Engaging Youth Through Technology

Miles Orkin

Vice President, Development OperationsCalifornia Division

Who Is This Guy?

• This is the part where I tell you about myself and my incredibly auspicious professional and personal history to establish my street cred so you will take me seriously and pay close attention to every single word I say… so you won’t text your friends, check your cuticles, dangle your flip flops, open another piece of gum, get up and go to the bathroom, double-check the program guide to see how many more speakers there are, ‘rest your eyes’ for a minute, or stare blatantly at that weird ACS staff person over on the side of the room looking all semi-blissed and semi-stressed and really definitely over-medicated or underslept…

In the Beginning…

• Case Study: An early example of youth engagement via technology

– It harnessed new media tools

– It focused on behavior change

– It targeted specific audiences

• A Clockwork Orange

In the 21st Century…

• How much has the basic approach changed?

• The Private Sector, the Public Sector, the Not-For Profit Sector all want your:

– Ears

– Eyeballs

– Fingers

– Thumbs

In the 21st Century

•But Why?

Why Engage Youth Through Tech?

• Youth drive innovation

• Youth drive behavior change

• Youth drive societal change

• Youth are a powerful market force

• Youth help turn new technology from a fad into a fact of life

So, Like, What IS Technology?

Technology is a species’ usage and knowledge of tools and crafts, and how they affect a species’ ability to control and adapt to its environment.*

*Source: Wikipedia

What is Technology HERE, TODAY?

• Three Buckets

– Web

– Email

– Mobile

What’s In the Buckets?

• Social Nets

• Blogs

• Web Sites

• E-Revenue

• Web Apps / Widgets

• Networked Games

• PDFs

• Voting/Tagging/

• Virtual Worlds

• E-Communications

• SMS Communications

• SMS Revenue

• Video

• Wikis

• MP3s

• E-Advocacy

• Images

• Mobile Web

What Is ACS Doing In These Areas?

• Probably more than you think

• Probably not enough

• And we’re probably not always doing it the way we should

What Is ACS Doing In These Areas?

You can help make us better!

American Cancer Society Online

• Donate at cancer.orgDonate online immediately at cancer.org

• Great American Health ChallengeFour mini-sites focusing on: screening, physical activity, healthy diet, smoking cessation.

• Stories of HopeReal stories from cancer survivors.

http://www.cancer.org/donate

http://www.cancer.org/greatamericans

http://www.cancer.org/stories

American Cancer Society Online

• Cancer Survivors NetworkWeb community for cancer survivors

• Fight CancerWeb-based cancer-fighting resources for the workplace

• Workplace SolutionsA website for corporations to learn about the Society’s free wellness programs

• ACS CANWeb site for ACS’ sister advocacy organization

• http://www.acscsn.org/

• http://www.fightcancer.org

• http://www.acsworkplacesolutions.com

• http://www.acscan.org

Event-Related Fundraising

• Coaches Vs. Cancerhttp://www.cancer.org/coaches

• Charity Runnerhttp://www.cancer.org/charityrunner

• Daffodil Dayshttp://www.cancer.org/daffodils

• Making Strides Against Breast Cancerhttp://www.cancer.org/makingstrides

• Relay For Life

http://www.relayforlife.org

Non Event-Related Fundraising

• Team ACSBuild your own fundraiser.

• MissionFishSell items on E-Bay and give proceeds to charity.

• Mosaic of HopeBuild a tribute Web site to a loved one and raise

• Search To FightThis search engine raises money to fight cancer

http://www.cancer.org/teamacs

http://www.missionfish.org/acs

http://www.cancer.org/mosaic

http://searchtofight.org/

Division Volunteer E-Revenue Team

• Web industry pros

• Focusing on key areas of interest

– Small gift campaigns in social networks

– Enhancing and Promoting ACS Web products

– Strategic E-Revenue planning

• Especially keen on engaging with volunteer and youth volunteer teams

New Cool Stuff We’re Working On

• Small Gift Campaign

• Text-To-Give

• Text-For-HPV-Info

• Reality Check Now

• MySpace Impact

• SharingHope.TV (video!)

Reality Check Now

reality check now

No Small Change

Shut Up, Miles!

What do YOU think?

YOU Are the Experts

• Do you interact with the American Cancer Society online? Other charities?

• What is your social networking site of choice?

• What tools do you use in your social site(s) to connect with friends?

• What is your digital communication platform of choice? (Phone, Web, Email)

YOU Are the Experts

• Does a text-to-give campaign sound cool?

• Have you ever texted to give? To vote? To order a pizza?

• Would you text-to-give five dollars?

• What charities or other public programs ‘get’ online engagement with youth?

• If you were a venture capitalist and could fund one charitable e-venture, what would it be?

YOU Are the Experts

• What can we do online to make your volunteer activities easier and more productive?

• What would make it easier for you to share your ACS story?

• Are you satisfied with the look and feel of our Web products?

YOU Can Help Us!

• Are you willing to take part in fast, easy, cool, glamorous, dangerous, sexy American Cancer Society viral campaigns?

– Text, email, ping, and poke friends about text-to-give

– Join cause and event groups in social nets

– Share news about new cool tools and sites

– Record and post digital vids from your volunteer activities

Next Steps

• You are all officially invited to join the California Division Viral Youth Team

• I will upload this presentation somewhere easy to find

• We will keep you posted about the new cool stuff

• Contact me any time with ideas, inspirations, thoughts, questions: morkin@cancer.org

Thank You!