We know he has a superb voice but in our latest YouTube World View interview, John Legend shows he also has serious heart as he talks about his major passion — education for all.
In this 30-minute interview, YouTube partner Josh Sundquist asks your top-voted, and pretty difficult, questions, including those about whether charter schools really work, how to recruit college grads into teaching positions rather than corporate gigs and how to balance the importance of work and school in lower-income families. Watch the full interview here:
For more information about how you can get involved with John’s own “Show Me Campaign,” visit www.showmecampaign.org, and for great educational content year-round, from guitar lessons to astronomy lectures, check out YouTube EDU. Ramya Raghavan, News and Politics Manager, recently watched “2011 Commencement Address by Denzel Washington."
Each year, the global sex slavery market generates $32 billion in profit, while the average age of American girls who are forced into prostitution is only thirteen. Today, some of the biggest celebrities in Hollywood are speaking out against this injustice, and they’re turning to YouTube to make sure the world hears them.
Through the DNA Foundation, an organization spearheaded by Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore, a number of stars from Jessica Biel to Edward Norton, Justin Timberlake to Jason Mraz, are launching the “Real Men Don’t Buy Girls” video campaign. Watch the first episodes from the campaign here:
The campaign also makes use of YouTube annotations to help you join the movement and action against child sex slavery.
In 2007, organizers in Sydney came up with the idea for Earth Hour, a specific time when local residents would conserve energy by collectively turning off their lights. Since then, Earth Hour has grown into a global movement. In 2010, people in 128 countries voluntarily switched off their lights to take part in this event and demonstrate their commitment to the Earth. Learn more:
Earth Hour 2011 will take place on Saturday, March 26, from 8:30 p.m. - 9:30 p.m. (your local time) and this year YouTube is joining the movement by “turning the lights down” on the site. During this hour, the YouTube watch page will be darkened. If you prefer the normal watch page experience, there will be the option to turn the light switch back “on”.
Remember, you can also participate in this global event by signing up at www.earthhour.org and turning off your own lights at 8:30 p.m.
We know creative people on YouTube love turning an idea into a brilliant production. We also know they want their work to matter.
With this in mind, we’ve partnered with the 58th Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity on Good Work, a new program that gives creative professionals the opportunity to use their skills to make a difference and gain recognition for their work. Learn more in this video:
Through Good Work, nonprofits from all over the world can submit a brief for a video ad promoting their cause. These organizations often lack the resources and time to create a truly great ad for their cause -- and this is where you can help. Pick a brief you want to work on from the Good Work briefs gallery and make an ad for that organization. Your ad can be inspirational, thought-provoking, funny, or serious -- just make sure it’s also innovative and compulsively watchable.
If you succeed, you might be strutting your stuff at this year’s Cannes Festival - five talented people will win a trip to Cannes and have their work showcased there. Could it be you?
The deadline to submit your entry is May 9, 2011. A jury of top industry experts chaired by Craig Davis, Chief Creative Officer Publicis Mojo and founder of Brandkarma, will announce the winners on May 21, 2011. Supriya Sharma, Product Marketing Manager, recently watched “WaterAid Cracker Challenge.”
Diposting oleh
Greatest on Senin, 14 Februari 2011
If you’re a non-profit organization who has created one or more amazing videos in the past year, we have good news for you. For the second year in a row, YouTube is teaming up with See3 Communications to present the DoGooder Nonprofit Video Awards, a celebration of the best non-profit video on the site. Whether you created a high-definition documentary about street slums in India or shot a quirky cellphone video of rescue dogs at your animal shelter, we encourage you to submit your video at www.youtube.com/nonprofitvideoawards.
We’ll award prizes like $2500 grants from the Case Foundation, Flip Cams, free admission to the Nonprofit Technology Conference, and a spotlight on the YouTube homepage to small, medium and large organizations, plus a special award for the “Best Thrifty Video”. To give you a sense of what works, here are the finalists’ videos from last year’s competition:
The deadline to enter is March 2, 2010 and you must be a member of the YouTube Nonprofit Program at the time of judging, to enter. Good luck!
Ramya Raghavan, News and Politics Manager, recently watched "Tahrir Square."
Diposting oleh
Greatest on Selasa, 14 Desember 2010
*Update, December 15 at 17:15 PT: The 48 hour period of Project for Awesome starts at 9am PT / noon ET on Friday, December 17, and the live stream will take place from 4pm to 7pm PT on Saturday, December 18.*
Three years ago, the vlogbrothers Hank and John kick-started an initiative called Project for Awesome, which called for YouTube users across the world to “take over YouTube” by creating videos that promote their favorite charities and causes. Project for Awesome built on its initial success again in 2008, resulting in thousands of user submissions and a homepage takeover, as people around YouTube took to the web to make the world more awesome for the holidays. Hank and John upped the ante last year by increasing community participation, making Project for Awesome (#p4a) one of the top trending topics on Twitter in December 2009.
Project for Awesome 2010 officially begins on December 17 at 12:01 AM, when users are encouraged to upload videos for their favorite causes and charities. To celebrate the end of Project for Awesome on Saturday, December 18, join us for a live show on YouTube at www.youtube.com/p4a. We’re teaming up with the vlogbrothers, some of YouTube’s biggest stars like daneboe of Annoying Orange, Michelle Phan, Phil DeFranco, Michael Buckley, Shay Carl, and iJustine, and prominent nonprofit organizations to broadcast a four hour live show from 4 - 8pm PST. The live show involves a wide array of entertainment: from musical performances to user-generated games to special moments that only YouTube can bring. Moreover, this year, Project for Awesome will focus on raising awareness and encouraging action in four areas: innovation in education, health, poverty, and children’s wish-giving.
And, as in past years, we’re encouraging the global YouTube community to create videos on behalf of these charities and the causes you’re most passionate about. Post them to your site, tweet them, put them on Facebook - do whatever you can to spread the awesome this holiday season. We look forward to seeing what you create, and hope you join us online this Saturday for a ton of awesomeness!
Margaret Healy, Strategic Partner Manager, recently watched "Zeitgeist 2010".
Eyeglasses, the bicycle, the latex condom...What everyday products or services have changed the world as we know it and solved some of the world’s biggest problems?
For the past month, this question has been posed through a website called Search for the Obvious. From the Internet to the ironing board, users from around the world have flocked to Search for the Obvious to add the products and services that are their ideal of elegant, problem-solving design. A panel of judges from media and design has been evaluating the contributions, and a few of their favorites have been featured on the site. Search for the Obvious is run by Acumen Fund, a nonprofit venture fund investing in entrepreneurial solutions to global poverty.
Today, Search for the Obvious launched a challenge that dares videographers, designers and creatives of all kinds to come up with the craftiest campaign to promote one of the judges’ favorite picks: sewers. Succinctly put: “Sanitation is sexy: make it obvious” – through a video, advertisement, catchy tagline or other form of media, participants are being asked to demonstrate why sanitation is the most important issue currently facing the developing world. (For some inspiration on creative video campaigns, view this video for "The Girl Effect"). Submissions are due by Sunday, November 21, at 11:59 p.m. PT.
The winning video(s) will be featured on our homepage in early December. Winners will also be featured through major media sources, such as Design Observer, and will be recognized by Acumen Fund as champion marketers of the world’s problems and most useful solutions.
So, do you have what it takes to search for the obvious? Challenge yourself and find out.
Diposting oleh
Greatest on Selasa, 07 September 2010
Today on our homepage, we’re featuring a new batch of StoryCorps videos animated by the Rauch Brothers. If you want to be moved by the human experience, watch them now.
StoryCorps is a massive oral history project during which 50,000 everyday people have already interviewed friends and family. A handful of these are transformed by the Rauch Brothers, who look to animate universal stories that capture the joys, struggles and extraordinary lives of regular people. Here, in our ongoing series of Creator’s Corner posts, the animators take you along their creative journey and name the YouTube users who in turn inspire them.
1) What is your process? We receive an edited voice track from StoryCorps' Peabody Award-winning production team, which we then research. Time, place and personality of the main characters are all important. After digesting what we've learned, we determine which details to leave in, and which to take out in order to tell the story in a clear, engaging, and honest way.
After the initial research, we create character designs, a storyboard, and rough background layouts. When those stages are complete, we move on to animation and final background layouts. The last step is to paint everything and pull it all together in the computer.
2) Sounds like “Danny & Annie” was the first time you met your subjects in person. Was that unusual? Whenever possible, it's very important to us to meet the storytellers in our animation. It gives us a chance to get input from them, and helps add authenticity to the final piece. "Danny & Annie" wasn't the first time we met one of our storytellers — we met the Littmans while working on "Q&A." Seeing them interact was important for Tim (who draws all the animated characters), because it helped him capture some of their mannerisms in animation.
"Danny & Annie" was the first time we had the opportunity to actually visit the home of one of our subjects. It was particularly important to get good reference photos of their Brooklyn apartment because the majority of the story takes place there. We also referenced some of their wedding photos in the final animation. Through that process, we were able to add authenticity that reflects the documentary nature of the original recording.
3) How close do you try to get to the person's true likeness? We use photos for reference as we work on character designs, but we find that people are more than just the face one sees on the surface. They have a personality and a spirit that isn't necessarily captured in a photograph. Luckily, StoryCorps' terrific recordings of these voices and stories help tell us a lot about what we can't see in a photo. As StoryCorps founder Dave Isay says, the voice is like a window to the soul. Focusing on that aspect of the people in these stories has been the most effective way for us to capture something that feels honest and real.
4) What do you hope your work conveys? We would like this work to serve as a reminder and a celebration of our shared humanity.
5) Who on YouTube is making great animation? Pes - Pes uses everyday objects in unique and unexpected ways to tell short, funny stories that leave you wanting more. Blu - Animated graffiti takes over the world! Fran Krause - The quirky characters and stories that Fran develops with his brother, Will, are always fun. Nina Paley - Nina tells entertaining stories and makes them freely available to watch, download, and remix. She is an animator perfectly suited for the age of YouTube. Bill Plympton - The King of Indie Animation still reigns supreme.
Diposting oleh
Greatest on Minggu, 29 Agustus 2010
Five years ago today, Hurricane Katrina made landfall on the Gulf Coast region, crashing through the levees that held the waters of the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet at bay from the city of New Orleans. Overnight, 80 percent of New Orleans was submerged. To this day, only a fraction of residents in the hardest hit areas, like the Lower Ninth Ward, have returned to their homes.
Today, in partnership with ABC 26 (WGNO), a local television station in New Orleans, we commemorate the anniversary of Katrina with a selection of videos on our homepage from New Orleans residents.
Some videos showed how much work is left to be done, like this one from the Ninth Ward, narrated by a resident returning home to survey the damage five years later:
Others discovered relics left behind but not forgotten:
And some chose to honor their city and its resilient spirit through song:
If you lived through Hurricane Katrina, we still welcome your reflections. Please submit your videos using YouTube Direct on ABC 26’s website. A selection of videos will also be featured on abc26.com, ABC 26’s YouTube channel, and broadcast on ABC 26 (WGNO).
We're always inspired by the people who use YouTube as a way to document how the other half lives, and Mark Horvath is a great example. As the founder of Invisible People. tv, a project that encourages homeless people across the United States to tell their stories on YouTube, he has sparked a discussion on the site about poverty and hunger. Mark's videos are a raw and real depiction of what it's like to live in a tent city, under an overpass, or within a cardboard box. Today, we're featuring a few of these videos on the YouTube homepage, and we’re pleased for Mark to speak further about his work right here.
1) Why did you start Invisible People. tv, and specifically, Road Trip U. S. A. ? Sixteen years ago, I had a very good job in the television industry. Fifteen years ago, I became homeless, living on Hollywood Boulevard. I rebuilt my life to a point where I had a three-bedroom house and a 780 credit score, then in 2007 the economy took a nosedive. Like many Americans, I found myself unemployed, living off my credit cards, and hoping for the best. The best never came, but several layoffs — along with foreclosure on my house — did.
By November 2008, I found myself once again laid off. I was mentally and emotionally exhausted and, to be honest, I was scared of once again living on the streets of Hollywood. I could see homelessness all around me, but I couldn’t bear to look. I was turning away because I felt their pain.
Don't waste a good crisis. It’s a simple concept and it’s how InvisiblePeople. tv started. For the most part I had lost everything but some furniture, my car, a box of photos, laptop, small camera, and my iPhone. My laptop could not cut video because it had a 5400 drive. Videos need to have a music bed, nice graphics, b-roll and be well-produced. But after looking at what I didn't have and all the problems that were stopping me, I decided to just use what I had. I registered a domain, changed the header on a WordPress theme, grabbed my camera, and started to interview people.
I honestly didn't think anyone would even view the videos. I was really doing it to release something that was deep down inside me, and to be candid, to keep busy. It was a really dark time and InvisiblePeople. tv gave me a purpose.
I'll never forget going into the first tent city. It was 400 yards in a wooded area where no help could easily arrive if I found myself in trouble. I questioned my sanity walking in there with a camera and a bag of socks. One smart thing I did was blast what I was doing all over social media so people could feel like they were right there with me. That day my life changed. People started to tweet me encouragement and all kinds of support. The InvisiblePeople. tv road trip was born.
Last year I traveled 11,236 miles around the U.S. in a three-month period. I went under bridges, into tent cities, and walked through many shelters and rundown hotels. There was no way anyone could foresee the impact. I became a catalyst for change in several communities. Housing programs were started; feeding programs were started; 50 homeless kids who could not go to school because they didn't have shoes suddenly had brand new shoes within an hour of my visit thanks to social media. A farmer even donated 40 acres of land that is now even being used to supplement low income families in a local school. I could go on and on.
2) Do you consider your work citizen reporting, activism or a combination of both? I am a storyteller. I also empower people to tell their own stories. Not sure you could frame me as a citizen journalist or activist even though there are elements to both in what I do. Beth Kanter coins the term "Free Agent" in her book “The Networked Nonprofit.” I like that.
3) Is there one story that has particularly inspired you to keep doing what you're doing? Last year I met Angela, who is living under a bridge in Atlanta and she changed me. She is dying under that bridge...
When I asked what was being done to help her, the response I received was, "We bring her sandwiches.” Sandwiches are not enough. Up to that point I thought that people should do whatever they can do to help – even if it’s just baking cookies. After meeting Angela I realized people need housing, jobs and health services. So maybe your support level is just baking cookies. That's fine. But don't just randomly hand them out. Take your cookies to an organization that is providing housing, jobs and health services.
4) You've collected hundreds of interviews with homeless people around the world. Why do you think folks are willing to talk to you about their experiences? Are there any special tactics you use to draw out their stories? The #1 rule is: respect everyone. I never force a story. In fact, the best stories are the ones I never get on camera. That's kind of why I don't feel citizen journalist fits me. I honestly put people before the story.
I also use socks to break the ice. Socks on the streets are like gold. Almost all organizations, churches or groups will feed homeless people. In most parks where homeless hang out churches will feed the same people all day long, but rarely are socks handed out. By handing a homeless person a clean pair of socks, even without saying a word, they know I know a thing or two about street life.
Once someone agrees to an interview and the camera is recording, I simply do my best to be a good listener. That's not always easy when my heart gets wrecked.
5) At the end of each video, you ask your subject, "If you had three wishes, what would they be?" What are your three wishes? Back years ago, working as a TV producer, if an interview went dry I would distract and refocus by asking people their three wishes. When I first started InvisiblePeople. tv, I did it once in a while. I didn't know the impact that question had on the viewers. Then last year, when I spoke at the University of Arkansas, the organizer secretly had everyone in the audience write on large, white poster board their three wishes. When I was done speaking, they all held them up to show me. Talk about a powerful memory! From that moment on I have asked everyone what their three wishes are.
My first wish would be that people really see the reality of homelessness; second, that we develop communities and work as a team to solve this social crisis. The third? I would like security and normalcy in my life, but with a name like Hardly Normal, it's never going to happen!
Please always remember: the homeless people you’ll ignore today were much like you not so long ago.
Five years ago, on August 29, Hurricane Katrina began battering the Gulf Coast region, destroying homes, schools and businesses, and submerging the city of New Orleans under water. The deadly hurricane claimed over a thousand lives, left hundreds of thousands without homes, and caused tens of billions of dollars worth of damage, amounting to one of the worst natural disasters in the history of the United States. Despite these challenges, the resilient spirit of the Big Easy has helped the city and its residents rebound and rebuild.
In 9 days we will commemorate the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina with a collection of videos on the YouTube homepage created by New Orleans area residents. In partnership with ABC 26 (WGNO), a local television station in New Orleans, we invite Gulf Coast region residents to reflect on the five years since Katrina and submit videos using YouTube Direct on ABC 26’s website. A selection of videos will also be featured on abc26.com, ABC 26’s YouTube channel, and broadcast on ABC 26.
Diposting oleh
Greatest on Selasa, 10 Agustus 2010
This is the first post in the “BizBlog Series,” which was formally its own blog. Check back each week to see articles about partners and advertisers on YouTube.
When the end goal of your online marketing is philanthropy, you have to take a unique approach. We’ve tried to do our part by providing the tools needed for the task through the YouTube Nonprofit Program. One nonprofit that’s leveraged these offerings effectively is Causecast.org. We sat down with their CEO, Ryan Scott, to find out how video has amplified their work.
1) What role does video play in the development of Causecast (both the site, and in campaigns created for your clients)? Video has always been a core component for Causecast. We covered red carpet events and fundraisers, interviewed celebrities, and created special campaigns like the "Milk" typographic piece, which was commissioned by Focus Features. We also had an ongoing video project called "State Your Change," which was a video wall created by user-generated uploads about the changes people wanted to see in the world, which was then submitted to the newly-elected President Obama. After a year and a half, we've found that we work best when focusing on individual campaigns that are directly tied to a single organization or brand that’s connected to a single website or cause. We can (and do) create content for all causes and nonprofits, but each one individually should be focused on one clear goal.
2) Can you provide an example of how you've utilized video in impactful and relevant ways for your clients? Explain why you decided to utilize video over other media and how YouTube was specifically involved in the campaign. One of our successes was a project called STILLERSTRONG, which we helped create with Ben Stiller and his team. The campaign started as a project to build a school in the central plateau of Haiti and video was used as the main medium to drive awareness and donations to the Stillerstrong platform. Ben applied his unique brand of humor to communicate his message to engage his fellow philanthropists and celebrity friends to publicly support his cause. Lance Armstrong, Owen Wilson and former President Clinton got involved and were part of the video campaign. Ben even did a video with Robert De Niro specifically urging Ashton Kutcher to re-tweet the video, which he did.
We used YouTube annotations to incorporate buttons into the video that allowed people to perform functions, putting links directly into the video. People could donate, post to Facebook, Tweet out the video, buy the STILLERSTRONG HEADBAND, and even upload a video comment. Annotations and the benefits you get with a nonprofit account on YouTube were hugely helpful, saving us a great deal of development work.
3) How has the role of video changed in the past 10 years, with regard specifically to cause marketing? One word: cost. Ten years ago, there were a handful of websites that had streaming video of any kind. Now there are many options (probably too many), and fortunately most of them are free and very versatile. You can get a decent video HD video camera for $150. And hosting is free. So, there are very few reasons why a nonprofit should not develop and utilize video is some way. The popularity of social networks, which has grown significantly in the last five years, has made sharing videos much easier. More people can learn about your cause through a short video than through landing onto a text-only website. Nonprofits have used video in very effective ways to ask for donations, recruit volunteers, or contact their local representatives, but sometimes the most moving videos are when we see the volunteers in action or how donations are utilized on the field. This closes the donor / volunteer / organization loop.
4) In your opinion, what are recent examples of organizations or campaigns that have utilized video in new or innovative ways? One video uploaded by the World Food Program in this last year came up with a simple statistic: approximately 1 billion people are active online and yet over 1 billion people are chronically hungry. The video was 60 seconds long. In that amount of time, 145 million emails were sent, $43,000 was spent on eBay, 2,000 tweets were sent, and 10 children died of hunger. Pretty tough to ignore those numbers. They had a simple story to tell, and they kept it simple. They linked the video directly to their donation page, which lists how much money it takes to feed a baby, student or adult for one year.
5) How can/are nonprofits utilizing compelling videos to maximize their reach and funding? What are some tips for nonprofits struggling to create video content on their organization? The best videos are the simplest: one idea, one cause, one action. You can upload an unlimited number of videos for free, so there's no point to throw in the kitchen sink. Also, viewers have a very short attention span, so presenting too many ideas dilutes the power of all of them. The videos we like most are when volunteers are interviewed on camera or nonprofits show the environment in the field where they are actively distributing or rebuilding. We need to see how the organization is making positive change. Charity Water makes some beautiful videos of their well drilling. Invisible People has a massive library of interviews of homeless people telling their stories. AARP made a video of very inspiring words featuring only scrolling text, and it still gets passed around (and re-made) three years later. Videos are very easy to create and very, very easy to share, and we haven't yet created as strong of a mental "spam filter" for video as we have for emails. Just be sure to keep it simple and direct.
The most difficult moment in Shakira’s musical career? Her thoughts on her song being picked as the official World Cup song instead of an African artist? The one question she’s always wanted to answer? You asked, and today, Shakira answers.
Last week, we gave you 48 hours to submit questions for the Colombian songstress and promised that the top-voted questions would be posed in a special YouTube interview with her. Proving that Shakira truly is a global sensation, fans from over 40 countries -- from Egypt to Venezuela, the Netherlands to South Africa -- submitted 2,500 questions, put forth several impressive Waka Waka dance renditions, and cast 40,000 votes on which questions should be asked.
In the final interview, which is featured on today’s homepage, Shakira fills you in on whom she’s rooting for in the World Cup (she’s absolutely hooked on football, she says), which of her own songs are her favorite (her new album holds a few of them), and the experiences she had as a child that led her to become a steadfast champion for universal education. Watch the full interview here:
Can’t get enough Shakira? Visit her official YouTube channel here for more music and dance exclusives, or go to www.1goal.org to join Shakira in her quest to provide education for all children.
It’s been 71 days since the offshore drilling rig Deepwater Horizon exploded in the Gulf of Mexico, causing the largest offshore oil spill in U.S. history. Since then, we’ve used our platforms to make sure that people can watch and participate in real time, access all the latest information on the crisis and response and share concerns through various programs and initiatives.
Now we’re teaming up with PBS NewsHour to take you to BP headquarters in Houston for an exclusive interview with Bob Dudley, President and CEO of BP’s Gulf Coast Restoration Organization. In a live session moderated by the PBS NewsHour’s Ray Suarez, Mr. Dudley will respond directly to your questions.
Now is your chance to ask BP questions on accountability, the clean-up plan, recovery efforts in the Gulf Region, environmental impact, the status of the relief well drilling, the role of the U.S. government, the future of offshore drilling and of BP as a company.
Using Google Moderator on youtube.com/citizentube, submit your questions and vote the best ones to the top. Then join us for the live interview tomorrow, Thursday, July 1, at 3:30 pm ET/12:30 pm PT on CitizenTube. Portions of the interview will also be aired Thursday evening on the PBS NewsHour and available on YouTube.
Early on, we partnered with NewsHour to bring you a live stream of the oil gushing into the waters of the Gulf. On June 15, we streamed President Obama’s Oval Office address on the oil spill crisis on CitizenTube. After the President’s speech, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs answered questions submitted by YouTube users, who cast nearly 200,000 votes to select the top questions from 7,000+ submitted.
We hope that these various opportunities to engage and participate in a current event help you and fellow citizens stay more informed and have your voice heard.
Olivia Ma, YouTube News Manager, and Ginny Hunt, Google Public Sector Manager
She’s a global music star with hypnotic dance moves, a philanthropist and a YouTube phenom (her “Waka Waka” video, made for the 2010 World Cup, has over 32 million views). But now, Shakira is opening herself up to your questions.
Beginning today, you can ask her any question you’d like -- about her music, her work supporting education for all children through the 1Goal campaign and her own Barefoot Foundation, her World Cup stint, or anything else. The top questions will be posed to the Colombian songstress in an interview next week.
Here’s more from the lady herself:
Questions should be submitted in either video (preferable) or text to www.youtube.com/join1goal before midnight PT on Saturday, June 26. The full interview will be posted to the same channel and featured on the YouTube homepage next week.
We launched YouTube Video Volunteers last June at the National Conference on Volunteering and Service (NCVS) to help nonprofits who struggle with creating great video, engage the passionate YouTube community, and introduce the idea that the Internet can be a powerful force for volunteerism. One year later, the YouTube community has created over 500 videos for nonprofits working on a vast array of issues from health to human rights, animal welfare to the arts -- and these videos have received millions of views.
This month, we’re teaming up with a true YouTube veteran, Miley Cyrus, to celebrate the organizations that devote themselves to promoting service and volunteerism on the ground and online; organizations like our partner Service Nation, Miley’s own org Get Ur Good On, mentoring orgs like Big Brothers/Big Sisters and countless others. To find one that you’d like to make a video for, visit www.youtube.com/videovolunteers. Then submit it by June 23 for the chance to be featured on the YouTube homepage during this year’s National Conference on Volunteering and Service at the end of the month.
Here’s more from Miley about this round of Video Volunteers:
Thanks for contributing your time and video skills to making the world, and YouTube, a better place. Together, we can make sure nonprofits everywhere continue to be recognized for their amazing work.
Diane von Furstenberg is a legendary fashion designer, and she’s also a big believer in celebrating women. With Mother’s Day around the corner, we’re thrilled that she’s serving as the Video Volunteers guest curator for this month, and asking you to create videos for organizations that support women.
Every day on YouTube, we view women standing up for what they believe in and challenging inequality: from this Saudi Arabian woman driving a car as an act of protest; to Queen Rania of Jordan combating stereotypes of the Middle East. Now we want you to make your voice heard. Create a video about your favorite organization that supports women -- whether it promotes equal pay for equal work, helps women run for elected office, or furthers efforts to outlaw female genital mutilation -- and upload it to the Video Volunteers channel.
The top three videos will appear on the YouTube homepage at the end of the month, next to Diane von Furstenberg’s video for Vital Voices. Hear more from her about how you can get involved:
The deadline to submit your video is May 26, so check out www.youtube.com/videovolunteers to find an inspirational organization you can help. After all, service never goes out of style.
Last year, hundreds of young creatives took part in the inaugural YouTube-Cannes Young Lions 48 Hour Ad Contest, with two of them, Guy Dayan and Adeline Chew, winning a trip to Cannes to represent YouTube in the Young Lions Film Contest.
This week we’re launching the 2010 edition of the contest. The format’s pretty much the same: we’ll announce a brief from a well-known nonprofit at midnight on Friday, May 14 (GMT), and you’ll have just 48 hours to write, film, edit and upload your film to the Cannes Lions channel. You then have a week to get as many votes for your entry on the channel as possible, before a panel of senior creative directors will use the votes to inform their choice of two winners. Those two will get a fully-paid trip to the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival.
As this is the Cannes Young Lions, entrants need to be 18-28 years of age to take part, and -- of course -- very creative. If that sounds like you, head to the channel now and subscribe to keep informed. And remember to keep the weekend of May 15-16 free to create your ad. Good luck!
On April 22, 1970, 22 million people participated in the first-ever Earth Day, which was designed to raise awareness about the environment and inspire citizens to take action to protect it.
Forty years later, Earth Day has become a global phenomenon. Today we’re celebrating its anniversary with a Video Volunteers homepage spotlight that features content from YouTube’s most creative climate crusaders about inspiring organizations. One of the spotlighted videos uses traffic signs as a metaphor for how we can limit carbon usage, and this video advocates for Save the Bay by explaining what would happen if a tidal wave of plastic bags washed up on San Francisco’s shore:
Didn’t have a chance to make a video but still want to volunteer to help the environment? You can hear from President Obama about why taking action to protect our planet is vital and then find service opportunities in your community here.
Today, YouTube and See3 Communications announced the winners of theYouTube Nonprofit Video Awards, a celebration of the best videos from organizations in the YouTube Nonprofit Program over the past year. The four victorious videos are spotlighted on the YouTube homepage today.
Over 750 videos were submitted to this year’s awards, ranging fromquirky narratives about how life on another planet relates to equal rights on Earth tohonest testimonials from young dancers. A judging panel of nonprofit and video experts narrowed the field down to sixteen finalists, of which four were selected by YouTube community voting. Over 17,000 votes were cast to determine the winners. Here’s a look at all of the finalist videos:
The four winners will receive a $2500 grant from the Case Foundation to continue their work, as well as be recognized by their peers at the Nonprofit Technology Conference, the largest gathering of its kind, in Atlanta today.
