Revolutionary geekery and melodramatic reflections on perpetual learning and other pathways to peace

We in the nonprofit sector tend to have a conflicted relationship with the word ‘marketing’. We tend to see it as evil, as over-the-top, as the art of selling stuff to people they don’t need.

Having gone through a year of studying these dark arts, I’m no longer sure. My textbook defines marketing as “a process by which individuals and groups obtain what they need and want through creating and exchanging products and value with others“. It’s all about establishing a relationship with your network that helps you achieve your goals. The best nonprofits are using marketing techniques across their operations – though they hardly ever call it that. They might talk about fundraising, about communications, about policy or membership development instead. The tools, however, are often the same.

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My dearest Blog,

we haven’t spoken a lot recently, but I have to tell you: I can’t stop thinking about you. The more I do, the more I know for sure: I want to hang out with you more often. I want us to go steady.

You’ve existed in so many places by now. Your baby steps at Jetzt.de, still online. A handful of articles on Stumbleupon, later transferred to Blogger, now all reside at the mothership. We’ve spoken about love and beauty and professional development. About learning French and saving the world. You’ve come to know me well in the past eight years.

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Did I mention that I’d really like to have my papers in order? And that I really don’t like bureaucracy? Well, those two don’t always go hand in hand.

Since I had my papers stolen a month ago, I went to the police three times: to announce the theft, to pick up the official declaration de vol and to verify my address. I also had the police come to my house to verify my address (once more). When I asked them whether they would give me a document with the verification, they said I should just go to the town hall on Thursday and I would be fine. [Read more →]

It had started to happen. From now on, the rest was to become history.

It still felt like yesterday. An election that didn’t result in a government. A prime minister that didn’t want to govern. A nation that didn’t know its identity. All that was now past, soon to be forgotten.

In the distance, King Albert could hear the countdown: Trois – Deux – Un – Zero. He closed his eyes as his seat began to shake. The momentum pressed him into the seatbelts. He could feel the spaceship moving. It had started to happen. [Read more →]

As mentioned before, I am a sucker for books. It’s actually quite scary to look at the list of books I went through since I last forced myself to review them. Alas.

Let’s do this thing.

There’s no particular order to these short reviews. I own most of these books either on paper or as audio book. As I do believe in book sharing: Drop me a line if you want one of them! [Read more →]