People have asked what I raised (forgive me for the cheesy but heartfelt statement I’m about to make) but it really is a case of what WE raised. This challenge was my idea and I certainly wore myself out over 40 Hour Famine weekend, but there were many contributions from others.  I’ll stop before I sound like I’m giving an Oscar speech, but first let me say thank you again. The money we raised is enough to make a serious difference in the lives of children overseas. Here’s a link that tells you more about how far it will go.

Total to date

$1545 – 40 Hour Famine page www.famine.org.nz/josiecampbell

$160 – cash sponsorship

$505 – Website auction thanks to Adage Business and The Web Co

That is $2210 already!

The iPhone that I did my updates on is up to $910 on Trade Me (thanks Vodafone) so the final total will be at least $3120. Amazing! 

Update - a bit more sponsorship in and the phone went for $1050, so it looks like the #twitterchallenge raised $3310. That is enough money to go a really long way in the developing world!

I have a collection bucket to pick up at Cafe Crave and people may still sponsor me online so will keep updating the page! 

Another update! Total now $3435. :)

Updated 29/5 $3487.80 - thanks Cafe Crave for putting a collection bucket in the cafe and Chris for sponsoring me!

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The first place I've been hanging out on my Twitter challenge is at @fortstreetunion with Andrew aka Red (he's called that for the obvious reason) and have been pouring the occasional beer, eating Pizza and talking about what the bar is going to be. He's a young dude who has worked for a brewery and now has given up the corporate world to create the kind of pub he'd like to hang out in - "no pretention, no sleaze, just fun sociable times."

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Friday 21 May 

5:00pm            Yellow Sweet Tweetup at @giapo

8:00pm            Challenge begins – pickup by @katjnz
8:30pm            @fortstreetunion for dinner & working at the bar (16 Fort Street)
Overnight        Hotel accommodation thanks to @nenuphars

Saturday 22 May 
9:00am            Breakfast thanks to @cateowen 
11:00am          Geocaching with @paudecanela 
2:00pm            Horseplay (thanks @AklandTheatreCo) with @ohthescandal
5:00pm            Scrapbooking class with @angelfish007 

6:30pm            Back to the city with @GetAgeLoc
7:00pm            Bussing tables @reslau, Elliott Stables 
Overnight        Hotel accommodation thanks to @nenuphars

Sunday 23 May 
5:30am            Pickup by @LouDxx to make coffee at Takapuna Markets  

Midday             Challenge ends!

Other info

·         I’d love to see you at @giapo, @fortstreetunion, @reslau and Takapuna Markets – please come and visit (and buy something from these generous businesses who are supporting my Twitter Challenge and the 40 Hour Famine).

·         I’m part of Team Yellow – led by Matt and Dayna from Studio 2. They’re running this auction on Trade Me and they’re also coming to @giapo for the Sweet Tweetup. YAY! 

·         I’ll be blogging during the weekend with updates and although I’m expecting a really fun weekend, it is going to be full on! I’d love to hear from you over the weekend – so please do send comments or tweet me @josiecampbell (feel free to use the hashtag #twitterchallenge).

·         If you’d like to read about what this is all for – visit www.famine.org.nz/josiecampbell. You can read about what we are fundraising for, leave a message or even sponsor me.

That is it really, except to report that I have found some rather spectacular yellow accessories – hairclips, heart-shaped sunglasses and even a tie! I guess for me, yellow really is the new black!

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A few little updates:
The Team Yellow auction is going strong on Trade Me. The ones donated as part of the Twitter challenge are going beautifully! As I write this blog, the iPhone 3GS (^ that phone, there, pictured with that chick in the yellow tee-shirt) is at $670 and the Web Development Package (valued at $1500) is at $275. Other interesting items include a One News Studio Tour and Wellington Phoenix Family Fan Pack. Check the auctions out.

Taste the Yellow Sweet Tweet gelato at @Giapo from 5-6pm on Friday 21 May. We’ve planned this early enough so people can stop by on their way home from work or if you’re doing the 40 Hour Famine, can enjoy a gelato before giving up food for the weekend. Giapo has created a special flavour – organic banana, white chocolate and hazelnut. Amazing! I’m hoping lots of people come to buy the gelato as Giapo is generously donating to the Famine.

Giapo is located on Queen Street, just a couple of doors up from The Civic. Check out the Twtvite or Facebook invite. 

Thanks to @siideways for the SIM card to help me manage the weekend and @alronberg for taking some photos of me in my yellow t-shirt.

Check out the calendar for other changes to join in the fun! There’s still space in the Scrapbooking Class but you have to book. Or if you wish you could join in - sponsor me or someone else you know doing the 40 Hour Famine.

Josie x

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This challenge is crazy. Or maybe I’m crazy for starting it. The
support is overwhelming! Three days to go and I have a gelato flavour
- this is not something I ever aspired to in my life, so it is pretty
wonderful!

The Yellow Sweet Tweet will ‘go live’ on Friday, just in time for my
Twitter Challenge to begin, or for people doing the tradition 40 Hour
Famine to have a sneaky scoop before they give stop eating for 40
Hours. I’ll sort out a time for any keen people to meet up @Giapo to
taste this gorgeous, yellow inspired flavour – banana, white chocolate
and hazelnut. I have had a quick taste of the prototype and it is
amazing. Thank you to @Giapo for coming on board supporting the 40
Hour Famine. I should mention that there’s a Blue Revolution flavour
too.. but it couldn’t possibly taste as good as the Yellow Sweet
Tweet.

I got my hands on the iPhone today – saying goodbye is going to hurt.
I’ve had a quick training session and I’m all ready to blog, tweet,
twitphoto and perhaps even video the activities of the weekend. I’ve
sent the description through for the Trade Me auction, so will post
the link up tomorrow. Thank you again to Vodafone for the support.

It was fun to go on radio for the first time in years with @radiowammo
on Kiwi FM this morning and I’m heading in to Life FM tomorrow to talk
to @tashmcgill from 8am. It’s great to be able to spread the word
about this great cause and also the generosity of the Social Media
community.

If you’re keen to keep an eye on the auctions for Team Yellow, visit:
http://www.trademe.co.nz/Members/Listings.aspx?member=1528538. There’s
even a signed Justin Bieber T-shirt and CD. Terrifying!

Goodnight, this girl is exhausted! x

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Hey lovely people! Today I went to Social Media Junction, a serious and grown up social media conference with flash speakers and great content. If you were there, I was the one dressed up (or down) in a bright yellow 40 Hour Famine t-shirt. These are the sacrifices I’m prepared to make for the cause, everyone knows I usually wear black like the good Auckland PR girl I am.

There were some great sessions and the photo above is with keynote speaker Julien Smith (@julien) in the middle of me giving him the rant on what the t-shirt was about. He’s a New York Times bestselling author and what he had to say about networks, online tribes and building and exchanging social capital was excellent. It made me think about the amazing community who have enthusiastically embraced this challenge – some because it’s quirky, some because it is for a good cause and some because you consider me a friend. So once again, thank you. Whatever your reason for supporting Josie’s Twitter Challenge (aka #josiestwitterchallenge) – I’m grateful for your encouragement and assistance.

Here are the latest updates and calendar:

• I’ll be on-air with @radiowammo on KiwiFM from around 8:30am tomorrow (Tuesday 18 May), talking about the challenge – tune in on 102.2fm in Auckland or online.
• The Yellow Team charity auction is live (with no fees, thanks Trade Me) including the $1500 website donated by @adagebusiness and @TheWebCo – please spread the word. I’m picking up the iPhone from @vodafonenz and this will go on Trade Me too – it’ll only be slightly used by me to post updates during the weekend).
• I’ve been talking to the amazing @giapo about a special yellow flavour – hope to have more news soon!

Friday 21 May
8:00pm Challenge begins!
8:30pm @fortstreetunion for dinner and working at the bar
Midnight Hotel accommodation thanks to @nenuphars

Saturday 22 May
9:00am Breakfast with @cateowen
11:00am Geocaching with @paudecanela
2:00pm Horseplay (Maidment) thanks to @AklandTheatreCo
5:00pm Scrapbooking class with @angelfish007
7:00pm Bussing tables @reslau, Elliott Stables
11:00pm Hotel accommodation thanks to @nenuphars

Sunday 23 May
6:30am – Noon Making coffee at Takapuna Markets with @LouDraper
Noon Challenge ends!

Get involved
• Fort Street Union is taking a collection and giving $1 per drink sold while I'm there on Friday night - please come and visit on Friday night
• Sign up for scrapbooking class on Saturday afternoon ($20 fee for class donated to fundraising)
• Reslau is donating 50% of the $$ spent by people who come to watch me so come for dinner, wine, coffee on Saturday night
• Come for coffee at Takapuna Markets on Sunday morning
• Sponsor me at www.famine.org.nz/josiecampbell

What is Josie’s Twitter Challenge?
The plan is that at 8pm on Famine weekend I leave my house and totally rely on the kindness of people from Twitter for food, a place to sleep, entertainment... everything for the next 40 Hours. I'm not very good at spontaneous or roughing it, so I’m grateful that people have come on board to make the weekend work! Actually, a lot of people are making me work for the weekend – I think I’m going to pretty tired, but I’m looking forward to 40 Hours of mad activities and raising money and awareness for kids living in poverty overseas.

Photo from: http://www.flickr.com/photos/socialmediajunction

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I have received some amazing offers over the last couple of days! Yesterday, Graeme from @adagebusiness let me know that he and his clients @TheWebCo have offered a $1500 website for auction on TradeMe, with all proceeds going to the 40 Hour Famine fundraising. Today, I heard from the incredible team at @VodafoneNZ offering an iPhone for me to use over the weekend and then auction on TradeMe.

It happens that Team Yellow leader @DaynaVawdrey is already arranging an auction to go up early next week – so if you are in need or want of a website or iPhone watch this space and please bid generously!

Thank you to these companies and all those who have offered help, challenges or sponsorship. I thought this would be a great little promotion and fundraising idea for the 40 Hour Famine and I’m blown away by the support.

Seven days and counting!

www.famine.org.nz/josiecampbell

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Fastrack about decade and that girl (still looking impossibly young),
is doing this crazy Famine challenge, and Nathan, former lead singer
of Zed is still helping World Vision out. Last weekend he got a bunch
of musicians together to record a song for the 40 Hour Famine at York
Street. Lyrics were sent in by kids doing the Famine, and they came up
with the video that’s posted below.

This song might not be in your favourite genre, but it shows off one
of my favourite kiwi characteristics – the ‘get in and do what you can
to help without making a big deal about it’ attitude.

Much respect Nath!

You can sponsor Nathan at: www.famine.org.nz/team/nathan

… but I’d really rather you sponsored me www.famine.org.nz/josiecampbell

Josie x

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On Friday 21 May I’ll leave home with no cash or transport, relying on the kindness of the twitterverse for survival and entertainment for 40 Hours – all to raise funds for World Vision’s 40 Hour Famine.

The lovely people of Twitter have been incredibly supportive and have come up with the following activities/challenges/fundraisers. There are gaps, so if you’re on twitter, tweet me @josiecampbell or make your offer in the comments below.

Josie’s Famine Challenge Calendar
Friday 21 – Sunday 23 May

Friday
8:00pm     Challenge begins!

8:30pm @fortstreetunion for dinner and working at the bar 
Midnight Hotel accommodation thanks to @nenuphars

Saturday  
8:00am      Breakfast with @cateowen 
11:00am    Geocaching with @paudecanela 
2:00pm      Horseplay (Maidment) thanks to @AklandTheatreCo 
5:00pm      Scrapbooking class with @angelfish007 
7:00pm      Bussing tables @reslau, Elliott Stables

11:00pm    Hotel accommodation thanks to @nenuphars

Sunday
6:30am – Noon Making coffee at Takapuna Markets with @LouDraper
Noon Challenge ends!

Get involved

• Fort Street Union is taking a collection and giving $1 per drink sold while I'm there on Friday night - please come and visit on Friday night
• Sign up for scrapbooking class on Saturday afternoon: http://bit.ly/cvc6MK ($20 fee for class donated to fundraising) 
• Reslau is donating 50% of the $$ spent by people who come to watch me so come for dinner, wine, coffee on Saturday night
• Come for coffee at Takapuna Markets on Sunday morning
• Sponsor me at www.famine.org.nz/josiecampbell

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A few people have asked me where things are at with my fundraiser for
the 40 Hour Famine. I’ve you’ve just joined us viewers, read all about
it: http://thinkingforyou.co.nz/my-twitter-challenge

There are two and a bit weeks to go and I’ve had quite a few general
offers of help – which is brilliant – thanks guys! I’ve had chats with
a bunch of people, some think we should go huge and others think it
would be best not to plan too much. My friend Lou thinks I should be
DOING things and she’s booked me in to make coffee at the Takapuna
Markets from (gulp) 6:30-noon on Sunday.

I think this is a good way to go – it’s brilliant that people have
offered to help, but could you be a little bit more specific? It’d be
great to mix it up – a few things to raise money and if I’m lucky a
little bit or relaxation! I’m going to post a 40 Hour calendar – if
you’d like to book me in for an hour or two, please post a comment or
tweet @josiecampbell or email josiecampbellblog@gmail.com. I’ll update
the calendar as we fill in the gaps.

Remember, the challenge is that I leave home without money or
transport for 40 Hours and I’m relying on Twitter for
survival/amusement. Please help, I’m not great at roughing it.

Some suggestions:
1. Take me busking – I’ll hold the sign, you can play
2. Find me somewhere to stay
3. Give me food
4. Suggest an activity/challenge
5. Take me to
6. Sponsor me www.famine.org.nz/josiecampbell
7. Help me get the word out

Josie’s Famine Challenge Calendar – help me fill in the gaps (there are a lot of gaps!)
Friday 21 – Sunday 23 May

Friday
8:00pm
9:00pm
10:00pm
11:00pm
Midnight - morning House sitting overnight for @rgoodchild

Saturday  
8:00am  Breakfast with @cateowen 
9:00am  Breakfast with @cateowen 
10:00am
11:00am Geocaching with @paudecanela 
Noon  Geocaching with @paudecanela 
1:00pm
2:00pm Horseplay (Maidment) thanks to @AklandTheatreCo 
3:00pm  Horseplay (Maidment) thanks to @AklandTheatreCo 
4:00pm
5:00pm Join me for Scrapbooking class with @angelfish007 
6:00pm Class continues... (proceeds to the fundraising!)
7:00pm Bussing tables @reslau, Elliott Stables
8:00pm They're donating 50% of the $$ spent by people who come to watch me
9:00pm so come for dinner, wine, coffee... as a regular I can vouch for the quality!
10:00pm
11:00pm
Midnight - morning

Sunday
6:30am – Noon Making coffee at Takapuna Markets with @LouDraper
Noon – The end!

Update: Here's the info for the scrapbooking class: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/event.php?eid=123870784291451 - hope you can make it!

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I've signed up to do something that terrifies me - an unplanned and unscheduled 40 Hours where I am completely at the mercy of others for the necessities of life. Specifically, I'm going to be at the mercy of the Twitterverse. You see, in the last year I've been playing on Twitter and I've seen the way it can build community, motivate people to take action and help people out. I'm really, really (really) hoping that people will get on board with this crazy idea and either sponsor me or help me make it happen.

"Why are you doing this?" You ask.

I'm glad you asked. Its just about doing something to help really. A lot of people are affected by things out of their control - the people of Haiti who have been devastated by an act of nature, the Cambodian people living in poverty. My life is a long way away from what they have to live through and although I sponsor a child, its a pretty passive thing. For the weekend of 21-23 May I'm going to do something that is completely outside of my comfort zone and rely on the generosity of others. I won't be inappropriate and say that it's like the people of Haiti, but I guess its a small way I can identify with them and at the same time raise some money to help them. 

I also got excited about being involved because my amazing friend Dayna is leading Team Yellow. If you're thinking about doing the Famine, I reckon you should join our team!

So this is the deal.

Friday 21 May, 8pm - I leave my house and can't go back for the next 40 Hours. I won't be driving, that would be cheating. I won't take money. I'll just have a small bag with very little stuff. I'm hoping to borrow an iPhone so I can receive DMs on Twitter because I can't do that on my phone, and so I can update photos and my blog. I thought I might start a calendar - so that people can see what is planned.

Here's how you can help:
1. Sponsor me! Here's my page on the 40 Hour Famine website: www.famine.org.nz/josiecampbell
2. Help me out - if you've got any suggestions, or would like to offer me something to do, eat or a place to stay - please comment here, tweet me @josiecampbell or email josiecampbellblog@gmail.com
3. Do the Famine yourself - its clearly not just for kids! www.famine.org.nz.

Here's the calendar as it stands. Please help me fill in the gaps.

Friday 21 May, 8pm - Leave home
nothing
nothing
nothing
etc
Sunday 23 May, Midday - Complete challenge

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So about a hundred years ago, when I’d just come back from first ever
overseas trip to Cambodia (possibly not the most straightforward place
for a 21 year old to go), I travelled around a bit speaking at World
Vision volunteer conferences about what I’d seen when I visited my
sponsored child and some projects funded by the 40 Hour Famine (by the
way, I paid my own way, in case you were wondering).

One of the people I met was a schoolgirl called Dayna Vawdrey – she
was incredibly enthusiastic and later on that year she ended up going
to Bangladesh was a World Vision scholar. It’s a [cough] few [cough]
years since then, and she’s continued to be a spokesperson for the
Famine even though she’s a TV superstar and we’re still mates after
all this time.

Anyway, I saw what they were doing with the 40 Hour Famine this year,
a team challenge and thought – hey, it’s a while since I did anything
selfless! I thought the logical team to join would be TEAM YELLOW
(Dayna assures me I look great in yellow) and I’m working on a scheme
to raise heaps of money for children living in poverty overseas.

Just to give a bit of context, I used to work for World Vision and I’m
fully confident they’re a great organisation with incredible
programmes overseas that make a difference. I’ve been to a couple of
them myself on that trip to Cambodia – a couple of weeks which pretty
much gave me an early mid-life crisis and made me want to help. Last
time I did the famine four years ago I raised over $1500 – I went 40
hours without speaking – you can imagine why my friends thought that
was hilarious and all chipped in to sponsor me.

I thought about doing the same thing again, or doing a technology
famine, but then had a brainwave: What if I do some kind of social
media challenge – only being able to do, or eat, or go to places that
have been arranged or powered by social media. Its in it infancy at
the moment – so if you think you can help me develop the idea can you
please post your ideas in the comments, or if you want to help email
me at josiecampbellblog@gmail.com.

Find out more (or join team yellow): http://www.famine.org.nz/team/matt-dayna

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