The Dell Social Media Listening Command Center is busy tracking several social media campaigns today – all part of the #ed4good initiative that’s been cranking up on Twitter as I type.
Dell’s ‘Education for Social Good’ program was designed to allow leading social media experts to do something great with social media and a local school, while supporting a cause in their local community.
Teams are competing from New York (#NYC), Washington, DC (#WDC) and Austin (#AUS). The campaign that generates the largest volume of online mentions today (9a-3pm Central) wins, and Dell will make a $10,000 charitable contribution to the charity of the winning team’s choice.
The #NYC group is working in support of the Ivdu Upper Schools in Brooklyn, New York. IVDU is a division of Yachad/The National Jewish Council for Disabilities (NJCD), and the school is for young Jewish student with special needs. The Ivdu team was coached by Chaim Haaas, Senior Vice President for Technology, Emerging Media and Digital Strategy with Kaplow PR.
In Washington, DC (#WDC), a team of students at Thurgood Marshall Academy Public Charter High School in Southeast DC is campaigning against animal cruelty, using a creative @unFURgvble Twitter account to spread the word. Their coach was local social media expert and new media producer, Danielle Ricks.
And the team from Austin (#AUS) is rallying around the Austin Sustainable Food Center and their efforts to elevate local farmers and their produce’s benefits for nutrition. That team is made of University of Texas students and coached by Kate Rush Sheehy and Ellen Reynolds of Dachis Group.
The participating social media experts each recently taught a class in their community about the value of social media to connect, collaborate and build support for important causes. They are coaches to their students, who helped select the cause and co-developed a social media campaign to raise awareness of their cause.
Today we’re hosting many of these coaches and students, plus several interested people who wanted to see the Social Media Listening Command Center in action, at Dell as we aggregate and monitor these efforts.
Join the fun – check out the campaigns and support your favorite – we’re monitoring and tracking until 3pm Central today and will have news about the winner at the end of the day!
Here’s some background on the teams:
Washington, DC
- Social Media Expert: Danielle Ricks (@daniellericks) and Xina Eilund
- Organization: Danielle Ricks Productions (www.daniellericks.com)
- School: Thurgood Marshall Academy Public Charter High School in S.E. Washington, DC (@TMATalks)
- Cause: animal cruelty
- Hashtag: #ed4good #WDC
Austin, Texas
- Social Media Expert: Kate Rush Sheehy (@katerushsheehy) and Ellen Reynolds (@ellenreynolds)
- Organization: Dachis Group
- School: University of Texas at Austin
- Cause: Sustainable Food Center and their efforts to elevate local farmers and their produce’s benefits for nutrition
- Hashtag: #ed4good #AUS
- Link: http://www.dachisgroup.com/2011/03/social-media-for-social-good-ed4good-aus/
New York City, NY
- Social Media Expert: Chaim Haas (@chaimhaas)
- Organization: Kaplow PR
- School: Ivdu Upper Schools in Brooklyn, NY (www.ivduschool.com) (@IvduYachad)
- Cause: youth special education
- Hashtag: #ed4good #NYC
Cincinnati, OH
- Social Media Expert: Simone Bess (@SWBess) and Janice Fredwest
- Organization: Cincinnati Youth Collaborative
- School: Shroder
- Hashtag: #ed4good #CIN