Video: Introduction to 24 Hours of Reality

Between September 14th and 15th, the event 24 Hours of Reality saw people around the globe calling attention to the climate crisis and working to solve it. By the time former Vice President Al Gore finished his presentation on the evening of September 15th, the 24 hour long event had 8.6 million views.

There are countless stories of impressive grassroots mobilization for the event. A company in Tel Aviv hosted a watch party at their headquarters. A group of graduate students in Athens, Georgia rented out a popular local movie theater. People across the world joined hands to say: Climate change is real, it’s happening now and the time to act is now.

But this is just the beginning. There are important actions you can take today:

Request a presentation: There are more than 3,000 trained Climate Presenters around the globe. Organize an event and invite a Presenter to come to your community.
Go local: Team up with our partners around the world and help solve the climate crisis. Visit our website to find a partner organization near you.
Moving Planet: On Sept 24, hit the streets with http://350.org for a global day of action. Find an activity near you.
Check our comprehensive video library to watch highlights from 24 Hours of Reality.

It is up to all of us to continue to stand up for reality and share the truth about the climate crisis. We will succeed because we must.

For more information click here.

© 2011, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.

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24 Hours of Reality

This event is a 24-hour worldwide marathon all about the reality of the climate crisis. 24 Hours of Reality will be broadcast live online, over 24 hours, representing 24 time zones and 13 languages. The Climate Reality Project will host the live streaming event, which begins on September 13 at 8 p.m. EDT and ends at the same time on September 14.

A different climate activist will speak each hour on the effect climate change is having on his or her community and "connect the dots" between human emissions and more frequent and extreme weather, the group says. The event will conclude with a multimedia presentation by Gore live from New York City.

This global event designed to help people to make the connection between extreme weather, climate change, and the need to push the planet beyond fossil fuels.

Around the world, people will use the power of the Internet to present their stories of living with climate change, and make clear the connection between extreme weather and the corporate carbon pollution that's changing our climate. All the presentations, which will be in multiple languages, and in every single time zone, will be streamed live at ClimateRealityProject.org. 24 Hours of Reality is being spearheaded by Vice President Al Gore.

24 Hours of Reality is a worldwide event to broadcast the reality of the climate crisis. It will consist of a new multimedia presentation created by Al Gore and delivered once per hour for 24 hours, representing every time zone around the globe. 24 Presenters. 24 Time Zones. 13 Languages. 1 Message.

Each hour people living with the reality of climate change will connect the dots between recent extreme weather events — including floods, droughts and storms — and the manmade pollution that is changing our climate. We will offer a round-the-clock, round-the-globe snapshot of the climate crisis in real time. The deniers may have millions of dollars to spend, but we have a powerful advantage. We have reality.

From Tonga to Cape Verde, Mexico City to Alaska, Jakarta to London, people living with the impacts of climate change every day will tell their story. You can experience as much as you like without even leaving your home. Click here to find the location — or locations — where you would like to watch a presentation. Due to logistical considerations, three of the presentations will be broadcast remotely from New York — Tonga, the Solomon Islands and French Polynesia — but will include local footage and information. All other presentations will be filmed on location around the world.

For more information click here.

© 2011, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.

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Social Media and Toyota's Greener Cars

Car manufacturer Toyota has developed a private social media platform know as the “Toyota Friend” service. This social media platform will enable drivers of Toyota's electric and plug-in hybrid cars to use their smartphones, tablets and computers to access their car's data.

The Toyota Friend service will allow these drivers to share diagnostic information about their cars with dealerships and relevant servicing personnel. The information include things like driving habits, car performance and battery level.

Drivers of Toyota's greener cars can also connect the network to existing well-known social networks like Twitter and Facebook to share stories and improve efficiency. Toyota is not the first to develop social media platforms for their vehicles. Ford has worked with Microsoft to create Sync, an on-board wireless system that lets drivers access the Bing search engine and a number of interactive online features.

Toyota is developing this social presence along with Salesforce, a provider of web-based software for large companies. Salesforce.com will invest $2.7 million in Toyota Media Service, which oversees Toyota’s cloud computing projects like Toyota Friend. As part of the deal. Toyota will also invest $5.4 million in its media subsidiary to fund the private social network.

Toyota will benefit from Salesforce.com's private enterprise social network known as Chatter. This network feeds into its customer relationship management (CRM) software and is designed to streamline collaboration and internal communication. Like Yammer, chatter is a mainstream social networking site for large enterprises. The service will first be available in Japan in 2012.

© 2011, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.

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Video: Leadnow's My Canada

This video from Leadnow.ca was created by Smart Bubble Society, it targets younger voters and encourages them to vote for the Canada they want. Leadnow is famous for its Declaration For Change which is intended to set the agenda for the new Parliament. The Declaration for Change calls for political cooperation that amongst other things, protects our environment.

This video was written and produced after Leadnow.ca hosted a cross-country process that brought Canadians together online and in their local communities to create the Declaration for Change. The video reflects Canadian's priorities articulated by 4,000 online participants, and over 80 local events.

© 2011, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.

Video: Vote Mobs Getting Youth Involved in Canada's Democracy

The video above was taken at the second vote mob at the University of Guelph. With the Canadian Federal election scheduled for Monday (May 2, 2011). Vote mobs have sparked a wave of mobilisation across Canada that is encouraging young people to get out and vote. To see a list of vote mobs at Leadnow.ca click here.

Aided by social media, vote mobs are initiating young voters into Canada's democracy. Canadian youth have clearly indicated that the environment is a priority issue and this will inform their voting decision. A significant increase in the number of young voters could have a dramatic impact on the outcome of this election.

© 2011, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.

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Social Media is Mobilizing the Youth Vote in the Canadian Federal Election

Social media has been driving the environmental movement to new heights and encouraging businesses to be more sustainable, now it is being used to challenge Canada's federal government. As the first social media influenced election in Canadian history, the 2011 Canadian federal election seems to be poised to produce dramatic results.

Due to fragmented nature of Canadian politics pundits predicted a Harper majority even though the majority of Canadians do not support him. Organizations like LeadNow are working hard to mobilize the youth vote in the face of historic voter apathy. In 2008, just 58.8 percent of Canadians voted and only 37.4 percent of the 18- to 24-year old demographic bothered to vote.

Leadnow is using the power of social media to encourage a Vote Wave and social media campaigns like Vote Mobs are connecting with the young voters and mobilizing youth which is increasing support for the New Democrats.

Flash mobs are well known to supporters of the environment and now we are seeing a more organized event known as a “vote mobs.” In a vote mob, university students use social media to encourage their peers to get out to advanced polls. Leadnow asked people to host 'voter socials' during advanced polling between April 22nd and the 25th. Organizers of voter socials invited friends and family to meet at an advanced poll, vote, and then celebrate together afterwards.

These vote mobs are getting Canada's youth involved to help energize and encourage them to vote and engage in the political process. The first vote mob appears to have taken place at Ontario’s University of Guelph, at the end of March. There are now 38 separate vote mobs listed on the website of LeadNow.

Whether or not social media and initiatives like vote mobs will actually get more young people to the polls depends on whether they shed their tendency towards slacktivism. (Slacktivism is the tendency express interest but not follow-up). There is reason to believe that young people will actually vote on May 2. Voter turnout at the advance polls this year set records, rising 34 per cent over 2008 numbers.

On May 2, we could see a radically different outcome than the one predicted by the pundits. The polls are suggesting that a big turnout for the under-35s could end in unprecedented gains for the NDP. This would be of immense benefit to Canada's environment.

© 2011, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.

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