Not-quite fandom stuff

[ratherastory]

Y'know, I think it's awesome that Random Acts is trying to raise a ton of money for Haiti. God knows, that country needs all the help it can get in order to rebuild after last year's earthquake.

It's just... I am seriously uncomfortable at the idea of fans "raising" $5000 in order to go with Misha et al. to Haiti in order to have a more "personal connection" to what they're doing, or whatever. I just can't help but feel that that aspect of this fundraiser is entirely made of fail. The idea of a group of tourists (feel free to disagree with my nomenclature, but to me that's what they are) going over to witness how grateful the natives are for their munificence just sets my teeth on edge.

Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe I'm reading too much into it. After all, the money is going where it's supposed to, so it can't be all bad. It's just pushing several of my squick buttons.

Comments

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

I agree with you, but at the same time I'm glad he's doing it.

I kind of want rich people who just want to "spend a week with Misha and Matt" to "win" - and then end up working 12 hour days doing hard-labour, they ordinarily would have never signed up for. I think it will teach them a valuable life lesson.

And, hopefully, some of them (like my friend who signed up to raise money, but doesn't expect to win) will have read the fine print and know that Misha will only be there for two days and that they WILL be working in the heat and sun and will NOT look pretty...and they'll be the type of people who would have volunteered even if Matt and Misha weren't there.

Now, that all being said, I think Misha and his RandomActs crew are still trying to figure out how to paddle the boat they made - and sometimes you have to make some mistakes in order to figure out what works and what doesn't.

[claudiapriscus.livejournal.com]

I actually think they know what they're doing here- especially when I look at the fine print. Extraordinary cynicism is a necessity in non-profit endeavors. You justify it by the fact that it's for idealistic reasons. (I mean, I routinely try to organize events where I think of using people's children as "bait", in the sense of providing something that parents want to take their kids to so I can try and talk the parents into volunteering. And when I AM talking to them, I'm not above trying to guilt them into it, talking about all the sad girls just waiting for someone to make a difference in their lives. It's all true, but it's a very cynical way of thinking.)

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

Hmmm...interesting perspective, and a good point!

[hsifeng.livejournal.com]

Here, here. I work in grants and foundation support for community colleges. When dealing with individual and company donations, sometimes you have to have to package “the dream” in a way that makes people want to buy it more. It is a necessary step in connecting people’s internal voices of reason (desire to improve their community) to their actions (spending money with no ‘tangible’ result).