February 13, 2009 • 12:06 pm 0
So the party is over, lots of people came and a great time was had by all.
If you didn’t make it to the Twestival but would still like to help you can. The site is still open for donations.
Checkout www.twestival.be to see what the event was all about and for a donation link.
Thanks
February 4, 2009 • 6:41 pm 1
I have to admit, when I first heard the date of Twestival – 12 February – I thought, “Oh this is an elaborate scheme by some geek to make sure that they have a date for St. Valentines Day”.
I looked into it a little more, not because I’m looking for a date I hasten to add, but because I was curious to see why Twitter users wanted to meet up. What was their purpose? Then I saw the videos and I knew why people were signing up.
And then it mushroomed. Cities have signed up in their droves!
What started out as a vague idea to try and get a handful of cities together to raise money to drill fresh water wells in Ethiopia is fast becoming a major global fundraising party. The deadline for cities to sign up passed on 31st January and at that point nearly 200, yes you read right, 200 cities throughout the world have signed up for Twestival.
You don’t have to be a Twitter user to come to the party. Tickets cost between €5-50 depending on how much you want to pay. There are 3 bands lined up and a DJ and we’ll be at Le Botanique from 5pm-1am.
And here’s why!
November 26, 2008 • 5:56 pm 1
Do you live in a place where the sun rises each day? Yup, me too.
Coming to a street near you very soon.
Filed under: NGO, New Technology
December 19, 2007 • 11:17 am 0
OK, this isn’t very web design related but, Christmas is nearly upon us and if you’re looking for a charity to support this year I’d like to suggest APOPO.
APOPO is a Belgium based organisation that I first came across in Ossegem Park, near the Atomium in Brussels this Summer. They had laid out a very large field of giant poppy flowers made from pottery to promote their work in clearing landmines.
Their main activity is to train African Giant Pouched rats to detect the smell of explosives and then use the trained rats to find landmines and other unexploded ordnance in two different ways.
The first method involves inspecting a specific area of land in a systematic way. When a mine is detected, the rat scratches the ground to indicate that it has found something and the threat is dealt with in the traditional manner. Because the rats are so light, they do not trigger an explosion and live to go on detecting more dangerous ordnance. In fact these rats can live for up to 8 years and can cover a greater area of land each day than humans.
The second technique is called Remote Explosive Scent Tracing (REST) and is being used primarily to clear roads so that relief aid can get into post-war zones and infrastructure can get back to normal.
Rather than take the rats to the potential mine field, samples of the air and dust over the affected area are brought to the rats in a local lab. These samples are then checked by the rats for traces of explosives. This method is highly efficient as it can be used to quickly declare a zone mine free.
APOPO are also working on disease detection and are highly innovative in their problem solving approach. You can donate on their website.
Filed under: Benelux, NGO , APOPO, charity, christmas, donations, giving, landmines, rats, REST, UXO
September 28, 2007 • 9:12 am 0
This announcement by Google caught my eye today as it relates to an article I wrote last week about clients using video on their web site and how services such as YouTube have now made that very easy to achieve.
Google has just launched a free service which provides non-profit organisations with their own YouTube channel. Many of my clients are non-profit and while it looks like the offer only applies to non-profits in the USA at the moment, it’s bound to rolled out in Europe sooner or later.
But YouTube is free I hear you cry. True, and that was the whole point of my article last week. But they are offering more than a free account. They are offering a channel. This means you benefit of your own dedicated, branded area on YouTube, promotion of your content on premium areas of YouTube and support in professional productions.
Of course Google are very smart people and this package comes with a very nice sweetener. They have included free on-line donation processing using Google Checkout, their own version or PayPal / World Pay etc. Donation processing is free with the package until at least the end of 2008.
You can read their full announcement here googleblog.blogspot.com/2007/09/youtube-and-checkout-for-non-profit.html
You can find out more about the initiative at youtube.com/nonprofits
Filed under: NGO, Promoting Your Website and Organisation , charity campaigns, ngos, non-profit associations, not for profit, video, youtube
Recent Comments