It is the time of year when we celebrate the heroes: the advocates and activists who stood up and came to the forefront in social media for social change in 2008. Determining the winners of the E-Advocate Activist of the Year Awards was a time of awe at the momentum out there for many causes but also a series of tough decisions. The criteria is based on the E-Advocate values of focusing on the volunteer individuals who go above and beyond online for their cause. In other words, the activity they earned the award for is not their everyday job.
The Categories are Online Activist of the Year, New Media Activist of the Year, Online Nonprofit Volunteer of the Year, Online Fundraiser of the Year, Best Adoption of Social Media by an Activist.
Online Activist of the Year:
Cherie Peattie redefines the word ‘activist.’ A function of activism is becoming a community organizer, and Cherie takes that to new heights. She organizes a community of 40,000 interwoven contacts who are sharing life with autism. She has created a network of deeply connected and constantly conversing families wrapped around the need for information, support and friendship. Cherie, also known as “Cherie Autism Mom” has dedicated her life towards managing an entire community whose members may otherwise feel isolated.
This unbelievable task has been a struggle for her within social media simply because there has yet to be a site that can handle her community and its needs. Her large Facebook profile has been deleted multiple times this year, and again just recently, she has had to build a new profile. MySpace does not have the inter-connectivity her large community needs. She is a developer’s challenge.
In Cherie’s words: “I desperately wanted to find others affected by Autism, but without having to bundle my child up or find child care for him while I visited with others. My pages took off very quickly and I found so many affected by Autism who were experiencing the same type of isolation as we were. My intention was to learn more about Autism to help me understand my own child and how Autism affects him. However these groups have allowed me to really help other families, friends and general supporters of Autism as well. Autism affects every child differently and in the over 40,000 Autism contacts I have made; I have yet to find two children exactly a like.”
http://eadvocate.wordpress.com/activist-of-the-year-awards-of-2008/
It is the time of year when we celebrate the heroes: the advocates and activists who stood up and came to the forefront in social media for social change in 2008. Determining the winners of the E-Advocate Activist of the Year Awards was a time of awe at the momentum out there for many causes but also a series of tough decisions. The criteria is based on the E-Advocate values of focusing on the volunteer individuals who go above and beyond online for their cause. In other words, the activity they earned the award for is not their everyday job.
The Categories are Online Activist of the Year, New Media Activist of the Year, Online Nonprofit Volunteer of the Year, Online Fundraiser of the Year, Best Adoption of Social Media by an Activist.
Online Activist of the Year:
Cherie Peattie redefines the word ‘activist.’ A function of activism is becoming a community organizer, and Cherie takes that to new heights. She organizes a community of 40,000 interwoven contacts who are sharing life with autism. She has created a network of deeply connected and constantly conversing families wrapped around the need for information, support and friendship. Cherie, also known as “Cherie Autism Mom” has dedicated her life towards managing an entire community whose members may otherwise feel isolated.
This unbelievable task has been a struggle for her within social media simply because there has yet to be a site that can handle her community and its needs. Her large Facebook profile has been deleted multiple times this year, and again just recently, she has had to build a new profile. MySpace does not have the inter-connectivity her large community needs. She is a developer’s challenge.
In Cherie’s words: “I desperately wanted to find others affected by Autism, but without having to bundle my child up or find child care for him while I visited with others. My pages took off very quickly and I found so many affected by Autism who were experiencing the same type of isolation as we were. My intention was to learn more about Autism to help me understand my own child and how Autism affects him. However these groups have allowed me to really help other families, friends and general supporters of Autism as well. Autism affects every child differently and in the over 40,000 Autism contacts I have made; I have yet to find two children exactly a like.”
http://eadvocate.wordpress.com/activist-of-the-year-awards-of-2008/