That was a genuinely fascinating exchange.  Although it was too brief
and a bit too cynical for my tastes!  

My two cents, and apologies to Sara for continuing to use her initial
email as a case study.  I’m sure she’s ready for it to disappear into
the tubes of Ted Stevens’ internet!

The use of profanity aside, Sara’s initial comment was certainly
understandable.  She seems to have been interested in the event because
she read the blurb, went to the website and navigated to the
registration webpage – maybe it was frustration with not being able to
afford to attend.  It’s a frustration that many of us can sympathize
with, especially if you’re a member of the public, part of a smaller
operation, or don’t live in Toronto.  

Why couldn’t she afford to attend? (And does this mean that the time of
her/her org is better spent doing something else?!)  Is it related to
the fact that we’re in a recession?  Does it have anything to do with
being in the non-profit sector?  No clue, but Dennis’ remark below begs
the questions.

Her use of profanity was funny (come on!) but inappropriate, if only
because it might give some people the impression that the conference
isn’t worth attending.  But again, its value to Sara is clearly
demonstrated by her knowledge of the registration fee.  And frankly,
even if you don’t like the program (It looks great to me, and I plan on
attending!), the opportunity for people in this field of research to
network and share ideas is clearly rare and valuable. 

And she apologized.

--

If you’re looking to make donation to support efforts in Haiti, please
consider Youth Challenge International, who I used to work with and who
I love as an organization.  The Canadian gov’t is matching donations to
YCI from individuals.  http://yciprojects.tigweb.org/project/haiti

If you want to support MSF/DWB, consider a donation via Small Dog
Electronics in Vermont. 
http://www.smalldog.com/product/42760/donation-to-doctors-without-borders
This online electronics shop is matching all small donations to MSF/DWB,
which is a fascinating model for philanthropy via consumerism.  The shop
will match up to its pre-determined annual maximum for charitable
donations (I’m glad they have one), which gives power to customers and
others with internet access to decide who gets supported.  Be aware that
using your credit card to pay for the donation will end up padding the
pockets of the credit card industry at the expense of the charity -
their fee structure means that the charity gets 97% of the donation and
they get 3%.  I’m not saying that this is obscene of the credit card
industry, but it makes me really curious about what their annual
charitable donations look like as a company/industry.  Anyone know? 
Apparently they ended up waiving fees associated with donations in the
aftermath of Katrina, so maybe they’ll decide to do the same in this
case?

Finally, if anyone one on this list is part of any organization that can
afford to support a donation matching scheme, please be in touch with
me.  A group of record collectors raised $80,000 for Katrina and Rita by
having a series of auctions for rare records from their personal
collections and having them matched by the Ford Foundation and Verizon
(3:1 matching, I believe).  So, great records were exchanged and three
worthy charities were supported.  A similar auction will be happening to
support Haiti and there is a need for a matching group.  Also, let me
know you if you’re interested in bidding on or selling records in the
auction!

--

All the best in 2010 to everyone!

Ketan Shankardass

Post-Doctoral Fellow
Centre for Research on Inner City Health
St. Michael's Hospital
30 Bond St.
Toronto, ON
M5B 1W8
Canada
Phone: 416-864-6060 ext. 3360
Cell: 416-917-1086
Fax: 416-864-5485


From: Social Determinants of Health [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of
faraz vahid shahidi
Sent: January 13, 2010 6:39 PM
To: [log in to unmask]; Social Determinants of Health
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