Entries Tagged 'Inspiration' ↓

I’m excited that I got a chance to blog about the project on The Huffington Post.  You may or may not know about HP, but it’s big.  Very big.  Among my fellow bloggers in the last week?  Hillary Clinton.

100% pure awesome.

Also: Vancouverites, check out a copy of Metro tomorrow morning for an interview.

The attention is starting to pick up!

B

A couple people have suggested a stupid idea. A wonderful, crazy, stupid idea. To share the degree with everybody who has helped me get to Oxford.

I love it. I don’t know why I didn’t think of it earlier. But here is is:

To those who have helped me get to Oxford, I will send a piece of my degree afterward. Yes, an actual piece of the actual degree. I’ve calculated that I can cut an Oxford degree up into about 7000 3mm by 3mm pieces. Maybe more if I can use a particularly sharp blade to get smaller pieces (…I can just picture the nice people at Oxford thinking: he’s going to do what with our degree!?!). And I’ll send this out, with a letter of thanks, to people who have helped me get there.  I suspect popular bits might be parts of the Oxford logo, or course name.  Georges has already laid claim to part of the ‘B’ (and he gets to choose, because he’s helping me edit the next video right now).

The idea:

Step 1: Get degree (**This is obviously a fake I made.  I actually have no idea what a real degree from Oxford looks like.  And I couldn’t find one on google, which to be honest is a good thing.  There’s probably a lot more latin stuff on a real one)

Step2a: Cut degree.  For full satisfaction, I think I’ll start with the name.

Step 2b: Continue cutting.  I don’t think I’ll use my $1 ‘niceday’ scissors though.  I’ll need a laser-sharp cutter to get enough pieces.

Step 2c: End up with little tiny pieces.  The real pieces will be smaller than this.  Smaller and more authentic.

Step 3: Post the pieces off.  Yes, in England the post boxes look like funny little red mushrooms.

Why do I love this idea?  Getting to Oxford in September will be a result of thousands of people having the faith in me to help me get there.  There are some great ways to pay that back: keep the blog going full tilt during my studies so that people can experience some of the year with me, get feeedback on what courses to take, and what kinds of thesis topics are interesting.  But the most symbolic might be to send a piece of the actual degree to everybody.  I’ve even had a friend promise to frame her piece with toothpicks!

I’ve been humbled by a few pretty significant donations.  I’d like to encourage this type of behavior.  So a second offer: any company or generous individual who donates $500 or more will have their name or logo on the cover of my thesis.  Yep, I’m selling sponsorship of my thesis. There’s already two names on there: Paul Nielson and Tuitionbids.com.  But there’s room for a few more.

There you have it folks.  A massive thanks to the many so far, and two kinda stupid ideas.  What could be better?

Brendan

Want a piece of an Oxford degree? Just click on the shiny button below:

(if Paypal isn’t working for you, please let me know, or try another method)

(as has always been the case, if I don’t get there, all donations will be given to Engineers Without Borders and Medecins Sans Frontieres)

I’m getting more than a few emails these days. Every time someone donates by Paypal I get an email notification. This is great, because it lets me reply and thank the donor (I’m a couple days behind, so if you’ve donated recently - have patience!).

My inbox is flooded even more because many people reply to that thank you, or send a note along with their donation. This is a good thing, please don’t stop! Such was the case with Martha Cass a few days ago:

” Hi Brendan - Thanks for the note. I wanted to let you know that $3 of our donation was from my six-year old son Ben. We saw the story in the National Post and he asked me what you were doing with the children in the picture. When I read him the story, he decided he wanted to dig into his piggy bank to send you the money. His father and I agreed to match his donation.

You talk a bit about how your generation can make a difference in the world. Remember that a big part of that is setting an example for the generation that follows yours. Thank you for setting a good example for our son.”

After getting a message like this, it’s hard to know what to say, or how to respond. So I took the easy route - explaining what was in the photo:

“We were working on promoting water pumps for irrigation and drinking water in Senegal. To do this, we’d install a pump in a village, show everyone how to use it, and then leave it for a month for them to try out. The idea was, if people perceived there to be a benefit, then they’d buy one from their neighbours, who we had trained to build the pumps. The pumps weren’t too expensive, and the overall philosophy was that if everyone along the chain sees a benefit, they will keep making, selling and using the pumps after the project ends.

When we set up pumps in a village, and the first water comes out, kids explode in excitement over to where the water is emerging from the pipes. Sometimes it’s hard not to join them, so that’s what I was doing.”

But a proper answer to Martha’s note would have continued:

I remember being a couple years older than Ben’s age, and seeing my mother walk into my school class with a milk carton around her leg and egg carton on her head. She had volunteered to do a session on recycling, part of a larger program to teach schoolkids to recycle. I remember being 90% mortified that my mom was wearing garbage on her head in front of my friends. But I was also 10% proud that my mom was, well, wearing garbage on her head in front of my friends.

Fast forward about twenty years. Local recycling participation rates hover around 90% in Vancouver. The programs that taught us recycling as kids are now seen as a success. What am I getting at? It’s not about the recycling. It’s about generational change. It’s about recognising the fact that systematic change takes time, and we need to anticipate this. It was nice for Ben to remind me that as hard as my generation works to fix some of our problems, it’s his generation that’s probably going to have to finish the job.

Brendan

In the past week or so I’ve had a lot of feedback. Most very positive, some not so much!

Here’s a sample:

“Dear Brendan,

You are a brilliant madman and have chosen an inspired way to raise the money for your scholarship. What I particularly like is the cheeky and friendly nature of it, which of itself would scream at any potential donor that you embody the very values you wish to pursue. I salute you and wish I had thought of this angle myself. The only similar thing I have come across, other than the guy who sold individually sponsored pixels on his screensavers and made a million dollars (or was it pounds) that way, was an extraordinary man who was elected to be the Chairman of the local Rotary Club and, part of his job was to host a fundraising event in the year of his incumbency. He was desperate as auctions and auction prizes are so common place and people so reluctant to give or participate….He went to the local hospital and asked each of the Consultants to donate an operation., he made a fortune on the night.

So…Yes, what a great idea and I totally support you in spirit. … I wish you all the luck in the world, you deserve it. Didn’t St Brendan do something pretty unlikely and get away with it?

Kind regards

Tim Smit”

- Tim Smit, Founder, Eden Project

“INSANE!!!!!!!!!!!”
- Anonymous

“Dear Brendan,

I hope you get to fulfill your dream. I have donated 6 CAD’s. I myself come from a developing country. The money that you would be spending for the education is ‘big’ in my country. So I do really hope that you be responsible with the trust that people put in you. In case you manage to get financed for the course through scholarship, I’d hope that the money would go to MSF.

I have spread the word about your crazy idea to a few of my friends as well.

Here’s wishing you the best in life”
- Aju, via email

“Good luck Brendan. I was going to donate $3, but then chose to give more after seeing the outfit with knee socks and headband. ”
- Dene via Facebook Group

“just sent a note to oprah for you”
- Graham via Facebook Group

“Entertaining project. I applaud your unabashed self-promotion but your reasoning why you need the Oxford MBA and why people should donate is laughable. Do you honestly believe that “investing” $ 90K in a MBA in Social Entrepreneurship helps you to “make the world a better place”? If you really wanted you could be a “social entrepreneur” already, so please stop fooling yourself and wasting other people’s time and money.” … (after much discussion offline)…”After initial scepticism, I am also in!”
- Thomas via Facebook Group

“I gave you $6 so you only need 28,000 others. However, I was screwed by the exchange rate. So consider the extra $0.05 a gift. The rest you owe me in social change.”
- Claire via Facebook Group

“screw him, tell him to get a job like everyone else”
- Anonymous via johnchow.com blog

“I think it’s a different approach to raise money to attend college. Financial Aid is usually the route people take when they can’t afford the tuition costs themselves. He’s just thinking outside of the box.”
- Kim via www.7daybuzz.com blog

“Brendan, i already transfer $10. That was about MYR33. I can use up that money for 3days meal here in malaysia. Hope you can use it wisely.”
- Jatt via Johnchow.com blog

“Cyprus Supports Brendan”
- Mariana via Facebook Group

“I think it’s wonderful that he has the ingenuity to harness the power of the Internet. The trick here, however, is for those who are responding to it to go one step further, to really capture the true spirit of giving - and the true spirit of the Internet. If you can donate $3, you can donate $6. Donate $3 for this fellow, and then donate $3 to your favorite charity as well - this can usually be done online…”
- Kelly via Johnchow.com blog

“I’ll give you three bucks just to see if this works. That’s BRILLIANT!!!”
- Michelle via Facebook Group

“I lose $3 regularly in the driver’s seat in my car. $3 is SO little these days, that if you can get anything worthwhile out of it at all, you’re doing well. So I think the satisfaction of being part of something different and exciting is a fantastic reward–whether Brendan gets to Oxford or not.

By the way, he second best thing to buy wih $3, in my opinion, is a Saturday’s Globe and Mail newspaper.”
- Emily via www.7daybuzz.com blog

“Word up…I’m all for for crazy plans especially when they circumvent the market driven nature of higher education. I think you should call this thing the power to the people bursary fund.”
- Tom via Facebook Group

and last, but probably the most eloquent:

“So I’ve been following your quest for 90k and some of your worldly exploits courtesy of facebook. I must say that I am impressed. Not in that “some random guy I went to highschool with turned out to be something after 10 years, who knew?” kind of way. Rather, in a “I know someone who is going to make a fundamental difference in this world”/warm and fuzzy sort of way.

I can’t say that my passion to seek change in this world will ever lead me to an institution like Oxford, or even out of Kamloops, but it does get me out of bed in the morning. My mantra when I walk into a classroom of kids is “teaching is the greatest act of optimism”. Some days it feels more like “teaching is glorified babysitting”.

Today I challenged a class of grade 5/6’s to perform a random act of kindness without being asked and without expectations of a reward. I told them about “paying it forward” and imagine what would happen if they helped 3 people, and those 3 helped 3 more each. I made them write it in their agendas before I would let them go at the end of the day. I can only hope that one actually did something about it.

I want to be teaching my social studies class some day down the road and see you in a text book with a caption about a Canadian who did more than get a job, buy a truck, and consume resources.

I commend you as you strive to give back and become the change you wish to see in the world. ”
- from Erin via Facebook message

My mom has uncovered a batch of (unused) postcards dating from decades past (Lake Louise in the 70s?).  She has offered to send one of these as a personal thanks, by good, old fashioned post to the next 50 people who donate.

So there you have it.  Send a donation my way, fire me an email afterwords with your address (anywhere in the world), and you’ll get a personal note of thanks, on a retro postcard, from my mother.

To get yours, click on the shiny button below. Come on, you know you want to!

I think that’s cool.

UPDATE: Postcards are gone folks, sorry!  And if you got in quick, you should get one in the next few days.

B

Steve is not allowed  to donate to 3bucksforbrendan.com.  Why?  Because it was his guidance (and the tolerance of his firm, Industrial Brand Creative as he took skype call after skype call during working hours) that helped launch the site.  Still, he expects a call from me at 5:30 or so Vancouver time (1:30 am here) pretty much every day with some annoying question about the site.  Apparently he’s not sick of me yet though, as he’s posted about the project on IBC’s blog.  Apparently they get 100,000 views a month, so heck, it can’t hurt!

As well, The Suburbia Clothing has posted about the project.  Check out their clothing too - great stuff.  I especially like this one (pure art on a shirt, IMO), which, quite accurately depicts life before our morning coffee for some of us.  Perhaps this one is more hopeful though.  I mean, don’t all of us, deep down somewhere, want to fly away in a VW bus?  My wonderful mother has been suggesting getting Tshirts done for the project, I’m not sure she had such elegant designs in mind though.

I’m not sure if I mentioned it before, but Xativa.es has done their part to spread the word in Spanish.  I have been told the project is also making its way through Brazillian engineering lists and German contact networks.  Nice!

Also, yes, the project is on Digg here.  It could use a couple diggs though, so if you’re one of the cool kids that knows just what this digg thing is all about, then feel free to give it a boost.

Cheers,
B

It’s been a few days since the project to raise $90,000 from 30,000 people was launched. I thought it would be a good time for a little fun with numbers.

4 - Days since properly launched
2062.87 - Total raised in dollars
102 - Total donors
500 - Largest donation in dollars
32 - Percentage of donors who don’t know me (and growing)
2 - Letters sent to Oprah on my behalf
150 - Members in Facebook Group
55 - Percentage increase in Group members in 4 days
500+ - Outstanding invites to Facebook Group
22 - Emails of support
9 - Emails with feedback, suggestions and ideas
2 - Highly respected consultancies pushing the project internally
2 - Number of weeks I have completely neglected my dissertation
1 - Potential Oxford student who thinks this is going to work

Thanks,
Brendan

This site is deep on inspiration, and a little light on explaining what my philosophy is on what, exactly needs to change.  This is mostly due to available time and resources so far.  But maybe I can help by sharing some thoughts I’ve already laid down on paper.

To Be a Canadian Abroad is about 3 pages of love and frustration about Canada that I wrote in response to our involvement in Bali.  It’s a little long for a blog post, but here’s an excerpt (and the complete piece can be found here):

“Sitting in a library in England on a late December night seems like an unlikely place to be able to change anything in Canada. Distance hinders direct action, but does provide the benefit of perspective: once I am outside Canada, I can see our country more clearly for what it is. Only when I leave Canada and compare it with the other places I have lived, be it Australia, Senegal or the UK in my case, can I truly see the extent of my country’s precarious, still-innocent and naïve beauty, and fret at its subversive, emerging ugliness.

“To a degree, we still have the respect of the world. But we must continue to earn it, not simply inherit it from the last generation’s courage and integrity. Although I have lost the bulk of my faith in our politicians, I still believe in the power of average Canadians to make a difference, both within our borders and abroad. I still believe that, in spite of the vast distance that separates us from most of the world, we share a connection with it that has not been extinguished. I still believe that passion can triumph over indifference, that collective good trumps self interest, and that Canada has an important and positive role to play in the world. And if it is ordinary Canadians that stand up and seize that role, then so much the better.”

One of the best aspects of this project has been reconnecting with people. I got the following message from a high school acquaintance. It was timely - I needed an inspirational boost. But besides the support, there was a great reminder of what people are doing, every day, to make their world a better place. And if this ridiculous plan of mine can trigger a few people to share their stories, then that’s fantastic. Particularly if they can write about them so beautifully!

From Erin:

So I’ve been following your quest for 90k and some of your worldly exploits courtesy of facebook. I must say that I am impressed. Not in that “some random guy I went to highschool with turned out to be something after 10 years, who knew?” kind of way. Rather, in a “I know someone who is going to make a fundamental difference in this world”/warm and fuzzy sort of way.

I can’t say that my passion to seek change in this world will ever lead me to an institution like Oxford, or even out of Kamloops, but it does get me out of bed in the morning. My mantra when I walk into a classroom of kids is “teaching is the greatest act of optimism”. Some days it feels more like “teaching is glorified babysitting”.

Today I challenged a class of grade 5/6’s to perform a random act of kindness without being asked and without expectations of a reward. I told them about “paying it forward” and imagine what would happen if they helped 3 people, and those 3 helped 3 more each. I made them write it in their agendas before I would let them go at the end of the day. I can only hope that one actually did something about it.

I want to be teaching my social studies class some day down the road and see you in a text book with a caption about a Canadian who did more than get a job, buy a truck, and consume resources.

I commend you as you strive to give back and become the change you wish to see in the world.

In person: Beth, who was present for the idea conception, and was convinced over a good english breakfast to donate 3 pounds.

Online: Jenna, who has done the work of three, with 9 bucks.

Massive thanks to Priti as well, who has promised 30 pounds (sixty bucks! that’s the equivalent of 20 people!) once I gave her her gown back. Priti, it’s on its way!

So that means…only 29,975 people to go!

Wow, and so it begins…

B