Sailing Alone Around The World

Post by Beth Carls, CEO, OneSeventeen Media & Co-Founder, KidThrive.org

Good Morning America reported Sunday morning on 16-year old Australian Jessica Watson’s quest to be the youngest person to sail solo, non stop, unassisted around the world. Jessica reports on her web site that her inspiration came from two pioneer sailors: Kay Cottee, the first woman to sail solo non-stop and unassisted around the world, and fellow Australian, Jesse Martin, the youngest person to do so.

While many of us might not set our sights on a goal like sailing around the world, we can take inspiration from the goal of this young woman. Even when it seemed her trip may not happen when, less than 24 hours before her departure, her yacht, Ella’s Pink Lady, was struck by a 63,000 tonne bulk carrier and sustained considerable damage, Jessica did not give up. What an inspiration she can be to us and our youth on the importance of goal setting! She shares her route and rules on her site and reported today the weather seems to be cooperating for her to depart Sydney, Australia toward Northern New Zealand around the middle of the coming week.

Jessica was born May 18, 1993 on the Gold Coast and currently lives in Buderim, Australia. Her mantra is: Always make the best of everything, Positive, ask questions, lots of questions. Her interests include: Anything outdoors and on the water, camping, the beach, reading, cooking, weather, fencing, dingy sailing, boat design and CHOCOLATE!

If you’d like to follow her 8-month journey, you can find her blog and other information on her web site.

Good luck, Jessica!

Film Competition Opens Today! Register NOW!

Registration is now open in the Young Minds Digital Times Film Competition (YMDT) 2009-2010!  “Studio Chief” Converge magazine has a fantastic article about the competition on their website – “Lights, Camera, Interaction.”  You can also check out the official YMDT Filmmaker Blog Buzz where you’ll find weekly tips, tricks, advice and news related to the competition.

There are new categories, prizes and sponsors in this year’s competition, and we hope you’ll choose to join YMDT as a student participant or by encouraging kids you know to sign up for this great opportunity.  They competition also makes an excellent class project!

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Countdown to Young Minds Digital Times ‘09-’10!

The second year of the Young Minds Digital Times Film Competition (YMDT) is just days away!  Starting September 28, students can register to participate in the ‘09-’10 Competition.  This year’s competition is co-sponsored by KidThrive.org and Converge magazine.  As always, there’s no fee to participate.  You’ll find all the details live on the YMDT website starting on the 28th.  Some exciting improvements to this year’s competition based on your feedback:

• Expanded time line — films due in February 2010
• Larger cash prizes for students
• $1000 cash prizes for the teacher and school with the most entries
• Two new categories to show off your work

Be sure to check back September 28 for all the details!  We can’t wait to see what you’ve been up to!

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SXSWi: Vote YES for Beth and Hybrid Enterprises

Post by Beth Carls, CEO, OneSeventeen Media & Co-Founder, KidThrive.org

I hope to share more about our exciting journey into a hybrid enterprise at the SXSW 2010 Interactive Festival in Austin, TX March 12-16. With your help as part of the judging process, I’ll  be a panelist at the upcoming festival.  Check out my session overview and vote with a Thumbs Up to say “YES!” to learning more: The Hybrid Enterprise: A Tool for Visionary Entrepreneurs. Voting ends Friday, September 4, 2009.  I look forward to seeing you there!

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Introducing KidThrive.org + OneSeventeen Media

Post by Beth Carls, CEO, OneSeventeen Media & Co-Founder, KidThrive.org

As committed social venture entrepreneurs, the founders of OneSeventeen Media, Inc. recently made a strategic decision to operate two entities; the existing for-profit business (OneSeventeen Media) and a new, openly funded nonprofit organization (KidThrive.org), each operating independently and pursuing their own unique mission. This type of collaboration today is called a hybrid enterprise.

The term “hybrid” may sound familiar. While Wikipedia describes hybrid as “the combination of two or more different things, aimed at achieving a particular objective or goal” the word has context in mythology and iconography, biology, etymology, transportation, music, culture, computers and electronics, finance, sports and even video games.

Most of us probably think of cars when hearing the word hybrid. However, in this context, none of the above apply. The hybrid I’m referring to has to do with a new business trend for socially responsible entrepreneurs to use as their operational structure.

I recently spoke with Priya Haji, co-founder of World of Good, Inc. and WorldofGood.org – IMHO, a model example of how hybrid enterprises work best. WorldofGood.org works for industry-wide changes for alleviating global poverty. World of Good, Inc. partially funds the work of the nonprofit through founder’s equity, a percentage of annual profits, and periodic company-sponsored fundraisers and events. Unlike other hybrid-enterprises, however, WorldofGood pursues independent funding for its work through private and corporate foundations and individual grants.

We are committed to and believe this new paradigm of a hybrid enterprise is one that supports a more dynamic, interactive and new economy era model. KidThrive.org + OneSeventeen Media will reinforce the overarching goal of large-scale research, development and implementation of responsible and measurable social media tools that help our youth survive and thrive their developmental and growing up years.

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Kids Prefer Life Online, Choose Correct Behavior

ReadWriteWeb shares that in a study of 14-21 year-olds, MySpace found that, “Some 36% of the respondents said they found it easier to talk about themselves online than in the real world, leading them to share more about themselves using technology.”  For their younger counterparts who’ve never known life without social networks and text messaging, I’d guess that the percentage preferring to share online would be even higher.

MySpace’s numbers make total sense to us.  For nearly a decade, OneSeventeen Media’s team members have been creating interactive experiences for kids online; we see technology as an opportunity to connect with kids who don’t always feel comfortable reaching out for help or support in face-to-face interactions.  This isn’t to say online interactions should replace real life ones, but often the right online tool can serve as the first step in improving offline relationships.

So often it’s the doom-and-gloom reports about kids online that catch mainstream media attention, and Anastasia Goodstein presents a fresh look at information and youth behavior online:

“- 63% of teens said they DO NOT USE social networks to make fun of other students
- 87% of teens said they HAVE NOT posted naked or semi-naked photos or videos of themselves.
- 76% of teens said they HAVE NOT signed on to someone else’s account without permission
- 72% of teens HAVE NOT posted personal information that they normally would not have revealed in public

I would say wow, most teens are using this technology pretty responsibly…”

While there’s still room for improvement and educating kids as digital citizens, I greatly appreciate Anastasia framing the numbers to give kids the benefit of the doubt.  There’s a strong majority of kids choosing to do the right things online, and that’s encouraging news!

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Today’s Kids: Expensive, But Not Worse Behaving

A Canadian study reports that today’s kids behave no worse than their parents;

“The conventional vices such as smoking, drinking and occasional marijuana use are all down from Bibby’s earlier Teen Project Canada studies dating back to the 1980s. So are the teen problems of the sort highlighted by the media such as depression, suicide and bullying, according to his 2008 survey of 5,200 teens from coast to coast.”

While it might be mildly reassuring that this generation of teens and tweens are no worse off than their parents, the expansive media coverage on youth issues should make us aware of many individuals were previously falling through the cracks unnoticed.  Twenty-first century tweens and teens are often criticized for their over-sharing, but when kids are willing to open up through new media tools, there’s a unique opportunity for us to provide support and resources to help navigate their struggles.  At OneSeventeen Media, we’re motivated around using social media to connect kids with the tools for success that weren’t readily accessible a generation ago.

Another (expensive) sign of the times: the average family will spend $221,000 to raise a child born in 2008 to age 17, according to a USDA report that’s been widely covered the last few days.  This is no small chunk of change, but as Joanne Jacobs points out, the figure could be quite inaccurate.  On Jacobs’ blog, there are some interesting comments where a single mom explains the number sounds low:

“Overestimates? If anything, it underestimates. I’m a single parent in Southern California, living in a middle-class neighborhood. It costs me $500 MORE a month to rent a 2-bedroom apt. than a 1-bedroom. If I rented a house for optimal “family raising” conditions, it would cost even more. So already, we’re talking $108,000 just for him not to share a room with his mom. Even with extra-cheap child care until he turns 12, we’re talking $40,000 more. It would cost more than that for a parent to stay home for 12 years. That’s $148,000, and we haven’t even gotten to health insurance, medical expenses, food, or clothing yet.”

(Image found here)

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Tweens = $43 Billion in Spending Power

This tidbit stuck out to me from The Washington Times article, “Retailers lure parents of powerful tweens:”

“Tweens wield $43 billion in spending power annually and influence the spending of billions more on everything from cell phones to vacations to automobiles,” New York consumer behavior and marketing firm EPM Communications Inc. said in a 2008 report.”

That’s a-whole-lot-of money, and the figure doesn’t even include teen spending power. As we seek out responsible advertisers and sponsors for PlumbBrain, this study is a great reminder of the missed opportunity for retailers who do not to engage the tween market.

(Image found here)

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Mobile Integration Key as Wireless Net Usage Surges

In a study released by the Pew Internet and American Life Project, they share wireless internet usage has “increased sharply in 2009″ with more than half of the adult population having accessed wireless internet via laptop or mobile device.  Mobile device usage has grown “73% in the 16 month interval between surveys.”  Implementing a strong mobile integration strategy has always been part of our plan for PlumbBrain, and Pew’s study reinforces that increasingly youth and adults will be accessing content via mobile devices.

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Research Affirms the Right Direction

Two different research studies from the last few weeks have shared data useful to OneSeventeen Media.  MEDIAWEEK reports that kids are “living online.”

Time spent among kids has soared by 63 percent over the past five years, as kids are increasingly drawn to watching videos and playing games—and even more so than adults, visiting virtual worlds

According to Nielsen, kids 2-11 spent nearly seven hours online per month five years ago, versus 11 hours a month in 2009, with boys spending slightly more time on average than girls (seven percent more this past May). That usage disparity is perhaps most evident in online video viewing, as boys accounted for 61 percent of video streams among kids on the Web and 57 percent of kids time spent viewing videos.

Nielsen’s study includes the youngest part of our target audience, and their increased internet usage supports our belief that quality online content, even for younger tweens, will continue to be a critical resource in their development.  [While we're not looking to engage kids as young as the precious exploring baby above, I do predict they'll be growth in online activites for the youngest of kids in the next years.]

While this comes as a no-brainer to our team, ReadWriteWeb shared, “a new study released by enterprise wiki provider Wetpaint and the Altimeter Group shows that the brands most engaged in social media are also experiencing higher financial success rates than those of their non-engaged peers.”  Having hard data supporting the success of social media campaigns is useful as we continue to engage potential partners, sponsors and advertisers for PlumbBrain.

(Image found here)

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