Thank you GNML!

GNML - Global New Media Lab was an awesome time spent in learning, making new friendships and having fun. We worked hard for 7 months and now it is time finish and write the recap.

• What was the most rewarding single experience of our 10 session GNML Online program for YOU?

I think the most rewarding single experience of our 10 sessions was that I met so many new people. I met lots of people who same as me are trying to do a change in the world. So many new people who are full with energy and ideas in creating a perfect campaign that would make the world better. The best part of it is knowing that you have people all over the world who support your campaign. That is my most rewarding single experience.

• What was the most challenging single experience of our 10 session GNML Online program for YOU?

I had lots of experience with all the social medias we've done in our 10 sessions but LinkedIn. I think that LinkedIn was the most challenging experience. Creating the profile was easy but getting to understand how it works and how to actually modify your profile was the more difficult part. Thanks to GNML I learnt everything about LinkedIn and connected to so many new important people and friends.

• What is the most important single thing you learned in our 10 session GNML Online program?

The most important single thing I've learnt is that you can really use the social medias to do a social change. At the beginning I was thinking that no one would get something serious that is shown on the social medias. I thought that people would just get it as a joke, but I am glad I was proven wrong. There are so many people that are trying to do a change in the world and support our campaigns. That is the most important single thing that I learnt and this thing will motivate me in doing my campaign!

Thank you for this awesome experience, I am truly grateful! 

My Social Medias

Blogger - Blogger is an awesome place where you can share your ideas written in paragraph/essay form and still keep the audience reading because they know what blogger is for. I really like the platform because it also allows sharing feedback through the comments. It is really user friendly and easy to use.

Twitter - Twitter is a great social media where you can post updates for your campaign. I like twitter because it has a limit on how much you can post so it makes sure that you post the most important stuff about the update. Sometimes it really gets annoying on some other social medias to search through the text to actually get the main message, but here on twitter everything is clear! I like it because it is really convenient and user friendly!

YouTube - YouTube is an awesome platform where you can share the videos you've made with huge audience. It is really user friendly and easy to upload. It has an awesome feedback system which allows communication between all the people that share same ideas.

Facebook - Facebook is a great social media that has over 1.5 billion users. It is really easy to use and to connect to your audience. You can post updates and inform your audience very easily. Facebook is my favorite social media and my campaign has over 5000 likes.

Instagram - Instagram is a really nice social media that grew very fast in this last years. It allows you to post updates about your campaign through photos. It is mostly popular between the teens and the teens are mostly the target of my campaign.

LinkedIn - LinkedIn is an awesome social media. I really love it because it is a network for professionals. It is formal and serious. It is the network where I would like to connect with all the important people. 

LinkedIn

Hello,
I want to introduce you the new social media platform that I'm on - LinkedIn.

Please connect with me and support my campaign!

Thank you!

CommunityService.org: Reflections from a student in Texas

Recently, CommunityService.org had an article about the reflections from a student in Texas about her identity and if/how that affects the community. One of the things she said:

"

Write about a scenario in which you did not demonstrate effective or appropriate communication skills?

I can think of a very recent scenario in which I did not communicate as effectively as I could have, or should have. I was at an open house for a job I wanted to get after graduation. There were a couple of other people that were asking questions about volunteering with kids, and I explained that the kids will receptive to your “newness” as long as you come from a place of compassion and not judgment. I feel that I should have spoken with less dominance, and attitude. I should have give the representative holding the open house an opportunity to explain the transition into the position. There was another situation at that open house where a person attempted to interrupt me, or answer the question for me and I just finished my question. I did not need to domineer, I could have stopped and let him talk and waited till he had finished asking his question."

She explains how communicating effectively really helps in growing of one community. Read the rest here.

Instagram - The power of images

Hello everyone,

I want to introduce you to my instagram account - volunteercampaign.

Please follow me and support my campaign!

Thank you for your time and remember,  You make a difference - Every person counts!

Facebook Page

Hello everyone!

I established a Facebook page for my campaign!

How do I plan to use my Facebook Page to engage audience for your “Social Media For Social Change"?
1. As by the huge number of likes my page has (5 170+), that means I have huge audience and 95% of those people are exactly my target, they are Macedonian. So I will be posting a lot of facts and will be encouraging the people to volunteer.
2. I will post lots of diagrams like pictures and videos which will prove my points and facts. As more as audience gets to see it, the better it will be.
update: The page is growing!

Please support my campaign by liking the page! Thank you!

Follow me!

Hi! If you'd like to support my GNML campaign, please follow me on the following social medias:

Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/VolunteerCampaign
Facebook - http://facebook.com/B0b0A

Twitter - http://twitter.com/B0b0A

Instagram - http://instagram.com/B0b0A

Google+ - https://plus.google.com/u/0/100872008812215390811

Blogs - http://makeadifference01.blogspot.com/ & http://myamericanlife01.blogspot.com/

YouTube - http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCt9xmcLGiGTO_i5WgBz2kXQ

Elevator Pinch Video

YouTube is the world’s single most popular and powerful video sharing platform on the Internet. the power of the “moving image” cannot be denied, especially when your video has high-quality sound, good lighting, some music and simple FX, and tells a powerful story.

That's why I am using this social media in order to share my campaign with more and more people. I made elevator pinch video (30-60sec introducing video) which I uploaded to YouTube. The video is about my Social Media for a Change GNML Campaign : Community Service/Volunteering for a Better World

I hope that you liked my video and that you would support my campaign!

Why Volunteer?

Benefits of Volunteering

People volunteer for a wide variety of reasons, especially wanting to help others. But it's also OK to want some benefits for yourself from volunteering.

Some people are uncomfortable with the notion that a volunteer "benefits" from doing volunteer work. There is a long tradition of seeing volunteering as a form of charity, based on altruism and selflessness. The best volunteering does involve the desire to serve others, but this does not exclude other motivations, as well.

Instead of considering volunteering as something you do for people who are not as fortunate as yourself, begin to think of it as an exchange.

Consider that most people find themselves in need at some point in their lives. So today you may be the person with the ability to help, but tomorrow you may be the recipient of someone else's volunteer effort. Even now you might be on both sides of the service cycle: maybe you are a tutor for someone who can't read, while last month the volunteer ambulance corps rushed you to the emergency room. Volunteering also includes "self-help." So if you are active in your neighborhood crime watch, your home is protected while you protect your neighbors' homes, too. Adding your effort to the work of others makes everyone's lives better.

Your Motivations

Think about how much you receive when you give and consider why you want to volunteer. You may have several different reasons. Here are just a few of the many possible motivations identified by other volunteers:

• to feel needed
• to share a skill
• to get to know a community
• to demonstrate commitment to a cause/belief
• to gain leadership skills
• to act out a fantasy
• to do your civic duty
• because of pressure from a friend or relative
• satisfaction from accomplishment
• to keep busy
• for recognition
• to repay a debt
• to donate your professional skills
• because there is no one else to do it
• to have an impact
• to learn something new
• for freedom of schedule
• to help a friend or relative
• for escape
• to become an "insider"
• guilt
• to be challenged
• to be a watchdog
• to feel proud
• to make new friends
• to explore a career
• to help someone
• as therapy
• to do something different from your job
• for fun!
• for religious reasons
• to earn academic credit
• to keep skills alive
• because an agency is geographically close
• to have an excuse to do what you love
• to be able to criticize
• to assure progress
• to feel good
• to be part of a team
• to gain status
• because you were asked
• to test yourself
• to build your resume
• to be an agent of change
• because of personal experience with the problem, illness, or cause
• to stand up and be counted

You will probably have some special reasons of your own. Remember that the motivations you have to select the place to offer your services may not be the reasons why you stay. Once you're on the volunteer job, you will continue to serve as long as you feel that your efforts are accomplishing something, that your talents are appreciated, and that you make a difference. And if you also like the people with whom you work, so much the better!

As long as you are truly serving through your volunteer work, isn't it wonderful that such an exchange occurs? In fact, it tends to strengthen your commitment to volunteering when you can see the benefits to both the recipient of your efforts and to yourself. And it is much more comfortable than "charity" because it upholds the self-esteem of those with whom you volunteer.  

by Susan J. Ellis

copyright Energize, Inc.