You know the saying about not being able to teach new tricks to old dogs, so it stands to reason that the opposite is true — young dogs can learn new tricks.
Hence, Ad 2 Honolulu, a nonprofit industry group of advertising professionals aged 32 and younger, have chosen travel2change as the recipient of its 2015-2016 pro bono marketing campaign.
Travel2change will receive marketing services valued at roughly $1 million, which is why the campaign is coveted by many a Hawaii-based nonprofit.
Started by Thomas Kohler and Doris Masser as a nonprofit in Austria, travel2change is just in the process of setting up its 501(c)(3) status in Hawaii, and it is not a typical nonprofit organization.
Travel2change seeks to match travelers looking to do good in their destinations of choice, with opportunities to do said good.
“The whole thing is to promote an eco-tourism kind of thing,” said Melissa Jividan, this year’s Public Service Committee chairwoman for Ad 2 Honolulu. Then she used an uncommon word: voluntourism.
Travel2change Celebration
What: Launch party for travel2change ad campaign
When: 6 to 8 p.m. Oct. 21
Where: Bar 35, 35 N. Hotel St.
Food: Light pupu and no-host beverages
Cost: Free |
The founders “came to Hawaii, loved it here, and wanted to stay,” she said. They observed the volume of tourists that come here and thought, “why not make Hawaii better for the people who live on the island(s) and help tourists do good?”
The model is similar to the “WWOOF” movement, or World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms. That organization links volunteers with organic farms and growers around the globe. WWOOF volunteers receive accommodations and food in locales around the world, in exchange for their labors.
The farmers get free labor, and the volunteers get to explore part of the world on their days off.
Now for the aforementioned “new tricks” part.
“It is a new model, and that’s part of the reason we chose them,” Jividan said.
Part of the Ad 2 mission is to gain experience and learn new things, she said. Not only will such activity enhance members’ careers, this learning is taking place while providing service to the community and to the industry.
Even the launch party to introduce this year’s pro bono campaign recipient is different.
It’s free.
“Normally we do a fundraiser-type launch party, but we’re trying to do new and different things,” Jividan said. “We want this evening to generate a lot of exposure for them, because they’re something new and people aren’t really sure what they do,” she said. So, “we want to have a big party and have a lot of people there and introduce them to travel2change.”
Ad 2 Honolulu will stage other events for fundraising, she added.
The launch party will have the usual light pupus and no-host beverages from 6 to 8 p.m. Oct. 21 at Bar 35 at 35 N. Hotel St.
According to its website, travel2change activities in Hawaii include opportunities to follow the paths of the chiefs; help restore He‘eia Estuary; hike to explore and restore, and kayak and snorkel for a good cause; plant a native forest and enjoy the farmers market; practice yoga and cleanup at Magic Island or in Waikiki; and help with the United Airlines Coastline Clean Up, among others.
The organization website explains that its founders and like-minded core members, while traveling the world, didn’t have “a simple way to join fun activities that would benefit local communities.”
They decided to “build travel2change for the travelers who want to do good in the areas they explore.”
The travel2change team works to provide travelers exploring the world with activities that are fun and that “serve a greater purpose,” the site says.
Reach Erika Engle at 529-4303, erika@staradvertiser.com, or on Twitter as @erikaengle.
