First Christmas with the Sinompuru Children

Posted by Mike Tee on January 01, 2009 to elevyn

Last month, Elevyn released some funds from the "Send the SINOMPURU Kids to School"  cause, in conjunction with the Christmas festivities and its nearing deadline to the new school year. Our field partner Malina Soning (of Soning Craft) helped to purchase exercise books, bags and school supplies for the 14 children in a mini Christmas party that she also organized.

On December 26th, Malina Soning sent us an email, informing that the programme went well. She also wrote a detailed report on the occasion, describing the activities for the kids, and the feedback received from the mothers. It was a warm, appreciative article and we all felt a little bump in our hearts.

We'd like to take this occasion to say a big thank you to all buyers and supporters of the Cause - you guys have truly helped make a difference! You can read the write-up here, or check out the photos!

New Elevyn Shop: Salaam Wanita by eHomemakers

Posted by Mike Tee on December 24, 2008 to elevyn

Elevyn proudly welcomes a new family in Salaam Wanita,  an innovative project by the KL-based social enterprise eHomemakers. Salaam Wanita works with disadvantaged urban poor women who produce hand-woven Eco-Baskets made from used magazines. (Why Baskets?)

The women are paid fair prices and the money earned goes towards paying their children's school fees, food, and medical costs. Most importantly, they learn to make decisions and assert control over their own lives.

Salaam Wanita currently works with 8 artisans, who have all experienced positive changes to their lives through the initiative. Read their stories here.

The online store currently carries a small selection of uniquely hand-woven Eco-Baskets, and more will be put up soon.

 http://www.elevyn.com/shop/ehomemakers

Vision 2020 for the Poorest 1 Billion

Posted by Mike Tee on December 23, 2008 to social entrepreneurs

Every now and then, we bump into stories of social entrepreneurs with interesting projects that truly inspire. They aren't just about fancy ideas or even making a lot of money - but we love it for the simple fact that it creates impactful change amongst communities that are "left behind". Here's one of them, as reported in the BBC.

British inventor Josh Silver is on a quest to help the poor in developing worlds see - without the need for trained specialists or opticians to prescribe glasses.



Silver might have an answer. It takes the form of DIY-adjustable glasses that hold fluids in the lenses, which can be added or reduced with a simple dial on the sides. The amount of fluids affect the power on the lenses.



Here's where it gets interesting:



Not resting on his laurels, Silver has an audacious plan - to offer his glasses to a billion of the world's poorest by 2020. The big challenges? Scaling the entire process and make the glasses less dorky!

 Read the full article on BBC

Getting the Sinompuru Kids to School!

Posted by Mike Tee on December 19, 2008 to elevyn

In less than 24 hours since our newsletter was sent, Soning Craft has sold 9 items, which means more funds to Send the Sinompuru Kids to school!

Our aim is to raise US$150 by 20th December 2008 so that co-founder of Soning Craft, Malina Soning, can get Christmas gifts in the form of school stationeries for the 14 children in need.

She has planned a simple Christmas program to give the Sinompuru kids the gifts, as listed here.

December is the time when many parents struggle to find funds to send their children to school. Yesterday Malina shared with me the plight of about 40 other children in her village who are in need of funds to go to school.

“Can you imagine not being able to afford to go to school?”, I asked Devan. My answer was a simple no.

All night I thought about my school days. The biggest challenge I had was that I was always too lazy to wash my white school shoes. I’d wear them till it was dirty and little torn before my parents would buy me another pair. And not just any school shoes, I could get the super aero-something with “bubble” technology thing type of Bata-brand shoes.

USD 150 would just buy school stationeries for the Sinompuru kids, but USD 2,500.00 is needed to cover other costs such as school fees and uniform.

“What will happen since we could not raise USD 2,500 in time?”, I asked Malina.

“The Sinompuru members would borrow money from the Sinompuru Fund, and slowly pay back throughout the year when they sell more crafts”, Malina explained.

Upon hearing that, I finally appreciated the concept of microloan first hand and not through some case study article somewhere in some other third world country.

Malina and I continued to chat online, in excitement over the upcoming Christmas program. We have come a long way since the day we started compiling information to put on Elevyn.

As Malina expressed very amply:

"Macam tak percaya juga produk kami orang beli...kakak juga tak sabar apa yang akan berlaku tahun depan. Xmas pertama sudah cukup mengujakan...dari titik peluh sendiri”

“It’s like hard to believe that people would buy our products. I can’t wait to see what will happen next year. Our first Christmas (since getting online) is already so exciting (with the funds raised from the cause)…… from our own hard work”.

 

 

Here’s a great big thank you to everyone for spending the time to get to know the craftswomen of Sinompuru from Kampung Tinangol – and to join us in our journey to realize a shared dream of social entrepreneurship!

Sze Ning | Field coordinator

10 Simple Tips for MDeC Pre-seed Funding

Posted by Mike Tee on December 11, 2008 to elevyn

As many of you would know, Elevyn was made possible thanks to the MDeC Pre-seed Funding that we received in late 2007. We're now actively spreading the word around to potential entrepreneurs who can benefit from the RM 150,000 grant. Here's a slideshow of the presentation that Keng Yew and myself presented during BarCamp JB.

Organizing PowerPoint Karaoke @ BarCamp JB

Posted by Mike Tee on December 09, 2008 to elevyn

When I signed up to organize Powerpoint Karaoke at BarCamp JB, it was both exciting and scary at the same time.

I'm a huge fan of stand-up comedies, but I had never seen a Powerpoint Karaoke being done before, apart from a few grainy videos on YouTube. It was pretty much unknown territory.

What if it sucked? What if the jokes were lame? What if nobody laughed? So many what-ifs, but hey - we gotta take some risks right?

And boy, PowerPoint Karaoke BarCamp JB blew all my doubts into smithereens. The quality of the presenters were amazing - these guys are all stand-up comedians just waiting to be discovered!

Aizat got the ball rolling and set the standards sky high with a presentation on "Protein Synthesis". This was followed by hilarious turns from Hakim "Ms Baker" Albasrawy, Syarief "David Hasselhoff" Manjur, Chak "Kelly Wong", Aaron "Sivaji" Gill and one gutsy lady Janet Tan!

I think everybody had a great time at Malaysia's 1st Powerpoint Karaoke session and probably shed a tear or two laughing their butts off. I thought it was one of the most enjoyable sessions of BarCamp JB.

If you're planning on doing a similar session for your events, here are a few things/lessons that I learnt on Powerpoint Karaoke BarCamp JB:

* No need to create your own Powerpoint presentations. SlideShare has a very useful tool to help you search for CC-licensed presentations.

* Subtle details on slides can steer a presentation into hilarious proportions. Example, when Hakim gave a formal intro to his presentation, the audience noted the author name on the slide being a "Miss Baker" - to which he then presented the entire session as an old school English teacher! Same too, with Chak who was formerly a "Kelly Wong".

* No time limits. Basically presenters do their thing until they reach the end of the presentation.

* Keep the presentations to about 10-15 slides. Too long, and the audience will tire of the same jokes. As such, you may need to manually edit / shorten the PowerPoint files.

* Slides can be serious or funny. Graphical slides give more room for presenters to get creative; whereas with text, there is a tendency to recite the lines before the "funny" stuff comes in.

* Try PPT files in unknown languages. It provides for an interesting challenge!

* Go for balance and variety. Mix in slides that has graphics, and others with text. Use graphs and charts. Too much of one could result in "flatter" presentations.


* To guarantee laughter, use PowerPoint subjects that are already funny in itself - suggestions include sex, lolcats and movie stars. We had a David Hasselhorf slide right smack in between a presention on "serious" DNA stuff, and the room exploded into laughter.

Ultimately, a lot depends on the presenter as well - how quick, funny and silly the stuff that comes out of their mouths. Audience participation also helps but at unconferences like BarCamp, you are not likely to have any problems!

For more tips on organizing PowerPoint Karaoke sessions, do also have a look at Heather Vescent's blog.

BarCamp JB - unconference in Johor

Posted by Mike Tee on December 03, 2008 to elevyn

Following up on the successful BarCamp KL and StartUp Camp recently, Johor Bahru will be hosting BarCamp JB  happening on the weekend of 6-7 Dec 2008.

What's a BarCamp? Not to be confused with law groups or army training, BarCamp is simply, web 2.0 taken offline, where visitors and volunteers contribute. Entry is free, and participants engage in discussions, demos and talks with fellow particants. Feel like sharing? Just sign up and give a session!

On 6 Dec 2008 at 2pm, alongside Keng Yew of SocialWalk, Mike will be presenting "10 tips when applying for MSC MDeC Pre-seed". Entrepreneurs interested in applying for MSC Pre-seed Grant (and other grants, possibly) will find this session useful as we share our thoughts on what to do, and what NOT to do.

Oh - and not forgetting, this is gonna be fun - Powerpoint Karaoke is happening at 6pm on the first day. Held for the first time in Malaysia,
you get to witness 6 speakers make a fool of themselves presenting as experts on Powerpoint slides they have never seen... until they get on stage!

On day 2, Mike will be speaking on Social Entrepreneurship and Web 2.0. The talk will cover how web 2.0 technology can be used for social good, beyond super-pokes!

BarCamp JB will be held at Menara MSC Cyberport , so we'll see you there!

Useful tips when applying for the MDeC Pre-seed Grant

Posted by Mike Tee on December 03, 2008 to elevyn

Our own Devan Singaram joined hands with fellow entrepreneurs to share their experience of applying for, and successfully receiving the MDEC Pre-seed Grant. Held during Startup Camp in KL, the rest of the gang who presented were Keng Yew, Asyraf, Hakim, Roni and Kenneth. Roslan from MDeC facilitated the session.

An important aspect of the session was to provide some tips to help potential applicants. Some of the useful pointers highlighted:

1. Developing your idea - and what to avoid (MDeC gets loads of applications on education software and wedding portals!)

2. Spending time on the application form
The first vetting stage is entirely from your application, so spend a lof of time on it and make sure it's well-written to communicate your idea clearly.

3. Having a sound revenue model that also includes the target market - know who you are going to sell to!

4. Marketing plans and knowing your competitors
NEVER say you don't have any competition!

5. Technology & business innovation
Something to differentiate yourself from the competition.

6. Plus a few presentations tips if your application manages to get pass the initial vetting stage and you get to pitch your idea to the evaluation committee!



GreyReview also wrote up a good article of the session.

If you are in BarCamp JB on December 7th, we'll also be doing a similar session, so we hope to see you there!

Startup Camp: Making Money & Making The World A Better Place

Posted by Mike Tee on November 21, 2008 to elevyn

Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW) Malaysia is happening this week, and Elevyn will be involved in Startup Camp, an "unconference" for the startup community.

It will be held at the Plug and Play Center at the Gardens Midvalley, Kuala Lumpur.

The "unconference" features a host of informal talks and discussions by entrepreneurs and technopreneurs. On 22nd November 11am, our very own Devan Singaram will be speaking on "We Got Pre-Seed", where some of the recipients of the MDEC Preseed Grant will share some tips on what applicants should and shouldn't do in their submissions and presentations.

On Sunday at 3pm, we will be presenting on "Making Money & Making The World A Better Place". Find out more about social entrepreneurship, the work that Elevyn is doing, and how we can all fit in the pieces together to combat poverty.

Participation is free, and the full list of events scheduled for Startup Camp is available here.

Elevyn in the Star: Making ideas work

Posted by Mike Tee on November 14, 2008 to elevyn

When Devan dropped me an SMS on Monday afternoon saying that a reporter from the Star would be dropping by at 4pm, I knew that I had to shelve whatever plans I had for the day to do the interview. After all, it's not often that the nation's most widely read English daily would be knocking on the door!

Wednesday came, and what a shocker it was to discover that we were the main feature in Section 2! A big many thanks to The Star's journalist Ms Yam Phui Yee and photographer Azman. We hope that this feature will help put the word out on the work that we do and encourage more sellers to join us in time for the Christmas sales.

Here's the online version of the article, and the scanned copies below (thanks Glenn!)

Note:
Some corrections in regards to paragraph 5:

The conditions in Mangkuwagu inspired the idea. Malina & Mazeline Soning are from Kg Tinangol whom are friends with Sze Ning from before.

On Air, and Online

Posted by Mike Tee on November 13, 2008 to elevyn

Eleventh of November 2008 marked a significant milestone as we quietly released Elevyn.com. There were no fancy launch parties, nor were there any ribbon-cutting ceremonies. We may yet do an "official launch" event somewhere down the line, but for now we're all glad to have reached the landmark.

Nine months of development, and over two months of beta testing was about how long it took for Elevyn to evolve from idea to launch. The past few days have been frantic, as the team spent many waking hours putting on some final touches to the site and shop. Hats off to Sze Ning, Wilson and Shahrul for the great work.

We gladly invite your participation on www.elevyn.com . We've made a lot of updates based on your feedback during beta - including cheaper shipping options, gift certificates, and direct donations to Causes, amongst a few other things. Please have a look at our first newsletter for details.

As always, we are open to new ideas, thoughts and suggestions, so feel free to drop us a line or join our Facebook Fan Page!


Cheers & beers,

On behalf of Team Elevyn,
Mike Tee & Devan Singaram

Elevyn, Plugged on BFM

Posted by Mike Tee on November 07, 2008 to elevyn

Dr Reza Azmi, founder and director of Wild Asia was recently interviewed on the new radio station BFM 89.9. In it, he spoke about the company and some of their recent projects.

Surprisingly, the interviewer then asked Reza about Elevyn, and "the boss" graciously gave us a good plug on the show. Yay!

The interview is available online as a podcast if you're interested. Elevyn is mentioned in the 2nd clip.

Sidenote: I was already a fan of the station prior to this and had it on permanent dial in the car. So when the show came on during my drive back home in the evening, I was floored and had to stop by the road side to give it my full concentration! It was a strange, weird sensation to actually hear our own project on the airwaves.

Wild Asia: Empowering Communities Thru Trade

Posted by Mike Tee on October 21, 2008 to elevyn

Wild Asia is a social enterprise working to support the conservation of natural areas and the communities dependent upon their resources. We work primarily by forging partnerships with individuals and businesses that are socially and environmentally responsible.

Elevyn is published in Wild Asia's latest feature for October 2008. Check out the article  or help yourself to their latest newsletter!

Thank you for your support!

Posted by Mike Tee on October 12, 2008 to elevyn

On 28 August 2008, we released an early beta version of the Elevyn website to a very small group of users, testers and friends. During the period, we've made some product sales on the pilot project store and received plenty of helpful feedback on both the website design and in the buying experience.

We would like to thank all who have responded. A special mention in particular to the buyers - Amy Tan (buyer #1!), Helene Amundsen (first international buyer all the way from Norway!), Su Li (from Wild Asia), Cindy Tham (from The Nut Graph - look out for our interview there) and Su Mei (Elevyn evangelist spreading the word out everywhere she travels!).

Your participation has enabled us to refine and improve the site. Thank you for your support, we really appreciate it!

The Nut Graph: Technopreneurship for Social Change

Posted by Mike Tee on October 12, 2008 to elevyn

The Nut Graph is an independent Malaysian news site that aims to provide space for columnists and reader comments from as broad a political spectrum, and from as many sectors of interest, as possible.

The Nut Graph's Business Development Manager Cindy Tham dropped by for a chat with Mike Tee and Puah Sze Ning to find out more about Elevyn, the Soning Craft online store and the Sinompuru Women's Group. Cindy wanted to write an article for a new column on the website that tells of how people and organisations creatively promote their ideas, brands, products and services on the internet.

Read the article here - Technopreneurship for Social Change. 

Elevyn on Facebook!

Posted by devan singaram on October 10, 2008 to elevyn

 
Sze Ning has just set up our Elevyn fans page on Facebook. It's a great way to keep in touch with us, see what we've been up to and get involved in some of our decisions like the date we go live.

So do join in, the audacity of this project needs your positive energy to spur us on to do the things we have to.

Click here to view the Facebook fan page

How to Make Money and Change the World

Posted by Mike Tee on October 06, 2008 to provocations

"Raised with volunteer trips abroad, climate change on TV and everything 'save the world', today's generation is more aware of the world and doing good than ever before. When it comes to getting jobs, however, we are still trying to figure out one simple thing: how do you make money and change the world?"

Quite possibly the best thing I've read in a long while! Great for social entrepreneurs and folks aspiring to more meaningful jobs off the beaten path, "Occupation: Change the World" is the result of a year-long research to find answers to the golden question above.

The book is available as a free PDF download at www.myoccupation.org. It's also meant to be shared, so pass it on!


p/s: Thanks to Azlan Petra for the heads-up!

The big idea of small technology

Posted by devan singaram on October 05, 2008 to provocations

In my years in technology, I’ve seen cumbersome expensive softwares sold to enterprises and governments to make them more ‘economically competitive’. But I’ve always wondered the impact of these softwares on the environment and communities where these organizations operate.

My concern, it creates a more factory like atmosphere for employees, or worst case, enable enterprises to scale their negative impact.

I think innovation is a key element to improve the quality of life for all, but, a framework on how we apply such technology is necessary.

Here are some questions I, sometimes think about when designing elegant solutions:

1. Can my product be used by the bottom 90% of the pyramid?

That’s a big part of the world’s population whose earning capacity is very low. Can they afford to use my product. Is it easy enough to use without manuals that have to be translated.

For example, the motoman project, by Bernard Kisher, brings “non real time internet” to rural areas, in the absence of electricity, no phone lines, no satellite dishes, no direct link  to the internet.



(I hope to visit this pilot project site in a couple of months and will update the blog soon for those interested..)

2. Is it small scale?

That is, can it directly help one person, off the shelf, and eventually managed by that person or village. Can that same effect be replicated for many villages.

For example, do I need a huge hydro electric dam built to bring electricity to a rural area, or is there a more low cost, sustainable solution using solar or wind. Below is a project by Blue Energy:



3. Importantly, does my technology allow for creative expression?

Does technology completely replace the human element, or provide the space for the individual human to be more creative.

I suppose, with Elevyn, we try to increase the amount of the selling price artisans get from 6% to 85%. What this means, is that they can spend more creative time working on 1 quality item rather than having to build many items, in a short period, to get the same revenue.

I’ve always been interested in frameworks, (technical ones like Ruby on Rails or Symfony, because although it doesn’t restrict the creativity of my end product, it makes sure that I don’t have a messy, spaghetti like coding engine), to more conceptual frameworks, like the above.

 

Re-innovating the Wheel

Posted by Mike Tee on October 01, 2008 to provocations

Sometimes, the simplest form of innovation can go a long way, as demonstrated by the Q Drum.

Climate change has required people in developing nations to travel greater distances to retrieve water for everyday use. The Q Drum eases the task, even for children, to fetch up to 50 liters of water over flat terrain.

The Q Drum was designed to be simple, cost effective, keep the weight on the ground, be durable, and to have no moving parts or handles that could break.

More details at greenUPGRADER.com

Beta Purchase from an Elevyn Shop

Posted by Mike Tee on September 30, 2008 to elevyn

Prior to the recent private beta launch, we made an online purchase from our pilot seller Soning Craft just to test out the logistics of buying an item from an Elevyn shop.

We wanted to ensure that everything worked out smoothly - from browsing the items, adding to cart, checking out and payment. DS picked out an item that he liked, and promptly made a purchase for it. Upon confirmation of payment, there was nothing else that we could do but wait.

Being the first purchase, we set our expectations low and was expecting the worse. Would the seller get the purchase notification? Would she even have checked the email? Would the item go missing in transit? How long would it take?

The purchase was made on a Friday, and over the weekends we took our minds off it. Then lo and behold, as if by magic, a package arrived on Monday itself!

Sure enough, wrapped neatly in a tight little cardboard box, it was the exact pencil holder that we purchased. Hurray, mission accomplished!

All credit goes to Malina Soning for the quick shipping, and to PosLaju Malaysia for the prompt delivery. Our only feedback was to get Soning Craft to draft a personal reply to buyers confirming the purchase, and to advise on its estimated shipping / arrival date. That way, buyers don't have to be surprised at having their items arrive magically!