During the last couple of weeks of December, I received my fair share of holiday greeting cards. Each, of course, was greatly appreciated.

That said, the one greeting card that really left an impression was one that didn’t come in the mail - it was a link sent by email from a client. The email read:

“Not long ago, we here at Point to Point sat down to do what we always do this time of year: make a holiday card. But this year, with the stock market in shambles and the housing market collapsing and unemployment rising and America still at war, we thought a card was a bit shallow. So, instead, we thought, “Why not use our creativity to actually make a difference.” To that end, each of us took a $20 bill and set out to change the world. Or at least a small part of it. We’ve documented our stories at http://www.changefor20.com. I hope they inspire you to make one of your own.”

At the site, you’ll see a collection of stories, actions that show just how powerful $20 can be.

And the same is true of the idea itself. How so? Word of mouth is built into the idea. They ask participants to plant seeds for the idea in two different ways:
• As per the instructions at the site, all you have to do to participate is take your own US$20 bill, write changefor20.com on it, send it along its way, then chronicle your charitable decision and post your story to the site. By asking people to write the URL on the bill, the team at P2P has created a free promotional channel for the idea through the bill’s natural circulation.  So, every person who participates plants the seeds for the next person to play along.
• Online, seeds are also being planted. With every video being uploaded and slide deck embedded on the site, there’s the original page on YouTube or Slideshare as well. The savvy participant will include the changefor20 URL on their profile and lead people back to the site. The URL can also be present in the media file as well. As a result, the ChangeFor20 idea encourages people to promote the site, therefore widening its web presence. In short, more points of contact are being created by almost every participant.

ChangeFor20 is firing on all cylinders, so much so, it’s even attracted the attention of traditional media outlets.

I love this idea. I’ll be participating during the week - and I’ll post my story here as well.

How will you make Change for 20?

Full Disclosure: Point to Point is a client. While I’ve been working with the agency to introduce them to the Web 2.0 world, I was not involved in the development of this concept.

Tags: ChangeFor20, Charity 2.0, Charity Christmas Card, Holiday Greeting, PointToPoint, Point2Point, Buildamovement.com, changefor20.com, planting seeds, planting seeds online, plantingseeds.ca,

This weekend, away in Stowe with limited access to WiFi or a companion network for Fido, I missed most of the real-time Motrin story. The reaction. The tweets. The horror!

However, now with a touch of time to catch up on feeds, I’ve come across a couple of posts that not only tell the story, but give a rational account of what went wrong, what could have been done better and where to go from here.

So instead of regurgitating everything that went on, I encourage you to read the following posts, by two people I respect quite a bit (even more now after reading their right-minded thoughts):

• Motrin: A Case Study in Social Media Marketing
• Motrin: A Case Study in Social Media Marketing - Part 2
• Motrin Controvery: Lessons Learned

Now that you’re all caught up, let’s ask some questions:

• Was Motrin’s biggest mistake not listening or was it something else?
• Was their eventual response the best it could be?
• What would be your 140-character advice to the people responsible?

Discuss!

Related posts:
• Mack Collier’s, “#MotrinMoms = Exhibit A for online monitoring”
• Neville Hobson’s, “The Motrin storm: breathtaking speed and scale”
• Louis Gray’s, “Brand Reputation Management Is Not A Monday-Friday Gig”

UPDATE: Just caught this post by Beth Harte. Well worth passing along to you:

• An Open Letter to Johnson & Johnson, Kathy Widmer, VP of Marketing