Where’s the Beef?

Yes, these are my feet being eaten by fish. I recently went to a fish spa in Kuala Lumpur, where the fish - bigger than i expected - give you a pedicure by nibbling at the dead skin on your feet and legs. For someone as ticklish as me, it was sometimes difficult to leave my feet still for only a few seconds at a time. For 38 ringit ($12) you get to dip your feet in flesh-eating fish infested waters. I would definitely recommend trying it sometime if you’re ever in KL.

Nowhere if you are Barak Obama or Hillary Clinton. According to the NYTimes, Mr. Obama has raised $268 million and Mrs. Clinton $215 million. Can you imagine what our inner city schools would look like if we gave them $500 million? They could buy desks, books and computer equipment…and invest in dropout prevention, athletic or music programs. We must reform our campaign finance laws NOW.

That’s according to Bob Herbert in his NY Times Op-Ed, Clueless In America. It’s hard to believe that we continue to focus on gender and race as the bigger issues this election year, while students drop out of high school at alarming rates. We need a new direction.

According to Herbert, a recent survey by Common Core showed that a 25% of teenagers could not identify Adolf Hitler, a third did not know that the Bill of Rights guaranteed freedom of speech and religion, and fewer than half knew that the Civil War took place between 1850 and 1900.

Let’s embrace our differences, learn from each other, and focus on educating our future generations.

***Read the Presidential candidates plans for our failing education system and decide for yourself:

Barak Obama

Hillary Clinton

John McCain

I’ve been on both sides of the communication spectrum - from morning television news to public relations. I currently work for a large non-profit in the Washington, DC area. I’m always thinking of creative ways to get my non-profit’s story to the media, the people we help and donors that support us. Here are a few of my suggestions if you’re just getting started:

1. Get press. I know it’s not that easy. Media will cover your story or event if you have the right hook and contact. Having the right contact might seem elementary but researching the right person to pitch can make or break your story. Here are a few tips:

• For print media, google news your topic to find out who has covered it in the past or who reports on similar stories. Once you have names you can either call the appropriate news desk or send them a pitch via e-mail.
• For television news, identify if your story or event would be more appropriate for morning or evening news and then watch the show to get an idea of where it would be placed in the show. A story that has a strong news peg would be towards the front of the first hour in a morning show, but if it’s more fluffy then would probably find its way in the 2nd hour. Once you have identified the placement and have a solid hook, call the news desk and ask to speak to a producer (you may have to convince a production assistant that your story is strong enough to make air).

2. Build a base. You’ll need supporters and donors to continue your mission. Youth are a great place to start even if they aren’t big donors (but they will be!). Here are a couple of suggestions to get youth involved:

• Youth love advocating and competition. To engage and gain the support of youth you will need to have an advocacy message and use it to ask them to do something. Let’s take Oxfam’s recent campaign to support Ethiopian coffee farmers. Oxfam had several components to this campaign but one of the more successful ones was their flickr petition. They asked their supporters to post photos supporting fair trade coffee. [Flickr is a great place to post your photos - it's sort of like the YouTube in the photo world.]
• Be where youth are. Even if you’re not young you probably know someone in their teens or twenties. Find out what sites they’re on (e.g., Facebook, YouTube, Flickr, Ammado) and create a presence for your non-profit. Once you’re on these sites you will want to have new content daily. Fresh content keeps your non-profit top of mind and has a better chance of getting picked up.

3. Get your message out. Human interest stories and blogs can help connect your non-profit directly with donors and journalists. Successful blogging is an art. You will need fresh, interesting content written in a way people connect with and want to respond or share with others. It was a blog that got Kiva recognized - now it’s a major player among microfiance organizations.

There are many other options for getting your message out to interested stakeholders. You can start a podcast or have interactive components on your website (e.g., polls, questionaires, contests, etc.).

The key is to be flexible, open to new ideas and take smart risks. These will ensure your nonprofit is at the top when it comes to communication. If you have anything to add, feel free to comment with your suggestions!

The next time you visit Geneva, expect to see more white earphones around the lake and on the trams. Geneva will soon be covered with apples. No not from apple trees but by apple computers and ipods. Apple is opening a new store near Globus department store on Rue du Marcher - near the Old Town area of Geneva. As an American in Geneva, I can’t wait to see more people walking with a beat in their step listening to their new ipod or sitting outside at starbucks with a new mac air notebook.

Have you ever left your mobile in the back of a taxi or dropped it in the toilet, losing all your numbers? Now there is a website that will allow you to save all your numbers. Simply save your contacts from your sim card to your phone and register on Mobyko. It will also allow you to sync your contacts to a new phone. I wish I would’ve thought of this a few years ago…

First of all, I’m typing this entry in a Starbucks in Geneva - so American.

If you can’t tell, I’m an American living in Geneva for a few months for work. Having lived in Europe before (London for two years) it always strikes me upon first arriving at how the men our so different. In the states I would probably be called a smart or sharp dresser that pays attention to trends. In other words I like to look good and wear well made clothes. In Europe I see so many well dressed men wearing fitted clothes that I think they’re all gay. Not the case. Surprisingly, you’ll find more gay men walking the streets of New York City or Washington DC than in many of the cities of Europe (with the exception of Soho in London).

Have you ever wanted to know which streets are closed, when severe weather alerts are issued or when a metro station is closed? Now you can get Alert DC on your cell or blackberry to get an immediate text or e-mail notification during an emergency or major crisis. Well worth the couple of minutes to create an account.

Breaking news in the District. The Dutch clothing store, G-Star, is coming to DC. It will be located next to the United Colors of Benetton on Connecticut Avenue in Dupont. I’m ecstatic. The only other thing DC needs now is another Whole Foods (and a Century 21).

My Chia Professor has male-pattern mullet syndrome. His Chinese Chia manufacturing parents must have mullets too. It’s the only explanation. Stay posted - his hair transplantation surgery is scheduled for later today.