Gift Intelligence – Page 14 – Public Intelligence Blog

Greetings! I hope this finds you well. There is a new reality upon us. We all sense it and we each experience it in our own unique way. We are more connected than ever and are discovering new ways to combine our power that are literally changing the world. Witness the youth-led, networked revolution started in the Middle East demonstrating the power of collective action.

We don't have to all agree on everything to advance our vision for a just and sustainable world. We can make this happen by participating in networks that promote the social good.

“Individually we’re a drop; together we’re an ocean.”

What we need are supportive, transparent networks that offer mutually reinforcing activities such as educating, informing, communicating, transacting, and sharing.

I recommend two such networks:

Ideal Network: Saving is Good; but Saving While Giving is Ideal!

The Ideal Network combines group buying with giving back to local causes. This social enterprise makes daily deals meaningful and grew out of our work on the Interra Project

For each sale, 25% of the purchase price goes to support local community projects. Yes 25%!

We launched four weeks ago in Seattle and have already generated more than $4,000 dollars in support of 16 great causes:

Continue reading “Collective Impact: Alignment & Powerful Results”

2011/02/23

Asymmetrical Giving, Social Contracts, & the Internet

Gift Intelligence

INTERNET-ENABLED ASYMMETRICAL GIVING

A flip side: the asymmetrical gift

Yesterday I bummed you out with a riff about favors becoming impossible to fulfill. Worth a thought: the alternative, the good news that comes with the bad, is the massive asymmetric gift.

A gift is not a favor, because no recompense is implied or expected. A gift is just from me to you, that’s it.

The internet makes it easy to give gifts to large numbers of people at very very low cost. Editing a wikipedia article, for example, is a gift for the ages, one that might be seen by a million people over three years.

This leads to a new clause in the social contract. In this environment, we expect that civilized participants will give. Just because. Because they can. Because the gift makes all of it work better.

While mass favors have to fade (too easy to ask for, too unfair at scale), mass gifts show up to change the equation. Gifts are easy to scale, now, the more generous, the better. For all of us.

Below the Line: Asymmetrical Mass Favor Asking, the Bad

Continue reading “Asymmetrical Giving, Social Contracts, & the Internet”

2011/02/142015/04/13

Worth a Look: Bill Strickland on Leadership, Creative Arts, and Engaging in Opportunities to Help Others.

01 Poverty, Academia, Civil Society, Commerce, Gift Intelligence, Non-Governmental, Videos/Movies/Documentaries, Worth A Look

Bill Strickland, President & CEO of Manchester Bidwell Corporation, on Leadership, Creative Arts, and Engaging in Opportunities to Help Others.

Also see:

Bill Strickland's story – From struggling Pittsburgh student to MacArthur grant with a global influence, all because of his dedication to empowering underprivileged youth.

His TED talk, Rebuilding a Neighborhood with Beauty, Dignity and Hope .

Another talk Environments Change Behavior
Bill Strickland on YouTube

2011/02/132011/02/13

Who’s Who in Collective Intelligence: Michel Bauwens

Advanced Cyber/IO, Alpha A-D, Articles & Chapters, Civil Society, Collective Intelligence, Collective Intelligence, Counter-Oppression/Counter-Dictatorship Practices, Cultural Intelligence, Gift Intelligence, Gift Intelligence, Mobile, Open Government, Standards, Tools

Michel Bauwens (born 21 March 1958) is a Belgian Peer-to-Peer theorist and an active writer, researcher and conference speaker on the subject of technology, culture and business innovation.

Bauwens is founder of the Foundation for Peer-to-Peer Alternatives and works in collaboration with a global group of researchers in the exploration of peer production, governance, and property.

With Frank Theys, Bauwens is the co-creator of a 3 hour documentary TechnoCalyps, an examination of the ‘metaphysics of technology'. He taught and, with Salvino Salvaggio, co-edited a two-volume French language anthologies on the Anthropology of Digital Society.

Bauwens is the author of a number of on-line essays, including the seminal thesis Peer to Peer and Human Evolution, and The Political Economy of Peer Production. He was also editor of the email Pluralities-Integration newsletter (until 2007, when it ceased production).

Structured Web Hits

Personal Biography at P2P Foundation

P2P in a Nutshell [See especially The State of It All]

P2P Theory Core Works

Peer Governance as a third mode of governance

Cognitive Capitalism

2011/01/24

45 Social Entrepreneurs Showcase at “Unreasonable Finalist Marketplace”

01 Agriculture, 01 Poverty, 02 Infectious Disease, 03 Economy, 03 Environmental Degradation, 04 Education, 05 Energy, 07 Health, 11 Society, 12 Water, Academia, Budgets & Funding, Civil Society, Commerce, Gift Intelligence, microfinancing, Technologies

Explore the projects

http://marketplace.unreasonableinstitute.org

January 20, 2011

The Unreasonable Institute Empowers the Public to Choose the Next Wave of High-Impact Social Entrepreneurs

Global donations will determine which entrepreneurs gain admission to esteemed mentorship program

BOULDER, Colo.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Starting Jan. 20, 45 social entrepreneurs will showcase their ventures in an online platform called the Unreasonable Finalist Marketplace (http://marketplace.unreasonableinstitute.org/). For 50 days, people from around the world are invited to vote with their wallets on the most viable ventures. The first 25 of the 45 finalists to raise $8,000 in the Marketplace will earn access to the highly acclaimed six-week mentorship program at the Unreasonable Institute. At the Institute, these social entrepreneurs undergo rigorous training sessions, including personal and entrepreneurial skill development, intensive workshops and hands-on guidance from leading thought leaders, innovators, entrepreneurs and investors.

The 45 finalists were selected from more than 300 applicants in 60 countries. Each applicant had to present a financially self-sustaining venture that has the ability to scale to serve the needs of at least 1 million people and demonstrates customer validation through sales or pilots. The finalists this year include a Chinese engineer with a prototype for waterless composting toilets; a 2010 CNN Hero from Kenya who has distributed over 10,000 solar lanterns; and an American inventor with a water purification system that can roll up to the size of a ruler.

Continue reading “45 Social Entrepreneurs Showcase at “Unreasonable Finalist Marketplace””

2011/01/202012/01/30