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I want my life to be about doing good and making this world a better place. Jonas Almeling and I decided to start a non-profit and a fundraiser to do all that – Why5 for Life. Our first mission will be working with the Swedish organization MOD.

Today, my local newspaper in Kungsbacka wrote about my ongoing work. Thank you! Follow our journey and join us in a great cause.

Kungsbacka showed its best face ever on Saturday for the premiere of Kungsbacka365 – a project for a more active city and a triathlon for all. Awoque proudly sponsors this social good event where citizens come together and enjoy the town we live in.

If you want to participate?  The next Triathlon will take place on August 18 in downtown Kungsbacka.
Sign up on the home page for Kungbacka365>>

I had the privilege to inspire on the topic “Finding business online” in Dalsland at the Event arranged by Innovatum. Erik Nissen Johansen from Stylt Trampoli also gave a lecture on Storytelling. The two subjects connect because it is all about your “WHY”. When telling the story of your brand, your product, yourself, your staff etc, tell it straight. Be personal, stay honest and give the reader a good story.

Most of the people I meet think social media is a trick or really hard to learn. My usual answer is – you all ready know how to do it successfully. If you act online as you would with your best friends and as you would in your greatest client relationships you are on your way. The technique – to post, show photos, upload videos, create buzz etc- you might need help with. Ask your fans, followers and in forums and you will get feedback. Do not hesitate to ask professionals for help as well. Social Media is the best honest marketing, PR tool out there.

Read Innovatums own blog post from The Event in Swedish here>>

Here are a few of the videos I mentioned in my talk:

Simon Sinek – Why

Charity Water – on how to tell the story passionately:

The Marmite Social Media Case

Creating a positive, social atmosphere at salon Klippa is one of the missions I am involved with at the moment. Today, 11 creative, talented hair stylists came together to form a clear WHY, set goals and laugh. Take a glance on what route we have taken:

NOVEMBER: I gave a morning pep-talk, inspiring the staff, getting their minds spinning about social media. I showed some videos and asked questions. We start an internal Facebook group to tie the two salons closer together.

DECEMBER: Klippa painted two magnetic High5 walls in each salon where staff could post great articles, write notes and share ideas.

FEBRUARY: I interviewed most of the staff members to get their views on what inspires them, why they do what they do, what their dreams are, suggestions for the future and ongoing events in their lives.

APRIL: Workshop time. We created two mood boards. They will lay the foundation for a strategy for the coming years in social media connecting with in store activities and of course in the daily motivation of the staff.

A High5 day indeed.

I ran into Anni Lyngskaer founder of This is my Story during one of many sessions at South by Southwest a few weeks ago. Look at her project as a great example of positive social change for the world. The project engages women in a participatory video workshop teaching the participants to express themselves and engage in their community. I asked her to tell me more and here are her answers:

The next one is Anni and Mariatu and editing her film

Why do you do what you do?
Well, this is always such a hard question. But I guess I’m working within the nonprofit industry because I believe that all humans are equal and have the same rights. Unfortunately, the world today is so unjust, but I believe it is possible to create chance. It makes me happy when I’m working with This is my Story because I can see it works. I can see that the participants learn and actually gain self-esteem. One of the female participants in Sierra Leone said “I’ve learnt that a woman is also valuable in a community.” – and that quote really says it all, that is why I’m doing what I do.

This is Fanta, one of the participants. They all have so many stories to share, and I feel so happy and blessed that they are willing to share them with me and the rest of the world

What is the key to your success?
I get a lot of ideas, some of them are kind of crazy, but I’m not afraid to fulfill them and follow my dreams. And then I’m curious and always trying to learn new things and skills.

You can aid them by voting for their video “I got rhytm” here>>

Any ideas on where their workshop might be needed, get in touch!

I came into Austin without appointments and booked sessions. Back in October, I had this strong notion that I had to go. 14 years ago, I lived in Abilene a few hours north of Austin so revisiting would mean many meetings with people I love and places I knew from my youth.

Still, when walking into the Austin Convention Center to pick up  my badge for the (South by Southwest) SXSW Interactive late Thursday evening, my legs shook and at the same time I wanted to scream of joy. I challenged myself to get here. I wanted to face the knowledge in my industry and by the unknown. I desperately needed to recharge batteries. I came because the time had come to chase new dreams and to find new horizons.

A week since SXSW Interactive conference ended and I am still digesting.

What a wonderful beautiful world of possibilities I took part in.
What a creative melting pot of creativity and welcoming spirits.
What a mix of great people off all ages, nations, gender and backgrounds getting together to share ideas for social change, for new horizons in business and simply connecting with each other in easy conversations.

You can join the SXSW spirit. Together we can make this world a better place. Tell and communicate your stories offline and in social media. Dream the dream. Be proud of who you are. Go get it. You just connected with the future.

Be inspired as I was by this Keynote by Baratunde Thurston – How to read the word

Åland’s Social Media Guru Mats Adamczak writes about SXSW here (in Swedish)

A blog post in Moosylvania.com -What Austin Taught Us: Key Takeaways from SXSW

The Chamber of Commerce in Göteborg writes on their blog (in Swedish)

Baratunde Thurston SXSW 2012

Downtown Austin by Mats Adamczak

This is the day, I send my biggest #High5 to all the women around the world. You rock. Especially my mentor Ulla-Lisa Thordén, an EU ambassadeur for female entrepreurship as well as for the Hunger Project. Today I join in with her and many around the world to raise awareness for this fantastic social good cause. Follow them on Twitter @hungerproject

“The Hunger Project firmly believes that it is absolutely essential to cause a society-wide change towards gender equality in order to end hunger and poverty.”

I will go looking for talented women, inspiration for social good causes and great new initiatives here in Austin, Texas and the South by Southwest. Follow me on Twitter @awoque @victoriaahlen. The delegation for the Chamber of Commerce in Göteborg tweet as well under the #westswesxsw. I will also do live broadcasts on Bambuser. Stay tuned

Thank you ACU for the warm welcome my first time back on campus in 8 years.  When I took a tour and around the new library, the AT&T studios and watched the creative work flow, I was so proud to be an alumni of this school. All ready back in 1990′s, we had the best equipment, the greatest professors and the challenge to make a difference in the world.

I look forward to meeting and interacting with all the students, faculty and PR professionals during my days here. Thank you Dr Bradshaw for encouraging me to get my dreams back in school. I finally ended up in front of the camera in the media buzz working with social media.

Thank you KACU for the coffee and always making me feel at home! Good luck celebrating your 25th anniversary on Thursday.

Follow me today on Twitter @awoque and I will do my best to let you get a part of the High5 spirit here!

We feel passionately about food. We like eggs. Why not help inspire more people to create an omelet, cook food?

Learn how to make an omelet and join our group for passionate food creators at Folkmästerskapen i Omelett. Last year´s winner Jeanna Kanold, chocolate entrepreneur at Flickorna Kanold, shares her winning recipe from 2011 with white chocolate and strawberrys. 

If you are looking for organizations to support to increase your social good account, here are two great examples of passionate involved foundations. They share the same name and do enormous amounts of social good for children.

In the US, the foundation Playing for change is dedicated to the fundamental idea that peace and change are possible through the universal language of music. They most effectively use videos posted on Vimeo and their blog to spread awareness. How can you not smile and want to get involved?

Help Connect the World Through Music from Doug Kenney on Vimeo.

In Sweden, Playing for Change is a business incubator and network for social entrepreneurs that supports social entrepreneurs who improve the lives of children and youth. They actively use social media to spread awareness both on – YouTube, Facebook and through Twitter.