Going To A Playground This Weekend? Upload and Rate It!

KaBOOM! is a nonprofit group whose sole mission is to inspire more playgrounds to be built so that kids across the country have more places to play. Using an open source model where they share publicly their expertise on building playgrounds to help local communities plan and execute a project to build a new playground through day long projects where volunteers all converge on a location to build a new playground. 

A big question, when it comes to building playgrounds, is where exactly they are most needed. As a solution to this challenge, KaBOOM! has an online tool called the "Playspace Finder" which is essentially a Google maps mashup of locations for places to play, as well as photos, ratings and listening of features and amenities. To get more playspaces into the tool, we are helping KaBOOM! launch their "100,000 Playspaces in 100 Days" campaign to get people to upload new playspaces. As an experiment, we have set up the system to allow people to submit new playspaces using Twitter.

All you need to do is send a Twitpic along with some details as a Twitter message update and KaBOOM! will add it to the Playspace Finder. Here's an illustration of the format:
FORMAT TO CUT AND PASTE:
[Twitpic URL] [Name of Playspace] [Address or nearest cross streets] [City/State OR Zip] [Rating (with asterisks)] [Cause code] #playhere

There are 6 charities the project is supporting, and for each playspace uploaded, one of the charities will get $1 – and we are working on adding some social media specific partners to the program in the coming week or two as well. Get the full instructions and more details on the KaBOOM! blog.

So if you're at a playspace this weekend, send us a message through Twitter and help out a good cause in the process. 100,000 playspaces is a big target – but I'd love to see us get there not just as a marketer supporting my client or as a blogger, but as a father with two boys who plans to visit plenty of these playspaces in the coming years.

Want to do more to support KaBOOM!? Here are a few more things you can do:

1. Tweet this message: KaBOOM! builds playgrounds. Help them create a map of 100,000 playspaces in 100 days: http://www.tinyurl.com/kab100k
2. Submit playspace via the online form (no twittering or blogging required!)
3. Blog about the campaign
4. Suggest a social media partner organization