I still have to figure out if the hotel where I’ll be at for a conference on April 8 has a “No Shoes, No Service” policy, but whether or not I can participate, I really like what TOMS is doing here.  I like it for the same reason I like Movember, the charity that raises money for men’s health by asking supporters to “grow, flow and show” their mustaches in the month of November.

In both cases, regular people transform themselves into walking billboards.  It’s not that going shoeless or growing a mustache makes a positive change—these things don’t have the same impact as volunteering, for example.  But what they do is start a conversation, and create an opportunity to raise awareness and educate among your peers.

So when someone asks, “Why aren’t you wearing shoes?”, you’ll be ready with the following facts:

• In some developing nations, children must walk for miles to school, clean water and to seek medical help.
• Cuts and sores on feet can lead to serious infection.
• Often, children cannot attend school barefoot.
• In Ethiopia, approximately one million people are suffering from Podoconiosis, a debilitating and disfiguring disease caused by walking barefoot in volcanic soil.
• Podoconiosis is 100% preventable with basic foot hygiene and wearing shoes.

In a way, though, TOMS doesn’t even need this event to turn its customers into billboards.  The shoes themselves accomplish this by being so unlike any other product on the market that people often stop to comment on them.  If they’re not already, these facts should be plastered on the inside of the shoe box so that any time the shoe conversation comes, the wearer is prepared to educate.

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Synopsis of the above video:

“Alvin Hall, a business and financial expert, is traveling the world helping social entrepreneurs–business people more interested in doing good than making money–become more successful. In India, farmers struggle to grow their crops during the long dry months. IDEI tries to help by making affordable irrigation products that feed plants a drop of water at a time. But can farmers really make enough money to pay for them? And can IDEI’s inspirational boss, Amitabha Sadangi, accept Alvin’s challenge to groom a successor?

My favorite thing about the show is “Part Two”, when Alvin revisits his subjects 6 months after the initial meeting.  The way the series is framed, Alvin is supposed to be a sort of advisor to these social entrepreneurs, stopping by months later to check in on their progress.  But if you watch the episode closely, you’ll see his subjects mentoring him just as much as he mentors them.

It’s a fascinating relationship, and it’s pretty satisfying to see the Bottom of the Pyramid folk teach the Wall Street guy a little something about business.

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Sound bite: “Unlike the 90s when we focused on process and we focused on technology, now what we can do is focus on culture and focus on people.”

Watch video on YouTube.

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“The Global Health & Innovation Conference convenes more than 2,200 students and professionals from 55 countries who are interested in global health and international development, public health, medicine, social entrepreneurship, nonprofits, philanthropy, microfinance, human rights, anthropology, health policy, advocacy, public service, environmental health, and education.”

I’ve never attended the conference—and won’t be able to make it this year—but you can expect a lot to come out of this gathering, where thousands of people from around the world discuss innovative solutions for improving health and development.  What’s really great is that this conference is committed to exploring the broad range of issues associated with health and development.

On top of that, the keynote speakers are not to be missed: Jacqueline Novogratz of Acumen Fund, Jeffrey Sachs of Earth Institute at Columbia University, Sonia Ehrlich Sachs of Millennium Village Project, Seth Godin of…well, everything.

Attend the Conference: Register by February 15 for the lowest registration rate.

Submit a Social Enterprise Pitch:  Do you have an innovative idea or a new program in development?  If you plan on attending, submit your idea for presentation.

More Information: Read more about the conference and speaker schedule.

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I first came across this PUR ad online, and have since seen it several times on TV.  I like this ad a lot, despite not caring much for Zach Braff (the “Voice of Water” for PUR).

The reason I like it is because the connection between PUR’s filtration systems and its work to provide clean water to people in resource-poor countries just makes sense.  That’s because PUR originally developed its “Purifier of Water” packets as a product for those at the bottom of the pyramid.  When P&G—the maker of PUR—determined the private sector approach wouldn’t work, they adapted and switched their strategy.

Here’s what Insead’s Knowledge vault has to say:

“The product had clear social benefits, providing clean drinking water for households in places where the health risks of untreated drinking water are high, especially for children. After three years of market tests though, PUR was looking like a commercial failure. Many other firms would have closed down the project, but P&G instead moved PUR to its corporate sustainability department, easing the pressure on turning a profit. Since 2003, P&G has sold the product at cost and worked in partnership with nonprofit organizations, who distribute the product through their development and humanitarian relief networks.”

Through its Children’s Safe Drinking Water Program, PUR has formed some impressive partnerships that give its clean water packets distribution in the places that need them most.  Not only has CSDW been there for disaster relief efforts in Haiti and southern Asia (where it shipped 28 million packets of PUR “Purifier of Water” to tsunami-affected areas in 2005), but it has also provided 1.8 billion liters of clean water to children and their families all around the world.

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