We managed to sell out all tickets for Be An Idea’s 8th Fuze Night, good news for all, as 100% of the proceeds from the ticket sales went to the Yellow Ribbon Fund.
Bringing together the best people in the social impact sector, Fuze Nights serves as a platform for our humble, local superheroes to relax, connect and learn from others in the same space.
“Social media and technology startups have somewhat neglected the non-profit sector, yet non-profits are the ones who need the most resources to tackle both local and global social issues.”
Our first of three inspiration speakers, Alvin Li, is co-founder of Givo, a “go-to for everything charity” app that charities can join to help raise awareness and funds for the wonderful work that they do.
Givo reinvents and revolutionizes how people connect in the world of charitable giving. With an all-in-one platform for anyone to read about trending humanitarian news or giving opportunities, one can donate too to the causes that resonate with them.
Helming from Hong Kong, Alvin shared about the genesis of Givo and how they’re looking to start in Singapore, with their first launch event on the 7th of July.
“Most people don’t know about an inmate’s second prison – stereotypes and the fear of not being accepted.”
Next up, we had Denise Chow, who bravely took the stage to share about the various rehabilitation programs that the Yellow Ribbon Fund (YRF) supports. Denise shared about how the Yellow Ribbon Fund started – inspiration taken from the famous “Tie A Yellow Ribbon Round The Old Oak Tree” song. She shared about how imprisonment doesn’t affect only the inmates, but also their families as well. She shared about various ways people could volunteer or support YRF and also shared about the upcoming Yellow Ribbon Run happening on the 4th of September.
Up next we had LILO, a newly-formed two-piece acoustic band who covered three songs to an extremely supportive audience. Featuring Jiahe & Rebekah, the two entertained an attentive audience with songs by Arcade Fire, Silver Trees and A Great Big World.
“I hope that we will never ever forget that one must not take our loved ones for granted.”
Peter Draw, our final inspiration speaker, shared about his personal journey. Sharing candidly about his initial unpleasant experience with an art teacher who did not believe that he could be an artist, Peter encouraged others who have been told “no” to keep going at it - not because they are trying to prove a point, but really because they believe that they can do it.
He shared about his work with both “little” and “senior” draws, and how he hopes art can really make a difference in protecting kids who may not know how to protect themselves.
“Always think about the wow, how and now in every social media campaign.”
Last but certainly not the least, we had our knowledge speaker for the evening, Avishek Das, from Twitter (@hawhawblahblah). He shared about the wow, how and now of every social media campaign. Avishek encouraged us to believe that there is goodness in the hearts of people – that the simplest act of providing a platform to get together to raise funds (http://incrisisrelief.org) can turn into something so wonderful. He shared about the now, about how Emma Watson’s #HeForShe campaign was not only viral, but conversational. He shared about content and how it is imperative to not only think about your content strategy, but to leverage on and include owned content and assets into your social calendar build. He talked about how “the dress” campaign brought about an extremely poignant advertisement done by the Salvation Army about abuse. He concluded with optimistic statistics that just in Singapore alone, there were more than a million impressions about doing good or charity on Twitter.
The team with our speakers for the evening.
Fuze Nights typically take place on the last Wednesday of each month. Look forward to more insightful talks and opportunities to connect every last Wednesday of each month.