In Fall 2009, the Alliance for Youth Movements hired Hotspot to provide an overall organizational development strategy that included an online communications component. Hotspot provided this strategy and immediately went to work helping to implement it. Early on this included serving as the lead creative consultant on the development of AYM’s first and to date only promotional video that has been viewed more than 6,000 times online and at countless conferences and meetings to promote the mission of AYM. It also included hiring staff and web developers. Hotspot worked with the AYM team and the web designer on a comprehensive vision for the site, logo design, initial comps and on the information architecture of the site. Shortly thereafter, AYM received funds from the British Government to conduct a conference in London and AYM asked Hotspot to organize the conference, which was to include leading online movement builders from around the world. In less than 90 days, Hotspot pulled together a conference with more than 100 of the worlds leading practitioners on online movements, including activists, technologists, writers and business leaders. During the run up to and following the conference, Hotspot continued to advise on the development of the site which is currently in its Beta version.
AYM supports technology driven grassroots activists by building their capacity through identifying them, connecting them with others, and supporting them when possible through direct trainings, conferences, materials and by leveraging AYM’s relationships with technology leadership to generate direct support.