Producia - The Real World Social Networking Game For Emerging Social Entrepreneurs
We want to encourage a minimum of 10% of the Gen Y population to become passionate social entrepreneurs by applying game mechanics and Open Money protocols to social networking.
This will result to mass job creation for a demographic that has been hit hard by the recession, solutions to social & environmental problems in local communities, more wealth creation and circulation in local communities, and more fulfilling lives to those who participate.
The aim is for the informal projects created by members to grow into social enterprise cooperatives.
Our local digital currency model will make up for the lack of US Dollars in local areas. Our main goal is to transition the world into a new paradigm, from scarcity to abundance, and implement that in our actions with each other.
About You
About You
First Name
Drew
Last Name
Little
Facebook Profile
About Your Organization
Organization Name
The Illuminated Ventures Project (IllVP)
Organization Website
Organization Phone
804-482-0991
Organization Address
728 W. Marshall St. #21
Organization Country
United States, VA, Richmond City
Country where this project is creating social impact
United States, VA, Richmond City
Is your organization a
Not registered
How long has your organization been operating?
Less than a year
The information you provide here will be used to fill in any parts of your profile that have been left blank, such as interests, organization information, and website. No contact information will be made public. Please uncheck here if you do not want this to happen..
Innovation
Entry Form title
Producia - The Real World Social Networking Game For Emerging Social Entrepreneurs
What change do you want to bring to the world?
We want to encourage a minimum of 10% of the Gen Y population to become passionate social entrepreneurs by applying game mechanics and Open Money protocols to social networking.
This will result to mass job creation for a demographic that has been hit hard by the recession, solutions to social & environmental problems in local communities, more wealth creation and circulation in local communities, and more fulfilling lives to those who participate.
The aim is for the informal projects created by members to grow into social enterprise cooperatives.
Our local digital currency model will make up for the lack of US Dollars in local areas. Our main goal is to transition the world into a new paradigm, from scarcity to abundance, and implement that in our actions with each other.
What are the primary activities of your project?
Producia.org is a real world, member-owned social networking game that is based on passion, collaboration, sustainability, and wealth creation.
The goal is for members to team up with other liked-minded individuals in their local area to create projects they have a passion for that serves a market-based need and solves a social and/or environmental problem in their community.
Members and partner businesses will accept and exchange a local-based digital currency (derived from Time Banking & LETS a.k.a. Local Exchange Trading Systems) for products/services they need, and channel a substantial amount of profits (minimum of 15%) to social and environmental efforts to improve their local communities.
Teams that make a positive financial and social/environmental impact on their communities gain points (currency) to scale their operations, receive status badges, receive special rewards from sponsors, and unlock special content and features.
Think of it as a real world, crowdsourced FarmVille/FourSquare/LinkedIn/Amazon/Square where members’ “crops” are the social enterprise projects they create and the “farm cash” is the digital currency (called The Uni) exchanged within the community. Members will have access to a variety of local multimedia content and check-in options, and be able to exchange local currency with each other from our website and their mobile phones.
A similar example is The Oasis Game - http://urbanresilience.wordpress.com/2010/01/05/the-oasis-game/
What is innovative about your initiative? How is it a new contribution to the field?
This game is based on a new economic model called Producism, which combines social entrepreneurship, worker cooperatives, social networking, and local currencies together.
General social networking services such as Facebook and LinkedIn just provides digital land for user generated content and algorithmic-based connections between members. They lack the ability to merge the web with the real world due to their centralized structure. No major social network has created authentic relationships with their members because "LOCAL" takes time to scale. We, however, plan to take this grassroots approach to social networking.
Our local-based digital currency is an innovation in economics, which is based on the Open Money Project ( http://illvp.com/om ).
We're combining the features of some of the most successful business models, Farmville and Foursquare (online/offline game mechanics), LinkedIn (professional networking), Amazon (the power of the marketplace), and Square (Mobile payments), and making them into a locally based, globally connected social networking game for socially & environmentally conscious individuals.
To further justify this new way doing business, according to the 2010 Cone Cause Evolution Study, 80% of Americans (Moms & Millennials) would rather do business with a brand aligned with a cause.(leading cause: economic development)
This is a totally new ecosystem that has the potential to end many of the problems we have in this world such as poverty, unemployment, money-related crime, and a host of many other disparities limited by our imagination.
What stage is your project in?
Idea phase
Tell us about the community that you engage? eg. economic conditions, political structures, norms and values, demographic trends, history, and experience with engagement efforts.
With the current economic hardships that the United States has been going through, it has been challenging times, especially for the youth, social programs, and local businesses. For example, in July 2010, the youth unemployment rate was 51% (ages 16-24), according to Child Wealth Index, 1 in 5 children grow up in poverty, and next year, government-sponsored Americorps is in danger of not receiving federal funding. With local residents facing layoffs and/or reduced pay, that loss trickles down to local merchants not generating enough revenue to stay afloat. These hardships particularly hit low income families the hardest, due to the multiple barriers of success they faced before the recession began.
Our target demographic is college students (Gen Y 18-35), disadvantaged youth (ages 11-25), and local businesses. We will launch pilot programs at college campuses then gradually open up the game to anyone 16 and over. (Similar to Facebook's marketing strategy).
Needs in Local Communities We Aim To Fill
1. Disadvantaged youth need an outlet of empowerment due to various socio-economic challenges they face.
2. College students are looking to gain experience in a field of study or passion while attending school.
3. Local businesses need dedicated support and consultation on how to effectively use the web to grow their business.
The members of our organization are very familiar with the audiences we're targeting. We're a part of Gen Y, a student-driven organization, most of us are from low income backgrounds, and have worked with local businesses in the past. This gives us intimate knowledge on how to effectively engage with them.
Share the story of the founder and what inspired the founder to start this project
Drew Little is the founder of The Illuminated Ventures Project (IllVP).
In 2007, I became frustrated with not being able to implement the plethora of ideas that came to me due to the lack of finances. Having no connections to any angel investors, venture capitalists, or industry veterans, I decided to find a way to make my dreams a reality.
Fast forward to 2009, I stumbled upon some articles about social enterprise, worker cooperatives, and startup incubators. Reading these articles were break-through moments for me because I was dissatisfied with the state of Capitalism and how it prioritizes shareholder return over people and the environment. I also noticed how the recession affected local communities and the substantial lack of minority-owned web companies.
Understanding the opportunities the internet enabled (web companies such as Twitter and Facebook, and many others), and the possibilities of starting web companies with little to no financial investment, I decided to combine social enterprise and worker-ownership with a local new media business model.
After self-educating myself about Economics and the gaps that exist in our current economic model of Capitalism, I started thinking of ways to offer improvements to our economy. After becoming aware of the potential of the mass adoption of social enterprise, worker cooperatives, social networking, and the Open Money Project, I decided to combine these evolutionary ideas together to create a new economic model called Producism. Learning about game mechanics was the final piece for the idea of Producia.
Social Impact
This Entry is about (Issues)
Please describe how your project has been successful and how that success is measured
This project is still in concept stage, however all of the technologies exist to make it happen. However, we currently lack the financial resources to acquire them.
Success will be measured by the amount of social entrepreneurs we help create, how much our local based digital currency is exchanged, the amount of projects that help revitalize our local communities, and the activity of our website and mobile application.
How many people have been impacted by your project?
Fewer than 100
How many people could be impacted by your project in the next three years?
More than 10,000
How will your project evolve over the next three years?
It will initially start as a pilot project at the largest university in Virginia (and NCAA Final Four Underdog), Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), then expand to campuses within the region, the nation, and then the world (in an organic nature). Then it will open up to entire communities (similar to Facebook).
Sustainability
What barriers might hinder the success of your project and how do you plan to overcome them?
Our main barrier is getting our target audiences educated on why we need a project like this in our communities and how it benefits everyone. To overcome this hurdle, we founded a student organization, Unified Potential, to serve as our education arm at universities. We already established our first chapter at Virginia Commonwealth University this year. We will create a chapter at every university we operate at.
We will use a variety of educational tools and strategies such as documentary screenings, online education software, simulation games, etc to get potential members up to speed on the cause and benefits of this project.
Tell us about your partnerships
We plan to develop partnerships with universities, local chamber of commerces, non-profits, local governments, and any other synergistic organizations.
We also plan to develop a diverse board of advisors of thought leaders relevant to our project.
Current annual budget of project, in US dollars
$100,000‐250,000
Explain your selections
We will encourage our friends & family, local businesses, and other like-minded individuals to join our game, which will support our project.
Our project will be self-sustainable. We will do this by charging low yearly member dues for individuals and businesses, and additional premium services(using half US dollars, half local currency).
However, eventually our goal is be able to operate mainly off our local currency alone by sourcing everything we do locally.
How do you plan to strengthen your project in the next three years?
Creating mass awareness by creating successful pilot programs and documenting the growth via social media and an online web series, which we predict will go viral.
We plan to develop partnerships with universities, local chamber of commerces, non-profits, local governments, and any other synergistic organizations.
We also plan to develop a diverse board of advisors of thought leaders relevant to our project.
Our main goal is to connect passionate people who want to be a part of positive change into a framework where good things naturally happen.
Challenges
Which barriers to employment does your innovation address?
Please select up to three in order of relevancy to your project.
PRIMARY
Underemployment
SECONDARY
Lack of efficiency
TERTIARY
Lack of visibility and investment
Please describe how your innovation specifically tackles the barriers listed above.
Underemployment - According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics In July 2010, 51% of youth ages 16-24 were unemployed. Our social networking game will give youth an opportunity to do what they love as a career while solving important problems in their area.
Lack of Efficiency - Our current economic system derives its value from scarcity. This often creates ruthless competition, crime, and social division of the haves and have nots. Our social networking game derives its value from abundance. This will stimulate collaboration, far less crime, exchange of goods & services, and social equity.
Lack of visibility and investment - Funds for important social and environmental programs are in danger of being cut. Our social networking game will fill those voids with our members' projects.
Are you trying to scale your organization or initiative?
If yes, please check up to three potential pathways in order of relevancy to you.
PRIMARY
Grown geographic reach: Within host country
SECONDARY
Grown geographic reach: Multi-country
TERTIARY
Grown geographic reach: Global
Please describe which of your growth activities are current or planned for the immediate future.
Producia will initially start as a pilot project at the largest university in Virginia (and NCAA Final Four Underdog), Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), then expand to colleges within the region, the nation, and then the world (in an organic nature). Then it will open up to entire communities (similar to Facebook).
Do you collaborate with any of the following: (Check all that apply)
Technology providers.
If yes, how have these collaborations helped your innovation to succeed?
We have technology providers in place to fulfill our needs to make the project a reality. We plan on collaborating with local governments, nonprofits, for profit companies, and universities in the near future.
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| 56 weeks agoDrew Little updated this Competition Entry. |
| 56 weeks agoDrew Little updated this Competition Entry. |
| 56 weeks agoDrew Little submitted this idea. |
