Young PR

100 Hours + 200 votes could = 1 Million Trees

Written on July 12, 2007 – 5:21 am | by Paull Young

Update: To see the results of the Second Chance Trees Campaign (including MSM attention from CNN) check out my post on the Converseon blog. 

Disclosure: I’ve written this post about a work project that I happen to have a lot of belief in. In writing it, I hope you will visit the American Express Members project at this link and vote for the ‘Virtual Forest Project. 1 Million Trees. Easy.’ initiative (it’s important you follow that link and vote for that name). If you’re not a US citizen with an AmEx card, I hope you’ll feel this concept is worthy of your support, as I’ve outlined on this post at the new corporate blog.

I’d like to humbly ask for your support for a social media initiative Converseon recently launched that has the potential to exceed all our expectations and have a significant global impact.

We launched the Second Chance Trees project in April, just as I started with Converseon. Since then we’ve planted hundreds of trees, hosted meetups in-world and even had some positive reviews from Miss Second Life! All of a sudden, things might step up a notch, please watch this machinima video to find out why:

(RSS Readers, click through for embedded video)

The non-profit organization we are supporting, Plant It 2020, was selected as a ‘fulfilling organization’ for one of the final 50 American Express Members Project ideas (a major consumer sourced competition run by Amex in the States) and in the running for a grand prize of up to $5 million. Considering we’re selling trees for 300 Linden (approx $1.50) a pop at the moment - there’s a mini-Amazon that could be planted.

The idea came from a consumer and we had nothing to do with the process, so all of a sudden we had to scramble to gather enough votes to help our partner position itself to plant millions of indigenous rainforest trees, showcasing the power of social media in the process.

You need to move fast with social media, which is why I post now, seeking your support to get 200 votes from American Express members in the next 100 hours. We are trying to promote a virtual world based social media concept that would scare the pants off most non-geeks - but we think with the help of social media believers we can have a really good go at it.

Inside Our Outreach

• Step 1: Develop compelling content to tell our story.

We know we’re on firm ground - we have an interesting story and we want nothing more from people than their vote to help our non-profit partner help change the world.

In this case, the answer was machinima, as you’ve seen above. The video allows us to showcase the beautiful island and more importantly give the less tech-savvy public an understanding of what a ‘virtual forest’ is. We could move fast on this thanks to previous contacts - fellow Aussie SLer Decomposing Monstre did an amazing job turning the video around, while regular Forward Podcast listeners will no doubt recognize the dulcet tones of my mate Luke Armour in the voice over.

• Step 2: Shout it Loud

Get the content out there so people can view it, interact and share it with their friends. We uploaded the video to our YouTube account and followed Shel Holtz’s advice to submit it everywhere else with HeySpread. We also issued a Social Media Press Release using my good mate Stephen Davies new employer WebitPR (I’m biased, but I was bloody impressed with the service - check these guys out!) we also sent a traditional release to the enviro press.

• Step 3: Help the best bloggers help their readers

The first point of contact was the Second Life blogosphere. The SCT project is the only finalist featuring Second Life and (if victorious) would be able to introduce the power of philanthropy in the virtual world to a huge new audience. We tried to give the SL bloggers everything they needed, they were our first point of contact because we respect their work and their readers.

Thankfully we have received some great support so far, with positive posts in Second Life Insider, 3pointD, GearLog, Metaversed and the Second Life News Network (check that link for a great pic of my avatar, LL Platypus).

• Step 4 - Ask for your help (you, yes you!)

This is why I’m blogging here and pointing to the corporate blog. The PR/Marketing social media space is full of some of the industry’s best and brightest. I know that all my readers are smarter than me and that with the help of that talent we could turn this into a case study we can all benefit from.

A rising tide raises all ships - with the assistance of the PR blogosphere and the power and speed of social media, we might be able to get this obscure Second Life reforestation project over the line.

Why I Care

I’m genuinely passionate about this project, and not just because I’m Aussie and we always love an underdog. It might be a work project, but the only reason I’m writing about it on my personal blog at 1.30am on a school night is because I think it could potentially be a whole lot more.

Regular readers know I’m a passionate fella. This project hits home for me because it has real potential to do a great deal of good (as with all the Members Projects), at the same time it will benefit the burgeoning social media movement that I hold so dear, and most importantly… because it’ll make my greeny mum proud back home in Oz.

As you read this we’ve got a little over 100 hours to get 200 votes and move on to the final 25. Please, if you’re in the US and an American Express member, vote for us here. If you don’t have an Amex card but you are feeling inspired, then please use social media to lend us a hand.

Millions of trees planted via social media power? Now that’s something I’ll miss sleep for