Keep the prom spirit alive!

Keep the prom spirit alive!

We at Seventeen have been talking about prom for a while now. The preparation for the Seventeen prom issue began in the fall, and the issue came out in late December. So, as you can imagine, the whole staff has been anticipating the news about how YOUR experience with the dress, date and dance went. We hope that each and every one of our has the perfect prom night!

Are you interested in keeping the wonderful prom spirit alive, even after the big night is over? We know of a great way to do that — and to help others! You can pass on your dress to another girl and make her dream night come true! There’s a really great new web site called donatemydress.org. It’s a directory of local dress drive organizations across the U.S. where you can donate or receive a special occasions dress.The site also has info on upcoming local events, a photo gallery, and other great ways to help out!

Seventeen encourages you to donate your dress, especially if you never plan to wear it again. Imagine how excited the girl receiving it will be (we bet it will be similar to the excitement you felt when you found it, and that’s an awesome feeling to share!)

Are you going to participate in this program? Let us know! Or, have you donated a dress before? Let us know how the experience made you feel!

Get more prom info at seventeen.com.

Alltop's Got Non-Profits And Green Covered

Green

Wouldn't it be cool if you had a sort of "dashboard" you could bookmark to stay up to date with some of the best blogs in the non-profit and green sector?

What gives!? You mean you haven't heard of Guy Kawasaki's latest venture called Alltop.com ? Definitely check it out. Alltop's got the best non-profit and green blog feeds aggregated at its site.

Between you and me, it's a great way to go around pretending like you know more than you already do. When in reality you really don't. But that's ok because Alltop does. :D

I love you Mom

It goes unsaid, I love my mother, I'm a total mama's boy. And this weekend I flew back home to spend time with her & the rest of the fam. So I wanted to make sure that I gave a "Happy Mother's Day" shout out to our own Ellen & Christine, blogger rock stars and mothers :) Also, all the wonderful women who are mothers AND social do-gooders, we love you too!

Enjoy the day and GO JAZZ!

A career you can believe in

There is a new book out called "Making a Living While Making a Difference: The Expanded Guide to Creating Careers with a Conscience" written by Melissa Everett. It discusses a shift in what people are looking for much more so these days in their careers and in the companies they work for with regards to personal, environmental and social issues.

Is it possible to make a difference in the world and also squeak out a decent living? Does the company you work for contribute to our environmental problem or are they helping find a solution? This book hopes to help point you down the right path of business success coupled with environmentalism and social good. The days of having to be poor in order to rise the executive ranks because it was either career or being green and socially aware may finally be over.

I currently work for what I believe to be one of the greenest companies on the planet. You might not hear in the news or read in the papers or trade magazines about my company being exceptionally green because it's building are not all made of reclaimed lumber, recycled rubber tires or aluminum cans and we don't own a small country sized piece of land covered in windmills to run all of our servers. So how could we possibly be the greenest company ever?? Think about it.....what is the first thing that pops into your head when you think eBay? Buying or selling old/weird stuff. eBay has epitomized "one's man's junk is another man's treasure" and created what could easily be seen as the worlds largest public recycling program. Why throw something out when you can essentially recycle it and make money doing it?

I strongly believe in what the company for which I work is based upon. In addition to what I mentioned above, we have a growing worldwide Green Team and many different internal programs that are charity, environmental and social conscious related. I know I have a career at a company holding many of the same values as I and this is very important to me as I get older and as my professional life grows. In all honesty, who knows if I will be at eBay until I retire; but if I am not, I know that salary and benefits will not be the only thing I look for in choosing where I go next. Being green and being successful may go hand in hand in this new age of ours.


Do something and do it now!
JD

Sex sells

Sex sells

photo licensed by PR Photos
Gather your girlfriends and grab your Manolos! As I’m sure you’ve heard, the new Sex and the City movie is set to debut later this month. Just recently, the A-list fashionistas appeared on Oprah to dish about the movie, their real lives, and, of course, fashion. After all, this is the same show that put now renowned and totally sought after Hollywood stylist, Patricia Field, on the map.

Since the show wrapped four years ago, a lot has happened in the actresses' personal lives. In April this year, Cynthia Nixon (Miranda) revealed for the first time that she's a breast cancer survivor. Nixon was first diagnosed in 2006 while starring in the Broadway play, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. After surgery and treatment, Nixon has been in full remission for the past two years.

However, her commitment to the cause has not waned. Starting TONIGHT, May 7 at 8ish.. PST time, you can have a chance to meet 'n' greet in London with Cynthia Nixon! Included in this amazing package are two tickets to the world premiere of the movie on May 12, the private meet and greet with Cynthia Nixon, roundtrip airfare for two to London and chauffeured car service. All proceeds from this auction will be donated to Susan G. Komen for the Cure. W00t!

On a random side note… I recently took the very short quiz that can actually (accurately?) determine which Sex and the City character you are like… My results? Charlotte. Feel free to enter in your comment about which character you identify with the most!

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Green Everything.....

I was reading Treehugger this morning and thought to myself, "What if not everyone in the world has discovered this amazing site yet?". So then I thought, "Self....you need to share it with the masses just to be sure". If you already know of it, but don't check in frequently ,then it might be time to be reminded of it's uber sweetness and if you have never heard of it......what the hell are you waiting for!?!? Check out Treehugger now; you are sure to be in awe, as it is filled with all sorts of green awesomeness. Treehugger is quite hip (is there such thing as anything green being un-hip?) and very well written with all kinds of different areas to explore. You could get lost for days (or at least hours) exploring this bad boy.

My favorite section thus far?
How to Go Green Guide. This section covers how to "green" damn near anything.
Green your garden, green your wedding, green your kitchen, green your furniture, etc, etc.....the list goes on and on and on.
Wait a second.....Green Your Sex Life!?!?, now we're talking!!! This has got to be the first time I have ever read an article about having a green sex life. This opens up all kinds of possibilities. Can you imagine all the new pick-up lines this topic could sprout?

Here's an idea......make some up and share your best.

Do something and do it now,
JD

Myanmar Cyclone Relief Efforts

Myanmar Cyclone Relief Efforts

image provided by WFP and ITACHA

By now, you’ve probably read or heard about Cyclone Nargis which devastated the Irrawaddy region of Myanmar (formerly known as Burma, and one of the world’s poorest nations) early Saturday. Sadly, the death toll has become progressively worse, with the latest reports indicating more than 22,000 people were killed, 41,000 are still missing, and hundreds of thousands are now homeless.

Certainly serves as a reminder that it can all change in the blink of an eye, and really puts things into perspective, doesn’t it?

You may also know that getting aid to people is proving to be quite a challenge, due to the political climate and Myanmar's military rulers. Few foreign aid agencies are actually permitted to do work in the country, and many say they’re still waiting for visas to allow their staff into the country.

If you feel compelled to help (which I hope you do), I just wanted to share a couple ideas…

We at eBay and PayPal have worked with our friends at MissionFish to set up a fund to collect donations which will be distributed to those agencies confirmed and permitted to conduct relief and recovery work in the area. The organizations are likely to include organizations such as CARE USA, Catholic Relief Services, GlobalGiving, Mercy Corps, UNICEF, Save the Children, and World Vision.

Additionally, you can buy or sell items on eBay to support the efforts, all facilitated by the eBay Giving Works program. Successful charity listings via eBay Giving Works will receive credits back on eBay’s standard Insertion and Final Value Fees, proportional to the percentage of the final sale price that is donated to the cause. To learn more, please visit the eBay Giving Works Fee Credit Policy.

I’d love to encourage you to post a comment of sympathy and support for the people of Myanmar, and please share ways you’re doing your part to help out.

An interview with the DC Goodwill Fashionista

An interview with the DC Goodwill Fashionista

One of the MANY great things to come out of BlogHer Business last month for me was my discovery of a really cool site, the DC Goodwill Fashion Blog. You may think, what does Goodwill have to do with fashion? Ah, my dear, that saddens me, because you are missing out on some incredible potential finds. A lot of people give a lot of things to Goodwill, and among those things may be diamonds in the rough! As a veteran thrift shop shopper, I know first-hand the joy that comes from finding that $400 designer purse for $25, or the vintage dress for $50.

And so does Em Hall. As the writer of the DC Goodwill Fashion Blog, she shows how you can be fashionable, while staying in your budget and helping others all at the same time. I met Em Hall at BlogHer, where she spoke about the creation and growth of her blog, as well as DC Goodwill's Ebay store and am thrilled that she consented to be interviewed for "WhatGives!?" - she was so kind, and generous, that this is going to be a two part interview - here's the first part...

IT Girl: How did you get started at Goodwill, and how did you come up with the idea to create the blog?

EH: I originally began as a volunteer at Goodwill, way back in 2005. I then was hired as the Corporate Development Assistant, a position which I held for a year. In June of 2007, I became the Retail Marketing Manager and stepped into a department where the VP of Marketing already had the idea to have a blog for Goodwill. We just weren’t sure initially what it would look like or what it would do. When I suggested a fashion blog, our VP loved the concept and thought that it would fit in perfectly with some of the other elements of our web 2.0 strategy that were already in development.

IT Girl: How are you using the blog to position Goodwill in a different light?

EH: Oh, wow. The blog does so many great things to introduce Goodwill’s mission of training and employment, PLUS our great merchandise, to a new audience. Our online audience is decidedly younger and more affluent than our typical shopper, which is a great new market for us to tap into as shoppers for both our eBay and our brick-and-mortar stores. Additionally, the blog has been of great interest to the media, who enjoy the sometimes tongue-in-cheek approach it takes to shopping at a resale store like Goodwill. Other fashion bloggers have gotten really excited about the blog, too, and many of these online interactions have gone offline, resulting in new relationships and a greater presence for our organization in the greater DC community. We’re getting to the point where it’s becoming hip to shop at Goodwill, especially for vintage and one-of-a-kind pieces one can’t find anywhere else.

IT Girl: Did you encounter any resistance from the higher ups in the organization when the blog was getting started?

EH: As I stated above, my boss actually already had the idea of a blog in mind when I joined the marketing team, so there was no resistance on his part! Certainly there was a discussion with the CEO about blogging and how it could be used as a valuable marketing tool. I don’t want people to think I sit around surfing the ‘net all day, although there is definitely great utility in the online social networking in which the DC Goodwill Fashionista participates! And that gets to another fun part of the blog, which is that it’s all about a persona, and not about me as Em Hall. This allows for more fun and creativity in the writing and also means that the blog can carry on after I’m gone, while also reinforcing the Goodwill brand. It’s cool to have a more fashionable alter ego out there raving about Goodwill.

IT Girl: Some bloggers find themselves struggling for content, but you get to use the clothes as content. How did you come up with that strategy?

EH: When we first determined that the blog would be treated as a product, we decided to schedule out the blog content for each of the days of the week that I blog. Monday is general fashion information and trends. Tuesday is the Goodwill Good Buy of the Week, which is a piece or pieces that are featured in depth, then sold on eBay. Thursday is more of an editorial day, when I pontificate on some topic relation to the fashion industry, or retail, or even our mission more generally. That day has generated some of the most passionate comments and I really enjoy writing it. And Friday was added in January with a feature called Blog the Blogger, in which the DCGF interviews another fashion/lifestyle blogger. That’s a popular day, too. Whenever I’m a bit stumped for content, I go back to that schedule, think about the mission of the blog and of Goodwill and something comes to me!

Check out part 2 with Em Hall later in the week!

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Epic Change Starts With One Person

Epic Change Starts With One Person

Five months into my Twitter experience and I still let out a few OMG's over the great caliber of folks I keep connecting with over short bursts of 140 character messages.

I connected with Stacey Monk after reading her guest post on Go Big Always, the personal blog of my friend Sam Lawrence, CMO of Jive Software.

Stacey founded Epic Change after helping a woman in Tanzania named Mama Lucy Kamptoni rebuild and expand a primary school. According to Stacey, Mama Lucy Kamptoni once raised chickens and used the income to rent a plot of land next to her home to build a school for the kids in her village. What began with teaching 6 kids has now turned to over 200. When the school nearly closed last year after a hotel developer bought the land Mama Lucy Kamptoni was renting, Stacey went big and Epic Change was born.

In only 8 months since Epic Change was founded:

350 people mobilized. Nearly $40,000 raised.

1 Case Foundation award.

4 classrooms constructed & open.

200 smiling faces

As I've been saying lately, if you're not the kind of person who believes in being able to change the world, please step aside while the rest of us move forward in doing so. The catch is, there is no catch. Stacey rocks.

To learn more about Epic Change and how you can help, check out the website. You can also email her anytime, tweet her at @StaceyMonk or connect with her on LinkedIn or Facebook

It’s a crude, crude world

It’s a crude, crude world

Sure driving a Prius would be great…if I had an extra $25,000 hidden in my couch cushions. In the meantime, I’ve got a 13-year-old car that runs great (wood, knocked), and would prefer to drive it til the tires fall off rather than put a whole new (granted, smaller) car out on the road.

Surely there are things I can do in the meantime to (try to) make up for my big car’s gas guzzling ways. Sure nuff, there are.

1. Slow down. “In a typical family sedan, every 10 miles per hour you drive over 60 is like the price of gasoline going up about 54 cents a gallon.” That’s no joke.

2. Take a load off. And about 1000 other easy driving ideas that help you conserve gasoline.

3. Calm down already. Put your finger away. Road rage will cost you at the pump. (Um, crap!)

4. Buy the cheap stuff. Who knew?

5. Pump in the shade. And always wear SPF.