Last friday I had the pleasure to meet the folks behind Bolder, a site that helps people to trigger and discover experiences that make the world a little better, one action at a time. You can start a challenge yourself or browse through the challenge catalogue and do positive actions to earn rewards. Anyone can respond to a challenge and earn a reward.
Every challenge is a unique creation started by businesses or people. Challenges pose a request for users to take action, have a little fun, and be part of something that drives positive change.
Here are some of the challenges that caught my eye:
Go completely waste-free for a day
Say no to disposable bag at check-out
Make a regular work meeting a walk meeting
While talking to one of the Bolder founders he told me he used it to challenge his roomates to keep the apartment clean. Whenever they would clean something, they would ‘check in’ and mention what they did. That way they’d get recognized for their actions and earn points. Made me chuckle. I might do the same for Studiomates. But the cool thing is that if enough people meet the challenge, the person posing it has to do something in return. For example: Eric A claims that if 25 people go waste-free for a day he’ll go waste-free for a week!
But the site goes beyond the personal challenges, it invites companies to pose challenges. I like the notion of companies wanting to trigger good actions. And I am not surprised by some of the companies I see up there: Seventh Generation, Rickshaw Bagworks, Nature’s Gate…
Why don’t you go ahead and start a challenge?
“he used it to challenge his roomates to keep the apartment clean” Really? This sounds so lame.
Business people who expect people to do good work for nothing are deluded.
Jul 18th, 2011 / 9:05 am
Cornelius, I am happy to inform you that in my experience people do good works for nothing all the time. I experience people working with Habitat for Humanity and Second Harvest Food bank for no monetary rewards. I have also witnessed businesses giving their employees time work off enable them to conduct good work. People and many businesses are (for the most part) generous with time and money to help others. Giving often provides its own reward.
Jul 18th, 2011 / 3:09 pm
I think the general idea of the website is great, but I do have a problem with the example of him challenging his roommates to keep the apartment clean.
I just don’t think it is good PR for Bolder.
Doesn’t it just create a very awkward situation? This will just make a worse situation out of something minor. I am assuming these people he rooms with are adults, and have maybe an ounce of self respect to actually decline this idea. What happened to the old fashioned way of talking it out?
Doing good work for a good cause for nothing is always great, but I don’t think that is the issue here.
Jul 29th, 2011 / 11:43 am