Cool prank!

http://www.pinkprankproject.com/

AI Canada's Take Action website

It's a winner.
http://www.amnesty.ca/take_action/

Here's what I like about the landing page:

1. It's inspirational
The quotes and pictures of real people give a human face to human rights activism and makes you believe that you can make a difference. It's also got a movement building element to it -- amnesty is global.

2. It breaks it down simply
You can take action by issue, country, region, type or date. Something for everybody.

3. Activist toolkit
Help to get you started.

4. Information about what you can do now
It makes action timely and relevant.

I think it's a bit long for a landing page though. I'd probably stop after what you can do now.

the difference between facebook and myspace

Social networking social scientist Danah Boyd has just released a working draft of a paper looking at US class differences in facebook and myspace. The crux of her research is:

"well-to-do, stable American teens with "good prospects" end up on Facebook, while poor, queer, marginal and non-white teens end up on MySpace (even in the military, grunts are on MySpace and officers are on Facebook -- guess which one the military banned!"

From Boing Boing

translating online activism to action on the ground

I've found some interesting things in my travels in the last week.

1. Meet-up
http://www.meetup.com/
Meet-up is a website where people can find realtime groups with similar interests and meet up with them in person. It's a really interesting model for us and I think where we want to go with the new database and the activist portal. AIUSA have a meetup, so it would be good to know how that's going. It's also been used by presidential candidates to build support for their campaigns.
http://www.meetup.com/search/?keywords=presidential+candidates&jsCountry=us

2. Facebook Causes
This is about to be launched by the social networking site Facebook. The basic premise is that the online communities have changed because people's online interactions, which were traditionally separate from their offline interactions, now reflect the real community. Websites like Myspace and Facebook have become another 'venue' to meet with friends.

So it also changes how organisations like us can campaign. Causes creates a kind of marketplace of causes, where people will judge them, discuss the merits of the cause and take action accordingly. It also means that people can leverage their networks of friends and organise to take action both online and offline.

I'm going to keep a close eye on this as it develops. What's been most surprising is that to read about it, I had to get a Facebook account -- I can't believe how many people have been friending me or how fun it is!

PS You can't access Facebook from the office.

add campaign message to your blog

Here's how it's done by the BBC for their campaign to free Alan Johnston.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/theeditors/2007/04/how_you_can_help.html

delayed response marketing

Here's a direct copy and paste from Copyblogger about delayed response marketing. It would be interesting to incorporate this into our supporter journey. I particularly like the stuff about establishing a relationship in the Benefits section.

Delayed Response Marketing

There are acceptable ways to get a few marketing messages delivered and improve your image, while maintaining your reader’s interest.

What I am about to outline comes from personal experience.

I wrote a document called, “How to Write a White Paper: A White Paper on White Papers.” More than 44,000 people registered for the paper and I still have between 50 and 100 people signing up daily. To see how I set up the main page, click here.

Here is the delayed response marketing principle applied:

Touch Point 1 – The “Thank-You” Page: After the registration form is submitted, send the reader to a “Thank you for registering” page. This is where you make your first pitch for some of your value-added services. You should also include the email address your document will be sent from so folks to add it to their white lists (increasing delivery rates). See a sample here.

Touch Point 2 – The “Thanks for Registering” Email: Set up an autoresponder that sends a thank-you message to new registrants. This is where you can thank them for registering and state, “While you are waiting for our paper, you might be interested in this other information.” You can link to some of your services, your blog and so on.

Touch Point 3 – Send the Content One Hour Later: Set up a delayed message that sends the requested document (or links to a page that contains it) after an hour has gone by. Be sure to mention again some of the other services you offer.

Touch Point 4 – The Actual Document: The ebook or white paper is the final touch point. By this time, the reader has been expecting your content and should be familiar with your name, company and brand.

Touch Point 5 – Your Newsletter (optional): If you have a newsletter, it would be wise to add the option to subscribe to it on your registration form. Set up a three-day delay and send a special prefabricated edition of your newsletter. This provides another opportunity to get your name in front of a prospect.

The Benefits

By NOT sending what they want right away, you can actually:

• Increase your name recognition: Every time the prospect reads something from you, your name becomes etched in their brain. More touch points mean more chances you will gain their business.
• Establish a relationship: By sending well-crafted messages, you begin the process of establishing trust with your prospect. These relationship-forming steps help take you from an information dispenser to an advocate.
• Increase your open rates: Because readers are expecting an email from you, your thank-you message and follow-up message will have a very high open rate. This is the prime time to mention related products and services.
• Improve the desire to read the document: When the final document arrives, the reader will have been prepared for this great piece. The delayed gratification concept kicks in and they will likely treat your work as extra special, devoting time to your useful resource.

online sign up - lead a delegation to you MP

the US section are great at this. for our records - link to their sign up form.

one day we will be doing this :)