Oli's posterous

Channel 4's Battlefront Marches On!

I'm a huge fan of Channel 4's Battlefront (www.battlefront.co.uk).  Because I'm mentoring one of the campaigners, I'm sent the newsletter, which I thought I'd share!

 

BATTLEFRONT NEWSLETTER – 17TH DEC

 

It’s been a cold and miserable December, but the Battlefront campaigners and the production team have been as busy as ever…

 

BATTLEFRONT TV SERIES

The Battlefront TV series was incredibly successful and we were delighted with the number of viewers who came to find out more on the Battlefront website.  The campaigners were inundated with positive comments and new supporters.  If you missed the tv series you can now watch the shows on a new video wall section of our site. Go to http://battlefront.co.uk/video-wall/ and click on “tv shows” to find them.

 

BATTLEFRONT REVIEWED IN THE GUARDIAN

We had a lovely review in Monday’s Guardian, by journalist Anna Pickard.  She had a good browse of the site and discussed both the Battlefront tv series and the website in detail.  Have a look here http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/dec/08/bebo-vimeo-digital-media-internet-tv  to read what she said…

 

BATTLEFRONT EVENT AT C4

C4 held a event last week to promote Battlefront to all sorts of different people in spheres ranging from education to politics.   The word about Battlefront is getting out there!  Thank you, C4, for putting on such a good night…

 

NEW-LOOK BATTLEFRONT WEBSITE

You may have noticed that the Battlefront website has undergone some changes in the last month.  We think it’s looking better than ever before.  If you haven’t checked it out recently – take a look NOW at www.battlefront.co.uk.  The major changes are on the homepage, the campaigners’ index page, and the campaigner’s individual pages… 

 

CAMPAIGNER’S HANDBOOK

We also have a brand new section of the site called “The Campaigner’s Handbook” http://handbook.battlefront.co.uk/ .  This is pretty much a comprehensive guide to everything you need to know about running a campaign.  At the moment it’s in PDF form, but before long it’s going to be an interactive and integrated part of our site.  So watch out for developments…

 

NEW VIDEO CONTENT

We’ve got some great new videos on the site from our new, resident film-maker.  Check out his latest - about the hitch-hiking condom - and let us know what you think of it. http://battlefront.co.uk/?video=21792

 

 

CAMPAIGNER UPDATES

The campaign is marching full-steam ahead for our Music for A Change campaigner, Zuhal Sultan.  World-famous composer and conductor, Sir Peter Maxwell Davies http://www.intermusica.co.uk/maxwelldavies , who is “Master of the Queen’s Music”, loves Zuhal’s campaign and has agreed to support it however he can.   Music charity, Making Music http://www.makingmusic.org.uk/MM/home.aspx  also want to help.  Zuhal needs to raise £70,000 by April of next year to make her dream of forming the first ever National Youth Orchestra in Iraq come true.  Look at her page here http://battlefront.co.uk/campaign/music-for-a-change/ for more details, and let Zuhal know as soon as possible if you have any funds to spare!

 

James Greenhalgh – our down with tuition fees campaigner http://battlefront.co.uk/campaign/down-with-tuition-fees/ – held his long-awaited protest event in Birmingham City Centre on Saturday 13th December.  Despite a lot of rain over 100 supporters turned up, and the chicken outfits were still donned!  Read all about it in his blog here http://www.bebo.com/BlogView.jsp?MemberId=7779080368&BlogId=8297184693 … And read what some of the press had to say here: http://news.scotsman.com/latest-west-midlands-news/Students-in-protest-at-tuition.4791409.jp

http://www.teletext.co.uk/regionalnews/west-midlands/87734191b11a809922f3027d0c107a80/Demo+over+tuition+fees.aspx

 

We’d like to give our stress in schools campaigner, Laura Partoon, http://battlefront.co.uk/campaign/stress-and-strain-of-school/  an enormous round of applause – because she’s just won a Princess Diana award (http://www.diana-award.org.uk). The Princess Diana award is given to young people aged between 11-18 years old who make selfless contributions to their communities and dedicate themselves to helping other people.  Well done, Laura! To read more about how Laura got this prestigious award, read her blog here http://www.bebo.com/BlogView.jsp?MemberId=7716134925&BlogId=8252798856 …

 

Alexander Rose, our gun and knife crime campaigner, has been finding new ways to spread his message.  He and some supporters have created a STOP track, with lyrics sung by the beautifully-voiced Lauren – who is unbelievably only 14 years old.  Have a listen, and take a look at the video on YouTube.

Alexander has also just been filmed by Channel Five news for a piece about exceptional teenagers which will be aired in the new year.  He was also interviewed by the Observer newspaper for their end of year highlights – so look out for Alexander and the STOP campaign everywhere!

 

It’s not just the Battlefront team who really like the cool animation that branding agency, Dave, made for  Zander Percival’s “You Smoke – I Choke” campaign.  Judges at the prestigious Design Week awards also love it, and they have short-listed it for a major award http://www.designweekawards.co.uk/Information.aspx?Action=-1375111560&ID=c9e6a555-469d-4676-8fd8-322d8f67c6ee .  Watch the animation on our video wall or on Zander’s page here http://battlefront.co.uk/campaign/you-smoke-i-choke/.

 

Zainab Dainiju, our Muslims=Normal Too campaigner http://battlefront.co.uk/campaign/muslims-normal-too/  is cracking ahead with her festival plans.  She had a highly productive meeting with events’ organizer, Kate Risker, who has worked on lots of popular music festivals including the Secret Garden Party, as well as dozens of fully sold-out themed parties.  Zainab plans to hold her Muslim festival in early May – so  stay tuned if you want an invite…

 

Last but not least, a week ago four of our Battlefronters – Troy Kennedy (Condoms for Africa), James Mummery (Free Newspapers Cost the Earth), Zander Percival (You Smoke, I Choke) and Tom Robbins (Random Acts of Kindness) - went to a public speaking workshop with the experiential marketing company, Jack Morton (http://www.jackmorton.com).  Presentation guru, Simon Lethbridge has worked with celebrities and actors on how to walk the walk and talk the talk – and he spent the day helping our Battlefronters understand how to win friends and influence people. The four campaigners had everything from their hand-gestures to their smiles pulled apart – and the difference in their performances was instantaneous.  Read their blogs here to find out all about it. http://www.bebo.com/BlogView.jsp?MemberId=7681569186&BlogId=8242654514

http://www.bebo.com/BlogView.jsp?MemberId=8199351100&BlogId=8242683944

http://www.bebo.com/BlogView.jsp?MemberId=7684226007&BlogId=8242680288

http://www.bebo.com/BlogView.jsp?MemberId=7734891400&BlogId=8242626988

 

The Battlefront team would like to thank everyone for their help and interest in Battlefront in 2008.  We wish you all a wonderful festive season and will be bringing you more campaigning news in the New Year!

 

All the best,

 

Jo and the Battlefront team

Google hosts Online Entrepreneurs event in London

Five interesting things I discovered at this morning's event at Google titled
 
 "Online Entrepreneurs – how businesses can speed up in a slowdown."
 
1) 69% of the UK is now online, that's 42 million of us.

2) 18% of Brits but their weekly shopping online.

3) 17p in every pound in the UK is spent online. This is larger than all high street retail sales for clothing and footwear.

4) Social networks account for one in five page impressions in the UK.

5) 43% of UK internet users access news online whilst 68% of UK users find health and medical info online.

Finally, we heard that a event change in the law means that advertisers can now include the names of competitors in their Google Keywords.

If you want the latest in what people are searching for online, check out; Google.co.uk/insights/search

Ed Miliband wonders; who Will 'Make Climate Change History'?

Cabinet Minister Ed Miliband is quoted in today's media as calling for 'popular mobilisation'
 
"I think back to Make Poverty History ... and that was a mass movement that was necessary to get the agreement. In terms of climate change, it's even more difficult. There are people who have legitimate concerns, whether it's businesses in Europe who are concerned about competitiveness, or people who [ask] is it really necessary to do this now."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/labour/3681149/Ed-Miliband-urges-popular-mobilisation-to-tackle-climate-change.html

Vintage Academe

Clare Nicholls writes to a selection of gents, offering to relieve "that Christmas prezzie angst for that special woman in your life". 




 

  



It's her newly launched collection at Vintage Academe; www.vintageacademe.com  

  



 

  



The collection of vintage couture clothing and accessories has just moved to the intimate atmosphere of award-winning 22 Jermyn Street Hotel.

  



 

  



Exclusive one-to-one viewings are now available by appointment.

        







              
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Obama Uses Campaign Social Tools To Crowdsource Healthcare Policy

              
              
      	        
            
              

                
        				
                  
                  

                
                
              
              

            

            

              

                


Leon Benjamin is the author of Winning by Sharing (http://www.winningbysharing.net/), which is all about the future of work.




We caught up at last week's excellent party hosted by Networking Queen Carole Stone.  This week, Leon has shared the following article about Barack Obama's use of social media tools to crowdsource healthcare policy;











My first reaction when I heard how much money Obama had raised online was one of excitement.  Such an enormous percentage coming in units of $100 or less!  It wasn't long before I felt shocked that such a huge amount of money could be spent getting someone elected - over half a BILLION dollars raised online.  Unbelievable!  My final thought, though, is more optimistic.  If the American public has woken up to the power of online giving (or even lending, like Kiva.org), then the 'untapped superpower of world public opinion' (to coin a phrase used in the New York Times a few years ago), could be about to be unleashed.






Leon blogs here; http://winningbysharing.typepad.com/