The Buzz 3-23-12

Our quick read on the top tweets, news, and buzz circulating in the field of changemaking this past week. Tell us, what's got you talking? And what do you want to be talking about?

• Fast Company always scours the smartest and most creative infographics that share current trends and news. Now a new book, Information Graphics, presents a collection of over 400 graphic visualizations representing news on CNN, to Shell’s drilling process, to a map of sonar and whale songs. Here is a selection of the nine most inspiring: http://ht.ly/9S2xg

• We’ve been having a lot of fun with Pinterest—and collecting intriguing infographics has become one of our favorite pastimes. One of our recent “pins” shares the world’s happiest and unhappiest countries. The most happy: Denmark, Finland, and Norway; while Cambodia, Niger, and Sierra Leone are amongst the unhappiest. See where other countries fall and why: http://ht.ly/9S3jy

• It was World Water Day on March 22^nd—the world celebrated the wonder and vastness of this natural resource, but it was also an important day to mark how many people live without it, and even its incredible disappearance over the past few decades. Indeed groundwater depletion in Mexico City has made it sink 30%! More facts on how water effects your food, who uses it the most, and who doesn’t have access: http://ht.ly/9S429
  

• 2006 Echoing Green Fellow Anthony Jewett wants to transform the face of American abroad. With only two percent of eligible U.S. undergrads studying abroad and an even smaller percentage of African Americans learning internationally, minority students are at a disadvantage. For his efforts to make international exchange more accessible to underserved students, Anthony was recently named one of America’s 14 up-and-coming African American leaders. When was the last time you stopped to acknowledge your own social impact: http://ht.ly/9S4mJ

• Mike Tyson once said, “Everybody has a plan, until they get punched in the face.” As an innovator, an entrepreneur, as someone who’s trying to driving change in any way, you’re going to come up against some hard knocks. You can’t always plan for them, but you have to know they’re coming. Scott Anthony, the author of The Little Black Book of Innovation, shares his insights on how to approach trial and error and use simple tools to keep taking your ideas to the next level: http://ht.ly/9S50s

• One of our favorite quotes this week: “Having a rough morning? Place your hand over your heart. Feel that? That’s called purpose. You’re alive for a reason. Don’t give up.” Grab the image and pin it when you need a boost of inspiration: http://ht.ly/9S3nD

To help our own team work more purposefully, we’ve been redoing our space. This past week, we packed up the office and worked from home, while our architects came in to renovate. Here’s an awesome timelapse of their work in progress: http://ht.ly/9S59K. We’re back in our “new” digs and we look forward to giving you a more in-depth look of our office!