Tom Munnecke’s Eclectica

I had the privilege of attending a exceptional workshop last week, a gathering of about 60 high net worth families, focussed on their attitudes towards philanthropy. This is not my usual peer group; I am used to workshops where people arrive in rental cars, not private MD Super 80′s. To me, family meetings happen around the dinner table; they deal with foundations, family governance lawyers and family offices, some on their fourth generation. Without revealing the confidential aspects of the workshop, there are some interesting things for a more public audience.

It was quite an eye-opener for me…

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I met Ethan Zohn at the Positive Media workshop in New York last August. As winner of the Survivor:Africa TV show, he is in the midst of a media blizzard and celebrity attention, but is choosing to direct his attention (and his $1 million prize) to the HIV/AIDS situation in Africa. His sincerity and personal integrity were compelling; his short presentation to our group turned into a several hour brainstorming session on how to help him with his work at Grassroot Soccer

But even more important was his personal story he related about why he chose to take this course. I’ll tell it from notes hastily scribbled about his “Do Something Moment” in Africa:

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He told about how devastating the beginning of the game was, how he was stripped from everything he knew, no comforts, fearful, no labels. All that he had left was his character and his values, and a hacky sack ball that the producers allowed him to take with him as a “luxury.” (A soccer ball was too large)

During a break at a hospital in Wamba, Kenya, he started playing hacky sack with some children. The experience filled him with joy, “the sun shined, the kids were laughing and screaming.” He asked a nurse why they were in the hospital; and only then discovered that they would soon die of AIDS.

He gave them his most precious possession at the time, his hacky sack ball.

When the final session of the game came around, people asked what he would do with his winnings. He said that he would start an organization to bring soccer players to classrooms to teach AIDS prevention, and that is the beginning of his journey for Grassroots Soccer.

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This is similar to Bono’s Do Something Moment

We’ll be holding a workshop in Washington, DC. Nov 10-11 on the topic “Changing Media for a Better World” with Roberta Baskin, former correspondent for Bill Moyer’s NOW, as well as Tom Mandel and others.

I hope to bring in a blend of bloggers as well as mainstream media types, and see what we can do to get a little more attention to what’s working in the world.

Sorry I haven’t been blogging for a while, I’ve been a little busy on the Omidyar Network, and doing some fun thinking on a Networked Theory of a Better World.

I happened to be a retreat with Garrick Utley last week, who had more than a few things to say about the downward spiral in mainstream media. We had quite a chat about positive discourse… who knows, maybe something good will come.

I am amazed at how uniform people’s responses when I talk about positive media: “Great! I can’t wait to get that crap off of television!” And they use the word “crap” with amazing frequency. And the media folks say, well, we are just giving the public what it wants.

Sure, as if the public wanted to see 24 hr coverage of OJ Simpson, too.