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The Power Of ActiveRain: An Idea Comes To Life

I'm thrilled with the response so far. Thank you!

cybercommunity So many of you responded favorably to the notion that the ActiveRain cyber-community is uniquely suited to becoming a resource for helping real estate agents impact the cyle of poverty in their local communities, places they can see and touch. (If you are just now stumbling on this idea, some background reading may help you. Please read "The Poverty Gap Is Growing: What Can We Do?" and "Harnessing The Power Of The ActiveRain Community: An Idea.")

The idea was and is a simple one. I'd like to state it now as an actionable statement.

We will focus the collective energy of many willing real estate professionals to create a website, based on blog technology, that would specifically highlight information and actionable ideas in the following four areas:

Renter Content: rent to own strategies, good tennant plans, renter marketing.
Builder Content: working with builders to encourage low income projects
Local Government & Association Content: how to be an advocate for the empoverished
Education Programs Content: for existing community groups, for broker sponsored events, for elementary and high school classrooms.

I am personally convinced that this community will generate a tremendous amount of energy around this topic. I also believe the quality of the content will attract other organizations already engaged in the battle against poverty.

In my last post, I asked you to respond to some names.

I registered several names and put them up for discussion. The overwhelming consensus was that the following two were the best: RainOfHope.com and RainForChange.com. My initial leanings were toward RainOfHope.com, but I agree with many of the commenters, hope is nice and needed, but change is what we're after.

So, I'm suggesting we go with RainForChange.com!

How will this work? A TypePad Pro blogging account will provide the perfect platform for this endeavor. It is extremely powerful and simple to use. RealEstateShows.com will cover the very minimal monthly costs for this service and our team will work on the logo design and other design aspects of the site. The TypePad Pro account will allow us to invite as many guest authors as is necessary. The guest authors will have full editing and posting control. However, it will NOT be necessary to write original content specifically for the site, though that would certainly be great.

Why? One of the original goals was to use the ActiveRain platform as a source. We are all strapped for time. Posts can and should be written on ActiveRain or the guest authors own blogs. RainForChange.com guest authors will be responsible for pointing readers to content and adding editorial and instructional comments about the use of the information in the fight against poverty. RainForChange.com then becomes a repository of ideas and knowledge, gleaned from many sources. It provides direction and focus. The ideas will come from many sources. (This is a working concept and certainly open for any level of debate.)

We will need a volunteer staff to monitor the organization of the ideas, to insure that posts are categorized properly and to make certain the material presented is truly directed towards the goal.

We're still in the idea phase... but moving toward action! Your input is invaluable. I'd like to hear which of the areas above you feel you might be able to contribute content for and, of course, any other ideas you think are necessary to improve on the basic concepts and move this forward.

Posted by Jeff Turner on 01/19/2007 01:29 PM

Comments (50)

values, vision, activerain, jeff turner, rain for change

Originally posted at: Turner's Perspective: The Power Of ActiveRain: An Idea Comes To Life

Post is included in group: CHALLENGES
Post is included in group: The Hubba Clubba...ROAR!
Post is included in group: Rain For Change

50 Comments on The Power Of ActiveRain: An Idea Comes To Life

JAN

2007

Thanks, Jeff, for DOING something about this issue. I hope your efforts and those of other Rainers will actually make some significant changes.

Hubba aka Jeff Turner...

Ahhh. You have it up and you're moving it forward. Excellent :)

It's too early in the morning for serious thinking on my part. But, I will be back later to read this again and wrap my brain around some of these ideas.

I remember back in the old days of AR I had members telling me I could not "give" to my fellow man with the help of AR. They clamied that I would be turning AR into nothing more than a "donation" site. So nice to see that it can and WILL be done in spite of the very few members that do not think we should be "giving back" out of the rain :)

Thank you so much for helping AR evolve into a place we are able to "give" something back to this world.

Sharon... at this point I'm still saying "I hope so." It's going to take the efforts of more than just myself to make this work. But I believe the hope is well placed.

TLW... well, you know how I feel about it. I know people want to help. I know they have other "causes" they believe in and give to and work for. I know that they have limited time. That's why this idea MUST center around FOCUSING SOME of their current activities toward writing about topics that can be part of a curriculum of knowledge that others, anywhere, can look to for help and inspiration. Only a few need do more than that. This is about collecting knowledge, not money. It's about focusing existing energy, not trying to create new energy. This online community has the tools necessary to make ti happen.

Jeff.... I am going to sit back and watch this for a little. I always volunteer for things. But I didn't read your last one that talked about the different names that were being thrown around. In the last week and a half, I haven't had as much time to read many of the blogs and make comments. Overall, this sounds interesting.

So....I am going to step aside and read a little more and go back to your other post. Keep me informed. This all sounds interesting.

Jeff - you STARE but you also ACT - I like it! Nice to see it is coming together and a fine project it is. THANK YOU for being pro-active.

Like the blog Jeff..Thank you for your insight and info

activerain is great!

www.EagleResorts.com

Jeff... feel free to sit back and watch. The end goal here is giving you the ability to volunteer at a level that benefits you and others in many ways without stretching your time and resources beyond their capacity. You should be able to contribute with posts within your expertise and comfort zone and do it within the context you are already working. You already write a lot for AR. If once a week you turned your knowledge and energy to "how does this relate to someone trying to pull themselves up out of poverty." You'd have a great consumer oriented AR post and we've have a great post to write about and give instruction on via RainForChange.com. Not to mention the value to you in the SEO benefit derived from RainForChange.com pointing back to you from another domain.

Ines... you can bet I wish I didn't feel compelled to act. It would allow me to sleep more. But I can't seem to control it. Nor do I want to! :)

Gary... thank you. Keep checking back on this one.

Chris... obviously, I agree.

TURNERMAN!

The only thing I want to do is HELP. If you need me, I'll do my best to help in whatever area you need me. Thanks Jeff!

Jeff T.... sounds great and just keep me posted so I don't miss any of this. thanks I hope that's not to much to ask.

I haven't been around much either due to travel, so I didn't catch the previous post either, but so far, it sounds very interesting... I'll be watching to see how things progress.

Ray, Jeff & Donna... thank you! I will keep you posted as the bones get some flesh around them.

I thought your intial post was terrific, Jeff, and am glad to see this is moving forward. I like the name of the organization. It reminds me of the efforts a REALTOR group I was a member of in Cambridge, MA where funds were raised for housing assistance (rent, downpayments) for those without housing (in excess of $100K in a year when I was there). I am pondering how I can be involved and contribute.

Jeff

I was wondering what became of this and I too am glad to see it moving forward. Thank you for all your efforts on this project!

All... I'm sorry this took so long to get back to. I'm sure you all know that the time constraints of what we really do can get in the way of blogging. : ) That's why crafting a go forward plan that allows minimal impact is the only option for success. Time is a commodity that has incredible value.

Jeff D... Thank you! You and others like you can provide tremendous brain power for the kinds of posts necessary to build up a useable source of information that can be shaped into a resource that community based organizations can turn to for ideas and support of their own efforts and curriculum.

Debi... See above. :)

I've got a very busy two months ahead of me but want you to know this is definitely on my radar. Having reread this post, I'm wondering if 'poverty' is too broad. The four bullet points all tend toward 'affordable housing' which is something I think we can really put a laser focus on.

This project also seems to parallel and magnify the REALTOR® Good Neighbor program. Maybe there are resources or experience there that we can draw from.

I'll venture out a bit. Home Builders nationwide are bullied as the great "satan" ... it is suggested that we are tearing down all the trees ... that we are ruining all the drainage ... that we are ruining schools and roads and infrastructure.

You are so right though that homeownership is the greatest way to break the lock of poverty.

We really need super creativity though, not just some vapid government program once warmed over that puts lots of dollars in people's pockets and no one new really buys a home. I'm glad to take part in creative thought and brainstorming. Let's break poverty's hold on humanity ... one homeowner at a time.

John... I think I agree with you. Poverty may be too broad. Laser focus is indeed required for this to have true power. Otherwise we stray in tot he area of Steve's concern above... some "vapid" program that doesn't address a very specific and very addressable problem. I will address the specificity as we move forward. This is a very good suggestion!

Jeff, awesome. Count me in. I will start exploring some ideas right away. You just never know where something like this will lead. The key is to get started and you have done that with getting the site up and running. This should be very interesting and hopeful will capture the "eyes" of the right people. Thanks for taking the initiative. Forward movement creates opportunity.

Jeff - you have the prettiest eyes and the biggest HEART!

Bryant... we're moving a little bit at a time, but still moving. Thanks for your encouragement and support. You know it means the world to me. I put up an initial skeleton design at the typepad acocunt for RainForChange.com. The url is not pointing there yet and this is by no means a final design, but it's a starting point for more discussion. Further movement.

Dena... don't try to make me blush! Thank you, but this is going to take on it's own life and it's going to require lots of big hearts, yours included!

We're just getting back to Active Rain after taking a few months off so I haven't been following this but it sounds great. I really like the name RainForChange.com. Let us know if you need any help, we'd be glad to pitch in!

Jeff I'm not sure how I can help but in someway I'd like to contribute. I like your idea for the name, change is what is needed! So WOW to all of it! Thanks for being a leader for change!

My plate feels full many days, til I go to a prospective homeowner meeting with Habitat and realize how good I have it. Count me in, i'll be watching to see how I can best contribute.

Jeff, your blog is very good and inspiring. I'll check back from time to time.

Roxanne & Shannon... thanks and welcome back. I've been playing with the concepts on a more ground level part of today and I've found some flaws on the operational side that need to be worked out. I'm confident we can. We must, because streamlining how information gets to the site and then out to others is critical to it's success. Keep checking back in and you'll see how this progresses.

Cynthia... thanks for your continued encouragement.

Leigh... I hear you on that one! Like I said to Roxanne and Sharon, that's why it's so important for the mechanics to be simple. We'll get it nailed.

Joe... thank you. The goal is pretty simple. Unite some voices in a clear direction and see how far the energy can take us!

JAN

2007

I will do what I can to help. Really like the name.

Jeff, Happy Saturday!

Interesting and thought provoking! Sounds like great interest is being cultivated. Like a few have said, in some fashion or another, "I want to wrap my mind around it." I'm bookmarking and making a note to follow-up.

Great job.....best wishes for all's success!

Click HERE to view a Realtor's Challenge

All... I'd like EVERYONE to begin thinking about how we move this even more laser focused. John Novak said, "I'm wondering if 'poverty' is too broad. The four bullet points all tend toward 'affordable housing' which is something I think we can really put a laser focus on."

I agree with this. Getting more people to homeownership will do a great deal for breaking the cycle of poverty. Our thoughts need to focus on two things:

How we can write for professionals in a way that presents ideas for addressing affordable housing in their local communities.
How we can write for consumers in a way that teaches them how to achieve the american dream.

John Novak... I've spent some time at the REALTOR® Good Neighbor site and think it has some nuggets there, but it's focus is extremely broad. It is about general fundraising, volunteer work and not related to any one specific are. I think your comment "I'm wondering if 'poverty' is too broad. The four bullet points all tend toward 'affordable housing' which is something I think we can really put a laser focus on." Is a very, very good one. I'm going to be spending some time trying to take that and work this even further toward an actionable vision.

Thank you Jeff! I just left a comment on Fran Whites blog, where she refers back to this blog. I would like to see (I need) some specific actions I can take in my community. A recipe if you will of actionable tasks to take.

FRAN... thanks for the assistance!

Dena... that's what this is all about. I believe, when this is ready, it becomes a place where these specific idea can live and grow. I believe we're all like you. We want to know WHAT we can do, not just that we should do it. RainForChange.com is meant to be a place to collect and share the "what can I do" information.

Cool! I will follow threw! The point of Fran Whites blog was that we all need to follow up on what we have said here.

You can get a preview of the RainForChange.com site here.

Hubba...It looks great. I wanted to stop by and let you know I left a comment there but it didn't take. I went back to the site so I could add it to my favorites and my comment is gone?

Also, I want to tell you that this is one of the best things I have ever seen come out of Active Rain. We are so blessed to have you and that kind heart of yours amongst us. Okay I done getting all mushy about this. I just feel so inspired by all this. Please let Broker Bryant and I know what we can do to help.

TLW...ROAR!

TLW... thank you! What more can I say.

As for your comment over there, I had to rebuild the site. There was a problem that couldn't be corrected in the way it was set up. So, any comments were lost. It's all better now. :)

Jeff I would like to help as well

On a sort of what I can do approach. I have from time to time gone to Church's in the inter-city of Detroit to speak to youth groups about credit. One of the posts I had done prior I had alluded to the fact that when I was in High School I had to take a home economics class to teach me how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich so that I did not starve to death. But nowhere in our education system do they teach the youth about credit or even how to write a check. You would be surprised how many High Schoolers can not write a check.

I don't know how your forum will work. But I would be willing to address these issues and with the communities help I would be willing to visit Detroit High Schools to educate. Let me know how I can help and what you think of this idea

Thanks,

Curt Swearengin

Well Jeff, what can i say?

First, i will thank GOD for you.....only HE has the "hearts of kings" in HIS hand, and as the rivers of water, HE turns the heart in the direction that will produce HIS purposes. Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. You spoke. You produced.

Secondly, i thank Active Rain for allowing a platform such as this.

Thirdly, i thank God for the "Rain For Change" members who have heard, and are responding to this call from it's designated leader, YOU. These are those that have an "ear" to hear, and are ready to ACT to bring this to total fruition. Thank you Active Rainers for Change!!!

THANK YOU JEFF! CONGRATULAIONS! I COMMEND YOU & WILL COMMIT TO PRAYING THIS THROUGH

(We have taken steps that i will share with you through the "RainforChange" site. - i did originate a "challenges" group here for the purpose of interacting with those facing similar challenges.)

JAN

2007

Curt... yes, yes, yes. I think this is an area where our professionals can craft "curriculum" for use in school presentations. The post can be mini lesson plans designed to make it simpler for real estate professionals everywhere to go and speak. Many won't, not for lack of desire, but because they don't understand where to start. We need an army of professionals in schools everywhere educating our nations children about credit, saving, and old fashioned wealth building. They need to know that wealth CAN be built from very little, if you understand how to the banks to your advantage, on both side of the lending equation. This is one of the specific areas I'd like to address more specifically as we move forward.

Diane... Thank you for your prayers and great idea in starting the challenges group! I am going to post this there as well!

JAN

2007

Hey Jeff - just wanted to let you know your post was featured in the week in review:

Active Rain - Week in Review 01/15/07 to 01/21/07

Ines, thank you! We need all the exposure we can get!!!

Jeff this reminds me of Linda Norton who as a realtor struggling with a brain tumor still managed to convert a hotel and help the homeless in her area. We all can help there is no excuse. Great blog!

Teri, that's a great story. Can you write a post about it?

JAN

2007

Jeff- WOW! Congratulations on moving this sublimely simple but profoundly powerful idea forward.

I'm going to have more in a bit. Need to get it focused a bit tighter. THANK YOU!

FEB

2007

All... I have started the new group, Rain For Change. Let's see if we can make some noise.

MAY

2007

It's time to get the focus of the Rain For Change group back on track. If you posted to the Rain For Change group and it's now deleted, it's not because the post was not well intended or inspirational. They were. It's because I want to try and get the group back to it's originally stated mission.

This is also NOT personal. I deleted almost all of my wife's posts to the Rain For Change group too and I really like her a lot. :)

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