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It is almost time for the 1%EVENT – only 2 weeks to go! – which brings together innovators, young professionals, entrepreneurs and change-makers. They invest one day of their time, expertise, talent, network and energy to work on new innovative approaches towards International Co-Operation 2.0. At the event there will be some interesting guests who want to tell you their story. But in the upcoming weeks towards the 1%EVENT we are going to tell you theirs in regular blog posts.
Today’s guest is Marlon Parker from Cape Town, South-Africa. Marlon is what you call a Social Entrepreneur, and he’s one of those people who is using the potential of Social Media. I asked him to do the interview in his own chatting platform called ‘JamiiX’, but more on that later.
What does being a social entrepreneur mean to him, and what makes him different from the rest?
Marlon: “My understanding is to come up with solutions that benefit people, make a positive social impact. I use the bottom-up approach, identify champions on the ground who basically drive the initiative! I have learnt that to sustain something you first need people before you need money. When you have people who are passionate and believe in the cause then anything becomes possible.”
When I ask him to give me an example, he starts telling about the ‘Reconstructed Living Lab’ that he founded. Marlon: “RLabs was started to provide basic training to ex-gang members and drug addicts, but from there we realised that there are other people in the community who also wanted to be equipped in using Social Media to share their stories. So what we did was use the same people (ex-gangsters and ex-drug addicts) to equip the women and children that they used to disempower”.
 JamiiX To better help these people he has developed a program called JamiiX. Jamiix is a platform in which multiple chat clients (mobiles, internet messengers, chat programs) can be combined and be displayed in the same way. Now he can reach a network of almost 150.000 people. Did he expect this? Marlon: “No, we just wanted to help the kids in our community who spent lots of time on their mobile phones”.
His project has caught a lot of attention throughout the world. In South Africa he’s been on national television and recently an article was printed in the Dutch newspaper ‘De Pers’.
We think he is both innovative and refreshing in the world of Social Media, so we’re really glad he is coming to Amsterdam for the 1%EVENT! Do you also want to hear what Marlon has to share, then come to the 1%EVENT!
Order your tickets now!
YOU make it work!
Posted by Jeffrey 1 September 2010, 1:14 pm
It is almost time for the 1%EVENT, which brings together innovators, young professionals, entrepreneurs and change-makers. They invest one day of their time, expertise, talent, network and energy to work on new innovative approaches towards International Co-Operation 2.0. At the event there will be some interesting guests who want to tell you their story. But in the upcoming weeks towards the 1%EVENT we are going to tell you theirs in regular blog posts.
Today we want to tell you about one of our favourite politicians in Dutch parliament. We have been following him for a while and we are so happy that he is coming to the 1%EVENT!
Arjan El Fassed is a member of parliament for the GroenLinks party. He worked for Oxfam Novib and has over ten years of international experience in the field of human rights. He was interim head of Oxfam International humanitarian campaigns. Previously, he worked for various human rights organisations in Palestine. About that period, and about his Palestinian family, he wrote the book ’Not everyone can throw stones’ (Niet iedereen kan stenen gooien). He is involved in several successful Internet initiatives, he was in the Twitter’s suggested userlist and is by far the most popular tweep (@Arjanelfassed) in the Netherlands with almost 300.000 followers. He is the only Dutchman in the global top 1000 tweeps.
We’re excited to see him at the 1%EVENT! Wanna learn how you can get 300k Twitter followers? Come to the 1%EVENT and ask him yourself!
You make it work!
Posted by Jeffrey 30 August 2010, 2:29 pm
It is almost time for the 1%EVENT, which brings together innovators, young professionals, entrepreneurs and change-makers. They invest one day of their time, expertise, talent, network and energy to work on new innovative approaches towards International Co-Operation 2.0. At the event there will be some interesting guests who want to tell you their story. But in the upcoming weeks towards the 1%EVENT we are going to tell you theirs in regular blog posts.
This week we give the floor to Stef Kranendijk, who practices the Cradle to Cradle (C2C) philosophy at DESSO, a carpet manufactury where he is CEO and co-owner. We think there is a lot we can learn from him, that is why we invited him to the 1%EVENT.
The Cradle to Cradle concept is a new view on sustainability and was introduced by William McDonaugh and Michael Braungart in their book: Cradle-to-Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things. The core of the Cradle to Cradle principle lies in the concept: waste is food. All materials used in a specific product should be re-used in another product. There should be no loss of quality and all rest products have to be re-used or be environmental neutral. Then this circular course is complete… and waste is food.
Sustainable development is the development in which the present-day generation produces, without limiting the possibilities for the next generations. The Cradle to Cradle principle goes beyond that and also wants to come up with more possibilities for future generations. With the motto: try to be good instead of less bad!
Source: MBDC
Do you want to see, meet and speak to Stef Kranendijk about Cradle to Cradle and how this is practised at DESSO then do not hesitate, go to the 1%EVENT website and get those tickets!
Amsterdam, 25-08-2010
Dear development sector,
John Lennon sang a song 39 years ago that’s called ‘Power to the People’:
“Say we want a revolution
We better get on right away
Well you get on your feet
And out on the street”
I never really listened to the lyrics of this song, but thinking about you, the 1%CLUB and my work here, this song popped into my head referring to my vision of development. I think that development can be achieved when you act as a supporter for people in development countries. I’m so excited when I read the international project proposals of people from communities in development countries. Working here helped me realize that it’s possible to contribute to poverty alleviation not only by giving money but also by investing knowledge or expertise. It is the wisdom of the crowd that can make a big difference. And everyone can be a part of it. Let’s make it work together!
Unfortunately, working with you is not always possible for everyone, as ViceVersa headlined on August, 4th: “The development sector has a lack of job opportunities for young talent!”. I probably did something wrong, but somehow I was one of the lucky few that managed to get a (voluntary) job without any experience except my finished thesis on private initiatives, so thanks! But, instead of participating in this the ongoing discussion about you, let’s discuss my own experience. After all, that’s the one I can talk about.
What did I do?
I started at the 1%CLUB in May 2010 after finishing my thesis. After having read lots of books about development, I now found myself on the other side of the table. Development cooperation in action! Unlike others that are dreaming of a career in development cooperation to ‘save the world’ since they were three years old, I was always a little skeptical about charity. So, I decided to take courses in this area to see who you were and what was true about my skeptical attitude. And here I find myself, two years later, done with my first job. Time travels fast.
As a Project Assistant, my core task was to support the project managers in their job. I reviewed several projects and provided them with feedback. Next to that, I did a research on the quality of the 1%PROJECTS. I set up a survey for all the finished projects, so that the 1%CLUB can see where improvements are necessary. I also welcomed many new members on the website. All of these tasks helped me to create a proper view of you and the 1%CLUB, and I gained insight in the activities in and around development cooperation.
What’s left of the skepticism?
It’s certainly very easy to create your own skeptical vision while studying development, but it differs a lot from working with you. It’s never as easy as you can put down on a paper; the so-called implementation gap. But, instead of being skeptical, I learned to challenge this gap. We learned from our mistakes and dare to take it to the next level. The skepticism is definitely not gone, but I learned to turn it into something positive together with you.
I won’t make a list with hints that will help others to work with you, because I don’t think that my experience is applicable in every situation, but with the help of three keywords: proactive, creative and enthusiasm, I managed to get where I am now with you. You’re hard to get, but you’re quite a catch. Thanks for the time that we spent together, I hope we will meet again someday, but now it’s time to do something else.
Kind Regards,
Marij Swinkels
Posted by Jeffrey 24 August 2010, 1:21 pm
It is almost time for the 1%EVENT, which brings together innovators, young professionals, entrepreneurs and change-makers. They invest one day of their time, expertise, talent, network and energy to work on new innovative approaches towards International Co-Operation 2.0. At the event there will be some interesting guests who want to tell you their story. But in the upcoming weeks towards the 1%EVENT we are going to tell you theirs in regular blog posts.
We would like to introduce you to Pim Betist, a social entrepreneur and one of the most innovative people in the Netherlands.
Pim is the Founder of Africa Unsigned and also created the online label SellaBand, attracting music fans to invest in their favourite artist by helping them to raise the funds for a new music project (a new album, tour or the promotion of their music). More than 3 million dollars were invested and around 50 artists ‘crowdfunded’ $50,000 to record and release their album. He was nominated Dutch Direct Marketing Man of the Year in 2008 and in the same year won the title of Best Speaker at MIA, Holland’s largest marketing conference. In January 2010, Management Team, the largest Business Magazine in the Netherlands, listed him as one of the top 25 creative business people.
We are really amazed that one guy can achieve all of this in such a short amount of time. It is not a secret that we are very happy that he is coming to the 1%EVENT! Do you also want to go to the event? Get your tickets now!
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