to the United Nations World Food Programme
5. Wrote a blog post to increase awareness about poverty

For more ideas on what you can do check out this list for 88 ideas and see how you can make a difference!

To Blog or Not to Blog?

With only 54 of the Fortune 500 companies blogging, this is a question still being pondered by many. Cisco, HP and Intel are in that blogging minority and Reem Abeidoh of Problogger interviewed me, Tac Anderson of HP and Michael Brito of Intel to come up with A Guide to Corporate Blogging.

Ryan McLean commented on the post stating, "I don't think I will ever be in a fortune 500 company. But if I ever am then this post will come in handy." I agree with Reem's response that despite the company size "ultimately the process is very similar." And although I represented the Cisco blog in this interview I have helped build blogging strategies for many small companies and have followed the same process successfully. So whether you're coming from a big or small company this guide is a must read!

Tac, Michael and myself are also contributors to the Conversations Matter blog.

CORRECTION: Reem is not a Problogger staff member, she is a Social Media Strategist for Outrider.

Mac, PC & Linux - Parody Commercial

A parody of the Apple Mac vs. PC commercial with a guest appearance of the cutest Linux you've ever seen!

Cisco Social Media Case Study - Free Webcast

In addition to all of the conferences I'm speaking at (as noted in my previous post) I just finished a live webcast that is now available on demand here. Enjoy and feel free to submit questions here on my blog and I will respond to you. I am also welcome to feedback and suggestions for improvement. Thanks!

Social Media Marketing Summit - Recap

I presented the Cisco ASR Case Study example at today's Social Media Marketing Summit. I was a little rusty since I've been on LOA for 2 months now (for those who may not know I had a baby girl on 8.8.08). I stumbled on a few words then to top it off the computer prompted me to restart now or later for an update and of course I accidentally pressed now. The crowd responded with a "oooh noooo" and it still took me a minute to realized what I had done. I tried to keep my cool and keep on going and according to this post from Trisha Lyn it sounded like I didn't do that bad (I swear I didn't pay her).

Uunfortunately didn't catch much of the other sessions with the exception of of a presentation, by Tara Hunt. Her presentation, "Increasing the Social Capital of your Brand" was largely based off her book "The Whuffie Factor" which she is expecting to be released in April. Her delivery was awesome and although the presentation was high level it sounds like it'll be a good read to reinforce the basics.

As for my presentation, if you missed this conference you'll have two more opportunities to catch me. I'll be speaking at the Social Media Strategies Conference and the SIPA Mid-Year Marketing Conference.

If anyone who has seen my slides or better yet who has seen me present has comments or suggestions for improvement, please let me know!

UPDATE: If you're going to the WebGuild Social Media Strategies Conference use this discount code to save $150 "community56"