it seems to me a great project and i like it a lot.
the thread originated by the posts you mentioned were really astonishing and meaningful.

Gianandrea ... from your comments on CK's article, it seemed that you had an insider's view and a particular interest in the body image debate. Care to lend that insight to a working group? ;)

Gavin,

Thank you for your passion.

I agree that a great opportunity exists. In my life, peace through justice is the passion that allows me to speak for those without a voice (and sometimes spend time in jail).

But while I love the social posts here, and have contributed to those discussions, I hope the majority of our focus here remains on marketing and business concepts.

No reason we can' tie social and marketing issues together. After all, without marketing no one hears those without voices.

Lewis

Hi Lewis ... sorry if this is unclear, but the plan was never to change/disrupt the social+business focus here.

The working groups would obviously need a focused working/collaborative space ... which is easily achieved via a wiki or similar technology. Then perhaps, from time to time, Ann would graciously allow us to post discussion topics, reports and discussion papers.

Gavin: Great post and thoughts. I'm all over this idea and it's another way of making our world better and our marketing community stronger. There are several positive and advancing initiatives I'd like to help work on--it's prioritizing which and how. Definitely a conversation I'd like to circle back to, once I get back next week (still down in TX am I).

Also wanted to chime in on the good point Lewis made in saying:

"But while I love the social posts here, and have contributed to those discussions, I hope the majority of our focus here remains on marketing and business concepts."

I agree that we need to be focused on marketing, while being attentive to social issues (sometimes they intersect, like with imaging and messaging). But Lewis is right in that there remain many marketing practices and lessons to cover here on this blog. In fact I'll be covering some core marketing lessons--sans controversy--through my next posting.

Thanks Gavin, Lewis. Let's do good and learn a lot in the process.

Gavin,

My bad. Your thoughts are clear to me. I'm suggesting that marketing is key to a public face and to understanding in all public endeavors. As experts in this field, I think we can help grow both in the social arena. Lord knows that NGOs, cause organizations and nonprofits can use the help.

gavin, i'm more than happy to have a chance to contribute.
and lewis you are right about the focus on marketing (not only as a mean to sell products but to sell ideas and thougths) as a tool to make the world a better place to live

One of things I have said over and over is how I love the honesty on this blog. I think blogging has taken out the passive agressive quality of email. Your free to express your beliefs. I woke up this morning feeling especially frustrated with peoples inability to tell the truth, in which I mean their own truth.
There's a sense of etiquette on blogs, where as you try not to offend someone or attack their point of view but the truth, your own truth, gets out there and is seen. I wish all of our interactions could be so clean and fresh.

I want to do good acts.
I want to tackle body issues.
I want this kind of discussion and the second life of social media to translate into society...feeling safe to express oneself.

Gavin, If you start any working committees I would love to be apart of it.

Lewis & CK, Yes Martketing Profs should remain true to its main purpose: marketing.

Gavin, I also think if these kinds of conversations occur and translate into society, I think honest marketing and brand loyalty will be met with a less cautious audience and ultimately making the marketing process more successful.

Gavin, I love this idea. It's time we get to work, using the tools we're best at, to positively affect those around us.

Just because we're willing to talk about Darfur, doesn't make it a non-marketing issue. One of the reasons little has been done about it is because not enough people know about or understand it, which seems to me, could be a problem marketers could fix.

Past those issues, it's time for our industry to start righting the ship. It's unfair to expect the average person to deal with 3000 poorly targeted messages per day. Unless, we begin to work together to work through these clutter problems, then the people will revolt.

There's a lot of good work to be done, be it in advertising specifically, social issues, or in the political realm. It's time we start doing something about it.

I'm on board. Social marketing -- marketing health and social issues -- is my professional raison d'etre. I would love to hook up with other like-minded marketers and spread the word about using marketing for good. There is already a small but growing community of social marketers, and given the volume of health and social problems out there, we can use all the help we can get!

Hey Gavin- I'm in! Bring it on.

Thanks all for your great comments and suggestions. Thanks also to Ann for hosting discussion!

For those who are interested, please visit www.karmacredits.org and leave a comment. Leave your information as a comment and we'll try to all hook up next week.