Lalalalala…that’s right. Get ready Los Angeles, I’m coming for a visit! I’m thrilled to have been asked to speak to students at CalTech about how they can use their technology skills to help nonprofits on the night of Tuesday, March 9th (open to the public! full details on my speaking calendar to be updated soon) and I’m buffering a few days because, well, I just plain MISS YOU TO DEATH!
After five glorious years living there, I want to go to all my old haunts, hike my favorite trails, shop my favorite vintage stores and drink PBR in my favorite indie rock haunts and most of all do it all with FRIENDS!
Let me add girls brunch and geek bbq to the list. So let’s start the bidding at…KIDDING…I’m going to pack it all in tight but really really really excited. It’s been too long and I want some of that sunshine California sun on my face.
Dates: March 4th – 11th (then to Austin for SXSW!)
Updated to WHAT I’ll be doing exactly to come, but please drop me a comment, note, a text, anything to put something on the books to catch up. You know who you are!!!
Can’t wait to see you, wrap my arms around you and SQUEEZE!
While at the World Economic Forum in Davos, I walked by the Hub, a central meeting place for the Wall St. Journal writers and also where the Hub was interviewing Young Global Leaders, CEOs and social entrepreneurs about Davos and their experiences. They were gracious enough to ask to interview me and readers of The Causemopolitan might remember that I’m only now growing into liking myself on video. I’m being honest! It’s the third medium that I’m adjusting to (after writing and photos). Submitting the MySpace Journal video was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done, it was really putting myself out there and without the help and support of friends here in New Orleans I don’t know that I would have had the courage to do it.
That said, big thank you to Edie Lush and Hub Culture for the interview above and for all you New Orleans readers out there, check out the interview starting around minute 3 where I really get into WHY I love New Orleans and what is of the most value in being here and being part of the community. (more…)
Continuing the thread about what an amazing opportunity it is to attend the World Economic Forum, see the highlight reel above from WEF’s YouTube channel featuring some of the biggest names in global leadership and governance in the world today.
The biggest names are heavily guarded with security and usually being whisked away to one room or another, but approachable if you can get their attention for just a moment. Walking down a hallway I’ve passed rooms where French President Sarkozy is meeting with the CEO of the World Economic Forum, Klaus Schwab. I walked into a room yesterday with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak in a briefing with BBC Correspondent Nik Gowing about his ambitions for his G20 leadership and his vision for South Korea’s future. I stumbled upon a seating area where I was looking to rest for 10 minutes in one open chair and instead entered into a conversation about nuclear proliferation and how to work with governments in developing countries to stop making nuclear weapons with the Founder of Space Adventures, Eric Anderson, the Founder of Operation Hope, John Bryant and the Crown Prince of Norway, Prince Haakon. I grabbed tea with the CEO of News Corp and then we, together, scoped out and finagled ourselves into the second row of a session where Former President Bill Clinton was speaking on the state of Haiti.
And that list only goes to about 4pm!
Each day is like that here. A glorious amount of over-information that I imagine will continue to permeate and sink in for months to come. Tomorrow is the final “official” day of panels. It’s hard to believe it will soon be over and I’ll be back in New Orleans, telling everyone about all the good New Orleans gospel I’ve been spreading to anyone who will listen about all New Orleans has to offer. But not yet. No sir, no yet. For now, I edit and upload videos, I edit and upload photos, I write and hyperlink blog posts to share with all of you. I sleep (barely) and eat (sometimes) and buck up to soak in all the Davos has to offer working through the exhaustion and the wall and the feeling that as much as I’m absorbing is as much as I’m missing.
I’m already plotting my return for 2011.
Don’t forget to watch my video interviews of some of the best and brightest leaders of today and tomorrow on the MySpace blog.
We did it! Thanks to ALL OF YOU and my many other supporters, you have helped me win the opportunity to attend the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland as the citizen journalist for MySpace and the Wall Street Journal.
You were the sixth judge. Every vote you cast, helped me with the community vote. The other judges were the CEO of MySpace, CEO of News International, Managing Editor of The Wall Street Journal, Head of Communications for the World Economic Forum and the winner from last year. You’re in good company.
I’m on a jet plane TODAY for Switzerland and I’ll be there all week representing all of you and meeting world leaders, global thinkers, CEOs and activists. Where can you catch all the blogging goodness? So glad you asked!
After 24hours on those outlets, I will repurpose some of the content on my blog and you might see it around the web in other places too. And I’ll continue to blog and write about my experiences when I’m back. And of course, you can catch my up-to-the-minute updates on Twitter where I’m @sloane and will be using the hashtag #wef. Let me also recommend following @davos and their awesome Twitter list of WEFMedia.
If YOU were attending Davos, who would you want to meet? What question would you ask of our world’s leaders?
Ask me and I’ll do the digging and reporting for you. It’s going to be a whirlwind, but I can handle it. Don’t worry, I got this! Can’t wait to share my experiences with you.
Meet the MySpace Journal 2010 Winner
January 20, 2010
To attend the World Economic Forum in Davos is truly the opportunity of a lifetime. I would like to thank MySpace, the Wall St. Journal and the World Economic Forum for offering me this opportunity. I’d like to thank the judges, especially the 6th judge – YOU. So many amazing people in my online network voted for me and I wouldn’t have this opportunity without your support. Thank you.
As I talked about in my video entry for this contest, my life has changed dramatically this past year. I went from working in a technology startup in Los Angeles to traveling the world as a global volunteer, discovering my own online voice on my blog, The Causemopolitan and eventually, at the end of my travels, relocating to New Orleans to be part of a vibrant social entrepreneurship community and continuing movement to rebuild one of America’s greatest cities.
All of this has happened because I believe in humanity and I believe that we all have the power to make the world a better place. There is a mantra I have, “Every day inspire others and be inspired.” For each person who reaches out to me to say that they’ve been motivated to create change in the world, so too do I reach out to be mentored, inspired simply better overall each and every day.
It’s something I call “the cause-filled life.” Which means that everything I do, I work to incorporate cause. Whoa. I know that can seem like a huge step for most people who don’t know where to get started. So you know what I say? Start small, start anywhere, get involved with a cause or nonprofit and let it grow organically from there. Someone who is out of shape can’t go out and run a marathon without easing their way into it. And that starts with putting on walking shoes and walking out the door, down the driveway and to the end of the block. Cause is like that too. Make a $10 donation to support a friend’s fundraiser, volunteer one Saturday with your family. Time waits for no one. I believe people, for the most part and with the best intentions, talk themselves out of getting involved because they feel like they don’t have enough time or money to really make a difference. I make it my goal to be the voice that says; “Do it! Try it on for size and see where it goes!” (more…)
Guess what? I’m the new MySpace and Wall Street Journal citizen journalist. To attend the World Economic Forum in Davos is truly the opportunity of a lifetime. I would like to thank MySpace, the Wall St. Journal and the World Economic Forum for offering me this opportunity. I’d like to thank the judges, especially the 6th judge – YOU. So many amazing people in my online network voted for me and I wouldn’t have this opportunity without your support. Thank you.
LOS ANGELES – December 18, 2009 – MySpace today announced that Sloane Berrent, a 30-year-old resident of New Orleans, is the 2010 winner of its second annual “MySpace Citizen Journalist” competition. Berrent, who was chosen from a pool of contestants from the United States and the United Kingdom, will travel next week to the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland as a special correspondent for MySpace, The Wall Street Journal and the World Economic Forum.
Berrent will join the Davos press corps and use the MySpace platform to report on conference news and interview world leaders about issues relevant to the global MySpace community. She will document her Davos experience via blogging/vlogging on MySpace (http://www.myspace.com/myspacejournal), and on The Wall Street Journal online.
“It has been a lifelong dream of mine to attend the World Economic Forum in Davos,” said Berrent. “It’s an incredible opportunity to report on world leaders and the future of the global economy. In the aftermath of the devastating earthquake in Haiti, I’d like to focus on the world’s role in the recovery effort. I’d also like to explore how economic development, specifically, microfinance and educational opportunity, play a role in changing the face of world economies and helping to break the poverty cycle.”
What do I get? What happens next?
As the winner of the “MySpace Citizen Journalist” competition, Berrent will receive:
· Invitations to the Young Global Leaders opening conference and various media events
· Attendance at private meetings with editors from the Wall Street Journal and News Corp executives
· The opportunity to document the experience in written and video blogs on MySpace and the Wall Street Journal online
· Syndication of her MySpace blog via WSJ.com
Much more to come, can’t wait to share my experience with you.
Your Causemopolian,
Sloane
P.S. Going to Davos? Know anyone who is? Leave a comment or email me at sloane (at) thecausemopolitan (dot) com.
The earthquake that shook Haiti last week demolished and devastated the entire nation. Looking at pictures online, reading testimonials of survivors and following the developments in the rescue and emergency response teams, I felt, like many of you, overwhelming sadness. Mere weeks after completing my Kiva Fellowship last summer, the Philippines were hit with Typhoon Ondoy, another natural disaster resulting in true devastation. I was looking back on pictures from the Philippines and wanted to share the slideshow above from when I went to visit Bernardita Dayo, a Kiva borrower that I had actually funded before I became a Fellow. Looking at those pictures, their homes located so close to the water, I’m reminded that for every picture we see of Haiti NOW, just last week there were other pictures showing THEN. The pictures above, that village, doesn’t exist in the same way after the Typhoon, now it is just a memory as the Filipino people work to rebuild their villages and homes so too now does Haiti have a long and turbulent road ahead of them. The “then” in their pictures were vibrant lives and villages with personality, history and culture whose path has now forever been changed.
When you give to help Haiti, and you should, $5-$10 is little to most of us but means the world to them, I’d like to ask you to remember that you’re giving not just to help the Haitian people out of their dire current situation, but investing in their future and the rebuilding of the parts of their society and community that helped define them.
Here are a few quick and easy ways from WhatGives!:
* Text HAITI to 90999. $10 will be charged to your cell phone bill and given to the American Red Cross.
* Text YELE to 501501. $5 will be charged to your cell phone bill and given to Yele Haiti. (see note at end of post about Yele Haiti)
* Text CERF to 90999. $5 will be charged to your cell phone bill and given to the United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund.
* Text HAITI to 45678. $5 will be charged to your cell phone bill and given to The Salvation Army.
* Text QUAKE to 20222. $10 will be charged to your cell phone bill and given to the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund.
* Text SAVE to 20222 (US Only). $10 will be charged to your cell phone bill and given to Save the Children.
In addition to the above, I’ve also made a donation to Architecture for Humanity and I’d like to ask you to join me. Cameron Sinclair wrote a powerful article in yesterday’s HuffPost about the rebuilding of Haiti:
When we are rebuilding, do not let the media set the time line and expectations for reconstruction. I remember vividly well known news personalities standing on the rubble of homes in the lower ninth proclaiming that ‘this time next year we will see families back home.’ Some well meaning NGOs, who usually have little building experience, are even worse — ‘we’ll have 25,000 Haitians back home if you donate today.’ In reality, here is what it really looks like;
* Pre-Planning Assessments and Damage Analysis (underway, will run for a year)
* Establish Community Resource Center and Reconstruction Studio (Week 6 to Month 3)
* Sorting Out Land Tenure and Building Ownership (Month 6 to Year 5)
* Transitional Shelters, Health Clinics and Community Structures (Month 6 to Year 2)
* Schools, Hospitals and Civic Structures (Month 9 to Year 3)
* Permanent Housing (Year 1 to Year 5)
Thank you to WhatGives! for creating the widget below that makes it easy for you to make a donation in just a few clicks.
The social web has incredible power to impact change on the world and when disaster strikes, we must dig into our pockets, past where we already give and help those in need. Because we’d want the world to act the same if something horrific were to happen in our backyard. A lesson I’ve learned all too well from the amazing people here in New Orleans.
Please text or make a donation to help the rebuilding of Haiti today.
You can see most photographs from the Philippines and my Kiva Fellowship on my Flickr account HERE (and add me as a contact if we’re not already connected).
This series is called In Transit because you really have no idea how much time people in the Philippines spend in transit unless you are there and traveling in the provinces. Developing countries share that infrastructure problem where it just take a long time to get everywhere, all the time. I spent time on commuter boats, fishing boats, buses, jeepneys, tricycles, pedicabs, fastvans, the ro-ro, walking, taxis and motorbikes. It’s hard to capture all of it, but here are five of my photos that stand out as memories of the experience.
Posted by Sloane Berrent in Life, Travel on November 10, 2009 | Comments
**The video above serves no other purpose than to get your feet tapping.**
The ever elusive Sloane. I know, I hear you, the question burning on peoples’ minds – what’s next for me? What adventure is next?
Let me tell you this. I am always up for the challenges that life brings. And for me, a bigger challenge is sitting still than it is to keep going. That is why I am spending November is the ever cliched “cabin in the woods.”
Now this cabin isn’t too remote, I’m not Stephen King holed up in Maine. But my mom does have a place about an hour from Pittsburgh at Hidden Valley (not like the dressing) and it’s where I learned to ski as a kid, it’s surrounded by trees, it’s remote and up until yesterday without internet.
What am I doing here? Partially putting together a personal strategic plan for 2010 which includes putting all my ideas on paper and taping them to the wall and thinking about what avenues I really do want to explore, and what I most realistically don’t want to do. It includes working on a redesign for The Causemopolitan, working on a manifesto I’ve been tinkering with, setting up a few other ventures floating around in my mind. That also includes long hikes, reading a stack of books I brought up, catching up on GOOD, Ode, The Week, Fast Company and the Harvard Business Review – my periodicals of choice. Listening to my favorite business podcasts. Basically being alone and thinking through my thoughts.
One BIG thing I forgot. National Novel Writing Month. #NaNoWriMo. It’s 50,000 words in one month. It’s letting go of perfection and saying “This doesn’t suck.” My plan is to write about my past year. I’ve always felt like I had lots of books inside of me. This is attempt to get at least one of them out there on paper. If nothing else to free my mind to take charge and work on some of the other ones swirling around my mind.
It’s HARD. I’ll write more about that as the month goes on, but let me say this. Blogging is going to take a backseat this month. It has to. I can get so wrapped up in writing HERE. I’m still writing, but forgive me for not doing my weekly features or being incredibly timely.
Am I super-productive every moment? Nope. Sometimes I sit and stare out the window or work on my 1,000 piece puzzle. I need this for myself. And some people get it. Great. And some people are mad at me because they think it’s not fair that I get to do this while they work. To that, what I have to say is that we all create our own reality. When I have a house and a family and all the things we’re supposed to want in life, I’ll have different priorities. But for now, this is what I need for me.
So there you have it. November in a nutshell. I might be asking some of you for feedback. I might be asking you for support. I might be asking you for connections or introductions. I might just be asking you to send me a virtual hug. Know that I’ll come out swinging ready to take life by the horns. You can’t build a house in a day, but you can chop wood every day. That’s my definition of progress.
You know what would have been easy? Or easier anyway. The day after the day that a part of my world crashed into flames right before my eyes? To go out there and get a new job doing exactly what I was doing. To keep my life basically as it was. To not make a big deal out of things. To keep going on that path I had worked so very hard at.
That, was not meant to be.
I set out on a different journey. One where I gave up my home to be a nomad for an undisclosed amount of time, sold most of my things and put the rest in storage, said farewell to good friends and bought a one-way ticket to South America to go on an adventure. Where that adventure would lead, I didn’t now. I just needed to be someplace, anyplace, from where I was. I told myself I would rebuild from there.
I am one month away from the 1 year anniversary of that change. And I’m nervous now, more frightened than I’ve been all year. You see, all year I was in transition and moving all the time and going from a South American renewal of my spirit to a New Orleans revival of my soul to a Philippines emergence of my humanity. I found comfort in the unknown places and faces and foods and music. I felt connected, but just enough. I went out into the world to do good. I was completely free of whatever strange and curious confines society had put around me.
I’ve told my story all year. Sometimes little bits and pieces, sometimes big chunks, sometimes nothing at all. I have a overflowing suitcase full of elevator pitches and easy get-aways and one-way tickets to my next destination in my always moving and hardly sitting still version of a life.
There is safety you know, in having it all. But there is safety in giving it all away too. People say to me, “I never could do what you’ve done.” or “Wow, tell me how be like you.” And you know what I say? Please don’t. Don’t make me the poster child for giving it all away because I didn’t have a plan, I’ve winged it pretty much all year, and now, nearing the end of that journey, I’m exhausted. Enriched beyond belief, taller, stronger, wiser, more able to understand who I am and the situations around me, I’m all of these things and more. But also plain tired. (more…)
