Category: Good Works

In 1908, 15000 women marched in the streets of New York demanding shorter hours, better pay and voting rights. Three years later, on March 8, 1911, the first International Women’s Day was launched in Copenhagen. Tomorrow, in Sydney, thousands will gather at Sydney Town Hall at 11am.

And in honour of International Women’s Day, I thought it worth remembering that there are some fantastic blogs by women — and what better place to start than with the W-list. If your blog/name is not on the list, then join up here to add your blog to the W Magical List of Women Bloggers. Also check out Wowowow.

Here are a couple of my local favourites that don’t seem to be listed — Dipping into the Blogpond by Meg Tsiamis, Laurel Papworth and Our Great Southern Land by Jayne.

2020 Hindsight by Susan Kitchens
21st Century Collaborative by Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach
4-women-in-insurance by Dina A. Privitera
45 Things by Anita Bruzzese
Abide | Living with chronic illness by Sharon Brogan
A Girl Must Shop by Megan Garnhum
A Little Pregnant by Julie
A Look at Art & Design by Lisa Mikulski
A Lucid Spoonful by Paula Crossfield
Aerophant by Tai Moses
Affirmagy Blog by Kristen Schuerlein
Aide-Memoire by Kate Carruthers
All for Women by Leigh, Naom, Patricia, and Barbara
Alkamae by Susan Reid
Allied by Jeneane Sessum[[http://www.artlook.typepad.com/|]]
Ample Sanity by Anne Matthews
andHow To Reach Women by Tami Anderson
angiemckaig.com: still a great pair of legs by Angie McKaig
A n n a r c h y by Ann Handley
Ask Dr. Kirk by Dr. Delaney Kirk
Average Jane by Average Jane
Babylune by Kate Baggott
Back in Skinny Jeans by Stephanie Quilao
Bag and Baggage by Denise Howell
Balanced Life Center-Spirituality applied to Life by Nneka
be Conscious now by Kara-Leah Masina
Be Relevant! by Tamara Gielen
Becoming a Woman of Purpose by Carolyn D. Townes
Becoming your StellarSelf by Mary Kearns
Be the One. Find the One: Advertising and Marketing Recruiting by DFBryant&Co (Jenny Meade)
Big Window by Robin Reagler
Biz Growth News by Krishna De
Blog Fabulous by Tracee Sioux
Blogging Blog | Tips, Tools & Toys for the Personal Blogger by Sharon Brogan
Blogging Sueblimely by Sue Bride
BlogWrite for CEOs by Debbie Weil
Blogaholics by Arienna Foley
Blog Til You Drop by Laurence-Hélène Borel
Brain Based Biz by Dr. Robyn McMaster
Brain Based Business by Dr. Ellen Weber
Brains On Purpose by Stephanie West Allen
Brand Sizzle by Anne Simons
Branding & Marketing by Chris Brown
Brazen Careerist by Penelope Trunk
Bread Coffee Chocolate Yoga by Fortune Elkins
Breastfeeding 1-2-3 by Angela
Build A Better Blog by Denise Wakeman and Patsi Krakoff
Build a Solo Practice, LLC by Susan Cartier Liebel
Burningbird by Shelley Powers
Cafe30 by Towanda Long (The Cafe Lady)
Career Goddess by Susan Guarnieri
Change Therapy by Isabella Mori
Chasing Daisy by Daisy
Chatting to my Generation by Anja Merret
Cheap Thrills by Ryan Barrett
CherylMillerVille by Cheryl Miller
Child-Centered Divorce by Rosalind Sedacca
Christine Kane by Christine Kane
Church of the Customer by Jackie Huba
CK’s Blog by CK (Christina Kerley)
Cocktail Party Physics by Jennifer Ouiellette
Colloquium by JHSEsq
Communication Overtones
by Kami Huyse
Conflict coaching and resolution for the workplace by Dr Tammy Lenski
Confession of a Marketing Addict by Sunny Cervantes
Confessions of a Pioneer Woman by Ree
Confident Writing by Joanna Young
Conscious Business by Anne Libby
Contentious by Amy Gahran
Conversation Agent by Valeria Maltoni
Conversations With Dina by Dina Mehta
Corporate PR by Elizabeth Albrycht
Cottontimer by Hsien-Hsien Lei
Creating Passionate Users by Kathy Sierra
Creative Curio by Lauren Marie
Crossroads by Evelyn Rodriguez
Cruel To Be Kind by Nicole Simon
Customer Experience Crossroads by Susan Abbott
Customers Are Always by Maria Palma
Customers Rock! by Becky Carroll
CustServ by Meikah David
DailyAffirm by Jeanie Marshall
Debbie Millman by Debbie Millman
Deborah Schultz by Deborah Schultz
Decent Marketing by Katherine Stone
Defining Spiritual Presence by Greenwoman
Designers Who Blog by Cat Morley
Design Your Life by Ellen and Julia Lupton
Design Your Writing Life by Lisa Gates
Diary of Claudine Hellmuth by Claudine Hellmuth
Diva Marketing Blog by Toby Bloomberg
Do It Myself Blog by Glenda Watson Hyatt
Dooce by Heather B. Armstrong
Downshifting by Anne Howe
Driving Traffic by Carol Krishner
Echidne of the Snakes by Echidne
EdithYeung.com by Edith Yeung
Eie Flud by Heather
Elise.com by Elise Bauer
Email Marketing Best Practices by Tamara Gielen
Emerging Customer by Michelle Lamar
Emily Chang – Strategic Designer by Emily Chang
Emily in France Emily
eMoms at Home by Wendy Piersall
EmpowerWomenNow.com by Ponn Sabra
Enter the Laughter by Marti Lawrence
Equip and Empower! by Carolyn D. Townes
Escape Blog by Melissa Petri
Escape From Corporate America by Laurel Delaney
Escape from Cubicle Nation by Pamela Slim
eSoup by Sharon Sarmiento
Essential Keystrokes by Char
Every Dot Connectsby Connie Reece
EvilHRLady by Evil HR Lady
Expansion Plus by Sally Falkow
Experienceology by Stephanie Weaver
Fabulous Geezersisters by Ruth Pennebaker
Fetch Me My Axef
Finding Blanche by Wendy Scherer
Fish Creek House by GP
First Light by Julie Keyser-Squires
Flash and Accessibility by Niqui Merret
Flooring The Consumer by CB Whittemore
Forrester’s Marketing Blog by Shar, Charlene, Chloe, Christine Elana, Laura and Lisa
Forward Steps by Thea Westra
Franke James by Franke James
frizzyLogic by frizzyLogic
Full Circle by Nancy White
Funny Business by Elena Centor
Fusion View by Yang-Amy Ooi
Garden Variety Family by Karin Marlett-Choi
GenPink by Elysa
Get Fresh Minds by Katie Konrath
Get Shouty by Katie Chatfield
Getting Granular by Aimee Kessler Evans
GGs Swedish WOTD by GG
Giant Jeans Parlour by Anjali
Girl With Pen by Deborah Siegel
Golden Practices by Michelle Golden
Goodness Gracious by Jennifer
GourmetStation Delicious Destinations by Donna Lynes-Miller
Great Presentations Mean Business by Laura Athavale Fitton
Hartsock Communications by Nettie Hartsock
Health Observances by JC Jones and Ijeoma Eleazu
Healthline Connects by JC Jones and Ijeoma Eleazu
Hey Marci by Marci Alboher
Hiring Technical People by Johanna Rothman
¡Hola! Oi! Hi! by katia adams
Holly’s Corner Blog by Holly Schwendiman
Horse Pig Cow by Tara Hunt
idealawg by Stephanie West Allen
ifelse by Phu Ly
Illustration Friday by Penelope Dullaghan
Indigo Ocean by Indigo Ocean
Infomaniac by Liz Donovan
Inspirationbit by Vivien
Inspired Business Growth by Wendy Piersall
Internet Geek Girl by Stephanie Agesta
In Women We Trust by Mary Clare Hunt
Jane Geneva by Jane Geneva
J.T. O’Donnell Career Insights by J.T. O’Donnell
Jemima Kiss by Jemima Kiss
Joyful, Jubilant Learning by Rosa Say
Katya’s Non-Profit Marketing Blog by Katya Andresen
KDPaine’s PR Measurement Blog by Katie Delahaye Paine
Kinetic Ideas by Wendy Maynard
Kristy T’s Home Business Blog by Kristy T
Kung Foodie by Kat
Lawgarithms by Denise Howell
Learned on Women by Andrea Learned
Life at the Bar by Julie Fleming-Brown
Lifeblog by anina
Lifecruiser
Lifehacker by Gina Trapani
Lindsey Pollak Career Blog by Lindsey Pollak
Lip-sticking by Yvonne DeVita
Little Red Suit by Tiffany Monhollon
Live The Power by Karen Lynch
Liz Strauss at Successful Blog by Liz Strauss
Lorelle on WordPress by Lorelle VanFossen
Mad Techie Woman by Shelley Powers
Making Life Work for You by April Groves
Marketer Blog by Leslie Jump
Marketing To Women by Holly Buchanan
Manage to Change by Ann Michael
Management Craft by Lisa Haneberg
Managing Product Development by Johanna Rothman
Managing With Aloha Coaching by Rosa Say
Mandarin Design Daily:The MEG Blog by Michelle Goodrich
Marketing Roadmaps by Susan Getgood
Mary’s Blog by Mary Schmidt
MediaBlog by Daria Rasmussen
Media Influencer by Adriana Lukas
Mediation Marketing Tips by Kristina Haymes
Mediation Mensch by Dina Beach Lynch
Misbehaving by Dana Boyd, Hilde Corneliussen, Caterina Fake, Meg Hourihan, Liz Lawley, Fiona Romeo, Dorothea Salo, Halley Suitt, Gina Trapani, Jill Walker
Mkgmd – le mag du marketing multidimentionnel by Christelle Alexandre
Moda di Magno by Lori Magno
Modite by Rebecca Thorman
Mogulettes in the Making by Carmina Perez
molly.com by Molly E. Holzschlag
More Than WE Know by Liz Fuller
Muddy Boots
My Beautiful Chaos by April Groves
My Shingle by Carolyn Elefant
Narrative Assets by Karen Hegman
Newbie NYC by Mary Hilton
Netdiver by Carole Guevin
one coloured world by Anjolie
On My Desk by Linzie Hunter
Online Guide to Mediation by Diane Levin
Orlando Avenue by Colleen Kulikowski
Passion Meets Purpose by Kammie Kobyleski
Peggy Payne’s Boldness by Peggy Payne
Personal PR by Tiffany Monhollon
Poultry Discussion by Louise Manning
Power Energy Leadership by Michelle Kunz
Presto Vivace Blog by Alice Marshall
Productivity Goal by Carolyn Manning
Purple Wren by Sandy Renshaw
Purse Lip Square Jaw by Anne Galloway
Quality Service Marketing by Sybil Stershic
re:Invention by Kristen Osolind
Rebecca’s Pocket by Rebecca Blood
Resonance Partnership by Marianne Richmond
Sacred Ingredients by Nicole Hanley
Sanctuary for Change by Susan Hanshaw
Scattered Light by Cheryl and Janet Snell
Sent From My Dell Desktop by Alejandra Ramos
Settle It Now Negotiation Blog by Victoria Pynchon
Shiva’s Arms by Cheryl Snell
Small Biz Survival by Becky McCray
Small Business Trends by Anita Campbell
Small Failures: Sustainability for the Rest of Us by Jess Sand
So Close by Tertia
Solomother by Christina Zola
Spare Change by Nedra Kline Weinreich
Spirit in Gear by Debbie Call
Spirit Women by Carolyn D. Townes
Subterranean Homepage News by Sheila Lennon
::Surroundings:: by Linda Merrill
Susan Mernit’s Blog by Susan Mernit
Sweet|Salty by Kate Inglis
swissmiss by Tina Roth Eisenberg
Talk It Up by Heidi Miller
Talking Coaching by Krishna De
TechForward by Lena West
Tech Kitten by Trisha Miller
TechMamas by Beth Blecherman
Teen Health 411 by Dr. Nancy Brown
That’s What She Said by Julie Elgar
The Artsy Asylum by Susan Reynolds
The Blog Angel by Claire Raikes
The Brand Dame by Lyn Chamberlin
The Budgeting Babe by Nicole Mladic
the Constant Observer by Tish Grier
The Copywriting Maven by Roberta Rosenberg
The Curious Shopper by Sara Cantor
The Diet Dish by Tara Gidus
The Engaging Brand by Anna Farmery
The Entrepreneurial MD by Philippa Kennealy
The Family Fork by Andrea Giancolli
The Fitness Fixer by Dr. Jolie Bookspan
The Floozy Blog by Kate Coote
The Global Small Business Blog by Laurel Delaney
The Heart and Craft of Lifestory Writing by Sharon Lippincott
The Kiss Business Tooby Karin H.
The Krafty Librarian by Michelle A. Kraft
The Kristasphere by Krista Summit
The Lawyer Coach Blog by Allison Wolf
The Marketing Mix Blog by Ilse Benun
The New Charm School by Jennifer Warwick
The Parody by Sasha Manuel
The Podcast Sisters by Krishna De, Anna Farmery and Heather Gorringe
The Qualitative Research Blog by Reshma Anand
The Shifted Librarian by Jenny Levine
The What If…? Women by Randee, Lori, Anne, Lynn and Norka (Pink Collar Club)
Think Simple. Be Decisive. by Tina Su
Think Positive! by Kristen Harrell
this is rachelandrew.co.uk by Rachel Andrew
Tiny Starfish in a Great Big Sea by Carol Toscano
Toddler Planet by WhyMommy
unstruc chitchat about information by Daniela Barbosa
Veerle’s blog 2.0 by Veerle
Virtual Woman’s Day by Heidi Richards, The WECAI Network™
Vivid by Erin Noteboom
VoIP by Association by Suzanne Bowen
Water Cooler Wisdom by Alexandra Levit
Watermark | A Poet’s Notebook by Sharon Brogan
Wealth Strategy Secrets by Nicola Cairncross
WE Magazine for Women by Heidi Richards & Co. The Women’s eCommerce Association
We’re not in Kansas anymore, Toto. by Jenny Meade
What A Concept! by Sherry Heyl
What’s Next Blog by B L Ochman
White Trash Mom by Michelle Lamar
Wiggly Wigglers by Heather Gorringe
Women Presidents’ Organization Chicago by Laurel Delaney
WomensDISH by Diane K. Danielson and Friends
Women’s Media Summit by Heidi Richards, et al
Wonder Branding by Michele Miller
Woolgathering by Elizabeth Perry
Worker Bees Blog by Elisa Camahort
Working with Wisdom by Tricia Molloy
Write Ideas Marketing by Andrea Morris
You Already Know This Stuff by Jodee Bock
Ypulse by Anastasia Goodstein
Zenslaw by Karen Turner

Yesterday, as I watched the Twitter messages flash on the bottom corner of my computer screen I saw something that made me freeze. In less that 140 characters I suddenly knew more about about the life (and unfortunately, the tragic death) of someone I had never really met. A link came through to announce the terrible news that Ashley Spencer (known on Twitter as AshPEAmama) had died in a car accident.

But what the news report did not, and could not know, is that this spurred a flurry of "Tweets" that spanned the globe, and this flurry explained the tragedy of the event, the very human cost and its devastating impact on a young family.

Today, also via Twitter, I found that it is easy to help … easy to reach out and provide a small amount of assistance to a family in crisis. Dan Mosqueda went ahead and setup a ChipIn account to collect donations for Ashley’s young family. Through this (and through the security of PayPal) you can donate as much or as little as you choose. But unlike the formal charity structures, every single cent goes through to Ashley’s family.

With such innovative and powerfully direct ways of making a charitable impact on the lives of people, is it any wonder that Seth Godin sees challenges for business methods of charities? We don’t need to look far to see need … and when tragedy hits your social network, the whole world catches its breath. Please don’t forget to use your small change to make a change.

My Pea-vatar for Frozen Pea Friday
Originally uploaded by conniereece

I read this week (unfortunately I can’t remember where), that you KNOW you are part of a community when you disappear from it for a while and the community members come looking for you. And this is what is a revelation about social media — not only do we participate in the big picture ideas of others, through micro-blogging such as Twitter, we are also exposed to the minutiae and sometimes intimate details of the lives of others. Others who we, at some point, come to recognise as friends.

With this in mind, in a matter of hours, Susan Reynolds heads into surgery. And in support of her efforts to overcome cancer, many of us are turning our images, our avatars etc into pea-themed pictures.

This great idea was the brainchild of the charming and energetic, Connie Reece. And if you want to participate, you can do so easily — change your Twitter avatar and post it to this Flickr group. And as you post, send you best wishes and thoughts from your place in the world to Susan.

With thanks to Katie Chatfield for opening my eyes, ears and heart to Suheir Hammad.

We all debate whether you can intentionally create something that "goes viral". Drew was asking the same question earlier.

My view, for what it is worth, is that we can (and probably should) design our marketing to be virally-enabled. That is, we should make it easy for others to pick up our idea and make it their own — via links, embedding options, voting/ranking and send-to-friend options etc. BUT it is important to remember that "viral" is not about the brand … it is actually about the users — about me and you. If I forward a "viral" piece I will do so, because it says something to you about ME. It provides me with SOCIAL CURRENCY.

So, in this instance, when I ask you all to Vote for Mr Splashy Pants, this is what is happening:

• I am linking to Nat who brought it to my attention. This means that I hope that she checks her Technorati profile and sees that I am linking to her. Then she can respond and engage in conversation (hi Nat!)
• I am hoping that you good folks are going to click through to check Nat’s story because it is much better than mine
• I am also using Nat’s cute pic which has a nice call to action … reminding you, dear reader, to help promote Greenpeace’s efforts to save the whales (and if you "right mouse click" on the picture, you can save it and republish it on your blog — nice one, thanks!).
• Hopefully you love the silliness of the name of the whale and want to promote this to the world in an effort to fight the barbarity of whale slaughter with the power of cuteness while adding to your karma credits (remember, when you write this on your blog you will also receive additional karma credit transfers from others to you — after all, you are encouraging the good in all of us)
• As this effort accelerates, your sense of belonging improves, and provides you with a story to tell other (I was there, talking about Mr Splashy Pants, when he was only a baby beluga).

Most importantly in this process, the "value" of social currency cannot be dictated (by a brand or organisation). This is more organic. And sure you can plan for it, design for it and even hope for it, but I think "viral" is like comedy — all in the timing.

And speaking of timing … you can only vote until DECEMBER 7, 2007 (at 17:00 Amsterdam time). Oh, see that — three calls to action in the one post. Lovely.

UPDATE: Mr T pities the fool who doesn’t vote for Mr Splashy Pants. Got to love T.

Parramatta Church Street reopening – Bernie Banton
Originally uploaded by phil_h

Very few of us know what it means to be an evangelist. Sure, we can believe in some cause, issue or even technology, but the challenges that the modern marketing evangelists have to overcome are relatively lightweight concerns — lack of awareness, market inertia, apathetic employees. The real life evangelist, however, deals in a world of magnified challenges where the outcomes are counted in lives.

In a time where the economic, social and political power of corporations has reached its zenith, Bernie Banton stood out as an individual willing and (barely) able to confront it. Despite suffering from asbestosis, mesothelioma and Asbestos-Related Pleural Disease, Bernie took on the might and legal wiles of James Hardy and the Australian legal system, working to secure the rights to compensation of thousands of workers affected by unsafe working conditions in the James Hardy factories.

At 1am, on Monday, Bernie died at home, in the presence of his family.

In many ways in the last decade, Bernie was the voice of a forgotten Australian consciousness reminding us all of our fundamental humanity and Australian spirit. It was a voice that we sorely needed and one that will be greatly missed.

Next Wednesday, a State Funeral will be held at Acer Arena in Homebush. May you rest in peace, Bernie. And thanks.

Blueprint/Panic Catalogue 1996 – Cover
Originally uploaded by Quiet Corners

A while back I got involved with a number of folks wanting to use their brains to help solve problems and support non-profit causes. This group, called Planning for Good, have organised themselves mainly through Facebook, but have recently started a blog.

The Facebook group has over 1000 members with 35 city groups established — so there is certainly a lot of participation. We have answered two high profile briefs and there is a second on the way (in the next 48 hours).

The city groupings have turned out to be a great way of extending your online interest into offline activism (and it is a lot of fun to meet people face-to-face). If you are based in Sydney and would like to participate in Planning for Good, please JOIN our Facebook group. You can expect to meet Emily Reed, Tim Longhurst, Jax Weschler, Katie Chatfield, Samantha Heron and many others. Come one, come all.