Several months ago I met up with Don Jorgenson, Development Director for Nuru International. We talked about everything from family to work stuff to the latest movies coming out. He’s a great guy and it was wild to hear about all that Nuru is doing internationally. A few weeks after we met up, Don shared with me this video about what Nuru was doing with phones and google docs. Check it out.

With the introduction of this tech, how much time are you saving monthly?

Approximately 80 hours

Has the data been conclusive (new way vs the paper version)? Any New Trends?

We don’t have enough data to make conclusions yet. But soon!

What was the timeline from idea to implementation?

The timeline has been quite fast. The idea had been tossed around before, but David started working on the concept of a mobile data solution in February. By April, we had selected hardware and software, and trained most of the local Kenyan staff with the use of the phones (email and form submission). We did two months of practice and QA, and we started collecting real data in June

Any tech insights on building supportive mobile websites?
David used Google Sites because his HTML skills are poor. He removed all graphics and backgrounds, and made a webpage with nothing but links to our Google Forms; this worked quite well.

Was it super expensive to rollout?

Hardware and our first few months of data cost $4300. David gets paid $2500/month and spent 2.5 months on the project; about a month of that was searching for the solution and won’t need to be repeated. The other 1.5 months were training and implementation; this should be done by our Kenyan staff in the future. In total, this cost Nuru on the order of $11,000.

This is a great merger of technology, ingenuity and commonly available tools to make the world a better place. Any other nominees for quality humanitarian work harnessing technology? Leave a comment and let me know.

Check out Nuru website here – nuruinternational.org

Today marks the beginning of International Justice Mission’s summer campaign – 5 Weeks for Freedom.

I was thrilled to be asked to be a part of helping getting the word out and stoked to be the first stop on their blog tour, click for the link. That post was the intensely personal side of the issue of human trafficking and how the awareness to such an issue eventually sidetracked my life in a very good way. It’s important to note that I wasn’t paid in any way for my blog services for this cause.

But over here at the Lab, I thought we’d talk about the communication, the website and some of the technology behind www.5weeksforfreedom.org. This site and campaign of IJM will be tracking the movements of a group traveling from Mobile, AL to Buffalo, NY in the next several weeks.

Highlights:

Multiple Touch Points – IJM has done a great job with social media integration and they’re building on their brand by starting another account on Twitter @5WFF There’s also going to be regular updates via their blog on what’s happening on the road and report backs on successes.

Access – The site allows for the viewer to check in with the riders via GPS. And also they’ll being doing uStream video live when they make certain stops.

Options – There are a lot of ways to get involved with what IJM is doing.

Humanity – I love the option to meet the individual riders (Personally my money is on Deborah Go, gotta represent SoCal!) A quick minute on why each rider is there, with so many stories it’ll be a lot easier to catalyze others in involvement and think about what their doing in their communities.

Time Limit – theres an end. So many times NGO’s aren’t thinking about a natural arc. How are your campaigns flowing? They should be like a good story – a beginning, a middle and an end. IJM’s campaign is a quick one and they’ve already set their day of completion of July 30. Having that end date helps communicate a lot to their audience – to the longtime connections, there’s an understanding that their will be a lot of talk about this campaign over the next 5-8 weeks. To the new connections, a time limit allows for a great introduction to what IJM is all about and as they continue to educate these new supporters who are passionate about making modern day slavery a thing of the past.

Over all marks – there’s no guarantee on any campaign but this looks like a fun time. I’m still waiting for some smart app developing company to make the IJM iPhone app.

IJM worked with Grafik for the creative and Capital Idea Ventures for the development of the site.

This past fall I was invited to the campus of Pepperdine University to talk with students in the PR/Marketing major and those involved in the local PRSSA chapter abut what life after college looks like. After several visits I was struck with a notion.

What if I walked with a class through some real world experiences while still enrolled in school?

Not exactly an internship, something with more of a safety net. A bit of a group think with direct input from a professor as well as a real world coach. The more college students I talk with or have worked with experience a wake up call when they hit the workplace. That seemed like an issue, so I did some thinking and found that there were some resources at my fingertips.

So I pitched an idea to my contact at Pepperdine (Dr. Emily Kinsky) and it looked like this:

The Project

Engage 10,000 college students to move from awareness to volunteers to advocates. Using all forms of PR (new and traditional media tools) to aid in the current campaigns created by URM and it’s partners – The class would work to catalyze the masses to being the solution to homelessness in Los Angeles.

Portnoy Media Group and Union Rescue Mission would work with the team to navigate the waters of Los Angeles non-profit PR and would formulate a feasible, real world plan with the chapter and then put it into action.

How Pepperdine wins:
Hands on creativity and implementation on a real world scenario. It’s a great resume piece for the students and provides instant feedback on success or failure. The students gain access to a client that is involved in every form of media production (print, film, broadcast, radio, web). URM and PMG could also give feedback on the process and the presentation from each team.

How URM wins:
Additional creative minds thinking about the plight of homelessness in Los Angeles. The result would be a microcosm of how URM engages college students and would then have solutions for maximum involvement.

How Portnoy Media Group Wins:
Additional minds creating content/ideas to aid with a current client.
I’d be looking for new ideas to accessibility and with all that brain power helping PMG aid URM in their endeavors of fundraising, awareness, volunteerism and advocacy.
An easy way to work along side and interact with students to identify good intern candidates.

The Final
The final presentations were several weeks ago and URM’s Director of Marketing and Communications, Jacqui Groseth, was on site for the final. All three pitches showed some similarities on how best to reach the students on their campus. Each team had identified a low cost/no cost option that would have maximum effectiveness for talking to college students throughout the Los Angeles area. I couldn’t have been happier with the way the project turned out and look forward to similar collaborations in the future. Big thanks to Dr. Kinsky for her risk taking!

Are you a school looking for a guest lecture? Contact Dan here

Click to check out Union Rescue Mission

Click to check out Pepperdine’s School of Communication

Portnoy Media Group is proud to join Radar LA and What Gives!? for this production.

Join Social Media maven Mark Horvath (@hardlynormal) for your morning cuppa at South by Southwest in Austin, TX. (SXSW)

Each morning Mark will chat about using Social Media for Social Good with a panel of genius communicators in the world of tech and non-profit. His guests have each set the standard for “now communication” within their niche.

The show films live in The Beacon: Lounge with a Conscience (NonProfit Lounge) March 13, 14 & 15th and will be airing online at The What Gives Ustream account.

Guest Lineup

Chris Brogan
President of the New Marketing Labs (www.newmarketinglabs.com), widely-read blogger, trendsetter, and co-author of the breakaway book, Trust Agents.

Beth Kanter
Author of “Beth’s Blog: How Non-Profits Can Use Social Media,” expert consultant to the non-profit world on Social Media strategy.

Jeff Pulver
Technology Anthropologist, Entrepreneur, Storyteller and Producer of the #140 Conference.

Kari Saratovsky
VP of Social Innovation, The Case Foundation (http://www.casefoundation.org/)

Chris Noble
President of Cause Media Group

Tony Steward of LifeChurch.tv
Known for their large-scale community creation muscle, LifeChurch.tv will share about the ins and outs of community interaction.

The Hardly Normal Cup of Coffee is a morning broadcast not to be missed. These discussions will infuse tech heads with an informational buzz sure to wake the mind and heart. Mark Horvath, a homeless advocate and hope coach by nature, will lead an new interview conversation each day at the non-profit lounge. Each episode will stream live to his InvisiblePeople.tv website.

With the world getting flatter and flatter, the lines of best practices on the web for non-profit and for profit businesses is becoming slim, the distinction is in the approach.

Strategic Partners

(Woooo!)

The Beacon is located on the 3rd floor of the Austin Convention Center, Room 8B—smack in the heart of the Greater Good Campus.