As part of the organising committee that organises the Birmingham to London Cycle (UK) ride every year. Our organising team / committee consists of approx 8 volunteers from London, Luton and Birmingham (19th-20th July 2008). The ride takes at least 10 months to organise. Let us also not forget this year there is a giant mela to welcome the riders and raise more money for charity with stalls and performers at SKLP Community Centre on 20th July from 12pm to 5pm.

If you took part last year, you will remember, the friends, fellowship and fun that we all had raising money for Children with Leukemia (CWL). Together we successfully raised £25,000.

This year we have chosen the same charity again. This year the ride takes place from 19th-20th July 2008. As a reminder, the ride is organised by SACA (Sikh Arts and Culture Association).

This is a community ride that also shows that collectively we can perform good in society and be humble about it too! The other good thing about this ride is that is demonstrates what I tend to hark on about - People from different backgrounds coming together for a common cause - focusing on self-less service - together with an opportunity to train and  test their stamina (NB Health disclaimers are given).

This year we managed to configure the site with a link to www.justgiving.com – (NB My sponsorship page is at: http://www.justgiving.com/saviarora - your kind donations/sponsorship would be greatly appreciated). This is a brilliant way to collect online sponsorship for any charity. Once the charity is registered it takes just a few moments for individuals to create their own pages, set targets and gain encouragement / momentum!

Moving away from I to We.

It is also interesting that National Rail is using the following marketing strap line: ‘you take the journey with you’. Orange has just unveiled ‘I am’ as their new strap line which will replace ‘the future is bright, the future is orange’. The latter line was introduced by ad agency WCRS for Orange in 1994 to launch the mobile phone brand into the UK market. The ’I Am Everyman’ television commercial suggests a number of messages. Some online marketing publications have suggested that this brand change has cost Orange a few million to complete. Someone suggested £10M?

I wonder if the 21st century has increasingly become - A world for the ‘I’ generation, for example: I pod and MySpace. Yet, the irony is, that for each of these components to operate one has to interact with others?

Mohammad Ali, the famous boxer once gave one of the most powerful and shortest lectures in Oxford. He simply announced, ‘Me, We’.

When I looked through some of the other events featured on Justgiving it gave me a reassurance that there are so many good causes and people prepared to help.

In a world where the word ‘I’ is increasingly becoming prevalent it is good to know that there are people who want to share and harmonise. I only wish that some commercial /giant multi-nationals companies and governments could do more.

Popularity: 59% [?]

Recently it was revealed and confirmed that indeed children ‘look-up’ to role models to help motivate them.
Unfortunately, if we look around all we see is that the mainstream press obsessed with celebrity icons.
I wondered like in sports, if an athlete is found to be taking performance enhancing drugs they are then denied any medals they may have covertly achieved. The stigma often sticks and not only do their peers condemn it as cheating but the press also agree with the wrong doing.

However, oddly with pop stars the fact of drug taking or a stint in rehab is communicated by the press differently. The images of over partying, brawls and drunkenness (the latter three adjectives are not mutually exclusive!) are sensationalised. It almost seems that there is nothing else for the public to read about. No awards are taken back.

In addition, no public penalties apart from embarrassment are present? Could it be that these stories and the perpetrators feed each other? Could it be that bad news about people and their habits encourages the shallowness of the commentators and the readers?
Is it a question of jealously – a suggested comeback on, ‘you cannot have your cake and eat it too?’

Ironically, the press are also quick to state that racist behaviour such as that revealed in Celebrity Big Brother is wrong. So they can be driven public opinion? Or is it a case that the press have certain barriers of acceptability they will not cross. Or is it the face or denial of obvious public activity. This stance is neither consistent or honourable.

In London over the last year, 11 teenagers have been attacked and killed. Where is this apparent pessimistic attitude coming from? Much depends on a communities living conditions and investment by councils. Maybe we need to look at some solutions:

• Reverse the reduction of youth clubs/associations – there needs to be a reminder that are lots of groups that need help, e.g: charities
• Limited good news on the achievement of youth in the press - lets communicate some good news!
• Discussing more in school critical world issues raised for example by Amnesty international - We need to communicate the ‘bigger picture’
• Write to the editors to change their stance on features - Public opinion is better than no reaction from the readers
• Use the Internet to create a world youth connection network - twinning schools et al.
• Encourage the company you work for to develop a corporate scheme for youth -This could be an extension of the work-experience that many 15 year old children are encouraged to complete with their schools.

These are just suggested solutions. What we need now is the imagination and motivation of both the press and government
In addition, we need to establish a list of keynote speakers for schools and colleges, who are not celebs. For example, true role models:

• Self made business persons
• Representatives of volunteer committees
• Those that talk about the non-glossy side of life, i.e: death and taxes!

For youth we need to bring home a sense of reality that we are on this Earth for a short period of time - let us all collectively make it a better place rather than shoot or stab each other. I really liked the slogan : ‘Lets make poverty history’. We can make this a reality if we all believe in a common cause of good. Celebrities and their collective merchandise contribute to the materialism that we all leave behind. What we really need to do is enrich our souls through self-less service.

Unfortunately, the powers that drive the press are driven by the very cash that can also be used for good.

Popularity: 53% [?]

One of my pet subjects has been the power of media and also the advent of what is being described as ‘new media’. In recent years I have suggested that those are hoping to ‘fight’ against traditional reporting and stereo typing should create their own media. Now I’m not saying that this strategy should be abandoned but there is an opportunity to consider how the current media operates.

The whole arena of reporting got me thinking about the role of Press Relations and its role on influencing editorial chief’s, especially in leading periodicals and commentators sound bytes.

Wikipedia suggests that modern PR can be defined as the ability to  evaluates a product or individual’s public perception through market research. Once data is collected and challenges are identified, solutions are presented in a campaign strategy to meet goals. Techniques may vary from campaign to campaign but some standard tools used are; press releases, press kits, satellite feeds, pod casts, web casts, wire service distribution of information and Internet placement. Others include entertainment product placement (television, events, celebrity), product launches, press conferences, media seminars, producing events, speechwriting, establishing partnerships and more is often required.

Last week I met a specialist in PR and he suggested that the media simply wants to ‘talk’ about stuff! In other words sometimes by being more creative or creating a ‘buzz’ around the things that we do can create an interest and therefore coverage. I then considered his point in the context that maybe we will not totally overcome the obessession of some media outlets to feature celebrity lifestyle or even scandals but we may be able to generate positive stories.

Interestingly, he also suggested that generally there was a negative tone to reporting news and views. When you think about it he s quite right. In the UK we may get a 30 seconds of a good news story at the end of News at 10 but it is often positioned as a quirk or even a funny item to lighten the mood. However, lightening the mood should not be at the cost of respectability or victimisation.

Take Bollywood’s relentless negative portrayal of some religions. The humour element is not global and on so many levels and occasions blasphemous. Yet, we appear to not be able to stop them. One suggestion could be to ‘push’ positive stories about people. Those individuals from different backgrounds that are helping communities. The theory being that negative images could be potentially knocked out by positive ones, i.e.: With enough good news in the air that celebrates life, maybe we can change the behaviour of editorial staff and ultimately the way that we should respect each other.

Popularity: 60% [?]

Wow! What a week it was last week.
I had a call late Thursday to interview Reverend Jesse Jackson.

Mono:

Stereo:

He was passing through London and I had a chance to meet and interview him for a friend in an organisation.

It had some amazing points to make about the importance of justice and equality, through his work with
The Rainbow Push Coalition - The Rainbow PUSH Coalition is a progressive organization fighting for social change.
As a mighty coalition of conscience; workers, women and people of color have the power to make the
American Dream a Reality!

They believe that the issues consist of:

The Issues
RPC is dedicated to improving the lives of all people by focusing on cures for social, economic and political ills.
Our issues include but are not limited to:

• Jobs and Economic Empowerment
• Employee Rights and Livable Wages
• Educational Access
• Fair and Decent Housing
• Voter Registration and Civic Education
• Election Law Reform
• Fairness in the Media, Sports, and Criminal
• Justice System
• Political Empowerment
• Trade and Foreign Policy
• Affirmative Action and Equal Rights
• Gender Equality
• Environmental justice

and in terms of the UK http://www.equanomics.org.uk/
Equanomics UK is a growing coalition of organisations across the UK who want to develop more economic
analyses and approaches to equality in the UK. It is a project incubated at the 1990 Trust.

It was fascinating to hear him talk about the need for greater equality and ways that it could materialise, for example:

* Investing in firms, through stock purchasing
* Making people aware that the recent sub-prime mortgage problems may impact selective communities.

With regard to the latter, there will be marches held in December 2007, in both Wall Street and London’s stock
exchange area to highlight the need for a rescue package. The Rainbow Push Coalition on their site suggests…

It is time to act. Join us on December 10 on Wall Street and in cities across the country.
Stand up to stop the wave of home loan defaults that threatens to foreclose not just on their homes but on our hopes.
The problem keeps getting worse. Two million homeowners face foreclosure over the next year. Their neighbors will
lose billions in the equity they have in their homes. Millions will find themselves stuck, unable to get a decent price
for their homes in a flooded market. Tens of millions more will tighten their belts. Communities will struggle with budget crises….

It is interesting some banks were quick to lend. However, now that there is an issue, they need to show both
Corporate Responsibility and justice. Now is the time for creative solutions to ensure that people, all who are hardworking
can manage their existence and dreams.

Popularity: 79% [?]