“There is only one real world whether you’re on Facebook or not.”
~ Filmmaker, Jesse Dylan
In a day and age when OCD and ADHD have become the new normal, and pressing “like” buttons to show support of a cause is as second-nature as pulling up one’s pants in the morning, the question of how to convert online interest and post-event enthusiasm into continuous offline action is quite the conundrum – one I ponder on a daily basis. So when serial entrepreneur, community builder, and my favorite charitable adventurer Douglas Campbell organized a discussion on how to mobilize people from inspiration to action, I arrived front and center at LA’s Downtown Independent Theater on December 8th to listen to a progressive group of panelists dissect the issue.
Moderated by Mara Abrams, director of business development for the Tiziano Project, the panel featured Filmmaker and FreeForm CEO Jesse Dylan, Profounder President and Cofounder Dana Mauriello, GatherGreen Cofounder Eduardo Sciammarella, The Public Studio Founder/GOOD Columnist/Pepsi Refresh Project Ambassador Kyla Fullenwider, Spark Good Studios CEO Jason Jaggard, NextAid Director Lauren Segall and iPhone Game Designer William Carter.
Here are a few key takeaways from the evening.
We can conquer the fear of failure by building on small successes.
When it comes to instigating positive change people fear failure. So how do we conquer this fear? Spark Good Studios CEO Jason Jaggard opined that we should create spaces where people are allowed to fail, which is precisely what he does during his five-week Spark sessions, in which people come together to explore taking risks.
“You don’t do a spark unless you fail,” said Jaggard. ”We celebrate the effort. One of the great myths of our time, because everything is so immediate, is this correlation of cause and effect, and to think that ‘I am in control of the universe and if I do everything right the world will give me what I want,’ and that’s not true. That sets us up for disillusionment.”
Okay, so we’re allowed to fail, and that levels the playing field. But what do we do after we’re all back at the starting line?
The Public Studio Founder, Kyla Fullenwider, expressed that establishing “low-hanging fruit” is essential in overcoming the fear of failure. ”We create these big macro abstract goals that don’t get early successes,” she declared. ”Let’s create ways to achieve smaller successes. Let’s not try to solve homelessness. Let’s figure out a solution for getting the guy who lives on my block some food.”
Creating shared value means more than getting people to press “Like.”
Before making a call to action, it’s important to know exactly what it is you want people to do. Do you want them to donate money? Do you want them to volunteer their time and energy? Do you want them to publicly support your cause by filling out a form online? What are you trying to accomplish? How do you intend to create shared value?
Filmmaker and creator of the Emmy Award-winning Barack Obama-inspired music video “Yes We Can,” Jesse Dylan explained why clarity and making a specific call to action are paramount. ”I’ve worked on a lot of campaigns where you sign up one million people, but all that means is they clicked on a button,” shared Dylan. “There is only one real world whether you’re on Facebook or not. The real action is probably two to three percent of that number, and those people will go to war for you, but they’ll only do that if you know yourself.”
Pay attention to incentives to draw in great people.
Incentives to take action are different for everyone. For serial entrepreneur Douglas Campbell, his ego is a driving force. (It’s not as bad as it sounds.) ”When I see a direct effect from my actions, I’m incentivized to take action, and maybe on some egotistical level knowing that people are seeing me help out would inspire me a little bit,” shared Campbell
Another incentive for some people is celebrity. However, famous faces are not the answer to any social action campaign’s bottom line. ”Celebrities are tactics, they’re not strategies,” said Dylan. ”When you choose somebody to be connected to your cause it’s a really important decision, and they have to share the values or it won’t sustain itself. It always comes back to the question of what you’re trying to accomplish.”
In short, people need to feel like they’re a part of something larger than themselves.
Conclusion
In conclusion, my suspicions that social consciousness is spreading, and that more people are doing what they can to make positive contributions to society were corroborated by all that transpired during the event. At the end of the panel discussion, Campbell asked the audience to brainstorm different local initiatives that need support. A follow-up session focused on education is in the works. Schedules are tight and personal bandwidth is low, but we’re inspired. So let’s leap into action. Let’s see if we can put our action where our “Like” is.
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Tags: Dana Mauriello, Doug Campbell, Eduardo Sciammarella, FreeForm, GatherGreen, GOOD Magazine, Jason Jaggard, Jesse Dylan, Kyla Fullenwider, Lauren Segall, Mara Abrams, NextAid, Prodounder, Spark Good Studios, The Public Studio, Tiziano Project, William Carter
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