Oxfam’s YouTube vid is a powerful fundraiser
The Oxfam New Zealand Christmas Video did the rounds in 2006 and is available on YouTube. It’s about a minute and a half long, and is a humorous encouragement by cartoon farm animals: Don’t buy crap this Christmas, buy me
.
This refers to Oxfam’s Unwrapped campaign that encouraged people to combine giving:
…something special to your friends or family and … something extra special to people who haven’t got much at all.
Gifts include items such as mosquito nets, ducks, coffee plants, donkeys and other items that help improve the lives of people in poverty. Your direct recipient received a certificate and an overseas aid programme received funding.
Oxfam’s campaign has now won the Not-For-Profit Marketing Award, at the TVNZ/NZ Marketing Magazine Marketing Awards.
… rather than use the well-trodden and worthy “do something for someone less fortunate” angle that many charities adopt, Oxfam decided to have some fun and focus on the rubbish most people give each other at Christmas time. That led to the release of an online song called Don’t Buy Crap This Christmas.
… After watching the video, viewers could click through to the Unwrapped website to purchase any of the ‘Oxfarm’ band members (the animals) or other quirky, but life-saving gifts.
The budget was tiny, but the only media cost was the initial seed email ($1188 in send costs). … It worked! Fewer people bought “crap” than ever before. Instead they went online in their thousands and bought goats, chickens and donkeys for Africa (and other places).
Read the full article at the AllBusiness.com website. Warning: the site is atrocious, with pop-up rubbish and flashing, distracting garbage, and weird frames.
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August 27, 2008 No Comments
New Skype includes more video
Millions of people around the world already use Skype for making effectively free phone calls over the Internet. This is also known as VoIP, or Voice over Internet Protocol.
Internet phonecalls work adequately with dial-up connections, unless they don’t, but broadband is a very definite advantage. Add in video though, even at small sizes, and broadband becomes a necessity.
Now, in the next version of the Skype software, currently being tested by users, the video is going to be even bigger and better. Meanwhile, the makers of Skype are trying to make the software easier to use too, according to the NZ Herald:
Skype version 4.0 would begin making video a more integral part of the service.
The 4.0 test version invites users to post bigger photos of themselves, instead of just thumbnail images, to encourage callers to see and be seen.
It also incorporates features for non-technical users that detect computer settings, available bandwidth and connected audio or video devices to make getting started easier.
Skype lets users make international computer-to-computer calls to other users in most countries for free, and calls from Skype-equipped computers or phones to landlines or cell phones at low rates.
Have you tried Skype, either for yourself or your organisation? Do you use it regularly? Please share your thoughts and findings with other readers in the Comments area.
June 23, 2008 No Comments
Learn by video at Lynda.com
It’s hard to keep up with everything, and finding time to read a book — even if you can find an appropriate book at a fair price — can also be a problem.
One possibility to consider is learning from videos, such as those available at Lynda.com. These are high quality videos created and produced by professional trainers. Watch them online (if you have a broadband connection and decent computer) or buy titles on CD.
When I bought the latest version of Photoshop I received free use of the Lynda.com training library for a month. The videos I watched were extremely helpful.
In 2006 Maria Langer and I co-authored a book on WordPress. WordPress is one of the most popular blogging platforms, and one I recommend without hesitation to anyone wanting to get a website up and running with minimum fuss and best speed.
Now available online at Lynda.com is a video training series Maria has created about the free, hosted WordPress.com blogging system — WordPress.com 2.5 Essential Training:
There are many reasons to have a blog: to inform customers about new products and specials, to share information and expertise with a worldwide community, or to express oneself and communicate publicly. WordPress.com is a free and flexible set of web-based blogging tools that can be used to launch a new blog in minutes. The tools can then be used to personalize the blog and update and improve it continually. In WordPress.com 2.5 Essential Training, Maria Langer walks through the entire process of building and maintaining a blog, from setting up an account to using advanced customization techniques. She explains how to create and organize posts, pages, and links, and also offers tips on how to become a better blogger.
Visit the link above and watch a few of the free sample videos. Each sample is about 3 minutes long and will give you a feeling for whether or not you’d enjoy the entire series.
The full training course is available for US$25 per month, but for that you have access to the entire library of courses. You could sign up for one month, watch all the videos you’re interested in and then stop the subscription.
There’s a growing list of dozens of courses that includes topics such as blogging, Photoshop, Dreamweaver, Excel, Internet Explorer, Office for Mac, Windows XP.
Try some of the freebie samples, and tell us in the comments what you think.
June 12, 2008 No Comments
Kiwis like Internet relationships
In February 2008 Nielsen Online revealed that most New Zealand Internet users are generating web content. (Source: 02/26/2008 Consumer Generated Media: Evolution or Revolution?. )
We like photos, videos, music, blogs
In plain English: we share photos, links and videos, through websites such as Flickr, YouTube, MySpace. We read and write blogs and wikis. We download and stream audio and video content. We like photos, movies, music, and probably podcasts. We edit and comment; we upload.
The report also found that once people are comfortable online, they then often become more involved — they actively edit and comment on content from others and upload video and music to the web.
It’s a revolution in relationships
“We are seeing a revolution in the way in which consumers here in the Pacific and around the world are interacting, communicating, creating and nurturing personal and professional relationships, expressing and publishing their opinions and thoughts, creating and distributing content for and to one another, and entertaining themselves,” says Melanie Ingrey, Market Research Director, Asia Pacific, Nielsen Online.
Nielsen Online found that people tend to take up these activities if their friends and peers are doing them. They join services (such as Bebo) if their friends recommend them.
Problems facing us here in New Zealand are lack of time, slow Internet connections and concerns about security.
Kiwis want to reconnect
A further report tells us that 62% of online New Zealanders have browsed other people’s online profiles within the past 12 months, and 49% have actively updated their own online profile. (Source: 02/12/2008 New Zealand Surfers Ride Social Networking Boom.)
Old Friends, Bebo and MySpace
Their profiles are on Old Friends, Bebo and MySpace. Kiwis want to reconnect with people from the past such as former colleagues and old schoolmates.
” … different social networking platforms cater to varying online identity desires,” notes Melanie Ingrey, Market Research Director, Asia Pacific, Nielsen Online. “Sites such as MySpace essentially promote a fantasised identity where relationships are based on common network interests while Facebook is grounded in real identity and online connections are simply an extension of real friendships. Then you have sites such as LinkedIn which promote social networking for business and career advancement purposes.”
What are you doing?
So, that’s what Kiwis are doing this year. What’s your organisation doing in response?
Do you have a blog where visitors can comment on what you’re doing? Bloggers can also track your activities and write about you on their own blogs.
Do you share photos and videos from your events, using services such as Flickr and YouTube? If you do, then visitors will spread the word about your organisation when they tell others about your content.
Do you recruit volunteers by means of a MySpace or Bebo profile?
Kiwis want to participate. Do you know how to Engage your Community?
Written for and reproduced from CommunityNet Aotearoa Panui, March 2008.
March 23, 2008 No Comments
