Impact Is What You Can Get Away With
Brands and organizations looking to make real social impact should go beyond the app to “do good” or “give back.” Impact isn’t an app, it’s an uprising. It’s not just a meme, it’s a movement. Warhol and McLuhan both said, “Art is what you can get away with.” Riffing on this provocation, we challenge social innovators to get away with more. What can change makers learn from artists? How do you channel cultural power to achieve deep structural change? How do you stimulate promiscuous participation? How do you turn social innovations into social movements? This session is for makers, thinkers, and doers looking to level up their understanding of the art of mass mobilization and achieving transformative impact. We will present from our experiences building 21st century movements at Purpose and engage in dialogue with fellow “movement entrepreneurs.”

Vote for our panel proposal. Thanks!

I recently appeared with my colleague Alessandra Orofino in the Fast Company article “An MFA Degree For Designers Who Want To Change The World” by Michael J. Coren.

So you want to change the world? Cynics may send you off to Wall Street or a white-shoe law firm. Those with gumption will look for another way. The new Master’s of Fine Arts in Design for Social Innovation has opened its doors just for them.

“We’re adamant this not be a program where people sit in a classroom and talk about how great it’s going to be when they go out and change the world,” says program chair Cheryl Heller at the School of Visual Arts (SVA) in New York, and a board member of PopTech. “It is helping designers go beyond self-expression, which is how most designers are taught, and how to put [design] into practice to create a change.”

Read the full article here.

For Movement strategy Director, we want someone who can architect major projects for clients, and create and run new partnerships and incubated ventures. As you know, our 3 core disciplines are marketing/communications, strategy consulting and political organizing — so the ideal candidate will be very strong in at least one of these areas (e.g. a super talented political organizer who has helped to start or build a movement organization). Full job description

For CTO, we’re looking for a world-class team leader to oversee all aspects of technology, from the overall vision, to the buy/build/integrate decision-making process, to development and deployment of the organization’s applications and web presence, and management and growth of the technology team. Demonstrated interest in technology for social change and mass digital participation is a must. Full job description

Please let me know if anyone springs to mind – whether currently employed or not. For the right person, these roles are an opportunity to shape and direct major areas of a rapidly growing (approaching 50 people) organization.

We’re also offering a finder’s fee of $5k to the person who makes the referral (cheaper than hiring a recruiting firm) as a token of thanks.

Three firsts this week:

First time getting elbowed in the face. It was kind of my fault for not blocking, but I learned a valuable lesson that I will remember. Thanks LC! Tip from Ari: use your elbows to block your partner’s elbow and knee, it’s more subtle and less aggressive than using your hands. My cheek is still a little sore,

First time doing a pull up. I was inspired by a blogpost I stumbled upon on Art of Manliness and decided to go for it. I was I was at the academy taking a break by a horizontal bar and just pulled myself up. This is certainly not something I could have done a year ago. Next step is trying to do 2 in a row. Looking to build upper body strength in general so I can do queda de rins into a tesoura, like we were doing on Tuesday night in class.

First time doing a handstand away from a wall. After Ari giving me a valuable tip of folding my body more and getting my feet closer to my hands before I go up, I was able to go up into a handstand. It seems that the trick is thinking more about up, rather than forward. Forward is fine for doing a handstand on a wall, where the wall is there to catch you, but up is where it’s all about.

Another lesson learned this week, Grilo taught us how to do a tesoura while guarding the family jewels. Valuable tip indeed.

Curious about capoeira? Join us at the New York Capoeira Center.

Video of me giving a Pecha Kucha-style talk at a Purpose.com event in March 2011. I weave together a story that combines design philosophy and movement building with anecdotes and metaphors from capoeira, pop culture, and literary history.

There was a camera glitch halfway through the talk, so please pardon the jump cut. Music by Hepnova.

New cord, new nickname, new moves, and new tunes. All in all an awesome Capoeira Angola Quintal festival week.

The video above is of me playing for my dark green cord. Thanks to Mei Yen for the video!

The JET Alumni Association of New York, in partnership with NY de Volunteer, will be holding a fundraiser to benefit Japan on Tuesday, April 5, 2011. The night will include great drink specials, entertainment, and – a highlight of the event – wonderful raffle prizes. （日本語版は下記）

Over 30 generous JET Alumni and local businesses have donated goods and services to the cause, such as: cooking classes, bottles of sake, private dance lessons, handmade jewelry and more!

Please show your support for this cause which is so near and dear to our hearts. All proceeds from this event will go to the JETAA USA Japan Earthquake Relief Fund. During the event we will be collecting messages for Send Hope to Japan from the World to further express our solidarity during this difficult time.

This is an open event and will have a great crowd of JET alumni, members of the local Japanese expat community, and many other New Yorkers wanting to show their support. Feel free to invite your coworkers, neighbors, roommates, and anyone else interested in looking for a way to help!

When: Tuesday, April 5, 6:30-9:30pm

Where: Slate
54 West 21^st Street between 5^th and 6^th Ave
(Nearest subway 1, 2, F, M, N, R, and Path)

• $5 = 1 ticket
• $20 = 5 tickets
• $50 = 15 tickets
• $100 = 35 tickets

Increase your chances of winning! 100% of raffle sales go to the JETAA USA “Japan Earthquake Relief Fund.”

$20 = Standard Admission (entry and 2 raffle tickets)
$25 = Standard Admission + 1 additional raffle ticket
$40 = Standard Admission + 5 additional raffle tickets
$70 = Standard Admission + 15 additional raffle tickets
$120 = Standard Admission + 35 additional raffle tickets

Special Thanks to our Sponsors & Donors:
Japan Society, Hills Learning, Bao Noodle, Institute of Culinary Education (ICE), City Bike Coach, New York Video School, Shockra Studio, Boutique Pink Diamond, Bloomsbury Publishing — more to be listed soon!

Please share this event on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr!

JETプログラム参加経験者の会NY支部会は、この度NY de Volunteer(2003年NYで初めて日本人によって 設立された非営利団体)とパートナーシップを組み、４月５日（火曜日）に東日本大震災支援の為のファンドレイズイベントを行います。当日はドリンクが提供されるだけでなく、エンターテイメント、そして最後には豪華景品があたるくじ（ラッフル）が催されます。それらの景品は多くのJET卒業生達や地元企業のご好意により寄付された、お料理教室のチケット、日本酒、個人ダンスレッスン、手作りジュエリー等盛り沢山です。

Awesome funny pic of me by the talented Ida Benedetto.  Taken at #SXSWNYC last night at Purpose headquarters.  Full set on Flickr.  We will be submitting these to TED Prize winner JR’s Inside Out project.

I’m wearing a Creative Commons Limited Edition SHARE t-shirt.

If you are interested in giving a 5-7 minute Ignite/Pecha Kucha-style presentation about your artistic, activist, interactive, or just awesome work, email me at leesean [at] purpose (dot) com.

Subway flash mob dance party music video by Xelle. Can you spot me?
What are some other cool flash mob videos?

Update: Party Girl featured on PerezHilton.com

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Finally, Bare Burger in Manhattan!

After nearly two months of making almost weekly treks to the original Bare Burger in Astoria, they have finally opened their Village location. And the quality is just as good.

Even though I visited on their first day, just about everything was up and running smoothly. The space itself is large and airy, with a huge garage door that opens onto a deck of outdoor seating. According to the waiter, almost everything is built from recycled and locally sourced material. The lights, which they get from a local artist, are made of old spoons and glass milk jugs.

I got my old favorite, the grilled pineapple burger with bison, and it was great. The fries and onion rings combo is as delightful as it is greasy. And the shakes, well, are amazing. (I had peanut butter and jelly). Service was prompt and courteous. They made a small mistake with my burger (wrong bun), but they corrected it very quickly, so no big deal.

All in all, I would say Bare Burger is an excellent addition to the local scene. We have plenty of burger places around, but they don’t offer exotic meats like elk or bison and their burgers not organic, which really makes a difference at Bare. Can’t wait to introduce friends who were too lazy to make the trip to Astoria.

This Monday, the Awesome Foundation NYC held our end-of-summer party at Tribeca Tavern, where we celebrated our recent grantees: Sub Base One by Lee Von Kraus and the Hip Hop Word Count by Tahir Hemphill.  Thanks to everyone for coming out and thanks to Grolsch Grants for the free beer!

Clay on the 2008 US Beef Protests in South Korea

Clay on lolcats

Clay on the Gneezy and Rustichini Haifa day care center study

Clay on the Grobanites for Charity

Cognitive Surplus on Amazon

Follow @cshirky on Twitter

Above: Ted Ullrich introduces DoTank

Composting 101

First drill air holes in a plastic bin. Add raw plant-based kitchen scraps and strips of newspaper.

Add worms, feed them more kitchen scraps over a few weeks, aerate, moisturize and otherwise keep the worms happy so they do their thing.

And finally harvest the compost and separate out the worms.  “Cure” the compost by letting it dry out a bit before adding to plants.

Recommended reading:
Easy Compost: The Secret to Great Soil and Spectacular Plants
Worms Eat My Garbage: How to Set Up & Maintain a Worm Composting System

Seed Bombing

Image via DoTank:Brooklyn. We didn’t have enough knives to go around at the skillshare, so I just shaped the clay into a thin wrapper with my hands, just like kneading a gyoza wrapper.  Also check out this video from the Guardian demonstrating how to make seed bombs.

Windowfarms

Windowfarms are vertical, hydroponic, modular, low-energy, high-yield edible window gardens built using low-impact or recycled local materials.

Get detailed instructions on how to build your own Windowfarms and join the Windowfarms community for additional help and support.

Ni Hao You Doin’? – A new Hepnova shirt on Zazzle in collaboration with Joey G.

We were hanging out in Little Italy/Chinatown tonight and Joe came up with this brilliant bilingual pun that celebrates the confluence of cultures in a pizza/scallion pancake slice of Lower Manhattan with classic New York wit and attitude.  Here’s to pasta and to potstickers and to Sino-Italian-American friendship! Ni hao you doin’?

Buy the Ni Hao You Doin’ shirt on Zazzle

Ni Hao You Doin’? by Hepnova in collaboration with Joey G

I took this photo in Williamsburg on my way to Joel’s dinner party last week.

ZEE Immersive Audiovisual Environment by Kurt Hentschlager  I’m in the testimonial video!

The Awesome Foundation NY has made our first selection! It was tough NY – you completely blew us away with amazing incredibly brilliant ideas.

But – this month, for our inaugural grant, we’ve picked a LASER TWEEZER that makes amoebas eat bacteria.

Awesomeness to the MAX.

No – really, its a laser tractor beam that prods amoebas. We’ve awarded January’s $1000 grant to Ben Dubin-Thaler’s Cell Motion BioBus.

We’ll be celebrating with Ben at the First AF-NY Award Ceremony on Monday February 8 at 8 pm, at the Apple Bar, Waverly at Greene. Come and join us for a beer, meet the NY Micro Trustees – and we’re working on getting the BioBus there too. Beyond Awesome.

Read more

The Awesome Foundation for the Arts and Sciences is kicking off 2010 by announcing the official launch of the New York City chapter.  I will be serving as the NYC chapter’s Dean of Awesome.  More details on The Awesome Foundation Blog.

The current micro-trustees of The Awesome Foundation NYC chapter include:

• Catherine White
• Caterina Fake
• Chris Dixon
• Sam Lessin
• Clay Shirky
• Colin Nederkoorn
• Jesse Chan Norris
• Douglas Repetto

With 2 more to be announced!

An eerily impressionistic and grainy photo of my Mumbo Jumbo Maracas performance at ITP NIME 2009 by Derek Chung.