BlogWell: How Big Brands Use Social Media

ConAgra Foods, US Navy, UnitedHealth Group, IRS, Delta Air Lines, National Association of REALTORS, Discovery Communications, and USA TODAY will share case studies in corporate social media at BlogWell DC: How Big Brands Use Social Media on May 4 in Washington, DC. You’ll learn how to get started, get past roadblocks, and make your social media program phenomenal – all in one afternoon, for just $250. Get practical, how-to advice on creating great content, earning management buy-in, training employees, engaging fans, and keeping everything ethical and legal. Presented by GasPedal and SocialMedia.org. Apply the code SMCDCSENTME to get 20% off your registration.

To register, please visit:

http://www.socialmedia.org/blogwell/dc/

Event Recap: Get Geeky: Smart Social Networking

Guest post by: Liz Glomb, DC Events Committee Member
.

Having to compete with multiple other networking events on the same evening, it was great to see that a large group of people decided to attend the Get Geeky: Smart Social Networking SMCDC event at Porter Novelli DC on February 23, 2011. People were greeted with a warm welcome by Porter Novelli, a fantastic and yummy spread of food, and top notch panelists.

The speakers for the event included Frank Gruber (@FrankGruber, CEO & Co-founder of TechCocktail), Shana Glickfield (@dcconcierge, Partner at Beekeeper Group), and Shonali Burke (@shonali, Principal at Shonali Burke Consulting) and was moderated by Alexander Howard (@digiphile, Govt 2.0 Correspondent for O’Reilly Media).

The topic for the event was centered around how to network in the digital age using various social networking platforms and how to turn an online relationship into a business or job opportunity. Other topics that were discussed included how to manage your offline and online activity as well as the pros and cons of having your personality reflected in your online image. 

The panel brought up many interesting points, and after 2-hours intense discussions and tweets, here were some of the highlights:

• The Line between offline and online is becoming thinner, so you have two choices: wall up completely or be social.
• Your relationships that form online can affect you offline (and vice versa)
• Always be curious (Frank Gruber)
• You don’t always have to be serious (Frank Gruber)
• You are still a person, so use your personality
• Don’t have a personality? Learn to behave (Shonali Burke)
• Don’t ignore opportunities i other social media channels

And that’s the recap for the Get Geeky: Smart Social Networking SMCDC. MANY thanks to Porter Novelli DC for allowing us to use their space for the event and for the delicious food and refreshments. Another thank you goes out to our awesome moderator and panelists for their great content, interactions, and humor. For more information about the Social Media Club DC and other events, please follow the conversation on Twitter (@smcdc) and “like” us on Facebook.

November Event Recap: Politics Gets Social

The midterm elections are behind us – victory celebrations are winding down, wounds are beginning to heal, and Christine O’Donnell jokes are no longer en vogue. As the nation’s capitol prepares for a new political season, SMC-DC took some time to reflect on the election and the role of social media in the political process.

This Wednesday Politics Got Social. The evening started off as any political event should – with networking! SMC-DC members from the left, right, and middle came together to mingle and exchange business cards at our venue, Pillsbury Law, and then to ask questions to our expert panelists, who provided three unique perspectives on politics and social media.

Katie Harbath (@KatieHarbath), Chief Digital Strategist at the National Republican Senatorial Committee shared an insider perspective on social media and the campaign process. Her advice for integrating social media into a political campaign: Start now! Ok, ok, start right after you read this post. She also shared that transparency and authenticity are key and recommended that politicians tweet themselves, rather than leaving it to staffers. Participants also wanted to know – who has been successful in integrating social media into campaigning? Katie offered up Scott Brown as a prime example. He started engaging constituents online early. And even though he initially communicated with a small number of fans, the quality was high, thus increasing loyalty. One way to start growing your online fan base is “after the handshake.” When a politician meets someone in person, they should ask them to become an online follower.

Fundraising also plays an essential role in the political process. Mike Mayernick (@mmayernick) founder of social giving startup, giv.to (@givto), shared his perspective on how social media comes into play. Fundraising is a “call to action” and social media may not be the right forum but with a strategic process it can be a good starting point. His recommendation: start by sharing an article that will stir up support, next create a petition for your supporters to sign. As participants sign up for emails, funds tend to follow. Experience shows this method garners much higher giving rates than generic pitches. Michael also emphasized the importance of an integrated campaign when using social media in politics.

And did you know there is a job that actually requires you to watch The Daily Show and Colbert Report? Well there is, but sorry, it’s taken. Lauren Feldman of American University is one of the nation’s leading researchers in political communications. Participants were eager to hear her insight and findings from a research study she conducted at the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear. One interesting nugget is that 25% of those surveyed said that “political divisiveness” is the most important problem facing our country, distinguishing rally attendees from the larger population. She later discussed that comedy can be used to awaken the political junkie in those who wouldn’t normally participate.

As the evening wrapped up, panelists discussed how social media is still a new phenomena in politics. Many politicians last campaigned in 2004 when these digital resources didn’t even exist. Additionally, “political rules were not written for a new media world.” Although the rules pose some obstacles for politicians, the public is fortunately becoming more forgiving of online gaffes, so not being able to spell a word, like say “potato”, in a Tweet won’t necessarily make you the nation’s laughing stock.

All in all, it was a fun and enlightening event. I know we will all look forward to see what our experts have to say when the 2012 elections ramp up.

Thanks again to our host – Pillsbury Law, our panelists, and to all those who attended. Stay tuned for pictures and video from the event!

A special #SMCDC event: Annie Stela concert at Busboys and Poets on 10/28 to support education in Africa

They say social media can be used for social good.
They say music is good for the soul.
Doing good is generally known to be good for the soul.
Get ready to feel ALL sorts of good, everywhere.

Join is for an event of social media, musical, and philanthropic proportions.
MIND BLOW. A true social media story…

SMCDC  —> Annie Stela in concert —> at Busboys and Poets   —> to support Citizen Effect’s education project

Come out for a night of music when Annie Stela comes to DC to perform on Thursday, October 28th! She’ll be doing a one-night performance at Busboys and Poets at 5th and K St. NW at 9:00 PM. You’ll have the opportunity to hear some of Annie’s work and get a chance to win a signed copy of her CDs AND win free Citizen Effect T-shirts!

The social media story

Through the power of her website and blog, Annie reached out to fans to ask if they wanted her to come to their city to play at their house for their group of friends. Our very own SMCDC leadership member, @Mike_Kohn — a big Annie Stela fan — wrote Annie and asked her to come to DC. And the rest, as they say, is history. Instead of keeping Annie to himself; however, Mike is sharing her with SMCDC and all of DC for that matter – a true social media man.

The Annie Stela story

After a childhood spent writing poems and songs in quiet suburban Michigan, Annie Stela moved to LA at the age of 22. She got a hard core-case of mono and some serious culture shock – but once she recovered, she was signed to Capitol Records. She recorded her debut full-length record, Fool, with producer Bill Bottrell (Sheryl Crow, Shelby Lynne) and, after fear over her label’s stability, released it independently on iTunes in early 2008. Influenced by artists like Billy Joel, Ben Folds Five, and Tori Amos, Fool chronicles Annie’s journey from Michigan to LA and, as such, from childhood to adulthood. After touring with artists like Joseph Arthur, Ron Sexsmith, and Bright Eyes, she later released Little House and Hard City.

Tickets are only $5 (that’s less than a lot of phone apps!), which will go to support education for HIV-affected youth in Rwanda as part of a Citizen Effect project.

The Citizen Effect: Education in Rwanda Story

The majority of youth in the Kirehe and Kayonza districts of Eastern Province, Rwanda, live in extreme poverty and are not able to enjoy their right to an education. The most vulnerable youth are those that are HIV-affected, a large portion of whom are orphans. They have the greatest chance of not receiving secondary schooling or proper HIV treatment.

The FACE AIDS 2010 Back to School Campaign aims to raise funds to send HIV-affected Rwandan youth to secondary school. The Back to School Campaign has the potential to help up to 656 students. By joining the campaign, you are standing in solidarity with HIV-affected students in Rwanda, ensuring that they can enjoy the same right to an education as you do.

A special thanks to Busboys and Poets!

Busboys and Poets is a restaurant, bookstore, fair trade market and gathering place where people can discuss issues of social justice and peace. Each Busboys and Poets location should enhance the community — allowing us to bring together a diverse clientele reflective of the surrounding neighborhoods. Busboys and Poets creates an environment where shared conversations over food and drink allow the progressive, artistic and literary communities to dialogue, educate and interact. Follow them on Twitter and declare your love on Facebook.

October 2010 Social Media Breakfast: Meet Ford’s Dan Pierce

This WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 20 beginning at 8am (for test drives!), Join Social Media Club-DC at Busboys and Poets for an exclusive opportunity to hear about Ford’s upcoming next move — electric vehicles — and to learn more about the social media efforts that Ford will unfold as an integral part of the company’s marketing strategy.

Social Media Breakfast guests will participate in a brainstorm session with Ford’s Dan Pierce and will get to be the first to take a spin in one of Ford’s prototype electric vehicles!

See you at Busboys and Poets (14th and V — U Street Metro) this WEDNESDAY, October 20, 2010.

Details of what we have in store

• 8am: Electric vehicles test drive opportunities before the doors open
• 8:30am:
  • Ford discusses the importance of social media in its marketing
  • Brainstorm and feedback session with SMCC members and Dan Pierce
  • Ford digs deeper into its social media outlook
• 9:30am: More test drive opportunities following the event

Meet our speaker: Dan Pierce

Dan Pierce manages environmental communications at Ford Motor Company.  In this role, he raises awareness for Ford’s Blueprint for Sustainability; the company’s plan to build great products, a strong business and a better world.  A major part of the company’s sustainability plan is the development of electric vehicles.

Since joining Ford, Pierce has been working with the product development teams on educating consumers on the five electrified vehicles Ford will launch over the next three years.  These vehicles include the Ford Transit Connect Electric (2010), Ford Focus Electric (2011), two next generation hybrid vehicles (2012) and a Plug-In Hybrid vehicle (2012).

Outside of electric vehicles, Pierce works closely with Ford researchers on the company’s efforts to use recycled or biomaterials materials within its vehicles.  Ford’s vehicles are more than 85 percent recyclable due to the use of soy foam in seat cushions as well as recycled threads and cloth inside the car.

A special thanks to Busboys and Poets, the OFFICIAL venue of Social Media Breakfast DC!

Busboys and Poets is a restaurant, bookstore, fair trade market and gathering place where people can discuss issues of social justice and peace. Each Busboys and Poets location should enhance the community — allowing us to bring together a diverse clientele reflective of the surrounding neighborhoods. Busboys and Poets creates an environment where shared conversations over food and drink allow the progressive, artistic and literary communities to dialogue, educate and interact. Follow them on Twitter and declare your love on Facebook.

Now, the moment you’ve all been waiting for…

Want to get more involved?

If you or your company is interested in sponsoring any one of our monthly breakfast events, please let us know. Email us at socialmediaclubDC [at] gmail [dot] com or send a tweet to @smcdc. Thank you in advance!

September 2010 Social Media Breakfast Recap

Thanks to all who resisted hitting the snooze button this morning and came out to our September Social Media Breakfast featuring bloggers form the @TBD community network! I didn’t tweet at all during breakfast (WHAT? Wait for it… ) because I was typing notes like crazy so I could share them with you all in blog post form. If you enjoy it and would like this recap to become a regular thing, leave a comment to let us know!

Another round of thanks to our amazing hosts, @BusboysandPoets, our heads of table, and our guests! See you at the next one! But if you can’t wait to spend some more quality time with fellow social media professionals and enthusiasts…  come to SMCDC’s September 22^nd event: Using Social Media for Customer Service!

Sign up on Eventbrite: http://smcsept2010.eventbrite.com

Speakers: Cindy Cotte Griffiths (@cindycg) and

Brad Rourke (@bradrourke)

Blog: Rockville Central (@Rockville)

Brad and Cindy were blogging before blogging was invented. They posted articles to USENET way back in the day. On Memorial Day 2007, Brad read an article in Washington Post that profiled local bloggers from blogs like “Just Stop the Pike,” which covers Silver Spring. Brad thought there would surely be a blog about where he lived – Rockville – but when he discovered there wasn’t one, he decided to start one – because it was the weekend and he didn’t have anything to do, and what else do you do over the weekend, right? Brad would regularly meet parents and other folks in the neighborhood park and talk about issues of the day, and he eventually created a space like that online for the residents of Rockville.

While Brad’s original thought was that he’d create a little online newsletter for the neighborhood, Cindy encouraged him to think more broadly and do all of Rockville.

Cindy talked to about commenting policies and the role they have played in encouraging people to participate on the blog because they know it’s a safe place where everyone is appreciated and where there is no tolerance for people who want to be nasty.

Brad and Cindy have used Twitter for three years, but they didn’t until they could feed the blog through their Twitter account and help readers find posts in that way. They explained that as more Rockville residents have become comfortable with the blog, and as they get to meet more of their readers in person… more comments are published every time and the blog is more of an extension of their local community, online.

Speakers: Jaime Fearer (@bogrosemary)

and Geoffrey Hatchard (@IMGoph)

Blogs: District Curmudgeon (@distcurm)

and Greater Greater Washington (@ggwash)

The District Curmudgeon started din March 2010 but both Geoffrey and Jamie had history that led to writing this particular blog. Like Brad and Cindy, it was civic engagement that led Jamie and Geoffrey to start their blog. As members of their neighborhood, they needed to find news about what was going on in the community. Jamie started “Stop, Blog, and Roll” in 2005, however, when she moved to Shaw she became involved with “Greater Great Washington” and joined the site as a contributor there.

Geoffrey started blogging in 2006 when he moved to the Bloomingdale Neighborhood. The name of his blog was meant to be temporary because he’d be there temporarily, so after he moved, the blog was shut down and he spent a bit of time trying to figure out what to do next. Soon, he started contributing to “Greater Greater Washington. “

For both Jamie and Geoffrey, the idea, was not to just spit out information, but to start a dialogue and to be able to respond to comments and tweets. The blog was an outlet to let things out and point out things that weren’t happening and try to affect change.

Speaker: Scott Brodbeck

Blog: ARLNow.com (@ARLnowDOTcom)

Scott started blogging in January 2010 after five years in television news in DC. He started the blog because Arlington needed a full-time online news source and despite it being such a large community, it was missing that. He saw the need and wanted to prove to himself that he could take on the challenge of producing a blog. While in TV, he produced a segment called “Meet the Blogger” and thought that what the bloggers were doing was pretty cool – so he went for it.

On ARLNow.com, Scott tries to strike a balance between community news and breaking news. He tries to curate content and not do throw-away posts. He’s at the stage where he’s trying to sell ads and make it a financially sustainable business because, for something of that scale to exist, he needs to pay his rent (story of our lives, eh?). Scott uses Twitter and Facebook – and he shared that Facebook drives THREE TIMES more traffic than Twitter to his blog. While he uses both those tools, the way he measures his success the most is by comments on the blog.

Speaker: Mandy Jenkins (@mjenkins)

Blog: TBD.com (@TBD)

Mandy share a little more about TBD.com – a local news startup launched at the beginning of August, but of course, you already knew that J TBD has a very small staff but they try to cover news all the way from Virginia, to Maryland, to DC – something they couldn’t achieve without their contributors and the community bloggers who, and I quote, “bust their butts everyday to get news to them.”  – (Personal note: Thank you to all the members of the TBD staff!)

TBD tries to gather and curate the news. The staff reads RSS feeds everyday and try to make it so that they can bring as much of everything as they can into the site, but also bring discussion around the news and content they publish. They try to make sure they are on top of what’s going on out there, everywhere, so TBD takes to social networks of all kind – Twitter, Foursquare checkins. Because there is a few of them and tons of us, they use social media to tap into the public to learn what’s going on. (Personal note: Thank you DC-area bloggers!)

Mandy closed saying, “I feel like we come to work every day not knowing what’s going to happen, but somehow they’re going to cover it. “ Respect.

Image courtesy of @mjenkins

SMC-DC September Event: Using Social Media for Customer Service

SMC-DC is hosting a panel regarding Using Social Media for Customer Service. Panelists will discuss how social media impacted the traditional customer service world, best practices for large enterprises in using social media to connect with customers, and local vs. national difference. Participants include moderator Shashi Bellamkonda, who is currently Head of Social Media and Brand Evangelism for Network Solutions; Munish Gandhi who founded Hy.Ly; Andre Francis who is the Social Media Representative for Pepco; and Tony Hudgins who is the Co-Managing Partner for Public Group/SET Entertainment, which includes DC favorites Public Bar, Sushi Rock, and Lupe Cantina.

Title: Using Social Media for Customer Service

Date: Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Time: 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm

Location: TBA very soon – watch the Eventbrite page for details!

Who:

• Shashi Bellamkonda (Moderator): Head of Social Media / Brand Evangelism for Network Solutions (@shashib)
• Munish Gandhi: Founder of Hy.Ly (@munishgandhi)
• Andre Francis: Social Media Representative for Pepco (@pepcoconnect)
  
• Tony Hudgins: Co-Managing Partner for Public Group/SET Entertainment (Public Bar, Sushi Rock, and Lupe Cantina) (@tonyhudginsdc)

Sign up on Eventbrite: http://smcsept2010.eventbrite.com/

Once the event reaches full capacity, we will start a waitlist. Please email us at socialmediaclubdc@gmail.com if you wish to be added to the list, or to cancel your reserved spot.

In other SMC-DC News:

Mark you for calendars for an October 1 tweetup to see “The Social Network” (a.k.a. the Facebook movie). Theatre locations in DC, MD and VA. Stay tuned for where and what time the movie will be.

In October, our monthly event will be on a Monday instead of a Wednesday night. Mark your calendar for Oct. 25th. It will be part of a national Social Media Club initiative for social media and family.

A message from Jill Foster:

As a way to show appreciation for your continued participation in the social tech community, WomenWhoTech is to donating (2) tickets to two SMC-DC members to attend WomenWhoTech’s telesummit. Think top leaders, movers, shakers, entrepreneurs, and you – all on one telesummit! It’s time for the 3rd annual Women Who Tech TeleSummit that will take place September 15, 2010 with over 800 women (and men) from across the US and abroad in the non-profit, political and business world.  The awesome event will feature an incredible lineup of thought provoking panels including technology change makers.  The TechCrunch CEO, BlogHer’s COO, and more great minds will join this year’s speaker slate with more on panels, events, and how to register at http://womenwhotech.com.

To enter the raffle for free tix, just tweet the below twitter post (definitely include the cited hashtags as to ensure your name is entered to win!).
Hey @smcdc ! Want 2 hear TechCrunch CEO & other greats @WomenWhoTech’s Telesummit 9/15? Tweet this 2 enter 2 win free tix! #smcdc #wwt

And in other social media news:

The WOMMY Awards executed by WOMMA (The Word of Mouth Marketing Association) celebrate excellence in the word of mouth and social media marketing industry and honors those who have created innovative, strategic and (most importantly) talkable marketing campaigns throughout the past year.

There are several categories for entries to the WOMMYs, and both agency and corporate teams are invited to participate.

Eligible Categories Include:

• Social Media: Best use of social media as a communication medium
• Introduction: Best word of mouth communication program to introduce new products/services
• Momentum: Best word of mouth program to juice existing products/services
• Experiential: Best word of mouth program as the result of great customer experience
• Innovation: Best use of word of mouth insights to invent a new product or service.
• Research: Best strategic thinking to measure the impact/success of WOM

The final deadline for entry is Friday, September 17th, so check them out today!

Meet Our September 2010 Social Media Breakfast Speakers!

Thinking about starting a blog?   Wish you existing blog had more readers or comments?  Wondering just how the city’s successful bloggers ever have the time to do such good work?

Find out all this and more as recently-launched, local news startup TBD and a few excellent DC area bloggers tell you the secrets to their blogging success. They will talk about how to get started blogging, crafting great posts, using social media to market your blog and how they fit blogging into their day (on top of full-time jobs, families and other commitments).

We have several speakers this time around, which means only one thing — more brilliant brains to pick on. But don’t worry, breakfast won’t run beyond the allotted time. Our speakers will first share their favorite pieces of wisdom with all of us and then, we will open up the floor to make sure you get the opportunity to ask all of your burning blogging questions

See you at Busboys and Poets (14th and V — U Street Metro) on TUESDAY, September 14, 2010 at 8:30am.

Meet the speakers (and their blogs!)

Speakers: Jaime Fearer (@bogrosemary)

and Geoffrey Hatchard (@IMGoph)

Blogs: District Curmudgeon (@distcurm)

and Greater Greater Washington (@ggwash)

Jaime worked in the book industry for over 10 years, dividing that time between bookselling and academic publishing. After living in NE DC’s Woodridge neighborhood for 3 years, where she ran the blog stop, blog, and roll, Jaime decided to formalize her passion for community building and planning by pursuing a Masters in Community Planning at the University of Maryland, College Park. Jaime currently lives in DC’s Trinidad neighborhood and is co-creator and author of The District Curmudgeon with Geoffrey Hatchard and also contributes to Greater Greater Washington.

Geoffrey’s background in geography is what brought him to Washington, DC, and it’s what has helped him develop a deep and abiding love for the city. An life-long obsession with maps brought him to DC for a job as a cartographic editor at the National Geographic Society, and he currently is employed as a geographer with the U.S. Census Bureau. Since moving into the city 6 years ago, he’s strived to stay on top of neighborhood news, leading to the creation of a neighborhood blog for the Bloomingdale neighborhood in 2006. In 2009, he moved to the Trinidad neighborhood with Jaime Fearer, co-creating their current blog, The District Curmudgeon, as a vehicle for both rants and a way to talk about how to change things in DC for the better. He also contributes to Greater Greater Washington.

Speaker: Scott Brodbeck

Blog: ARLNow.com (@ARLnowDOTcom)

Launched in January 2010, ARLnow.com is the place for the latest news, views and things to do around Arlington, Virginia. Started by Scott Brodbeck, an Arlington resident who has spent the past several years working in local TV news in D.C., ARLnow.com seeks to distinguish itself with original, enterprising, up-to-the-minute local coverage.

Speakers: Cindy Cotte Griffiths (@cindycg) and

Brad Rourke (@bradrourke)

Blog: Rockville Central (@Rockville)

Cindy and Brad have been collaborating on Rockville Central since June 2007 when Brad founded the site. Rockville Central covers the news from the second-largest city in Maryland and the county seat of Montgomery County. Designed from the start with the civic goal of being a safe space for all kinds of people to discuss issues in public life, Rockville Central has grown to be in the top five most-read local blogs in Maryland, and is read throughout City Hall and beyond.

Both very active in the Rockville community, Cindy and Brad each bring a unique sensibility to the site. Brad is an expert in civic engagement and has been blogging about public life since before the term “blog” was invented. Cindy has
worked with local nonprofits and shares her experiences about what’s special in the community through blogging, which she hopes will encourage greater public participation.

Speaker: Mandy Jenkins (@mjenkins)

Blog: TBD.com (@TBD)

Mandy is the Social Media Producer for TBD.com, a local news website and TV station in the Washington, D.C. area that launched in early August. In addition to its own reporting staff and a collection of curated local sources, TBD features posts from a Community Network of more than 150 local blogs (and counting). TBD is also active on the social web, using Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare and other tools to gather, share and report news. Before moving to D.C. to work for TBD this summer, Mandy was the Social Media Editor for the Cincinnati Enquirer. She also writes Zombie Journalism, a blog on new media issues.

A special thanks to Busboys and Poets, the OFFICIAL venue of Social Media Breakfast DC!

Busboys and Poets is a restaurant, bookstore, fair trade market and gathering place where people can discuss issues of social justice and peace. Each Busboys and Poets location should enhance the community — allowing us to bring together a diverse clientele reflective of the surrounding neighborhoods. Busboys and Poets creates an environment where shared conversations over food and drink allow the progressive, artistic and literary communities to dialogue, educate and interact. Follow them on Twitter and declare your love on Facebook.

Now, the moment you’ve all been waiting for…

Want to get more involved?

Register as a “Head of Table”! Essentially, you will be volunteering to ignite conversation at your table and let others pick your brain during the Breakfast. Don’t worry, we don’t mean this literally. Heads of Table get 50 % off!

If you or your company is interested in sponsoring any one of our monthly breakfast events, please let us know. Email us at socialmediaclubDC [at] gmail [dot] com or send a tweet to @smcdc. Thank you in advance!

#CitizenGulf #DateAuction : Meet our eligible bachelors and bachelorettes!

#CitizenGulf National Day of Action is TOMORROW! And since everyone has been showing how big their hearts are by supporting  #CitizenGulf and making a difference for families in the Gulf, we ought to give those hearts a little something back…

Announcing the #CitizenGulf #DateAuction!

Featuring DC’s most eligible bachelors and bachelorettes! Bidding will start at $5 – not necessarily because our singles are worth that much, but because we want to make sure there’s no weird financial pressure involved so that everyone can have a good time.

All you have to do to bid is be there. The easiest way to do that is to click the button below.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Please bring cash! We will have a form on-site to get contact information for auction bidders who wish to receive a tax-deductible receipt from Citizen Effect. After you’re done reading, we’ve embedded a map of ATMs located near Washington, DC, for your convenience, trust me… you’ll want to date these folks  ;)

Looking forward to seeing you tomorrow! Thank you for your support!

Without further ado – Meet out bachelors and bachelorettes!!

Alison

Alison kicks ass and often takes names – but only in the form of Twitter handles. She bleeds red, not because it’s normal, but because she’s from Massachusetts and a wicked die-hard Red Sox fan. So if you prefer pinstripes, you shouldn’t bother bidding. Ok, well since this is for charity, Yankees fans can bid, but they have to pay double. When she’s not managing marketing and communications for GlobalGiving, Alison likes to perform improv and karaoke, but also likes to channel her inner Liz Lemon and watch primetime cable news and do crossword puzzles. Fair warning, your date will inevitably have its own hashtag and be livetweeted.

Sterling

Sterling is 29 years old. He is 6ft tall, has black hair, dark brown eyes, and a smile that ­shines so bright, it does his name justice. He is a software engineer and senior consultant at Booz Allen Hamilton. He is well-versed in IT technologies including Java/Java EE, JSP, XML, XHTML, SQL, C++, PHP & MySQL, DB2, Microsoft: SharePoint Portal Server, ASP.NET, C# — and is looking for someone who can complement his analytical and coding skills. Sterling is fluent in binary code, but this Aries is even more fluent in the language of love.

Patrick

Despite his Asian heritage Patrick wouldn’t call himself a Social Media ninja. This Boston native has a driver’s license says he’s 5’10″ but insists he’s 5 feet, 10 and a half inches. Patrick is social media flack at New Media Strategies and is a writer for We Love DC. When he’s not winning over clients and readers he’s winning the hearts of patrons as a professional stage manager. Don’t worry however, this dark and handsome gentleman leaves drama at the door, he’s a lover- not a fighter after all.

Genevieve

Hailing originally from New Jersey, Genevieve lives in DC and is a public affairs specialist for the United States Mint. Just graduated with her Master’s from Georgetown this spring she has lots of time on her hands to shop for shoes, watch bad Vince Vaughn movies, and read the Sunday Washington Post. She likes a good bottle of Pinot Noir or an ice-cold Stoli martini after work or while cooking dinner for her friends…or anytime really. A soccer-player and a jock at heart, Genevieve loves to root for the hometown boys, the Caps, Nationals and DC United but left her football loyalty in Chicago with the Bears and Brian Urlacher. At 5’7″ with dark brown eyes, and brown curly hair, she has an infectious laugh that would fit in at any comedy club in DC. Having acquired her first bicycle without streamers, a flowered basket, or a banana seat she’s looking for a fellow foodie with whom she can explore DC’s bike trails and other undiscovered nooks and crannies.

Toby

Toby has been in the Advertising / Communication industry for more than five years. With a bachelor’s degree in Creative Advertising Art Direction from VCU, this creative renaissance man has worked with national accounts and local non-profits. He currently serves as Communications Director for a DC-based non-profit that teaches film-making to underserved youth as a means for them to tell their story. He likes a dirty goose martini after a long day, dislikes debbie-downers & nay-sayers, believes in magic, and has an affinity toward great typography.

Alex

Alex is the college boy you’ve always wanted. He’s a real American man, pursuing two degrees in marketing and communications at the prestigious American University right here in Washington, D.C. A true networker, Alex has built a reputation for his social media prowess and is well known for being one of the best-looking avatars in Twitter-feeds around the city. He’s looking for someone who can match his social nature and non-stop, outgoing and ambitious personality. His Klout score may be only 70, but in love he’s nothing less than a perfect 100.

I told you. To the ATM you go!

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Special thanks to our individual sponsors

Tracy Tran (@TracyTran)

Eric Johnson (@el_studio)

Jill Foster (@JillFoster)

Anne Eigeman (@aeindc)

Chris Abraham (@chrisabraham)

Thanks to #CitizenGulf local supporters

Check out the Oil Spill Browser Plug-in created by Jess3.

At any mention of BP, the word is blacked out and oil drips down.

Dan Morrison: The #CitizenGulf Story and National Day of Action on 8/25th

How did one blogger fact-finding trip lead to a full National Day of Action to help Gulf children and their families?

CitizenEffect‘s founder Dan Morrison shares the story and hope for helping out the Gulf region.  How can you help?  Attend great parties next week on 8/25th where your $10 fee (or more if you’d like!) goes toward helping the educational futures for children of Gulf fishing families.

Dan will be our featured speaker at CitizenGulf-DC! We hope you will be there to meet him in person, to have a great time, and to support this great cause! Click below to RSVP:

Special thanks to original team  member of the CitizenGulf project, Jill Foster, for producing this video interview!

Thanks to #CitizenGulf local supporters

Check out the Oil Spill Browser Plug-in created by Jess3.

At any mention of BP, the word is blacked out and oil drips down.