I just got the following note from the marketing department at Virgin Mobile regarding Carissa - see earlier blog posts. The note is from VM's Stacy Schwartz, who is herself a valued member of The Cyrano Project's Advisory Council.
"I wanted to touch base to let you know what a great move it was introducing my organization to the Carissa project. Not sure whether you heard that Virgin Mobile sponsored legislation that just passed, which designates November as Homeless Youth Awareness Month. We are a planning a bunch of awareness-raising events and programs for November, that we hope Carissa (and the formerly homeless singer, Jewel) will be part of."
Here is Carissa's account of her day in DC. http://www.carissaproject.com/blog/archives/24
The Cyrano Project is very proud to have been instrumental in making this possible.
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Carissa Project and Virgin Mobile
Excellent news from The Carissa Project. If you missed the story - click here.
Carissa tells me:
"Thanks so much for making the introduction to Virgin! We're both very happy with the relationship. Actually Ariel the director of the ReGeneration campaign was just in LA today and looked at some of the footage with David.
Thanks again for the connection...it was perfect!"
Click here to learn about Virgin Mobile's Re*Generation Project
Carissa tells me:
"Thanks so much for making the introduction to Virgin! We're both very happy with the relationship. Actually Ariel the director of the ReGeneration campaign was just in LA today and looked at some of the footage with David.
Thanks again for the connection...it was perfect!"
Click here to learn about Virgin Mobile's Re*Generation Project
Monday, July 9, 2007
But is Cyrano sexy?
I was reading the wonderful Vanity Fair Special African edition (July 07). Guest editor Bono. I thought I would just skim it quickly – but I got sucked right in. The stories are honest and really well told – not in the least woo-woo – they’re surprising and irreverent (the Chris Rock satire was harsh, brilliant and insightful). They’re about actual people doing what they can to get along. The stories give me a whole new way of looking at Africa, they make me want to do something to help – drill a well for clean water, carry Jeff Sachs’ bags.
Cyrano too is working to get understanding and help. But is Cyrano’s a sexy story? We are not getting the help directly to those Africans with big smiles and flies on their faces, or drawing drinking water from stinking cesspools - we aim to help those who do help them.
Where are our cover stories of the under-resourced volunteers, the inspired but penniless choreographers, the over-worked and under-paid executive directors and the hair-tearing development directors? If we had those pictures would they move anyone? But they all need the help to get their good work done. And we can help them tell their stories effectively so that they can get more resources and do more and do it better.
A dollar spent on Cyrano will be multiplied geometrically when we can provide all of them with the tools to get more of what they need to do more of their good work. That dollar won’t just go to one organization – it will go to 1.5 million. That’s how many nonprofits there are in the US. They will all get to use it. How’s that for leveraging!
There are over 25,000 nonprofits in New York City, 750 in my zip code alone. You have heard of Amnesty International, The New York City Ballet and The American Red Cross. But there are hundreds of thousands – yes hundreds of thousands you haven’t heard of. Good people doing good work. Look them up on Guidestar.org – they are all there.
Most of them are doing humanitarian work feeding the hungry, fixing education, curing disease; they are working to lift people out of poverty, many of them are working to save our natural environment – a humanitarian effort surely – and many are working to expand our minds and our understanding of ourselves and our world through music, dance, theater – perhaps the most humanitarian of all.
So what is Cyrano doing? We are here to give them the tools to tell their stories more effectively – so they can strengthen the impact of their work. We are here to give them the leverage to take their passion and have it make more of a difference, by getting more of the stories of all these good works told so that they will move people – just as this Vanity Fair moved me. They can’t all be cover stories – but they don’t all have to be. Sometimes the right story just needs to be told to the right one or two people to make the difference.
Cyrano too is working to get understanding and help. But is Cyrano’s a sexy story? We are not getting the help directly to those Africans with big smiles and flies on their faces, or drawing drinking water from stinking cesspools - we aim to help those who do help them.
Where are our cover stories of the under-resourced volunteers, the inspired but penniless choreographers, the over-worked and under-paid executive directors and the hair-tearing development directors? If we had those pictures would they move anyone? But they all need the help to get their good work done. And we can help them tell their stories effectively so that they can get more resources and do more and do it better.
A dollar spent on Cyrano will be multiplied geometrically when we can provide all of them with the tools to get more of what they need to do more of their good work. That dollar won’t just go to one organization – it will go to 1.5 million. That’s how many nonprofits there are in the US. They will all get to use it. How’s that for leveraging!
There are over 25,000 nonprofits in New York City, 750 in my zip code alone. You have heard of Amnesty International, The New York City Ballet and The American Red Cross. But there are hundreds of thousands – yes hundreds of thousands you haven’t heard of. Good people doing good work. Look them up on Guidestar.org – they are all there.
Most of them are doing humanitarian work feeding the hungry, fixing education, curing disease; they are working to lift people out of poverty, many of them are working to save our natural environment – a humanitarian effort surely – and many are working to expand our minds and our understanding of ourselves and our world through music, dance, theater – perhaps the most humanitarian of all.
So what is Cyrano doing? We are here to give them the tools to tell their stories more effectively – so they can strengthen the impact of their work. We are here to give them the leverage to take their passion and have it make more of a difference, by getting more of the stories of all these good works told so that they will move people – just as this Vanity Fair moved me. They can’t all be cover stories – but they don’t all have to be. Sometimes the right story just needs to be told to the right one or two people to make the difference.
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Design and Language
I wrote earlier of the design exhibit Cyrano is developing with Nada Ray.
Here is a wonderful little film that Nada made about Pentagram designer Paula Scher and how she designed a calendar in a language she knew nothing about. It's called Gobbledy Gook
http://youtube.com/watch?v=j1gvDOtwLgU
Here is a wonderful little film that Nada made about Pentagram designer Paula Scher and how she designed a calendar in a language she knew nothing about. It's called Gobbledy Gook
http://youtube.com/watch?v=j1gvDOtwLgU
Friday, June 8, 2007
Taking the headaches out of metrics, volunteers, brochures and websites
The Cyrano Project is collaborating with Josefowicz Associates (JA) to help nonprofits handle and disseminate information much more easily. Contact us at eloquence@cyranoproject.org for more details. Here's how JA describes the service:
"Every day you and your team struggle with the headaches of gathering information from lots of people and places... and then making that information public: collecting data for metrics, managing volunteers, putting on an event, compiling a brochure or website and so on.
We can teach you how to use Web 2.0 communication tools to accomplish these very difficult tasks, much more easily and more effectively. We will streamline the collection of the input material and also the management and dissemination of the output whether it is printed or on the web or it becomes a letter or a phone call.
We can show you how to measure the amount of time and money you can save. And we can help to improve your impact.
By practicing with a mentor, you will soon learn enough to use the tools to fit your specific needs, your specific culture, resources and style of work.
All you need is a web browser and an internet connection."
For more on Josefowicz Associates go to:
http://josefowicz.pbwiki.com/Non-Profits
"Every day you and your team struggle with the headaches of gathering information from lots of people and places... and then making that information public: collecting data for metrics, managing volunteers, putting on an event, compiling a brochure or website and so on.
We can teach you how to use Web 2.0 communication tools to accomplish these very difficult tasks, much more easily and more effectively. We will streamline the collection of the input material and also the management and dissemination of the output whether it is printed or on the web or it becomes a letter or a phone call.
We can show you how to measure the amount of time and money you can save. And we can help to improve your impact.
By practicing with a mentor, you will soon learn enough to use the tools to fit your specific needs, your specific culture, resources and style of work.
All you need is a web browser and an internet connection."
For more on Josefowicz Associates go to:
http://josefowicz.pbwiki.com/Non-Profits
Thursday, June 7, 2007
The Cyrano Project Launches Online Salon to help Nonprofits with Communications
NEW YORK, NEW YORK June 05, 2007 Non Profit News
(PRLEAP.COM) The Cyrano Project, a nonprofit organization based in New York City, has launched The Cyrano Project Salon:
http://groups.google.com/group/the-cyrano-project-salon
an online group where communications professionals exchange ideas with nonprofit professionals about how nonprofits can communicate more effectively to achieve their goals.
“Things that advertising and marketing people think and breathe are not necessarily obvious to most nonprofit people. They are good at curing diseases or saving kids, but communications is too often not their bag. Nonetheless they need all the help they can get in getting their stories told: the right story in the right way to the right people,” said Michael Pollock, an advertising veteran and President of The Cyrano Project. "With more effective communications, they can raise more money, recruit more volunteers and increase their impact."
“The Cyrano Project Salon is a place for nonprofit leaders and communicators to talk with communications professionals,” continues Pollock. They can ask questions. Get ideas. Share experiences. They can talk about strategy and materials, messaging and audiences: everything that goes into getting a nonprofit’s message out effectively.”
Cyrano Salons held in-person, before the launch of the online version, included communications professionals from ad agencies including Ogilvy & Mather and Y&R, marketers like Virgin Mobile and Time Warner and nonprofit professionals from MOMA, the UN, Common Ground and The New School.
Topics explored at these earlier offline salons included communications planning, defining audiences, printing costs, how to shoot videos and how to communicate effectively with ones own staffers.
“For a great many non-profits, the kind of sophisticated communications techniques used by FORTUNE 1000 companies are often out of reach. What The Cyrano Project is setting out to do is perhaps the greatest gift to any non-profit,” says Simon Sinek of Sinek Partners.
Howard Handler, Chief Marketing Officer of Virgin Mobile says, “Without the support and inspiration of business-minded strategies available to help streamline marketing and communications, amazing organizations will continue to struggle to get their messages out. We wholeheartedly believe in Cyrano’s mission.”
There is no charge for participating in the salon and as Pollock states, “It is an easy and fast way for communications professionals to share their expertise, putting it to work for good causes. And what could be better for a nonprofit than getting free insights and tips from practicing communications and marketing professionals.”
The Cyrano Project Online Salon can be found at:
http://groups.google.com/group/the-cyrano-project-salon
About The Cyrano Project
http://www.cyranoproject.org
The Cyrano Project is a 501(c)(3)nonprofit organization, founded by communications professionals, to help nonprofits tell their stories eloquently and effectively.
(PRLEAP.COM) The Cyrano Project, a nonprofit organization based in New York City, has launched The Cyrano Project Salon:
http://groups.google.com/group/the-cyrano-project-salon
an online group where communications professionals exchange ideas with nonprofit professionals about how nonprofits can communicate more effectively to achieve their goals.
“Things that advertising and marketing people think and breathe are not necessarily obvious to most nonprofit people. They are good at curing diseases or saving kids, but communications is too often not their bag. Nonetheless they need all the help they can get in getting their stories told: the right story in the right way to the right people,” said Michael Pollock, an advertising veteran and President of The Cyrano Project. "With more effective communications, they can raise more money, recruit more volunteers and increase their impact."
“The Cyrano Project Salon is a place for nonprofit leaders and communicators to talk with communications professionals,” continues Pollock. They can ask questions. Get ideas. Share experiences. They can talk about strategy and materials, messaging and audiences: everything that goes into getting a nonprofit’s message out effectively.”
Cyrano Salons held in-person, before the launch of the online version, included communications professionals from ad agencies including Ogilvy & Mather and Y&R, marketers like Virgin Mobile and Time Warner and nonprofit professionals from MOMA, the UN, Common Ground and The New School.
Topics explored at these earlier offline salons included communications planning, defining audiences, printing costs, how to shoot videos and how to communicate effectively with ones own staffers.
“For a great many non-profits, the kind of sophisticated communications techniques used by FORTUNE 1000 companies are often out of reach. What The Cyrano Project is setting out to do is perhaps the greatest gift to any non-profit,” says Simon Sinek of Sinek Partners.
Howard Handler, Chief Marketing Officer of Virgin Mobile says, “Without the support and inspiration of business-minded strategies available to help streamline marketing and communications, amazing organizations will continue to struggle to get their messages out. We wholeheartedly believe in Cyrano’s mission.”
There is no charge for participating in the salon and as Pollock states, “It is an easy and fast way for communications professionals to share their expertise, putting it to work for good causes. And what could be better for a nonprofit than getting free insights and tips from practicing communications and marketing professionals.”
The Cyrano Project Online Salon can be found at:
http://groups.google.com/group/the-cyrano-project-salon
About The Cyrano Project
http://www.cyranoproject.org
The Cyrano Project is a 501(c)(3)nonprofit organization, founded by communications professionals, to help nonprofits tell their stories eloquently and effectively.
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Stories of Inspirational New Yorkers
The Cyrano Project will collaborate with Good News People (http://www.goodnewspeople.org) to present:
Inspirational New Yorkers: an Exhibition of Good News Stories about New Yorkers, for New Yorkers.
We will create a public exhibition of posters specially designed by New York design students that will each tell the moving story of a New Yorker who has succeeded in overcoming a challenge or in making a difference with the help of one of New York’s 25,000 nonprofits.
The exhibition of these uplifting stories will illuminate the significant and positive role New York’s nonprofits play in the life of the city and it will be a demonstration of the power of the designer and printed communications to serve good causes. A book will be created showcasing the posters and describing how the design students responded to the stories that they discovered.
Here's what we'll do:
Garth Walker Workshop
20 selected students from the New York’s leading design schools will create the posters. They will be guided in a one-of-a-kind Workshop to be led by Garth Walker, the internationally renowned Graphic Designer from Durban, South Africa where he edits the groundbreaking I-jusi magazine. (http://www.ijusi.co.za/).
Walker is known for encouraging designers to develop a local design language that reflects the immediate surroundings. This will be a very special opportunity for the students to learn from a master and bring his thinking to these New York stories.
Public Exhibit – The One Club
The exhibition of the posters created by the students will be premiered in December 2007, at the prestigious One Club for Art and Copy, who have generously made their gallery available.(http://www.oneclub.org)
Book - Inspirational New Yorkers
A book will be created, presenting the posters along with quotes from the subjects and quotes from students who worked on the project. Text, photographs and other rich documentation from the project will show how these creatives responded to these real people who are overcoming real challenges and to the nonprofits that support their efforts.
Inspirational New Yorkers: an Exhibition of Good News Stories about New Yorkers, for New Yorkers.
We will create a public exhibition of posters specially designed by New York design students that will each tell the moving story of a New Yorker who has succeeded in overcoming a challenge or in making a difference with the help of one of New York’s 25,000 nonprofits.
The exhibition of these uplifting stories will illuminate the significant and positive role New York’s nonprofits play in the life of the city and it will be a demonstration of the power of the designer and printed communications to serve good causes. A book will be created showcasing the posters and describing how the design students responded to the stories that they discovered.
Here's what we'll do:
Garth Walker Workshop
20 selected students from the New York’s leading design schools will create the posters. They will be guided in a one-of-a-kind Workshop to be led by Garth Walker, the internationally renowned Graphic Designer from Durban, South Africa where he edits the groundbreaking I-jusi magazine. (http://www.ijusi.co.za/).
Walker is known for encouraging designers to develop a local design language that reflects the immediate surroundings. This will be a very special opportunity for the students to learn from a master and bring his thinking to these New York stories.
Public Exhibit – The One Club
The exhibition of the posters created by the students will be premiered in December 2007, at the prestigious One Club for Art and Copy, who have generously made their gallery available.(http://www.oneclub.org)
Book - Inspirational New Yorkers
A book will be created, presenting the posters along with quotes from the subjects and quotes from students who worked on the project. Text, photographs and other rich documentation from the project will show how these creatives responded to these real people who are overcoming real challenges and to the nonprofits that support their efforts.
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