The Smarmy Carny

This year, I am participating in Blogathon to support One Economy Corporation.

One Economy is a 501(c)(3) charity that attempts to maximize the potential of technology to help low-income people improve their lives and enter the economic mainstream. What does that mean? Basically, One Economy tries to bring technology to low-income families who cannot afford technology in the Internet Age. Whereas many charities will give away computers to low-income families, One Economy goes further than that. Instead of simply supplying hardware, One Economy has programs that help low-income people use that technology.

One Economy has several programs that help bridge the technology gap. I will be discussing these programs in detail throughout the Blogathon, but here's a brief summary of some of the larger programs:

• One Economy's flagship program is The Beehive, a multilingual web portal that provides web-based tools and information about financial services, education, jobs, health care, and family.
• The Bring IT Home campaign has brought broadband Internet access into the homes of 200,000 low-income individuals.
• Their Digital Connectors program develops technology skills in people ages 14 – 21 to turn them into "technology ambassadors" who motivate others to connect to the internet.
• The 24/7Townhall is a social media website focused on helping technologically-isolated internet users increase their awareness of and engagement in important social, political, and economic issues.
• ZipRoad, opening in August 2007 (so bookmark it!), is an education-related website that is designed to enable parents and
  caregivers to make informed decisions about their children's education and learning. It is aimed at low-income, low-literacy parents but should be useful to everyone!

One Economy is really quite a unique charity, and that's why I chose it. Please consider sponsoring me for the Blogathon. For more information on how to do that, check out my Blogathon page.

Here we go! Blogathon 2007 has officially started. For the next 24 hours, I'll be posting at least every 30 minutes, so try and keep up!

This year, I'm blogging for One Economy Corporation, a charity that focuses on bringing technology to low-economy people. More information to follow!

Keep reading throughout the event for Grating Ratings, in which I will grade various random topics. It should be fun, and your opinions are welcome!

Sponsorship total: 4 pledges for $50.00

Since the Blogathon starts tomorrow, Saturday July 28, 2007, I worked for a few days on a 60 second commercial for the site.

The quality isn't as great as I'd prefer, but it's time to call it finished:

As some of you can tell, I relied on some good old Electric Company techniques. I'm no Morgan Freeman, but I got the job done.

If you can't understand that puppet's lousy voice (I got the cheapest voice coach I could find on 12 minutes' notice), he's telling you that Novac will be grading different topics including Seinfeld characters, condiments, driving pet peeves, types of precipitation, and many many more. This is all part of the "Grating Ratings" I will be blogging during the Blogathon.

Oh, and if you're into YouTube, you can just clicky.

Thanks to Kevin MacLeod of incompetech.com for supplying the royalty-free music!

Blogathon 2007

Starting Saturday, July 28, 2007, hundreds of blogs across the world will unite and blog continuously for 24 hours to help support various charities.

Blogathon is an annual event where bloggers choose a charity (a 501(c)(3) organization) to support. Each blogger must post something every 30 minutes for the entire 24-hour period beginning on July 29, 2006, at 9:00 AM EST. In turn, anyone can sponsor a blog that is participating. A sponsorship is basically a pledge to donate money to that blog's charity. You know your money is safe because any money you pledge is given directly to the charity itself, not to the blogger or the Blogathon website.

The Smarmy Carny is participating in Blogathon for the second year. This time around, this blog will support a charity called One Economy Corporation. One Economy is a charity that helps close the technology gap for lower-income people. Their Bring IT Home campaign brought broadband internet access to 200,000 low-income people. They also run The Beehive, a website aimed at low-income families and individuals. To find out more about One Economy Corporation, head over to The Smarmy Carny's Blogathon page. Also be sure to read the blog during the Blogathon and find out much more detailed information on One Economy's efforts!

Want to learn more about how to sponsor this blog and what The Smarmy Carny has planned during the Blogathon? Check out the Blogathon page on this site. Interesting in participating in Blogathon as a blogger? Check out the official Blogathon website.