Natiiv

2010 Announcements

Tagged chase , friendshipcircle , melissapierce , votefc

What do Melissa Pierce, Writing the Rails and Friendship Circle have in common?

The anniversary of Natiiv Arts & Media is quickly approaching and with it comes a few announcements. I thought about delaying this post, because business announcements seem trivial every time I look at the news coming from Haiti. However, my announcements tie with work we're doing with a non-profit in Detroit and their work is not trivial... so here is the news.

First and foremost, Melissa Pierce has joined Natiiv as a social media producer. She is a trusted friend and colleague to whom I was referring work that fell outside of the boundaries of social media coaching, but within the world of community management and social media programs. We decided that this made sense and she's now a card carrying Natiiver.

"I've known Leah for quite a while, we've worked on several projects together (like Sleepover 2.0 and Writing the Rails) and she's constantly sending ideas and work my way. I enjoy working with Leah, so joining forces with Natiiv was just the next logical step." Melissa Pierce

The first client project she is working on for Natiiv is Friendship Circle. Friendship Circle was referred to Natiiv by my friend Pinny Gniwisch of Ice.com. FC is in the running for a million dollars in the Chase Giving Campaign and is the only Jewish charity left in the competition.

The Friendship Circle is a Detroit based charity that helps special needs children and families, and people recovering from addictions. What you may not know is FC has nearly a thousand volunteers (most of the teenagers) from the Detroit area, not only are they helping families with special needs children, they are also helping foster a sense of hope, leadership and community in an area where double digit unemployment and all that comes with it has hit our country the hardest. I cannot express to you how much winning this prize would mean to our community. (from outreach email)

In light of all that is happening around the world, it seems a trivial thing to ask you to vote in a Facebook contest, but I assure you this particular contest is very important for the charity it could help, and the entire Jewish community.

Melissa and I (but mostly Melissa) are helping FC as they call on every person they know to Vote for FC. We're calling in personal favors and helping manage the use of social media to find every vote possible.

Finally, we have scheduled the second Writing the Rails tour. We'll be heading through Michigan in February with stops in Kalamazoo, Ann Arbor, Royal Oak and finally in Detroit. At our meeting last night, we were trying to pick a charity to support and realized that it would make sense to support Friendship Circle.

So.. to wrap it up.

• Welcome to Natiiv, Melissa Pierce!
• Please support Friendship Circle in Chase Giving
• Keep your eyes open for Writing the Rails: Detroit supporting Friendship Circle

We think it is fair to say, that 2010 is going to be pretty kick-ass.