Moving Pictures Move the World

Imagine the sound you make when you blow on a long untouched stack of papers, and visualize the cloud of dust you stir up ….

        <insert the electronic equivalent of sound and image here>  
… because, after a days that became months of not writing anything on this blog, starting just before Christmas, I’m back at it.
What’s been going on? A few highlights:
1. Significant progress on my “Wish I Knew” book, based on interviews with 100 plus social entrepreneurs. Amazing people, amazing stories and insights about their work, and incredibly generous in sharing what they’ve learned. With all that they’ve shared with me, the book should practically write itself.  More likely, I’ll probably plod forward as I try to pick just the right word adjective adverb, as I often do.
2.  Have been working with some students and faculty colleagues on advising three social enterprises. One, Circles USA, holds great promise for alleviating poverty in the US; another Global Fairness, is working to improve the livelihood and the environment for tens of thousands of poor Indian women. The third, Impact Enterprises, is working to bring jobs to Zambia for the dual purposes of tackling stifling unemployment and helping fund a ground breaking educational initiative.
More on all of this later.
But, where I left off — when I took my few-days-become-a-few-months break … 
I’m convinced that videos are one component of placing people’s attention on societal issues (think: Academy Award-winner, Argo) and hopefully promoting social action (think: Chasing Ice and A Place at the Table). For the second year, my undergraduate Base of the Pyramid / Social Enterprise students created videos with impact for their final projects. They supported real organizations and their needs: fundraising, recruiting volunteers, raising awareness, etc. Several videos have been seen more than a thousand times. Others helped raise several hundred thousand dollars. Others (still embargoed) will be shown by internationally-known organizations and aired on television and in other media campaigns.
So, my 4-month late Christmas / Hannukkah / Kwanza present to you …