Helping Haiti
Filed under: Blog Entries, Community, Family, Relationships, Society & Culture, Technology, Think Global
It’s amazing how a disaster can bring people together and due to major advancements in technology, it’s easier than every to lend a hand. I’ve received information via email, text and Facebook about Wyclef Jean’s efforts to help those in Haiti. It’s pretty easy to donate and you know the funds are going to be used wisely. To donate via your cell phone text “Yele” to 501501 and $5.00 will be charged to your cell phone bill. To donate online, click here.
The Red Cross also has a text message option and so far has raised over $4 million in mobile donations. To donate to the Red Cross via your mobile phone, text the word “Haiti” to the number 90999. A donation of $10.oo will be charged to your mobile phone bill.
Local Dallas radio host Tom Joyner said in this morning’s show that he and his team have plans to fly to Port-au-Prince to set up an internet cafe for Haitian citizens to contact family in America. In a post at blackamericaweb.com, they list some other things we can do to help out.
I shouldn’t be surprised at the global response to help a country in need, but I would like to end this post with a message from the Villager titled “Haiti Earthquake: Will America Care Next Week?”. Haiti has always been a country in need and I hope America will not forget them or others who need a helping hand.
Webinar: Build a Thriving Nonprofit Organization
Filed under: Blog Entries, Business, Community, Technology
I received this in an email, so I’m not sure how good it will be. But it does sound pretty interesting.
The IRS is changing the rules and raising the fees… so we just want to give you one last chance to register for Kill the Myths & Make Money Pursuing Your Passion: How & Why to Build a Thriving Nonprofit Organization. This is the last opportunity for this webinar before the IRS makes its move! Don’t miss it!
- Do you want to start a nonprofit organization but think it means you can’t make money?
- Do you have a passion to serve the community but don’t know how to turn your ideas into profits?
- Do you want to know where the money is and how to get it?
- Want to know how to build a thriving 501(c)(3) organization?
Nonprofit DOES NOT MEAN no money!
Learn the nuts, bolts and much, much more, including:
- What is the difference between a not-for-profit corporation, a tax-exempt organization, and a limited liability company (LLC)?
- What are the funding source?
- How to build wealth in a tax-exempt organization?
- How to turn your community service passion into profits?
- Where is the money to fund your ideas?
Despite our current economic environment, there is still money out there to fund your organization… you just have to know how and where to find it!
We will dispel the myths, misconceptions and mindsets that hinder you from succeeding and building a thriving organization (“We can’t do that as a nonprofit…”). Whether you lead a nonprofit, are thinking about starting one, or work for one… this webinar is for you.
Tuesday, December 29, 2009 7:30 PM – 9:00 PM EST
Bill Cosby LISTENing Party
Filed under: Blog Entries, Community, Education, Entertainment & Sports, Family, Society & Culture, Technology
Last month I wrote a post about a virtual town hall meeting for Bill Cosby’s new CD, ‘Bill Cosby Presents the Cosnarati: State of Emergency’. The record has been released and Mr. Cosby is turning his attention to creating a serious discussion around the issues that fuel the Cosnarati record.
The next phase of the “State of Emergency” campaign will be a weekend of LISTENing parties on December 12th and 13th. The Cosby team will be working vigilantly on the organization of thousands of mini-town halls at homes, community centers, churches, and other locations around the country. A full overview on the LISTENing parties here:
http://act.billcosby.com/events
This will be done in conjunction with another Ustream town hall featuring Mr. Cosby, who will also be calling in to welcome listeners at many of the town halls. If you would like to set up a LISTENing party, a manual for what’s needed to get started can be found at http://act.billcosby.com/page/-/docs/party-manual.pdf. I’ve been asked to sponsor a meeting, so I’ll let you know what comes of that.
FREE WEBINAR! Strategy: Don’t Just Plan…EXECUTE!
Filed under: Blog Entries, Business, Education, Technology
Date: Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Time: 10:30am PST
Space is limited
Reserve your webinar seat now at:
https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/528874154
“82% of Fortune 500 CEO’s feel their organization did an effective job of strategic planning. Only 14% of the same CEO’s indicated that their organization did an effective job of implementing the strategy.“
- Fortune Magazine
The latest Conference Board CEO Challenge Survey identifies the top 3 CEO concers are:
1) Excellence in Execution
2) Consistent Execution of Strategy by Top Management
3) Speed, Flexibility, Adaptability to Change
So ask yourself these 3 questions:
- Are you executing your strategy?
- Does your workforce understand the corporate strategy and their role in executing it?
- Can your organization respond timely to the rapidly changing business environment, seize opportunities and mitigate threats?
After registering you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the Webinar.
System Requirements:
PC-based attendees
Required: Windows® 2000, XP Home, XP Pro, 2003 Server, Vista
Macintosh®-based attendees
Required: Mac OS® X 10.4 (Tiger®) or newer
Dive Bombing the Moon
Early Friday morning around 7:31 a.m. ET, NASA is planning to crash a rocket into the moon. The collision is expected to kick up tons of moon dirt and debris that will then be scanned for signs of water ice suspected to be buried beneath the floor of a permanently shadowed crater at the lunar south pole.
If you are interested in watching the blast, you can watch it live on NASA TV at 7:30 a.m. ET. Out of curiousity, I’ll probably be up to see how it goes because I’ve always had an interest in astronomy as a kid. If it all goes according to plan, it should be pretty cool to watch. If it doesn’t then I guess that’s $79 million down the drain.
NASA Set to Dive Bomb the Moon
Obama Calls Kanye a Jackass
Filed under: Blog Entries, Entertainment & Sports, Laughable, Obama, Technology
I don’t know why politicians don’t understand that, NOTHING IS EVER OFF THE RECORD!!! Here is video from CNN’s Rick Sanchez reporting about an off the record comment from President Obama about Kanye West’s treatment of Taylor Swift at the MTV Awards. While Obama may have been correct in my opinion, he should have known the comment would get out. Shortly after it was made an ABC employee twittered the comment out to everyone.
Poor, poor Kanye. People can only take so much of his big Ego. I wonder if the President will invite him over for a beer.
Here we go. This is funny!
The Big Mobile on Campus Challenge
Filed under: Blog Entries, Business, Community, Education, Personal Finance, Technology
Here’s an opportunity for to get some scholarship money. I remember working on teams to get projects done and it can be a daunting task if you don’t have the right people. While I didn’t realize it at the time. the group projects I had to do prepared me for the corporate environment. Learning how to recognize people’s strengths and utilizing them for the benefit of the team can be the difference between a good application and one that was a waste of time creating.
Here’s more information on the Big Mobile:
What: The Big Mobile on Campus Challenge is a contest to create mobile applications. The contest encourages participants to develop innovative and creative mobile applications that enhance the student experience and improve the educational process. One grand-prize winner will receive a $10,000 scholarship presented at the EDUCAUSE Annual Conference in Denver, Colorado from November 3-6, 2009. Additionally, two runner-up winners will receive a $5,000 scholarship.
Who: Full time students and full or part time faculty and staff of accredited universities are eligible to participate. Participants can work on an application independently or with a team of up to four individuals.
How: There are three categories for the contest—mobile learning, mobile identity, and student system integration. All of these categories are meant to help participants create an application that enhances academic performance, builds campus community, and improves campus operations. The official contest registration form can be found at: http://higheredcontest.wireless.att.com
When and Where: The Big Mobile on Campus Challenge application deadline is October 15, 2009. The finalist applications are then reviewed by a panel of judges, who consider the overall concept of the application, the design implementation and quality, and the impact the application will have on the higher education community.
The President’s Remarks to Students In School
Filed under: Blog Entries, Community, Education, Obama, Society & Culture, Technology
For the curious and those who are not allowing your kids to go to school because the President is speaking tomorrow, here are the prepared remarks from the White House website. After reading it, I’m sure your opinion won’t change because the President will still encourage your student to do well in school and make their mark in society. I personally don’t see the big deal about it and I hope someone reading this post who disagrees will explain to me why they feel the way they do. If it were a Republican president, it wouldn’t both me because my four year old has yet to make up his mind about which political party he’s going to vote for when he becomes of age (slacker). And even more important, I still have time to mold his mind and show him the direction I want him to follow when it comes to politics.
I’m sure Obama is not trying to brainwash your child to become a Democrat. Believe it or not, he’s a positive role model for a lot of young kids around the world. Americans should be happy about the speech because it takes one more excuse away from those intolerant inner-city kids. I applaud the President for not backing down on giving the speech and removing the part that upset his opponents. Who knows, maybe it will inspire some kid to begin his quest to be the President. I’d like to hear what the kids have to say about the speech.
How to Watch (SOURCE)
- The President’s message will be streamed live on WhiteHouse.gov/live, and broadcast live on C-Span
- Downloadable video of the speech will be made available on this page later that day as it becomes available
- For school districts hoping to access the satellite feed, it will be available beginning at 11:00 AM (EDT) using the following coordinates:
- Galaxy 28/Transponder 17, Slot C (9 MHz)
- Uplink Frequency 14344.5 Horizontal
- Downlink Frequency 12044.5 Vertical
Dallas South News Open House
Filed under: Black Blogger Postings, Blog Entries, Community, General, Politics, Society & Culture, Technology
Last night I had the opportunity to attend an open house to see the Dallas South News newsroom. While I was supposed to be taking pictures for this post, I found myself engaged in some great conversation with various attendees of the event. It was a good chance to meet some new people and network I even got the chance to chat with some college friends I hadn’t seen in a while (shout to the A&M crew).
For those who haven’t been to the website, check it out at www.dallassouthnews.org. This is going to be a good deal for the South Dallas community. Blogging has opened up a different way in which news can be reported. Through it, us little people can have a voice and the real discussions can begin. Shawn Williams, the DSN editor shared an email with his board on how this type of media benefits the community.
Dear DSN Board and Advisory Board,
At the most recent board meeting, a discussion took place around why efforts like Dallas South News are important, and what type of value we bring to communities. I have reached out to a few people across the country leading initiatives on innovation in media to share their thoughts with us about just how significant our effort is at this critical juncture in journalism.
The first person that we hear from is Kelly McBride. Kelly is the Ethics Group Leader at the Poynter Institute, a school for journalists in St. Petersburg, Florida. More importantly for this discussion, it was Kelly that convened the “Sense Making” project funded by the Ford Foundation, “a yearlong project to help the public develop skills for making sense of news in the digital era.” At the gathering of “sense makers” last Spring, I learned about other cities utilizing local nonprofit news.
Here’s what Kelly had to say:
Humans understand the world through narrative. Communities exist because groups of humans share portions of a common narrative (That could be, “We live on this street.” or “We share the same faith.” or “We fought the same war.”)
The more narratives are communicated, the more effective they become in building communities. Communities are necessary to create positive social change. People may argue about the veracity of these statements, but I believe they are demonstrably true.
Since the dawn of American democracy, we have had reliable institutions that create a common narrative for our communities. Granted these have been flawed institutions that left out huge portions of that narrative. But these newspapers and later radio and television stations, at least had the capacity, if not the will, to tell the stories of their communities.
Today, those institutions are losing their ability to tell a community’s story. As a result the community is losing the ability to address problems and make the world better.
So, other institutions must be created to share stories and to document narratives, particularly untold stories, so that communities can continue to move forward.
Kelly McBride
Ethics Group Leader
The Poynter Institute
kelly@poynter.org
Twitter: kmcb
www.poynter.org
Check out the site and let me know what you think. If you would like to donate or volunteer, email editor@dallassouthnews.org or call 214-485-0683 for more information.
BTW, here a slide show with some of the photos that I was able to take between conversations.
Twitter Beats Mainstream Media on Death of Steve McNair
Filed under: Blog Entries, Entertainment & Sports, Society & Culture, Technology, Twitter
I always get nervous when I see news like this come across a social networking site before news confirms it because you never know if it’s true. This has been a tough couple of months for a lot of celebrity families who have lost love ones and this is not the first time that I found out about it via Twitter.
I first saw a tweet by @AroundHarlem (twitter.com/AroundHarlem) and thought it may have been someone else because I hadn’t seen it on the news yet. But just like the Michael Jackson passing, the news started reporting after it moved through the Internet. It’s amazing how fast news travels today, which is why we have to be careful to decipher between rumor and fact. But most of the people I follow are good at making sure the right information is posted. It wasn’t until I noticed an update in Wikipedia that I decided to post on his passing. I’m sure if you start googling it now, you’ll find a lot out there.
I remember when Steve came to the Houston Oilers. I was exited because we REALLY needed a quarterback, but they wouldn’t let him play. I was upset about it, but the Oilers left for Tennessee and I had to get over it. Along with Warren Moon, I consider him to be one of my favorite quarterbacks and pray the best for those survived by him. It’s sad to hear this kind of news, but it reminds us how precious life really is.
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