June MHSMC: Social Media for Social Good- Jim Rettew of Mile High Red Cross

[Deb Robison]

I hope everyone has RSVP'd for this month's SMC on social media and non-profits. If not, connect to our eventbrite account and let us know you'll be attending. :-) We want to make sure we have enough space & party dip!

Prior to Jim Rettew's talk, Dave Angulo of iVolunteer will start with a quick presentation about the Boulder-based community project that makes it easy for people to find one-time volunteer opportunities and get involved in their communities via social media.

Speaker bio, Jim Rettew, Chief Communication Officer, Mile High Red Cross

In his 15 years prior to working for the Red Cross, Jim has served as the Strategy Director for Royce Communication in Melbourne Australia, a large international PR firm and taught public affairs at the University of Colorado as an Adjunct Professor in the Communication Department. His work included high-level strategic communication campaigns for corporate, government and NPO clients including the Australia Tax Office, Medicare and Yellow Pages.

In 2005, Jim worked with American Airlines to respond to Hurricane Katrina, holding supply drives across Colorado, shipping the goods on existing flights with extra cargo room. That same year, he led a team of journalists to Thailand to cover volunteers building fishing boats for families who lost everything in the tsunami. Previously, Jim organized two live telethons that raised over 2 million volunteer hours for local non-profits. As a result, he was awarded the NOVA Award for Best Civic Project by the Boulder Community Foundation.

Jim started his career running political campaigns for public office including federal and statewide races in Colorado, Florida, New Jersey, and Utah. He went on to run his own communication consulting business for non-profits working with the Daniels Fund, Head Start, and Colorado Energy Assistance Foundation (CEAF, now called Energy Assistance Colorado) where he started a national education campaign for kids about energy conservation (see www.energyhog.org ). Every election year, Jim can also be seen on PBS stations across with country teaching young people about voting ( www.fascinating.tv ). Jim has lived in Boulder for the last 12 years. In his spare time, Jim serves as the Offensive Coordinator for the Australia National World Cup Team in American Football.

Event Details: Wednesday, June 17, 2009, 5-8 PM, Wynkoop Brewing Company, 1634 18th Street, Denver, CO. Please RSVP.