Besides my marketing and strategy work with nonprofits, I volunteer with a few groups. Longest running of these is the effort to revitalize downtown Little Rock. First as a board member of the Downtown Little Rock Partnership; and more narrowly, on the mayor’s task force to revitalize Main Street; and more narrowly still, the […]
Archive | Innovation
sOccket
Because a professor was indifferent to his students’ first project idea, many people around the world will have light at night. This week at the Clinton School of Public Service we got to hear Jessica Matthews, co-founder and CEO of Uncharted Play, an organization that mixes fun with solving the world’s problems. She and her colleagues developed a […]
Hairdressers Cut Skin Cancer?
Winston Churchill said, “The maneuver which brings an ally into the field is as serviceable as that which wins a great battle.” Gaining the support of President Roosevelt and the United States, of course, turned the outcome of World War II. Now the British are looking at a new ally for a different battle: the […]
Cash Mobs
Today, March 24, is National Cash Mob Day. Begun last year, cash mobs organize flash mob participants to meet and spend $20 at a local store, supporting homegrown businesses. Cash mobs have spread to dozens of cities around the country and are popping up overseas. While a boost of $800 in the lucky cash register […]
Good Ideas Have Lonely Childhoods
In his short book, Ignore Everybody, Hugh Macleod says that good ideas have lonely childhoods. Good ideas alter the power balance in relationships. That is why good ideas are always initially resisted. The good news is, creating an idea or brand that fights the Powers That Be can be a lot […]
Neighborhood and Walls
I don’t know which I’m more excited about, the new website/docu-series named Here Comes the Neighborhood, or their first offering, Wynwood Walls. Either is the coolest thing I’ve seen in many moons. Here Comes The Neighborhood, is a site of “docuseries” that explore how public art can revitalize urban communities. Their pilot series — already […]
Declaration of Interdependence
On this holiday, I’m reminded of Martin Luther King’s keen understanding of our interdependence: Before you finish eating breakfast this morning, you’ve depended on more than half of the world. This is the way our universe is structured. We aren’t going to have peace on earth until we recognize this basic fact of interrelated structure of […]
Saving the Glaciers?
I’ve met farmers who eke a livelihood in the high Andes, and saw how completely dependent they are on water from yet higher. But that water above in many places is drying up from actions of us humans — grazing cattle on the fragile páramo and contributing to global warming. When my son, Eliot, showed […]
Rethink the Food Label
With one in three Americans obese, we need help from every quarter to get back to great health. So thank you, Good Magazine and UC Berkeley, for hosting a contest to redesign the nutrition label so that it’s actually helpful. Because the FDA is redoing the labels after 20 years, maybe they’ll find some inspiration from […]
Iron Fish that Saves Lives
This little iron fish is saving lives. In the summer before he started graduate school, Chris Charles joined a research project in Cambodia with Research Development International, an organization focused on iron-deficiency anemia (IDA). The deficiency impacts billions worldwide and can result in a range of health problems, from fatigue to death. Chris extended his […]