Overview

The first LearnAsOne trip to Zambia is scheduled for May '09. On the trip we plan to establish a relationship with an NGO partner and set up the first community school project. This will be documented in real-time using twitter and our blog (including photos and hopefully YouTube video uploads if Internet speed allows).

 

Before we return home we plan to teach the community how to continue these updates once we have left Zambia. You can read the full plans here.

 

Please note we will have a new homepage which incorporates a totaliser for the first school prior to the trip - click here for a screenshot of the totaliser.

 

We are looking for ideas to raise awareness of the trip, both on and off-line. And also for help implementing the ideas too. 

 

Objectives

- Drive traffic to the LearnAsOne website just before and during the trip (May '09).

- Keep people engaged during the trip and encourage donations (£25,000 target for the first school).

- Encourage people to interact with us while we are in Zambia (via twitter, blog comments).

- Get people to blog about the trip, re-tweet it, mention it in their Facebook status and generate press coverage.

- Spend no money doing this.

 

The Big Idea (we need your help)

The first task is to come up with a single Big Idea/Concept to promote the trip which can then be applied across all media. We also need a way to adapt this idea after the trip so fundraising can continue. We'd love to hear your ideas of how to do this.

 

What makes LearnAsOne different?

 

All ideas should demonstrate at least one of the following points. They are listed in priority order and transparency must come across in all ideas.

 

1. Transparency

- LAO show donors exactly how their money is spent. This will be done through a shopping of exactly what the community needs and in the form of stories following 3 or 4 key community members (e.g. community chief, a teacher, a student). Videos and photos will play a big role. Updates will continue every 6-8 weeks once we return from the trip.

 

Key point: See your money in action.

 

2. Real-time updates

- Instant updates via twitter (especially during the trip). Regular blog posts & videos as internet access allows.

 

3. Interactivity

- Supporters will be encouraged to leave comments and questions which we will share with the community (e.g. before we interview the community chief we will ask the twitter community for questions)

 

 

Example messaging for our twitter profile before the trip

This May... I am flying to Zambia with @nerys76 to find a community who need help to build a school. Updates will appear here in real time.

 

And for after the trip

This May we visited Zambia and found two teachers trying to educate 296 kids under the shade of a few trees. Their dream is to have a proper school. Please help!

 

What we need

We'd like as many of you as possible to come up with a Big Idea to promote the trip (which can be adapted once we return from Africa). It needs to work across multiple formats so it would be good to see the idea applied to a banner (468x60 px), a poster (A3) and a flyer (A4). Designs/scamps/headlines only need to be very rough at this stage.

 

Please upload your ideas to Flickr and tag them 'LAOideas'. Feel free to adapt any ideas you already see under this tag. Once the 'right' idea emerges we'll post a link on here and then all efforts can move onto applying the Big Idea across all media (see below).

 

Please email volunteer at learnasone dot org whenever you upload an idea so we can take a look at your work. Thanks!

 

The starting point

The trip will be covered in real time on twitter and on our website. Very, very rough ideas at the moment. Been passed onto a designer to work up.

- Homepage

- Twitter background

 

You can also see our brand guidelines here.

 

Deadline for Big Ideas: Monday 16th March

 

 

Applying the idea (constantly evolving - we need ideas yours too!) 

 

One the Big Idea has been selected we move on to applying this across various media. Possible applications are as follows.

 

NB: Each idea needs it's own page. Feel free to contribute to any idea or add another to the list. DO NOT delete ideas. If you wish to take on an idea then please add your name in bold afterwards. Editing rights to this wiki are restricted to approved volunteers to protect data. If want to become a new volunteer please email volunteer at learnasone dot org and let us know which idea you wish to work on and what skills you can bring to the party. Thanks.

 

- Your own application. Must cost nothing to implement and distribute? Tell us your ideas. <-- Key part of the project

- Banner ads (ad ideas, production + distribute for free)

- Get people to sign up to the Facebook page (how? what needs to be on the page? page design) 

- FlyerAsOne (create flyers people can print + distribute themselves)

- A profile picture: that people can upload to their Facebook/twitter profiles to promote the trip

- A simple when, where, what poster that people can print and use to promote fundraising events for the first school.

- Press and blog coverage (who are the key contacts? what is the message?)

- Tweeting (build the LAO twitter network. Re-tweet)

- Twitter background (to promote pre-trip, during trip and after trip)

- Celebrity endorsements (who should we ask?)

- Joint promotions (do you know anyone at Flip, Nokia, a video streaming company etc?)

- Flash widget to fundraise for the first community school

- Big community effort to Digg or Stumble a selected LAO blog post just before the trip.

- E-mail marketing template

- Paper airplane (A4 plane design with trip messaging on the wings)

- Trip homepage (pulling in twitter feed in the header for real time updates)

 

Get involved

If you want to help out with any of the above or have an idea of your own then please email Steve at volunteer at learnasone dot org. If you have any questions then you can direct those towards Steve too. Thanks.