Day 03 of SXSW has come and gone, and I will say, what I had hoped was going to be a day filled with awesome social media change, ended up being a little disappointing. I ended up leaving TWO sessions in the first 10 minutes; one because it ended up being just one giant sales pitch, and the other because it was not AT ALL what the description made it sound like. So I was a tad upset with that, BUT I will say that the other two sessions that I went to were both excellent.

When not at sessions today, I spent a good chunk of time at the DeviantArt truck hanging out with some fellow artists and talking about how frustrating it is that so many people simply walk by folks doing live art without even glancing at the beauty being created right next to them. They don’t even realize what they’re missing and I feel sad for them. The happy thing though? I spent so much time with my DA friends that they gave me an awesome piece of live art that DA artist Carmen Olsen had painted only moments before. It’s absolutely beautiful and I had been looking at it the entire time. I just love it.

Now on to some session notes!

21st Century Giving: Social Philanthropy’s Rise

“You can use something of value to create more value.” Social media! Don’t underestimate the power of the individual. #SXyote #21stgiving

— Rescue Animals (@RescueAnimals) March 11, 2012

Engage donors & keep them engaged. Build memorable, personal relationships. Make donors feel uniquely special! #SXyote #21stgiving

— Rescue Animals (@RescueAnimals) March 11, 2012

Leverage social media for good. Find donors, sponsors, and pull together resources that are meaningful. #SXyote #21stgiving

— Rescue Animals (@RescueAnimals) March 11, 2012

Be transparent! If you’re raising money, be clear with what you need it for & what it’s being used for. Be real! #SXyote #21stgiving

— Rescue Animals (@RescueAnimals) March 11, 2012

Get connected with your beneficeries! Ask your donors to tweet for you, write blog content for you! They care! #SXyote #21stgiving

— Rescue Animals (@RescueAnimals) March 11, 2012

Matching campaigns work! Find a sponsor who will match whatever you can fundraise! #SXyote #21stgiving #sxsw

— Rescue Animals (@RescueAnimals) March 11, 2012

Content is king! Make good videos, write stellar posts, emails. Good content comes before fundraising. #SXyote #21stgiving #sxsw #makechange

— Rescue Animals (@RescueAnimals) March 11, 2012

What Makers Need to Know Money & Taxes

Make sure you’re keeping track of your money flow so you know exactly what you need to pay taxes on. #SXyote #craftmaker

— Nikki Jeske (@designcoyote) March 11, 2012

Don’t be scared by IRS! If you have a home office, and use that space JUST for work, write it off. #SXyote #craftmaker

— Nikki Jeske (@designcoyote) March 11, 2012

You can also write off a % of rent based on the size of your home office. Never thought of that! #SXyote #craftmaker

— Nikki Jeske (@designcoyote) March 11, 2012

Write off mileage! Getting supplies for business (Michaels, art store, etc) or going to ship from post office! #SXyote #craftmaker

— Nikki Jeske (@designcoyote) March 11, 2012

Tomorrow will be an even better day. On the Agenda: 101 Social Media Tactics for Nonprofits, How to Get the Attention You Deserve: Basic PR Strategies for Makers, Content As a Means for Social Change, Everyone Is Gay: Social Media As Social Action OR Positively Inspired Change Campaigns (need to decide), and possibly more if I can fit it all in.

I’m hoping that I will get home earlier in the next few days so I can start working on my SXSW Interactive Resource Guide – if not, no worries. All these notes, tweets, more pictures and video will be put up over there to reference back to. For now… I’m going to bed!

Good night!

Filed under: Art, Events, SXSW on March 11th, 2012 | No Comments »

Welcome to Day 02!

Day 02 has come and gone and it went by so fast. If you were following the hashtag #SXyote on twitter, you got a lot of information on some geeky things. Today’s sessions ended up being more on the tech and geek side, rather than social media and social good, so I kept the tweets on my own @designcoyote twitter instead of @Rescueanimals. Tomorrow you’ll see more tweets there because tomorrow will be my main Social Media for Social good day – lots of sessions surrounding that topic.

For today, here are some highlights.

Tech Superwomen: Mentors & Mentees FTW

Only 20% of speakers are women. Glad to be a small part of that number. Come on girls! #SXyote #sxtxsw

— Nikki Jeske (@designcoyote) March 10, 2012

Don’t make excuses! You can do it! Promise yourself you can be great and make it happen! #SXyote #sxtxsw — Nikki Jeske (@designcoyote) March 10, 2012

“The door to power only opens from the inside.” -Cat Posey. LOVE THIS! #SXyote #sxtxsw — Nikki Jeske (@designcoyote) March 10, 2012

Be intentional about networking. Be strategic. Who should you know? Step outside your comfort zone! #SXyote #sxtxsw

— Nikki Jeske (@designcoyote) March 10, 2012

Games for Change: Great Power, Great Responsibility

$60 billion spent on games world-wide. 100 million people play games. 407 million hours spent on online games. Use this for good! #SXyote

— Nikki Jeske (@designcoyote) March 10, 2012

With that much money, time, and people focused on games, we should make games that motivate change and social good. #SXyote — Nikki Jeske (@designcoyote) March 10, 2012

Games engage kids, make learning fun & visually help them remember what they learn. Moves their minds to learn “on their own.” #SXyote #g4c — Nikki Jeske (@designcoyote) March 10, 2012

Use games for social action. Have a game lead to real world action: look up Free Rice & Fold It. Winning = donation to cause. #SXyote #g4c

— Nikki Jeske (@designcoyote) March 10, 2012

More Fun Stuff!

Other than those two sessions, I also got to see one of my favorite movie makers Joss Whedon talk about his work and upcoming projects (The Avengers!) I spent much of the afternoon over at Screenburn checking out the latest video games (I got to beta test FireFall, a new online shooter game with some BEAUTIFUL graphics) and watching adorable kids learn how to be game developers. I loved it! It was a nice, calm day before I head into some deep learning tomorrow.

See you all bright and early tomorrow! Happy SXSW! Remember, follow #SXyote on Twitter to get all the latest tweets from my journey to SXSW. And if you have any questions or comments and want me to find out something for you, let me know! I’d love to help you in any way I can. Be Well!

Filed under: Be The Change, Events, SXSW on March 11th, 2012 | No Comments »

So a quick history. A little over a month ago I began a fundraiser to raise money so that I could attend SXSW. A slew of amazing individuals, who believe in the power of learning and community effort to create change, came together and raised enough money to buy me a badge to SXSW Interactive. I am so incredibly thankful to these folks, especially to my wonderful sponsor Protect America Cares who, only a few days before the festival began, stepped up and paid for more than half the badge. How incredible is that? Thank you PACares and all the rest of my amazing donors!

Welcome to Day 01!

Unfortunately, I didn’t do much this afternoon. I was at SXSW last year and was in the badge line for about 30 minutes. This year? WOW! I stood in the registration line for 2 hours. TWO HOURS. It was intense, but at the same time, it was pretty awesome because I met some pretty great folks and made quite a few new friends. I did get to go to one session though and it was fantastic! Here’s a summary of that session.

Sparking Real World Action with Social Media

I LOVED this session. Not only was there a lot of great information, but it was also interactive! We made small groups and attempted to make real life action using social media and not leaving the room. There were a few options we had to try and do this, and my group focused on spreading some love. Some of you saw, either on Facebook or Twitter and you responded! In fact, the large number of responses was so inspiring to me! Not only were you playing along with me through social media, but you spreading love and positive energy like you were doing was just the most wonderful thing. So thank you!

Here are a few tweets from the session that I did.

Interactive Session! #sxsm4sg Kiss the person you’re in the room with & tweet to me that you did it PLEASE! #SXyote

— Rescue Animals (@RescueAnimals) March 9, 2012

That was a fun group session. Thank you to everyone who tweeted me. we had 50 points! #sxsm4sg #sxyote

— Rescue Animals (@RescueAnimals) March 9, 2012

Know your community! Know what they like and what is easiest for them to do. Give them options to do things! #SXyote #sxsm4sg

— Rescue Animals (@RescueAnimals) March 9, 2012

Cultivate your audience. engage. listen. build relationships & they’ll be more likely to take action when you ask them to. #SXyote (thanks!)

— Rescue Animals (@RescueAnimals) March 9, 2012

How do you make change for social good? Do you use social media? if so, how? #SXyote #makechange

— Rescue Animals (@RescueAnimals) March 10, 2012

Say thank you! one way to keep people engaged & keep coming back is acknowledgement. recognition is powerful. #SXyote #makechange

— Rescue Animals (@RescueAnimals) March 10, 2012

So far, I am already above and beyond blown away by SXSW Interactive. Are you here? @ me on Twitter and use the hashtag #SXyote to get my attention. I’d love to meet up! Not here, but have a question or want me to find out something specific for you? Let me know!

Day 02, I’m ready for you!

Oh, by the way, the Design Coyote SXSW Resource Guide is up, though there’s no content yet. I’ll be building it out in the next few days and adding everything in the few days after the conference. So keep checking back!

Filed under: Be The Change, Events, SXSW on March 10th, 2012 | No Comments »

We met the awesome people at Lucky Mutts a few months ago at a dog event here in Austin. We love their emphasis on education and advocacy, and they have one of the best taglines I’ve heard: Good Used Dogs for Lucky People. It says it all and the fortunate mutts who find their forever homes are indeed lucky, thanks to these kind-hearted folks.

Day 7: Lucky Mutts

About Lucky Mutts

Lucky Mutts is a non profit organization with the foremost goal of being a premier canine advocacy group in the Austin and surrounding areas. The group realizes that rescuing single dogs will never make an impact on the plight of the species as a whole. To reduce the number of abandoned and unwanted animals, Lucky Mutts strives to educate the public about responsible dog ownership.

This goal is approached by several avenues: Public education through specialized programs geared toward different demographics; Active participation in legislation concerning our canine companions; Producing prime examples of how responsible dog ownership creates well adjusted animals that are an asset to the community; Partnering with organizations to provide service, therapy, search and rescue, and police dog; Adopting out dogs that are excellent examples of our program to the general public.

Where You Can Find Them

• Official Website
• Facebook

If you’re interested in helping us make this project a success, please email us at 365[AT]iloverescueanimals.org with the name of your organization, rescue, event, etc., information about it including mission statement, physical location and where it can be found online and we will send you an email with the address you can send the shirt to. You can also send along any personal stories you’d like to share about the group. We can’t do this with out you so contact us today!

Filed under: 365 Days of Animal Advocacy 2012 on January 29th, 2012 | No Comments »

Most people look for puppies when they want to adopt, but I think getting an older dog is a fantastic choice. The St. Louis Senior Dog Project is an awesome organizations that works with the older pups and makes sure that these dogs find wonderful and well-deserved forever homes.

Day 6: The St. Louis Senior Dog Project

About the St. Louis Senior Dog Project

From volunteer Elisa Leyva:
The St. Louis Senior Dog Project is an all volunteer organization that rescues dogs of all ages but focuses on the rescue and adoption of dogs older than five years old. I joined this organization a little over a year ago and what attracted me to them was their dedication to older dogs and how important it is to give those dogs a second chance. The St. Louis Senior Dog Project does not have a shelter so all of the dogs searching for homes are in foster homes so we are always happy to have more foster families join the group! One of the great things about this organization is that even though it is a small non-profit the impact is still profound specially on the lives of the rescued dogs, just a few months back our leader Ellen E. rescued the oldest dog from a puppymill auction she called him Freedom, he is 12 years old and a happy member of a new family now. That day Freedom didn’t stand a chance against all the other younger dogs but it is because of the dedication of groups like St. Louis Senior Dog Project that he now finally has a chance at a real life. I am happy to be a volunteer of this organization and I hope that more and more people consider adopting an adult or senior dog.

Where You Can Find Them

• Official Website
• Facebook
• Twitter

If you’re interested in helping us make this project a success, please email us at 365[AT]iloverescueanimals.org with the name of your organization, rescue, event, etc., information about it including mission statement, physical location and where it can be found online and we will send you an email with the address you can send the shirt to. You can also send along any personal stories you’d like to share about the group. We can’t do this with out you so contact us today!

Filed under: 365 Days of Animal Advocacy 2012 on January 28th, 2012 | No Comments »