YouthSays Blog|The Story of Malaysia’s Largest Youth Opinion Community

If you’ve been following the story of YouthSays, myself, or Joel, you might know by now that we’re always excited to work with very competent and driven youths (who isn’t?)

But the time has come for me to be a bit specific. We’re on a very challenging mission going forward with YouthSays and YOUTH’09, and some projects I cannot name yet.

Now I really need the right people on board. And because the mission we are on is not your average mission, I’m going to need very uncommon youths.

And as I mentioned, I’ll be very specific this time.

Do not email me unless

• You are this person, or
• You KNOW you are able to grow into this kind of person in less than 1 month

So, who are you really?

Uncommon Youth #1: STATS BEAST

• You love quantifying and measuring everything - you know how to get the numbers, what to do with them, and why it is important.
• You get high on numbers: For internal reporting, reporting with clients, and marketing metrics
• You are also a strategist by nature

Uncommon Youth #2: ONLINE COMMUNITY LEADER

• You know how to organize, communicate, and rally people for the right cause - without even meeting them
• You’re a master at understanding human behavior online, and building real relationships
• You have ‘been there done that’ in terms of creating and leading an online community

Uncommon Youth #3: BLOGGER + ART DIRECTOR

• You not only use Photoshop like a pro
• You’re super connected to the blogosphere
• You not only know what looks good, why, and how, you also know what feels good on a website, or on a poster

If you’re any of the ‘uncommon’ youths above, I know it’s not easy to find an organization which can put your talents to full use. And you may also be frustrated that you don’t have a project which inspires you.

Well I guess that’s the downside to being uncommon. You might feel displaced sometimes. But hey. Let’s chat a bit and see if we can work together somehow. Especially if you don’t mind being with a fast-growing, really busy team. There’s an interesting career path ahead for those who see themselves in these shoes.

See a fit? Show me why, and I’ll share with you the full picture, and we can go from there. Hope to find you real soon!

(Note: Keep your eye out on this blog for career opportunities for ‘uncommon’ youths)

… If you’re raging mad about energy waste, you could say something. And nothing would happen. But if customers organized and ten people said something or a hundred people said something… boom, new rules.

From a Seth Godin blog post, where he says whoever is more organised is more powerful. Read it here.

YouthSays gets more influential as it gets more members. And it’s because our thoughts, voices, and opinions are organised, and channeled to those who need to hear them. At 40,000+ members we managed to get many big (and medium sized) companies and the government listening.

So, let’s say we’ve already grown to 2 million members.

What can we do then? What ideas would you have? What programs or initiatives can 2 million organised Malaysian youths pull off?

Leave a comment and let me know…

Dear YouthSays members.

Look what you’ve done. As though getting the governments and businesses to listen is not enough for you.

Seriously, take a hard look at what you’ve done:

1. You’ve been supporting the organization who care about your opinions, taking part in the competitions, giving your honest, descriptive feedback in surveys
2. You’ve been inviting your friends to lend their voice, all 40,000 of them
3. You’ve been helping each other out in YouthAnswers and Group Discussions

Now the whole country is listening.

YouthSays on 8TV

Catch the ad on 8TV from the 15th to 22nd November 2008. And watch the Bruce Lee show, too. It looks good.

So how did we end up on 8TV?

You lah. You voiced out about Bruce Lee, even though you were busy and stuff. (See this to refresh your memory)

But what’s even crazier…

YouthSays gets noticed by big boys

Because of how you are shaking up the business and public using the YouthSays platform… I’ve been invited to share this adventure of ours at MSC Malaysia Innotech on Monday.

This means, I’ll be sharing our community alongside reps from Google, IDEO, Microsoft, IBM, CISCO, and some leading venture capitalists, who will also be speaking then. (Event details here)

Not bad for a youth-powered opinion community started only a few months ago, eh?

You tell me.

The dream we set out to create, of having an influential, collective voice for Malaysian youths, is really shape… all because each of us cared enough to voice out what we believe in, and what we think.

Let’s celebrate over a movie

We’re making small steps, towards some pretty HUGE changes, my friends. Although there’s still a lot of exciting stuff ahead of us… I guess we can still meet up over a movie to chill.

RSVP NOW via http://youthsays.com/quarantine for the movie meetup and we’ll talk more then! We still have some seats available! Just RSVP and one of our team members will call you to confirm your seat.

//

Malaysian youths are really starting to get some serious attention, all because of you. Naughty naughty

How do you feel about all this? Leave me a comment if you have a second…

Click to enlarge it!

I can’t believe they reprinted all the crazy things I said o_0

Were you a YouthSays member exactly one month ago?

If you were a YouthSays member exactly one month ago, you would probably be a YouthSays member who has joined for more than a month. It’s true.

On top of that, you would remember the email I sent about Joel’s birthday…

Hey xxxxxx,

Should we give you RM10,000 or not?
Here’s why I’m asking.
You see, yesterday was Joel’s birthday. If you don’t already know, Joel is the other cofounder of YouthSays. Can you believe it? He spent his entire birthday in the office.
He was so busy getting clients to support our youth communities.
What’s it got to do with giving you RM10,000?
On one hand, with your support we have grown our community to almost 30,000 members since we launched 6 months ago. And, we’ve given out more than RM50,000 to our members.
So why is Joel still working on his birthday?
He doesn’t say it that much, but I know, and I can tell you why:
He is concerned.
For YouthSays to make national impact, we have much to do.
Think about it.
There’s at least 8 million of us out there. Your friends, cousins, classmates… What’s their opinion? What are they thinking? They matter too. If we were united as ONE loud voice, will the government listen? Will businesses take youth more seriously? Give us better products and promotions? Will people finally understand what we want?
When Joel and I first started YouthSays, we targeted 200,000 members by the end of the year, so we can propose big changes for youths in 2009.
200,00 youths.
So here’s the deal. Joel and I have saved up RM10,000 from clients who have listened to you through YouthSays. Instead of throwing Joel a giant party - or have a company holiday… we would like to give this RM10,000 back to you instead.
How?
For 10 days, you will get TWICE the money from inviting friends to YouthSays.
We will also give you more banners, more text, and you can use the email invite blaster, and invite links to earn twice the $$$ for every friend who joins YouthSays through you.
RM10,000 will be allocated for this.
Do you think this is a good idea?
If YES, tell me, and we’ll do it. I need to know if you will support this. After all, this is YouthSays, your voice matters.
Let me know.
Khailee
YouthSays Cofounder
PS - Hmm… sending Joel a birthday wish, words of encouragement? His personal blog: http://joelneoh.blogspot.com/

So how, is the RM10,000 for real or what?

The answer is yes!

It took us a while, but we’ve sorted out the accounts, and it’s official.

We’re giving away RM10,000 for those who recommend their friends to YOUTHSAYS. How do you get a piece of it? Who’s gonna bag it?

All of you! We believe every Malaysian youth should have an equal chance at the cash, you will get DOUBLE the reward when you invite a friend to YOUTHSAYS.

See your invite tools page to see it to believe it: http://youthsays.com/invite

Whenever someone clicks on your invite link to signup to YouthSays, you’ll get double the usual payout. This is valid till we completely give away all the RM10,000.

http://youthsays.com/invite

Although RM10,000 might not be enough to make every one of you rich, we know youths are not always about money. We also look at this as an investment in the future, because when YouthSays has 200,000 members, our collective voice and our opinions will be the best guide for businesses and the government to understand Malaysian youths.

We’re meeting up for real (finally).

We have had this cyber relationship going for way too long.

So. Let’s go out for a movie.

This goes out to all of us! Act fast my brothers and sisters!

• Free private movie screening!
• See this movie before everyone else! (It’s like a pre-screening yo)
• Meet other YouthSays members, and the YouthSays team!

Here are some details:

   * Date / Day : 15 Nov / Sat
   * Time : 10:00AM
   * Venue : Cathay Cineplex D’sara

But it’s only for the first 150 people who RSVP, and as I’m writing this the list is 70% full. But you should just try your luck anyway.

More than just fun

After the movie, those who came will go home to find a survey about the movie… and out of those who answer that special survey, 2 lucky YouthSays members will win

• Limited Edition Quarantine Multifunction Knife ( RM 200 each )
• Limited Edition Quarantine LED Torchlight ( RM 200 each )
• Limited Edition Quarantine First Aid Kit ( RM 150 each )
• Limited Edition Quarantine Glow in the Dark T-Shirt ( RM 300 each )

How do you get a piece of this? You might want to click on the following link:

http://youthsays.com/quarantine

The movie trailer is there, too. Hehe.

Anyways, just want to say thanks for being an active supporter for the community. Joel, myself, and the YouthSays team really hope to meet you there

Are you only interested in earning money? 

Or do you want more?

Maybe you want to pursue your passions, get paid to help others, live your dreams, or make a REAL difference in your own way…

Or maybe, it’s not even about you.

Lately, entrepreneurship has been hyped up as some sort of magic fairy dust recipe magic wand thingy which can change the world. Where you add a bit of ‘innovation’, and ‘passion’, tap your ankles a few times, and suddenly you’re on Richard Branson island.

Well, let’s just say, the journey is a bit different.

There are smart and stupid ways to make a difference, make a living, and make money. If you’ve been to the YouthSays group discussion on Entrepreneurship and Business, you’ll see all kinds of people saying all sorts of stuff, falling into a few of those categories…

So. Where’s the real deal?

You really want to get SERIOUS? 

YouthSays will always support youth entrepreneurship as a lifestyle, and you can count on us to help you with the first steps.

Use your finger and check this out:

It’s true! HSBC, who has been supporting youth entrepreneurship and youth entreprneurs for all these years have chipped in to present the 2nd National Youth Entrepreneur Convention 2009! I’ll blog more about this next week, to introduce who you’ll be meeting there

If you can’t wait, check this out http://youthmalaysia.com/nyec and pre-register!

Also, check out:

And all the cool activities in the upcoming week!

Join the discussion and be there!

http://youthsays.com/entrepreneurship_and_business_forum

And a final important announcement…. remember to join the HSBC Young Entrepreneur Award. If you don’t even consider clicking on the link, you’re missing out. Trust me on that one. https://www.asiayea.com/MY/home.asp

There’ll be more on youth entrepreneurship in the very very near future, we’ve been piecing things up in a very interesting way. We just have to keep pushing it to see it through. To close those deals. As usual, I’ll only reveal it when it is confirmed, as I believe:

“You can’t build a reputation on what you are going to do.” –  Henry Ford

But for now let’s just say we can leave it to Joel, he is working on it.

Till then… I hope to see you at some of those events. If you’re not sure about it, just go for it. Some of them are free so you got no excuses haha. Take it as a step forward in life… How bad can it be right? Who knows where it might take you

Talk soon,
Khailee

Imagine a snapshot in history. The lives of 50 Malaysian youths.
Your hopes, your dreams, your habits, your thoughts, and who your are.
Documented in a daily group blogging project over 5 weeks.

The mission: Give the world a deeper look into the identity of Malaysian youths, help our parents, our peers, businesses, and the government understand who we ware.

RM30,000 will be shared amongst 50 Malaysians who will participate in this project. These Malaysians will be chosen from all walks of life, and it could be you!

What will you get as part of the RM30,000 YouthSays “Real Voices” Project?

• Once you are chosen, you will be given a special blog to express yourself online - in your own language, your own style, to bring us into YOUR world.
• You will get a RM500 reward at the end of the 5 weeks.
• Along the way, collect RM100 bonuses when you make outstanding contributions to the project. 50 of these to be given out.
• You and your story will be compiled as a snapshot of the life of Malaysian youths in 2008 - and shared with the rest of the YouthSays community, and the world!

What do you need to do across the 5 weeks?

• You will be given 15 different topics, questions, and themes to blog about, and you are free to express yourself in your own way, to reflect who you are, and the life you live.
• You are also encouraged to comment and discuss the contributions of other people in the YouthSays “Real Voices” Project.

If you are…

• Excited to be part of 50 chosen Malaysian youths to represent a snapshot of the Malaysian identity
• Interested in getting a share of the RM30,000
• Not afraid to express yourself freely online
• Have at least an hour a day to write about yourself and your life
• Keen to contribute to this historical project

NOW OPEN…. CLICK HERE: Apply to be part of the RM30,000 YouthSays “Real Voices” Project!

This project is helped by organizations who care.

Graphic / Web design for YOUTH’09 mini-sites for 3 months beginning now till mid January. Work from home / at our office / salary… all negotiable.

Leave a comment with your portfolio, links to work samples, and your email address, I’ll get back to you if things match up.

Hi guys, it’s Khailee.. just came back from launchign YOUTH’09 to the clients and media… I’m so super tired… promise to reply your mails very soon, I have so much to share… talk soon. Gonna go to bed early for once, the rainy weather is great