The first impression might feel familiar. Tick. Tick. Tck. Tck. Tck. But wait.

Four Years. Go., at first, might seem like another re-hash of the same tired theme. Time is running out, climate change is going to kill us all, yada yada yada. It’s not. Not at all, and even from this very brief introduction I’ve seen to their campaign, I can tell it’s different and it lifted my spirits like none other tonight.

For weeks now we’ve been watching the tragic oil spill in the Gulf. And every single time I see an image, hear a story, watch another failed attempt, or see more of BP’s bullshit (not to mention professional bad) public relations attempts, it makes me want to cry. Watching the video below reminded me that we can still have hope. Sure, time is running out, but if we set a realistic goal–like four years–it gives us a realistic chance of meeting, or even exceeding that goal.

So here’s the basic premise: we’re setting a goal of four years. It’s not four years to get to carbon neutral, or to decrease carbon emissions by X%, or to reduce crime rates and war in developing countries… it’s all those things–it’s to make the world better. It’s a global call to action, by activists, organizations, politicians, students, and everyday people, to just work a little harder to make our planet a better place. To save the next 1,000 years by stepping up our game in the next four years. Buy a car with better gas mileage. Get to know your neighbors. Learn about issues abroad, donate to a worthy cause, or start a rally in your town or city.

I’m thrilled to have signed up tonight. I’m thrilled to watch this movement come to life, and I’m thrilled to hopefully play a role in it–no matter how small. Check out the video below, and go to their website and check out all the details and sign up.

I just wanted to post a quick response to this article in Foreign Policy. The author, Golnaz Esfandiari, like so many others, seems intent on discrediting the impact of Twitter on the revolution in Iran. Was Twitter the cause of the attempted revolution? No. Was it the most important communications medium? No. But the article misses the point. The attempted revolution in Iran in 2009 wasn’t a revolution in Iran, it was a revolution in the media and how those of us outside these conflict zones perceive the world around us.

Here’s Esfandiari’s take on what she calls the “Twitter Devolution”:

But it is time to get Twitter’s role in the events in Iran right. Simply put: There was no Twitter Revolution inside Iran. As Mehdi Yahyanejad, the manager of “Balatarin,” one of the Internet’s most popular Farsi-language websites, told the Washington Post last June, Twitter’s impact inside Iran is nil. “Here [in the United States], there is lots of buzz,” he said. “But once you look, you see most of it are Americans tweeting among themselves.”

She’s just missing the point. Of course there wasn’t a Twitter revolution inside Iran. It was a revolution outside Iran. It alerted millions and millions of people in the United States, Europe, and elsewhere that there are serious problems in Iran that need to be fixed. It made the world wake up and realize that the people in Iran aren’t particularly happy with their corrupt and, dare I say, evil government. It showed that the world has become far more interconnected over the past decade than anyone realized.

The article mentions @oxfordgirl, and it does her an incredible disservice. Take a look:

Oxfordgirl was ultimately more successful at gaining publicity for herself than at helping any protesters in Iran. Compare her 10,000 Twitter followers with the 300 followers of a Karaj-based Green activist (who prefers not to be identified or to have his Twitter page publicized). The activist tweets in Persian, which few Western journalists can read, and he is often a source of valuable information about the mood in the country.

Yet again, she’s simply missing the point. Anyone who knows social media, communications, or even marketing knows that comparing number of followers is naive and immature, and insinuating that @oxfordgirl was doing it all for the “publicity” instead of helping the protesters in Iran is offensive to her and to her friends. I know her, respect her, and I understand her background. And if this journalist had done her research, maybe she would too, instead of sounding catty and accusatory.

Esfandiari recovers a bit with the following paragraph:

The story of Oxfordgirl gives a clue about the real role that Twitter played. There is no doubt that she helped spread news about the Iranian protests — often very quickly. Twitter played an important role in getting word about the events in Iran out to the wider world. Together with YouTube, it helped focus the world’s attention on the Iranian people’s fight for democracy and human rights. New media over the last year created and sustained unprecedented international moral solidarity with the Iranian struggle — a struggle that was being bravely waged many years before Twitter was ever conceived.

But that doesn’t make up for the downright misleading nature of the article. In the end, to me this sounds like a frustrated and desperate print journalist, all too self-aware of her impending irrelevance. It sounds jealous, naive, and uninformed. And the accusations pointed at @oxfordgirl are downright mean.

[Foreign Policy]

Chispa is the spanish word for “spark” and rest assured, there was nothing but sparks flying at the Fridge in DC tonight. The Fridge is a bar/art gallery/event space in D.C. and by far one of the coolest that I’ve seen since I’ve lived here.

Passion poured out in the form of ten completely different presentations, all united around a single purpose: to share what they’re thinking, dreaming and doing. This was Chispa D.C.

At first, I was on the fence about attending. I’ve got lots of schoolwork, I’m clearly behind on my blogging, I’ve got enough reading to do to keep me engrossed for 48 hours straight… but this was well worth it. Never again will I question going to an event in D.C. like this–these don’t happen every day, and each one is another chance to learn and to grow. Check below the cut for a quick summary and some of the photos I shot tonight.

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So no time to do a proper text wrap-up of Roots Camp tonight, but I did manage to get all my photos online from today. Take a look on my flickr set here, or just click through the embedded slideshow below. Thanks everybody at Roots Camp for a fantastic day today, it was a blast and I learned so much. Can’t wait ’til Roots Camp 11! I’ll try and get my text-based wrap-up (lessons learned, criticism, etc.) at some point soon, probably sometime during this week.

Hey guys! So just a quick update–next session starts in 15 minutes–but I wanted to give you some photos from this morning, the first event, and some photos from the unconference “wall”. They’re embedded below, enjoy!

Update: I’ve posted my full set of photos from the event now, they’re in the post just above this one.