The Quids have seen some trials and tribulations. Then again, it’s all about who you know. January showed us how partnerships with the right people eventually pay off, allowing us to do what we’re really passionate about–community building.
We looked to RadioEngage with a mixture of fear and apprehension. Picture four over-caffeinated women sitting in an office surrounded by statues of Buddhas, framed photos of family members, enormous potted plants, and the endlessly filtering-in coworking babble, clutching our mugs and saying, “Are we on track? Where are the station protocols? Are we prepared for the board meeting? Who’s working on the wireframe? Have you done the install yet?” Paying no heed to the coffee we spilled on our pants as we twitched with anxiety. Yeah. It was kind of like that.
A big sigh of relief came when we realized we had made it over the public radio hill. Work still remains to be done, but there’s something comforting about giving the new KUSP.org a face. With the media components finalized, and the website themed, all that remains is for the content to be transfered. The site is about to be a fully interactive community radio portal with content on-demand! For a more detailed update, check out Margaret’s interview with Kristen Taylor from the Knight Foundation.
I Spot Compassion has been a messaging and marketing beast. How does a nonprofit create a viral campaign to raise awareness and money for an unpopular subject? Furthermore, how does it happen when the nonprofit is Children’s Hospice: an organization that advocates for the rights of terminally ill children, a topic which most people would rather not think about? Some meetings it seemed like we were forever going to be standing around the monster, hitting it with sticks in hope that it might retreat into its cage.
The solution lay in empowering people to do something about it themselves. Somehow, Lori and Devon of Hospice teamed up with the Quids to come up with this psycho idea to stop people on the street in Downtown Santa Cruz, make them stand on giant purple spots, give them signs to hold that say “Where Do You Spot Compassion?” and videotape them sharing moving stories of social accountability. It was amazingly successful. We interviewed over fifty people by stopping them on the street.
Yesterday’s visit to Pacific Collegiate, a local charter school (and alma mater of yours truly), also marked a turning point for I Spot’s community engagement strategy. Juniors and seniors were eager to help discover ways the I Spot campaign can avail itself of the enthusiasm and creativity of students, without forcing them into situations they’re not comfortable with. Hopefully we’ll continue to work with the students to make the project a global success.
So, thank you, to everyone who has reached back to us this month. No great feat is possible without the support of others. We are stronger together than apart. Remember to have compassion, and faith in the compassion of others: people will do remarkable things if you ask them the right way.