Let's say you are an Ultimate Frisbee-playing, climate-studying scientist out to inform the world. One day it dawns on you that you'd like to talk to regular people rather than write yet another scientific journal article about global warning.
You decide to cycle from your Palo Alto home "down the length of California, then pass the dusty colonias of the Baja peninsula." You'll "push on through Mexico, Central and South America, ending, an exhausting 14 months and 13,000 miles later, at the southern tip of Argentina."
And you'll blog it every inch of the journey. The highlights of every one-to-one conversation.
It's an unorthodox way to discuss science, but [David] Kroodsma, an earnest man and avid cyclist, believes people are more likely to listen when you're on two wheels.
"It's an intimate way to travel,'' said Kroodsma, who rode the Transamerica Trail in 2003. "When I biked across the country, it was amazing how quickly people invite you into their homes.'' - "Long Road Ahead," San Jose Mercury News, November 2, 2005
These are the kinds of questions running through my head of late. (Disclaimer:) I'm 100% departing from any reality of Kroodsma's actual project and going purely into the realm of imagination, fiction, dreams, and the not yet: where all reality begins. Let's start...
What if David Kroodsma had the equivalent of a literary agent for his blog project?
What if not only Winter Olympic athletes were sponsored bloggers, but everyday ordinary artists like you or I dipping their digital quill and hefting a toy camera to make a difference?
What if said agency had secured Toyota as his sponsor? A discreet Prius ad on the upper left of his blog? Or the happy sunny BP logo? Or if ClifBar had been asked for more than a few cases of product? And REI, as a proud sponsor, enthusiastically linked to Kroodsma's blog from their website's front page?
What if readers tagged related "global warming", "South America", "climate change" articles and blog posts that they came across in their daily reading on del.icio.us? What if they automagically showed up on the blog in the "Reader Contributions" section ala Coolhunting. What if David weaved those timely articles from his editors-at-large (you!) to the post about the burning forest cleared for farming in the small village in Chiapas he spent last night? What if you blew up idea of standalone journalism and invited the whole world as your fact-checkers, your researchers, your marketing department, your mission control team?
What if there was a "How To Help" section ala Hot Zone that listed a few climate change related charities and their badges. Maybe accompanied by the charity's community-written how-to-customer-evangelize-our-cause blog (how you can spread the word on the charity's behalf).
What if PR and marketing pros, novices, students and citizen marketers continued to spread the word of Kroodsma's Ride for Climate trip. Maybe that conversation he had with the man hunched over, walking down the volcano weighed down by load of chopped wood in Santiago Atitlan. Si, the man understands Stan barreled down so hard because of the deforestation. His neighbor's family is under dozens of feet of mud, of course. Pero, there is no electricity. This wood is fuel. For the stove. For our meal. To stay warm here among the mountain clouds. What if that story - intricate and complex and raising more questions than it answers - could be seen in WorldChanging.com or perhaps the UN newsletter with a brief chat. Or perhaps the LA Times. Perhaps.
What if Kroodsma had been part of a small like-minded network before his trip? What if he'd met them through a social network and they met at his home, at the local coffee shop, and sometimes on a lazy Sunday afternoon bike ride? What if you could donate to this group directly. There's the videographer originally from Chile that' s doing the blog documentary on the dancers and musicians amidst the cardboard-barracks of shanty-town Brazil. Shirley wrote only in her journals except for those weeks in Iowa or Taos when she shares what she scribes. She's working on taking oral histories of the people of her small hurricane-stricken town and making them come vividly alive. Dinesh was planning to sneak back to India to delve into the nuances and dig into the conflict and life as lived in Kashmir - but that was before the earthquake hit. He's toying with a new twist and talking with Hidaya about it.
What if Kroodsma learned a lot about writing from Shirley, a lot about talking to people in other parts of the world from Inez, and how to fundraise from Dinesh (he's got a marketing day job). What if Kroodsma raised so much money that he donates part of his surplus to Shirley's project? What if months after her project is through, Shirley donates to the new group forming in Uganda? What if Shirley begins organizing Inez and a few fellow bloggers fly over and team up with the Ugandan group to teach the orphanage kids to tell their stories to the world?
What if they were wrong in kindergarten recess?
My what ifs aren't over.
What if, I ask you.
Intrigued? More Citizen Journalism Anew One to One Microfund nitty gritty here. (I'll crosspost here soon.) Why not put the badge on your blog? Ask your own what ifs and tell us about it. (The simple gesture of displaying the badge goes a long way in getting ordinary artists, media outlets, corporations, and so many others engaged.)
Here's the badge code for your blog (just cut-and-paste):
<div style="text-align:center"><A HREF="http://www.wordofblog.net/redirect.php?id=372&uid=491"><IMG SRC="http://www.wordofblog.net/ad_images/372491.jpg" BORDER=0></A><BR> <FONT SIZE=1>Heard the <A HREF="http://www.WordofBlog.net/info.php?id=372">Word of Blog?</A></FONT></div>
Donations. Paypal donations (no fees accessed here) or blog tipjar at upper left (about 3% Paypal fee lopped off) or send checks to: PO Box 490, Mountain View, CA 94042. $100 donations & up receive sponsorships links through 01/16/06. Seeking bylined articles and sponsored blogging opportunities.
Special thanks to designer Mike Rohde for graciously volunteering to create the awesome badge.
Update: What if we heard the call: "Diane Mermigas writes that content must catch up with the new media world. I couldn't agree more. [via Terry Heaton, "Calling for a Creative Awakening"]
What's required is a call for a genuine creative awakening not only in Hollywood and New York but everywhere in between where artists, writers, producers, animators and performers reside."
Although on totally different tracks, you and I are both in the "what if" mode these days:
http://workerbeesblog.blogspot.com/2005/11/high-risk-corporate-blogging-getting.html
I believe my idea and all of yours above can and will happen.
Ask for it! You know, you always put what you're asking for at the *bottom* of your posts.
I wonder what would happen if you led with your concrete asks. If you wrote a whole post of them. Make it that much easier for people to know how to help...and to know that it's top priority.
Just a thought. Wonder if it would make a difference?
Posted by: Elisa Camahort | Nov 08, 2005 at 07:01 PM
I hope the little badge gets folks to click and check out the site Evelyn -- I'm honored to be able to help in a small way. :-)
Posted by: Mike Rohde | Nov 08, 2005 at 11:43 PM