Planet Common Ground Athens

Funding Athens Transit: to ad or not to ad?

2008-08-27T18:52:18+00:00

See the 3rd article down in this week's Flagpole, "How to Get The Bus More Money?," which covers recent discussions between Athens Transit, ACC staff, and the mayor & commission about whether or not to allow banner ads on the side of city buses as a revenue generator for transit services.

Sounds like a lot of money, but it also sounds like a slippery slope of marketing & branding our visible public space. Thoughts on this?

Links

2008-08-27T03:00:22+00:00

Diana from our office forwarded me a link… to 100 other links. I feel I should apologize; it’s the usual trek for nonprofit folks, looking for stuff you can use trying to get there as quick as you can. Sort of like the Mark Twain quote about not having enough time to write a shorter story, I apologize for not gleaning the best 3 on these lists.

But here’s one of their links that I’ll be bookmarking because I think I can learn a lot there–actually not in the top 100 but in the 100 plus, is Osocio:

Osocio is dedicated to social advertising and non-profit campaigns. It’s the place where marketing and activism collide. Formerly known as the Houtlust Blog, Osocio is the central online hub for advertisers, ad agencies, grassroots, activists, social entrepreneurs, and good Samaritans from around the globe.

Post after post is PSAs from campaigns across the world. Very cool.

Art Bike Auction update

2008-08-27T02:34:49+00:00

Final Art Bike Auction
8pm, Friday, September 5th.
The Globe, upstairs.

Buy beer, bid on art bikes, good times all around. Bring your kazoos and noisemakers. I have no idea if we'll use them, but this is your chance.

Details on art bikes and the auction here.

Cheers!

Power To The Pedalers: Nation’s largest bike-sharing initiative off to fast start at Democratic National Convention

2008-08-26T02:46:58+00:00

Freewheelin effort nets 1,429 rides and 2,937 miles
on first day of DNC

Washington Post names Freewheelin bike-sharing program
among “5 Things to Love About Denver”

"Bike Ride for Youth" postponed

2008-08-25T16:55:29+00:00

Dear cyclists and volunteers,
Due to bad weather from Tropical Storm Fay on Saturday, we were forced to postpone the Bike Ride for Youth. We will send out another announcement as soon as the date is set.

This does allow you more time to collect pledges of support, increasing your chances to win one of the raffle prizes. We can accept pledges at our website, www.athensbgca.com, and also at the Boys & Girls Club office (706-549-7017).

If you have not already done so, you may now pay your $15 registration fee online by clicking on "Make On-line Donation!" and choosing "Bike Ride for Youth - registration."

Thank you for your patience - more info will follow soon!
Laura Floyd
Boys & Girls Clubs of Athens

Freewheelin Bike Sharing in Full Swing at DNC

2008-08-25T13:56:41+00:00

The Democratic Convention officially begins this morning, but for Bikes Belong, Humana, and the bike industry, the event began at full speed Sunday morning when we publicly debuted our conventions bike sharing project.

The day went great:

Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper, Tom Plant of Colorado Governor Bill Ritter's office, and Bikes Belong's Tim Blumenthal spoke to about 200 people at our bike assembly warehouse in north Denver. Seven or eight TV crews and perhaps an equal number of print journalists were there to capture the moment.

New Media Summit, Chicago, Sept. 15-16

2008-08-22T22:01:09+00:00

“There will be movie stars,” Chicago New Media Summit organizer John Patterson told me this afternoon. They’ll rub shoulders with the glamorati of Chicago’s for-profit social media community at the Museum of Contemporary Art — folks from local biggies 37signals and Threadless, for example, are presenting (and so is Jane Hirt, our new Tribune editor) — for a couple days, building a stronger sense of connection and community among these folks to raise awareness of the city’s capacity to produce state-of-the-art new media.

John invoked several times the model of the Ted Conference (”Ideas Worth Spreading”). Clearly the idea of the New Media Summit is to build some buzz for Chi-media. (more…)

My evening with Jane Hirt

2008-08-22T14:04:50+00:00

Props to the Chicago Headline Club for its beer nights at the Billy Goat … a few months ago I went for the first time, walked down the stairs, turned left in front of the sandwich counter to a packed crowd of older men and women who could have been (slightly) better-dressed off-duty cops. “Is this the Headline Club Beer Night?” I asked someone.

“No, this is the retirement party for Gary Washburn,” she said. Gary was for years City Hall reporter, whom I knew from many desperate pleas to cover protests on the 5th floor of City Hall, often graciously granted. The Beer Night crowd, smaller, younger, and less boisterous were on the other side of the Billy Goat. That’s where I met Jane Hirt, editor of the Tribune’s RedEye edition till yesterday, when she got promoted to managing editor of the whole dang shootin’ match (see Tribune article here, AP story via International Herald Tribune here, and Whet Moser’s great Reader react here).

I totally meant to blog about this back then but got as far as writing notes. They suddenly seem more interesting this morning in light of her promotion. (more…)

Thanks & Art Bikes

2008-08-22T13:24:49+00:00

Many thanks to all who came out for our annual meeting last night at Cine'!
There's a short slide show below of pics from the event.

Don't forget that our Art Bike Auction is still in progress! Bids are down for all bikes, but we are accepting bids through the 30th.

Go here for details on bidding and pics of the frames. They are amazing.

Brainwear for smart people

2008-08-21T20:57:17+00:00

Make your helmet look like a hat! Check it out at Yakkay.

Here and Now Potluck

2008-08-21T20:48:37+00:00

BACK TO SCHOOL AND BACK TO THE LAND New to UGA? Looking to learn to eat like a local?...

New clipping service from Newsclip

2008-08-21T14:11:37+00:00

Newsclip and Newstips are sometimes competitors–our names even sound like we’re related–but one of their most prominent features is a clipping service. In another sign of social media everywhere, the Chicago-based firm run by Jordan Miller plans to simultaneously move most of its clipping service online and reduce the price of the service.

It’s still a bit of a work in progress–the service officially rolls out October 1–but you can see it and sign up for a free trial now at their new Web site.

(more…)

Survey Says: High Gas Prices Are Fueling Bike Sales

2008-08-20T21:21:48+00:00

Is there an upside to high gas prices? If you’re a bicycle retailer, there can be—particularly in the service department. Bikes Belong has just completed a survey of more than 150 bicycle retailers from nearly 40 states to see if their summer 2008 sales reflect an increase in the use of bicycles for transportation.

The majority of retailers who responded said their sales of transportation-related bicycles, accessories, and service have increased in 2008 compared to 2007:

Morning Meeting: Still lacking punch

2008-08-20T14:11:43+00:00

Good morning, all.

Don’t blame Jay Cohen for this mess.

The career Navy man turned Homeland Security undersecretary of science has drawn serious fire for his mishandling of everything from process to tax dollars since he was appointed to his post in August 2006. Time and time again, he has refused to separate himself from the vast array of politically motivated stooges speckling this administration. So the fact he muddied up the site selection of the National Bio- and Agro-Defense facility with politics should come as no surprise.

Jay Cohen was just doing his job.

In fact, we should view his actions as a blessing. At least we know now that we’re playing a crooked game.

So, let’s decide if we want to keep playing.

A nanotechnologist deals with the ‘butterflies’

2008-08-20T13:18:48+00:00

When it comes to spokesperson skills, even the most polished presenters tell us they still get nervous no matter how often they stand up in front of a crowd. Unless of course you have a bar in front of you to hang on to.The bar, at a Green Drinks schmoozefest in Chicago, is where I recently met Nik Rokop, managing director at Illinois Institute of Technology’s Jules F. Knapp Center for Entrepreneurship. Nik, an engineer who came to the Center from business (with a specialization in building teeny-tiny things, nanotechnology) said he loves public speaking and speaking to the newsmedia in particular — very unusual, most folks say they hate it!When I saw how polished a presenter he was during the program that evening, I knew I had to get and share with you his story and insight into how to be great at conveying your message. His tips follow, q and a style: (more…)

Transportation news roundup

2008-08-20T12:51:56+00:00

In today's ABH, a piece on the undeniable growth of scooter & moped use in Athens.

FYI: "Moped drivers who scoot along in bike lanes will be ticketed."

Another article in the ABH discusses plans to ease traffic on Mitchell Bridge Rd by moving cars to Athens West Pkwy.

And from last week's Flagpole, coverage of delays with UGA's Alternative Transportation Program:

With the start of UGA's fall semester this month, perhaps no section of the University's staff is more anxious - or busier - than Parking Services. August has typically been "a zoo," in the words of Parking Services chief Don Walter. After getting parking permits sold and distributed to faculty, staff and students for the year, Walter's staff then has to enforce regulations, assist confused customers and otherwise try to keep the campus's parking system - which has been in a process of refinement through great effort over the past several years - working smoothly.
As of the first week of August, though, Walter could already begin his tally of aggravated individuals: at least a couple of users of Parking Services' Alternative Transportation Program, or ATP, who were told that the program will not exist in the month of August this year.

Don't forget our Annual Meeting is tomorrow at Cine, 7 pm- Come for the food, friends, films, and our first Art Bike Auction!

Creating stories that resonate

2008-08-20T11:42:06+00:00

Every person in the market has a worldview when it comes to what you're selling. It might be, "I don't care about that," or it might be, "all big companies are evil" or it might be, "I love new stuff."

When your story aligns with my worldview, we have something to discuss. When it doesn't, you're likely to be invisible.

A worldview is a lot like the strings on a piano or the cables in a bridge. When it hits something that is of the same frequency, it resonates. The cause and the effect embrace each other and the story sticks, and spreads.

It's essentially impossible to tell a story to an entire population and have it resonate with all of them. The global warming story, for example, has influenced some people a great deal and been dismissed out of hand by others.

While most marketers spend their time telling stories about themselves, politicians spend a lot of time telling (negative) stories about the competition. It's illuminating, because it makes the resonance idea really clear. [The rest of this post is about politics. It's okay with me if you skip it, feel free to do so if you expect to be offended.]

Here are two stories:

Barack Obama is hopelessly liberal. He will raise our taxes, and he's not a real American. You can't trust him.

and

John McCain is a fake. He will say and do anything to be elected, and he is just four more years of our last mistake.

Choose your story (or the competition's story) wisely, because you have to live with it for a long time, and if it's not authentic, if it doesn't hold up, you're left with nothing. In the case of an election, the effect of your competitor's story on your base is critical. (And vice versa). John Kerry called George Bush dumb, but it didn't matter, because Bush's base didn't care that Kerry thought he was dumb. The people who did care had already decided not to vote for Bush, so the story had no power. Will McCain's base care that he's a fake? Will Obama's base care that he's untested and different?

I think that Obama's base isn't as shaken by that story as McCain's base is by the 'fake' one. The worldview that elected Ronald Reagan is one that admired his authenticity and his ability to stick to his principles. George Bush took advantage of that same worldview in the stories he told about being a strong leader. "Fake" undoes a lot of that.

The reliance on negative stories in politics makes me sick. I think we should be above that. The fact that negative stories have influenced every election of my lifetime, though, means that I'm wrong, we're not above it. If politicians are going to tell negative stories, they might as well pick useful ones.

Start with the truth. Identify the worldview of the people you need to reach. Describe the truth through their worldview. That's your story. When you overreach, you always fail. Not today, but sooner or later, the truth wins out. Negative or positive, the challenge isn't just to tell the truth. It's to tell truth that resonates.

Herod hearts Homeland Security

2008-08-20T01:28:06+00:00

For almost a year now, the death lab freedom fighters have been spamming anyone who’ll listen with forwards and links regarding the National But not in Athens Facility.

Personally, I don’t mind – I get NBAF Google alerts, but hey, maybe I missed it – so whatever anyone wants to send me, keep it coming. I can understand, though, why Athens-Clarke Commissioner Andy Herod finally snapped.

Activist Nancy Zechella sent a link about the Connecticut attorney general opposing the NBAF to Mayor Heidi Davison, all 10 commissioners me and Flagpole news editor Ben Emmanuel. It was the organic straw that broke the free-range, grass-fed, humanely raised camel's back.

D.C. Bike Sharing Kicks Into High Gear

2008-08-19T16:58:15+00:00

Declare the District's urban-cool inferiority complex officially over...the city [has joined] the ranks of Paris and Barcelona with the launch of the first high-tech public bike-sharing program in the United States, forcing such cities as San Francisco and Chicago to look here to see chic alternative transportation in action in America.
Read more here.

NTEN Donor Management Survey and CiviCRM ...

2008-08-19T05:20:46+00:00

David Geilhufe (full disclosure: he is on the board of Social Source Foundation, the non-profit behind CiviCRM) has written a good article on What is Donor Management Software. The article discusses some of the potential reasons on the exclusion of CiviCRM from the list of software products. If you do use CiviCRM for donor management, do take the survey and write CiviCRM in the other box.

The non-profit tech community is fairly small and most of us know each other. We did exchange email with Holly Ross (NTEN ED) and she explained that the survey was designed specifically for "software designed to fill the donor management function". She also did acknowledge that there are quite a few "grey areas" in picking what products to list. I'll refrain from nitpicking on some of the choices they've made, but in our opinion, CiviCRM does meet all the criteria that NTEN has listed. In addition it has a few more features not included in that list (including the brand new pledge functionality in v2.1)

Bikes Belong Awards $33,000 in Grants

2008-08-18T23:29:49+00:00

Bikes Belong is thrilled to award four grants to great projects in the summer funding cycle. These grant awards will help construct community paths in Pennsylvania, Minnesota, and Oklahoma—and build some beautiful Colorado singletrack!

Centre Region Bicycle Coalition—Musser Gap Greenway (State College, PA)

The dead zone of slick

2008-08-18T11:01:11+00:00

There was a terrific duo playing live music at the farmer's market the other day. They were well-rehearsed, enthusiastic and really good. Being a patron of the arts, I bought a CD.

I hated it.

I've thought a lot about what turned me off, and I think it's the curve above.

Faced with the excitement of making a CD and all the knobs and dials, they overproduced the record. They went from being two real guys playing authentic music, live and for free, and became a multi-tracked quartet in search of a professional sound. And they ended up in the dead zone. Not enough gloss to be slick, too much to be real.

This happens at restaurants all the time. Give me a handmade huarache and it's fine if it's on a paper plate. Or give me something from Thomas Keller. But I have no patience for the stuff in the dead zone, the items that are too slick to be real, but not slick enough to be a marvel. Who, exactly, wants an industrial tuna sandwich wrapped in plastic wrap?

You can send me a hand-written note (but don't write it in crayon with words spelled wrong) and I'll read it. And you can send me a beautifully typeset Fedex package. But if you send me mass-produced junk with a dot matrix printer, out it goes. The dead zone again.

That's why really well done HTML email works, as does unique, hand-typed text email. It's the banal stuff in the middle that people don't read. And yet, 95% of what I see is precisely in the dead spot of the middle zone.

The Blair Witch Project and Pi both felt authentic. The Matrix was perfectly slick. The new Star Wars cartoon is just dumb.

That's why a personalized letter works better than a generic resume. We crave handmade authenticity and we adore perfectly professional slickness.