What are you participating in this year of social entrepreneurship related conferences, events, award shows and such? Perhaps your organization is hosting such a happening? Below are some of the interesting events to keep an eye on this fall of 2011.
October 19th – October 22nd 2011
PopTech 2011: The World Rebalancing, Camden, Maine, USA
“We are in the midst of a great realignment – a series of connected and converging revolutions in technology, economics, ecology, energy, geopolitics and culture that mark the end of one global era and the beginning of another. The world is rebalancing. The established global order and institutions which have reigned for decades are being challenged — from far away, from below, and from within. And new powers are rising — not just nations, but new kinds of networks, leaders and influencers. The very nature of power itself is evolving. These revolutions are remaking relationships between individuals; reframing our notions of governance; redrawing the geography of innovation; driving entirely new kinds of business opportunities; introducing new voices into global culture; and unleashing a wave of reactionary counter-forces, all at the same time.
With this “rise of the rest,” success has new street addresses: Mumbai, Shanghai, Sao Paolo and @everywhere. As the compass needle tilts from West to East, North to South, and physical to virtual, what changes? Strategically? Economically? Technologically? Culturally? Geopolitically? Will these changes help or hinder us in tackling our most urgent challenges? PopTech 2011 will look ahead at the new rule sets, opportunities and imperatives that this great rebalancing might bring. As always, we’ll bring together eminent and emerging leaders, innovators and change agents in business, science, technology, design, social innovation, entrepreneurship, education and the arts for a conversation on these themes like no other”…Read more.
October 3oth – November 2nd 2011
Social Enterprise Summit 2011, Chicago, USA
“Fueling Economic Growth, Driving Social Impact: Join us at the premier gathering of social entrepreneurs, investors, nonprofit leaders and change-makers from around the globe advancing this new sector. Help advocate for wider use of social enterprise approaches; Learn best practices for building sustainable mission-based enterprises; Get inspired by touring successful social enterprises in Chicago; Make new connections and expand your network”…Read more.
October 31th
Social Media for Social Purposes Conference 2011, Copenhagen, Denmark
“Social networking technologies have dramatically changed the way companies communicate and collaborate online. Every day 175 million users log on to facebook, every minute twenty hours of video are uploaded on Youtube and each second 600 tweets are spread on the web (Aaker & Smith, 2010). Much of this communication concerns corporations. Slowly companies start to formulate strategies and policies for their web 2.0 participation. While not all companies sense and immediate ‘business case’ for their online participation, they sense and urged pressure to respond and engage with the institutionalization of social technologies in all aspects of daily life and supported by the conspicuous increase of cyber activism. In particular companies have shown interest in engaging their stakeholders on issues of global concern.
Social media research suggests that the new technologies may lead to improved social action for the benefit of society (Chouliaraki, 2006). Prior studies have pointed to how social media drive democratization, transparency and increased participation in two-way dialogue (Turner, 2006). Thus, from an organizational perspective, social media offer favorable opportunities for interactive internal and external relationships. This could potentially lead to increased stakeholder involvement and dialogue in corporate communication practices, and to enhanced understanding and action on global issues of social and environmental importance (..).
The “Social Media for Social Purposes Conference” will focus on the so far under-explored yet crucial element in social media: the organizing for social purposes. The basic assumption behind the conference is that the potential to unfold into practice the interactive ideals in new technologies is improved significantly if 1) organized around social issues of global concern to appeal to a large scale international audience, and 2) supported by corporate internal organizing: strategy, identity, networks and reputation-building. The conference will therefore focus on how social purposes such as for example issues of health, human rights and climate change may stimulate engagement from multiple online audiences within a corporate setting that aims at doing business while also serving global society. As such, we wish to explore the potentials, the activities and the challenges of the corporate appearance in social media on issues of social and environmental importance. Confirmed keynote speakers at the conference are: Professor Kellie McElhaney, Haas School of Business, Berkeley; Professor Andrew Crane, Schulich School of Business, Toronto; Professor Miriam Metzger, University of Southern California, Santa Barbara”…read more.
November 8th 2011
The Guardian Social Enterprise Summit & Award 2011, London, UK
“Social enterprise was seen as a brave new dawn for service delivery but since the social enterprise unit was set up ten years ago, progress has been relatively slow. This one day event explores the facts about social enterprises providing public sector services. It provides candid discussion about the obstacles and practical solutions to the challenges the sector faces. The programme gives delegates a rare chance to debate fundamental factors that determine the success of the sector including no-nonsense discussions about: funding, regulation, service improvement, new markets, strategies for growth, working with the corporate sector etc. The summit provides opportunities to network, share lessons, ask questions and dispel some of the myths about what social enterprise can offer”…Read more.
November 24th 2011
Good Deals 2011: The UK Social Investment Conference, London, UK
“Good Deals is the leading UK impact investing conference, bringing together the most inspirational social entrepreneurs with the most innovative investors to get good deals done. We create a forum in which mainstream investors, institutional investors, foundations, advisors, policy makers, support networks and social entrepreneurs can learn from, inspire and do business with one another.
We’ll be working to bridge the gap between investors and investees to get more deals done and while exploring new ways to make money work for good. Our guest of honour this year will be Professor Muhammad Yunus”…read more.
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If you know of any great event, conferences or other gatherings around the topics of social entrepreneurship/change/innovation/investments/impact measurements and the like, you are most welcome to add to this list or let me know – such that it shall be continuously updated and expanded, reflecting the many things taking place around the world within this arena.
2plus2equals10 
Posted on October 2, 2011
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