If I knew all the words

The ability for our world to integrate technology and philanthropy amazes me. How

Corporate Social Responsibility is at the forefront of development and implementation among large corporations. It’s wonderful to see Pepsi, Starbucks and Trader Joes care about our world and what is happening outside of their state-of-the-art buildings.

Today, I was introduced to CauseWorld, a wonderful phone application modeled slightly after Foursquare. Instead of simple checking in for points to one-up your friends to become the mayer, you earn Karma points to donate to an organization or

cause of your choice.

CauseWorld is sponsored by Kraft Foods and Citi and donate to the organization of your

choice when you gain Karma points and designate them, it is Kraft and Citi that is donating to the organizations you choose.

What a great way to donate while shoping or having dinner with your friends. Open up the free application, check-in and donate within minutes. You can donate to anything from offsetting carbon,

helping students in need, preventing child abuse, help fight cancer, bring art to schools, help at-risk girls, Provide relief to Haiti or Chile, give clean water, treat autism, plant a tree or care for abused animals. So many options of ways to give sponsors money to great causes.

What are you waiting for. Go download the app and start giving Karma points out!

I would like to introduce Jessica Nicole Lomelin, an everyday advocate. Jessica is more than an advocate, she in an inspirational, open-minded young woman who finds passion and joy in helping others.

Jessica has been given an amazing opportunity to make a difference. In less than a month Jessica will leave her friends, family and stable job to tell the stories of the Men, Women and Children of Gulu, Uganda. Jessica will be working with the organization Invisible Children as a communications assistant.

Seeing the excitement and glow on her face as she describes the organization makes supporting my friend worth every tear and every cent I can manage to pass along. The passion Jessica has to make a difference in the world is something we should all strive for.

Jessica will be documenting the people she meets and her numerous endeavors on her blog jessicalomelin.com. I ask that you please pass along her story and read her inspiring words.

As my best friend, sister and support system leaves me for this amazing adventure, I may not be able to support her financially, but I can support her emotionally.

Jessica will do great things in her lifetime, she is an amazing young woman with an open mind and an open heart. I look up to her and can’t wait to see what she can do for the people of Uganda.

Below is a message from Jessica.

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I’m asking friends, families, strangers and kind-hearted people to donate to my trip and support the work I will be doing in Uganda. The organization is providing a discounted living situation, but I am essentially having to cover my airfare, vaccines, visas, and travel items.

• Your donation will help me help Invisible Children.

• I’m not receiving a large amount of financial support from Invisible Children given that the majority of their funding goes toward projects and initiatives. This is expected for non-profits and regardless of the financial set-backs this may cause, it is something I am still passionate about doing.

Donating even just a dollar to my trip will help me extend my stay in Africa and continue working with either Invisible Children or another similar NGO. Money permitted, I would love to stay in Africa for some time and do my best to positively impact the community and the people I meet.

Imagine if we got 500 people to donate just $1? How powerful that could be! I understand we are in the middle of numerous natural disaster’s and money is a tough situation, but consider giving up 1 latte this week and putting that money toward the work I will be doing in Uganda. If you are unable to donate, all I ask is that you  just follow me as I take this adventure. Pass my name and my story on to your family and friends, and know that anything helps. You can help me make a difference in the lives of others.

Please take some time to become familiar with Invisible Children. The more people that are familiar with Invisible Children and the crisis going on in eastern Africa, the more likely things will improve.

If you are interested in contributing to my trip and to the work I will be doing in Africa you can donate through my secure Paypal account Here: http://jessicalomelin.com/contributions

They say that people who do good things reap benefits in more ways than they can imagine. Think of this as a good deed, whether contributing, telling the story of Invisible Children or becoming inspired to take action. Simply, pay it forward.

As stages of internet development are being deemed the 2.0 and 3.0 era, the state of online healthcare has jumped in head first with Healthcare2.0.

What does this look like? And what will Healthcare 3.0 look like?

As a student of the internet and a healthcare professional I have been intrigued by how the internet can help patients bring care into their own hands. Let me first define what I think Web 1.0 is to set the foundation.

Web 1.0 – information that is communicated from company to individuals (i.e. your basic web site). The web becomes one big encyclopedia of sorts.

Web 2.0 – information is communicated between company and individuals & between individuals. This is the Facebook, myspace, twitter, message board youtube web. If web 1.0 is a book, web 2.0 is a discussion.

Web 3.0- it’s not information anymore, it’s intelligence, artificial intelligence. You’d interact with it almost like another person. The web won’t just blindly do what we tell it do to, it’ll think for you.

As for Healthcare…

Healthcare 2.0- brings your healthcare questions and answers online. Do you remember all those medical books your parents used to have and they would look up your symptoms as a kid to make sure you didn’t have Rubella or some crazy illness. Well now they can look it up on sites like WebMD and Medipedia. You can join online advocacy organizations such as Patients Like Me, and ask questions to people on message boards. Healthcare has become interactive.

With Web 3.0 on the distant horizon what does this mean for healthcare 3.0?

It could mean a ton of different things. Such as online database where you can choose your Physician based on specialty, number of years practicing, number of malpractice suits, if they accept your insuarnce provider. I imagine Healthcare3.0 making it easier for the patient to find exactly the right dr. Web 3.0 will be more interactive, where your computer can diagnose you based on your symptoms. Healthcare 3.0 can help patients be more educated about their health and diseases.

There are so many possibilities as to where we can go from here. I’m excited to see what’s next for Healthcare-something-point-something.

Every day we are affected by something; sick family members, the environment, political decisions. Every day we make choices that can change our lives forever. We also have the power and voice to persuade others to make the correct decision for themselves. When you believe in something enough to turn your passion in to action you have become an Advocate.

Find any topic that has affected you in one way or another, environment, health care, teen pregnancy, child abuse –anything that makes you so passionate you want to yell from the roof tops. To be an affective advocate you need to have first hand experience. Whether it’s being a patient with Parkinson’s Disease, or being a caregiver to an autistic child you’ve seen and experienced what it is like to see someone struggle because there is no cure or no answer to question or need. Being a passionate advocate involves a few things:

1. Know your topic from all angles. Know first hand experiences and the effects if nothing is done about it. By honing in on your personal experiences you only strengthen your case. No one can fight with what you see or feel.

2. Share your experiences. Whether it’s with a family member or friend. or a random stranger at a party. Strike up a conversation and share you knowledge and your experience. The passion from your experiences inspire others to take action.

3. Get involved. Beyond sharing your story and experiences find groups and organizations of people just like you, working toward the same goal. Together you can make larger advances to either accomplishing your goal or just making other aware of your cause.

4. Begin an online campaign. Whether it’s a twitter or facebook campaign. or a video on Youtube. Word of mouth campaigns are eye catching and very relate able. Sit back and think about what messages resonate with you. Share those with the world.  Advocates are taking over the Social Media sphere and if you want to be a part of it you’re going to have to dive in head first.

Being an advocate for something you are passionate about can help guide someone who is struggling with a life changing decision. Be compassionate, share you story. Turn your Passion into action.

As tomorrow January 19, 2009 marks the United States national celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. I though it would be appropriate to take a minute to Remember Segregation . The agency I work for created this site last year and it helps send a powerful message.

Please take a minute to look around the site, and remember why we have a day off of school, or work. We are celebrating one of the greatest men, who after his death is still inspiring our nation to change the way we view the human race.

In Memory of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

January 15, 1929- April 4, 1968

This video was passed through Twitter yesterday. I loved it so much I though I would share it. Watch the whole thing. It has a great message no matter who you are voting for, but watch the entire video!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UaRXvRwhOk]

Late last night I received an email from a friend asking me to fill out a survey on nonprofit awareness. I’ve always been aware of nonprofits, because since I was young I’ve volunteered and fundraised for the Community Transitional School, which is a school for homeless children in the Portland-Vancouver area.

For most of my life when someone asked me what I wanted to do when I grew up, I would say, “work for a non-profit”. Now, lately with the anxiety of graduating from college, traveling around europe, and finally making my first big move to Seattle, Washington, but unfortunately non-profit work hasn’t been at the top of my list these days.

But when I received this email survey about if I was aware of the organization Loaves & Fishes I became inspired again. So inspired I began leaving comments in the OTHER section about how to increase volunteers and how to reach out to get help from its local communities. I was also so inspired that I donated a weeks worth of food for a senior citizen who is homebound.

Another site I came across a few years ago is the breastcancer site, where by clicking you give a Free Mamogram to someone. Click to Give not only donates free mammograms, but free food to hurricane victims, free healthcare to children, free books to literacy programs for children, protect an endangered habitat, and give free food and care to animals who need rescuing– All of this just by clicking a button! I’ve sat multiple hours just going back and forth on each page clicking. It feels nice, but nothing feels as good as the act of volunteering your own time. By taking the time to see and feel the mission of an organization can be life altering.

Tonight I have been re-inspired to in the time I have before I begin to work, to step out and do some volunteering for an organization. Be it with the Community Transitional School, which is my favorite place to help out at,  or working at the food bank, but getting involved in my community to make our world that much better of a place to live is worth every second of it!

What are you doing to make a difference in your Community?

“Talk to us. We want to learn more about your organization. What makes it tick. Where it’s trying to go. Who it’s trying to reach. What it’s trying to sell. How it fits into the community. We’ll be your biggest advocate, your strongest voice, your most tenacious supporter. Call us a liaison, an ambassador, a reality check. Call us. We’re ready to get to work.”

This is the commitment Portland Oregon based boutique firm, Maxwell PR makes to its clients. Maxwell’s team works hard to find creative ways to humanize it’s clients stories and connect with its audiences.

A creative work environment, friendly, determined employees and the right tools creates a recipe for success at Maxwell. With clients ranging from the food and beverage industry to an all-natural cosmetic organization, the staff of eleven has challenging, yet fun projects to tackle on a daily basis.

As a soon-to-be college graduate looking to dive into the PR industry I’ve only really heard of large name agencies. It wasn’t until my PRSSA chapter held a regional activity on Tuesday and we took a “tour” (I say “tour” because we were able to stand in one place and see the entire beautiful modern office!) of Maxwell.

I instantly fell in love with the environment and people I met. The laid-back, creative and very motivated staff gave a great overview of their services, clients and even some job hunting advice for us seniors.

Vicky Hastings, an “all-around go-to gal”, as their Web site likes to call her, describes the number one thing Maxwell looks for in a new employee is: creativity. Hastings says if you can’t send a creative work sample, “simply write us a poem.”

From someone one who would rather work on the layout of her class assigned letter to the shareholder in InDesign (which the layout was NOT assigned), than go out on a Friday night, I thought this was a very unique and intriguing request.

Many times students don’t take the time to research boutique agencies, well frankly, because the smaller agencies names are not out there in our faces as some of the larger ones. Due to small staffs, these smaller agencies do not have the ability to allow staff members to attend career fairs and conferences to utilize recruiting opportunities. Also, they do not always have availability in their staff to take on new interns. But this doesn’t mean a boutique agency isn’t right for you! If it is the right place, the right people and the right environment all you have to do it apply!

Note to Students: Open your eyes. There is a whole world of agencies you haven’t seen yet!