“Time to move on…”

The wise, guitar crooner, Tom Petty, once sang

“Time to move on…time to get going. What lies ahead babe I have no way of knowing. But under my feet babe, the grass is growing. It’s time to move on. It’s time to get going.”

That song gives me butterflies.

Anyhow- I’m moving. Both physically and electronically. I’ve graduated from a blog page and moved on to a Web site. With my own domain!

Here’s the link: http://jessicalomelin.com/

I’ll be blogging about similar topics as before, but now with a more casual and organic feel. I have lots going on in my life, so I’d love for you guys to join as I navigate and learn of ropes of the so-called twenties.

I’ll likely talk more about three topics that are near and dear to my heart: Travel (and all that it entails), Communications and Philanthropy/Social Giving. Join me as I focus my life more on these topics, chat with industry pundits and newcomers and share thoughts and impressions. I’m looking forward to it

I mentioned above that I’m moving somewhere (physically and literally). To keep the suspense going…I’ll let your mind wander on my next whereabouts and encourage you to check out my new site to find out where I’m headed!

I promise, it’ll be shocking…but make you proud!

Lots of love,
Jess

Donating my One Day’s Wages

I’m completely beet red in the face putting this video up, but I am doing so in order to show my commitment and support toward, One Day’s Wages. It’s a wonderful, amazing organization from the Seattle area that is currently partnered with Charity:Water, HEAL Africa, and Not For Sale.

The site serves as a hub for fundraising, sharing stories and creating a community of passionate people wanting to make a difference. Instead of asking for a $50 or $100 donation, the organization poses it as donating your “one day’s wage” and putting it toward a good cause. It’s amazing how one day can mean so little to us, but so much toward someone else.

Check out the organization and please donate! They just started 2 months ago and have already hit the ground running with exposure, support and funding.

As a thank you for your donation, I’ll let you enjoy a terribly embarrassing video that I filmed with Eugene (the founder of ODW) showing how easy it is to donate.

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“Impact” – Jessica Donates Her One Day’s Wages from One Day's Wages on Vimeo.

We recently “tweeted” a casting call for someone interested in being featured in an upcoming video to demonstrate how EASY it is to donate and join the movement of One Day’s Wages.

The catch?

The person had to actually donate their one day’s wages on film.

Within an hour of sending out the tweet, we heard from numerous including Jessica – a 23 year old from Seattle who works in a public relations firm.

Couple days later, we met up in a neighborhood cafe (it’s Seattle!) to chat and to demonstrate to her and the rest of the world how EASY it is to make a donation to the fight against extreme global poverty.

It’s transparent, simple, and empowering.

One Day’s Wages = 0.4% of one’s annual salary = Dramatic impact for those living in extreme poverty.

JOIN the MOVEMENT.
Visit http://onedayswages.org
Choose the project you want to support.
Donate your one day’s wages or another amount.

Join us on FACEBOOK: http://facebook.com/onedayswages

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* Thanks to Joseph, our volunteer videographer, of http://jtwomedia.net

The Yin and The Yang of Value and Worth

As a way to decompress from a long week at work, I was talked into enjoying a glass of wine and watching the intellectually stimulating flick (okay, I’ll stop the sarcasm), “Confessions of a Shopaholic.”

MOVIE PLOT:
Long story short, the movie follows the character of Isla Fisher who considers herself a “shopaholic” and learns the hard way by way of hurting friendships, turning her back on a career path and possibly losing the guy she loves. While the movie is fairly simple and easy to watch, there is one scene that particularly caught my attention. In the movie, Isla meets a Financial guru who talks about the difference of value and worth. The words can be interchangeable (worth something, highly valued, vice-versa), but it was knowing and understanding that some things are worth the investment and other things aren’t. It’s important to know the difference, but really be in tune with your desires and know when something is worth having.

Translate that into my personal life.

I’ve been contemplating for weeks, months over getting a yoga membership. Let’s face it- it’s extremely expensive and in this day and age, I really can’t afford to be shelling out $75-$100 a month in Yoga classes. As I was getting ready to walk away from this venture, I reminded myself of one very important detail. I LOVE YOGA. I love the way it makes me feel, it changes my mood, encourages me to eat better and helps me gain clarity in a normally fast-pacing world. It was then I decided that some things are worth the investment and that yes it may be a little tougher on my wallet, but you know what? Who cares. It makes me happy.

Why should I second-guess my health and well-being? I have no problem purchasing a dress or treating myself to beers at night, but if Yoga is something that affects me in multiple ways, why would I even question pursuing the activity?

As my wise mom would also mention- This is the reason I work. Of course there is the professional growth, but why work hard if you won’t treat yourself and play hard as well?

To acquire somewhat of a balance, I’m in talks with a local studio about doing possible work-study (work a few hours a week to take free classes). So there, looks like I may be lowering the cost of Yoga for me after all.

With that said- I’m now a Yogi again. I have rekindled my passion for Yoga and haven’t felt better and you know what? I’m not second guessing my decision, because it makes me happy and that is a reason enough to keep moving forward.

SO now to you all: What is worth the investment and value for you? What is something that may be a tough spending, but ultimately makes you happy?

Remember, yes we live in a tough economy, yes life is hard, yes we are in debt, but you know, our happiness should never be put on hold. We work hard and as a millennial we are innately pushing ourselves to be better, stronger, more intelligent than ever before, so pat yourself on the back and reward yourself. We deserve it

Aside from Yoga, I’d list my top 3 as eating organically/locally, traveling and participating in outdoor activities.

Picture from: The Quaker Agitator

Q&A with a British PR guru

One of the aspects I have enjoyed most from Weber Shandwick is the global learnings and network. You’ll find that often times, many companies will use this as a selling point, when in reality, you may not have interaction with colleagues outside of your building. In my nine months at Weber, I have worked extensively with our London, Germany and Asia teams and have learned a great deal through them. Working at a global agency exposes you to different societies, cultural behavior and work styles.

Through this global networking, I had the pleasure of “virtually meeting” Colin Byrne. Colin first joined Weber in 1995 and has since become the CEO of Weber Shandwick Europe.  Prior to, Colin was heavily involved in international affairs and politics having worked for The Labour Party and serving as the deputy to the current EU Commissioner, Peter Mandelson.

Simply put, Colin is a busy, busy man. Fortunately, he was kind enough to let me pick his brain on public relations practices overseas, cultural differences and what advice he has for younger PR enthusiasts looking to expand their work to think, breath and work globally.

Q: Having traveled between the US and Europe, how would you say the approach to PR varies in each place? Are there any case studies or campaigns that can illustrate these differences?

Two main differences, both relating to scale. In Consumer PR, where the US has nine times as many consumers as the UK and a much more decentralised and diverse media, I have seen US campaigns that are awesome in their scale and the use of eye-catching events geared to television. At the other end of the spectrum, in public affairs, I think US companies still take political relations much more seriously and with a greater level of sophistication  than those in Europe.

Do good while Internet surfing -SOSG #2

I’ll make this short and brief, given today’s news about Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson, I think we’re all a little sidetracked.

One of the biggest problems regarding social media and philanthropic efforts is that while people take notice and show interest, it may not become actionable. Even the simple task of having people find their wallets to donate online is enough to keep people from donating.

That’s why I thought I’d share this site that I’ve set as my home page and use all the time: GOODSEARCH. So, it’s powered by Yahoo! Search (I know not as good as google or even bing), but when you begin using the search engine, you select a charity of your choice and every time you search, the site will donate a penny to your charity. Now, a penny may not seem like alot, but think about how often you search something on the web…now times that by 7 and you’ll find you’re donating up to $15 a week! Plus, if you use this while working, I’m sure the donations will multiply exponentially!

Also, you can go through the site to do online shopping from 900 top online retailers and a percentage of your purchases will go to the charity or school of your choice.

Here’s an more comprehensive list of ideas (tool bar, custom searches, etc.): http://www.goodsearch.com/getinvolved.aspx#blog

As of now, theres 80,000 charities! It’s simple, easy and completely do-able

Twitter: http://twitter.com/GoodSearch

*This is part of my 21-part series to the Summer of Social Good*

My 21 ways to contribute to the Summer of Love and Social Good

When Mashable decided to create the “Summer of Social Good,” I was ecstatic. It’s obvious how quickly social media has grown and while I find it highly intriguing, I was worried that people would lose some habits of living a very organic, traditional lifestyle. I’m a huge advocate for face-to-face interaction and meeting people from all over the world. I was afraid that social media would allow people to hide behind this online representation of themselves and not strive to be leaders and do activities that they normally would. After the philanthropic campaign was created, I realized that people, while they have changed to be more progressive and forward-thinking, still hold on to the values of simplistic goodness: being good people. Using these sorts of campaigns allow for innovation and are actionable, yet they are still helping amazing non-profits and encouraging people to speak up about their passions and concerns in the world.

As I saw this develop, I realized that I too wanted to help. I’ve always wanted to make an impact, but found it tough to find my niche. To backtrack a bit, It’s important to note that my birthday is JUNE 21ST- summer solstice and the longest day of the year. I’ve always warmed to my birth day and found it the perfect way to kick off a summer. So, to participate in the summer of social good and to start off on the right foot into my 23rd year of life, I’m going to contribute to a summer of love and social good in 21 different ways. I’ve done amazing things in my life (from planning events for The Make-a-Wish Foundation to donating blood to helping run a PR campaign on seat belt safety), but some of my fondest memories have been in helping others and just doing good deeds. Nothing makes me happier

I haven’t quite figured out the details, but please comment below if you have suggestions or ideas. As well, through the help of Philanthropic extraordinaire, Chad Boettcher, I’m also involved in Weber Shandwick’s Social Innovation group that will focus on similar tactics via three specialities, Social Impact, Planet 2050 and the Greenhouse. The team will focus on using these amazing tools and help the greater good. I’m so excited to see how it all plays out All in all, my ways and ideas will be  everything from volunteering or donating or sharing good stories of social good.

Here’s a short list of Ideas thus far:

• best feel good movies
• Philanthropies in Seattle
• Philanthropic events in Portland
• Highlight on wonderful non-profits

To kick off my birthday, I created a Facebook Cause page asking for donations to Charity:Water. So far, I’ve raised over $100, but I’d love any support. It’d be the best gift I could ask for

http://apps.facebook.com/causes/birthdays/82723?m=e0bc6388

Putting Social Media to Good Use

As we all know, social media is taking over the world. It’s an amazing phenomenon and one that Malcolm Gladwell would describe as experiencing a “tipping point.” People are changing habits, relationships are being formed in new ways and we’re all looking to the internet to represent ourselves.

It reminds me of a funny quote from Drew Barrymore from “He’s just not that into you” where she notes that in order to impress someone, it’s no longer about getting your hair cut and styled, but simply, updating your Facebook profile picture.

It can get a bit extreme at times, but what I love, love, love is that NGO’s and non-profits are beginning to capitalize and utilize social media and put it to good use. Why not? If people are willing to invest the time to adapt to new forms of relationship management and communication, why not make it for the greater good?

Zemanta (along with Weber Shandwick) began the “blogging for a cause campaign” thats described as such:

A campaign to give corporate cash to the charitable causes bloggers love

All you have to do is blog about your favorite charity and spread the word. The charity most often blogged about will get a generous donation from both Zemanta and Weber Shandwick. How easy is that? We all know most people blog and a majority update their profiles, so why not take an extra second and recognize a well-deserved non-profit?

My Non-Profit of Choice:

The non-profit that I choose to highlight is Invisible Children. This organization was started to help the children  of northern Uganda find shelter, support and their families. Since the war began, almost 1.8 million children have been displaced from their homes. It has been said that some children have been displaced for almost a decade and have no guarantee to food, water, sanitation and education.

It was hard for me to choose just one organization, but what I love most about Invisible Children is how it all began. It was a grass-roots effort from three travelers who produced a documentary in 2003 about the invisible children of Uganda. From there, the organization was formed. After showcasing the documentary, young avid travelers and philanthropists have worked diligently and ruthlessly to make this situation known. Sure, funding has helped, but what’s most important is the stamina and passion these young adults possessed.

This blog post is part of Zemanta’s “<a href=”http://www.zemanta.com/bloggingforacause/”>Blogging For a Cause</a>” campaign to raise awareness and funds for worthy causes that bloggers care about.