Big Ideas
Scott Tillitt
Visioning: Map Your Purpose and Change the World

Everyone's talking about purpose these days. Everyone tells you that you need to find yours — for your own sake and for that of humanity’s. There is a growing proliferation of books and articles and workshops with various approaches promising to help you find yours. One approach is visioning, a vogue-ish high-level process used in business, urban planning, nonprofits... anywhere where thinking strategically about future direction is helpful. (5-min read)

Visioning: Map Your Purpose and Change the World
Nonprofit, PR + Communications
Scott Tillitt
Cool Job: Fund the People Communications Manager

Amplify the campaign to maximize investment in nonprofit workforce as Fund the People's new communications manager.

Cool Job: Fund the People Communications Manager
Social Enterprise / Innovation, Local Living Economy, Antidote News
Scott Tillitt
Hudson Valley Farm & Food Business Accelerator

Developed by the Hudson Valley AgriBusiness Development Corporation and facilitated in part by Antidote Collective, this intensive 6-month program includes online training activities, expert instruction, one-on-one mentoring sessions, group interaction and industry networking events. Applications due Aug. 15, 2016. (quick read)

Hudson Valley Farm & Food Business Accelerator
Nonprofit, Social Enterprise / Innovation
Scott Tillitt
Profiting From Pro Bono: Taproot Foundation

For 5 years (2005 to 2010) I was a consultant on pro bono branding and communications projects for several nonprofit clients through Taproot Foundation. It was a highlight of my career, and I encourage it for everyone. Here's an interview that gives a feel of why it's rewarding and impactful. (2-min read)

Profiting From Pro Bono: Taproot Foundation
Big Ideas
Scott Tillitt
Slow Activism

In this TED Talk, "How the Internet has made social change easy to organize, hard to win," techno-sociologist Zeynep Tufekci makes an argument against digital activism, exclusively. And an argument for what I'll call "slow activism." (quick read)

Slow Activism

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Are Documentary Films Changing the World?

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Tribeca Film FestivalMy colleague Josh Baran is on this panel at the Tribeca Film Festival this Sunday, April 24: "Are Documentary Films Changing the World?."

Josh and I have worked together on a few world-changing films (or those at least trying to). And nearly six years ago I invited him to speak to the Progressive PR Professionals (PR/PR/PR) on a similar topic: "Hijacking Pop Culture For Higher Purposes."

One could argue that Josh is the godfather of leveraging films and popular culture to raise awareness of an issue and compel audiences to take action. In the early 1980’s, he created and implemented a unique grassroots media campaign around the ABC TV network film The Day After. His efforts resulted in a huge increase in viewers both in the US and worldwide, spurring an international dialogue on the dangers of the nuclear arms race. The special is still ranked as the one of the biggest television-related events in history.

The Tribeca panel synopsis:

Documentary films unveil important truths, challenge assumptions, and often compel audiences to take action. Many of today's filmmakers are faced with an additional challenge—how do they ensure their film will have a significant impact on the public and on the policies their story highlights? The collaboration of filmmakers with NGOs and community groups has created a new distribution model, and the measure of success now reaches beyond sales to changes in public perception and policy.

Join filmmaker and activist Abigail Disney, Give Up Tomorrow director Michael Collins, Executive Director and Co-Founder of Impact Partners Dan Cogan, producer Cynthia Lowen of The Bully Project, Josh Baran of Baran Communications, and others for an insightful discussion on the new paths of distribution for nonfiction films and the ways filmmakers and their subjects are making their voices heard. Moderated by independent producer and Outreach Director of The Good Pitch, Sandi DuBowski.