Planning for Good

Ed Cotton from Influx has started a "Planning for Good" group.

"Planning for Good is an organization made up of marketing communication strategists and their friends who’ve come together to lend their skills to support nonprofits…Here you’ll find some of the smartest thinkers in the business, people who intimately understand how to uncover insight, build brands and create powerful stories around them." - from PSFK

The first brief is on the great city of New Orleans through Idea Village. Other blogs have written on the topic so rather than re-writing everything, I'll copy and paste below...

Jason Oke from Leo Burnett Toronto blog writes that while most of the coverage of New Orleans has focused on the problems and negatives, another story has quietly emerged: the city has become a magnet of sorts for adventurous young people with energy, a sense of purpose, and a realization that this is a once-in-a-lifetime experience to help re-invent a city. As Forbes Magazine has said:

"Now, instead of the brain drain, the city is nurturing a brain gain. New Orleans has become the testing ground for a new career and lifestyle ideal among today's 20-somethings."

The Idea Village is positioned at the heart of that. It's a not-for-profit that helps to fund and support innovative entrepreneurial ventures (about 250 so far) to not just rebuild New Orleans, but to turn it into a world-class model city.

The brief is to help the Idea Village build their brand, so they in turn can help build New Orleans. How should the Idea Village define and articulate who they are and what they do? How can they attract and motivate these smart young people moving to New Orleans?

I'm encouraging everyone to use their skills for good. New Orleans needs powerful ideas to create massive change. We need an influx of more young people posed to be our city's next leaders. We need more positive news coming out of the city. You don't need to move down to New Orleans to help rebuild it and with the two-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina right around the corner, it's already being hit with the negativity and pessimistic POV from the press. Personally, I'm tired of hearing about it as everybody else so this is a chance to do something about it. One person can only do so much but a collective group working together can create powerful change.

You can start by joining the facebook group here to download the brief and stay tuned on the Influx, Brand New, Leo Burnett , Fallon and alldaybuffet blogs for updates...