273

Archive for the ‘Pop-Culture’ Category

Seth Godin Says: start a movement today!

Posted by Steven Speldewinde On May - 11 - 2009

I couldn’t agree more! There is nothing quite like the feeling of starting something completely new, of doing something you have never done before and of convincing other people that it is a good idea and that they should, as Seth would put it, join your Tribe.

As I was watching this talk, having been studying marketing all year, I started to think about Tribes from a marketers perspective - how could they be used to sell more products. It is quite a depressing way to think about the ideas in this talk because one of the things that make people so cynical about marketers and sales people is that it is their job to market and sell products and services to you so you don’t really believe in them. On the other hand, a leader is someone you can believe in someone that you know is doing it because they themselves believe in the cause or the movement or the product or the service.

There is only one way to start a movement and that is to start doing something you are passionate about and figuring out ways to connect with other people that are passionate about the same thing. Passionate people can make great leaders and great leaders don’t have to think about marketing or sales because other people will do that for them.

Why did I start a 273 Challenge about photography? I love photography (although I’m not a great photographer), I want to learn more about photography, I want to learn more about social dynamics and most importantly I want to spread the word about microfinance, Kiva and entrepreneurship because I believe that these are powerful forces for change. You can see Seth’s words in action in that last sentence, I have joined the microfinance, Kiva and entrepreneurship Tribes and I am spreading the word.

Enjoy the talk, get out there and start something!

Entrepreneurship, Pop-Culture

Win $50 Kiva Gift Certificate: The Inaugural 273 Challenge

Posted by Steven Speldewinde On May - 8 - 2009

Five Objects Photography Challenge

This competition is sponsored by maverick entrepreneur and wine genius Max Boronovski!

I got the idea for the challenge from Allison McCarthy’s 18 Objects Photography Project. I highly recommend checking out her site, it is full of quirky and creative inspiration.

The basic idea behind the challenge is to get peoples creative juices flowing by asking them to photograph 5 Objects from their bedroom and post them on the 273 Challenge Facebook Fan Page. You can see my example here

With this challenge I hope to spread the word about Kiva and 273 with the ultimate goal of raising $27,300 in loans for entrepreneurs in the developing world through Kiva by 27/3/2011!

Prize: $50 Kiva Gift Certificate

This can be used to make a loan to an entrepreneur in the developing world through Kiva. Once the loan has been repaid, the winner can choose to keep the money, make another loan or buy a gift certificate and create their own 273 Challenge!.

Start Date: 8 May 2009

End Date: 12pm Stockholm Time 31 May 2009

Winner Announced: 1 June 2009

Rules

5 Objects from my bedroom

Join the 273 5 Objects Photography Challenge and win a $50 Kiva Voucher (you can use the money to make a loan to an entrepreneur in the developing world on http://www.kiva.org, once the loan is paid back you can keep the money, make another loan or buy a gift certificate and make your own 273 Challenge!)

1. Become a fan of 273 Challenge (http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=123878&id=510630630&saved#/pages/273-Challenge/99747487795?ref=mf )

2. Take 5 photos of different objects in your bedroom.

3. Upload the photos to an album entitled ‘273 Challenge: 5 Objects’ (if you want to enter the competition, make sure you the privacy setting is set to ‘everyone’)

4. Tag a different friend in each of the 5 photos (the friend will not be in the photo, this is just to invite them to participate in the competition) - if you are tagged you should create your own 5 Objects Album, tagging 4 new friends and the friend that tagged you.

5. Copy the album link and post it on the 273 Challenge Fan Page Wall

6. The album that gets the most ‘likes’ by 12pm Stockholm time on 31 May will win the $50 Kiva Gift Certificate (in the event of a tie, the 273 team will decide on the winner)

7. Copy these instructions and paste them under the description of each photo.

Good luck everyone, looking forward to seeing all your photos! If you have any questions write them on the 273 Fan Page Wall or email challenge@273connectivity.com.

273 Challenge!, Pop-Culture, Social Entrepreneurship

Quick Update: Hoongle Offline, Last.fm charging subscriptions

Posted by Steven Speldewinde On April - 22 - 2009

To ideas which I really love have either gone down or changed over the past couple of days. Hoongle, got a great review in the New York Times which unfortunately seems to have led to its demise - it grew so quickly that it became unmanageable for the two college student/social entrepreneurs that started it. Hopefully someone can step in to help them and they will be able to get it back up and running again. I wish them luck and will keep you guys updated.

Last.fm a great social music player and more importantly (for me at least) discovery service, has started charging subscription fees to users outside of the US, UK and Germany because they cannot run profitable ad supported streaming music from those countries. I am sad because I love that service and would be happy to pay if I wasn’t on a student budget, at the same time, I wonder if they could implement a different strategy - get the users to sell ads. Basically you could receive a free subscription if you could support the cost of that subscription with ads you sold that were relevant in your country. If the ads sold generated more income than the cost of subscription, these could be shared between Last.fm and its users. I’d be interested to hear what you think of this, please vote in the poll below.