chris hughes on what’s next for nonprofit social site jumo

Talk about competition for attention: There are 1.5 million registered nonprofit groups in the U.S. Beyond the well-known names like the American Red Cross and the American Cancer Society, the struggle to stand out is enormous. That’s where Jumo comes in, said Chris Hughes, Jumo’s founder and executive director and a cofounder of Facebook.

Read the rest of the Forbes article here.

seeking balance in the world of social media

Taking a Twitter/Facebook/social media “time out” between Christmas Eve and the New Year was the best thing I’ve done for myself in ages. I’m not one to wax poetic on sappy end-of-year round ups or make New Year’s resolutions, but stepping away from Tweetdeck helped put my cyber priorities into perspective.

There are so many things I love about social media – all of the new friends I’ve made – many of whom I’ve been fortunate enough to meet in real life (or “IRL” in Twitterspeak), being part of an interactive, international forum of writers, travelers, foodies and creative types (few things in my globetrotting world are as fun as Travelers’ Night In, a.k.a. #TNI), and the fact that I was able to use this tool to fund (and now share) The Global Citizen Project.

Twitter, Facebook, blogging and whatever other social media outlets you partake in are all about the give and take of ideas and information. I think people who post, but don’t participate are really missing out, and my brief hiatus made me think long and hard about how I can strike better balance in my personal life while still maintaining an active and fulfilling online presence.

Reality is I put far more value on real world interactions, and even my closest friends and loved  ones don’t know my every move in 140 characters or less like my followers on Twitter do. Sure, it’s been entirely my choice to put my personal life on cyber parade, but the past week has left me seriously rethinking what and how I’m going to use these tools to share in the future. 

Am I experiencing social media fatigue? Maybe. Or perhaps like anything in life, moderation is the key for successful living, especially now more than ever in our weird and wonderful, online world.

Here’s wishing you the best – and balance – in 2011!

Photo by Murray Barnes

we live in public

More than a decade ago, I ran the Personals and Promotions Department at the Philadelphia Weekly. Every week, I’d help hundreds of lonely hearts pen personal ads that would hopefully, land them a love connection (and help fill my 10-page, back-of-the-paper section). In addition to offering up my wordsmithing skills, I’d coordinate singles events on a weekly basis – everything from awkward heterosexual meet and greets at hipster bars to bump and grind gay dance parties to the occasional “Anything Goes” swingers soiree for the dirty birds. I could fill more pages than you can imagine with my experiences, and if you buy me a beer sometime, I may be willing to dish some of the more (ahem) colorful details.

My dating life never sucked more than once I’d started penning the widely popular advice column “Ask Me Anything,” and was deemed the local dating guru. Sure, I was the first point of contact for hundreds of eligible bachelors, and I even dabbled in a few first dates with some of my more charming advertisers, but the most long term commitment I managed to muster up was a stalker who landed himself in jail (and then proceeded to harass me for more than a decade). Since this incident, I’ve been fiercely protective of my identity and whereabouts, going so far as to use pseudonyms in several editorial outlets and use a mailbox service several miles from my residence.

So when the world of social media started to evolve, the idea of sacrificing my privacy gave me serious pause. I’d fought so long to keep a low-profile, but was wooed by Facebook and Twitter and blogging and new possibilities of networking and personal connections that I decided to take a chance when I launched my Kickstarter fundraising campaign last November. I mean, there was no way in the world I could ask strangers to help fund The Global Citizen Project without full disclosure of who I was. I don’t regret my decision for a second.

Since then, I’ve made countless friends via social media networks and have never, ever had a less-than-stellar experience with a cyber someone I’ve met in real life (or IRL in Twitter speak). There’s a long “wish list” of Twitter friends I hope to someday cross paths with, but in the meantime, I practice reasonable cyber caution and welcome the possibility of making acquaintances via avatars, handles and 140 character limits.

Next week, I especially look forward to meeting Raquel Segura (@aireslibre) on a long layover in Miami, then Alison Garland (@AliAdventures7) when I arrive in Quito, Ecuador. When it comes to socializing and making connections, we live in a very different world these days. It's weird and crazy and absolutely fascinating, and I find that if you open yourself up to it, there are some really beautiful connections to be made via social media.

Finalist for WE tv’s WE Do Good Awards Contest, in partnership with Ladies Home Journal

Lima, Peru may be my volunteering home right now for project #2 of The Global Citizen Project, but my shouts of excitement when I learned that I’m one of five finalists in the Travel For Good Award Category of WE tv’s WE Do Good Awards Contest, in partnership with Ladies Home Journal were probably heard around the globe.

From August 1 through August 31, 2010 my nomination will be posted on WE tv’s website and the public can vote on the most deserving Finalist in each of the three Categories.

Here’s what's at stake:

The winner in each category will be notified on or about September 7, 2010. If I am voted the winner, a guest and I will travel to New York City for three days and two nights for the WE Do Good Awards Gala in November 2010. I will also receive a $5,000 Voluntourism Grant from Travelocity’s Travel for Good® Program and will be featured in a future issue of Ladies' Home Journal magazine and on WEVolunteer.TV. To learn more about the prize and review the complete contest rules please visit here. (You can see why I want to win so badly, right?!)


So please, mark your calendars and vote for me between August 1-31st. If you feel so inclined, please pass along the link via your Facebook networks, Twitter, blogs, and whatever other all points bulletin methods you prefer. One million thanks in advance.

If you'd like to hear what my former volunteer coordinator (and dear friend), Tammy Dyson, has to say about my volunteer skills, please click here. Follow the play-by-play of The Global Citizen Project, my 12 volunteer project, 12 country over 12 month volunteer project since its inception here.

Ladies Home Journal circa. 1900 cover photo courtesy of paukrus

wow. thank you. the global citizen project is at $7,040. 23 days to go.

This Friday afternoon/early evening has been rocking with donations for The Global Citizen Project. Sending out big cyber love, high fives and hugs to the latest backers who helped push me over the $7k mark!

Thank you:

Amanda Kennedy, longtime friend from Hillside Elementary School whom I haven't seen in way too many years.

Colin Baugh & Erica George, newly engaged friends, Julian Serrano ain't got a thing on Erica's paella, Colin is Mr. Cocktail Extraordinaire and one of Seattle's top public relations pros. The Baugh/George duo is one of my fave couples to pow wow with -- especially on school nights.

Wendy Harvey, the public relations force behind The Fairmont Kea Lani, dear friend, and mama to the best-behaved, most well-mannered pre-teen daughter I've ever met. I often wish there wasn't an ocean between us, because everytime I see or hear from Wendy, I appreciate our growing friendship more and more.

I have 23 days left to fund The Global Citizen Project or else the project will not happen and I won't receive a cent. I need to raise between $500-600 per day for the next 23 days, so please help spread the word. If you feel so inclined, I've included some sample text you can cut and paste to your blogs and social media outlets. Feel free to tweak as you wish -- I'm just trying to make life as easy as possible for those who want to help.

Sample Facebook/Blog text
Help professional travel journalist, Charyn Pfeuffer swap her BlackBerry for a backpack and volunteer with 12 community projects in 12 countries over 12 months for The Global Citizen Project. She has 23 days left to raise $20,000 and if TGCP is not fully funded, the project will not happen and she will not receive a cent. So far, nearly 100 people have believed in TGCP and have pledged close to $7k. Donations start at $1 and there are several tokens of gratitude being offered for different levels of pledges. She hasn’t gotten this far without tremendous amounts of collaborative kindness and support and thanks you in advance for any donations to TGCP. http://globalcitizenproject.blogspot.com

Sample Tweet
Journo @global_gourmet is giving up a year to volunteer for 12 causes/12 communities/12 months. http://tinyurl.com/yamtr4y #kickstarter

i heart my backers

I got this message today from one of my wonderful backers:

"You are so welcome. I'm jealous. I wish I had the courage to take on such an ambitious and inspiring journey. I hope it happens -- because I want to hear all about it."

Aww. (Wipe tear from eye.) I cannot tell everyone how much I appreciate their support for The Global Citizen Project. I am determined to make it happen and will make sure my dear backers, Twitter followers, Facebook friends, heck, anyone along for the ride gets informative, entertaining and hopefully, enlightening during-play reports from the volunteer field. Cross my heart and hope to die.

sue pledged. have you?

Big thanks to the travel writers who have pledged support to The Global Citizen Project - the latest being fellow Washingtonian, Sue Frause. We met a few years ago at Travel Media Showcase in Palm Springs, CA, and despite living in the same state the past year-and-a-half, have been unable to coordinate travel schedules until our paths crossed last month at the Alaska Media Road Show in Santa Barbara, CA. Maybe California is our preferred place of pow wow?

Anyway, Facebook and Twitter tend to be our communication methods of choice, but you can keep up with Sue's adventures via her two blogs: Closet Canuck and Travel Vivant: Aisle or Window?

monday's inbox

Monday mornings never come easy for me, especially when I've been up fact-checking a guidebook until 3 a.m. the previous night. Throw in daily noon deadlines and I pretty much roll out of bed, head straight to the French press, turn on my laptop and hit the ground running. I usually fire up Tweetdeck, open Skype and plow through dozens of emails -- mostly from publicists pitching me story ideas. There's usually some confusion on how to spell my name (I get a lot of Cheryl, Karen, and Sharon), or they think I still live in San Francisco (haven't since 2003) and for some reason, think mother/daughter plastic surgery getaways qualify as a "travel story." Umm...that's so Real Housewives of Orange County and so not my beat. I usually just hit "delete" and move onto the next message. No big deal.

This morning, though, the inbox revealed a real gem. A Public Relations Coordinator in the British Columbia sent me a fully written article on her client in Costa Rica "free of charge, along with some excellent artwork to complement the story." Wow. Why have I bothered to travel the world, experience destinations first-hand and then report fairly when I can have access to spoon-fed material from the hired PR mouthpiece? Oh wait, that's because I'm a journalist. I was slightly less offended when I saw that the PR Coordinator not only managed to mispell her own name in the "From" line in the emaill address, but also the client's name in the email signature. Unbelievable.

I called out the agency's erroneous ways on the cyber super/social highway (a.k.a. Facebook and Twitter) and thankfully, my email response to "Sylivia" was far kinder than that of many of my colleagues who received the same slap to their journalistic integrity. Some journos may want to take the easy route. I'm not that gal. I seek a path of authenticity and I'm willing to work as hard as neccesary to find it.