<img alt="" src="https://secure.bass2poll.com/217149.png" style="display:none;">

ShareVision Blog

Conversations on technology for community service providers

Xerez Haffenden

Recent Posts by Xerez Haffenden:

OMG How Ye Hath Evolved

The end of the old year and the beginning of the new one brings all sorts of top song or movie lists, best news story links, and predictions for the coming year. One news story I read that caught my attention, and yet got little press last year, was one that predicted that within a hundred years we would only have three languages left on earth. Currently we have over 6500 languages. http://www.infoplease.com/askeds/many-spoken-languages.html

Topics: non-profit language

Putting the “Day” in Holidaze

“Black Friday”, “Small Business Saturday”, and “Cyber Monday” are the invented seasonal economic marketing boosts that you’ve probably heard way too much about over the past few weeks. They have inspired both competition and opposition. “Civilized Saturday” – a new twist invented by booksellers in the UK, encourages you to buy what else but…books! (Somehow I see them secretly pulling out e-readers when no one is looking and downloading the latest best seller).

Topics: non-profit

Thinking “Glocally”

In the wake of last week’s terrorist attacks and a day off from work to remember our fallen war heroes and veterans, I find myself seriously reflecting on why I choose value-based work. Frankly I think I just need a happy thought. It bothers me greatly to hear of terrible things happening overseas and I feel guilty for my privilege and sense of security. News such as this is deeply disturbing and hard to digest:

Topics: non-profit

Trick or Tweet

Halloween is the much-loved cultural holiday filled with the odd tradition of going to stranger’s homes and asking for candy. However the trick aspect of trick or treating seems to have been lost and candy acquisition is the sole remaining goal. Ask any six year old! I can’t help but imagine that when I was six, and if our entire neighborhood of kids had been on Twitter Halloween night, how our candy intake could have been efficiently maximized with tweets about where the good candy scores were and what spooky places we should avoid. So how many of your tweets end up like those nasty nameless molasses toffees, unwanted and left at the bottom of the pile?

Topics: non-profit

You say you Want a Revolution?

Four years ago this week saw the Occupy Wall Street movement gain credible motion through out the western world. Cries of “enough” to the bankers and politicians about the burden of loans, debt and the subsequent bailouts were heard in over 950 cities and in 82 countries by student activists and those who stated they represented the 99%  - aka “the rest of us”.

Topics: non-profit sharing economy

What Can We Learn From the New Sharing Economy?

Image Credit: Collaborative Consumption

Five years ago I was living in South America and working in international development through the non-profit organization CUSO International. Early on in my placement, our group met two travellers passing though the capital, one from France and one from Spain. Their stated goal was to travel the world without any money.  That’s right…with absolutely no money at all. To accomplish this they were “couch surfing” and using the “sharing community” and giving back in kind by sharing their philosophy with those who would listen. All they owned was a single small backpack full of clothes and a wi-fi dependent laptop each. We were all both amazed and a bit appalled by them.

Topics: non-profit