Are you in Lisbon during the Web Summit (November 5 - 8)? Have you ever helped a homeless person? Do you believe technology can augment human capacities? Do you believe actions speak louder than words?
If you've answered "Yes" to all four questions you have officially qualified as someone who can participate in #HomelessEntrepreneur's 27th monthly sleepout between November 4-8 in front of the Web Summit entrance at Altice Arena in Lisbon.
Why is #HomelessEntrepreneur participating in Web Summit?
“We believe that the tech world can promote a symbiotic relationship between humans and technology to speed up the process of creating sustainable work and dignified housing for and with homeless people interested in telling their story and working to become active citizens again. ”
SLEEPING IN THE STREET IS NOT A JOKING MATTER
Sleeping in the street for one night isn't going to kill you, but sleeping there every night can and will especially in winter and during cold fronts. A #HomelessEntrepreneur named Tomas living in Tarragona, Spain, who has successfully gotten off the street, lost a close friend of his last year for this exact reason. Carol was only 45 years old.
What are #HomelessEntrepreneur’s goals at Web Summit?
Raise Awareness both online and offline: We will communicate with Web Summit guests online as well as at the entrance and around the city to build upon our 3 strategic pillars; knowledge, recognition and change. The goal is that these conversations with tech professional, influencers in the business world and journalists lead to real proposals that turn into real change.
Example: Having an amazing conversation with Mairin Murray about creating new opportunities for and with homeless people and the communities they live in via Tech4Good. This conversation started on Twitter through the #WebSummit hashtag and continued over coffee at the museu da cerveja right before it started raining.
Build Partnerships: We are looking to partner up with corporations and individuals who would like to help transform our business processes with the ultimate goal of creating more job and housing opportunities for and with homeless people in our program. An current example: We are building an app with SAP’s Belgian and Dutch sales department in Barcelona in order to collect clean data in real-time so we can make better decisions and more importantly create a tool that many other organizations can use to do the same.
Example: As soon as we create a new partnership, we will share it in this article. Contact us if you’re interested!
Raise Funds: On a small scale, we’d like to raise between 5,000-15,000€ to end homelessness for 2 #HomelessEntrepreneurs in our program by funding their projects. On a large scale, we’d like to raise 1,5 million euros to provide economic stability and growth for #HomelessEntrepreneurs on a European level.
Example: As soon as we raise funds, we will share it in this article. Thanks to Invoice Ninja, we were able to raise funds for the travel expenses and half of a program for 1 #HomelessEntrepreneur! Please contact us if you’re interested in donating!
How is #HomelessEntrepreneur participating in Web Summit?
We will be sleeping out in front of the Web Summit from Nov. 4-8 as well as communication a clear positive message for every person who passes by to see, while smiling and wishing everyone an amazing day and successful event.
Example of commitment: Even though it’s raining, I’m still sleeping out. Homeless people can’t choose not to be homeless when the weather’s bad and I’m not going to act any differently.
0 Likes, 0 Comments - Andrew Funk (@andrewfunkspain) on Instagram: "As I spoke with about #Tech4Good, it started to rain heavily & I wondered where I was going to find..."
We will be starting and continuing conversation with those attending the event in a formal and informal way, which will depend on each person/organization.
Example of a continued conversation: I met Carl Rodrigues at the speaker’s dinner at CogX in London and we’ll be catching up here in Lisbon at Web Summit!
We will be creating customized proposals and closing deals with all interested parties.
Example: We reached out to Boss AC, a well respected Portuguese rapper, via Twitter and will be sending him a proposal to participate in the event shortly.
And most importantly, we will start working with the new partners who decide to help speed up the process of creating sustainable work and dignified housing for and with our organization.
Example: As soon as we start working with a new partner, we will share it in this article. Contact us if you’re interested!
WHAT SHOULD YOU BRING IF YOU WANT TO SLEEP OUT WITH US?
1) A sleeping bag
2) An open mind
3) A few good jokes (optional)
HOW TO PARTICIPATE IF YOU CAN'T SLEEP OUT WITH US?
Share this post with people you know how may be interested in joining us. It's free and you can do it on your phone from wherever you are!
You can also participate as a sponsor like Invoice Ninja, who sponsored our travel costs for Web Summit, in future events!
CAN WE CREATE A BETTER FUTURE FOR & WITH HOMELESS PEOPLE?
Yes, and we should because active citizen participation is the only solution!
IF YOU'D LIKE TO MAKE A DONATION TO HELP US SPEED UP THE PROCESS OF CREATING WORK AND HOUSING FOR AND WITH HOMELESS PEOPLE IN OUR PROGRAM, PLEASE CLICK ON THIS LINK: DONATE.
“For further information, please email us at funk@homelessentrepreneur.org
or call us at +34 697 877 089.”