Finding Connections in the Everyday World

Introduction

We're a consumer society. I suppose I could dig up some links to help prove that but, really, why? There isn't really a need to. It's not like you disagree. Do you?

 

So let's just take it as a given that we're a consumer society and we've engineered our society to make easy all the necessary tasks of consumerism: transfering money, making products, shipping, employment that supports that making and the shipping and allows to do the buying (hence, all that money transfer).

 

As a result, we're increasingly see people using the buying and work experience as a place to launch a contact with the community and the needs of a community.

 

In October, 2006, Campbell's turned the labels of their two most popular soup flavors pink, donated 3.5 cents to the Susan G. Komen Foundation, and doubled the sales of those labels (source: link, link).

 

Product(RED) produces an entire line of goods, the purchase of which supports the Global Fund. The project was created by Bono and Bobby Shriver to get the private sector involved in the fight against AIDS in Africa. They even have a manifesto that says: "As first world consumers, we have tremendous power. What we collectively choose to buy, or not to buy, can change the course of life and history on this planet.

 

In our neighborhoods, we fight for the chance to buy local. Local produce, local stores. We fight against people like WalMart.

 

You can't open a copy of the Sunday New York Times without finding a full-page ad from Target talking about their work in community.

 

Walk into a Starbucks. Look at the coffee dress-it-up station. Check out the batch of materials that tell you the way that Starbucks is actually helping the world and feel good while that venti latte juices you up for the day ahead.

 

And, while you're sitting at your desk, feel good because your company, the folks who sign your paycheck, are doing their part.

 

You work for Campell's, Target, Starbucks, any of the companies that make or sell (RED) products? You already have a reason to feel good about your job. You aren't just there making soup/selling cheap design/grinding some beans. You are donating a percent of a percent of a percent of your hard-working time to making the world a better place.

 

TO WRITE. CSR stuff w/o ever saying that -- point to Cisco's about page, CSR surveys, find that survey that says people want to work for corpos that do good.

 

TO WRITE. Social entrepenuerism. The whole doing well by doing good thing. Pointing to Good Storm, the Omidyar Network (and some of the language around eBay).

 

TO WRITE. All of these things are embodied in a bunch of popular buzz words.

 

TO WRITE. It's running on the wrong road. Time to pull in World Changing, MeetUp, Craigslist,other examples?

 

TO WRITE. But these are working on the wrong equation. Is buying and working the only places we want to connect with the world?

 

TO WRITE. No answer here but I think there's got to be a way to map out the conversation. To put out the pieces and start to work w/ other motivated people to come up with a way to engage -- a way that doesn't use more resources than necessary. doesn't depend on making purchases. but is enabled by simple facts: that the cell phone is an ubiquitous computing device. that many of us carry cameras, even video cameras in our pocket. How do we get to a place where we use those tools to find each other?

 

TO DO.

- Interviews.

- Compile source materials.