Thinking Radically About Video

Earlier this week, we happily announced that Acumen Fund has a YouTube channel, and shared some of the videos created by our staff and Fellows. As excited as we are with the early fruits of our video experimentation, we recognize that in order to have an impact that extends beyond the world of Acumen Fund, we need to be thinking bigger and broader than just the "amateur" online video format. We believe that film and visual media should be a transformative experience, and a means to not only update and educate our community, but to enlighten and inspire brand new audiences to join us in building a movement around social enterprise.

Acumen Fund recently partnered with an amazing team at @radical.media to produce a short video that premiered at our annual Gala Celebration on November 11, 2008. It is narrated by Acumen Fund CEO Jacqueline Novogratz, and combines still photographs and footage from the field taken mostly by staff members and former Fellows, with several photos by Magnum Photographer and Acumen Fund advisor, Susan Meiselas. The result is polished and professional, and offers a glimpse at the world Acumen Fund is trying to create and the inspiring change we are beginning to see.

We hope you'll take a moment to watch the video, let us know what you think, and if you like it, please share it with your friends or colleagues. As exciting as it is to see some of these videos go viral (See Seth Godin's talk on Influencing the Masses from November's Investor Gathering which has received over 13,000 views in just a few weeks since posting!), we also recognize that there's enormous value in using this content in a live setting to introduce Acumen Fund to audiences and to help set the context for subsequent discussions. So far, the video we produced with @radical.media has only received a couple hundred views online, but since its creation, has been played at over a dozen live events to audiences totaling over 1,500 people.

In measuring impact, we will continue to look at metrics from both online and offline environments and will work closely with our Advisors and Partners on designing thoughtful marketing and distribution plans for this content.

In this coming year we will look at more partnership opportunities with filmmakers and production companies like @radical.media, to help add to our growing library of film and video content with the goal of telling real stories of ordinary people doing extraordinary things and sharing messages of hope, innovation, and dignity that capture the imagination of tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of minds around the globe.