In this day and age every company has to find a way to do their part. While some companies (like ours) cant make massive donations – there is always a way to give back to the community.
We would like to introduce our way of giving back.
We call it the “Win-Win Campaign” and it’s something we are so excited about, and proud of, we had to post about it even though it’s still in development. The idea stemmed from us meeting with Street Haven a charitable organization that provides assistance to women in Toronto dealing with issues related to mental health, addiction, violence, poverty and homelessness. We offered Street Haven the production of their web video content for free. We cant give them lots of money – but we can help them spread their message.
After our initial meeting we did however realize – that YIKES! this project is going to be a lot of work! Being a company that prides itself in the quality of its pieces, there was no way we would provide Street Haven with anything less then something extraordinary. So although we are really proud and excited to take on this project, we realized we were going to need help. We thought about what we could do for a short while, until the Win-Win Campaign emerged from the depths of our imagination.
The way the “Win-Win Campaign” works is like this:
- We find two interns in film/video production that need to create more work for their personal resume/reel.
- We pair them up with a charity (in this case Street Haven)
- We let the intern produce the entire video beginning to end – mentoring them the entire way through the process.
The intern gets full access in using our studio and all of our equipment, they get training in pre-production, camera technique, interviewing skills, editing, working with a team and most importantly they get a project they can call their own that has a real world application.
The charity gets a high quality video because we stay involved the entire time and provide access to animators, professional copywriters, equipment and our own expertise.
Everyone wins in the end.
Before starting The Biz Media I was the VP, Corporate Social Initiatives at ARC: Artists Raising Conciousness and this is where I learned the importance of giving back. I worked alongside ARC president Billie Mintz on various projects with both large companies and not-for-profit organizations. Since working for ARC I have been looking for ways to give back and what we are doing now at The Biz Media with The Win-Win Campaign is our contribution.
We just selected our first two interns who are very eager to work with Street Haven. When the video is done it will be posted on the Street Haven site and on our blog. If you are a not-for-profit organization / charity and want to apply for a free video to add value to your organizations website or want more information please send me an email at dan@thebizmedia.com. If you’re just reading this out of interest – please help spread the message by sharing this post on facebook/twitter.
We are going to set up a formal application on the website sometime soon – but for now are taking applications via email.
To stick with the trend of posting about people we’re fortunate enough to work with – this weeks blog post is about JUZD lead designer and founder Jing Liu. We first met Jing at a birthday celebration for Fergie from Black Eyed Peas in Miami and stayed in touch with him ever since. He founded his clothing label JUZD on the premise that whenever you put on one of these all bamboo designer shirts you’ll feel JUZD! (juiced) What’s amazing about Jing is that he truly believes that his shirts will have this effect on people – that becoming an alpha-male is as simple as buying one of his shirts from Holt Renfrew, putting it on and hitting the nightclubs. To some people this may sound completely crazy but not a word of a lie – if you put on one of these shirts you do feel JUZD. It’s amazing! Jing gave Justin and I our own JUZD shirts as a very kind gift and whenever we put them on it completely changes the way we look and feel. It may be a placebo effect happening because deep down inside we want the quick fix – but regardless… it works!
EUREKA!
I can go on and on about how amazing the material is but you can read about it yourself here:
http://www.juzd.com/benefitsofbamboo.php
The video attached is a little piece Justin put together for JUZD. A few JUZD models got all JUZD up and filmed themselves acting like ninjas at Circa and Justin made this cool video with their footage. It’s a good testament to the style and vibe of JUZD Bamboo.
THE BIZ MEDIA BLOG #3 – ALEX IKONN is LORD and MASTER of THE BIZ MEDIA SOCIAL MEDIA from The Biz Media on Vimeo.
There is great value to social media. I’m not writing this to try to explain why or how it works because it’s been proven by bloggers and other writers a million times over. I am writing this to give thanks to a man who cared enough to spend some time with The Biz Media, giving us incites into the world of social media . Because of him, we have been making more of an effort to post blogs, tweets and in general to develop a social media presence that will help us as a business.
We would like to take a minute to thank our social media mentor who offered to sit down with us and show us the ropes in this social media space. Anyone can do social media – but it takes a real expert to do it effectively. Thanks to this man, The Biz Media has a new outlook on how our own video content can have more reach online.
Alex Ikonn, we would like to swear you in as lord and master of The Biz Media’s social media initiatives. You are a friend and a trusted advisor. Thanks for the insight and we’ll do all we can to keep up with your game plans.
Most of us know at least a few people who are avid bloggers, tweeters and facebookers. Pay attention to these people – learn from them. If you are trying to have a stronger presence online then social media really is something you have to understand and excel in. Most web 2.0 mavens love sharing their knowledge and insights and I recommend sitting down with one to pick their brain. There is a lot more to it than what’s on the surface. Having said that it’s also important not to be a facebook newsfeed litterer. There is a fine line between being informative and annoying.
Thanks Alex, for giving us a helping hand.
