The One for One Movement!

I had breakfast with a mentor of mine today and we got into a great discussion around how social media and philanthropy really impacts companies today. The notion of corporate social responsibility has really come to the forefront in the last couple years - yes companies are looking to change their corporate image, but I personally believe its employees making sure their employers know "IT'S IMPORTANT". 


Our discussion morphed into an example provided by Tom's shoes - most of you know the brand but I'll bet a lot of you don't know about their 'One for One' movement. The premise is simple, for every pair of shoes you purchase, they will also donate another pair for a person in need (mostly in third world countries). The  movement gained so much traction via social media and people wanting to 'do good' that they are already well in excess of 1,000,000 shoes donated. Simply amazing! 


Here's the blurb from their site: 


"In 2006, American traveler Blake Mycoskie befriended children in Argentina and found they had no shoes to protect their feet. Wanting to help, he created TOMS, a company that would match every pair of shoes purchased with a pair of new shoes given to a child in need. One for One. Blake returned to Argentina with a group of family, friends and staff later that year with 10,000 pairs of shoes made possible by TOMS customers."


Want to learn more - click here for their Giving Report  


Will you be participating in next years 'A day without shoes?"  - Let me know. Do you own a pair? 

Don`t ever miss a deal again! - Dealzinga.com!

My typical morning consists of grabbing my smartphone and immediately getting caught up on things:


1. Email (both work and personal)
2. Social Networking updates including Twitter, Facebook
3. The days headlines - Toronto Star, National Post, Globe and Mail, Toronto Metro, 680 News


This entire process takes about 10-15 minutes, but I enjoy being up to speed by the time I leave for work.If Google can create instant search to reduce your search time by a couple precious seconds then there must be a way for us to save time filtering through all the `daily deals` that I get in my inbox, apps etc...welcome Dealzinga! (www.dealzinga.com) 


What a great idea! One email to you everyone morning, with all the deals from the city of your choice. No more opening multiple apps, no more multiple emails clogging up the inbox just ONE nice simple email. Amazinga! (yes, I just made up a word)


Do I detect a new smartphone app in development....


Check it out! Leave a comment and tell me what you think. Got any more suggestions on how to save a couple seconds

'Social Sharing' - who wants free coffee?

The 'mic' is now on - my inaugural post!

Have you ever walked up to the coffee counter and while buying your coffee decided that it would be nice to pay for the random person behind you as well? Or maybe while driving through the drive-thru you decided to reward the random stranger behind you? "Just pay it forward" you tell the person with a smile - the concept is not new, but Jonathan Stark has taken it to a new level.

An article in the Globe and Mail today talked about the concept of social sharing (Article here). It's simple, Jonathan Stark has basically given you access to his Starbucks card. Show his bar code at the register, wait for the beep and there you have it - your free coffee! You liked the idea? Shocked that it actually worked? Well why not deposit a little something back on the card and 'pay it forward' (instructions included on his website here)

Such a great idea!

Now off to my local Starbucks to check this out.