It was a great honour to spend the weekend in New York with the amazing folks
at 350.org, as they organized what has easily become the world's most widely distributed political action, and, for a time on Saturday, became the biggest media story in the world.
This, from one of the smallest NGO's on the planet, and probably one of the youngest – nearly everyone who works there is only a few years out of college! So how did they pull off something so massive with such a small team?
As part of our role managing the digital campaign for the TckTckTck campaign, we were right there in the centre of the aciton with them. Because I'm now too busy to write blog updates here, this is a re-print from what was sent out to my community on what happened, and how they pulled this magic off.
First, watch this video to get a sense of what happened:
Pretty amazing stuff, eh? If you're interested in some of the how of this campaign, be sure to read my friend (and fellow Web of Change convener) Michael Silberman's account on Huffington Post. For my take, read on.
____________
So I'm about to hop on a plane back home from an action filled few days in NYC
from the 350.org temporary bunker (they mostly work virtually). It's been absolutely stunning, and I want to share some of the most important stories from the day.
You probably knew that today is the biggest distributed political action in history, with 5,200 events, held in over 181 countries.
But did you know that, as of an hour ago, Google News officially showed that 350 and the climate actions around the world are the biggest story on the planet today?
Hopefully you are spending some time on the 350.org website (http://350.org) to watch the amazing photos flow in (like this incredible one from Mexico City). That's inspiring enough. Here in TckTckTck land, we've been tracking the day, and sharing the stories with our growing networks on Facebook, Twitter, and online. Some of our recent blogs that highlight the action:
- 350 Owns the Media today: http://tcktcktck.org/stories/campaign-stories/350-owns-media-today
- Europe and America show massive support for 350: http://tcktcktck.org/stories/campaign-stories/europe-and-americas-show-massive-support-350 (warning: incredible photo alert!)
- 350 Events sweep across Asia: http://tcktcktck.org/stories/campaign-stories/350-events-sweep-across-asia
- Overview: Thousands around the world show support for 350: http://tcktcktck.org
/stories/campaign-stories/thousands-show-350org-events-all-over-world - I can hardly believe my eyes (guest post from Bill McKibben): http://tcktcktck.org/stories/campaign-stories/i-can-hardly-believe-my-eyes
- Looking for inspiration? Early photos: http://tcktcktck.org/stories/campaign-stories/looking-some-inspiration-watch-these-amazing-350-photos-roll
And make sure you watch this video, taken Saturday afternoon from Times Square. When we heard that 350 was doing an action in NYC at Times Square, and woudl be getting some video space, we thought, well maybe one screen. You won't believe your eyes until you see this:
What a day!
Stay connected at the TckTckTck website to watch the build up of this new, vibrant, and truly global movement. After we woke up the world in September, showed our leaders the goal on Saturday, we are building towards even more incredible day distributed actions just as the Copenhagen climate conference heats up.
Our next global day of action – Dec 12's Time to Sign! With the help of all our partners, especially the most Internet capable ones like 350.org and Avaaz, and the power of people around the world connected through the Internet, we'll make it even bigger!
