I graduated from Mining Engineering with the conviction that it was NOT what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.

Unfortunately, I wasn't good at much else so the (asian) parental units convinced me that the best course of action was to go ahead, and earn some money which I begrudgingly did. This was 2008.

Somewhere along the way, I discovered photography - quit my job - travelled the world - participated in a couple global marketing campaigns - only to realize that just making money wasn't as fulfilling as I thought it would be.

I wanted to do something that would help make the world a better place, not just cash out on it.

Fast forward 18 months of unpaid work - I finally created a campaign that finally reflected what I hoped to do with my career: To put my art in the service of something that actually mattered. What has always surprised me within my projects was not the final result, as much as the support of complete strangers coming together. For my mermaid project, over 50 volunteers came together to clean other people's trash, sorting, cleaning, de-labeling thousands of bottles. Without them, there would be no project. When I tied a model underwater for shark conservation, divers, models, scientists, videographer and even the resorts all came together to support the initiative. Not for any commercial gain, but because it was the opportunity to be a part of something greater. When I made a video for a complete stranger, the father of a little girl hoping for a viral video to save his little girl from a terminal degenerative brain disease, the community once again rallied and came together.

Their contributions, likes and shares helped it build enough momentum to be the top GoFundMe campaign for over two years, raising a million dollars in just a month.

Time and time again, regardless of the projects I've worked on - the success or failure has come down to one thing: Community.

The problem though, is that despite the 3000% growth that I've experienced since quitting my day job - the social kings of Facebook, Instagram and Youtube that are supposed to help us BUILD community have split us apart with algorithms, sponsored posts and prank videos.

Even worst, content creators now need to PAY to have their content seen by the following they spent sleepless nights tireless creating for.

Bullshit!

What used to be an opportunity to connect with the world has transformed into a sea of competition just to have the privilege of being an influencer for a few measly dollars.

/Rant. Over.

Looking at Steem, there seems to be a whole new world of possibilities. The chance for the community to support the continued creation of projects that they enjoy, simply by interacting the content seems a little too good to be true. Yet there are clearly those successfully doing it: @velimir, @helene, @art-mess to name a few.

I'm not sure what the future holds but I'm excited to give this a shot. Thank you guys so much for reading. I look forward to hearing more from you!

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We're doing a Facebook LIVE tonight at 7:30 PM EST if you want to join in talking about all things STEEM

It's the real me <3

Ep 1: Storytelling. How to get noticed online
Ep 1: Storytelling. How to get noticed online https://steemit.com/introduceyourself/@vonwong/6-years-ago-i-quit-my-day-job-today-i-create-social-impact-campaigns-with-the-help-of-300-000-fans-worldwide Telegram Announcements: t.me/thevonwong
Posted by Von Wong on Monday, January 8, 2018

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