MiniMonos Monkeys Launch off Cambridge Springboard

For the past three months, the MiniMonos executive team of Melissa Clark-Reynolds, Greg Montgomery, and I have been on a wild adventure in Cambridge, England.

It all started last December, when our friend Vladas Lasas sent us an email about his new venture accelerator, Springboard. "You should apply," he said. "It'll be great." So we applied. It was a bit of a lark, really -- I mean, there were more than 230 companies competing for the same ten spots. But after three months of form-filling, Skype interviews, and late-night phone calls, we were notified of the good news: we were in.

Good news on the one hand -- and terrifying on the other. Really? We had to pack up and go to England for three months? Away from our homes and our families and everything familiar? But that's the job when you're an entrepreneur: you pursue the success of the venture across oceans and continents, and you never, ever turn down an opportunity.

So off we went, along with the nine other teams that had been accepted (you can find out about each of the teams here). The program was intense; the first five weeks consisted of daily speed-networking sessions, ten 20-minute meetings per day. We met investors, entrepreneurs, government representatives, and folks from big companies like Microsoft and Amazon. We followed up, diligently, hundreds of emails and follow-on introductions and exploring of collaborative possibilities. We worked absurd hours to maintain communication with our New Zealand-based teams while pursuing our UK opportunities.

And we met some absolutely extraordinary people -- people like Sarah Turner, Rupert Cook, Lee Strafford, Juliet Tzabar, Tony Kypreos, and so many more that if we tried to name them all this post would look like we blogged the White Pages. These people guided and encouraged us as we focused our efforts on the UK market, and those efforts have produced some exciting results over the past few months. We launched TV commercials nationwide in the UK. We'll have MiniMonos prepaid gift cards available in Sainsbury's nationwide from October. And you'll definitely have to stay tuned for an awesome nationwide eco-promotion in January.

Springboard's grand finale was the Pitch Day, when the ten teams presented our companies to a standing-room only crowd at Christ's College. We saw the metamorphosis our fellow entrepreneurs had undergone, as they clearly and passionately articulated their big ideas, their value propositions, their competitive advantages. We heard from many of the people attending that Springboard had the best collection of startups they had seen at a single event. And we at MiniMonos received an excellent reaction to our own pitch.

I won't say the three months were easy. But they were extraordinarily worthwhile. And they ended on a high note: Marcos and Master Wu Li, two of the MiniMonos monkeys, managed to join us for the Pitch Day. They turned out to be more popular than we could have imagined, cuddling up to investors, going punting, and even making friends with a young passerby who happened to be carrying a monkey lunch bag!

Massive thanks for their superhuman efforts to Jon Bradford and Jess Williamson, the powerhouses who put it all together. Can't wait to see you on our next trip to Blighty!

 

Kaila and Tanya with Master Wu and Marcos

 

Sitar chilling with Master Wu

 

A boy with a monkey lunch bag can't believe he gets to hang out with a real monkey!

 

Marcos goes for a punt, much to the amazement of the others on the river.

 

After a long day, we said goodnight to Marcos and Master Wu.

MiniMonos Members Changing The World

From the beginning, MiniMonos was designed to have a purpose beyond profit. That purpose is to show unconditional love to children and the planet; to be a place that is fun first while embodying powerful core values; to be a virtual world that both affects and is affected by the physical one.

We'd like to give you an update on how well we're living up to that vision.

By way of context, MiniMonos has just passed 250,000 registered members! This is a huge milestone and we're honored and humbled by the kids who choose to play on our site.

Each of those 250,000 kids has helped change the world. Here's how:

Clean water for kids in India

Every time someone buys a Gold membership or virtual good on MiniMonos, a child in India gets clean water through our partnership with Buy1Give1 and the Bird India charity. Our partnership with renewable power company Meridian Energy also provided a year of clean water for 20 kids! So far MiniMonos kids have helped provide 18,492 days of clean water to children in India.

Adopting Orangutans

We adopted our first orangutan, Monti, to celebrate our first 50 Gold members, and our second, Kesi, when we reached 250. We welcomed Pingky and Neng to the MiniMonos Orangutan Family when we officially launched out of Beta. Our "adoptions" go to support the work of the extraordinary Orangutan Outreach organization.

But that's not all! Two of our extraordinary MiniMonos members, Viper and Calypso were so moved by the plight of the orangutans that they adopted their own orangutans! Last September they adopted Mimi and Momo, seen here. Viper and Calypso have been a part of the MiniMonos community since the beginning, and have shown themselves to be such incredible leaders that they have officially joined the staff!

Contributed to the WWF Tiger Initiative

Just because "MiniMonos" means "Little Monkeys" doesn't mean we only support primates! Another project we got behind was the WWF Tiger Initiative. We partnered with WWF-NZ to sell virtual tiger suits -- and every time a MiniMonos member buys a tiger suit for their online monkey to wear, a donation gets made to the WWF TX2 project to double the wild tiger population by 2022. 

MiniMonos EcoMonkeys completing real-world projects

Of all the ways MiniMonos members have made the world a better place, the MiniMonos EcoMonkey program is probably the one we're most proud of -- because it's driven by the kids themselves, making an extraordinary difference, every day, in their own communities. 

The recently launched MiniMonos EcoMonkey program supports kids to tackle a real-world environmental project and earn virtual rewards on MiniMonos Island. They publish their ‘before’ and ‘after’ photos, explain why they chose their eco-project, and describe how they feel when they have completed it.

One determined US player, MiniJghRocks, campaigned to have a paper recycling program implemented at his school. Although his principals agreed, the superintendent reversed the decision, saying that similar programs in near-by schools had failed due to lack of support from the students. As MiniJghRocks explained: “Since it costs money to recycle (at least where I live) they decided it wasn’t worth the extra funds to put in something that wouldn’t be used. It makes sense right? Well, we then decided to start a petition, to prove that kids would actually use the recycling system!” The result was over 500 student signatures.

MiniJghRocks also enlisted the help of his math teacher to calculate that the amount of paper his school throws away, translated to 1,540 trees cut down per year. He wrote: “Next, we presented to our superintendent, showing him the facts, signatures, and a bit of the EcoMonkey Blog. He sat listening for a while, and [when] we finished, he, in response, also signed our petition!”

On successful implementation of the recycling program at his school, MiniJghRocks described it as: “Awesome! It’s soooo awesome. I feel like I’ve accomplished a lot and have truly changed the world, even if it’s just a little. I’m very happy. It’s just so cool :D” You can read all about MiniJghRocks' EcoMonkey Project here.

Other MiniMonos players have created eco-projects such as switching to eco-light bulbs, up-cycling old clothes to make toys, planting gardens, making useful items out of recycled materials and cleaning rivers and lakes. In all, 34 kids have completed eco-projects so far!

Our aim with the MiniMonos EcoMonkey program is simple: One million kids taking real-world eco-action as a result of playing on MiniMonos.

We're in awe of the way MiniMonos kids are making the world a better place every day, and we hope you are, too. Thanks for supporting us, and them, on this extraordinary journey!

New York’s greenest office building shows the beauty of sustainability

I love it when sustainable things are more awesome than non-sustainable things.

The Danish architect Bjarke Ingels once said that, thanks to the modern environmental movement, we’ve gradually come to believe that sustainable life is less fun than normal life. But, to me, architecture in particular and real estate development in general has demonstrated exactly the opposite: some of the most beautiful buildings in the world, the most interesting, the places you’d most like to work out of, are built with sustainability right at the forefront.

The Durst Organization’s One Bryant Park is a great example of this. Located just off Times Square, it’s the second tallest building in New York and the first ever platinum LEED certified high-rise office building. It’s also where Al Gore has his New York office. And the other day, Alexander Durst was kind enough to give me a tour of the building.

The big thing with sustainable building is energy consumption, and the big thing with energy consumption in a high-rise is cooling. Even in winter, office buildings capture and trap heat that needs to be dispersed. So we started our tour at the chillers, around 80 feet below the Manhattan streets.

Essentially giant air-conditioning units, these chillers work best and most efficiently when they’re running full blast. So, rather than waste energy by having a bunch of chillers the same size operating at less than full capacity, One Bryant Park employs a variety of chillers of different sizes -- from 600 to 1,200 tons -- and adjusts the configuration as cooling requirements fluctuate throughout the year.

Keeping track of the chillers’ performance, as well as the building as a whole, means keeping track of a lot of data, so a giant display makes it easy to see at a glance how the chillers are doing, what the temperature is on each floor, and even what the CO2 levels are on each floor. If there’s too much CO2, people get sleepy -- and it’s a well-known fact that people tend to work less while they’re sleeping.

Another problem with energy consumption in office buildings is that it’s erratic. During the day, while everyone’s at work, it spikes dramatically, while at night it’s almost non-existent. But for power companies, this is a big problem. They have to have enough capacity to handle the heavy daytime loads, but they can’t just switch it off when people go home. So they make it a lot cheaper to buy power at night.

One Bryant Park addresses this problem by using the cheap night power to make ice, and then using the ice to help cool the building during the day. Although the ice storage units take up around 100 times the space of an equivalent chiller, it’s far more energy efficient for the building itself, and helps level out the demand for the power company.

On individual floors, instead of cooling from the top down -- which requires unnecessary effort to cool the rising hot air -- the air is cooled from the bottom up. One Bryant Park’s attention to air quality is so good that the air inside is actually cleaner than the air outside!

The developers worked very closely with the city to make sure One Bryant Park would be a good neighbor; the results are evident in the free public space, filled with greenery, that’s open to everyone. They also maintained the façade of the historic Henry Miller theater, the only theater in New York where you enter at street level to find yourself at the top of the balcony, and have to descend to get down to the stage.

Finally, being the second tallest building in New York has its perks, and one of them is this: a stunning view of the tallest, the Empire State Building.

One Bryant Park is the kind of building you’d want to be in even if you didn’t care a bit about the environment. It’s beautiful, spacious, has lots of natural light and just feels good. Far from being “less fun” than normal buildings, it’s actually more desirable. I don’t know about you, but if this is what sustainability is all about, I’m in.

Growing future leaders

10 things you can do to encourage your children to be leaders

1. Start with self-leadership
The most challenging person your child is going to have to lead is him or herself!  Create, discuss and praise positive self-management opportunities like getting ready for school each day without help or tidying their room without being asked or regularly bringing home their school jersey.

2. Teach empathy and a sense of community
Start to widen the circle from self-leadership by actively teaching empathy and a sense of community. Leadership involves the willingness to step into another's shoes, recognise community and demonstrate generosity. Model this with your child and actively encourage them to do the same in their community groups such as family, school, sports teams, clubs and hobbies.

3. Provide plenty of opportunities for leadership in family activities
This could be as simple as letting them choose (or cook!) a meal a week for the family, leading the way on a family walk or holding a regular family round-the-table meeting to discuss what is happening in the house, listening to their suggestions and implementing them.

4. Notice and comment frequently when they show leadership
Your child doesn't need to be the captain of his or her sports team to show leadership. There are many opportunities to put a spotlight on the leadership they're already demonstrating and build from there. Look for opportunities to make them win and use the words 'awesome leadership' (kids love that!) when noticing this behavior.

This could be:
• Helping a younger child in the family
• Emptying the dishwasher without being asked
• Leading the way to shake the opposition team's hands after a game
• Picking up trash on the way home after school
• Volunteering for a special project in the classroom

5. Practice gratitude
Leadership involves a sense of abundance rather than competition and scarcity. In our family we talk frequently about how lucky we are and why. It's a great way for us as parents to remember the wonderful things we have in our lives as well! A great dinner-time exercise we do is to go around the table talking about what each person learned that day.

6. Look for leadership opportunities in the stuff they love doing
You may be surprised at the confidence your child displays in an area they are passionate about, which creates opportunity for leadership. One player on MiniMonos.com comes to mind -- his mother 'knows' him as being shy, however on MiniMonos he is a popular, extroverted and recognized leader who takes the initiative to help keep MiniMonos Island safe, assist new players and reinforce our culture of generosity and fun. His mother realised this and agreed to a rare opportunity for him to be be featured on a live broadcast to a number of other MiniMonos players, where he chatted confidently into the camera to his friends from around the world.

7. Help them set goals in their areas of interest
Not only is this valuable for self-management, you can also help them set specific goals in the area of leadership. For example you can support your child to start a book club with a few friends and their parents, or encourage them to create and lead a great thank you occasion for the cricket coach at the end of the season.

8. Stop being a helicopter parent!
Don't hover over your child's every move or get over-involved in their activities. Kids need space to do it themselves, make their own mistakes and explore their choices and opinions without you being a constant voice in their heads.  What you might think of is 'help' could enable dependence rather than encouraging confidence and leadership. Teachers ask parents to support the environment for good homework habits rather than doing their child's homework for them -- I would encourage the same with their activities and interests. Support, set up opportunities to win, then stay in the background until its time to notice and praise their efforts. This is about your child's leadership and growth, not yours.

9. Encourage tolerance of mistakes
This is a tough one, but very valuable. If you create a safe environment for your child to experiment and get it wrong, kids are more likely to step out of their comfort zone, become more confident and lead the way. It's great in theory but can be hard to let them carry those full dinner plates to the table, bike down the hill or take on a hobby you think is too difficult for them yet.  However it's amazing how the opinion we have of the limits of our kids, holds those limits firmly in place. Discuss with them leaders who failed many times before they suceeded and notice effort as much, or more than results. Encourage your child to do the same for others.

10. When leadership is absent, don't underestimate the good ol' star chart!
If used occasionally, a public demonstration of steps leading to a leadership goal can be really effective and have a great spin-off in other areas of your child's life.  Whether it’s a beautifully hand-drawn chart on paper, outlined on the fridge with a whiteboard marker, or created online.  Allow your child to help choose the reward and create their own chart. Make sure the reward is related to the goal and not greater than the sense of satisfaction they get from acheiving the goal! Review it with them each day -- it can be just as important a tool to remind you to notice the positive things your child does! 

The above was written by Andrea (also known to your kids as EcoMom!) from MiniMonos  and was recently published in Parenting Magazine.

Christchurch Earthquake App Appeal

New Zealand App Development Community Comes Together to 
Support Christchurch Quake

100% of all proceeds to NZ Red Cross Christchurch relief fund, until March 5th.

The New Zealand App development community have come together to do their part in helping the victims of the deadly Christchurch quake that shocked the nation.

Until March 5th, all proceeds from more than 33 iPhone and Mac apps made in New Zealand, plus a number of international apps, will go to the Red Cross in order to help quake victims.

Participating games can be found at: www.appappeal.co.nz

“The quake has been devastating to New Zealand and we all have friends and family in Christchurch that have been affected,” said David Frampton of Majic Jungle Software. “We know we can make a difference by banding together with our fellow developers to support the rescue and rebuilding efforts with the best tools we have, our apps.”

Companies and titles that are participating include:

• Majic Jungle Software: Chopper 2 – Universal App + Mac OS
Chopper 2 is the highly anticipated sequel to the best selling App Store classic Chopper. Chopper 2 features 36 action packed missions over 12 unique and beautiful locations. It features a completely re-written 3D game engine, all new enemies, weapons, graphics, and missions, while still retaining the classic side scrolling game-play.

• Flightless: Top Dog: Farmyard Adventures – iOS 
Top Dog: Farmyard Adventures is a beautifully designed flocking and herding game for all ages, but kids will dig it the most. Top Dog: Farmyard Adventures is easy to play, but challenging to master. Simply draw a path to guide Top Dog around the farm. As he runs around the farm the animals scatter. It's your job to help Top Dog herd the animals to where they need to be. 

• Launching Pad Games – Scarlet and the Spark of Life: Scarlett Adventures Episode 1 – iOS
Kidnapped? Standard princess procedure dictates dutifully awaiting rescue by a knight in shining armor. But Scarlett isn’t dutiful. She’s angry. She’s going to start a fight, make a daring escape, and ride into the sunset on an egotistical mechanical horse built from spare parts. Hang on…Scarlett and the Spark of Life is the first episode of the Scarlett Adventures, lovingly crafted in the spirit of classic ‘point and click’ adventures exclusively for the iPhone and iPod Touch.

• Pixelthis – Sheepish – iOS
Old MacDonalds sheep station is suffering from a nasty drought. The sheep are quickly running out of grass, and all grassy paddocks look more like prickly hay bails! The neighboring station has plenty of grass but is very far away. Cross more than 100 levels of barren deserts, haunted graveyards and snow-covered wastelands over four stages as you complete tricky puzzles and puzzling obstacles to get to the fresh grass. There are also hidden secrets along the way - try to find them all for the biggest high scores and bonuses!

• Minimonos – MiniMonos Flight – iOSMiniMonos Flight is the fun and addictive new monkey flying game from the creators of MiniMonos.com! Tilt your iPhone left and right to swoop through the sky, collecting wind clouds—but watch out for the gray pollution clouds! They’ll sap your energy and send you plummeting down to Earth. If you find yourself falling, look for a trampoline to land on and bounce you back up in the air. Each game gets you closer to the next bonus level and the next surprise.

• Acorn Heroes – Acorn Money – iOS
Acorn Money is your first step to getting control over your finances. Track your spending and income. Handle both one off payments and recurring transactions. Our handy graph feature lets you look ahead and be prepared for those expensive months we all have occasionally. Know where and when your money is coming. Know where it is going to. Gain the power to change your spending habits, avoid impulsive spending and save money for whatever’s most important to you.

• PikPok – Bird Strike – iOS
In Bird Strike, you launch Gerald the Bird into the air at high velocity to see how high he can go. Collect rockets and pick-ups to help him soar higher and avoid obstacles that would stop his ascent. Eventually though, what goes up, must come down. Bird Strike Gold Edition is the ultimate version of Bird Strike, the popular addictive puzzle platform. 

• Ancient Workshop  - Ancient Frog HD – iPad
A contemplative puzzle game set in a range of beautifully rendered natural environments. Guide your frogs one leg at a time across the board to a delicious fly. Take your time. There's no hurry. Just you, a frog, the gentle interplay of dappled light, and the sounds of the forest. Ancient Frog HD updates the original classic with high definition graphics and expansive habitats.

• SoftwareX – Twenty Chinups – iOS
From the makers of other successful fitness programs, Hundred Pushups and Two Hundred Situps comes: Twenty Chinups. If you're serious about improving your upper body strength, follow this six week program and you'll soon be on the way to 20 consecutive chin-ups. Chin-ups are a great exercise - using your own body weight against you! As such most people will struggle to do 2 chin-ups. If you follow our program we are positive that after the 6 weeks, you will be able to do twenty chin-ups.

• SoftwareX – Sleepmaker Waves, Sleepmaker Rain, Sleepmaker Storms, Sleepmaker Streams, Sleepmaker All in One and Sleepmaker Wildlife - iOSAll of the in-game Ad revenue from the Sleepmaker line of iOS apps will be included in the charity drive. 

• Dejal - Dejal Simon, Dejal Time Out, Dejal Caboodle, Dejal BlogAssist  - MAC OSRevenues for Dejal’s entire suite of Mac utilities will go to the drive as well.

• Carnival Labs – Duck Shoot – iOSAll of the in-game Ad revenue from the free Duck Shoot iOS app got to the Red Cross.

• 3dot5 – Rugby 2011 – iOSThis app is your full guide to 2011 with complete schedules by team, venue and date and valuable information about each venue. This app is made in New Zealand by a team passionate about Rugby and the Land of the Long White Cloud. Live scores and rankings will be available as soon as the first game is kicked off so grab it now at the low introductory price and enjoy the full benefits in September and October! While you wait, catch all the latest Rugby news including 6 Nations and Super 15 scores and rankings!

“We hope that iPhone and iPad owners that are looking for a way to help the victims consider picking up one of our apps and 100 percent of the proceeds will go directly to the Red Cross,” said Jos Ruffell, portfolio manager for PikPok. “This is a rare chance to buy a game or app and feel great about helping out people who are in real need right now.”

Friday Featured Friend - Felix Finkbeiner

“Stop Talking. Start Planting.”

As adults we’d need skin as thick as a rhino’s to not be moved by Felix Finkbeiner’s call for less talk, more action.

The 13 year old spoke recently at the United Nations, at the opening of the International Year of the Forests.

“A mosquito can’t do much to a rhino, but 1000 mosquitoes could make the rhino strike a new path,” he said, calling on kid-power to steer adults towards action.

When Felix Finkbeiner was nine years old he finished a class presentation with the words: “Let's plant million trees worldwide - a million in each country!” That was the start of his student initiative Plant-for-the-Planet.

Since then Plant-for-the-Planet have planted 3.3million trees and built a global network of children taking action.

Felix is on a mission to empower and motivate as many children as he can to join forces, to plant trees and to fight together to save their future.

"We children have become active ourselves since we have lost our trust in the adults. We don't rely on you anymore with solving the climate problem."

Plant-for-the-Planet is an amazing initiative where kids can join an existing group, or start new one.

As well as encouraging youngsters and schools to get involved, we adults can also:
• Pledge trees. Pledge how many trees you are going to plant and fulfill it step by step.
• Plant trees. In your region, city or anywhere else.
• Donate trees. For 10 euros Plant-for-the-Planet will plant 10 trees for you which count for your tree pledge.

Story telling for a better world… a call to young kiwi film-makers!

Here's an awesome opportunity for young New Zealanders (13-26) interested in film, photography, and making a difference. 

Inspiring Stories Trust are running a series of workshops designed to harness the power of story-telling for a better world. The workshops are an opportunity for aspiring young film-makers to learn new skills, connect with film industry pro’s, and kick-start a series of inspirational film projects across NZ.

They're also looking for submissions of inspiring stories – stories about good people doing great things. Whether it’s starting a community garden, helping the elderly, or leading a big beach clean up – there’s loads of stories to be told, and plenty of young Kiwi’s out there making a difference.

So if you're young and want to make a film, if you're in industry professional and want to help, or if you know of a young kiwi who is doing great things, Inspiring Stories want to hear from you!

 

Sustainably Happy: a revolution in measuring success!

Why do we measure a nation's success by its productivity, instead of by the happiness and well-being of its people?

That's the question Nic Marks asks in his fantastic TED talk.

Marks introduces the Happy Planet Index, a tool to track national well-being against resource use. Which country do you think comes out on top?

I'll give you a clue… it produces 99% of its power from renewable sources and its government was the first to commit to becoming carbon-neutral by 2021.

Worked it out? The answer is Costa Rica.

I know Costa Rica has featured a lot in recent blogs (Kids Saving the Rainforect and Meaningful Travel) but there are a lot of good reasons to like the place!

The Index doesn't simply measure happiness, but happiness in relation to sustainability. It shows that achieving, long, happy lives without over-stretching the planet’s resources is possible.

The work Marks does with the New Economics Foundation is fascinating. They were commissioned by the UK government to review the inter-disciplinary work of over 400 scientists from around the world, to identify a set of evidence-based actions to improve well-being.

Or put simply: what can we do as individuals to be happier (based on proof)?

Their list of top five things are:

1. Connect (enrich social relationships)
2. Be Active (dance, garden, cycle—exercise makes you feel good)
3. Take Notice (awareness and reflection leads to appreciation)
4. Keep Learning (learning builds confidence and is fun)
5. Give (connecting yourself to the wider community)

Interesting to apply that list to yourself. Give it go. It's certainly given me a few ideas where I can improve my well-being.

And if MiniMonos were a country (it is a virtual island, after all), how would its citizens fare, with that list in mind? Well MiniMonos kids are great at connecting and socializing (tick!), they get outside & get active (tick!), they take notice of the world around them and help each other to learn (tick! tick!), and their generosity is regularly displayed (tick!)... hmm... no wonder MiniMonos kids are so happy!

A New Culture of Learning

Play is universally recognized as a critical tool for children. It's how they come to understand, experience, and know the world.

Academics Douglas Thomas and John Seely Brown remind us that play is far from 'just' play.

In their paper Why Virtual Worlds Can Matter, Thomas & Seely Brown tell us that "virtual worlds are illustrating a shift in the way learning is happening", and are "a fair predictor of what will be happening in the workplaces and societies of tomorrow."

They link online interaction with attributes that would benefit players in future 'real world' situations. 

In an article published by Harvard Business Review, Thomas & Seely Brown list character traits players bring to online worlds, and how those attributes make for future employees who are "flexible, resourceful, improvisational, eager for a quest, believers in meritocracy, and foes of bureaucracy". They suggest organizations should be receptive to those 'gamer' traits.

Their new book, A New Culture of Learning, explains how understanding play is critical to understanding learning.

"As we get older, play is seen as unimportant, trivial, or as a means of relaxation and learning switches to something you do in school where now you are taught. What we fail to fully grasp is that play is the way that children manage new, unexpected and changing conditions".

Peer-to-peer mentoring is particularly prevalent on MiniMonos, where the social network as a learning platform is excellently demonstrated on the Go Bananas blog — largely written by the children themselves. Children regularly share information about sustainability or ecology, and have created numerous sites to help each other with understanding the in-world games. 

MiniMonos players often encourage others to consider eco thinking and behavioral shifts, converting the green ideals of this online world into real-world action.

If you are interested in an academic exploration of virtual worlds and network culture, Douglas Thomas gives an interesting talk as part of the Deans Series on Sustainable Innovation here.

Douglas Thomas is an associate professor at the University of Southern California's Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. His research focuses on the intersections of technology and culture.

John Seely Brown is a visiting scholar and an adviser to the provost at the University of Southern California and an independent cochairman of the Deloitte Center for the Edge. He has authored or co-authored more than 100 papers in scientific journals.

Shorty Awards!

What do NASA, Justin Beiber, and MiniMonos have in common?

We've all been nominated for the 2011 Shorty Awards!

The Shorty Awards are like the Oscars or the Grammys… only for Twitter (hence the name... all about the best use of the short message).

We're currently in sixth place in the gaming category – which makes us a category finalist (the top six from each category go through)!

The awards are about honoring the best people and organizations on Twitter and social media.

Winners are determined by popular vote and by the members of the Real-Time Academy of Short Form Arts & Sciences. 

Last year's awards ceremony was held at the New York Times Center. An audience of over 1,000,000 visited ShortyAwards.com and 100,000 watched the ceremony via Livestream and YouTube.

So it's kind of a big deal.

Winners and special guests from last year included Cory Booker, William Shatner, Sesame Street's Grover, Ted Leo and Stephen Fry. 

This year the judges are a prestigious group, including Jimmy Wales, the Founder of Wikipedia; David Pogue, author and legendary columnist for the New York Times; Caterina Fake, Co-founder of Flickr and Hunch; Dennis Crowley, Co-founder and CEO of foursquare; and many more social media heavyweights.

Nominations close at the end of January, so if you use Twitter, and you dig what we do with social media, feel free to add your voice (thank you!).

Comments

[daniel penfold]

hi well done i hope you had fun ok mate

[iPhone App Design]

I really enjoyed reading this post.It must had been amazing.

[Cptodayiscool]

Awesome! This is why I love playing minimonos because I know that just by having fun we are also helping people around the world :D BEAT THAT CLUB PENGUIN XD And I'm a member too :O So i'm helping? YAY :P Well keep up the good work minimonos ;D

[AlphaMonkey]

I am so so proud of all the monkeys on MM - especially the EcoMonkeys. YOU ROCK. Bananamaaazing!!

Alpha

[miniJghRocks]

Lol! Just saw this post! Thanks for writing that part about me! :-)
~miniJgh

[jas1206]

MINIMONOS ROCKS!!! and I myself is an Ecomonkey so thkx alpha. YOUR BANANATASTIC ALPHA YOURSELF YOU KNOW !!! LOL XD =D =O =]

-jas1206 (Minimod and Ecomonkey)

[buddyguy12]

Awesome!!!!!!

[daniel penfold]

Did you have fun or not

[Natalie moulding]

Love it keep up the great work

[Kaila Colbin]

Thanks, Natalie! Really appreciate your kind words :

[cement mixer]

It is majestic to look at. I believe that this kind of building will be the role model for a sustainable New York city in the future.

[adjustable wedge inserts]

It looks fantastic. I'd love to work in such kind of a place. I wish I was living in New York.

[waste management services]

This is a nice building. Who would have thought that its made from sustainable materials? I hope the trend catches on to other buildings in New York.

[Savannah1889]

cool

[Me]

Hi.
I wanna know what you used to create MiniMonos.
I'm looking to create a virtual world like it.
Please reply!

[bekie]

hi,
im not sure but my mate knows when i see him next ill ask him and get back to u .
at the min i dont have eney mates on hear do u wanna be friends?
whats your monky called and i will try to find u kk.
your sincirly
beckie
xxxxxxxx
p.s. how old are u and are u a boy or a girl
im a girl i wont tell u my age untill u tell me yours lol
byexxx

[family law sydney]

As they say, the core of leadership is family values. Leadership begins at home and at home we foster future leaders.

[Betamonkey]

PLZ UNBAN MY ACCOUNT I EVEN RE-DESIGNED MY BLOG! CHECK IT OUT! PLZ PLZ

[Mobilabonnement]

What a great idea.I am glad there are people like this.. Way to go!!

[iPad Apps Development]

Its very useful App.I admire the idea and motive behind it.

[synthetic grass]

This was indeed a very horrible disaster. During this situations, you will really see how people all over the world unite.

[vegetable fertilizer]

That is not a good idea to lose trust with adults. If you find mistakes committed by some adults, then don't follow them. You might know more good than them. Remember they are just human too. Well, good for you that you know they're doing bad. At least you can classify good things from bad now. Do not judge your elder generally. If you think some are fault makers, there are more who do good things. Anyway, what you're doing, which is planting trees, is indeed a great thing. It helps a lot. You help our planet in that way. I hope you'll continue doing that and encourage more people to do the same. Just take care what you've planted. Visit them regularly, water them and apply fertilizers so that they will grow big in the soonest possible time.

[Kare Anderson]

What we learn from those times is vital in an information-flooded, connected world - and that's a good thing.

The most common and satisfying ways we learn and invent are not from sitting in a classroom seat being taught or trained. The world is too complex and fluid now to keep up with everything all by yourself. That doesn't mean that we aren't sought-after for our mastery of a topic or skill. It simply means we stay relevant when we engage in projects with diverse others, learning and experimenting as we go. Like children we still learn best by observing, imitating, re-mixing, making fresh mistakes and, most of all, by playing and using our imagination - with others.

That's why this book by two long time lovers of social learning-by-doing is so relevant today for students of all ages, in school, at work and involved with the causes and projects that most matter to us.

While their book is aimed at transforming learning in schools every concept I read can be equally applied to any part of our lives - lived well with others.

If you'd like to see the next chapters of your life as the kind of adventure story you co-create with others and want a bigger voice in the role you play - literally - read and share this book with those you think will make engrossing, imaginative playmates.

Some of my favorite quotes from this book:

* The new culture of learning gives us the freedom to make the general personal and then share our personal experience in a way that, in turn, adds to the general flow of knowledge.

* In the new culture of learning, people learn through their interaction and participation with one another in fluid relationships that are the result of shared interests and opportunity.

* Play is the tension between the rules of the game and the freedom to act within those rules. When play happens while learning it creates a context in which information, ideas and passions grow.

* The important thing about the Harry Potter phenomenon is not so much what the kids were learning, but how they were learning. Thought there was no teacher in this setting, readers engaged in deep, sustained learning from one another through their discussions and interactions.

* In a world of near constant flux, play becomes a strategy for embracing change rather than a way of growing out of it.

* The challenge is to find ways to marry structure and freedom to create altogether new things.

* Study groups dramatically increase the success of college students in the classroom.

* The connection between the personal and the collective is a key ingredient in lifelong learning.

* When information is stable, the explicit dimension becomes very important. The speed of light, for example, is probably not going to change....The twenty-first centry, however, belongs to the tacit. In the digital world we learn by doing, watching, and experiencing... not by taking a class or reading a manual.

* Students learn best when they are able to follow their passion and opeate within the constraints of a bounded environment. Without the boundary set by the assignment there would be no medium for growth.

* Indwelling is a familiarity with ideas, practices and processes that are so ingrained that they become second nature. When engaging the learner, we must think about her sense of indwelling, because that is her greatest source of inspiration, but it is also the largest reservoir she has of tacit knowledge.

* Dispositions indicate how a student will make connections on a tacit level... how she is likely to learn.

* Learning from others is neither new nor revolutionary; it has just been ignored by most of our educational institutions...

... and, I would add, by most of our organizations.