Archive for: September, 2011

Millennials & Giving: How you can give back…. within budget!

Sep 30 2011 Published by under Guest Post

Guest Post:
#Millennialchat.ter Stacy McCoy (@StacyMcCoy) is the co-founder and CEO of Give To Get Jobs: For-profit jobs that give back (@Give2GetJobs). She strongly believes and is committed to proving to people that you can have a job you love with a steady and stable paycheck that also makes the world a better place. She refuses to settle for anything less! Her guest post today touches on our theme for next Tuesday:

‘How we, #millennials, choose to give back to our communities… within budget’

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Donations are great and we all know how much non-profits need them, especially in this economy.  A little can go a long way.  Luckily, there are numerous services that make donating easy through the web to the causes you care most about.  To name a few: See Your Impact, 33 Needs, Global Giving, and Start Some Good.

But, let’s be honest.  Donations are not always in the millennial budget.  And that’s okay!  You can still give back without having to give money.

Instead of donating money, try donating your time.  Organizations like Sparked, Catchafire, and the Taproot Foundation make it easy to give your time.  They also allow you to give varying degrees of time.

flickr photo by Tim Green

You can also give back without having to change much in your every day life.

To varying degrees, we all consume.  We all need to buy at least the basic necessities.  One easy way to give back is to give through your consumption budget.  These days there are social enterprises that insert a social mission into practically every product.  There is always a way to shop responsibly.

When you go food shopping, try and go to a coop or local farmers market.  You can also find food and beverage products that support social and environmental causes at specialty shops, like Whole Foods.  Companies like Runa, Numi Organic, and fair trade options come to mind, including Ben & Jerry’s.

When you buy clothes, try upcycled, salvaged, fair trade or organic.  You can shop at thrift stores.  Or you can find products that specifically support social causes like the scarves by WORN, shoes by TOMS, or eyewear by TOMS and Warby Parker to name a few.

If that’s still not in the budget, you can find a job in social enterprise or corporate social responsibility.  You can actually get paid to give back.  You no longer have to rely on the non-profit sector to have a personally fulfilling job.  There are jobs that exist in the sweet spot; the spot where you can have both a personally and financially fulfilling job.  I started Give To Get Jobs to make it easier to find these jobs.  They are out there; you just need to know where to look.

There is a way to give back literally with everything that you do.  That is the world we live in today, and it’s awesome.  You no longer have to stick to traditional forms of giving like donating money and volunteering your time.  You can give and give back often without dipping into your savings.

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Make sure to tune in to @MillennialChat next Tuesday at 3:30pm EST to chat more about Millennials and Giving. Follow the #MillennialChat hasthag and join a great group of peers chatting about our experiences!

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DAY AFTER: How to overcome fears when creating social media content for your organization

Sep 28 2011 Published by under Day After

I have a lot less fear now in writing this post! Why?
Because of the chat we had yesterday.

It was a good chat.  Fears that were expressed were….

  • the speed and magnitude in which a mistake can amplify and broadcasted to billions
  • the standard fears: legalities, privacy, etc.
  •  the fear of showing too much of your individual personality & taking away from your organization’s brand

Tools, tricks, and techniques were shared throughout the chat, but I think the most interesting part of the conversation came at the end.  This question was asked…

Q5: Would you say that the org's you like to ENGAGE wITH are fearful or fearless when pushing content out online? #millennialchat
September 27, 2011 3:15 pm via HootSuiteReplyRetweetFavorite
@MillennialChat
MillennialChat

And a resoundiong, FEARLESS, came from the group.  Fearless meaning you know your audience, you aren’t afraid to engage directly with followers, and you challenge your followers in creative ways.  Here are some good answers to the question above:

A5: definitely fearless. Fearful orgs are impossible to truly engage with, and I keep that in mind when doing SM for mine. #millennialchat
September 27, 2011 3:17 pm via TweetChatReplyRetweetFavorite
@eklova
Elyse Klova

 

@ A5 Maybe it's less about fear than about knowing audience. Orgs that tastefully challenge make better convo. #millennialchat
September 27, 2011 3:18 pm via TweetChatReplyRetweetFavorite

 

A5: Fearless but smart. Somewhat easy to tell the one's who are fearful. #millennialchat
September 27, 2011 3:18 pm via TweetDeckReplyRetweetFavorite
@AshleyHurney
Ashley Hurney

 

A5: Fearless, but I like orgs that use sm responsibly. Makes me feel that reflects how they handle my $ as a donor. #millennialchat
September 27, 2011 3:20 pm via Twitter for BlackBerry®ReplyRetweetFavorite
@sarahkathleen
Sarah Bradbury

To read more on how #millennials believe organizations should be fearless when creating social media content, you can read the entire chat transcript here…

http://sfy.co/IAF

Do you have more you would like to talk about on the DAY AFTER #MillennialChat?? Comment below.  You can also catch us on LinkedIn throughout the week.

 

Cheers,
Willie

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Post-Lunch Poll: If you could ONLY choose one, which social media outlet would you use?

Sep 26 2011 Published by under Poll Time


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Overcoming fears when creating social media content for your organization

Sep 23 2011 Published by under Guest Post

Guest Post:
#Millennialchat.ter Ashley Hurney (@AshleyHurney). Ashley is a Communications Specialist at MTM Recognition.  Away from the office she is a sports fanatic, volleyball coach and an avid shoe shopper.
Her blog today shines some light on next week’s theme:

“How to overcome fears when creating social media content for your organization.

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Sitting down for a quick lunch and what do you do?

Pull out your phone and check out a social media site.

Why? You want to know what’s going on with your friends, family, and the world.

The average person will check their Facebook at least 3 times a day. Bottom line, you want to be connected. If we can use social media so much in our personal lives, why don’t more businesses take advantage of all those eyes?

Fear of the unknown!

We all have it, but deal with it differently. Some of the fear may be “legal” issues. Remember it’s Facebook, but it’s just Facebook. And social media is free, costing only time. Over the fear of social media, itself? Great!

photo by cdsessums

Picture it like this, an organization using social media for the first time is like getting into a pool for the first time –

you don’t HAVE to dive in.


Stick your toes in the water – create a company twitter handle/Facebook page.
Move your feet around and test the waters – check out companies similar to yours, content pertaining to your business, and industry leaders. Start posting interesting things on a weekly basis.
Next, get waist deep – content is king, so start posting targeted content and interact with followers/friends of company pages.
Now you’re ready to stick your head under water – throw out questions to your social media participants, contests, and post pictures of company events.

Not sure what to post or wonder if you are allowed to post?
Get creative, check with supervisor on anything you have a question on. Ask administration what is okay to put out there. Chances are there is a minimal amount of things they may not want on social media, and they’re probably common sense things. Business doesn’t have to be rigid all the time, but content should always have a certain degree of professionalism. Most importantly, keep it relatable!

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Tune in next Tuesday at 3:30pm EST and follow the hashtag – #MillennialChat
Hope to see you there!

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DAY AFTER: ‘How we, #millennials, can make an immediate impact in our professional careers’

Sep 21 2011 Published by under Day After

The theme of yesterday’s chat fits in well with where most millennials are professionally.  Our age lends itself to being in entry-level or second-tier positions, and even in the second-tier positions we have most likely moved to a new organization!

A new job or new position will always be an adjustment, but talking about ways to make an immediate impact an help anyone in the long run!  #MillennialChat yesterday was FULL of ideas so here are four takeaways from the hour:

  1. Whether invited to make an immediate impact or not “show your worth” and “discover your role early”
    Different roles carry different weight for freedom, creation of new projects, or product innovation in a company.  However, one thing was clearly stated from everyone yesterday – if you show that you have the ABILITY to make an impact, then you will be invited to do so.
  2. We want to be involved in decisions that affect us, but we realize we need to make the most out of any situation
    There was a resounding “I just want to be involved” conclusion in the middle of the chat, but being in lower-level positions we all have found at least ONE way to again, show our worth.  Whether it be, volunteering to blog for the company about a project, getting tasks done quickly & efficiently without being asked, or just simply doing your job, making the most out of each situation will make an impact.
  3. Social media gives us the advantage of instant information that generations before us did not have
    Pretty self-explanatory, but using social media to learn, research, and find answers to questions on a project is something that millennials already do well.  Generations before us are having to learn the secrets of search and asking the right questions, when it pretty much comes second-nature to us.
  4. Continually connecting with other people through online networks, volunteering, and other opportunities can only help
    When the question, “Q5: What are some activities, outside of a primary job, that can help #millennials make an impact in their career? ” was asked everyone answered with some form of volunteer, network, more education, and become more connected.  Anything that expands your knowledge of your field is well worth your time.

It was a great chat yesterday, and to get the FULL transcript you can click the link below:

http://sfy.co/HVQ

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And yes, I updated the look of the blog.  I wanted to go with a cleaner look to make it easier on the eyes and also add some better functionality!

All the ways to keep in touch are on the top of your right-hand column!  If you ever have an idea for a chat theme, feel free to email me at matisw22@gmail.com.  Have a great rest of your week!

-Willie

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Poll Time: Do you feel like you are invited to make an impact on your company’s future?

Sep 19 2011 Published by under Poll Time


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Millennials LOVE To Gate-Crash… with social media.

Sep 16 2011 Published by under Guest Post

Guest blog post:

#MillennialChat.ter – Liz Braden.  Liz is a Financial Optimist for Building Tomorrow.  Besides wearing many hats over at BT, she also helps me out with Millennial Chat brainstorming when needed.  A great advice giver, she shares her thoughts on next week’s theme -

“How can #millennials use tools and resources available to make an immediate impact”

Have you ever sneaked into a movie? Dodged the cover at a bar? Showed up to an invite-only event? Or otherwise gate-crashed in anyway?

I have never.  Instead I’ve followed the rules… to the extreme.  However, now that I am in the “real world” a.k.a. on Twitter and working for Building Tomorrow as a Financial Optimist (really), I’ve found myself sneaking into a party or two that I wasn’t necessarily invited to.

Let me explain.

Next week is the Clinton Global Initiative’s Annual Meeting.  Everyone from Jeff Gordon, to the President of Rwanda, to the founder of Partners in Health, Paul Farmer, will be there.  Over one-thousand thought-leaders are gathering to discuss solutions to the world’s biggest problems. Kind of a big deal very big deal.

Last September, I saw the hashtag #CGI2010 all over Twitter and even as a lowly one-month on the job millennial, I could follow the conference and watch as decisions were presented and discussed.  This year, however, I’m looking forward to being a part of the conference – on Twitter.

By simply following the conference hashtag #CGI2011, watching the speeches online with LiveStream, and discussing with other millennials and non-attendees what I think. An experience can be had even without being physically at the conference. Someone could even offer their own thoughts to @ClintonGlobal.

Millennial Chat grew out of this gate-crashing mentality.  While attending the virtual conference, Millennial Donor Summit, a smaller group of millennials began chatting, posing questions, and commenting on the conference and panels that was taking place at the exact same time. This initial conversation grew into the weekly #millennialchat.

With Twitter and social media in general, millennials have the power to connect with anyone. There is no ladder climbing or $100 ticket to get in the party. We simply can tweet, join in the hashtag, influence decisions and promote our ideas. We can communicate directly with @cnnireport about #HurricaneIrene, @whitehouse (#WHChat) on the Jobs Act, @netflix for changing their rates.

Millennials and those bold enough to gate-crash through social media are refusing to be left out of the party – especially when decisions are being made about the future of our world.

Do you see social media as a powertool for millennials to get their voices heard? Do you think Millennials and Tweeps have the power to crowdsource solutions to the world’s big problems? Have you ever reached out to a head-honcho or crashed a twitter conversation/hashtag?

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Day After: ‘What are our, #millennial, perceptions of different generations? Including our own’

Sep 14 2011 Published by under Day After

Yesterday’s lively chat tackled a big question that many, many people are researching, debating and studying…

What are the differences between the millennial and baby boomer generations? And what can we do about it?

Our chat tackled it in a way not yet seen – not in a blog post, newspaper column, or white paper – we talked it out!  It was good hearing from millennials who have been experiencing these things daily.  Like most ‘day after’ posts here are four takeaways from yesterday’s #millennialchat:

1) We try to challenge millennial stereotypes everyday – the biggest one, we like to talk FACE-TO-FACE.  Kind of ironic coming out during a Twitter Chat but all agreed on the importance of extending a relationship BEYOND the world wide web.

2) The challenge with working with boomers is getting past the ‘this is how we have always done things’ mentality; The challenge with working with other millennials is getting past the idea stage and to the follow-through stage – the big takeaway here is that we have challenges with both sides of the coin.  A balance helps!

photo by 96dpi

3) Until companies become more “social”, email is the bridge to cross the social media divide – in our ‘Poll Time‘ post on Monday, the greatest divide millennials saw with boomers in the workplace was social networking.  We need to meet them in the middle, email, and work from there, until our companies embrace social networking as a norm.

4) Boomer and Millennial success stories begin before we even understand each other, we need to be open to each other – understanding will be hard to come to, as is with any generational divide, but to be successful together we need to be open to each others’ ideas!

To view all that was said yesterday, click to see the transcript here!

Further the debate below… comment! How can we work together to become successful?  What do boomers do that make it a challenge for millennials to be successful?  What do millennials do/NOT do to hinder boomers from adding the finishing touches to their careers?

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Poll Time: As a #millennial in what areas do you see the most divide btwn w #boomer coworkers? Rank the following

Sep 12 2011 Published by under Poll Time


One response so far

“Dear Boomers” – A poetry slam reaction from a Millennial

Sep 09 2011 Published by under Guest Post

Guest Blog Post:

#MillennialChat.ter – Emily Krauser.  Emily is an experienced nonprofit program manager, from Indianapolis, with a specialty in using data to improve organizations. Emily also heads up and plans the meetings and events for the Indianapolis Chapter of Young Nonprofit Professionals Network! Her guest blog for Millennial Chat takes on next week’s topic:
‘What are #millennials’ perceptions of different generations? Including our own’

 

Dear Boomers;

You Said It:

You can do anything you put your mind to.

You can change the world.

Be yourself!

Don’t trust “The Man.”

Take charge! You’re a leader.

So We Did It:

Always trying something new

Taking on big challenges

Showing personality ≠ rebellion

Constant questioning

Starting our own organizations

Don’t you know, you taught us this?

Please don’t hate us for it.

Love Always,

Millennials

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Thank you, Emily, for writing Millennial Chat’s first ever guest post (in poetry slam style).

See everyone on Tuesday!  We’ll be talking about the similarities, differences, and unique qualities of both the Millennial Generation and the Baby Boomer Generation.  To get your wheels turning even further, check out this video posted on our LinkedIn page – http://linkd.in/nE8Sg9.
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Have a great weekend! TGIF!

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