I was thinking about Edward Kennedy yesterday while at the Social Good Conference I was attending, there was a moment, at the end, were we all paid tribute to Edward Kennedy, the Lion the Senete.

In a way, to me, the story of Edward Kennedy, is the story of a youngest brother of a family, who ended up being the Patrich of it.    Most of my life, Edward Kennedy was around, part of the Senete, maybe to me, he was the Senete.    I didn’t know that Edward Kennedy painted, as well, something I can fully relate to.

What I relate to in Edward Kennedy, isn’t so much his legislate acheivements, though I benefited from many of them, but how (being a youngest brother in my family, as well – often the youngest brother isn’t taken as seriously), as time went on, his strength grew, as time went on – what once seemed like an impetious younger brother, often over shadowed by his brothers, John and Robert, now appears for what he really was – someone that carried the Kennedy dream, a dream I grew up with.

Rather than covering every speaker and session in this packed auditorium at the 92nd street Y, I’ll post many of my thoughts in a few posts, this being the first.

Global Giving session including Causecast and Think Social (Toby Danials) and noted that this time in Human History, is the most responsive, of all, because of social media.

Also, the tools of social media, while not rocket science, have evolved to the point they are easy to use, available to almost anyone, and provide a platform to build even more sophisticated platform for charities.

– Energy Action / Get Local that now maps to congressional districts and a companion microsite customized to the district and group, ties into Facebook, volenteer recruitment, dynamic maps that find groups near yours.

– One Sky can allow cross colloberation between similar groups, suggesting a new generation of Social Networking platforms built ontop what exists, but utilized Professional Organizers that can now mobilize against Professional Lobbiests fed by big, corporate bank vaults.

– Kari Dunn Saratovsky spoke about how technology enabling social giving via activism – @socialcitizen Case Foundation invests in causes they feel can change the world.

Non Profits are getting smarter about leveraging individuals giving. How does one do good in this complicated, cause driven world? Choices are getting easier, you can choose products and services linked to good causes almost for every purchase decision you make, daily.

How do we drive real change? Social Media serves as a hub, but it’s about Social Connections, bridging them, produces real, sustainable change, that could not have happened, even 2 years ago.

Non Profits are adopting Social Media faster than Corporations, and are constantly monitoring the web for Buzz (Think Radian6, Alterian SM2 Techrigy, Google Alerts, etc).

Taking action – a progression – Escalator. It’s pointed out that support for proven fans over people that just sign up, but don’t do much, and go for gold, raise the money you plan to, don’t settle for less.

#socialgood -Follow the discussion on Twitter.

Andy Ridley, Earth Hour talked about the Online-Offline connection.

I think, social media, powered by activism and evolving platforms with sophisticated capabilities, (ie: think Climate Change) makes human response, globally, in a way that was never really possible before, and at a fine level of precision, that has never happened before.

One example is Earth Hour, a 4 year journey, that started with a new approach, not fear based, focused on Sydney, and spread, via Engagement, to the entire world.

They did it via Open Source, using people as the engine of change.

What was the role of Social Media? We started measuring ourselves in different ways. Interesting.

Facebook became really important, the blogosphere, engaging people, without controlling the message.

Earth Hour doesn’t pay for creatives or advertising, it’s all donated. There were some really great commercials, March 28th, turn off your lights for one hour. Earth Hour used Facebook to embrase everyone that supported (s) the cause.

If you really want scale, you need to have open source tools, and then, let control go. Copenhagen.

Google, Social Networking mapping tools, showing the effect of the Copenhagen negotiations on Global Climate change.

Copenhagen – eyes of the world need to focus there on December 16th, 2009. This may be the last chance to affect climate change before it’s too late.

At The Social Good Conference mobile blogging using my iPhone.

One thing I noticed Randi Zukerberg said engagement metrics for pages have more to do with the number of active commenters on pages than the number of fans.

Morning Social Media for Social Good Keynote | 10:15 – 11:00 am
Randi Zuckerberg, Marketing Director, Facebook
“Randi Zuckerberg manages marketing initiatives at Facebook, where she has led the company’s US election and international politics strategy, as well as pioneered several large media partnerships. Included in The Hollywood Reporter’s 2008 Digital Power List, Randi has led projects ranging from the ABC News/Facebook Presidential Debates to the CNN/Facebook Inauguration Day Partnership and Comcast’s Facebook Diaries. She is also a television spokeswoman for Facebook and has made appearances on Good Morning America, The Today Show, France 2, and World News to discuss Facebook’s marketing and political initiatives. Most recently, Randi represented Facebook as a correspondent for CNN.com’s Inauguration Day live broadcast.”
Social Media Platforms for Charities | 11:00 – 11:30 am
Presentations by:
GlobalGiving
“GlobalGiving is an online marketplace that connects you to the causes and countries you care about. You select the projects you want to support, make a tax-deductible contribution, and get regular progress updates – so you can see your impact.”
Causecast
“Causecast is a platform where media, philanthropy, social networking, entertainment and education converge to serve a greater purpose. People want to do good, want to be inspired, and want to inspire others to join them in giving back. Causecast makes this easy by providing users with means to CONNECT with people, leaders, charities, nonprofit organizations, and brands that inspire them.”