Congratulations, EVOKE agents. You’ve not only survived your crash course in changing the world — you’ve developed amazing resourcefulness, optimism and resilience.

Now it’s time to put all of your EVOKE powers to use.

It’s time to turn your attention from the story of the EVOKE network to the reality of how YOU will change the world.

HAPPY EVOKATION DAY.

Starting today, you can share YOUR creative plan for tackling one of the world’s most urgent problems: hunger, poverty, pandemic, sustainable energy, climate change, conservation, women’s rights; access to education, clean water, health care, and economic opportunity.

Here’s how to do it:

Step one: Upload your evokation to the network — as a blog post, video, photo essay, or any combination of evidence. TAG IT “EVOKATION.”

Step two: Email urgentevoke@gmail.com with the URL of your EVOKATION and the full contact information for yourself and any other team members: full name, address, phone number, and date of birth. (Your personal information will not be shared, and will be used only to contact you and confirm your identity in the event that you win a mentorship, travel scholarship, or seed funding.)

Remember, agents: Your EVOKATION must include the following four essential elements:

1. The Place. Where will you make a difference? Describe the institution, community, town or other geographic or virtual space in which you will focus your efforts.

2. The Challenge. What will you aim to change, and for whom? Highlight what is the need that you perceive and who will benefit from this change.

3. The Idea. Your solution – what is the action, product, service, project, change that you will initiate? Tell us how will your idea will succeed where others have failed.

4. The Money. What would you do with your first US$1,000 given or invested in support of your vision?

Based on the Evokation you submit, and your overall participation in the Evoke network missions, quests, and discussions, we choose a number of you to continue the journey with us and change the world in unimaginable ways.

Your EVOKATIONS will be reviewed by senior education specialists at the World Bank Institute, EVOKE creators, and our EVOKE mentors. We will look for truly creative solutions, breakthrough ideas, solid business plans, and courageous projects — especially projects that reflect the 4 rules of evoking. We hope to find up to 20 EVOKATIONS to support with at least one award.

YOUR EVOKATION IS DUE BY 11:59 PM Pacific Time May 19, 2010.

Find out everything else you need to know about your EVOKATION in the Frequently Asked Questions

Review the Official Rules, including eligibility for Class of 2010 Honors and EVOKE mentorships and summit scholarships.

Happy Evokation Day! How to submit your Evokation.

The Evokation: How to earn EVOKE awards, scholarships, mentorships
Due date: May 19, 2010.

Open To All Ages.

The EVOKATIONS FAQ!

What does an EVOKATION look like?
Useful example.

Evokation Mentors Group 5
Dan Morris, Chelsea Seale, Anne Shongwe, and Steve Vosloo.

Evokation Mentors Group 4
Nicolas Gorjestani, Vinay Gupta, Josette Melchor, and Jamie McAuliffe.

Evokation Mentors Group 3
Anil Gupta, Erik Hersman, Joseph Nsengimana, and Praful Patel.

Evokation Mentors Group 2
Sebastian Barajas, Paul Gabie, Vis Naidoo, and Bill Purves.

Evokation Mentors Group 1
Jessica Lin, Derek Lomas, Roger Schank, and Ethan Zuckerman.

1. When are EVOKATIONS due?
May 19, 11:59 Pacific Time.

2. How do I submit my EVOKATION?
There are two key steps to submit your EVOKATION:

1) Share your EVOKATION on the EVOKE network. Post it as a blog, photo essay, video, or any combination of the above. Be sure to tag it “EVOKATION.”

2) If you wish to be considered for awards, you must also EMAIL the URL (or URLs) of your EVOKATION evidence to urgentevoke@gmail.com. Please include your REAL NAME, ADDRESS, PHONE NUMBER and DATE OF BIRTH in your email submission. This information will remain private and will not be published or shared with anyone without your explicit permission. In order to be eligible for a mentorship, scholarship, or seed funding you MUST include this information.

3. How will I know my EVOKATION has been received?
You will receive an email confirming receipt of the evokation — but ONLY after you submit a link to urgentevoke@gmail.com.

4. What do I need to include in my EVOKATION?
You can read about the format of the EVOKATION here!

Most importantly:
Your EVOKATION should answer ALL four key questions listed in the format.
And if you wish to be considered for mentorships, travel scholarships or seed funding, you must also email your real full name, phone number, address, and date of birth to urgentevoke@gmail.com. Include this information for ALL team members.

5. Can I submit a “group” or “team” EVOKATION?
Yes! Be sure to describe in detail what the role of each team member will be. Who is responsible for what? Which skills and knowledge does each team member add to the group?

6. Is there any advantage or disadvantage to submitting as a team?
No — both individuals and teams will be considered equally.

7. What are the criteria on which the EVOKATIONS will be judged?
We will be looking for individuals and teams who have a clear and specific plan for solving a social problem, creatively.
In particular, your EVOKATION should follow the 4 rules of EVOKING.

8. Who will be evaluating the EVOKATIONS?
For mentorships, travel scholarships to the summit, and seed funding of $1000, the EVOKATIONS will be evaluated by: a team of World Bank Institute senior education specialists, the EVOKE mentors and the EVOKE creators will be evaluating the submissions.

You will also receive advice and feedback from other EVOKE agents! Their ideas and insight can help you advance your EVOKATION goals whether or not you receive a formal EVOKE mentorship, funding, and scholarship.

9. Can I see an example of a great EVOKATION?
This is the first time we’ve run EVOKE, so there aren’t winning EVOKATION examples yet. But you should look very closely at successful submissions to other social innovation challenges to get a good idea of the kind of detail and thoughtfulness that can make your EVOKATION stand out. The submissions for Changemaker competitions are a great place to start. You can also review the EVOKATION advice here.

10. Can I submit more than one EVOKATION, or submit as part of multiple teams?
Yes. But we do encourage you to focus on one truly outstanding idea, and creating one really fantastic evokation — it will improve your chances of really standing out.

11. Who can I earn a mentorship with?
You can see the full mentor list on the blog.

12. When and where is the EVOKE summit?
It will be in Washington, DC in October 2010. Winners of travel scholarships to the summit will have the full costs of the trip provided. The World Bank Institute will also provide a letter of support to assist with the winners’ application for a travel VISA to the United States.

13. Can I ask for a specific mentor in my EVOKATION?
Yes! If you have a specific mentor in mind from our list, you can mention that. We will be sure to share your EVOKATIOn with that mentor and let them know you are interested in working with them. All mentors have the opportunity to review the submissions and select the EVOKATION they most wish to mentor.

14. Can I ask for a specific kind of support — whether I really want a mentorship, or seed funding of $1000, or a travel scholarship summit to Washington DC?
Yes! If you believe your project would benefit from one kind of support in particular, please mention this is in your submission. You can also rank the kinds of support in order of priority if you would like to be considered for all 3.

15. When will we find out who has received EVOKATION support?
The mentorships and travel scholarships will be announced in early June. We will work over the summer with outstanding EVOKATION projects to help ensure seed funding for as many great projects as possible.

If I were submitting something as important as this I’d want to talk to someone directly about it.  So, this Sunday I want to offer all agents the opportunity to join some of the EVOKE team in a live, online chat to discuss all things related to EVOKATIONS.  I am calling this the EVOKATION CLINIC.

When?

Sunday 2nd May

16:00-18:00 GMT – UK

This translates as:

08:00-10:00 PDT (GMT-8) – San Francisco

11:00-13:00 EDT (GMT-5) – Washington DC

18:00-20:00     (GMT+2) – Cape Town

00:00-02:00 (GMT+8) – Beijing

Where?

We are using an online chat client called Mibbit. Click this link here to join us: http://bit.ly/evokechat

How?

It’s straight forward enough – you ask the questions and with any luck we will provide some answers. However, in order to keep a little structure to the proceedings I want to ask you to help us out a little. Could you please submit any questions you have beforehand, either below this post, or directly to me via my EVOKE email (http://www.urgentevoke.com/profile/SimonBrookes).

If this is a success we will hold another clinic next week particularly for those of you who, becuase of clashes with time zones, found it impossible to join us this week

Please pass this information on to other agents in your network and opefully we’ll see you there.

Agent Brookes

EVOKATIONS. Many agents are working on Evokations, which is to say, they are proposing ways to put an idea into action, with our help. You can read all about Evokations right here, and here’s what an Evokation might look like. A powerful element of the Evokation is its list of Mentors – that is, the experienced social entrepreneurs that have signed on to mentor the people with successful Evokations. You can read about them here and here and here.

Evokations are not for everyone, though. Most of us won’t be able to file one, or take time from our lives. So what is our EVOKE legacy? There are two, no, three – very strong options. Choose all that apply to you:

1) EVOKE CERTIFICATION. Can you complete one of each week’s Missions (LEARN, ACT, or IMAGINE) plus all 10 Quests? And will they pass the review after you submit them? If so, you will earn the Certificate that says you have passed the ten-week crash course in changing the world. NOTE: the Certification is like an exam. You submit it, it is reviewed and graded for relevance and effort. No make-up exam! Submit your best work.

2) FOUNDING MEMBER. Step up and complete just one of the Missions (LEARN, ACT, IMAGINE for any week) to be listed as an EVOKE Founding Member.

3) I CHANGED MYSELF. For the vast majority of EVOKE agents, this is the grand prize. We have come to EVOKE to learn (and maybe tell a little bit about what we know). We have reviewed and appreciated the contributions of others, contributed some relevant viewpoints ourselves; we have given our energy and we are coming away daunted maybe by what we have learned, but energized by what we have shared.

I am going to step out of the game for a moment, and point out what is actually going on here. The fictitious characters Alchemy, Calida, Ember, Quinn, Eureka and Cipher have created a new type of classroom, one without walls. At their behest, people from all over the world have joined together in this classroom, one in which each person is by turns both student and teacher. This classroom has thousands of people in it, and together they have focused on the most intractable problems facing the world today. They have done this without conflict for the most part; they have done this with serious intent and goodwill for the most part. EVOKE’s missions are their lesson plans, the Evidence is their assignments, and the Quests measure their progress.

We have created new ideas for solving very tough problems. That is awesome. But beyond that, we are showing the world a new way to solve its problems. EVOKE has attracted a lot of attention in this regard, especially from middle-grade students on up and their teachers, and no wonder: they want to know if this is the start for the classroom of the future.

If I change myself, I change others. This is the lesson I’ve gotten from EVOKE. I will be working hard to forge my legacy on EVOKE as a positive one, to set my goals for the time remaining and to put my highest self on its pages, mindful that I am in a schoolroom and the students of the future are with me. In the time that remains, I hope you all do the same.

There are just 3 weeks left in our crash course in changing the world — and if you haven’t completed your first mission or quest yet, there’s still time.

On May 12, 2010, we’ll lock in our list of EVOKE FOUNDING MEMBERS.

Who are the founding members? They’re the individuals who showed up to make a real contribution during the first season of EVOKE — by completing any single mission or quest.

Here’s how to make sure YOU are a part of history:

1. LOG IN at www.urgentevoke.com
2. COMPLETE ANY MISSION OBJECTIVE or QUEST. There are currently 24 mission objectives and 8 quests to choose from.

That’s all it takes. Add your heroic effort — big or small — by May 12, 2010, and you’ll join our
roster of EVOKE Founding Members.

And if you complete at least one “ACT” Mission objective, you’ll join our special team of EVOKE Founding Members — our EVOKE ACTION HEROES.

Don’t miss your chance to make history with more than 17,500 world-changing heroes, who have joined forces from more than 150 countries.

May 19^th is the deadline for submission of your EVOKATION – one week after the end of gameplay.  We will select up to 20 EVOKE agents to receive a mentorship – based on your EVOKATION (see EVOKATION guidelines here).  The Mentorship will take place during the June-August timeframe and interaction with your mentors will be via email, chat, skype, and other online communications.  Your mentor may also design a special mission for you to undertake during this time period as part of their own social innovation project – more on this later.  This will be your opportunity to get some firsthand experience collaborating with an amazing social innovator.  So, start preparing your EVOKATIONS now!

I am pleased to introduce you four of our mentors – Jessica Lin, Derek Lomas, Roger Schank, and Ethan Zuckerman.  We will be revealing more mentors over the coming weeks – so stay tuned!

Jessica Lin

Jessica Lin is a graduate of Harvard University, where she studied Government, African Studies, and Swahili. Her endeavors focus on social enterprise and community-based technology projects in sub-Saharan Africa. Jessica is a co-founder of sOccket, a soccer ball that stores energy from game play to charge batteries and lights. She is currently a fellow at The Laboratory at Harvard, a new platform for idea experimentation and exhibition in the arts and sciences.

Derek Lomas

Derek Lomas is a PhD student in the Human-Computer Interactions Institute at Carnegie Mellon University, where he is researching the underpinnings of fun and learning within commercial video games and helping to develop new design processes for building effective computer-aided learning games.  Lomas is a co-founder of the Playpower Foundation, which recently received support from the MacArthur Foundation to further its goals of building affordable, effective and fun learning games to improve education around the world.  Lomas received his Master of Fine Arts degree in Visual Arts from UC San Diego and his BA in Cognitive Science from Yale University.

Roger Schank

Roger Schank (www.rogerschank.com) is one of the world’s leading visionaries in artificial intelligence, learning theory, cognitive science, and the building of virtual learning environments. He is CEO of Socratic Arts, a company whose goal is to design and implement learning-by-doing, story-centered curricula in schools, universities, and corporations.

Ethan Zuckerman

Ethan is an activist, blogger and geek, living in Western Massachusetts and working in Cambridge as a senior researcher at the Berkman Center. As co-founder of Global Voices, he is interested in ways that citizen’s media can address longstanding biases in the news media. Before working at the Berkman, he helped found Geekcorps, a non-profit organization that shipped geeks to the developing world to run Internet technology trainings. Prior to that, he was part of the team that founded Tripod, one of the early online community companies. When not blogging, researching or making trouble, Ethan helps out with Ushaidi, PenPlusBytes, Open Society Institute’s US Programs board and other fun technology and development projects.  His personal blog is “My Heart’s in Accra…” , and you can find him on Twitter as @ethanz.

Think of the new Leader Cloud as one of the tools available to help you find other agents who can help you on your own journey.  By clicking on the word Leader at the top of each page, you will find all sort of ways explore the Urgent Evoke Network through both randomized and ranked lists of

· Newest Heroes
· Emerging Heroes
· Questing Heroes
· Heroes On a Mission
· Power Generators
· Mega Heroes
· Heroes of the Week
· Leading Powers

I can see myself using the new Leader Cloud in two different ways.  I’m very interested in finding and connecting with our newest and emerging heroes and I think the Leader Cloud does a very good job bringing the work of these agents forward. And, after looking at my own personal profile, I can see that I’m particularly weak in my Entrepreneurship Powers so, I’m going to do a quick study of the ideas from our agents who have this power as a particular strength.

How are you going to use the power of the Leader Cloud?

1.  Make a positive contribution. I post only blogs, pictures, and videos that I believe will promote the awareness, knowledge, or enjoyment of other members of this community and advance their educational missions.

2. Give credit. I always cite my sources and my inspiration.

3. Appreciate great efforts. I spend time exploring the quests and missions completed by my fellow agents, and I leave positive feedback.

4. Always encourage, never disparage. Leave positive, helpful feedback and share links and connections that will add momentum to others’ efforts. When I disagree, I will be respectful. I will spend more time amplifying the ideas I agree with and helping the projects I’m excited about, than arguing about ideas I don’t agree with, or disparaging projects I’m not excited about.

5. Keep my eyes on the prize. Our goal is to make the world a better place.

(Keep in mind, too, grade school students all over the world are studying EVOKE. (As described earlier.) Keep the tone appropriate for them.)

These guidelines are inspired by the discussion sparked by Agents Mark Mulkerin and Amos Meeks. It’s an ongoing conversation so feel free to add your own thoughts; we’ll update the Guide accordingly.

One last thought from me: Let’s stay kind and calm at all times. Online social networks are never easy, and the EVOKE Network is no exception. It is an immense challenge for many people just to participate, when issues of technology, language, goals and culture all strike at once. In many ways, it is crazy to think that we can collectively overcome all these challenges, work out our differences, come up with innovative solutions and begin  implementing them, all in the space of ten weeks. But from what I’ve seen so far, which is a flood of ideas, collaboration, goodwill and positive energy, it would be crazy to bet against us.

I would love to see blogs categorized in to sections, food security, environment, innovation etc. There is so much information out there I feel I can’t truly speak to the few who are interested with just plain old being annoying! – Nate B

I don’t know about you, but like Nate I’ve ended up a little overwhelmed by the sheer volume of blog posts, photos and videos which have been shared on EVOKE.

The good news is that we can all work together to create this very categorization system, which will make it much easier for others to find your blog posts, and for you to find theirs.

The idea of a standard format for adding “tags” to EVOKE posts was actually suggested in the first week by Crystal Bellar and resulted in a hearty discussion.

As a result, Alex Stovell announced the start of a Standardised Tag System, which had been outlined on the EVOKE Wiki. You may agree or disagree with the format proposed, but for time’s sake, I suggest we simply embrace and start using it.

StandardTag Format:

• Keep Mission related tags as UPPERCASE, such as IMAGINE2
• Any other tags should be written in ThisFormat (no space between words and each word with a capital letter).

StandardTag Directory: a list of links for shared tags.

What you can do to help:

1. Start using the StandardTag format on all your future posts.
2. Go back through your existing posts and add new tags in the StandardTag format.
3. Add to the StandardTag Directory – there are only a handful of example tags on there at the moment. We need everyone’s help to help it grow, and even reorganize it if necessary.

Finally, the best thing you can do is spread the word about StandardTags – either linking people to this blog post, or to the Directory itself. The more people who use them, the more useful they will be.

If you have any suggestions for shared StandardTags, but aren’t sure about editing the Wiki – you can find some instructions on this blog post by Stefano Cieri.

Otherwise, you can suggest them in the comments below and someone will add them for you.

Cheers!