…and in a lot of ways your world just changed. Everybody’s did.
I don’t usually share emails/blogs in this sort of a way, but it’s what’s truly on my mind right now, and I want you all to be part of this thinking, which started with my team at the UN Foundation and should extend to everyone participating in this global conversation.
If you couldn’t sleep last night, I hope you were part of the SGS global conversation, it was worth it. A conversation got underway that, whether you know it or not, you are a part of. And it’s made me take a step back and think about what this blog means for us as people who care about the world, who care about helping the UN, and who care about other people and the power of communications.
When our parents were born, nobody had the power to unite in real-time like this around a cause for good. Armies or governments (for some pretty ugly purposes at times) could do it eventually, broadcast television helped do it on a 1-way basis, and only a few telephone lines could bring together a select few. But just a few partners, with some really good friends and a long-term view of what new media is about to do to our world, can make it happen in September 2012. Not one way “push” of info, but a dialogue with people outside their borders…in some places where dialogue has been a precious commodity for many years.
I was listening in and watching some of the feedback from the list of conversations underway right now as part of the global conversation:
Madrid. Tokyo. Tirana. Mogadishu. Beijing. Islamabad. Montenegro.
Karachi. Lahore. Jakarta. Cyprus. Yerevan. Mogadishu.
The people in these conversations are living in places where there are real issues – tough issues – that need to be discussed. And they are starting to hear from people in faraway places to expose things that need to be changed, share how they are doing it, and crowdsource the next steps. This is very big. It broadens the reach of the issues, and puts the world on notice that all this matters, and cannot be explained or excused away. No woman or man can say they didn’t know about it. And very few can say they didn’t have a chance to be part. And the ripple effect will help us bring in more voices that should be part of the discussion.
It’s the start of a new day in New York City. And for me, when I walked out that door this morning, it was into a new way of thinking about how a group of communicators can engage with that planet of ours.
We are all building something big. It’s the start of a new day.