ServiceNation

Sooo, remember that time I conducted a bunch of interviews with students before the ServiceNation candidates' forum and promised to post them? Probably not, because I promised it three weeks ago, and we all have memory spans attuned to a fleeting digital age. :)

That said, there's no better time for a reminder about all the ways Millennials are serving on- and off-campus, particularly as the ServiceNation event hoopla dies down, and the real work of a movement begins. And Social Citizens is doing its part by featuring a series of posts this week that highlight the students, organizations, and causes they dig at Columbia University.

I recorded these on-the-go mini-sessions on Sept. 11 while on the prowl through the student activity fair near Low Library. I did my best to hit on a wide array of missions, program structures, ethnicities, political orientations, and religious views in my interviews. Read more »

Ah, the joys of having tech gurus as colleagues! Thanks to Eric and Erik for helping me figure out how to post the photos I really wanted to post yesterday. Come relive the magic with me ...

The beauty of being with other press is that we all like to talk. And the more we talk (or Twitter), the more questions come up about the nature of service.

The program's about to start, so I can't dive in now, but here's some food for thought we'll flesh out in the future:

* If you offer financial incentives for volunteering, are you somehow diminishing the volunteerism?

* How much should government get involved in service? Specifically, how much should they put taxpayer funds toward it?

* Are the terms service and volunteerism really interchangeable? Is one the umbrella for the other?

* What's the role of altruism in serving? Do incentives change people's motives?

Ok, we're starting --- tune in to Twitter to follow the action! (hash tag #sn08)

Fellow Tweeters, unite -- there are a boatload of bloggers here, and they're all using hash tags #ServiceNation and #sn08 to track the action.

This is a great opportunity to find and follow other folks on Twitter who support causes and activism just like you do. So look up the people behind the tweets and add some perspectives to your homepage!

And if you don't believe me, know that I have added about 15 people in as many minutes --all from organizations/blogs/causes I know and care about, but had never thought to search for. A good lesson in turning over all media rocks to find the treasures hiding underneath.

P.S.  I'm at RocchiJulia if you're looking for a place to start.