UPDATE:The folks at Convergence Tech, Inc. have given us a very generous deal on a Pedal-a-Wattpedal power generatorfor the blogathon, so we’ve changed the name of the event slightly… we’re grateful for their help!
A few of you may remember the last time I stayed up for 24 hours to blog for a non-profit: back in 2005, I hostedBlogging ‘Round the Clockto raise funds for the Missouri Botanical Garden’sEarthways Center. It’s taken about that long to recoup… but I’m ready for another blogathon! So… onMarch 26-27, I’ll be pulling another all-nighter (and all-dayer) with sustainablog’s Pedal-Powered Blogathon at the Dancing RabbitEcovillage‘seco bed and breakfast, the Milkweed Mercantile.
What’s a Pedal-Powered Blogathon?
You may know that Dancing Rabbit, and many other eco-villages and intentional communities, are off-grid. That’s great in terms of generating clean power… but, it can also mean intermittent power at times (they recently went through a five-day period without it). My partner Brian Toomey ofsearch engine optimization firmJB Web Analytics (and a DR resident), has decided to purchase a pedal-powered generator for those times when the solar panels aren’t delivering, and we thought it would be cool to use it to power my laptop during the blogathon.
This will definitely make for more of a community event… needless to say, I won’t be pedaling and blogging for a full day! We’ll have folks from the DR community join us for some pedaling time.
Blogging for Dancing Rabbit: Radical Sustainability, Ordinary People
I have a confession to make: I’ve been intrigued with Dancing Rabbit for a long time, but my perception has been colored by stereotypes of intentional communities as “communes” trying to distance themselves from the rest of the world.
Now that I’ve visited twice, and worked closely with several residents, I realize that’s not the case there. Yes, Dancing Rabbit is an ongoing experiment in radical sustainability, and the residents there live quite different lives from most of us.
But there’s no attempt to shut out the rest of the world; rather, residents there want to show people what they’re doing, and demonstrate that “radical sustainability” doesn’t mean “freezing in the dark.” The Milkweed Mercantile, for instance, is an attempt to “build a bridge” to the rest of us: a general store, cafe, and B&B that now employs a chef who’s worked in 5-star restaurants.
So, the Pedal-Powered Blogathon will raise funds to support this bridge-building at DR: specifically, we’ll be raising money for residential outreach and education infrastructure. I want to help out with their efforts to show their radically sustainable lifestyle to “ordinary people”… and to further make the case that eco-village life isn’t primarily about sacrifice, but, rather, about abundance: abundance of community, comfort, health, and happiness. This theme will run throughout the posts I create for the blogathon: I’ll be focused on efforts by “ordinary people” (individuals, families, businesses, and organizations) to integrate radical sustainability into their lives.
你如何帮助踏板博客马拉松?
首先,计划加入其中的乐趣。There will be several ways to participate:
- Comment on blog posts: …of course (and I want to put together a prize drawing for those who comment… more on that later)
- Join in our Twitter chat:We’ll use the hashtag#susbppbfor Blogathon-related tweets, and I’ll have aTweetChatfor that hastag open the whole time…
- Contribute a post:If you’re a green blogger, we’d love to have you involved… I’ll be putting together more information on how you can participate.
- Pledge:我们会像上次一样要求每个帖子的承诺。在博客马拉松期间,我将争取48-50篇帖子……如果我们有很多客座帖子,并且能够做更多的事情,我将确保消息能够传播出去。All money you donate will go to DR.
- Promote it:Help us get the word out via you blog, Twitter, Facebook…
Got questions? Fire away… We’ll be providing more information in the coming weeks as we pull this all together.
UPDATE:I’ve just added an FAQ for theblogathon…
Image credits:
Kendrasays
I LOVE Dancing Rabbit! I can’t wait to visit them this spring! Thank you for spreading the word about such an awesome concept, we’re very lucky to have it in Missouri!
Timsays
This is a great idea. 48-50 posts, huh? I hope you’re doing your finger (and eyeball) stretches. And will you be grinding the coffee beans with pedal-power too?
Gary Estepsays
Go Rabbit! Go local food, gol radical sustainability!!
Jeff McIntire-Strasburgsays
@Kenda… yes, we are… they’re doing great work up there!
@Tim… Yep, it’s pretty brutal, but did it last time (with a little help from my friends… I’ll be hitting you up, buddy…and Kendra, too…). Will probably grind beans with solar power…
Gil Friendsays
Hiya Jeff
Hey, throw me into the mix!
Cheers,
Gil
Jeff McIntire-Strasburgsays
优秀的,吉尔!Will do…
Jasonsays
Has there been any talk regarding fundraising events for DR to take place during the 2011 year?
Jeff McIntire-Strasburgsays
We’ve talked a bit, but haven’t decided on anything yet. Quite frankly, the 24-hour blogathon is just brutal, so we’re looking at other options. If you have ideas, we’d love to hear them!