Social Finance always seems so cutting edge to me. The newest technologies and gadgets appear in everyone's hands, on their blogs and in their business. No surprise that social finance has embraced the use of video to further our work and that knowledge is now being shared at lightning speed.
The interesting thing about using a tool like video is that when it is done well, the learnings are immediate. They tend to be brief, on-point and illustrative. There also appears to be a narrative quality that convinces you of the authenticity. People are talking about learning from experience and watching a short 5 min video can give you as much business smarts as a couple of months in an MBA. For pointers, I suggest the new Social Innovation Generation series on Social Finance : Best and Worst Practises. In one night, 9 speakers covered their own social finance organizations with examples of best and worst decisions, learnings and illuminations. If you want a crash course in the ups and downs of social finance, go here.
Organizations on their own are using video as a main source of delivering their goals and objectives. An excellent example is Small Change Fund. They have created a market for micro financing in Canada. Using video and photos supplied by organizations seeking small donations, they allow potential donors to immediately see and hear what the project is about, what the people involved in the project are like and what a donor's impact might be. A new kind of 'If you want to save a tree in the forest, don't get in your car and go there, send money to those who are already at work in the vicinity'. Saves GHG's, saves time and ultimately saves money because people don't donate (or invest) in things they don't like or agree with. Tahdah! Instant donor gratification and immediate investor satisfaction.
Go online to So Fine Canada on Sunday Aug. 21st at 10 am pacific and 1 pm est to hear how one video journalist and a whole bunch of videos can teach you a helluva lot about social finance in about 5 min flat.
Worth the look. Worth the listen.
