Chennai Bloggers for Social Action

It was a fascinating Sunday evening when I had a long conversation with Shashi and Dr. Ganesh over cups of black coffee on how we could utilize the inherent strength of the team - Writing or actually Blogging to promote social causes and highlight issues both good and bad.

The conversation was enlightening in many aspects:

1 - Social Action need not always be for a negative issue; there are a number of good and positive things happening around us; we can highlight them as well.

2 - Social action has two primary and distinct aspects:
a - Online activity wherein we write about issues and promote them using social networking tools.
b - Off-line (or) ground-zero activity - the actual task of visiting orphanages, slums, old-age homes etc, and doing constructive work.

3 - We as a network of bloggers can do a lot; one post by our revered doctor on marital / domestic abuse has been making the air-waves online. Similarly if we plan and write on one topic every month; there will be a theme for every month. Just imagine the impact of 100 plus bloggers writing on a topic and publishing it simultaneously, say on a given day and then promoting the post through Twitter and Facebook. We are sure to draw attention for any noble cause or good positive trait of Chennai that we choose to champion / highlight.


Building the core team:
We are looking to build a core team of partners (the Starbuck philosophy where everyone is a Partner). The team will have to identify issues that need to be popularised and highlighted and moderate / review the posts submitted by bloggers from all over the country.

We are looking for volunteers who can offer their time, knowledge and expertise. Meetings will be held on a regular basis and if the core-team partners can attend the meets it would be great!

The Future:
We shall be starting the Chennai Bloggers for Social Action - CBSA as a group within the Chennai Bloggers Club and everyone is welcome to help us in our initiatives. The CBSA will be a part of the larger Indiblogger for Social Causes / Action network as well. Our work as part of CBSA will be highlighted and used to set up and start similar projects in other cities in India. So team we are part of a hugely challenging and interesting pilot-project for change!


The Competition:
To start on a positive note; we announce a blogging competition; the topic is - Magical Melodies of December in Chennai - As the topic suggests it is about the music-scene in Chennai during December when sabhas run to packed houses with concerts. Write about your experiences and explain why you feel the event is special to Chennai. Word-limit - 450 to 600 words.

There are three prizes:
First prize - A voucher for Rs 1000.
Two runner-ups - Vouchers for Rs 500 each.
Deadlines - Contest closes on January 1, 2013.

End your post with the tag-line - "This post is part of CBSA's 'Magical Melodies of December in Chennai' blogathon!'


The Beginning:
These are exciting times ahead for us; with a whole new world of possibilities and challenges; let us have the self-belief in ourselves that we as bloggers can truly contribute to making an instrumental difference in society.