DariusBashar.com

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Fri, 03 Feb 2012 17:44:18 -0500

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Sat, 07 Jan 2012 10:16:09 -0500

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Fri, 06 Jan 2012 22:24:06 -0500

[Flash 10 is required to watch video.]

"I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand."

Thu, 29 Sep 2011 10:58:46 -0400

“I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.”

- Confucius (via robjama)

robjama: “I wish someone told me…”

Thu, 29 Sep 2011 10:58:26 -0400

robjama:

“I wish someone told me…”

Gotta get me a pair of these. Too bad they are only auctioning...

Fri, 16 Sep 2011 10:49:00 -0400

Gotta get me a pair of these. Too bad they are only auctioning off 1500.

Funny advertisement promoting Global Warming awareness.

Fri, 16 Sep 2011 10:42:20 -0400

Funny advertisement promoting Global Warming awareness.

Photo

Mon, 12 Sep 2011 18:02:06 -0400

Words of wisdom for creatives in the ad word. (Taken with...

Fri, 03 Jun 2011 20:27:14 -0400

Words of wisdom for creatives in the ad word. (Taken with instagram)

What It’s All About It’s not about special effects,...

Wed, 20 Apr 2011 07:56:00 -0400

What It’s All About

It’s not about special effects, celebrity endorsements or even clever copywriting. My friend Vinny Verma calls it finding the brand truth. That unique story that needs to be shared with the world, but only through transparency and sincerity.

Advertisements like this remind me why I have chosen to spent my time on this planet dedicating myself to the discipline of marketing. For me, it’s not about fancy titles, or corner offices. Instead, I want to master the art of storytelling, but not just for the sake of selling more products and increase billable hours. I want to find untold stories that need to be shared, and use every lesson I have learned and every tool at my disposal to spread those messages throughout the world.

One day, my time will come, but for now, videos like this will have to do in feeding my creative hunger.

——

Special thanks to my colleague and friend Martin Delaney for sharing this beautiful video.

Meet Atticus. My new best friend. He is our new (junior)...

Fri, 15 Apr 2011 19:06:27 -0400

Meet Atticus. My new best friend. He is our new (junior) copywriter. (Taken with instagram)

Ghana 2011 - A Trip I Will Never Forget

Wed, 13 Apr 2011 10:26:06 -0400

It has been exactly seven weeks since my trip to Ghana and not a single day has gone by where I haven’t thought about the incredible people I met during my travels. I can still see and hear those beautiful children laughing and dancing around in their vibrant yellow school uniforms. It amazes me how many of them there were. I would start talking to a handful of them, and then turn around for a moment and before I knew it there were hundreds of smiley faced, bright-eyed children waiting for me to do something “funny”.

I will never forget the looks on the children’s faces when the truckload of bicycles arrived into the city, or better yet the excitement in their eyes when they got to ride their very own bicycle for the first time. It took me a while to fully appreciate the significance of these bicycles. For me, growing up in North America, a bicycle was almost entirely used for fun. Bicycles in Ghana on the other hand are interchangeable with water trucks, ambulances and school buses. They are a means to a better life, especially considering many of the children in Ghana travel 8-12 kilometers a day in the sweltering African heat, just to get to school.

As a social entrepreneur and a big idea enthusiast I am thoroughly impressed with how the The Bicycle Factory program works. The people at Cadbury, who run the program, could have easily cut a check and called it a day. Or they could have sent over a bunch of bicycles on their own. Truth of the matter is, there are still lots of companies out there that approach corporate social responsibility (CSR) with a “let’s do as little as possible, as quickly as possible so that we can get back to business.” mentality.

The approach Cadbury took however was totally different. Instead of making The Bicycle Factory about the good they are doing in the world, they decided to shine the spotlight on their customers and let them be the heroes. The way the program works is that every time you buy a Cadbury product (Dairy Milk chocolate, Trident gum, Halls, etc) you can visit www.thebicyclefactory.ca and enter your UPC code. Each time you do, Cadbury donates one virtual bicycle part. One hundred bicycle parts equals one fully assembled, brand new bicycle Cadbury will donate to kids in Ghana. Over the last two years Cadbury has sent over 9000 bicycles to deserving children in Ghana. The reason Cadbury chose Ghana was because they have been work with the Cocoa farmers in Ghana for over 100 years and have a long history of supporting the local communities through a variety of sustainability programs and initiatives.

Want To Make a Difference?

The Bicycle Factory program kicks off again for a third year on April 18th so please, please, PLEASE help us to send as many bicycles as humanly possible to the amazing children and people of Ghana.

Here is the kicker; from now until April 18th if you “Like” the Bicycle Factory Facebook Fan Page, Cadbury will donate one virtual bike part to the cause. Again, one hundred bicycle parts equals one fully assembled, brand new bicycle that Cadbury will send over to Ghana. Now that is pretty freakin cool!

One Last Thing

Just for fun, and in order to sweeten the deal (pun intended) the first 20 people to comment, like or retweet this post will get a free chocolate candy on me. Who could say no to delicious chocolate. ;)

Full Disclosure: I do not work for and do not get paid by Cadbury or anyone associated with The Bicycle Factory. They did however pay for my trip to Ghana in order for me to take in the full experience and come back and share it with all you fine folks. For that, I am forever grateful. :)

#Quote of the day - Thursday, March 17, 2011 (Taken with...

Thu, 17 Mar 2011 20:50:03 -0400

#Quote of the day - Thursday, March 17, 2011 (Taken with instagram)

"If Web 2.0 was the moment when the collaborative promise of the internet seemed finally to be..."

Wed, 16 Mar 2011 21:46:28 -0400

“If Web 2.0 was the moment when the collaborative promise of the internet seemed finally to be realised – with ordinary users creating instead of just consuming, on sites from Flickr to Facebook to Wikipedia – Web 3.0 is the moment they forget they’re doing it. When the GPS system in your phone or iPad can relay your location to any site or device you like, when Facebook uses facial recognition on photographs posted there, when your financial transactions are tracked, and when the location of your car can influence a constantly changing, sensor-driven congestion-charging scheme, all in real time, something has qualitatively changed. You’re still creating the web, but without the conscious need to do so.”

- Oliver Burkeman, of The Guardian

via: @martindelaney

#Quote of the day - Sunday, March 13, 2011 (Taken with...

Sun, 13 Mar 2011 20:08:28 -0400

#Quote of the day - Sunday, March 13, 2011 (Taken with instagram)

#Quote of the day - Friday, March 11, 2011 (Taken with...

Fri, 11 Mar 2011 17:59:03 -0500

#Quote of the day - Friday, March 11, 2011 (Taken with instagram)

My City Lives Turns One Years Old What happens when you charter...

Sun, 06 Mar 2011 16:35:00 -0500

My City Lives Turns One Years Old

What happens when you charter a streetcar and invite over 70 of Toronto’s loudest geeks? God I love my friends. :)

—-

Big shout out and many thanks to the amazing crew behind www.mycitylives.com. They sure do know how to throw a party!

What happens if you get Retweeted by Oprah

Wed, 02 Mar 2011 10:08:32 -0500

What happens if you get Retweeted by Oprah:

erinbury:

I know a lot of people who think Twitter is stupid. Some are family members, some are friends I’ve known since I was in elementary school, and some are entrepreneurs who say they don’t have time for Twitter and to talk about what they ate for lunch. Well I now have the perfect response to the…

Really happy with what I bought at the crazy market in Accra....

Sat, 19 Feb 2011 17:15:09 -0500

Really happy with what I bought at the crazy market in Accra. #ghana2011

Ghana 2011 - Day 3 In day 3 of my trip to Ghana we visited a...

Fri, 18 Feb 2011 00:21:00 -0500

Ghana 2011 - Day 3

In day 3 of my trip to Ghana we visited a local community in BEPOA, which was about 90-minutes outside of Kumasi City. We helped deliver 100 bikes, but the community would eventually be getting 600 in total, thanks to the help of Cadbury and their Bicycle Factory initiative.

I had no idea what to expect from the experience and to be honest, although I was very excited, I was also somewhat nervous. My nerves quickly settled down as we were greeted with music, dance and plenty of warm smiles.

The highlight for me was getting to spend time with the children. They were initially a bit timid, but quickly lit-up with bright smiles and laughter the moment you approached them. Before you knew it, you would have 2 or 3 kids sitting on your lap, laughing away while making silly faces.

After the official ceremony we got to spend time with some of the leaders of the village and asked a few of the Elders some questions about their community and the Kuapa Kokoo fairtrade cocoa union and how it has impacted their lives.

I will be sharing more on the program and my trip in the days to come, but for now here is a quick video to give you a sense of what the experience and energy was like.

( Song credits: Vampire Weekend - Cape Cod Kwasa Kwasa)