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Social Media for Social Change: The Wrapup

Wow.

Over the last couple days, there have been some really great write ups about the first SM4SC event, held at the Harvard Club on Friday Night. I’ve had to take my time and reflect on something that even now seems a bit surreal.

12 weeks ago - July 11 was the date of the first blog post - I had an idea for a social media fund raiser. Getting a bunch of social media people together in a beautiful setting to raise money for a local charitable organization.

I estimated the event would be about 30-40 people, and we’d raise a few thousand dollars. I figured we’d get a couple local social media companies to sponsor it and help pay for the event costs.

One of the lines in that first blog post: “Everything is hypothetical right now.”

I bought the domain sm4sc.com - at the recommendation of Meg Fowler - and started a very basic blog to write about my ideas for this event. It all worked for promoting a one-time event.

But already people were talking to me about what this - using social media to raise awareness about social causes - could be. Matt Knell told me - no, insisted - that the blog be replaced by a proper web site. In no time, he had what you see now built.

Adam Cohen of Rosetta reached out early on, offering to sponsor the event. He saw the potential that SM4SC had. In his email to me, Adam said “Just like anyone starting in social media, starting small and learning as you go helps…” Words to live by.

There some changes made throughout the planning stages. Dates changed twice to make sure certain people could make the event, and once to not interfere with the most holy day in the Jewish calendar. The location changed to fit more people and keep within our budget.

But one thing was constant: We were going to help a local anti-domestic abuse organization. After looking around at individual groups, I contacted Jane Doe Inc, and right away, Toni Troop was interested.

Sure — when isn’t a non-profit interested in someone raising money for them? But it was something more than that: Social media is something that non-profits haven’t totally had a chance to wrap their minds around yet. Here was a chance to make social media work for them.

Things progressed. Quickly. As expected, the Boston social media scene supported SM4SC. But people and companies from around the country - and beyond - jumped in to help. Check out the list of sponsors, and where they’re from:

• Empressr - New York
• SocialRadi.us - California
• Dell - Texas
• E.Factor - New York
• Pandemic Labs - Boston
• David Petherick, Digital Biographer - Scotland
• PR Newswire - New York
• Rosetta - New York
• Brainstorm - Indiana
• Customline Wordware - New Hampshire
• FormSpring - Indiana
• Foggy Noggin
• GiftGirl - New York
• Mzinga - Boston
• SmashingDarling - New York
• The Staley Foundation - Boston
• WineLibrary.tv - New Jersey

I found the same to be true for those that attended. Meg Fowler came from Vancouver. Many people came up from New York. Michael Terpin, CEO of SocialRadi.us graciously came all the way from California. Mike Davis of Empressr flew to Boston from Ibiza.

But the most surprising trip-for-SM4SC was by John and Lesa Walker. Having never spoken to me or anyone else planning SM4SC, the Walkers traveled all the way from Austin, TX — this was an event they didn’t want to miss.

At the event, Matt Knell was gracious enough to be the MC, and a phenomenal job was done. We were treated to an amazing presentation by Mike Davis, using Empressr software. I did my best to follow Mike’s lead with my own talk. Jane Doe Inc’s Toni Troop finished with an amazing talk about domestic violence in Massachusetts. Governor Deval Patrick announced a new PSA featuring the Commonwealth of Massachusetts’ First Lady, Diane Patrick, who was a victim of domestic violence during her first marriage:

The last line of that PSA sends a powerful message:

Talk. It could save someone’s life.

That’s exactly the mission of SM4SC. By using the tools of social media to talk about, and bring attention to Jane Doe, Inc, we hope to help protect the victims of domestic abuse.

After the talks came the raffles. Wine from WineLibrary.tv. Car rental packages from Hertz. Airline tickets from Jet Blue. A Digital Biographer package from David Petherick. A ticket to the New Marketing Summit donated by Chris Brogan.

The prizes were enthusiastically received, especially Michael Gruen, who wore the T-shirt he won from Jane Doe Inc for the rest of the night (shown here with JDI’s Toni Troop):

From the very beginning way back in July right up until the end of the night on Friday, there were people that supported my idea and helped bring this event to life.

Take a look at the photo up at the top again.

From left to right: Adam Cohen, Amy Greenlaw, Matt Knell, Meg Fowler, Shelly Greenberg, Dmitri Gunn, me, Christine Major, Rebecca Corliss, Leslie Poston, Maria Thurrell, Courtney Skay, Zana, Mike Smith, and Stephanie Frasco. Up front is Oz Sultan and Matt Peters

When all was said and done, in 12 weeks, we raised a total of over $21,000. Twenty-one thousand dollars.

Throughout the night, people kept asking me how it was going… was I happy with what we accomplished?

Happy doesn’t begin to describe what I feel. We were able to reach the fund raising goal ($20,000) that I had set earlier. I feel that SM4SC has truly moved from my head and into the world. And I feel a sense of opportunity; the stage is set for SM4SC to do some truly great things.

As Mike Davis mentioned in his talk, SM4SC number 2 is going to happen in New York, where 6 of our 17 sponsors came from. There’s also talk of an SM4SC Philadelphia, one in Virginia, and even one in London.

I look forward to growing SM4SC so that we can help as many causes as possible.