Goodness 2.0

Earlier this week I attended another Beers & Innovation event run by NMK; this one was called Goodness 2.0 and was aimed at examining how non-profits, charities and NGOs can use social tools.

Ian Delaney's already written up an excellent summary of the event, but there was one big takeaway for me: Steven Buckley's intro with the water buffalo story. Check the NMK blog for details, or watch the video yourself. I've given these so-called charity gifts in the past, but hadn't really considered that folks weren't actually getting the goat or chickens I thought they would. Sure, I understand the charities need to pay overheads and whatnot, but it's certainly put a different slant on these 'Good' Gifts.

I love stories like the water buffalo story. It's things like this and the Free Hugs movie that make all this social web stuff worthwhile. Every day I'm bombarded with the depressing stories and video clips of mainstream media, always showing a war or crime or other negative story. Yes, YouTube and the like also have their own share of negative or shocking vids, but they also have an equal share of touching, moving, uplifting stories that remind me that there's still hope for humanity.