In Singapore, Shark’s fin soup is a traditional New Year dish among many Chinese families. However, demand exceeds supply and the world’s shark population is on a decline.

To curb the problem, Project: FIN, a member of the Global Shark Initiative has used Facebook to gather like-minded supporters to urge Singaporeans not to have Shark’s fins this Chinese New Year.

The Facebook Group‘s description reads, “Project: FIN aims to bring down consumption of shark’s fins by spreading awareness to consumers and businesses.”

“The group is based in Singapore, which is currently one of the world’s largest entrepot ports for the shark’s fin trade despite its size.”

To gain greater awareness, the Facebook page has requested supporters to change their Facebook display picture to the campaign logo seen above. The impact of the campaign has been pretty successful. Many Singaporeans have followed suit in support of the movement.

“I have changed my display picture to send the message across to all my friends reading my comments or posts. Hopefully my friends will also be influenced to do the same,” said Keith Teo, a Project: Fin supporter.

“The campaign will gain some publicity and educate the younger generation, but it will have little impact on tradition and culture,” he added.

While that is true, we hope to play our part to help others understand this problem. Hopefully, the younger generation can forgo traditional and stop having shark’s fin. We’ll take one step at a time to solve this problem. Play your part by changing your Facebook display picture to the campaign logo today. Let’s celebrate Chinese New Year with no shark’s fin soup.

Back in November last year, City Harvest has reached out to potential donors via an innovative advertising campaign through the use of QR code technology. QR codes were incorporated in City Harvest’s print advertisements, phone kiosks, transit shelters, and even on Facebook. It functions like a barcode that can be scanned by a dedicated QR Barcode reader and mobile phones.

New York mobile phone users can easily learn facts about City Harvest, view a video illustrating City Harvest’s work, and make a donation online by simply scanning the QR Code. They can even click a button to call City Harvest directly.

Donors can choose the amount they want to contribute and easily learn details about City Harvest’s mission at the convenience of their fingertips.

“QR codes are changing the future of donor-charity relationships. They allow nonprofits to interact with their donors by exchanging engaging content,” said Irina Skaya, marketing manager at Horizon Media. “QR codes can be used without monthly running costs and function without limiting the dollar amount donors give to the nonprofit.”

City Harvest helps feed over 300,000 hungry men, women, and children each week. The food came from the excess food in restaurants, grocers, corporate cafeterias, manufacturers, and farms and they deliver them free to some 600 community food programs throughout New York City. The fundraiser is for the maintenance of their trucks and bikes used for food distribution.

We hope to see more non-profit organizations leveraging the use of technology like QR Code for social good.

Giving Pledge is an effort led by Microsoft founder Bill Gates and investor Warren Buffett to commit the country’s wealthiest people to step up their charitable donations. The Pledge has so far signed up 57 contributors, who include New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, CNN founder Ted Turner and film director George Lucas.

Though not a formal contract, those who pledge are committing to give away at least half of their wealth to philanthropic causes either before or after they die.

This isn’t the first time the Facebook head has donated for good cause. Prior to this, Zuckerberg launched the Startup: Education, a $100 million foundation dedicated to improving education in Newark, New Jersey and the rest of the U.S. The ultimate aim of the education foundation is to create a model for rewarding excellence in education on a national level.

The donation was made just before the movie, The Social Network launches. The Social Network chronicles the formative days of Facebook, from its founding in Mark Zuckerberg’s Harvard dorm room through its early rise to success. The way Zuckerberg was played in the movie painted a negative image in many people’s mind. At that time, some argued that the education foundation was simply a PR gimmick to provide an “image cushion” for the Facebook CEO.

This time round, there is probably less debate on Zuckerberg’s intention. Giving away at least half of his wealth is a price too heavy to pay for any PR gimmick. (That’s more than $3 billion folks.)

Kudos Zuckberg, you have become the role model for the young generation. At least on your generosity to donate for good causes.

The 50 tips featured in the slides below ranged from basic to advance skills. For starters, the slides provide you with a springboard for any social media campaigns.  And for the more experienced social media marketers, these tips would provide quick ideas on how your current campaign can be further improved.

This slides were previously featured on “6 Great Social Media Resources“.

The turnout was so amazing, we hardly had enough space to fit everyone!

I’ll let the pictures do the talking. Don’t miss how well Singapore did this year at the end of the post too (:

The Pictures

@BrewerkzSG, our friendly tweet up venue!

@mikefoong (left) busy at work. Thanks to him for making Twestival happen again this year (:

The awesome peeps, @mediumshawn and @daphnemaia (who “sacrificed” her birthday yesterday to help out) manning the booth.

@groovygenie registering!

@danielgoh who has been handling all PR and media relations relating to Twestival, here with @mediumshawn.

@blackawfee and @omgzam, the cool people behind the TwestivalSG blog and Twitter account.

@inrsoul, the man behind the rockin’ photobooth.

The less crowded side of the venue.

The best emcee in Singapore, @JoeAugustin!

@sm7catscan, the in charge of all media and PR, speaking with @JoeAugustin.

Superb performance by Jack and Rai.

Lucky Draw! Thanks to our generous sponsors – Samsung (Daniel Goh), Cisco Systems (Supriya), Crocs (JP and Nick) and Whole Earth/Naive (Pat) (:

This is us, laughing for no apparent reason.

@Smithankyou with his blue Twitter bird, courtesy of Terence, our talented magician and face painter.

The Team!

The Swarm Badge!!

With more than 150 participants, we were able to unlock Foursquare’ swarm badge!

@wilfredphua, @mgGuGu and us showing off our swarm badges.

Singapore, top 10 nations in total funds raised and top 3 in amount raised per 1000 inhabitants

Thanks to everyone who participated, in ways big and small, we are proud to say that TwestivalSG 2010 raised USD 6112.41, excluding all the other sponsorship figures for Concern Worldwide. With the help of cities all over the world, Twestival Global raised more than USD 300,000 this year!

Of course, charity doesn’t end here and it takes more than one day of effort to provide resources to the needy worldwide. No matter who you are benefiting, please continue to spread the word, volunteer your services and donate resources!

We will see you next year, or sooner! (:

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Kudos to @inrsoul (right) and @dazzachazza (left) for the wonderful pictures. Check out the rest here and here.

Volunteers, who came together, mainly through Twitter connections, are the ones who made Twestival possible across the globe. One thing is for sure, organizing a Twestival isn’t as easy as it seems. Just imagine organizing an event with literally zero resource!

@mikefoong, who is the main guy behind this year’s Twestival Singapore has “been there done that,” and we’re glad to have him share his experience with all of us. Below are 6 basic steps toward creating a successful Twestival.

6 Basic Steps

1. Gather team members: This is the first and probably the most important step towards making Twestival possible. Gathering members are mostly based on connections, and once your core team is formed, it is important to communicate goals and objectives of the event, and the members’ specific work scope and their commitment level. This will ensure efficiency and transparency throughout the whole campaign.

2. Lay out every idea: A successful Twestival strives on creativity and openness. During meetings, make sure every team member is allowed to share his/her ideas. Maximize the diversity of your team.

3. Evaluate whether it is practical: Once all the ideas are thrown on the table, evaluate what could be done. Create a timeline of events and make sure you have a Plan B in case something crops up.

4. Stay focus and social: In the midst of planning, remember that the goal is to help raise funds for the charitable organization. To do so, you could: (1) get sponsorships or donations from corporations, (2) get people to join the Twestival party and donate, (3) encourage people to donate directly through Paypal. Blatantly spamming to get people to donate wouldn’t work. Do so by educating and providing value to the crowd. “Market” your cause through word-of-mouth, and do it the social way.

5. Create a Timeline of Programmes: What’s there to do at Twestival? Hype participants with updates of performances, activities and prizes. Give them a programme list so they know what to expect on that day itself.

6. Execution: On the day itself, remember to have fun and don’t focus too much on pushing people to donate. They will do it if they want to. Focus on having fun instead.

10 Quick Tips

Here are 10 additional quick tips from @mikefoong:

1. Have a big heart

2. Be adaptable

3. Have no ulterior motives other than supporting the cause

4. Create a fun and rewarding environment

5. Openly accept and expand on ideas

6. Be comfortable with your own short comings and rely and trust people around you

7. Recognize the strengths of your team

8. Listen to people who influence you and people you influence

9. Be fun and have fun

10. Expect surprises

Other Resources

Twestival FAQ: Twestival provides a pretty comprehensive FAQ site. If there are additional questions not answered in the FAQ section, simply post a question to the Twestival team.

Twestival Organizer Tools: The Twestival website provides a list of tools to help your team effectively plan, organize and blog about your Twestival event. Check it out here.

[P.S Donate here ]

Special THANKS! For Making TwestivalSG Happen

Emcee

1. Joe Augustin hosted Twestival last year and has graciously agreed to be TwestivalSG’s emcee for the night.

Entertainment

2. Jack and Rai are the opening band for TwestivalSG

3. Terence will wow TwestivalSG participants with his magic tricks, caricatures and face painting

4. Deborah and Thomas will keep the energy going with their music

Lucky draw

@TwestivalSG is grateful to these amazing companies that have provided the prizes for the lucky draw

5. Samsung (Daniel Goh)

6. Cisco Systems (Supriya)

7. Crocs (JP and Nick)

8. Whole Earth/Naive (Pat)

Contributors

@TwestivalSG wouldn’t have been able to do this without its wonderful contributors

9. Brewerkz (Lisa) for being our venue sponsor and contributor (10% of revenue from the event donated)

10. The Lens Men (Desiree) for donating 1% of their daily revenue for the week leading up to Twestival

11. O2 Advertising (Mr. Wong) for helping us with our expenses

12. SCDF (Adrian) for the very relevant and necessary first-aid kits as door gifts

13. PoMo (Smith) for the awesome wine cooler bags as door gifts

14. Lenovo (Derrick) for the laptops onsite that enable PayPal donations

Technical and Live Streaming

15. Tech65 (Hisham) – for bringing new ways to share TwestivalSG with the rest of the world!

16. Photography – Kevin and Darryl for capturing the memories

17. Media support: CNNgo (Mun Yin, Larry)

The Organisers

Michael Foong - Ungrounded professional of play, borderline certifiable, full of exuberance, discoverer, adventurer, broadcaster, court jester. Also known as Mike, he’s the main person for bringing Twestival Singapore here.

Supriya - Cisco Systems, Text100, E2.0, social media converter, shutterbug, DIY enthusiast. She digs cats, coffee and other wonderful things that start with c. Supriya is in charge of all media and PR relating to Twestival.

Daniel Goh - PR guy, social media enthusiast, wannabe entrepreneur, blogger and food fanatic. Daniel, together with Supriya, has been handling all PR and media relations relating to Twestival.

Nicholina (Nic) – (Mostly hopeless) romantic / foodie / twitter ghostwriter / copywriter in mostly equal parts. Yes, in that order. Nic has been awesome in the team by getting more donations and sponsorships through offline and online relations. She’s also the main person behind the @twestivalsg account and started the Twtvite.

Kevin Lee – Entrepreneur, designer, social chatter, dirt biker, closeted traveler, photographer. Kevin has been a big help by pulling more people to support the event through his passion for photography.

Nizam - Media & Communication student. Writer for omgzam.com & blogpress.sg. Keen interest in social media, technology, advertising, public relations and marketing. Nizam, together with Nic, handles the @twestivalsg account. He’s also in charge of the blog posts on the official site and the Facebook event page.

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This year, the committee is holding the annual event @BrewerkzSG to raise funds for Concern Worldwide, an international humanitarian organisation dedicated to reducing suffering and ending extreme poverty. All proceeds will be going to providing education to needy children.

Below are 6 ways you can help.

1. Donate directly via paypal

To ensure 100% proceeds to the needy, Twestival’s all-volunteer organizers have partnered with PayPal to allow donations via widgets, and waiving all fees up to $1 million. Also, Citrix Online will donate GoToMeeting to all those who are organizing Twestival events, and Amiando will waive all credit card ticketing fees to Twestival events.

Donate here (right corner).

2. Need Opticals? Purchase them from @thelensmen

Thelensmen has raised $478.40 for the first 2 days and if you are looking at buying glasses, contact lenses and engaging eye care services, do so at their stores from now till March 25th!

3. Join us at Brewerkz!

Supporting a cause can’t get any easier.  Eat, meet and be merry with us this coming Thursday, 25th March at Brewerkz Riverside Point. 10% of the earnings during this event will go to Concern Worldwide! Expect performances by Jack and Rai and Deborah Lee and Thomas, with excellent sound systems provided by NutzStudio. The world class emcee of the day is also Singapore’s very own radio guy, @JoeAugustin!

It’s going to be a blast!

RSVP on Twitter or Facebook!

4. Connect with @TwestivalSG

Connect with the crew via Twitter (@TwestivalSG) and get updates about the event at the TwestivalSG blog (managed by @omgzam). You can also join other Twestival enthusiasts via Facebook. This Twestival Facebook page updates news about all the Twestival happenings around the globe.

5. Download Twestival Icon Pack

If you’re an avid blogger or a design lover, you may want to download this Twitter icon pack and share it with your friends. Every blog post or tweet is a small step towards doing social good. Download it here.

Credit: This Twestival Icon Pack is designed by Chethstudios.

6. Spread The Message!

The success of each Twestival depends heavily on word of mouth and we hope (no matter which city you belong to) you can help us spread the message out – Tweet it, blog it, Facebook it or bookmark it.

You kindness is very much appreciated!

[Donate here ]

Last year, talents and resources went to providing clean drinking water to 17,000 people.

Amanda Rose, founder of Twestival commented, “At last year’s Twestival, more than 1,000 volunteers and 10,000 donors raised more than $250,000 to provide clean and safe drinking water for more than 17,000 people. We know this works—and we’re excited to make it work for every child in the world that deserves an education.”

To Give Every Child An Education

Hence, this year, all proceeds generated from the 2010 Twestival will support education (An estimated 72 million children worldwide are not enrolled in school), and be donated to Concern Worldwide, a non-governmental, international, humanitarian organization that since 1968 has dedicated itself to reducing suffering and eliminating poverty.

100% Proceeds To Needy

Twestival’s all-volunteer organizers have partnered with PayPal to allow donations via widgets, and waiving all fees up to $1 million. Also, Citrix Online will donate GoToMeeting to all those who are organizing Twestival events, and Amiando will waive all credit card ticketing fees to Twestival events.

This means that 100% of the proceeds will go to the people in need.

Online Activities

Other than offline events, Twestival also has online activities such as TwestivalFM, allowing high-profile artists and musicians around the world to donate their songs to download for donations; Auction140, a global online auction of celebrity-donated items and experiences on eBay that will feature a live Twitter stream for the first time; an iPhone application; and live donations and results widgets that will enable real-time donations at local events. Twestival also has partnered with Ustream to live stream the day’s events, starting in New Zealand and ending in Hawaii.

Visit twestival.com to get information on how to get involved, and how Twestival donations would be used to help the needy.

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