Jill Foster

Thanks Terri Holley aka @CreativeBlogs and founder of Creative Blog Solutions for this video chat. And thanks to friend Geoff Livingston for producing the fine Blogpotomac trilogy and bringing together DC social media and communications folks all in one place.

Reliving this great ‘kidnapping’
…and video shoot on-the-fly (thanks Mayra for sharing our story and terrific experience.

Mayra & her great storytelling chops

Warning!
Mayra calls me ‘Foster’ throughout this recount here, like a very friendly drill sergeant. But it’s all good with her unique mojo permeating the adventure.

The plan on Saturday, July 18…
was that there was no plan. We’re talking whimsical. We’re also talking unscheduled, random and capricious. Simply, I was supposed to connect with my gal pals Sibyl Edwards and Jill Foster to finally create a case study of our blogger outreach work for UNICEF/Tap DC earlier this year.

The thing is that “the plan” did not go as planned. Poor Sibyl didn’t make it to our case study shin dig. So it was just Foster and I sitting in my car wondering where we could go. We knew we needed to find some place where we could sit, talk, shoot some video clips and have the opportunity to discuss our blogger outreach adventures for Tap DC.

The problem: where would we go?

Once Foster got into my car, we knew what we had to do but didn’t know where to go to do it. Hmmm …. I wasn’t sure where we could go because I’m not terribly familiar with the Shady Grove metro area of Maryland. And we didn’t want a retail location or have to sit in a parking lot either. Decisions, decisions.

the video clips and our case study

After play time was over, Foster and I finally drove out to the historic battlefields…and found a great little spot from which to do our video case study.

…with more of the awesome day and project unfolding at Mayra’s online hub.

What a great day(!) of brainstorming and participating in Peter Corbett’s social media for social good effort i.e. Social Citizen Sunday, prelude to next month’s Apps for Democracy contest.

More on our idea — MTEL (Mobile Technology Education Labs):

Shireen Mitchell i.e. @digitalsista and I just had a fantastic time envisioning this idea!

Social Citizen Sunday: our 5 minute recap conversation
…check it out for the resources we found today plus the envisioned App for Democracy - ran by @corbett3000 ie Peter Corbett - concept that could utilize public government data to implement below.

Going mobile ourselves:
We drove around Washington, DC capturing content - video, pics, audio - on resources that potentially could implement MTEL:

• a) We visited a few abandoned DC buildings/educational centers that could be converted into MTEL’s HQ. One of these structures potentially could, as HQ, be the tech and assembly hub where donated laptops, video cams, podcasting tools, etc could be dropped off and assembled into mobile tech education labs. These ‘labs’ would be a donated fleet of cars, say (5) to launch with initially, that would serve as mobile tech lab units - with volunteers - transporting said digital education labs to underserved communities.
• b) Of the sites we visited today, all of them had ample space with large half-moon driveway space for mobile tech education ‘fleets’ to be parked and assembled.
• c) Shireen further clarifies in the audio how an actual application (per the competition that launches next month) could capture government data that would better inform us where to deploy the MTEL fleet.

Thanks Leslie Bradshaw for making me aware of more statistics and media related to World Water Week via GOOD Magazine.

I’ve also gained a lot from volunteering with the TAP Project, a UNICEF effort also honoring World Water Week. For this week March 22nd-28th, folks - when enjoying dinner at participating TAP Project restaurants - can donate $1 for their glass of tap water usually enjoyed for free.

That $1 will get a child clean drinking water for 40 days.

You can find participating restaurants per zip code easily.

And a compelling video follows below that Leslie’s team helped produce for GOOD Magazine.
I like how this was cut for online viewing; it has momentum and informs well I thought on uncomfortable stats in an effective way (water chlorination is now something I’m more conscious of and grateful for):

More stats:

• Every year, nearly 2 million children die from a lack of clean drinking water and sanitation
• Over 443 million school days are missed due to water borne illnesses
• Drinking water issues are nearly eliminated in the U.S. thanks to chlorination (as of 1908, Jersey City!) — but worldwide, diseases like cholera and typhoid are still rampant.

It’s been a great few months with transition (new jobs!), social marketing (great stuff per below on getting clean water to kids!), and the onset of spring in DC. Whew!

Here’s some quick news of what’s going on lately; it’s been a pleasure working with Sibyl Edwards on this outreach project.

[Disclosure (fun one!) -Cross-posted per Women Grow Business where I'm having a blast as the blog's editor!]

Bringing Business Together (5 minute podcast):
UNICEF’s TAP Project & Local Business Get Clean Water to Kids

For the podcast: 5 minutes
I recently had the pleasure of speaking with Digital Strategy Consultant Sibyl Edwards on UNICEF’s TAP Project, a huge effort to help get clean drinking water to children world wide. She has teamed up with GMMB & UNICEF and shared how businesses can get involved, how much a $1 donation can help, and more.

Or for the quick take down of our conversation
It was a thrill to watch the business, tech, and social cause communities intersect this week at an event where entrepreneurs, marketers, and tech enthusiasts came together to learn digital media.

It happened like this:
Sibyl recently shared her support for a UNICEF initiative - called the TAP Project - that’s related to World Water Week. What struck me is how businesses including local DC restaurants (and throughout the country) can get involved with ease.

All joining forces: small business, big business, UNICEF
Sibyl clarified the lack of clean drinking water is the second largest killer of children under five worldwide, causing 4,200 deaths from water-related diseases every day (I was unaware the stats were so high).

To help address this crisis, UNICEF launched the Tap Project.

During World Water Week (March 22-28, 2009) restaurants across the United States will encourage patrons to donate $1 or more for the tap water they usually enjoy for free. Every dollar raised provides a child with clean drinking water for 40 days.

Full disclosure and next steps
And when Sibyl shared those statistics I wanted to help (I’m working pro bono with her team and UNICEF to spread the word). I’m honored to collaborate with all these communities including the business sectors to help kids have access to the most basic necessity.

More on:

• An entrepreneur, clean drinking water, and children;
• How and when to donate $1 at your area restaurants participating in TAP;
• TAP Project’s mobile tech;
• How businesses can help;
• How people can volunteer.

(TAP logo and water graphic used with permission per Sibyl Edwards)

There’s lots to say about 2008 both to appreciate and grieve. It’s been a year well worth living because it taught so much about humility (and how I lacked it).

photo by Rickz

Apologies to be cryptic. It’s where I’m at mentally before boarding a plane to the Rockies to see my wonderful parents.

For next year, I concretely commit to:
-laughing so much till the point of pain;
-launching a business;
-greeting people with confident joy, resourcefulness, and a lighter mind i.e. on that last goal, the aim is to not greet life with such gravity.
-executing intention in health (gym and #twit2fit!), friends (more conscious gifts and appreciation to others!), and business (it’s time to specify and enact business plans long in the wings).

How about you?

What do you resolve to do that inspires your health and overall well-being to you, to others?

We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year’s Day. Edith Lovejoy Pierce

Thanks Twitter for a fantastic year of participating in a great, wide spectrum of community like:

• professional feedback (often when presenting live);
• political banter;
• DNC coverage and blogging it from Denver this year;
• collaboration offline, and in this case at BarCampDC 2008 with Shireen Mitchell i.e. @digitalsista;
• and fun(!).

Did you see this from Rich Becker? He describes Twitter to his son set to holiday story traditions - wonderful.

And to continue in that spirit, I share some fun below that emerged with help from Todd R. Jordan (@tojosan); Mayra Ruiz-McPherson (@marketingMisfit), and Chloe (@chloedc)

…and to clarify the screenshot, the text follows:

Twitter Holiday Story p4: Jingle tweeps jingle tweeps tweeting all the way, oh what fun it is 2 tweet w/ bunch of tweeters yay! @marketingMisfit

Twitter Holiday Story, p3: hashtag was #twalidays, they all tweeted galore & New Yr Resos were ‘we’ll have to tweetup more!’ go @chloevdc!

Twitter Holiday Story, p2: …Blog posts were posted by bloggers with care, In hopes that St. Brogan would soon review there, go @tojosan!

Twitter Holiday Story, p1: There once was a meetup where all thru the house, all tweeters were giddy, not one was a louse!

Thanks Geoff Livingston and Doriano Carta aka Paisano for the tag.

So here’s to seven micro personal stories…:

1. (one of my mom’s favorites) … I was born in 1970, California, two months premature with a collapsed lung. Parents were not permitted to touch me for months until those protective Catholic nuns gave the green light;

2. I love speaking in public and for whatever reason, didn’t inherit that related fear. Conveying one’s story with confident ownership empowers those telling and those listening. And I want to be more of service in this regard in 2009. P.S. Dr. King’s talk of The Dream and his symphony of brotherhood is like spiritual silk caressing the brain.

3. Scuba diving inspires a degree of fear, a large degree.

4. I grew up in Oklahoma where my mom was raised with her six siblings on wheat lands near Ft. Sill. A favorite family story is when my Grandmother Simpson went with many of the then young kids to the cleaners (small town of 2,500…gas station, cattle, Cherokee tribes, 10 baptist churches, that’s the setting then and now). And for whatever reason, the manager at the cleaners that day refused Grandmother service. She sent my 10 year old uncle to fetch Grandad, a farmer. Grandad drove up, walked to the manager, and tossed him out the window.
Note: good customer service p a y s.

5. Love the OU Sooners. Jan 8th!

6. .. Digging deep here but it made a lasting impact: My first major sweetheart (in Oklahoma high school) was with a guy in drama club; we were different races. The name calling, judgment, and threats of exile stunned my view of people at the time yet it all taught this: a.) people act out of ignorance, habit, and fear and that’s forgivable (even if it being changeable is preferred); b.) Experience as an outcast no matter how brief or at what age teaches relational politics; c.) Practicing love, even with its hard knocks, is the only game in town.

7. Edith Wharton’s Age of Innocence remains a favorite book.

Random extra: I want to be an international spy with ninja ability and have since a kid. It seems a -very- natural career choice to which I’m perfectly compatible … besides the fact of getting the giggles when in tense situations. Otherwise, I’m so her.

And to these seven, would you share your seven-point story?
Scott Stead
Jonny Goldstein
Jill Miller Zimon
Jeff Hibbard
Todd Jordan
Mayra Ruiz McPherson
Jeff Turner

photo, OK wheat fields by rhowell74, Creative Commons 2.0 A-NC-ND

Q: What defines the pinnacle of a blogger’s glee?
A: …being invited by DC’s Shakespeare Theatre Company to a media night performance of course!

And recently I enjoyed the opportunity to attend and thus review William Congreve’s The Way of the World directed by Michael Kahn.

The anticipation:
Congreve’s work was new to me so before the curtain drew, I was excited to learn of his storytelling style. The intimacy of Lansburgh Theatre accelerated this anticipation with its earth-toned auditorium and uniquely angled seating; somehow the theatre’s environment conveyed an aura that said: “Anticipating good entertainment is natural here!”

The story:
The play unfolds in the 17th century during England’s Restoration era. And my micro synopsis of this piece is: it’s a much more light hearted version of Dangerous Liaisons.

Dirctor Michael Kahn further describes the story:
“‘The Way of the World’ is about money, sex, power, appearances, and deception, and finally love. [The characters] Mirabell and Millamant love each other, but they endlessly deceive other people, and each other, in order to achieve that love. And that is probably the truest relationship in the play!”

“…It’s a huge comedy of deception, set in a society that really has money and sex at the heart of its concerns.”

Favorite design element: the costumes
The cast was dynamic and their witty deceptions gained my favor through the whole performance. But it was the use of costume in the story that knocked my socks off the most. Imagine every depth of green laced with sparkling, frilly layers and thus exists the play’s costume palate. It was gorgeous; and the color green metaphorically championed all the play’s themes – monetary greed, sexual urge as potent as Spring’s first signs, and even some naivete in a supporting character that resonated my Dad’s favored phrase ‘greenhorn gullible’.

Favorite actor: Christopher Innvar i.e. “Mirabell”
The cast offered delightful talent full of great timing and compatibility. What kept my attention most however was Innvar’s confidence and his ability to emotionally chase his lover Millamant despite knowing her imperfections.

Favorite lines:
Plenty of one-line zingers energize the dialogue. Some that stood out:

When a house keeper offers a lady a small sized drink:

Does thou take me for a fairy to drink out of an acorn?

When one supporting character observes the passion between the two leads:

Your mutual jealousies of eachother have collided so much you’ve both struck fire!

One inconsistent flaw:
One of the leads, Veanne Cox as Millamant, gave a spry, delicious performance. Her intelligent, flirtatious persona was practically edible. Yet at times her delivery involved so much momentum that some of her lines were lost. In a few scenes, I could not discern some of her dialogue.

Overall review:
With vibrant, sensual color, wit, sexual tension, infidelity, and manipulation — all in the quest for love and financial preservation – why wouldn’t The Way of the World lure you to this weekend’s performance?

I recommend it.