The 2004 Tsunami; what other "nobodies" accomplished

Fellow nobody Lee Hopkins, on his Better Communication Results blog, wrote yesterday about "How to create a global project management tool in 72 hours."

He was writing about the International Association of Nobodies, of course, but let me share the tale of another Web 2.0 meme-storm.

(Raganites and other Web 2.0 skeptics, you might want to sit up and listen.)

Within hours of the Southeast Asian earthquake and tsunami, three bloggers started Skyping, wondering what they could do to help. They turned to social media -- a Blogger blog, a wiki, Skype, and IM (all of it free, or nearly so). Within three days they had attracted 100,000 visits and 50 volunteer bloggers, wiki specialists, networkers. Within eight days, their SEA-EAT Blog & Wiki had attracted over 1 million visits, and 200 volunteers -- all unpaid, with no "organization chart" or "director" or "fundraising staff". They just did it.

Dina Mehta's early posting on the topic (5 days after the event), her later personal account and this Information Week article are well worth a read, if you would like to know more.

I first heard this story from Dina herself at last year's Reboot conference, and blogged about it in "We don't have the tools is OUT as an excuse." And I still believe that (and Web 2.0 skeptics should wake up to this): if three Bombay bloggers who had never met each other can form a distributed 200-volunteer charity information network in eight days... think what rich companies and associations can do.

Technorati Tags: nobody, International Association of Nobodies, SEA-EAT blog, Dina Mehta, Web 2.0

Posted by Allan Jenkins at 05:14pm in International Association of Nobodies, Reboot 7.0, Smart Communities, Social Tools, Tsunami | Permalink | Comments Welcome! (2)

Shopping as a nobody... the first steps

[Crossposted from the "I'm a nobody... who are you?" Blog]

Being called a "nobody" in print has curious effects that psychology can probably explain, but which continue to surprise and plague me.

For example, I found myself unable to enter a grocery store, for fear that I would be spotted as a nobody. Can you imagine the scene at the checkout? "Hey, Louise, get a load of this... this nobody is trying to buy balsamic vinegar! Thinks he's a somebody, I guess!" (Although I live in Denmark, so they'd say this in Danish, of course).

However, surveying my rapidly depleting larder, I realized I had to snap out of this, otherwise I would literally soon be nobody.

So I visted our International Association of Nobodies Online Store. And I found... even as a nobody, I can shop. I bought a BBQ apron, a mug, and five badges - one for me, one for my teddy bear Alfred, and three to give away. Actually, I am thinking of buying about 100 of the badges and giving them away to true nobodies at the IABC Conference in Vancouver.

Now that I can shop... well, maybe I can toddle down to the supermarket and get that vinegar. Thank you, Nobodies!

[If you are puzzled about this post, here's the backstory: A couple of days ago, the Journal of Employee Communication Management called me a "nobody".  I thought it amusing though insulting. But then a whole tribe of nobodies -- curiously enough, all superb communicators and writers who write more good stuff in a month than JECM does in a year -- went to work, created a new organization, created a store (all proceeds go to charity), found an anthem... and the backlog of communicators screaming to get in is incredible (and you are all welcome, just be patient).  I am fairly confident it will be a cold day in hell before JECM calls any of us a "nobody" in an editorial again.]

Technorati Tags: International Association of Nobodies, Shopping, IAN

Posted by Allan Jenkins at 11:50pm in International Association of Nobodies | Permalink | Comments Welcome! (1)