The Socially Conscious Geek

I am part of a proposed panel at the 2010 South By Southwest Interactive conference: "The Socially Conscious Geek: Makin' Money While Doin' Good". The conference planners have received over 2,200 proposals for panels and only 300 will be chosen, so as part of the process they're asking people to vote for ones they find interesting. If you you'd like to help make sure that socially conscious design is something that's talked about at the event, please take a moment to sign up and vote for it HERE. Comments on that page are appreciated as well. Thanks!



And of course if you plan to go to SXSW I hope you'll attend (assuming it's chosen). Here are the details:

"The Socially Conscious Geek: Makin' Money While Doin' Good"
with Noah Scalin, Emira Mears, Lauren Bacon, and Leif Utne

Can you make a living as a geek without sacrificing your ideals? Definitely. These pros have carved out a niche working with mission-driven, ethical clients in both the non-profit and for-profit sectors – and want to show you how to bring your values to work while keeping a roof over your head.

Some questions we'll be answering:

1. What is a socially conscious geek?
2. How can I specialize in socially conscious work and earn a living wage?
3. What are some of the unique opportunities and challenges of specializing in socially conscious work?
4. What is the difference between non-profit and no-profit clients?
5. How do I make the transition from corporate work to working with non-profit and/or mission-driven clients?
6. What is the “triple bottom line” approach to business?
7. What are some examples of alternative business models that are emerging among socially conscious geeks?
8. How is socially conscious work different than “green” work?
9. What are some examples of clients I might be able to work with as a socially conscious geek?
10. How should I market myself to values-driven clients? Is it different from marketing to corporate clients?

LAUREN BACON & EMIRA MEARS are the co-founders of Raised Eyebrow Web Studio, Inc., a Vancouver-based web consultancy that helps nonprofits, government and progressive businesses communicate more effectively online. They also co-authored The Boss of You, a business guide for independent-minded women entrepreneurs.

LEIF UTNE is the former publisher of Worldchanging.com, an experienced online community builder, and a journalist, activist and social entrepreneur. He is currently VP of Community Development for Zanby, a software company that specializes in supporting online social communities for change. Zanby is used to support The UpTake, a web video community that among other things was heavily involved in documenting the RNC and DNC prior to the 2008 election, and was also engaged in citizen vote monitoring during the election.

Don't Divorce My Friends

A simple and powerful reminder from the Courage Campaign of why the supreme court needs to invalidate California's Prop 8. Add your signature to the petition before March 2nd HERE.




via Eliza

VOTE (for Obama) TODAY!

Don't forget to vote today (if you're voting for Obama that is).

Image: Obama O's from AirBed & Breakfast

via A Million Monkeys Typing

Stephen Speilberg and Friends on Voting

And the get out the vote videos just keep coming. This one by Stephen Spielberg and MySpace is theoretically non-partisan which makes it less appealing to me (You really don't care how people vote, just that they do? I think not.)


If you missed the register to vote version (that this one references) you can see it HERE.


From 5 More Friends
Thanks Julien!

Attention California Voters: NO on 8 & YES on 2

My friend Jess at Roughstock Studios has made a lovely poster to remind California voters to vote NO on the anti-gay marriage Prop 8. Download a printable version on her site HERE.















And The Humane Society with Freerange Studios encourage California voters to vote YES on Prop 2 via this entertaining video...

Election Tasks

Several groups are asking you to do a bit more on election day...

The independent Video The Vote and YouTube/PBS's Video Your Vote both want to make sure that you have fair and equal access to voting in your community. To that end they're asking folks to document the process in video and then share it on their sites. Both sites currently contains a large number of videos about the run up to the election and is sure to be a good post-election resource. Take part HERE or HERE.

And The New York Times has partnered with the AIGA to encourage citizen journalism in their Polling Place Photo Project. Get involved on their site HERE.

Errol Morris's Obama Interviews

Documentarian Erol Morris created a series of People in The Middle for Obama shorts for People for the American Way...



Visit the People in the Middle for Obama site to all of see the individual interviews.

via Boing Boing

Vote Wassup '08

The popular commercial from 1999/2000 gets an excellent modern day update (by the original performers) with a political twist...



from 60 Frames
via Boing Boing

An Unreal Candidate

Hunter Branson wants your vote for the presidential election this year. Never heard of him? That's because he was the invention of students at the Creative Circus in Atlanta, Georgia. Led by teacher Berwyn Hung, the students hired a fellow student to play the part of Hunter Branson, a fictional candidate, for whom they then crafted a platform, party, website, merchandise, etc. The results (including rallies) were believable enough to get donations (to charities, rather than the campaign) and postitive feedback from people who discovered the website during the primaries earlier this year.

Hunter Branson 2008 website

Yes We Carve!

Yes We Carve is definitely one of the more entertaining side-effects of having our elections so close to Halloween. The group encourages folks to show their support by carving Obama themed pumpkins! They even have an appropriately modified "O" logo. The site features daily images as well as free stencils, contests, and more. This video shows a selection of the submissions...

Happy Days Are Here Again

Ron Howard (and friends) are willing to go to great lengths to get you to vote for Obama this year...



from Funny or Die!

via BoingBoing

It's not my fault!

The folks at MoveOn.org have created a great little customizable parody news video to remind you that your vote is important this election. Here are a few screen shots from the one I got from them.

Make one for your friends HERE.