Being a medical resident, you get shielded from a lot of hospital politics. In fact, during nearly all of your training you usually are. If you ever become the chief resident of your particular specialty, you might get exposed to more of it as that’s pretty much your job (in addition to teaching younger trainees).

But what I have learned throughout the hospitals that I’ve worked at, is that all of them — even in Canada, where its all publicly funded — still depend on the charity and philanthropy of others. My understanding is that most academic hospitals in downtown Toronto, in fact, have trouble making their budgets on what they’re given, and being in the black is often the exception rather than the rule.

Its nice, therefore, to see Marc Andreesson (of Netscape fame, ‘natch) being as generous as he is with a $27 million donation to a local hospital, with a goal to improving the emergency department. With the rising cost of everything — but not including expensive technology, whether they be blood tests or imaging modalities (i.e. CT scanners) every hospital needs wealthy patrons, and I would say that’s probably true even for ones in Silicon Valley.

In a day and age where headlines still persist with respect to new tech millionaires who feel unfulfilled with their largesse — its nice to see someone really finding a sense of happiness and fulfillment by taking that money to help others. Even if he’s part of the relatively “old” tech guard. ;)

More:

• Tom Williams — there are limits social networking and the desire for control, even when its well intentioned, over the people who use social networks. The power is recognizing that people need to, and have to be allowed to, be free.
• Question: “How do you help marginalized people take advantage of these tools when they aren’t in the position to have access to these tools?” \
  • Tom Williams – part of the solution is understanding the problem, but also opening up the communication architecture, whether it be blogging or not.
• Question: “If you give kids technology without instruction [didn't catch the rest]”
  •  Austin Hill — Just because its online doesn’t mean its Good. There are costs, dangers, and risks associated with it. Education plays a huge role in all of this and understanding what is Good and what is Bad.
• Question: “Building a social network around a cause, but the moment that it becomes a financial transaction everything changes“.
  • Tom Williams – 100% of the credit card costs go to the causes to that they’ve been directed towards — and ad revenues help make it that 100%. Skepticism around good intent is cultivated when the conversation strays from what is empowered, what the results are, and what the ultimate return on that good action.
• Question: “How much should charities put towards social media?”
  • Tom Williams – Make the people who are passionate the people the evangelists for your cause as a way to implement social media.
  • Austin Hill – You have to give people activities that they actually want to do. Mobilizing ordinary people requires giving a sense of reward in every day things. And doing it with everyone else creates a sense that you’re doing something bigger than yourself.
• Austin Hill: As an example, he described creating a widget that turns off your PC / screensaver, and broadcast your efforts to everyone; teams can compete around the world to, essentially, save energy and power. Its a powerful way to manage power consumption (can’t remember the name of the startup).
• Tom Williams: The best change happens when we turn our screens off. ;)
• Question: “Do traditional charities see you as a threat?”
  • Tom Williams – Those who think that they own the relationship will probably feel threatened.
• Question: “Can you change the world and still make a buck?”
  • Austin Hill — everyone should read David Bornstein’s “How to Change The World”. Lots of examples around the world of social entrepreneurs, using capitalism and enterprise to do affect great work.
  • Tom Williams — GiveMeaning.com is trying to pioneer a means to create establish real reputations so that people can separate signal from noise with respect to conversations
• Austin Hill — Gave some publicity to Standout Jobs. ;)
• Question: “Any examples for bridging local and world wide charity?”
  • Tom Williams – The power is in the inspiration we can be to each other.
• Rob Hyndman — wanted to highlight CodeForGood.com … a content which allows teams to compete building a site for charities in just 24h.

More:

• Tom Williams — “How do I, as an organization, inspire others?” User generated media, whether through blogs or video has immense power.
• “How can you mobilize social media tools towards something positive?”
  • Austin Hill — Its difficult. Treesforlife.com is a good example of startups blending technology. Its important to “put the fun in functionality” — and its the importance of some fun social activity, even if its the result of a gift economy, which will mobilize action rather than just whipping out your credit card.
• Tom Williams — “We live in an ego casting world“. The challenge with social media is that it is so ephemeral .. if you don’t like it you can leave. It can also allow for an easier level of disconnect. “Web3.0 will facilitate a deeper conversation” or discussion, whereas Web2.0 encourages *a* conversation.
• “Doing Good … is this another channel in the Attention Economy? Is it fair to talk about it this way?”
  • Austin Hill — The popularity of news is in depressing news, but there is an economy for “feel good”media, and ABC need to own it with Home Makeover Extreme. Tom Williams: his own work shows and proves that there is a need and want towards fulfilling news.
• Tom Williams — GiveMeaning.com has some great projects, including live blogging about their positives and their struggles with a group of students who traveled to Ecuador — initially just to deliver soccerballs.
• “One of the challenges with traditional giving is getting people to act. Does social media help you reach that point?”
  • Austin Hill — There is a disconnect between what they say and what they do, and environmentalism, for example, is no different. Transforming ideas into action can happen more quickly, but the power isn’t in marketers who co-opt causes for their own needs — but in every day things that make a difference with every day people.