A WORLD WE DARE TO IMAGINE PART 3

ORGANIZATION: Social Media for Social Change

SMSC is an organization that plans social media campaigns for social change. We will achieve this by bring together the social media world, celebrities, their fans, and events that help raise money and awareness for various charities. These campaigns will include social media challenges, collaborative events with artists, and much more that help each charity raise awareness and funds for its cause.

Our mission at SMSC is to bring together bright minds from around the world and create a team that will break the Internet for social change. Social media charity campaigns that go viral are seen and heard all around the world. The chances are you have seen at least one video of “The Ice Bucket Challenge.” If you haven’t, go check it out. If you have, then you are part of the millions that have seen it, and possibly participated in doing it. But this challenge isn’t the first social media charity campaign to go viral, and based upon the success of these other online movements, it certainly won’t be the last.  This is where our organization comes in and doesn’t let it be the last. Our goal is to bring together ideas that will constantly get people’s attention, and social media is our golden ticket. 

I am passionate about the work that my organization will do because I simply love helping. I may not have all the resources or money in the world to help each charity, but I can use what I know in my personal life to contribute to society. Social Media marketing is what I enjoy and what I am good at; therefore I can use my skills to contribute in making the world a better place. I am passionate about this because I am bring together the two things I love, charity and social media. The world would be a better place if everyone contributed knowledge and ideas rather than wait for someone popular to come and do it. My organization will allow people to be apart of something bigger than them by spreading awareness. My organization is unique because it teams up a powerful group that can use the power of the Internet to be heard. Having celebrity support, getting their fans involved, raising money, and bring awareness to social change is what we are passionate about at our organization.

Anima Mundi Development Partners should support our organization because SMSC is unique in that it is a middleman organization that satisfies all parties involved. The artists are getting credibility for participating and hopefully donating as well. The fans are helping a charity and enjoying their concert or special event. And the charities are getting awareness and funds to continue their aid to the less fortunate. The ultimate goal here is to make a positive impact on the world through our organization, and we will be doing that by utilizing modern day social media that lets us reach millions of people. We are a successful organization because we create a chain effect that spreads love and a helping hand rather than hate and violence.  

A WORLD WE DARE TO IMAGINE Part 1 of 3

My first step in making the world a better place…

When I think of this question so many ideas run through my mind. I start thinking about ending world hunger, poverty, racism, sexism, violence, hate, and pretty much anything negative that we hear in the media everyday. Time after time individuals and organizations have tried to end these world problems, but unfortunately they still exist. What is motivating is that people keep going, no matter how many times it fails, there are people willing to dedicate their lives to making the world a better place. 

Thinking about how I can help, while being realistic, I believe starting with social media in today’s society is a great way to help make the world a better place. If we create a movement that is “cool” and get celebrities involved, that would form a trend. Imagine a world that people think it’s cool to visit a shelter and help or donate food and clothing. I know people already do this, but my point is to make it a bigger movement. Maybe start an organization that involves inviting artists, actors, and other well know celebrities to make guest appearances at some charity events. Social media is the best way to get people’s attention, so with the help of the right people we can create a movement that involves artists and their fans working together to bring awareness to things like poverty and world hunger. One man can’t change the world, but a few celebrities and social media can. These celebrities have so much influence on the general public, so I believe social media is the perfect outlet to use to motivate and inspire people to make a change.

Some Ideas I had in mind:

•  Create a name for the organization that stands out and popular.
•  Having a trending hashtag on social media so celebrities can use to promote our movement.
•  Make apparel and accessories to spread awareness- have celebrities wear it and give away stuff on their social media accounts.
•  Have events at lower income neighborhoods to attract attention- if people actually see the struggle in these neighborhoods on social media, then maybe they’ll help.
• Do everything possible to have these issues pop up on social media everyday so it stays fresh in people’s mind.

Level X Apparel- Game plan

I did't really know what to blog about so I decided to use this time to brain storm some of my plans for my clothing brand. I been working on my brand for 8 months now and learn something new about the industry everyday. The name Level X came from my personal training company that I transformed into a apparel brand because I love fashion. The X in roman numeral represents the number 10, so Level X (10) is like saying max level. Indicating maximum effort, performance, or whatever people want to apply it to. It is a fitness brand but also a lifestyle brand, meaning we work on promoting healthy living but with a fashion twist so people can enjoy our apparel not only when training, but also when just living life. When I just started this thing I designed one shirt and one hat, now 8 months later I am working on about 10 more products to add to my collection. The support from my family, friends, and fiancé has been amazing and I feel so blessed.
This past week I been busy trying to find new business partners for my cut and sew production that are local so I can deal with them directly. It's such a headache doing business overseas, the communication is always lost. I rather pay more but know the people I'm working with.
I am also looking for new website designers and graphic designers for the company so I've been handling that this past month. I posted an ad on the USC connect website so hopefully we find students from SC so they can get experience through our company. If you're reading this and know anyone contact me! HAHAHA!
For the upcoming months:
We are working on designing our summer collection.
Meeting with manufactures locally and overseas to get an update on production and cost.
Come up with new advertising strategies, and continue growing existing ones.
Find new Athletes for sponsorships, and work with our media team for photo/video shoots with our models.
And finally, Launch the new collection!!!

Genius of Money Post 3- Interview with an Anonymous Donor

I chose to summarize the Anonymous Donor (AD) interview because I respect the fact that this person does so much for the community yet desires no recognition. This is a true sign of philanthropy because the process becomes all about the giving and not about the giver.

We see from the start that this person comes from a wealthier Jewish family that is not new to the business world and non-profits. This family structure helped because the AD was about to soak in information from his father about the business world. Simple conversations at the dinner table and on the phone can go a log way for children that are always ready to soak in any information provided to them. AD explains that philanthropy is not her priority, as she rather focuses on motherhood and farming, but the world is always in need and she goes everything possible to stop any suffering. “Bodhicitta” explains an enlightened mind, which is the reason why AD does what she does. To have a positive life and attitude, AD turns to meditation, prayer, and other practices. Spiritual practices often help people clear up their thoughts in order to tackle the day with a rested mind. It is interesting that AD’s family success was a result of immigration and hardship. They were good at grain trade but were Jews in Russia, so they had to prove themselves worthy enough to make trade in the main lands. They could not own land but found ways to be influential in society at the time through commerce.

GENIUS PART 2 "A Topography of Transactions" - Chapter 1 “Economics and the Presence of Philanthropy”

The main focus of this chapter was the importance of philanthropy. The economy can still function without philanthropy, but without it we start seeing non-profits and other services suffer. Some of these things include education, research, and art. Without philanthropy they would pretty much be headed for extinction. Bloom argues that, in traditional classic economics we cannot find philanthropy and the art/science of giving.
Philanthropy is not only good for the economic cycle but it also supports social capital. Boom argues this point by saying throughout history human kindness has gone a long way. We can find many cases in history that money was not needed to create happiness in our society. Besides money we can always share care, knowledge, imagination, and inspiration. Boom says that our society does not value these things as much as money, so it has been left to philanthropy to make gifting an important aspect of society. It is not always about getting something in return, when you gift, the return is immeasurable. Boom's point is that, through gifting we learn more about life (education, research, and art) that can then lead to economic renewal. “The logic here is one of functional integration rather than cause and effect.”
Social finance explains how money and finance supports human initiative and the evolution of new communities. In the global economy, social finance shows that humans are fully interdependent. An example of this is businesses making charitable distribution of a portion of their profits. This gifting creates a whole economic cycle, which leads to an improved and sustainable future.

The Genius of Money

Chapter 6: An Inventory of Polarities

In Chapter 6 of The Genius of Money, the author displays an artwork by Quentin Metsys of The Money Lender and His Wife. Within the painting there are several symbols of the social and religious realm of the time. It is mentioned that the painting is from the renaissance era, and it perfectly portrays many different social features of its time. In the portrait, the man is seen folding the money and the woman is seen with a religious piece. This reflects the societal view of women’s incapability to control money and finances during this time. The reading then explains the lessons that are meant to be shown throughout the painting. This artwork symbolizes a common Christian man and his wife with a representation of their daily lives. The details in the painting, such as the crucifix window reflection, show both the author’s creativity and reason for the painting.

One vital lesson behind the painting is that each exchange of coin had a story to tell about the “issuer, provenance, and value system.” For the money lender and his wife, money represented judgment. Their devotions, however, fell to the church. The author uses this example to show how times have changed and people now see banks as the new high priesthood. The fact that the woman’s attention is with the man and not her religious book shows the lust for wealth and the material world over the desire for devotion and the holy. The painting seems like a warning that the society is in danger with such values in place. The chapter ends with the explanation of the old man and child in the background. This is a representation of wisdom and acculturation being passed on to the next generation. Overall, this chapter helps us think about our own values and morals as well as how we are the example to our younger generations.

Chapter 14: The Touchstone and the Labyrinth

The main focus of this chapter is the real value of money. It really makes the reader think about what money is really worth when the author compares it to a touchstone and a labyrinth. Money makes the invisible visible because it brings together value with material goods. The touchstone and the labyrinth denote material meaning and purpose and are metaphors just, like money. The touchstone symbolizes the value of money; it is supposed to measure the value and the purity of the money. When money was backed by gold or when money was actually made of things from the earth, this analogy makes more sense, but now it is a lot harder to measure the purity of money. The Labyrinth is supposed to symbolize a person's journey while moving through life.

Bloom talks about meaning and explains it by saying; meaning is taken in as understanding. Then that understanding is turned into action. When talking about money, the “meaning” is actually referring to value. This value is present when people agree upon it, but has no meaning when not talked about. The stones from the labyrinths represent the currency, which then gives meaning to the journey that the path signifies. Bloom then compares this to the history of gold, and how gold came to have such a great value in our society. Gold served as the symbol of power and wealth in Egypt, which carried on to surrounding land as something valuable and meaningful.

In recent years, money is not represented the same as before. It is not a physical exchange anymore because it has really become invisible and speedily. With banks, ATMs, online services, and more, money has no real experiential value such as the touchstone and labyrinth. Money now and in the future will become increasingly “indistinguishable” from the rest of our experiences in the world.

The Good News

Honesty I didn’t know what to write about until I got a phone call today around three in the afternoon. It was my mom on the phone crying, so I immediately panicked because I am at work and had no idea what was going on. After a few seconds and scaring the hell out of me I noticed my mom’s cry wasn’t from sadness, but from excitement. I immediately knew what it was about because we’ve been waiting for this day for a long time. For 23 years to be exact. The good news she told me was that the Armenian embassy finally gave my dad an interview date to review his paper work so he can finally come to the US! It’s been a long road for my family to get to this point and it feels great being this much closer for all of us to finally be together. My dad has never been to the US and I haven’t seen him in over 16 years so this is a huge deal for my family and I. We struggled for many years for all of us to be together but it seemed like something always went wrong and changed our plans.
I came to the US to live with my grandma and my sister when I was just 7 years old because my parents were not able to care for us because of financial hardship. My sister and I grew up with my grandma while my parents were stuck back home in Armenia and Greece for years. My mom finally got all her approved paper work and came to the US two years ago, but unfortunately my dad was not able to come. But now it finally seems like things are falling back into place.
I wanted to write about this because this experience has not been easy for me and I realized how hard it must be for my parents. I am already an adult and have my life planned out and will soon start my own family. What makes me happy is that my parents will have each other to grow old with and watch their children grow with their own families. They missed my childhood but I’m glad they’ll see my adulthood. Over the years they have sacrificed a lot for my sister and I, and this is what motivates me to succeed in life. I want to give back to my parents so they know how much I appreciate them. My goal is to catch up on all those lost years that we spent apart. I want them to relax and enjoy life without any worries, I think they deserve at lease that.