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Global Challenge - to all PR professionals within Social Change organizations

Challenges Entered: 

PROJECT GOAL - 12,000 PUBLIC RELATIONS PROFESSIONALS (working within a Social Change Organization) SIGNED UP TO PUBLISH THEIR BREAKING STORIES.

Are we witnessing a love affair with the media and social change, or could it be just another summer fling. We at SCN believe as soon as mainstream media stops gathering the attention from these hot & trendy social change stories or as soon as corporations choose another avenue within which to build their brand, this love affair will be over. So what do we do with this group of extremely creative change makers (your organization Mr. & Mrs. P.R. pro) who are literally restructuring the fabric of today's society?

Solution socialchangenews.com, the internets' hub for news on social change that combines original user-created content (UCC) with the latest aggregated news on organizations, and individuals working to transform society. We offer change organizations an opportunity to submit their breaking news ABSOLUTELY FREE, to the internets' only collective source for social change news.

Today more than ever, there is a wave of social change that permeates every industry, from finance or politics right down to transportation and health care. If you want the latest aggregated tech news, you have a plethora of choices, and the same goes for pretty much every industry. News Aggregator websites have exploded primarily due to demand over the past few years however, until now there has never been a portal that monitors news on social change. We intend to fill this void by not only aggregating social change news, but by recreating the method within which news is delivered.

Our Source of information will be two fold:

  • Original breaking news will be submitted directly to the publishing platform from prescreened change agents, unedited, unfiltered and unchecked.
  • Open source applications will aggregate the latest social change news globally.   (intelligent software application needs to be developed)

One of the key goals for the organization is to develop an online library of original UCC, and create our own API for social change news that will eventually open up to developers.   The site is not a source for popular stories and as such, will not allow users to submit news story links; neither will it offer the opportunity to vote up or down any story.   Social Change issues whether local, regional or national,  have equal importance and so each story submitted will have its own fair share of publicity in the breaking news section.

Users of the website will be divided into three categories.  

  • Guests are able to view all stories, comment on any story and view forum posts.
  • Registered users will have the same access as guests, plus the ability to utilize the forums and communicate with other users within the community while logged in.
  • Pre-screened authors will have the same access as guests and registered users, plus the ability to publish breaking news stories.

The website is built on Joomla, one of the most popular open source content management systems and will only utilizes free, open source software applications.   Open source is synonymous with social change and for this reason, regardless of the success of this project, socialchangenews.com will continue to use open source software in every aspect of the project.

With thousands of social change organizations globally, SCN can easily create a self sustainable, fully automated news portal that generates hundreds of original content breaking news stories on a monthly basis.   With a demographic that transcends all age, race, creed, status, and geographic location, the possibility for a successful project is limited only by our own  inability to spread the word.  

The management of M.E.O. is targeting 10,000 visitors per month on an average within the first year, increasing to 3,000,000 visitors per month by the end of the third year(conservatively).   With no other organization specializing in the collection and dissemination of social change news, SCN will be a pioneer in this niche of the news industry.

Project Details
Project url: 
http://www.socialchangenews.com
Project Assessment
Financial support: 
No
Sustainability Model: 
SocialChangeNews.com, currently an S Corporation, will eventually convert into a 501 c (3) non profit.   Revenues, while it is important will not dominate the conversation.   Our goal is not to create profits for shareholders but to effect change in today's society.   We will entertain a for profit division under the corporate umbrella which could potentially be the launching of "confidential" based on the current fascination of social change, however this monetization of our traffic is only possible after we have managed to gather over 1MM visitors per month. The organization will continue to operate on a limited budget until the proper funding is acquired.   Initially, revenues will only be gathered via donations, web advertising and sponsorships.   From a long term perspective, the organization will target grants from leading foundations that award sizeable grants to organizations that transform journalism and/or society.
Expertise needed: 
Technical Expertise: <p>Currently the website <a href="http://www.socialchangenews.com/">www.socialchangenews.com</a> is built on a Joomla 1.5 platform utilizing a Joomlart template.   The website needs to be redesigned using web 2.0 / web 3.0 technology</p><p>Web developer/architect redesign website<br />HTML, DHTML, PHP, JSP, ASP, SQL, JAVA, CSS, etc.</p><p>Programmer - Custom development for data mining software.   <br />C++, PHP, AJAX, PERL, JAVA in a UNIX/LINUX environment</p>
Marketing/Media Expertise: <p>Expertise on creating and launching a PR campaign exposure needs to be gathered toward public relations professionals within change organizations.   </p><p>OUR PRIMARY GOAL FOR THE NEXT  12-18 MONTHS  is to  notify every PR professional working for a change agent, that a "social change news platform" exists to publish their latest efforts for free.</p>
Management Expertise: <p>Mentor.</p>
Project goals: 
4/2006 After an in-depth search for news on social change issues, it was determined that there was none in existence.2/2007 - The birth of the idea for a portal that aggregates news on social change issues.9/2008 The recognition that user generated content is becoming the future of the internet.   The project shifts from just aggregated content to a hybrid of both.11/2008 Mental Exchange Organization, Inc. was incorporated7/2009 SocialChangeNews.com was registered as a trade name operating under Mental Exchange Organization, Inc.8/2009 SocialChangeNews.com launches a BETA version of the site.
Identified Obstacles: 
There are two identifiable obstacles to the success of this project:Acquiring the technical expertise to redesign the website and develop the proprietary software to intelligently acquire and categorize aggregated contentOur current inability to notify EVERY social change organization to sustain fresh content.   Emails are too impersonal and have a low rate of return.   Phones need to be dialed; online value presentations need to be completed and the sale needs to be closed.   Although there will be no monetary exchange, an account needs to be set up and a verbal commitment needs to be acquired.   This will require a sales force, or at least one person on the phone all day, everyday.  
Submitted by socialchangenews on November 24, 2009 - 10:43pm

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