Open Spirituality

Everyone is an agent... and a traitor?

noreply@blogger.com (William Doust) — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 18:23:00 +0000

The Power of mobile devices to drive change
Mobile phone imagery captured and shared with the world is the new weapon of terrorism. It strikes terror in the minds, wallets and powers of oppressors. From regimes to products and services. All of these "brands" are being exposed for the gaps that they have. The gaps between reality and claimed experience !!!

Negative service experiences will come back to bite you
Sometimes service and product experience is soooooooo awful that consumers are shaken to their core. Desired repeat custom becomes a crusade for the consumer. Rather than be encouraged to become a "brand evangelist", they become a "brand anarchist" !!!! Don't cut corners, unless you want to awaken to bad service when it is spilled all over the internet. Don't let it become one of your customer's personal Jihad. It can become funny in an extrem way. Here's two of my favorite and my own experience saved for last.

137,654 views: A bad apple may not rot the brand, but are you apple?
iPod Customer Service - the Dirty secret video on Youtube was done so well that it feels like a video by some funky new band or art project. Click image below to see on YouTube.

15,730 views: Don't P@#! off professional presenters: yours is a very bad hotel! This is a presentation of two professional pressenters who had an awful experience in a hotel.

Yours is a very bad hotel

View more presentations from whatidiscover

My own hotel mis-adventure
How could hotels in this day and age give revolting service given the power of peer testimonials on various opinion websites? - it's almost like science fiction - in a time machine - going back a century! What can you pick up as a community organisation delivering service? - have you got the basics right? I went on work tour to Sheffield. The experience was unforgetable, I can almost puke now.

Sheffield Slum Dog Hotel - take flip-flops, desinfectant and train your stomach!!!
I never new that Sheffield had "Slum Dog" Hotel(s)!!! -It was The Harley Hotel in Sheffiled's bustling city centre - near the university of sheffiled tram stop. These guys should go into merchandizing! - for sure. The T-shirt that would sell most would be "I survived the Harley shower cubicle !!!" The transition from the main room (which wasn't that good either) - was like opening a "star gate" from a developed country to some Nth-world country (way beyond 3rd !!!). Not even developing countries have hotels with shower rooms like that. I have been to Mexico, Colombia, Venezuela, and Guatemala, and never saw anything like this. See photos below. The carpet looked like if it hadn't been vacuumed for years! - really! - and the tea & coffee facilities, well, I didn't believe in flying sourcers until I tried to make myself a drink. Enjoy the picutres & video via flickr.

Oh, it's under creative commons, so if you know any producers who want to use it for a "filthy song" - they can use it ;-)

I raised my concerns to a member of staff - and they looked like they couldn't give a(n) FCUK - pair of jeans, to say the least.

Breakfast after all that?
I had paid for my breakfast, but had second thoughts - after the tour of filth. Imagine, if they don't give a damn with what you can see for yourself as a customer! - with what you can verify with your very own eyes, do you think they will be more cautious or caring in the kitchen? If you can't see Jack what do you think you will get on your bap?...Shhhhhhh - shhhhh..shameful crud on a plate purporting to be edible for human beings. ;-)

No-brainer Service solutions (that we all know in our minds & hearts):

Respect those you serve. Humanity is a good start - what type of service would you give when you want to make a good impression?
Care about what you do. The lack of care on the hotel I stayed at reflected in staff's poor customer service.
Training & Morale may go hand in hand! - so train your staff properly. I guess the staff at the hotel were not trained with customer services in an adequate manner.
Basic Hygiene - minimum baseline! oh come on, staff with strong body odour? If that was the smell of some of the staff on the front-line what would the cooks smell like? (why do you think I skipped breakfast ?)
Perception is reality-king. Seeing is believing. Imagination does not need much stimulation to join the dots and make conclusions. When things are bad in your face, we think that bad practices lurk everywhere!

What is your experience?

References/Links

Customers' Revenge (Commentary for HBR Case Study)
http://hbr.org/product/customers-revenge-commentary-for-hbr-case-study/an/R0712Z-PDF-ENG

discussion about "yours is a very bad hotel" - presentation
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/archive/t-126824.html

Is your customer service shaped around delivering happiness?

noreply@blogger.com (William Doust) — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 14:06:00 +0000

What type of Question is that? - well Zappos.com has focused on delivering happiness to customers, suppliers and employees alike to grow from $ 0 to over $ 1 Billion dollars plus in sales - in a period of less than 10 years !

zappo.scom delivering happiness book, written by Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh , charts the journey of Zappos and it's adoption of "actionable and emotional based core values".

Deploying emotional intelligence within a business context by engineering and weaving "Wow-ness" into every customer, employee and supplier touch point. With this approach zappos.com have been able to create such phenomenal growth. They have charted new waters and navigated through these, over the years, thanks to their core emotional values that energize and enthuse their tribe of stakeholders. This has allowed Zappos to continue to further develop and improve every aspect of their business that guarantees the delivery of further happiness, and an ever increasing phenomenal impact on the bottom line too.

The core themes that I took away from this book:
1. Construct, capture & share actionable key core values that build WOW!
2. Recruit people who are passionate about what you do
3. Build mechanisms to test if new recruits are in for the money
4. Improve processes that benefit stakeholders in line with wow factors
5. Build mechanisms of work development & progression giving employee choices
6. Care for your employees! work environment and outside activities, investment?
7. Remember you are building a "movement" - how different will you make yourself?
8. ID your emotional, functional, transactional value add, do you know it?
9. keep your employees biz thinking sharp: zappos has library of popular books
10 Your stakeholders count too - build a win-win for all concerned.

"going the extra-mile to build a smile" - with everyone your organisation comes in contact with appears to be the bottom line of this book.

The scientific evidence behind the happiness strategy!
Rewards, Happiness, Motivation and Company Culture? You have to get down to the conscious and sub-conscious. Luckily there is a whole field of scientific discovery through psychology focused specifically on the area of happiness. Check out the video below. Enjoy ;-)

Book Bonus Bits...

website for book...
http://www.deliveringhappinessbook.com/

book resources...
http://www.deliveringhappinessbook.com/resources/happiness-studies-and-articles/

Insights on zappos culture...
http://www.zapposinsights.com/main/

Zappos culture book (free)...
http://www.zapposinsights.com/main/culture-book/

Other Related books I have read tha corroborates what this book says and enhances the field and approach to delivering and building happiness into what you do.

Amazon.co.uk Widgets

Happy Company - everyone beneifts

noreply@blogger.com (William Doust) — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 15:11:00 +0000

Is there such a thing as: "A Happy Company" ?

According to Dan Baker,Cathy Greenberg and Collins Hemingway, authors of, "what happy companies know", not only are there companies out there that are happy, but also that part of this happiness creation process involves the development of positive work environments. These in turn create a compounded benefit that translates into greater levels of productivity which directly hits the bottom line.

What is very useful and actionable about this book is that it maps out the framework under which any organisation can develop a happy environment of their own. The framework is people directed and therefore focuses on the process of aligning teams (and leadership) through:

Values Analysis: understanding of leadership values and how these underscore success
Congruence Analysis: Degree to which the values of the team align with the leader and with each other
Energy Assessment: Understanding of the stress points and anticipated trouble spots for transitions
Culture Assessment: Leadership profiling and feedback of cultural awareness
Check-in Sessions: Validation of operating principles and shared definition of the team's future
Leadership Development: Creation of programs to improve capabilities of the leadership team, in conjunction with the recruitment of talent as needed.

According to the three authors, the 1st three sets of tools relate to the individual, whilst the last three looks at how the individual sits, collaborates, engages and co-creates within a team context (pp. 247).

What I didn't like about this book:

Sketchy/Executive overview: It feels like they want you to seek consultancy to fill up the gaps.
Insufficient quantitative references: Slim on the ground no follow up recommendations
No reading list: No clear link up to other references or books

The positives:

Case studies/examples: usual suspect selection of supporting case studies & examples
Framework to work on: lovely framework on pp. 247 - which is developed throughout book
Detail (framework): sufficient detail with the provided action framework, specially if you have done further reading in this area.

There are books out there to make up for failings...
Fortunately we can get further help to make this process work with more robust evidence with books such as: Firms of endearment, the levity effect (why it pays to lighten up), delivering happiness (a path to profits, passion and purpose) - zappos.com,and nowhere - which cleverly examines the journey of the individual to fulfill their passion, purpose and impact on organisation profits.There is also the flip-side: aligned organisational values based development that has resonance with employees may create the very envirnoment and opportunities to cement congruence, thus creating a common platform of shared vision, values, passion and purpose.

The books are as per the amazon carousel below:

Amazon.co.uk Widgets

For us on the coal face of delivery...
It is encouraging to read such books especially when as workers, facilitators and leaders within companies and projects are instinctively adopting this approach. It is a lonely road, but lovely when you link up with like minded individuals. Contrast in life is essential and therefore it is necessary to get to experience the light side (see the levity effect) and the dark side (toxic work environments).

Thanks to experiences you end up counting your blessings and I guess, as is in my case I have ended up neutralising toxic people and environments for the benefit of all.

Finishing project work at Campaign for Learning, and Community Learning Partnership was a very positive and rewarding experience. What a fantastic bunch of human beings, and I am continuing to work on a pet project with the Community Learning partnership and their wonderful CLP - Angels, a.k.a community learning champions (CLCs). CLP continues to reach out to their learners and involve them in positive social action to extend the trans-formative power of learning in fun and joyful environments.

I hope that you get further evidence from reading this book about a positive way to working. I shall be reviewing other inspirational books along the way. I tweet at times, so if you want to catch me on the twitter stream - see my widget. Enjoy and Merry Xmas. ;-)

Useful & Related articles...

How Room Designs Affect Your Work and Mood
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=building-around-the-mind

How Humor Makes You Friendlier, Sexier
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=laughing-matters

Generosity Might Keep Us Healthy (podcast)
http://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode.cfm?id=generosity-might-keep-us-healthy-10-10-26

Adversity Is Linked to Life Satisfaction
http://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode.cfm?id=adversity-is-linked-to-life-satista-10-10-16

How to Protect Your Health Against Toxic Behavior (types of people & groups)
http://drbenkim.com/toxic-people-behavior.html

Stay Away From These Four Types of Toxic People: Choose the Company You Keep
http://stason.org/articles/life/self-growth/Stay-Away-From-These-Four-Types-of-Toxic-People.html

Eurovision HIV Champion needs your Vote

noreply@blogger.com (William Doust) — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 15:45:00 +0000

Appeal to take HIV Champion to the Eurovision Song Contest! - with our Vote he can!

With two decades of music behind him in his quest in favour of positive images realting to HIV awareness and resillience, Carlos Lopez G has raised his profile to be selected as 1 of 5 candidates representing Spain for the Eurovision Song Contest.
http://bit.ly/CarlosEuroVisVote

Anyone can Vote up to 5 times a day!!!

If you want to find out more about this wonderful person & human being, then you can click on the following:

Carlos Euro Vision Song:
http://bit.ly/CarlosEuroVisSong

Carlos YouTube Channel
http://bit.ly/CarlosYouTube

Carlos CDbaby
http://bit.ly/carlosCDbaby

Bit about Carlos
Carlos has been producing albums and doing concerts for free for years! - in favour of HIV awareness. I met him and helped him out many times including World Aids day.

If you want to Vote please follow these screen shot instructions (site is in Spanish)

Landing Page

Voting in red hand made circle...

Your details to activate Vote

Your details (from left): name, email, and anti spam. Click Vote! (Vota)

Voting Email Confirmation - have to click to make vote count

Your inbox will have the following confirmation email.

Email Body with link to click to activate

The 1st link you see is the one you will need to click to make vote count.

Please follow this process five times a day for next 13 days to make this guy's dream come true please, please, please ;-)

Euro Vision Voting Page
http://bit.ly/CarlosEuroVisVote

Thank You to Everyone who's Come here via Twitter ;-) and for those who discovered this post.

How can Eminem and `stigma research` offer inisights in to positive service user experiences?

noreply@blogger.com (William Doust) — Sun, 31 May 2009 22:35:00 +0000

How can Eminem and `stigma research` offer insights in to positive service user experiences?...

..."If, as I have been arguing, stigma is a cause of stress, then stigma as a way of life will turn out to be a cause of ill health. And the effect will be a direct consequence of stigma itself, not an indirect result of it. In other words, it will turn out that people on the bottom of society's hierarchies, who die younger and endure more illnesses, will suffer because they perceive themselves at the bottom - not just because they can't afford doctors or good food or safe housing. " - Us and Them: Understanding your tribal mind, pp 262-263.

"I am what ever you say I am..." - Eminem, The Way I am, The Marshall Mathers LP [Explicit].

So if service users are aware that they are disadvantaged, at the fringes of society, and are trying to parachute out of an environment of under-achievement and apathy, then these descriptive aspects of the very services users will manifest and play out as self-fulfilling prophesies.

It is a bit like a theatrical performance, where, when you outline the actors, set the script, and the stage, what do you think the outcomes will be based on these self-determining factors and conditions? How do you think the show will play out?

This is far from fiction, when you take into account Phil Zimbardo's 1971 prisoner/guard experiment carried out in a Stanford university basement, which was turned into a mock prison. In a nutshell the experiment documented how people can very quickly adapt their behaviour and easily fall into pre-defined roles, rules, conditions and expectations. Links to this striking research is available at the bottom of this article ;-)

So we may either extrinsically be exhibiting behaviour which projects our beliefs, or express biases which nurture our buried prejudices or subliminal stereotyping. There's plenty of research in this too!

Personal conversations and fabulous idea exchanges with various "charity chums" has provided me with numerous examples whereby people are described and pigeon-holed as cases for "special need" and attention, and that the programmes that are delivered are for "disadvantaged" or "vulnerable" people. Etc... mmmmm.

So, as service providers and key workers we need to watch our language and frame senses of achievement for our service users or clients from the "additive perspective". Within this view, the person is already complete. We, as service providers and facilitators within the third sector, have the responsibility to point people to resources and personal tools (emotional and spiritual) that will enable them to embrace and take advantage of life's future possibilities. A future, where their lives become a regular source of joy and tranquility.

Don't take my word for it, check out the research and catch you another time ;-)

References/Research...

"Us and Them: Understanding your tribal mind"
http://cli.gs/65V0pB

"I am what ever you say I am..." - Eminem,The Way I am, The Marshall Mathers LP [Eplicit]
http://cli.gs/1TgsAe

Stanford Prison Experiment
A Simulation Study of the Psychology of Imprisonment Conducted at Stanford University
http://cli.gs/qYqj45

Abu Ghraib: Why good people turn evil
http://cli.gs/gum8gy

Social Stigma Causes Poor Math Performance by U.S. Students, Study Suggests
http://cli.gs/W0bJg1

Negative performance and the impact of: Stereotype threat
http://cli.gs/NVtS4y

Buried Prejudice: The Bigot in Your Brain
http://cli.gs/H2Sj3Y

Decision Making Suffers from Unconscious Prejudices
http://cli.gs/GmqYn6

The Implicit Prejudice
http://cli.gs/W0Mq35

Tricky, Turbulent, Tribal: Friend or foe is a mutable designation
http://cli.gs/NHEPLX

Stereotype Threat and Female Students’ Math Performance
http://cli.gs/dGAgu2

The Neuroscience of Stigma and Stereotype Threat
http://cli.gs/qJDXvh

PR and Media guides for small charities and groups

noreply@blogger.com (William Doust) — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 22:44:00 +0000

Need to work smarter with the media and get some PR going for your activities?

Well don't fear, here are two fantastic, and what is best of all, free PDFs to help you along the way.

I have missed posting to this blog, but I've been busy exploring new material, and even have a video to post here for another tutorial that will help my fab charity chums. Enjoy the preview of the PR & Media PDFs thanks to the lovely people at Issuu.

Abbey National's free guide to PR for small charities and Groups

Open publication - Free publishing - More pr

Here's a link to the file, if you want it (will open as PDF in browser):
http://cli.gs/dySe8V

Voluntary Action Media Unit's Guide to working with the Media: Smart Comms

Open publication - Free publishing - More press

Here's a link to the file, if you want it (will open as PDF in browser):
http://cli.gs/XX5Yz0

Let me know what you think of these, and leave us a comment or some stars ;o) Happy Easter!

Website demos can be a doddle with twiddla

noreply@blogger.com (William Doust) — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 01:56:00 +0000

Live real time web demo & collab with twiddla - doodles and chat too....

Yes, live website demos, doodling & chattin is a doddle with twiddla, oh and did I mention it was free?

Yes, yes, my wonderful charity chums and little charity chums helpers and buddies! - I bring you another fab free online collaboration review! - have no fear, - Twiddla is here!!!!

kiss good bye to thumb twiddling when asked to support charities, colleagues or invidiuals with web platfomrs/technologies! - this is a tool that is very, very useful and easy to use! If you know how to use drawing tools in microsoft word or powerpoint and can use a browser - then you re 90% of the way there with twiddla! - it's that easy! - really!

Shapes, text bubbles, free style pencil drawing, adding images - it is all possible with twiddla. You can even chat with colleagues, or if you have skype you can talk to them explaining verbally what you are doing. It's that simple.

So check out the video I have prepared below - and get familiarised with the possiblities.

What is even better is that after contacting the twiddla team as a charity, they told me that anyone with a '.org' or '.edu' email can be upgraded for free. What's the difference? - Well, when you demo a site for people you can do so under the privacy of a "private" - "password protected space".

You can email the unique and customisable password and URL to your audience, so no clown can come in and start grafftiying your work and loading other sites. If you want to get your free upgrade then, send an email to info[at]twiddla.com, put into the subject free 'charity' or 'education upgrade' - and in the body tell them that william doust sent you. So now turn the lights down, get your popcorn and get ready to watch the twiddla show.

Ressource(s)

twiddla website & sandbox
http://www.twiddla.com

twiddla free upgrade email contact & details
email: info[at]twiddla.com
subj: free 'charity' or 'education upgrade'
body: william doust told me & sent me
terms & conditions: must have a '.org' or '.edu' for free upgrade
(to password protect your sessions)

skype
http://www.skype.com

Charity Chums - social bookmarks sharing group for charities & non-profits
(share annotated web resources with our little group on diigo)
http://cli.gs/rJ4y91

Charities-from virtual tools to real world collaboration

noreply@blogger.com (William Doust) — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 00:22:00 +0000

Charity Chums - linking charities to collaborate smartly and build a better future together ;o)
Through lovely conversations I've encouraged charities to start talking and helping each other with the use of free web and communication tools. It started all with Skype, and web disoveries were then added to the mix - and these are now shared with the use of diigo - bookmarking and web annotation on a web platform.

What's even better is that these initial conversations that were started with free technologies, will now lead to face-to-face meeting to exchange best practice. Thanks to the NCVO's connect scheme they should be able to get together - fingers crossed. This is the scheme where £250 are shared for the day's expenses. £150 - goes to the host and £100 for the visitor. Agh ;0)

Could dabbling in communicating and collaborating via fee web-tools create evidence - to piggy back off other funding? - who knows, but it is worth a cheeky try! - specially when the NCVO connect Scheme has several round fo funding. Next round in June.

Why you could save time - and time is money in the charity sector - by using web tools and social bookmarking
Two of my charity chums, charities which I work with and try to inspire are sharing my passion for learning and making life easier with the use of free web technologies and appliactions to collaborate and save time & money during these credit crunch times.

In this post we will cover the use of Diigo, and in a future blog post we will cover Twiddla with Skype. Stay tuned, and I do hope you enjoy this post.

Using Diigo to share sector discoveries, insights, and great resources - tap into the collective power of soical bookmakring and web annotation
How many people have you met in conferences, events and in other face-to-face circumstances who tell you about great resources on the web that could have helped your project? - If, only, if only you knew?

If only the information of this resource had done a Hudini, and broke free from the confines of your favorites (on your browser) or the silo of your inbox. So many links waiting to help you!

This is where Diigo comes in. Diigo allows you to save, annotate and share the web - on the web! people can search and discover what you want to share! as simple as that. Take a look at the video and I'll see you in a moment.

What do you think?
Check-out the bookmarking screenshots on diigo for a fab review

Don't ask what you can do for diigo but what diigo can do for you
You saw how quickly you can expand your efforts by tapping into "communities of common interests", create/join groups, track keywords and phrases related to your interests and share. Go ahead, join us in diigo and let us share our journey of discovery.

This video only scratches the surface of what diigo allows you to do and connect to
There's much more, stay tuned! - and why not join our family learning and sharing group?

Resource(s)

Diigo website
http://www.diigo.com

Diigo - bookmarking screen shots
http://help.diigo.com/How-To_Guide/Bookmarking

Diigo help - screenshots - everything u need to know
http://help.diigo.com/

Diigo - presentations on slideshare
http://tinyurl.com/diigopresents

Diigo in Education wiki
http://tinyurl.com/diigo-ed-wiki

Diigo toolbar for firefox
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/2792

Diigo intro video
http://tinyurl.com/diigoquick

Charity Chums Group (new- as of this post)
http://groups.diigo.com/groups/charity-chums

Existing Accelerated Family Learning Group
http://tinyurl.com/willdiigogroup

NCVO connect scheme
http://www.ncvo-vol.org.uk/?id=7278

stories:perception, values, behaviour and strategy

noreply@blogger.com (William Doust) — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 23:33:00 +0000

I've listened to wonderful heart warming stories - and these contain shorcuts to building strategies and shaping behaviour

I feel that I have been blessed to have the opportunity to work front-line supporting the wonderful charities I came in contact with in my role at campaign for learning. Currently working in London & South East has seen me support my charity chums face-to-face, on skype and on the phone.

The stories I hear so clearly represent the caring values that have become invisible to these organisations, because it is not scripted or rehearsed! - it comes straight from the heart! So my role is to listen and raise a mirror so they can see the building blocks behind their stories that make them so, so unique. Have you seen what lives behind your charity's or group's story? Yes, no?

From this starting point we can build a foundation and uncover vision, mission, strategy and values. You really do need these strong building blocks, because they will shape your choices, your behaviour and everthing you do as an organisation. Once documented and communicated it helps staff and service users see what you are all about. In fact, why not ask your service users if what you think of yourself - is what they think of you? - as they say, your brand is not what you say it is, it is what your publics say it is!

Here are a couple of fantastic free reads - check them out and let me know what you think! - I would love to hear from you...

Story Telling & Story Selling

Talking Strategy & stories

Resources

talking strategy diigo anotated link (access to free PDF)
http://www.diigo.com/04yo8

telling stories, selling stories diigo annotated link (access to free PDF)
http://www.diigo.com/04ypb

Amazon related & useful books (my associates links)

Amazon.co.uk Widgets

Crowdsourcing with the arts council artjobs mailing list

noreply@blogger.com (William Doust) — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 02:11:00 +0000

This post is dedicated to Julian Miller from the Gorilla Organization
I met Jilllian at the Third Sector PR and Communications network event in London Last Thursday 19th of Feb. Someone was asking about the impact of working with bloggers, and what was the ratio of effort and related outcome/benefit of engaging. The question was posed by someone who worked in PR/Comms. As an evangelist and fan of virtual volunteer and philanthropist collaboration with artists and creatives I mentioned that getting people involved - crowd sourcing gave positive results.

I met Jillian at the pub bar when she heard me asking the bar maid to tease a Colombian from Cali to mention the word "Barranquilla". She heard the rolled 'r' and repeated it back to me which got the conversation going. Jillian's organization, gorillas, works to help to ensure the well being of gorillas. in Congo. If you can adopt a gorilla and donate.

How the arts council artsjob mailing list can help you connect and co-develop great visual communications
Whilst doing my usual volunteering - prior to working in the sector, I assisted Survivors of Depression in Transition to reach out and transform the group's creative writing into a calendar.
The power of the group's words were re-interpreted into corresponding images by volunteer artists. The result was a fantastic calendar that was laid out, digitally printed, and sold at the venue - Sheffield's winter gardens. In addition the artists were asked if they wished to donate their artwork as originals or digital prints, to help the charity fund-raise. They did. Their artwork was also exhibited nest to the poetry. This happened in the last quarter of 2007.

You too can get artists to help your charity and help them too - here's the sweet recipe
1. go to the arts council website
2. subscribe to the arts council arts job mailing list
3. check out the postings relating to requests for volunteering
4. get a feel for how briefs/appeals are put together
5. write a brief
6. send it out and be ready to receive ;o)

Things to think about (brief, managing artists,managing contributions/content)

are the contributions going to end in print or just on the web? - this has an impact on resolution and dimensions.
have you told your contributors explicitly enough that you want them to donate their work?
can you get a written ok from contributors to continue printing their work - to help you with fundraising after the event? - if you choose to.
have you thought about the fact that you could make that content more flexible and redeploy it in printing on demand products? (no sunk costs, see article here)
have you thought about getting an agreement with the artists so that you can use their work in things such as mugs, mouse pads, umbrellas, t-shirts? (printing on demand)
have you thought about showcasing your artists/contributors in your publications/website? - they have given their time to make a difference!
are you going to ask them for samples of their work to see if it fits with your values or will you visit their portfolios online?
will they send you a low-rez version (if the project is visual) and did you make sure they were aware of final dimensions and resolution?
have you got a friendly printer that will do digital printing and low runs? - if you choose not to go with printing on demand.
have you got colleagues who will help you decide which donated work you will include
has the brief included a short and sweet backgrounder that links to the collaborators values , appeals to their philanthropist values and also demonstrates how they will benefit too?

My experience has shown that as long as you are open, clear and speak from the heart of what you want and why you wish to collaborate - all will go well. Remember some budding collaborators who want to be involved will be doing so for various reasons. If the heart warming feeling can be supplemented by additional benefits where the body of work is recognized, appreciated and showcased to many, all the better.

I leave you with a quick video I prepared for you that has been sped up to quickly show the calendar that was made for Survivors of Depression in Transition.

Crowdsourcing and Arts Council Arts Job mailing list from william doust on Vimeo.

This is a video showing a calendar that was developed thanks to the collaboration of virtual volunteers who were recruited via England's arts council jobs mailing list.

All of the fab artwork was printed onto a calendar that was sold during mental health week in 2007. The artwork was exhibited and auctioned in Sheffield's contemporary winter gardens - right next to the city's gallery and creative industries.

Thanks to all those who participated.

wikis to use for-ever with no strings?

noreply@blogger.com (William Doust) — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 02:23:00 +0000

One of the guys from pbwiki.com emailed me today and said that they are launching free wikis in two weeks! Surprise, shock and horror ;-O I found out about these guys (pbwiki.com) accidentally when I went to sign-up for a bloggers event that is taking place in London, very, very soon - for those in the charity sector. The event is being run by the fab gang from charitycomms - see the group on facebook! - share, learn, and join the conversation! So...sign up to the event was via pbwiki.com - so, i setup an account in order to add myself to the list. After I couldn't help but have a nosy round. In the sales blurb bit, I saw nothing about charities! - so I dropped them an email and they said thy are to launch a new free service in two weeks! - don't believe me? check out the email they sent (minus personal details).

Wikis are fab - cos they free up knowledge that is locked up in emails, systems, and laptops Information wants to be free and wants to be your helpful friend...but it can't be, when it is caged up in office systems that are not very accessible to remote workers..or when it is in laptops or swimming in a sea of webmail - even with mail search it's a blimmin nightmare!

That's right those of us on the coal face of delivering services to other charities sometimes duplicate efforts
Wikis (wikipedia definition of a wiki) provide an editorial platofrm where we can share knowledge. What ever we want it to be: funding sources, grants, case-studies, best practises, tools, tips, etc. The perfect web platform for remote collaboration. This is where wikis come in to rescue us. If you are not to comfortable with technology, then check out the fab and accessible video from the nice people at common craft who explain everything in plain english ;D

Common Craft's Wikis in Plain English...

Resources/References Wikipedia's definition of what a wiki is
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiki

Benefits & pitfalls of wikis
http://tinyurl.com/dm96qw

Wikis at work: benefits & practices
http://tinyurl.com/b8jh9c

Wikis in higher education: teaching and learning with
http://tinyurl.com/crubfd

Just three major employee benefits?
http://tinyurl.com/bby786

wiki software - wikipedia compilation
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiki_software

free wikis for life - comin soon pwiki.com
http://pbwiki.com/

Business Surplus Goods given away to charities

noreply@blogger.com (William Doust) — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 15:52:00 +0000

Konnect 9 Charity redistributes unwanted goods to charities via givingworldonline.com

Konnect9 is arranging the re-disribution of unwanted goods from firms with surplases to charities who register on the site. It is on a first come first serve basis. No costs - absolutely free. So if you're a business or a charity, what are you waiting for ;) go to givingworld.com.

Resources/Links

About Konnect9

http://www.guidestar.org.uk/gs_summary.aspx?CCReg=1105883

Givingworldonlline website

http://www.givingworldonline.com/

ThirdSector Magazine artilce on givingworldonline & konnnect9

http://tinyurl.com/ctfjr6

Online procurement site supplier direct europe features this charity (pdf link)

http://tinyurl.com/supplierdirectpdf

be a better leader have a richer life: integrate your life

noreply@blogger.com (William Doust) — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 15:10:00 +0000

work, home, community and self: prescribed integration possible according to Harvard Business Review interview

Those who have follow this blog have tended to notice how I gather evidence that lavish praise on fulfillment, passion and happiness as part of your way of being and working. Indeed in a recent blogpost on branding - I embedded a slideshare which had as a headline, happiness as a business model, and another one on research by MTV - relating to happiness, engagement, and connection to peers.

Past re-incarnations of Harvard Business Review Articles (ah those were the days when I was a student) relating to leadership and management always talked about balancing acts, and managing trade-offs. But I guess that the tide has been turning over the years, and thank God they are now talking about "integration" - if Starbucks is about 3 places (home,coffee place,work), new leadership/management is about integrating: work, home, community and self.

Stewart D. Friedman, Professor at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, states that addressing these integration of our four physical and psychological places and spaces will enable us to enjoy better: mental health, physical health, spiritual growth & development and leisure.

This is what we learned in the third sector years ago ;)

Check out the video
If you can't see the video then please click on this link

This video interview has practical implementation in the fantastic book and workbook called, "becoming a resonant leader" - (amazon link) - develop your emotional intelligence, renew your relationships, sustain your effectiveness by Annie McKee, Richard Goyatzis, and Frances Johnstone.

Branding: looking to make a difference, not just sell

noreply@blogger.com (William Doust) — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 17:35:00 +0000

Differentiate your organisation through goodness! - be a brand that truly cares!!!
I recently finished reading - i'm with the brand, by Rob Walker (wikipedia profile) who examined how we weave consumerist artifacts into the narrative that externally describes our unique identity, and how these brand interactions create that tension between individuality and belonging. Very fabulous reading, specially when Rob looks deeper at 'fringe' brands who explore greater meaning with us as individuals! The books shows how informatively thinking fringe 'brands' integrate themselves into our lives, by connecting to our passions - via events, eZines, and other ways of creating genuine conversations.

I have heard of individuals in the third-sector receiving consultant services from commercial pundits who are in the old school of "push marketing" (wikipedia) or as Seth Godin (wikipedia profile) would say, interruption based marketing. In a previous post I presented the mounting evidence on the accumulation of user generated opinion that is challenging the advertising model.

More than ever we need to keep a clear conversation and dialogue with our service users to sign post, energize and facilitate their personal transformations. Removing barriers and opening opportunities - This can only really happen through clarity and stewardship, because we are here to serve the needs of our communities we represent. By becoming enablers, we strengthen a rippling effect that scatters throughout our emotional connections and conversations.

We therefore need to fearlessly let our genuine voices cut through the marketing clutter and business speak - like in the call to arms so well presented in the clue train manifesto.

This can only lead to truly focusing on a nonprofit business model that nurtures happiness and well being. Our impetus has to be heart centred commitment, and to paraphrase Tim Sanders (wikipedia profile), let our love be the killer app (Tim is author of: Love the Killer App)

Let me sign post you on a journey of discovery that will present fresh ways of being and thinking, and conversations, and true engament are right in the middle of it all. I feel that we need to truly care for our client/user base - and if you have to call them customers, then we need to embrace logic + emotion.

I leave you with a question, how much of an individual's personality impacts on services?

Enjoy ;D this short journey ;D

Inspirational community building and conversation starters...
See different, think different. I hope that the following slide shows and embedded material will convince you of building ongoing relationships with figures of authority, so that you can better serve the communities which you support.

Goodness And Happiness - Why Generosity Is The Future Of Marketing Strategy

Goodness And Happiness - Why Generosity Is The Future Of Marketing Strategy

View more presentations from neilperkin. (tags: digital planning)

Happiness as Your Business Model

View more presentations from Tara Hunt. (tags: magnolia worpress)

Happiness - MTV: young people, connecting and engaging

Happiness

View more presentations from whatidiscover. (tags: happiness psychology)

Brand-persona

Creating a Brand Persona

View more presentations from Jason Levine. (tags: brand strategy)

Are you your organisation's brand?

Watch Personal Branding, David Armano, Critical Mass in Chicago Convergence | View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com

Crucial Conversations In Social Media

Crucial Conversations In Social Media

View more presentations from Kelsey Ruger. (tags: kelseyruger kelsey ruger)

Amazon relatd books widget

Amazon.co.uk Widgets

Related links/resources

Conversation by Design
http://www.slideshare.net/darmano/conversation-by-design

Social Media Measurement
http://www.slideshare.net/themoleskin/social-media-measurement

Social Media Strategy
http://www.slideshare.net/ducttape/social-media-strategy

Word of Mouth - A Prescription for a Bad Economy
http://www.slideshare.net/agentwildfire/wominabadeconomy-presentation

Why branding matters in a world of so much clutter
http://openspirituality.blogspot.com/2009/01/why-branding-matters-in-world-of-so.html

family environment, tv, intenet impact on youth

noreply@blogger.com (William Doust) — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 08:57:00 +0000

Can children be negatively affected by family environment, TV, Internet and too much individualism?

Yes - according to a recent report by "The Children's society". Report released on Feb 2nd 09.

"The Children's society" has released a report demonstrating how children are being affected by family environment, TV, Internet and individualism - to name but a few.It examines the darker side of these elements and the impact on well being.

The research was spearheaded under the banner of - making childhood better. The bbc has some video testimonials reflecting children & young people's perspectives.

It's funny how this report seemed to look at the dark side of Internet time, I wonder how much credibility they gave to the MacArthur report, which I blogged about recently - stating the positives (Internet)?

lovely links...

Children's society press release
http://www.childrenssociety.org.uk/whats_happening/media_office/latest_news/14758_pr.html

bbc children's related videos - childhood, well being, society, etc.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/7861512.stm

Pupils' well-being to be measured -bbc
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/7661236.stm

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE)Social and emotional well being in primary education
http://www.nice.org.uk/PH12

Time online - youth learning skills adults don't get!

noreply@blogger.com (William Doust) — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 22:34:00 +0000

MacArthur Foundation dishes out the reality of truckloads of skills kids picking up online
This results of this fab and extensive research conducted by MacArthur foundation into how time spend online was important for youth development. The paper titled: Living and Learning with New Media raised the following:

Major Findings:

youth use online media to extend friendships and interests
youth engage in peer-based, self-directed learning online
virtual presence enable youth to become experts based on interests
youth become more independent in seeking and deepening knowledge based on interests
develop status & identity
kids and young adults set their time - and when it is convenient
informal, more relaxed way of learning, empowering and motivating

Implications:

adults should facilitate young people’s engagement with digital media
given the diversity of digital media, it is problematic to develop a standardized set of benchmarks against which to measure young people’s technical and newmedia literacy
in interest-driven participation, adults have an important role to play
to stay relevant in the 21st century, education institutions need to keep pace with the rapid changes introduced by digital media.

800 youths and young adults were involved in the study for a period of over 5000 hours of online observation. This research came out in Nov. 2008, but I was so snowed under, didn't get a chance to post about it ;(

Check out the video...

if you can't see the video below then check it out here.

Related links...

new york times article - Teenagers’ Internet Socializing Not a Bad Thing http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/20/us/20internet.html?hp

MacArthur main page for research report

http://tinyurl.com/macarthurdigiyouth

MacArthur's digitallearning portal

http://www.digitallearning.macfound.org/

Download the 30-page white paper

http://www.macfound.org/atf/cf/%7BB0386CE3-8B29-4162-8098-E466FB856794%7D/DML_ETHNOG_WHITEPAPER.PDF

australian government online safety for children & young people

http://www.staysmartonline.gov.au/kids_safe_online

practical safety programmes by charity called childnet international http://www.kidsmart.org.uk/

resources for teachers on newmedia - conference proceedings

http://www.wisekids.org.uk/conf/index.htm

thinkuknow - new media, mobiles and resources for carers/parents, teacher/trainer

http://www.thinkuknow.co.uk

netzmartz workshops - teen and young people newmedia safety for young people

http://www.netsmartz.org/index.aspx

Amazon related books...

blogs and blogging in plain English

noreply@blogger.com (William Doust) — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 01:59:00 +0000

Why re-invent the wheel to report what other wonderful work others have done? - quick post on blogs the easy peasy way ;D

The gang at Common craft who do such fab work on making things easy produced this video on blogs in plain English. Check out their other work in blip.tv.

My two cents worth as they say in the states (my experience/opinion) is that observation is a powerful tool to see what's out there in the blog world, and if you couple this with the firefox add-on called NoScript, then you can see exactly what's embeded in every blog (scripts, widgets, etc.).

So keep your passion alive - always seek to make life easier for others, to communicate and to have all the fun you can with your blogging. It's about engaging yourself and being in the moment. If it's not fun, then why do it?

Resources/links related to blogging...

170+ Must-Have Tools For The Beginning Blogger
http://elitebydesign.com/170-must-have-tools-for-the-beginning-blogger/

Blogging Toolbox: 120+ Resources for Bloggers
http://mashable.com/2007/06/19/blogging-toolbox/

The Ultimate Blogger’s Toolbox - More than 80 links to tools and resources to help improve your blogging experience
http://www.habitationofjustice.com/bloggers-toolbox

Universal McCann provides statistics and a global insight into the popularity of blogging in different countries
http://www.universalmccann.com/Assets/wave_3_20080403093750.pdf

future labs take on blogging and education
http://www.futurelab.org.uk/resources/publications-reports-articles/web-articles/Web-Article569

Comments, Trackback: Blogger vs Haloscan
http://www.consumingexperience.com/2005/05/comments-trackback-blogger-vs-haloscan.html

20 Analytics Tools For Blogs
http://www.toprankblog.com/2008/01/20-blog-analytics-tools/

what the world is searching for - using yahoo search
http://buzzlog.buzz.yahoo.com/overall/

googles hottest search terms...
http://www.google.com/trends/hottrends

search for trends and what's hot in the blogosphere
http://www.blogpulse.com/

what's popular and hot - technorati
http://technorati.com/pop/

social bookmarking main contenders...

noreply@blogger.com (William Doust) — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 01:05:00 +0000

Sharing & storing things you are passionate about... on the web...

I was speaking to some fantastic people int he charity sector about increasing productivity with regards to research on the web. I have been using del.ico.us as a way of bookmarking on the web - so that it can be shared with others and accessed from anywhere.

Then I discovered another service called diigo - which allowed you to do, soo much more. I still need to port over my bookmarks to diigo - this will be documented ;D

In the meantime, for the un-initiated here are some fab videos explaining it all. You make up your mind ;D

References-resources...
7 reasons why diigo is better than delicous (allegedly)

180 tools that support & enhance delicious

Why Branding Matters in a world of so much clutter

noreply@blogger.com (William Doust) — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 00:59:00 +0000

When you energize and make peple go wow! - then you're onto good things
I feel more energized than usual because I recently visited one of the charitable organisations I support. The dynamic duo that make things happen turbo-charge their services with so much emotional intelligence and care, that their service users cannot help but smile and the children shout with glee!

So After a fab meeting I was looking for ways to assist in reflecting back to them what they do and make the process more actionable and continuous. Seek and you shall find ;D

I found this amazing presentation on slideshare which I will share with you.

The Brand Gap

View more presentations or upload your own. (tags: brand gap)

There is also access to another site where you can download the pdf for free. More than ever your services whether in the charitable, public or private sector need to stand out! - specially in a word of over abundance of choice. As professor Barry Schwartz, author of 'The Paradox of Choice: Why More is Less' says we're facing a new phenonmenon of stress due to having to find the right choice! Check out the google video. You can also read previous posts that have a wealth of free materials.

If you're a serial reader like me here are some books to really get you thinking...

Amazon.co.uk Widgets

psychological,Emotional, and Spiritual Contracts

noreply@blogger.com (William Doust) — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 23:29:00 +0000

During this credit storm we need to continue the focus on the service to our communities
The BBC news keeps on mirroring the economic storms we are facing - and this is reflecting in the third-sector (charity non-profit). This uncertainty has been echoed in press releases by the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO).

During this time that pundits stir their cocktails of doom & gloom - I draw my strength on focusing on how my work and commitment can continue to deliver benefits and results to the charitable organisations i'm lucky to contribute to and collaborate with. Rick Warren, Author of the fab book, "Purpose-driven Life: What on Earth am I Here For?" - starts the book by saying, it's not about you!

Leading by example, we can energize our environments and things we do. Research and psychology has shown that emotion is contagious (wikipedia). Therefore I prefer to spread positive emotion because it energizes. It is harder to get on with doing work with heavy emotions. So why make life difficult for ourselves, when it is not about ourselves?

A mind under psychological strain is faced with reduced creative options, specially if we allow ourselves to mirror our times. We need to see our new environment in ways that enable us to create community centric solutions that involve our communities and capitalises on their skills. We may not have as much money coming in, but we do have ways of challenging our assumptions and our thinking ;-)

What could you do with one bucket? - I wash myself with one bucket (body, shampoo & rinse), I could wash the car with one bucket, I could mop the floors of a three bedroom house with one bucket, I could use that one bucket to collect shellfish when going to the sea...what else?

Together we can create solutions for our communities because it is not about us! It is about serving, it is about giving, and our collective intelligence and care can produce more value and provide greater impact than superficially throwing money at a problem. This time we can think deeper to make our money work harder. As they say, lets line up as many ducks as possible. I strongly feel taht we have a psycholgoical, emotional and spiritual contract to serve.

I'll leave you with the Rick Warren video (from TEDtalks) and an amazon carrousel displaying some of the books that inspired this post

Amazon Carrousel for the Books that Inspired this post

Amazon.co.uk Widgets

Lovely links...
The HapyStance Project - blog

'Resonant Leader' Summary (emotional intelligence & connecting)

Rick Warren's Talk on TEDtalks - and corresponding resources

Can thirdsector research be sexy? - NPC shows us

noreply@blogger.com (William Doust) — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 19:42:00 +0000

Video and treasure trove of toolkits at New Philanthropy Capital
New Philanthropy Capital (NPC) Treasure trove of free research and toolkits to help third sector
I just had to get some toolkits and research for an organisation I support - rather thann re-invent the wheel.

As I was going through the pages, I discovered a really fab video, that highlights the researh NPC undertakes. It was so powerful, yet so simply put together. I thought that I would share it with you. Couldn't we do much more of this in our sector to creatively tell stories and show our achievements? IT's a pity NPC did not follow through with more videos - at least they don't have anymore on their vimeo video channel.

New Philanthropy Capital from Plum Lomax on Vimeo.

Convert PDFs to Word - Share application forms

noreply@blogger.com (William Doust) — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 00:36:00 +0000

PDF is good for the distributor - not the form filler, here's a work-around

Why go prehistoric with printing PDFs when you can convert PDF forms to MS word online and for free?
Save your valuable time and just make scribbling away, passing paper around, and then retyping history!!!!

Try out the free online PDF2word Converter! - It's free. No subscriptions, no emails - nothing. Ah, but after you're done you can take it back to word for free!...
All you have to do is go to the same site and select the Word2PDF tab/option - it does not require email submission either.

US Library of Congress with indie commons on flickr

noreply@blogger.com (William Doust) — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 18:52:00 +0000

Not Known Copyright restrictions a new way to get old of photos to remix?
Well, the library of congress and some libraries and museums in the US have been uploading old photos onto flickr - the photo sharing site. They license is said to be 'unknown copyright restrictions' - as some of the imagery is very, very old. You are advised to investigate the viability of working with photos for yourself.

Check out the list of institutions in the flickr commons group, the licencing bit, and their new indiecommons blog.

Who knows, there may be some fertile ground for these images to be remixed and introduced into the artwork in support of some of your publications.

Mindmaps on the web at no cost with bubbl.us

noreply@blogger.com (William Doust) — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 22:25:00 +0000

Need to brainstorm how to cut costs during the credit crunch?
...don't just chew on it... blow your own bubbl!
You can do this with single users and in a collaborative manner with bubbl.us online mindmapping tool (wikipedia definition). It allows you to create on your own, collaboratively develop, share/distribute the project, and use the final mindmap in a multitude of ways: embed in a website, send a link to a reviewer (read only), or download it. Cost: £ 0.00.

Check out the Youtube video, and give it a try, it costs Zilch, nada, nothin!

Mindmap in a nutshell
it's like a diagram starting from one one central bubble, which represents an idea, process, task, project, or even business proposal

It divides into sub-bubbles with spokes connecting to properties, characteristics, influences and any factors that you feel have an impact in shaping your idea, project, process or business.

Let your geographically dispersed teams collaborate for no cost!
Just unleash your field workers on this tool. They can document and share!

Resource(s)
Wikipedia on...mindmaps
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mind_map

bubbl.us basics - Youtube Video
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=AllXU_3nktU

bubbl.us - website (works fine with IE and patchy with Firefox)
http://www.bubbl.us/

Scribd Super Creativity -Mindmap - Tony Buzan (pick it up while it lasts)
http://www.scribd.com/doc/4701705/Super-Creativity-Mindmap-Tony-Buzan

Letgo of your grown up and learn with Lego

noreply@blogger.com (William Doust) — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 00:23:00 +0000

Lego is helping autistic children to socialize and business people to conceptualize - all hands on!

What Could 'Lego' do for the rest of us?

I experienced the power of 'Lego' over Xmas period as a little 'anchor' to which we attached learning outcomes. This was in really fantastic training the trainers brain friendly course.

It left a sufficient impact that reminded me again of the 'Lego Serious Play' training which a colleague talked to me about in a previous reincarnation. In a nutshell this allows you to problem solve by conceptualizing these into 3d brick metaphors. There is a fantastic review of the process here.

How many streams of activity Lego can stimulate beyond the business?
And then Xmas weaved its magic with some news from CCN relating to how Lego building blocks were also building bridges to nurture the communication and socialisation skills between Autistic children. They looked at this in six British schools.

Could it be that the explanation in the Lego Serious Play (LSP) program may have characteristics of play that could be mirroring with autistic kids?
LSP is said to serve as a 3D platform to enable the construction of scenarios, play out possibilities without 'risking reality', and develop fluid co-constructive team narratives in an environment where everyone is equal and all voices are heard....mmmm

What if you couldn't afford LSP and wanted to develop your own way?
Here is some food for thought, why not combine the power of 2d drawing/visualisation, and utilise a framework that would enable you to set playing scenarios for your 3d bricking?
You know a bit like how generals in the old, old days would plan battles.

Well, there is a fantastic book called 'the back of a napkin' which looks at the power of using visualisation in problem solving by making a tastier cocktail of the reality of people,pictures, and problems. Check out what these guys have shown in their videos at VizThink. I won't reveal more, but you could see perhaps how the combination of these two approaches could help direct play and learning? The trick is to 're-frame' the process descriptors to get the learning and behavioural outcomes that you want. Until next time ;-)

Resources/References

If you are short on money to buy Lego use the free Lego digital designer (Free download)
http://ldd.lego.com/

VizThink - back of a napkin book review
http://www.vizthink.com/blog/2008/03/18/246/

Lego Serious Play Training
http://www.seriousplay.com/

CNN - Lego Helps Autistic Children to Develop Social Skills
http://gizmodo.com/5119155/lego-helps-autistic-children-to-develop-social-skills

Children & Young people now take on the Lego story
http://www.cypnow.co.uk/news/ByDiscipline/Health/login/828279/

Times online take on the Lego Story
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/article4876937.ece

Healing Thresholds website - Specialist for Autism
http://autism.healingthresholds.com/research/long-term-outcome-of-social-skil

The US experience - Lego and Autism (reported by ABC)
http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=news/health&id=6560904