I find ideas about marketing to specific groups, and regarding community / volunteer engagement, everywhere. I can’t stop looking. It’s like an obsession.

• While riding through Kabul and seeing so many young men wearing t-shirts featuring stars of World Wrestling Entertainment, all I could think was, why doesn’t USAID get these people to make public service announcements on the Internet and TV, targeted at Afghans, about immunizations, HIV prevention, girls education, alternatives to poppy growing – really, whatever!
• At a dirt track race in Indiana: I looked around at the audience and thought, wow, this would be a great demographic to recruit for volunteering. I’d put my information booth right over there…
• At the senior apartments where my grandmothers live and where I’m staying this week to care for them: every day I’ve come up with new ways volunteers could be helping here (all of which I’m adding to this resource as they come to me).
• At a Triumph motorcycle riding day: this corporate event involved volunteers NOT to save money, but because volunteers were the BEST people for the jobs.
• While driving on any highway, I glance up at billboards and say, in my head, “Win” or “Fail” based on whether or not I know what the billboard is saying at a glance. If it is packed with text, or what text it has (like the web address), is too small, FAIL.

It’s sad, I know… but it’s cheaper than going to conferences or paying for access to academic studies!

And now you know where I get so many of my ideas… be kind…