Since 2007, an annual “youth empowerment” charity event called We Day has gone across North America. As of this year, they are now going Mobile.
We Day and Telus have paired up to create an App Called “We365”.
This year I volunteered at We Day (because striving for A’s in 5 fourth year marketing courses, working out five days a week, and juggling two jobs obviously leaves tonnes of time to volunteer) on October 16, 2013.
Speakers included Kofi Annan, Martin Luther King III, Adam Beach, Karina LeBlanc, Spencer West, Molly Burke and many more. Performers included Hedley, Avril Lavigne, Chad Kruger, and Down with Webster. This event filled Rogers arena with students who – did not buy tickets to the event – earned tickets to the event via hours of volunteer work.
I also found it ironic that I was volunteering for an event for volunteers.
Watch this video to get a feel for We Day.
Teachers chaperoned their classes here – to what must have been the most incredible field trip ever. (Yet somehow this still inspired one teacher to go on a negative rant about the great event).
We Day teamed up with Telus to make an app that would not only inspire youth to change the world one day a year – but every day of the year. And to share this with their friends on a social media platform shared specifically for them.
The app aims to keep young students connected, engaged on social media, and motivating each other about the change-making that they are doing. They can win points, prizes, and scholarships. The app is free to download.
It is moderated, there is no geo-tagging, and it is apparently parent-approved. This makes it a safer form of social media rather than Facebook. This also fits with the trend that the younger generation is moving away from social media sharing platforms and towards social media messaging platforms.
It communicated that no act is too small to make a big impact, so it encourages kids to take action, share what they have done on this mobile app, and Telus will reward them – just in case that fuzzy warm feeling of “changing the world” isn’t enough.
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