Carrotmob

New Website Sneak Peek

Brent — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 03:53:58 +0000

High time we introduced you to some other fine people who have hopped aboard the Carrotmob express. There’s Princeton’s own Tim Bauman, our stellar summer intern. And Zach and Pierre from Exygy, the software development firm we’ve hired to help build our technology. I dusted off the camera and put together a 5 minute clip, including a little teaser of what we’re working on in the lab. Ha. Haha. Muhaha. Mu-u-u-HA. MUAHHHHH HAHAHAH HAAAAAAmalskdfmiemew

Help write our mission statement

Brent — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 21:53:17 +0000

Hey guys, we’re preparing to incorporate, and one of the important things to do is craft a mission statement for our articles of incorporation. This is a simple task, but we must take great care to get it right. Not only is this important for legal reasons, but it’s an opportunity for us to create a compass to guide this organization through all the complicated twists and turns and decisions that may face us in the future. This is a big idea, and there are a million paths we could take as we push this forward. We need to consider small community events, big campaigns focused on global brands, and any number of revenue models that may present themselves along the way. Together we should make sure our compass is well-calibrated.

Friday was a beautiful day, so Sarah, Brandon, Josh, Matt, Carter and I gathered in my backyard to talk about what this statement should say. We drafted up some stuff, but before finalizing it we wanted to get feedback from mobbers worldwide. We’ve pretty much nailed down the first part of the sentence, and I’ve gotta say the prose just leaps off the page:

The Corporation is organized and is to be operated exclusively for charitable and educational purposes within the meaning of section 501(c)(3) of the United States Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (hereinafter referred to as the “Code”), and is engaged in, among other activities in furtherance of its charitable purposes, …

Now for the rest of the sentence. We talked about a lot of key concepts, and then I threw out this draft:

Creating a more sustainable world by empowering people to effectively influence businesses.

We went through and talked about the implications of all of these words, talked about what was missing, what was unnecessary, etc. We massaged it a bit and this morning I wrote this up:

Empowering people to use their influence in commerce to advance sustainability.

I think this does a good job of capturing what we talked about, but I still need more feedback from the rest of the team, maybe I inadvertently messed up part of it. But either way I wanted to loop you guys in before we try to solidify it any more. Aaaaaaaaaaaand now, an analysis of all the words, and why they are in this draft:

EMPOWERING: This is a fuzzy word, but I think it does a good job of describing what we do. You might say that people already have power, and they just aren’t using it, which is something I’ve said before. But I think they don’t REALLY have that collective power until they have the necessary tools. We’re going to build the right technology, and work on growing and uniting a network of people so that they can really put their power to good use. In other words, today people have “potential power” and we’re going to give them “actual power”. Alternative words that were suggested include enable and unleash. I like unleash, but do we then need to explain how exactly people are currently leashed?

PEOPLE: We considered the word “consumers”, but I recently had a conversation with a wise man named Jerry who illuminated all the drawbacks to that word. And if we use words like “consumers” or “customers”, we are limiting our scope. We also want to empower advocacy organizations to use this power. We also want to empower management within businesses themselves to use this power. Everyone is getting empowered up in here. We make it rain empowerment. But only on people, you see. The spending power of other animals, such as narwhals, lies beyond the scope of this organization. Narwhals, we wish you the best of luck. Narwhalmob.org is currently available.

TO USE THEIR INFLUENCE: We want to make people understand that they have influence, and then we want to help them put it to good use. We also want to help make the jump from individual influence to collective influence. Collectively, we have a whole new level of influence because of our aggregated buying power. Not to mention because of our ability to help define the reputation of a business. So it’s not phrased as “to use their money/spending”. Even people with no money can help influence businesses by spreading the word about what they are doing as part of a campaign.

IN COMMERCE: We originally said “businesses”, and then in our discussions we liked the words “marketplace/marketplaces/market” etc. Something about “influence businesses” seemed limiting. What if some day we figure out how to influence our local DMV*? That’s not really a “business”, it’s a government agency. Marketplace seemed to encompass more, and also connote the idea that we are tapping into supply and demand, and the market economy. But when I tried to use the word “marketplace”, it didn’t seem like a very elegant fit. If you look at how it’s defined, it seems like the word we really want is “market” but that word seems insufficiently descriptive. Influence in the market? Which market? So I could go either way, but I have “commerce”. Initially I thought the connotations of the word “commerce” were a little underwhelming, but I think the meaning is right on, it rolls of the tongue a little better, and it’s flexible. I mean, the FBI is only authorized to do things related to “interstate commerce,” and they do a whole lot. Commerce? Or something else?

*There are no plans to change DMVs, just brainstorming.

TO ADVANCE SUSTAINABILITY: This is the big one. Basically we are writing a mission statement because we are on a mission. We aren’t going to be a neutral platform for organizers to organize anything they want. If someone wants to organize a Carrotmob campaign to reward the pro-Nazi policies of a coal-powered land mine manufacturing business, we want to be able to remove that campaign from our system, and we should specify our reason for doing so. We could just say “to do good” or “to promote do-goodery”. But that’s not very descriptive or well-defined. We looked at other words, and we think sustainability is the best word out there, as imperfect as it will be. We like it because it is descriptive, and much of the most important work in the world comes down to advancing sustainability. Please note: Sustainability is not the same as “environmentalism”. If you read up on what sustainability really means, you’ll see that it is closely intertwined with economic and social dimensions as well. There’s also the notion of “Social Sustainability” which is the idea that future generations should have the same or greater access to social resources as the current generation. If we consider that to be part of our definition, then we can tackle all sorts of social issues as part of our mission. To be clear: We will not be limited to “environmental” campaigns. So what is the best way to verbalize our scope? My girlfriend says she doesn’t see how the word “sustainability” includes all areas of social justice. I think it can be interpreted that way, but it’s a bit shaky. We could add in another couple words like “to advance sustainability and justice”, but then we get into a whole other discussion about what are the most important words to include. Ugh. If we ponder this word too much this discussion will become less useful and we will never get incorporated. The question really is, do you think we can do better than the term “sustainability”?

OK, there she is. Now here are a couple other issues we’ve been pondering:

- Does it pop? Is it memorable enough? Is it sufficiently grand?

- It doesn’t really envision a future state. How will we know when we’ve accomplished our mission? Should we choose some tangible goal instead, like “we will build a network of 50 million people to all buy the same brand of toothbrush” or “we will retrofit 10,000 grocery stores”. Will we actually “achieve” sustainability? Or will we just keep “advancing” it?

- It’s flexible, but is it too vague?

Here are some other words and concepts that have been floating around. Some of these might be good for a separate list of Carrotmob values, but is there anything here which should really be incorporated into the mission statement?

Community, positivity, building relationships, “win-win”, bridging between stakeholders, cooperation, democracy, measurable impact…

That’s it. Give us your feedback and ideas!

Meet Matt, Brandon, Carter and Josh

Brent — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 17:35:37 +0000

A couple weeks ago I introduced you all to Sarah, and now I want to introduce you guys to a team of MBA students from Presidio who are helping us out! As we’ve discussed before, there are lots of potential revenue models for Carrotmob. But we haven’t yet invested the time and resources needed for deep exploration and due diligence on those ideas. This team is spearheading a comprehensive exploration of the models that we think are most promising….

Meet Sarah

Brent — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 19:13:48 +0000

It is with great pleasure that we announce a new addition to the Carrotmob team: Sarah!

Carrotmob becomes a non-profit

Brent — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 01:17:08 +0000

Hey guys! I’ve decided to move forward incorporating Carrotmob as a non-profit! What do you think? Leave comments on this post. In this video I blab on and on about this decision for almost nine minutes for crying out loud. If you are really interested in legal structures, you’ll like it. If you’re not that interested in legal structures, I would advise you to keep your receipt….

Leaving The Nest!

Brent — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 01:01:34 +0000

A message from Carrotmob founder Brent Schulkin:

October 24th Recap!

kim — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 19:24:12 +0000

Hey team! We’ve been waiting on info from all the organizers who put on events on Oct 24th, and now we can finally post a recap for you! As you know, Carrotmob recently partnered with 350.org as part of their International Day of Climate Action held on October 24th. 350.org’s mission for 10/24 was to mobilize people all over the world for a global day of action in preparation for the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen. The goal of this epic day was to show the leaders of the world how much we as world citizens care about getting the CO2 in our atmosphere below 350 parts per million! (Here’s an explanation of the importance of the number 350.) Eight Carrotmobs were held around the world as part of this day of action. Let’s see how we did!

The results:

Bonn, Germany

The Bonn turnout was great- approximately 300 carrotmobbers spent 2,269 Euros in only 3 hours. Bioladen “Biokultur” in Kessenich promised to donate 20% of their revenue from the day to energy efficiency improvements, making for a total impact of 453 Euros! You can view pictures of the event on Flickr.

Durango, CO

The business mobbed in Durango was a small sub shop called Stonehouse Subs. Stonehouse promised to contribute 35% of their revenue to energy-efficiency changes (as determined by an outside consultant). The results were outstanding: $3500 in profits, nearly nine times a typical Saturday’s revenue for the business. ~350 (a fitting number) mobbers were in attendance. The event was sponsored by Annadel Business Solutions and Eco Consulting. Very impressive results for the smallest town to ever hold a Carrotmob! This should give confidence to any of you small towners who are thinking of planning an event. They also got coverage in two local news outlets: Durango Telegraph & Durango Herald

Minneapolis, MN

Minneapolis Carrotmobbers descended on Guse Hardware for a fun-filled day of entertainment and hardware shopping. Esther pulled together a live band, a DJ, and a raffle. Guse Hardware promised 100% of its gross revenue from the day to go towards energy efficiency changes!

San Francisco, CA

The SF carrotmob at Shotwells, a bar in the Mission, was a hopping (like rabbits, who like carrots) good time. In three hours (6pm-9pm) the bar already earned 63% of the total average earnings from an entire Saturday. The bar owners, Dave and Tom, were so excited about the event and about promoting positive change at their bar that they extended the mob until 2am, thus earning 140% in comparison to a regular Saturday night. The event was also filmed by a German tv crew filming a documentary.

San Luis Obispo, CA

SLO mobbers at Quick Stop Market spent $3.356.23 in three hours (seven times the normal revenue for that time!). There were 214 transactions made and 90 lbs of food collected for the local food bank. Quick Stop promised 40% of its revenue from the day to go toward energy efficiency upgrades, for a total of $1,342.49 to be reinvested into the store for eco-improvements. Energy Efficiency Solutions prepared and donated a professional energy audit report of the store, which will be revealed shortly What a fantastic turn-out!

Sydney, Australia

The 10/24 Sydney Carrotmob made history as the first ever Carrotmob held in the southern hemisphere! Way to go! Our good friends down under mobbed the Surry Hills MFC Supermarket. The market pledged 20% of its profits from the day to go toward energy efficiency improvements. About 150- 200 people came to the event, and this impressive group of mobbers spent a lot at the store! The market earned roughly ½ of what they earn in total for a busy Saturday day trading, all in the space of 3 hours. Considering that the store stays open until midnight, this was quite a feat! While Sydney organizers admitted it was a challenge putting on the first ever Carrtomob in Australia, they’re already getting psyched about planning their next Carrotmob. There was also a lot of great publicity surrounding the event! Check out Carrotmob Sydney in the news here: Mind Food, Pyrmont Village, & Frankie.

Victoria, BC, Canada

Victoria on Vancouver Island in Canada planned a very successful Carrotmob at Discovery Coffee. Discovery pledged 100% of their revenue from their downtown location to go towards green improvements. On a normal day Discovery Coffee makes approximately $1250; on the Carrotmob day, Discovery Coffee took in $2100. And it gets better: Discovery was so pleased with the event that they added on revenues from their second location which effectively resulted in 200% revenues from the day (over $3000). That’s awesome. The super work of the Victoria organizers, the terrific response and turnout from the community (~200 people!), and the great commitment of Discovery Coffee has made the Victoria event a success, and, apparently, has inspired others in Victoria to start their own carrotmobs. The event was organized by SmallFeet Inc. Check out coverage of the Victoria event on the local news station: CHTV

Berlin, Germany

We’re pretty sure something cool happened in Berlin, but we don’t speak german. It’s possible that this explains what happened:

Ergebnis: Mit 2.334,34 EUR haben wir die bisherige Rekordmarke des Imbiss mehr als verdoppelt! + 45% davon für die Umwelt.

Anyway, we’d like to say a big thank you to all the Carrotmob organizers and mobbers who participated in the Carrotmob/350.org day! Thanks also to Amanda, Jon, and the rest of the 350 crew for pulling off an inspiring and impressive feat. You can see amazing pictures from other 350 events at 350.org! Now we’ve already got other events coming up in Isla Vista and Brussels, so stay tuned!

Carrotmob SF on Sept 10th!

Brent — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 21:35:22 +0000

We are happy to announce that the next SF Carrotmob event is imminent!

>>> click here for more information <<<

Bagging Green Guilt

susanna — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 20:42:58 +0000

Hey, check it out! We’re used to being in news reports, but now we’re in a book! Like, a paper one! We haven’t read it yet, but “Bag Green Guilt” seems like our kinda book, because it’s all about action! The book describes things we can actually DO to save the planet, you know, like organizing (or even attending) a Carrotmob, or buying solar panels the easy way through One Block Off The Grid…

The purpose of Carrotmob is to change the business world, but if, at the same time, we are able to help people work through their guilt issues with action, that’s probably a good thing too….

Carrotmob teams with 350.org

susanna — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 22:13:25 +0000

When we think about what the role of our Carrotmob organization is going to be in the future, it makes sense for us to manage and support the network of people around the world who are interested in this type of activism. It also makes sense for us to spearhead some of the big global campaigns we want to create. But it doesn’t make sense for us to try to become experts on every issue, every industry, every community. We suspect that part of our destiny is to create partnerships with all sorts of established organizations so that we can help them achieve the goals they’re already working on and they can help us advance this type of activism. So we’re happy to be taking a step towards that future by partnering up with 350.org! This great organization is mobilizing people all over the world for a global day of action on October 24th, before the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen. The goal is to show the leaders of the world how much we care about getting the CO2 in our atmosphere below 350 parts per million! Here’s an explanation of the importance of the number 350.

If our governments don’t hurry up and hit that 350 number then catastrophes will start happening left and right. Famine! Civil War! Economic collapse! Florida will disappear underwater except for a few dozen lucky survivors sitting on top of the Epcot Center, fishing for all the delicious sea creatures recently liberated from SeaWorld Orlando. Is this what will happen? We don’t know, but we do know that we want to help 350.org spread their message far and wide. Furthermore, we want to use this day to create a direct and measurable reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. So if you want to help a business reduce their carbon footprint by having them compete in and win a Carrotmob, hit us up, or check out this map to find an event that’s already happening in your part of the world. If you’ve been waiting to organize a Carrotmob, October 24th is the day:

We’ve put up a new page about this partnership and we hope you’ll help us make some noise on October 24th!