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I’m evolving…
And so is this blog!
As I’m in the process of expanding the focus of this blog to other aspects of society than media, please bear with the changes and stay tuned for posts about food, music, film and philosophy as well as media and the news. Thank you!
Ancient Peruvian Social Networking
I’ve just returned from a holiday in Peru, where amongst other things, I learned something very interesting about the the Inca social networking system.
Due to a lack of written history, the true function of Machu Picchu remains a mystery, but some believe it was meant as a kind of vacation estate for the Kings. It was built high in the mountains, many days walk from the Inca capital of Cusco. The Inca Empire, at its strongest, spread from Quito, Ecuador to Santiago, Chile and into Argentina. But when the Spanish invaded Cusco, the King has news of it in Quito, more than a thousand miles away, in just three days.
The distance between the modern-day capital of Lima and Cusco is more than 700 miles. I know what you’re thinking: 700 miles is no big deal (at least in Texas, it ain’t). Well, I forgot to mention that Lima is on the Pacific Ocean and Cusco? Well, Cusco sits in a valley at more than 11,000 feet up. Yeah. So the bus ride takes 21 hours because it must wind in and out of mountains in order to ascend safely. However, there are stories of Kings having fresh fish in Cusco for dinner.
So how did a people with out the wheel traverse this distance in such a short period of time? They ran.
That’s right. The Incas had a sophisticated system of “telephone” for communication and transportation of important goods, like the King’s dinner. A fisherman would pass off the fish to the first runner, who would run as fast as he could until he met the next link in the chain, to whom he would pass off the bounty and so on and so forth. Think that’s amazing? Get this: the people of the Andean villages still walk over these mountains every day in nothing but sandals in order to trade goods. Does that not sound difficult to you? Here, let me paint you a word picture…
I hiked over two mountains on this trip (one 13,000 ft and the other 16,000 ft) and “difficult” doesn’t even begin to cover it. As I’m sitting just 150 feet shy of our 16,000 feet summit for the day, I am breathing into an oxygen mask for the second time this morning. We began the day at about 10,000 feet and that was nearly 6 hours ago. To my chagrin, up walks a beautiful Quechan woman, dressed in traditional garb complete with skirt, sandals and a decorative hat. After she and our incredible guide speak for a moment, he tells us that she has come from the first village we saw yesterday and she is headed to a larger village that we won’t reach until tomorrow. She began her journey 4 hours ago and intends to finish in in 4 more.
This woman traveled in 8 hours what it will take us three days to do. And she did it with a pretty hat on.
Social Media Works
Yesterday, The Freaker America Team had their Kickstarter project fully funded and then some. Kudos to them for being clever enough to capitalize off of this wonderful thing called “crowdfunding.”
Crowdfunding is one of the special concepts made possible by social media. Without the inter-connectivity of social media, all the people with great ideas but no connections may not get a shot at making their dream come true. Crowdfunding is an extension of the American Dream. It makes it possible for people to pull themselves up by their bootstraps and get after it. It also gives the thousands of people who may not have a lot of money, but would like to support projects like these, the opportunity to do so. The Freakers didn’t get their project funded by one or two wealthy investors, but more than 2,000 people giving what they could to help further someone’s dream. Who doesn’t want to have the chance to do that?
I find myself constantly with ideas that “would be great, if…” but there doesn’t have to be an ellipses at the end of that sentence. It can read “will be great when” thanks to crowdfunding. Creative projects, unique business ideas, charitable organizations, whatever your passion is can literally be made your reality with the right leverage of social media. The Freakers did incredible things to earn this money. They didn’t just open a Kickstarter account and hope for the best, they put an entire campaign together all using social media. They produced videos expressing gratitude for the progress and explaining how they were going to reach their goal. They blew up Facebook and Twitter with updates constantly. They even threw a party for the entire city of Wilmington because they were able to raise $1,000 in 24 hours. They promised freakers and tee shirts and signed water bottles to contributors. But above all, the Freakers succeeded because they persevered.
I was heartbroken last weekend when, with only a few days left and several thousand shy, it looked like the Freakers weren’t going to make it. Without reaching their goal of $48,500, they wouldn’t get anything. But they didn’t give up. Even in the last 24 hours they were pushing and pushing to get that last bit of money in. So you can imagine the sheer joy when yesterday I saw they had raised $62,000 in total for their project. Their triumph nearly brought me to tears. You can see the spirit inside Zach Crain in any of the videos they produced. This is his baby, his passion and he loves it and is good at it. And I know personally that their marketing guru, Lauren Krakauskas, has one of the brightest lights inside her of anyone I’ve ever known. She shone that light onto this project and because of it, this determined group of young people is now going to be able to pursue their dream. Social media facilitated their path, but their spirit drove them and I am in awe of what they have accomplished. Congratualtions! Go Get ‘Em Freakers!
Multimedia Monday
Today’s photo is inspired by Snoop Dogg announcing his intention of pitching a hip-hop version of American Idol, which I can only hope will be social media heavy. God knows if he does it, I’ll be blowing up Twitter with my thoughts and I’m sure I won’t be alone. Good luck, Doggfather, I believe in you.
Also, just a word of advice Mr. Dogg, you may want to get in touch with whomever does Seacrest’s nails and Daly’s botox. Just so you’ll fit in 😀