Breaking the Silence

Dear colleagues, clients, collaborators, comrades…

I'm writing — after what to many of you is a long silence — to share some exciting news I think you'll appreciate. I also have a small request in the form of an offer.

Three years ago I founded BEAHIVE, a new kind of collaborative space for work and community in Beacon, NY, north of NYC in the verdant Hudson Valley. We now have three locations (Albany + Beacon + Kingston), with plans to create a small network of collaborative hives in the Hudson Valley.

(Check out all the media coverage. I'm particularly fond of this recent profile and schematic graphic in social issues magazine Miller-McCune, now renamed Pacific Standard.)

BEAHIVE is aligned with the social impact mission of Antidote Collective and in many ways is a physical manifestation of the collective part.

Now that I have some great partners and a solid structure in place for BEAHIVE, I'm refocusing on Antidote. Here's what's on the immediate horizon…

-> CO-AUTHORING A SOCIAL IMPACT PR BOOK WITH WENDELL POTTER * Details to come. We'll be reaching out to some of you over the next few months to solicit an interview or contribution. You have been warned!

-> SPEAKING AT THE NYC GREEN FESTIVAL, APRIL 21 "Building Your Authentic Brand Image and How to Incorporate Social Media in the Process"

-> ORGANIZING A TEDx * Details to come.

-> AVAILABLE FOR CONSULTING OPPORTUNITIES (ALSO WITH WENDELL) * Which leads me to...

THE OFFER/REQUEST

I'm offering a free consultation to select folks to discuss how best to communicate their message and connect with the right audiences, inspire them to action, and make a better world possible.

I'd appreciate if you pass my name along to anyone who may need such PR and communications support — namely leaders at nonprofits, foundations and citizen groups, and social entrepreneurs and thinkers at the intersection of progressive issues, media, arts and culture, socially responsible business and big ideas.

Wendell is available to collaborate with me. You may know him from his bestselling book exposing corporate spin, Deadly Spin (Bloomsbury), which was based on his experience as the former head of communications for CIGNA. (I helped with publicity.) He's now a contributor to the Center for Public Integrity and regular MSNBC commentator, among other things.

If you're unfamiliar, Antidote offers both strategic and creative guidance — we can analyze, counsel, plan, design, implement or all of the above. Our full offerings here.

MORE TO COME

As Wendell and I are working on the book, I'll be sending occasional think pieces, reports and antidotes to make a better world possible — from me and some of my Collective friends.

Peace + progress, Scott

Are Documentary Films Changing the World?

My 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.

about this blog

"Another world is not only possible, she is on her way. On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing." (writer Arundhati Roy @ The World Social Forum, Brazil, January 2003)

Close your eyes. Inhale... Exhale... Visualize a better world. Hear her breath. Ommm...

Now open your eyes. Stay with us as we explore ways to help realize her.

A cross between an online magazine and a running journal, here we'll record musings, promote underpublicized stories, disseminate links and information that encourage debate, and highlight innovative ideas and grassroots success stories, for example — with an inspirational narrative thread. Content will include commentary about current affairs and other websites and articles, opinionated essays and editorials, interviews and profiles, etc. and cover a range of progressive social and cultural issues.

Edited by Antidote Collective founder Scott Tillitt, it will feature original content and also draw on postings from the companion discussion group. You can also join the group, where these posts will be automatically emailed. They're synergetic like that. To join, email: collective_antidote-subscribe@yahoogroups.com, or enter your address directly into the box in the left sidebar.