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More on the Coca-Cola MDC System

29 March 2011 By 1 Comment

I stumbled across this video presentation today on the Coca-Cola MDC system. I was hoping to participate in this Webinar organised by the Business Call to Action on 13/1/11 but had a clash in my diary. I hadn’t realised it had been made available on YouTube.

The presentation is delivered by Adrian Ristow who was an early contributor to this blog while he was doing some of the fieldwork for the International Finance Corporation / Harvard Kennedy School report on the Coca-Cola MDCs which I reported on in May 2009. I met Adrian at the Tanzanian workshop that considered the IFC/HKS report that he mentions in the presentation.

I note that Adrian now refers to the MICRO Distribution Centres rather than MANUAL Distribution Centres. The former is a better term. As we have pointed out earlier, the MDC system is not the part of the Coca-Cola distribution system that we are interested in. We are interested in the secondary part of the system which gets Coca-Cola to remote rural communities. >>more on the reasons for this

If you are interested in this sort of presentation please consider getting involved in the Business Fights Poverty network. It’s an active online community and their events are open and provide great debating and networking opportunities.

Related posts:
How Coca-Cola’s distribution system works
ColaLife, MDCs and Coca-Cola’s Manual Distribution System
The starting point for the ColaLife pilot

Filed Under: Coca Cola Campaign Tagged With: , , , , , ,

ColaLife in Schools

15 March 2011 By 2 Comments

ColaLife for Kids on Prezi

There is a young and very creative teacher at Acton High School called Emma Berry (don’t ask) who wove ColaLife into a recent classroom session for year 5 children getting ready to move up to secondary school. Emma used existing ColaLife media (on Flickr and YouTube) to produce the above “Prezi’ on ColaLife. The children then used ColaLife AidPod kits (you can get your own through the Buzzbnk) to make model AidPods and decorate them.

Emma said:

The ColaLife story is a fantastic way to engage young people with the challenges faced by children their own age all over the world. With a potential solution to serious world issues ColaLife is a positive way to introduce and discuss child mortality – encouraging the next generation to do something to make a difference.

The children were really engaged and covered the following in one session:

  • Developing world scenarios (child mortality rates and access to health facilities were particular talking points)
  • applications for graphic products
  • making a 3D model from a 2D net

Below is a slideshow of the AidPods made, with most photos taken by the children themselves:

AidPod Designs Acton
Click on the image to view the slideshow

The video below shows how to make a model AidPod from the kit:

Please forward this post to any teachers you know who might be interested.

We are able to supply FREE AidPod kits to teachers who wish to run a similar session. Our contact details are on the PRESS page.

Click here to comment on the blog.

Filed Under: AidPod, Coca Cola Campaign, Videos Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Progress Report 28/09/10

28 September 2010 By Leave a Comment

Children with AidPod in Tanzania
Children of Mikindani, Tanzania with a model Mark III AidPod, January 2009
Image credit: Tim Dench


Next moves

5,500 children die every day in Africa before the age of 5. This initiative could save thousands and thousands of children’s lives through positive engagement between the private and NGO sector.

  • Field trip to Zambia in October to meet with key stakeholders to discuss the ColaLife concept – this will be funded but supporters who donated money for the cycle ride across France.
  • The co-design of a fully costed trial plan.
  • Fundraising for the independently evaluated trial.
  • The implementation of an independently evaluated trial.

May 2008 onwards – real progress!

  • 4 – 12/9/10 The first ColaLife Participation Ride takes place >>more
  • 25/8/10 Zambia was choosen to be the country to do the first ColaLife trial >>more
  • 25/8/10 Participation Ride Blog launched >>more
  • 27/7/10 Two scenarios about how Colalife could work in are published >>Scenario One >>Scenario Two
  • 20/7/10 Simon talks to the ColaLife group in Kollkata >>more
  • 20/7/10 The team for the bike ride has been assembled >>more
  • 1/7/10 Dr. Ian Goldman joined the ColaLife Virtual Advisory Board  >>more
  • 30/6/10 Colalife Live FAQ with Simon >>more
  • 28/6/10 The Mark IV Aidpod was introduced >>more
  • 23/6/10 Simon presents ColaLife at Canvas8 >>more
  • 5/6/10 Simon starts working fulltime for Colalife >>more
  • 31/5/10 ColaLife moves into the implementation phase >>more
  • 25/5/10 UnLtd agreed to provide Jane and Simon with £15,000 >>more
  • 21/5/10 Giant Aidpod is shown at the Dream Factory Exhebition
  • 15/5/10 ColaLife has thre University Chapters on three continents >>more
  • 30/4/10 Progress report>>more
  • 22/4/10 ColaLife featured as a case study on new book on ‘Ethical Marketing & The New Consumer’ >>more
  • 12/4/10 Simon Berry to feature as a ‘Cultural Engineer’ in a book to accompany the launch of a hybrid car by Honda >>more
  • 17/3/10 Question and answer session at Hult International Business School >>more
  • 11/3/10 Prof Don Nutbeam commits to be the first member of ColaLife’s Virtual Advisory Board >>more
  • 22/2/10 ColaLife live on CNN >>more
  • 21/2/10 ColaLife selected for TEDx Warwick >>more
  • 17/2/10 ColaLife is through to the semi-finals of the Buckminster Fuller Challenge >>more
  • 15/2/10 ColaLife featured by Sarah Boseley in the Guardian >>more
  • 31/1/10 Series on Colalife principles started >>more
  • 27/1/10 Video of the presentation of ColaLife at the inaugural TEDx London published >>more
  • 17/1/10 New online campaigning handbook features ColaLife as case study >>more
  • 10/1/10 A to Z of priorities for 2010 listed >>more
  • 31/12/09 Top 10 achievements for 2009 published >>more
  • 30/12/09 Progress report >>more
  • 12/12/09 ColaLife Development Plan published >>more
  • 7/12/09 Giant AidPod display installed at the RSA, London >>more
  • 27/11/09 ColaLife gets through to stage 2 of the Buckminster Fuller Challenge (35 of 215 entries have made it this far) >>more
  • 16/11/09 The ColaLife animation reaches 10,000 views >>more
  • 14/11/09 ColaLife Channel launched on YouTube – youtube.com/colalife – >>more
  • 13/11/09 AidPod Mark III animation released >>more
  • 12/11/09 Keynote presentation at Chain Reaction 2009 >>more
  • 4/11/09 ColaLife presented at the inaugural TEDx London event >>more
  • 31/10/09 ColaLife enters the Buckminster Fuller Challenge >>more
  • 27/10/09 ColaLife presented at the 8th Annual World Food and Innovation Conference, Rotterdam >>more
  • 18/10/09 ColaLife makes the GOOD 100 List >>more
  • 14/10/09 WHO/UNICEF Report published: Diarrhoea: Why children are still dying and what can be done >>more
  • 10/10/09 Giant ColaLife AidPod displayed at the Africa Gathering event >>more
  • 24/9/09 Google back off from Project 10 to the 100th (very disappointing) >>more
  • 19/8/09 ColaLife is incorporated >>more
  • 26/8/09 Progress report >>more
  • 15/8/09 An assessment of where we are with Coca-Cola >>more
  • 5/8/09 ColaLife balloon release >>watch
  • 4/8/09 ColaLife brokers partnership with global NGO for Tanzanian field work >>more
  • 18/7/09 Russell Tanner promotes ColaLife on the 4th Plinth in Trafalgar Square >>watch
  • 14/7/09 Sarah Brown (the UK Prime Minister’s wife) tweets for ColaLife! >>more
  • 11/7/09 Twitter campaign for plinth appearance starts >>more
  • 7/7/09 ColaLife headlines in NESTA handbook on social innovation >>more
  • 5/7/09 Russell Tanner dedicates his spot on the 4th Plinth to ColaLife >>more
  • 1/7/09 Mayor of London says ‘No’ to ColaLife giant aidpod on the 4th Plinth in Trafalgar Square >>more
  • 24/6/09 ColaLife to play Glastonbury >>more
  • 17/6/09 Mark III of the aidpod unveiled >>watch >>slideshow
  • 12/6/09 Prof Don Nutbeam endorses ColaLife in televised panel discussion on global public health >>more
  • 11/6/09 Giant aidpod installed at NESTA, the UK’s Innovation Centre >>more
  • 17/5/09 ColaLife featured in HARVARD report >>more
  • 6/5/09 ColaLife’s first birthday
  • 25/4/09 Coca-Cola commit to ColaLife trials in Radio 4 interview >>listen
  • 25/4/09 ColaLife, ‘story so far’ presentation at ‘Africa Gathering’ >>watch
  • 8/4/09 theWorkshop in Sheffield build a giant aippod >>more
  • 5/4/09 Bob Geldof talks to Simon Berry about the aidpod >>more
  • 28/3/09 Dame Barbara Stocking (Director, Oxfam GB) gives her verdict on the aidpod >>more
  • 25/3/09 The children of N’gombe Compound, Lusaka celebrate the aidpod >>more
  • 18/3/09 Simon Berry featured in ‘Social Pioneers’ supplement in the Guardian >>more
  • 11/3/09 ColaLife’s Simon Berry is second blogger to be confirmed for the G20 Summit >>more The G20-specific blog posts are here
  • 8/3/09 Supporters encouraged to make their own aidpods – patterns released >>more
  • 4/3/09 Mark II of the AidPod revealed at face to face meeting at Global Tolerance HQ >>more
  • 21/2/09 ColaLife Twitter background released >>more
  • 24/1/09 AidPod ideas explored >>more
  • 8,000th member joins ColaLife Facebook group >>more NOTE: we are now encouraging people to join our Facebook page
  • 27/12/08 BBC iPM ‘Best of Year’ feature broadcast >>listen
  • Introduced by Kate Andrews to David Berman the author of Do Good Design >>more
  • aidpod domain names registered >>more
  • 16/12/08 Face to face meeting at Global Tolerance HQ >>more
  • 13/12/08 ColaLife aims and objectives formally reviewed and re-stated based on the learning so far and informed particularly by the trip to Dar Es Salaam. The AidPod moves centre stage.
  • 6/12/08 Progress Report >>more
  • 5/12/08 Live interview on newstalk Radio, Ireland’s national talk radio station >>more
  • 4/12/08 interviewed by Nigel Courtney for NESTA Innovation Handbook
  • 28/11/08 Met with Dr Jane Miller, PSI, Dar Es Salaam. PSI are potential partners in the trialing of the ColaLife idea >>more
  • 27/11/08 Field trip with Benito Xaverly – ‘ColaLife Pods’ discussed on video >>more
  • 26/11/08 Made prototype ‘ColaLife Pods’ >>more
  • 26/11/08 Stakeholder meeting convened by Coca-Cola in Dar Es Salaam
  • 25/11/08 Kate Andrews presented ColaLife as a case study at KHiO, Oslo
    National Academy of the Arts >>more
  • 25-29/11/08 Simon Berry in Tanzania at the invitation of Coca-Cola >>more
  • 25/11/08 Field trip to Manual Distribution Centres (MDCs) in Dar Es Salaam >>more
  • 24/11/08 ColaLife plenary presentation at NCVO’s Info 2.0 conference >>more
  • 24/11/08 Views of ColaLife Video for Google’s Project 10^100 hit 3,000
  • 20/11/08 BBC to cover the Tanzania Trip >>more
  • 20/10/08 ColaLife case study presented at NCVO’s Collaboration conference
  • 18/11/08 Facebook Group membership hit 7,000
  • 15/11/08 Jess ponsford submits innovation ‘ColaLife Pod’ design ideas >>more
  • 10/11/08 Skype call with ColaLife mentor Tielmann Nieuwoudt
  • 6/11/08 ColaLife Video for Google’s Project 10^100 made available for the iPod >>more
  • 1/11/08 Progress Report >>more
  • 25/10/08 Coca-Cola invites ColaLife to Dar Es Salaam! >>more
  • 25/10/08 Kate Andrews writes ColaLife Wikipedia Entry.
  • 19/10/08 Application submitted to Google’s Project 10^100. >>more
  • 19/10/08 ColaLife Video for Google’s Project 10^100 published on YouTube. View the video on YouTube.
  • 18/10/08 ColaLife press page created >>more
  • 4/10/08 ColaLife featured as a case study at ‘Social Activism Online’ conference. >>more
  • 20/9/08 Excellent ‘Before and After’ ORS pictures found. >>more
  • 15/9/08 talkSPORT interview. >>more
  • 12/9/08 ColaLife ‘Buzz Monitor’ created using Pageflakes. >>more
  • 8/9/08 Facebook group hits 5,500 – the number of children under the age of 5 that die each day in Africa. >>more
  • 1/9/08 ColaLife banner ads made available. >>more
  • 31/8/08 Article published in the Sunday edition of El Mercurio, Chile. This is the first the ColaLife story has been printed on paper. >>more
  • 27/8/08 Progress Report >>more
  • 27/8/08 Facebook Group membership hits 5,000, Google group has 55 members, Flickr Group has 256 members
  • 21/8/08 Responded to questions from El Mercurio, Chile
  • 21/8/08 Interviewed for Common Ground Magazine (US) – feature to be published on 1/10/08
  • 20/8/08 Meeting with James Alexander, CEO, We Are What We Do
  • 14/8/08 First face-to-face meet-up of the ColaLife Group
  • 6/8/08 Facebook Group membership hits 4,000
  • 4/8/08 Colalife website and dedicated blog built by Facebook Group member Dave Briggs.
  • 3/8/08 Aims & objectives finalised through Google Group
  • 3/8/08 ColaLife Flickr Group established
  • 3/8/08 colalife.org domain name purchased
  • Inhabitat article starts an avalanche of other artcles including on treehugger, trendhunter and many more.
  • 29/7/08 Kate’s article published on Inhabitat.com
  • 21/7/08 Kate Andrews became Admin of the Facebook Group (group size: 3,400)
  • 17/7/08 Progress Report (6th Facebook Newsletter) >>more
  • 13/7/08 Simon Berry interviewed on the BBC World Service
  • 6-20/7/08 Facebook bug did not allow Kate Andrews to be added as group administrator – Facebook Support contacted
  • 6/7/08 ColaLife Google Group established
  • 6/7/08 Coca-Cola’s Adrian Ristow sent his first diary note from Ethiopia
  • 3/7/08 Follow-up interview with the iPM Programme (video)
  • 3/7/08 Ran workshop at the 2gether08 Festival
  • 16/6/08 Face to face meeting with Coca Cola’s Salvatore Gabola in Brussels.
  • 13/6/08 Facebook Group grew from 0 to 2,115 in 26 days. Membership includes a ‘frontline’ Rehydration Project in India
  • 5/6/08 Telephone conference with Coca Cola’s Global Head of Stakeholder Relations and UK conterpart
  • 1/6/08 The colalife ampaign was nominated for the New Media Awards
  • 27/5/08 Coca-Cola Reydration Project proposed on RSA Networks (RSA Members only)
  • 24/5/08 As part of the iPM feature, Eve Graham (ex lead singer – The New Seekers) sang supporting lyrics to ‘I’d like to teach the world to sing’.
  • 24/5/08 The campaign was featured on iPM (BBC Radio 4)
  • 23/5/08 The iPM Team received a Written statement received from Coca Cola – ‘willing to talk’
  • 23/5/08 colalife tag establsished in del.icio.us
  • 21-24/5/08 The iPM Team worked flat-out to create an amazing feature for the programme on 24/5/08 and this paid off handsomely
  • 21/5/08 Interviewed by Eddie Mair for the iPM Programme.
  • 19/5/08 #colalife tag set-up in hastags
  • 18/5/08 Facebook Group formed.
  • 16/5/08 Heard Annie Lennox on BBC Radio 4′s Desert Island Discs. She said We can distribute Coca Cola all around the World but we can’t seem to get medication to save a child from something as simple as diarrhoea and I think that that is wrong. At this point I decided my blog post wasn’t going to be enough! I decided to set up a Facebook group to get people behind the idea.
  • 6-14/5/08 I was in communication with Coca-Cola but could not get past the first line in Coca-Cola’s CSR department
  • After the blog post I tried to get the idea debated on the BBC Radio 4 iPM programme. I was successful on the 3rd attempt and after getting friends to support the idea on the iPM blog (see below).
  • 6/5/08 I decided to blog the idea and then follow-up by trying to get Coca-Cola’s attention. The blog post is here.
  • 6/5/08 The presence of Coca-Cola’s Chief Executive at the Business Call To Action event re-kindled the idea. I contributed to the online blog saying: What about Coca Cola using their
    distribution channels (which are amazing in developing countries) to distribute rehydration salts? Maybe by dedicating one compartment in every 10 crates as ‘the life saving’ compartment?’     (original live blog available here)

May 1988 – May 2008 – the first 7,305 days – no progress!

  • May 1988 Had the idea while working on the British Aid Programme in NE Zambia that Coca-Cola’s distribution muscle could be used to distribute oral rehydration salts in developing countries
  • I tried to promote the idea but made no progress at all!
Filed Under: Coca Cola Campaign Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

ColaLife FAQs Live!

30 June 2010 By 3 Comments

Back in February 2010, ColaLife supporter, Lisa ter Haar of onlyconnectcommunication contacted me. She’d mentioned ColaLife in a lecture to her students at the Hult International Business School and they’d had lots and lots of questions. So Lisa invited me in for a question and answer session the following week (1/3/10). When I got the invitation I was delighted and started to think how we might make the session more interesting and capture the content so that others could benefit.

I immediately called my friend, David Wilcox (socialreporter.com) to ask if he would help film the occasion. But we went further than that and gave Flip video cameras to the students too. This produced hours of footage from four cameras and it was at this point that Alex Brenig-Jones of studiomagicsolutions.com stepped in and offered to edit the footage free of charge. So this is a truly collaborative effort and thanks go to all those involved (especially Alex – the editing was a significant amount of work!).

Above is a video playlist of all the questions and below is a grid to allow direct access to each one. As you will be able to see, this was a totally unrehearsed session and I had no previous knowledge of the questions.

Key to all of the questions:

FAQ1: How will the ColaLife AidPods get into the Coca-Cola distribution system? FAQ2: How did ColaLife get Coca-Cola’s attention? FAQ3: Will the AidPods be disposable?
FAQ4: Who needs to be involved locally? FAQ5: Where do Coca-Cola’s responsibilities begin and end? FAQ6: Which other organisations are a part of ColaLife?
FAQ7: What is ColaLife’s role in training and capacity building of public health workers? FAQ8: How will ColaLife be funded? FAQ9: How will ColaLife work with others?

I will be using this material to liven up the ColaLife FAQ page.

Visit ColaLife TV on YouTube.

Filed Under: Coca Cola Campaign, colalife 101, Presentations, Videos Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Progress Report – 30/4/10

2 May 2010 By 1 Comment

Children with AidPod in Tanzania
Children of Mikindani, Tanzania with a model Mark III AidPod, January 2009
Image credit: Tim Dench

May 1988 – May 2008 – the first 7,305 days – no progress!

  • May 1988 Had the idea while working on the British Aid Programme in NE Zambia that Coca-Cola’s distribution muscle could be used to distribute oral rehydration salts in developing countries
  • I tried to promote the idea but made no progress at all!

May 2008 onwards- the last 578 days – real progress!

  • 6/5/08 The presence of Coca-Cola’s Chief Executive at the Business Call To Action event re-kindled the idea. I contributed to the online blog saying: What about Coca Cola using their
    distribution channels (which are amazing in developing countries) to distribute rehydration salts? Maybe by dedicating one compartment in every 10 crates as ‘the life saving’ compartment?’     (original live blog available here)
  • 6/5/08 I decided to blog the idea and then follow-up by trying to get Coca-Cola’s attention. The blog post is here.
  • After the blog post I tried to get the idea debated on the BBC Radio 4 iPM programme. I was successful on the 3rd attempt and after getting friends to support the idea on the iPM blog (see below).
  • 6-14/5/08 I was in communication with Coca-Cola but could not get past the first line in Coca-Cola’s CSR department
  • 16/5/08 Heard Annie Lennox on BBC Radio 4′s Desert Island Discs. She said We can distribute Coca Cola all around the World but we can’t seem to get medication to save a child from something as simple as diarrhoea and I think that that is wrong. At this point I decided my blog post wasn’t going to be enough! I decided to set up a Facebook group to get people behind the idea.
  • 18/5/08 Facebook Group formed.
  • 19/5/08 #colalife tag set-up in hastags
  • 21/5/08 Interviewed by Eddie Mair for the iPM Programme.
  • 21-24/5/08 The iPM Team worked flat-out to create an amazing feature for the programme on 24/5/08 and this paid off handsomely
  • 23/5/08 colalife tag establsished in del.icio.us
  • 23/5/08 The iPM Team received a Written statement received from Coca Cola – ‘willing to talk’
  • 24/5/08 The campaign was featured on iPM (BBC Radio 4)
  • 24/5/08 As part of the iPM feature, Eve Graham (ex lead singer – The New Seekers) sang supporting lyrics to ‘I’d like to teach the world to sing’.
  • 27/5/08 Coca-Cola Reydration Project proposed on RSA Networks (RSA Members only)
  • 1/6/08 The colalife ampaign was nominated for the New Media Awards
  • 5/6/08 Telephone conference with Coca Cola’s Global Head of Stakeholder Relations and UK conterpart
  • 13/6/08 Facebook Group grew from 0 to 2,115 in 26 days. Membership includes a ‘frontline’ Rehydration Project in India
  • 16/6/08 Face to face meeting with Coca Cola’s Salvatore Gabola in Brussels.
  • 3/7/08 Ran workshop at the 2gether08 Festival
  • 3/7/08 Follow-up interview with the iPM Programme (video)
  • 6/7/08 Coca-Cola’s Adrian Ristow sent his first diary note from Ethiopia
  • 6/7/08 ColaLife Google Group established
  • 6-20/7/08 Facebook bug did not allow Kate Andrews to be added as group administrator – Facebook Support contacted
  • 13/7/08 Simon Berry interviewed on the BBC World Service
  • 17/7/08 Progress Report (6th Facebook Newsletter) >>more
  • 21/7/08 Kate Andrews became Admin of the Facebook Group (group size: 3,400)
  • 29/7/08 Kate’s article published on Inhabitat.com
  • Inhabitat article starts an avalanche of other artcles including on treehugger, trendhunter and many more.
  • 3/8/08 ColaLife Flickr Group established
  • 3/8/08 colalife.org domain name purchased
  • 3/8/08 Aims & objectives finalised through Google Group
  • 4/8/08 Colalife website and dedicated blog built by Facebook Group member Dave Briggs.
  • 6/8/08 Facebook Group membership hits 4,000
  • 14/8/08 First face-to-face meet-up of the ColaLife Group
  • 20/8/08 Meeting with James Alexander, CEO, We Are What We Do
  • 21/8/08 Interviewed for Common Ground Magazine (US) – feature to be published on 1/10/08
  • 21/8/08 Responded to questions from El Mercurio, Chile
  • 27/8/08 Facebook Group membership hits 5,000, Google group has 55 members, Flickr Group has 256 members
  • 27/8/08 Progress Report >>more
  • 31/8/08 Article published in the Sunday edition of El Mercurio, Chile. This is the first the ColaLife story has been printed on paper. >>more
  • 1/9/08 ColaLife banner ads made available. >>more
  • 8/9/08 Facebook group hits 5,500 – the number of children under the age of 5 that die each day in Africa. >>more
  • 12/9/08 ColaLife ‘Buzz Monitor’ created using Pageflakes. >>more
  • 15/9/08 talkSPORT interview. >>more
  • 20/9/08 Excellent ‘Before and After’ ORS pictures found. >>more
  • 4/10/08 ColaLife featured as a case study at ‘Social Activism Online’ conference. >>more
  • 18/10/08 ColaLife press page created >>more
  • 19/10/08 ColaLife Video for Google’s Project 10^100 published on YouTube. View the video on YouTube.
  • 19/10/08 Application submitted to Google’s Project 10^100. >>more
  • 25/10/08 Kate Andrews writes ColaLife Wikipedia Entry.
  • 25/10/08 Coca-Cola invites ColaLife to Dar Es Salaam! >>more
  • 1/11/08 Progress Report >>more
  • 6/11/08 ColaLife Video for Google’s Project 10^100 made available for the iPod >>more
  • 10/11/08 Skype call with ColaLife mentor Tielmann Nieuwoudt
  • 15/11/08 Jess ponsford submits innovation ‘ColaLife Pod’ design ideas >>more
  • 18/11/08 Facebook Group membership hit 7,000
  • 20/11/08 BBC to cover the Tanzania Trip >>more
  • 20/10/08 ColaLife case study presented at NCVO’s Collaboration conference
  • 24/11/08 ColaLife plenary presentation at NCVO’s Info 2.0 conference >>more
  • 24/11/08 Views of ColaLife Video for Google’s Project 10^100 hit 3,000
  • 25/11/08 Kate Andrews presented ColaLife as a case study at KHiO, Oslo
    National Academy of the Arts >>more
  • 25-29/11/08 Simon Berry in Tanzania at the invitation of Coca-Cola >>more
  • 25/11/08 Field trip to Manual Distribution Centres (MDCs) in Dar Es Salaam >>more
  • 26/11/08 Stakeholder meeting convened by Coca-Cola in Dar Es Salaam
  • 26/11/08 Made prototype ‘ColaLife Pods’ >>more
  • 27/11/08 Field trip with Benito Xaverly – ‘ColaLife Pods’ discussed on video >>more
  • 28/11/08 Met with Dr Jane Miller, PSI, Dar Es Salaam. PSI are potential partners in the trialing of the ColaLife idea >>more
  • 4/12/08 interviewed by Nigel Courtney for NESTA Innovation Handbook
  • 5/12/08 Live interview on newstalk Radio, Ireland’s national talk radio station >>more
  • 6/12/08 Progress Report >>more
  • 13/12/08 ColaLife aims and objectives formally reviewed and re-stated based on the learning so far and informed particularly by the trip to Dar Es Salaam. The AidPod moves centre stage.
  • 16/12/08 Face to face meeting at Global Tolerance HQ >>more
  • 27/12/08 BBC iPM ‘Best of Year’ feature broadcast >>listen
  • aidpod domain names registered >>more
  • Introduced by Kate Andrews to David Berman the author of Do Good Design >>more
  • 8,000th member joins ColaLife Facebook group >>more NOTE: we are now encouraging people to join our Facebook page
  • 24/1/09 AidPod ideas explored >>more
  • 21/2/09 ColaLife Twitter background released >>more
  • 4/3/09 Mark II of the AidPod revealed at face to face meeting at Global Tolerance HQ >>more
  • 8/3/09 Supporters encouraged to make their own aidpods – patterns released >>more
  • 11/3/09 ColaLife’s Simon Berry is second blogger to be confirmed for the G20 Summit >>more The G20-specific blog posts are here
  • 18/3/09 Simon Berry featured in ‘Social Pioneers’ supplement in the Guardian >>more
  • 25/3/09 The children of N’gombe Compound, Lusaka celebrate the aidpod >>more
  • 28/3/09 Dame Barbara Stocking (Director, Oxfam GB) gives her verdict on the aidpod >>more
  • 5/4/09 Bob Geldof talks to Simon Berry about the aidpod >>more
  • 8/4/09 theWorkshop in Sheffield build a giant aippod >>more
  • 25/4/09 Coca-Cola commit to ColaLife trials in Radio 4 interview >>listen
  • 25/4/09 ColaLife, ‘story so far’ presentation at ‘Africa Gathering’ >>watch
  • 6/5/09 ColaLife’s first birthday
  • 17/5/09 ColaLife featured in HARVARD report >>more
  • 11/6/09 Giant aidpod installed at NESTA, the UK’s Innovation Centre >>more
  • 12/6/09 Prof Don Nutbeam endorses ColaLife in televised panel discussion on global public health >>more
  • 17/6/09 Mark III of the aidpod unveiled >>watch >>slideshow
  • 24/6/09 ColaLife to play Glastonbury >>more
  • 1/7/09 Mayor of London says ‘No’ to ColaLife giant aidpod on the 4th Plinth in Trafalgar Square >>more
  • 5/7/09 Russell Tanner dedicates his spot on the 4th Plinth to ColaLife >>more
  • 7/7/09 ColaLife headlines in NESTA handbook on social innovation >>more
  • 11/7/09 Twitter campaign for plinth appearance starts >>more
  • 14/7/09 Sarah Brown (the UK Prime Minister’s wife) tweets for ColaLife! >>more
  • 18/7/09 Russell Tanner promotes ColaLife on the 4th Plinth in Trafalgar Square >>watch
  • 4/8/09 ColaLife brokers partnership with global NGO for Tanzanian field work >>more
  • 5/8/09 ColaLife balloon release >>watch
  • 15/8/09 An assessment of where we are with Coca-Cola >>more
  • 26/8/09 Progress report >>more
  • 19/8/09 ColaLife is incorporated >>more
  • 24/9/09 Google back off from Project 10 to the 100th (very disappointing) >>more
  • 10/10/09 Giant ColaLife AidPod displayed at the Africa Gathering event >>more
  • 14/10/09 WHO/UNICEF Report published: Diarrhoea: Why children are still dying and what can be done >>more
  • 18/10/09 ColaLife makes the GOOD 100 List >>more
  • 27/10/09 ColaLife presented at the 8th Annual World Food and Innovation Conference, Rotterdam >>more
  • 31/10/09 ColaLife enters the Buckminster Fuller Challenge >>more
  • 4/11/09 ColaLife presented at the inaugural TEDx London event >>more
  • 12/11/09 Keynote presentation at Chain Reaction 2009 >>more
  • 13/11/09 AidPod Mark III animation released >>more
  • 14/11/09 ColaLife Channel launched on YouTube – youtube.com/colalife – >>more
  • 16/11/09 The ColaLife animation reaches 10,000 views >>more
  • 27/11/09 ColaLife gets through to stage 2 of the Buckminster Fuller Challenge (35 of 215 entries have made it this far) >>more
  • 7/12/09 Giant AidPod display installed at the RSA, London >>more
  • 12/12/09 ColaLife Development Plan published >>more
  • 30/12/09 Progress report >>more
  • 31/12/09 Top 10 achievements for 2009 published >>more
  • 10/1/10 A to Z of priorities for 2010 listed >>more
  • 17/1/10 New online campaigning handbook features ColaLife as case study >>more
  • 27/1/10 Video of the presentation of ColaLife at the inaugural TEDx London published >>more
  • 31/1/10 Series on Colalife principles started >>more
  • 15/2/10 ColaLife featured by Sarah Boseley in the Guardian >>more
  • 17/2/10 ColaLife is through to the semi-finals of the Buckminster Fuller Challenge >>more
  • 21/2/10 ColaLife selected for TEDx Warwick >>more
  • 22/2/10 ColaLife live on CNN >>more
  • 11/3/10 Prof Don Nutbeam commits to be the first member of ColaLife’s Virtual Advisory Board >>more
  • 17/3/10 Question and answer session at Hult International Business School >>more
  • 12/4/10 Simon Berry to feature as a ‘Cultural Engineer’ in a book to accompany the launch of a hybrid car by Honda >>more
  • 22/4/10 ColaLife featured as a case study on new book on ‘Ethical Marketing & The New Consumer’ >>more
  • 30/4/10 Progress report (this one)

Next moves

  • Simon Berry will give up his day job in June 2010 to work full time on ColaLife
  • Fund raising has begun to raise funds to proptotype, manufacture and test the aidpod and the ColaLife concept
  • Undertake pre-trial fieldwork to build partnerships for an independently evaluated trial of ColaLife
  • Encourage and support the engagement of young people with ColaLife through work with Universities and Schools
  • On-going PR campaign to ensure support groups continue to grow

5,500 children die every day in Africa before the age of 5. This initiative could save thousands and thousands of children’s lives through positive engagement between the private and NGO sector.

Filed Under: Coca Cola Campaign, Progress Reports Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Progress Report – 30/12/09

30 December 2009 By Leave a Comment

MDC Child
Child at Rene MDC, Tanzania, November 2008
Image credit: Simon Berry

May 1988 – May 2008 – the first 7,305 days – no progress!

  • May 1988 Had the idea while working on the British Aid Programme in NE Zambia that Coca-Cola’s distribution muscle could be used to distribute oral rehydration salts in developing countries
  • I tried to promote the idea but made no progress at all!

May 2008 onwards- the last 578 days – real progress!

  • 6/5/08 The presence of Coca-Cola’s Chief Executive at the Business Call To Action event re-kindled the idea. I contributed to the online blog saying: What about Coca Cola using their
    distribution channels (which are amazing in developing countries) to distribute rehydration salts? Maybe by dedicating one compartment in every 10 crates as ‘the life saving’ compartment?’     (original live blog available here)
  • 6/5/08 I decided to blog the idea and then follow-up by trying to get Coca-Cola’s attention. The blog post is here.
  • After the blog post I tried to get the idea debated on the BBC Radio 4 iPM programme. I was successful on the 3rd attempt and after getting friends to support the idea on the iPM blog (see below).
  • 6-14/5/08 I was in communication with Coca-Cola but could not get past the first line in Coca-Cola’s CSR department
  • 16/5/08 Heard Annie Lennox on BBC Radio 4′s Desert Island Discs. She said We can distribute Coca Cola all around the World but we can’t seem to get medication to save a child from something as simple as diarrhoea and I think that that is wrong. At this point I decided my blog post wasn’t going to be enough! I decided to set up a Facebook group to get people behind the idea.
  • 18/5/08 Facebook Group formed.
  • 19/5/08 #colalife tag set-up in hastags
  • 21/5/08 Interviewed by Eddie Mair for the iPM Programme.
  • 21-24/5/08 The iPM Team worked flat-out to create an amazing feature for the programme on 24/5/08 and this paid off handsomely
  • 23/5/08 colalife tag establsished in del.icio.us
  • 23/5/08 The iPM Team received a Written statement received from Coca Cola – ‘willing to talk’
  • 24/5/08 The campaign was featured on iPM (BBC Radio 4)
  • 24/5/08 As part of the iPM feature, Eve Graham (ex lead singer – The New Seekers) sang supporting lyrics to ‘I’d like to teach the world to sing’.
  • 27/5/08 Coca-Cola Reydration Project proposed on RSA Networks (RSA Members only)
  • 1/6/08 The colalife ampaign was nominated for the New Media Awards
  • 5/6/08 Telephone conference with Coca Cola’s Global Head of Stakeholder Relations and UK conterpart
  • 13/6/08 Facebook Group grew from 0 to 2,115 in 26 days. Membership includes a ‘frontline’ Rehydration Project in India
  • 16/6/08 Face to face meeting with Coca Cola’s Salvatore Gabola in Brussels.
  • 3/7/08 Ran workshop at the 2gether08 Festival
  • 3/7/08 Follow-up interview with the iPM Programme (video)
  • 6/7/08 Coca-Cola’s Adrian Ristow sent his first diary note from Ethiopia
  • 6/7/08 ColaLife Google Group established
  • 6-20/7/08 Facebook bug did not allow Kate Andrews to be added as group administrator – Facebook Support contacted
  • 13/7/08 Simon Berry interviewed on the BBC World Service
  • 17/7/08 Progress Report (6th Facebook Newsletter) >>more
  • 21/7/08 Kate Andrews became Admin of the Facebook Group (group size: 3,400)
  • 29/7/08 Kate’s article published on Inhabitat.com
  • Inhabitat article starts an avalanche of other artcles including on treehugger, trendhunter and many more.
  • 3/8/08 ColaLife Flickr Group established
  • 3/8/08 colalife.org domain name purchased
  • 3/8/08 Aims & objectives finalised through Google Group
  • 4/8/08 Colalife website and dedicated blog built by Facebook Group member Dave Briggs.
  • 6/8/08 Facebook Group membership hits 4,000
  • 14/8/08 First face-to-face meet-up of the ColaLife Group
  • 20/8/08 Meeting with James Alexander, CEO, We Are What We Do
  • 21/8/08 Interviewed for Common Ground Magazine (US) – feature to be published on 1/10/08
  • 21/8/08 Responded to questions from El Mercurio, Chile
  • 27/8/08 Facebook Group membership hits 5,000, Google group has 55 members, Flickr Group has 256 members
  • 27/8/08 Progress Report >>more
  • 31/8/08 Article published in the Sunday edition of El Mercurio, Chile. This is the first the ColaLife story has been printed on paper. >>more
  • 1/9/08 ColaLife banner ads made available. >>more
  • 8/9/08 Facebook group hits 5,500 – the number of children under the age of 5 that die each day in Africa. >>more
  • 12/9/08 ColaLife ‘Buzz Monitor’ created using Pageflakes. >>more
  • 15/9/08 talkSPORT interview. >>more
  • 20/9/08 Excellent ‘Before and After’ ORS pictures found. >>more
  • 4/10/08 ColaLife featured as a case study at ‘Social Activism Online’ conference. >>more
  • 18/10/08 ColaLife press page created >>more
  • 19/10/08 ColaLife Video for Google’s Project 10^100 published on YouTube. View the video on YouTube.
  • 19/10/08 Application submitted to Google’s Project 10^100. >>more
  • 25/10/08 Kate Andrews writes ColaLife Wikipedia Entry.
  • 25/10/08 Coca-Cola invites ColaLife to Dar Es Salaam! >>more
  • 1/11/08 Progress Report >>more
  • 6/11/08 ColaLife Video for Google’s Project 10^100 made available for the iPod >>more
  • 10/11/08 Skype call with ColaLife mentor Tielmann Nieuwoudt
  • 15/11/08 Jess ponsford submits innovation ‘ColaLife Pod’ design ideas >>more
  • 18/11/08 Facebook Group membership hit 7,000
  • 20/11/08 BBC to cover the Tanzania Trip >>more
  • 20/10/08 ColaLife case study presented at NCVO’s Collaboration conference
  • 24/11/08 ColaLife plenary presentation at NCVO’s Info 2.0 conference >>more
  • 24/11/08 Views of ColaLife Video for Google’s Project 10^100 hit 3,000
  • 25/11/08 Kate Andrews presented ColaLife as a case study at KHiO, Oslo
    National Academy of the Arts >>more
  • 25-29/11/08 Simon Berry in Tanzania at the invitation of Coca-Cola >>more
  • 25/11/08 Field trip to Manual Distribution Centres (MDCs) in Dar Es Salaam >>more
  • 26/11/08 Stakeholder meeting convened by Coca-Cola in Dar Es Salaam
  • 26/11/08 Made prototype ‘ColaLife Pods’ >>more
  • 27/11/08 Field trip with Benito Xaverly – ‘ColaLife Pods’ discussed on video >>more
  • 28/11/08 Met with Dr Jane Miller, PSI, Dar Es Salaam. PSI are potential partners in the trialing of the ColaLife idea >>more
  • 4/12/08 interviewed by Nigel Courtney for NESTA Innovation Handbook
  • 5/12/08 Live interview on newstalk Radio, Ireland’s national talk radio station >>more
  • 6/12/08 Progress Report >>more
  • 13/12/08 ColaLife aims and objectives formally reviewed and re-stated based on the learning so far and informed particularly by the trip to Dar Es Salaam. The AidPod moves centre stage.
  • 16/12/08 Face to face meeting at Global Tolerance HQ >>more
  • 27/12/08 BBC iPM ‘Best of Year’ feature broadcast >>listen
  • aidpod domain names registered >>more
  • Introduced by Kate Andrews to David Berman the author of Do Good Design >>more
  • 8,000th member joins ColaLife Facebook group >>more NOTE: we are now encouraging people to join our Facebook page
  • 24/1/09 AidPod ideas explored >>more
  • 21/2/09 ColaLife Twitter background released >>more
  • 4/3/09 Mark II of the AidPod revealed at face to face meeting at Global Tolerance HQ >>more
  • 8/3/09 Supporters encouraged to make their own aidpods – patterns released >>more
  • 11/3/09 ColaLife’s Simon Berry is second blogger to be confirmed for the G20 Summit >>more The G20-specific blog posts are here
  • 18/3/09 Simon Berry featured in ‘Social Pioneers’ supplement in the Guardian >>more
  • 25/3/09 The children of N’gombe Compound, Lusaka celebrate the aidpod >>more
  • 28/3/09 Dame Barbara Stocking (Director, Oxfam GB) gives her verdict on the aidpod >>more
  • 5/4/09 Bob Geldof talks to Simon Berry about the aidpod >>more
  • 8/4/09 theWorkshop in Sheffield build a giant aippod >>more
  • 25/4/09 Coca-Cola commit to ColaLife trials in Radio 4 interview >>listen
  • 25/4/09 ColaLife, ‘story so far’ presentation at ‘Africa Gathering’ >>watch
  • 6/5/09 ColaLife’s first birthday
  • 17/5/09 ColaLife featured in HARVARD report >>more
  • 11/6/09 Giant aidpod installed at NESTA, the UK’s Innovation Centre >>more
  • 12/6/09 Prof Don Nutbeam endorses ColaLife in televised panel discussion on global public health >>more
  • 17/6/09 Mark III of the aidpod unveiled >>watch >>slideshow
  • 24/6/09 ColaLife to play Glastonbury >>more
  • 1/7/09 Mayor of London says ‘No’ to ColaLife giant aidpod on the 4th Plinth in Trafalgar Square >>more
  • 5/7/09 Russell Tanner dedicates his spot on the 4th Plinth to ColaLife >>more
  • 7/7/09 ColaLife headlines in NESTA handbook on social innovation >>more
  • 11/7/09 Twitter campaign for plinth appearance starts >>more
  • 14/7/09 Sarah Brown (the UK Prime Minister’s wife) tweets for ColaLife! >>more
  • 18/7/09 Russell Tanner promotes ColaLife on the 4th Plinth in Trafalgar Square >>watch
  • 4/8/09 ColaLife brokers partnership with global NGO for Tanzanian field work >>more
  • 5/8/09 ColaLife balloon release >>watch
  • 15/8/09 An assessment of where we are with Coca-Cola >>more
  • 26/8/09 Progress report >>more
  • 19/8/09 ColaLife is incorporated >>more
  • 24/9/09 Google back off from Project 10 to the 100th (very disappointing) >>more
  • 10/10/09 Giant ColaLife AidPod displayed at the Africa Gathering event >>more
  • 14/10/09 WHO/UNICEF Report published: Diarrhoea: Why children are still dying and what can be done >>more
  • 18/10/09 ColaLife makes the GOOD 100 List >>more
  • 27/10/09 ColaLife presented at the 8th Annual World Food and Innovation Conference, Rotterdam >>more
  • 31/10/09 ColaLife enters the Buckminster Fuller Challenge >>more
  • 4/11/09 ColaLife presented at the inaugural TEDx London event >>more
  • 12/11/09 Keynote presentation at Chain Reaction 2009 >>more
  • 13/11/09 AidPod Mark III animation released >>more
  • 14/11/09 ColaLife Channel launched on YouTube – youtube.com/colalife – >>more
  • 16/11/09 The ColaLife animation reaches 10,000 views >>more
  • 27/11/09 ColaLife gets through to stage 2 of the Buckminster Fuller Challenge (35 of 215 entries have made it this far) >>more
  • 7/12/09 Giant AidPod display installed at the RSA, London >>more
  • 12/12/09 ColaLife Development Plan published >>more
  • 30/12/09 Progress report >>more

Next moves

  • Fund raising has begun to raise funds to proptotype, manufacture and test the aidpod and the ColaLife concept
  • Increase level of engagement with Coca-Cola with the aim of securing trials of the ColaLife concept in mid 2010
  • Simon Berry will give up his day job in June 2010 to work full time on ColaLife
  • On-going PR campaign to ensure support groups continue to grow

5,500 children die every day in Africa before the age of 5. This initiative could save thousands and thousands of children’s lives through positive engagement between the private and NGO sector.

Filed Under: Coca Cola Campaign, Progress Reports Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

The ColaLife Channel launches

14 November 2009 By 2 Comments

The ColaLife Channel

A key element of the online part of the ColaLife campaign has been to take a multi-channel approach and get ColaLife everywhere. We didn’t start with a website and expect people to find us, we went to all the places potential supporters might be. So we are:

And I’ve just set up vimeo.com/colalife. We didn’t have a website and this blog until we were well into the campaign and even now this acts as an aggregator of content from other places. No images are loaded on the blog, for example, they are all on Flickr.

A key missing element in this approach was the fact that we could not get youtube.com/colalife because it was already in place – may be it was set up by a ColaLife supporter – but it had never been used. Anyway, a handful of ColaLife supporters who work for Google (who own YouTube) worked some magic last week and now we have The ColaLife Channel on YouTube. Take a look.

Filed Under: Coca Cola Campaign, Videos Tagged With: , ,

ColaLife autumn speaking tour hits the trains

22 October 2009 By 3 Comments

Through a string of very fortunate coincidences, tomorrow I get on a train to begin a pretty high profile (although I say so myself!) ColaLife speaking tour! The first stop is Rotterdam for the 8th Annual World Food and Innovation Conference to give a plenary presentation on ColaLife to the big boys and girls of the food industry:

Food Technology and Innovation logo

Then it’s back to London where Colalife is ‘headlining’ at TEDx London (4/11/09) – at least that’s how it was put to me! I think all the speakers there are also ‘headlining’. I want to use this to try a get a spot at global TED at some point in the future:

TEDx London Logo

And then Colalife will one of the two short plenary sessions kicking off the wonderful Chain Reaction event in Canary Wharf (12/11/09):

Chain Reaction logo
This string of activities has inspired ColaLife supporter (and son) to put together a brilliant animation showing how the ColaLife AidPod works. This will go onto YouTube and this blog after the Chain Reaction event. Can I urge you to consider coming to the Chain Reaction event. It’s free if you are under 21. I guarantee you will have an inspiring day – the programme is simply amazing (ColaLife only gets 15mins!).

Filed Under: Coca Cola Campaign, Events, Presentations Tagged With: , , , , ,

ColaLife Twittermob – the video!

18 July 2009 By 3 Comments

ColaLife Twittermob in Trafalgar Square. Thanks to David Wilcox for this video. David has kindly put others here on YouTube and Qik.

Do you have any photos or video from the event? Let us know where they are (by commenting) and we will link to them. If you’re tagging please use ‘colalife’.

>> More video (thanks to Richard and Laura from Community Links and Chain Reaction and others)

Related post:

skyARTS coverage

Filed Under: Coca Cola Campaign, Twitter mob Tagged With: , , ,

I’ve written to Michael Eavis

22 June 2009 By Leave a Comment

Parcel for Michael Eavis 002

Last week the ColaLife animation (below) registered 8,000 views on YouTube. Not bad. But it deserves a much bigger audience – don’t you think?

So last week I wrote to Michael Eavis to see if he’d be willing to show it on the big screens at the Glastonbury Festival. I included the animation on CD. Watch this space!

Filed Under: Coca Cola Campaign, Videos Tagged With: , , , ,
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