Hanson + HelloGoodbye Concert

For all of you who were unable to get to the Tabernacle on Oct. 28 to the Use Your Sole Tour, here is what you missed:

HelloGoodbye played a great set and get everyone excited. I loved the guy with the Ukulele! They played a few classics, like Bonnie Taylor Shakedown, Call N' Return and Dear Jaime... Sincerely Me. I hadn't listened to these guys in a few years and I was pleasantly surprised by how many of their songs I remembered. I had a lot of fun singing and jumping around to their pop-punk, nerdy dance music.

And then Hanson took the stage.... All the girls in the audience sighed, screamed and swooned at their dreamy long hair and grown up good looks. (No more 15 year olds in this band.) They played a mix of old hits, like MMMbop and Where's the Love, and new ballads written to inspire change and bring new meaning to music, like The Walk and a few new songs off their new Stand Up, Stand Up EP.

By the end of the night, all the girls had melted away into little puddles and had to be mopped up. The other bands joined Hanson on stage for an encore and everyone left feeling warm and happy.

I just want to say that I'm a little upset I missed the Halloween show, because the guys performed a cover of Thriller for the encore.

Friends of TOMS + America's Giving Challenge

Friends of TOMS has a chance to win $50,000 through its first-ever fundraising effort and we need your support! Think how many Shoe Drops that could support and how much nearer we could get to our goal of eradicating Podoconiosis.

Here's how it works: from now until November 6th, participating non-profits in America's Giving Challenge will compete for cash awards based on the number of donations made to their cause.

We're excited about this challenge, but we need your help. You can help by donating something - anything - even as little as $10. And just as important, you can help by telling your friends and spreading the word. We need your help EVERY DAY of this contest.

Let's all help Friends of TOMS win $50,000. We can do this!

To learn more visit:
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/tomsshoes?v=app_17037175766

To donate to Friends of TOMS visit its Causes page:
http://apps.facebook.com/causes/1661/14011797?m=e2d9b80d&_fb_fromhash=b49e5b72778bdad44f49b8dcd9572434

TOMS at UGA Fall Semester Calender

Hey TOMS at UGA fans! Here is a list of all the meetings and events for the upcoming semester:

Wednesday, October 21st:
TOMS Club meeting in the SLC room 268.

Thursday, October 22nd:
We will have a TOMS table at Tate Plaza to pass out fliers, a $5 promo code, and spread the word about TOMS! We will also be promoting our free documentary screening! We need volunteers to come in and help!

Monday, October 26th:
Free viewing of the For Tomorrow: The TOMS shoes story from 7-8pm in the Tate Theatre! It is a blue card event and the documentary is awesome and very moving. Recruit as many people as possible to come see it! If you are greek, talk to someone to see if people could get community service hours for coming to the screening instead of going to chapter.

The more people the better, so SPREAD THE WORD!

Wednesday, October 28th:
HANSON and HelloGoodbye Use Your Sole Tour at the Tabernacle in Atlanta! Get your tickets now and Take the Walk before the show!

No club meeting this Wednesday.

Tuesday, November 3rd:
The Kick-off Your Shoes concert at Tasty World! This should be a really fun event! So far, we have Laminated Cat, Allison Weiss, and Josh Perkins Experiment in Southern Hospitality. We are also working on one more band. The bands will begin arriving at Tasty World at 8pm and they start playing at 10pm. Start telling your friends to write it on their calendars.

Wednesday, November 4th:
TOMS Club meeting in the Journalism room 509.

Thursday, November 5th:
We will be participating in the eCampusWIDE Philanthropies Gone Wild event! During the day there will be a scavenger hunt that has a prize potential of $600 for our club. At night there is a party with many more opportunities to promote TOMS, as well as receive drink specials downtown!

If you haven't, please go to eCampusWIDE UGA's new social networking site and sign up with referral code TOMS to help support our club.

Wednesday, November 11th:
TOMS Club meeting in the SLC room 268.

Saturday, November 14th:
TOMS Tailgate Party! We have reserved a spot at Herty Field from 12-4 for the tailgate! We are going to have food, drinks, games, music, and a Style Your Sole Event. Not to mention some awesome TOMSatUGA Koozies!! Yay! It's going to be tons of fun!

Wednesday, November 18th:
TOMS Club meeting in the Journalism room 509.

Wednesday, December 2nd:
TOMS Club meeting in the SLC room 268. Last meeting of the semester, I'm thinking TOMS Christmas party?

Hope to see you guys at all the fun events for the semester!! Check the blog regularly for any additional updates!

- Rene'

TOMS Flag Football Tees

Team name: Tacklers for TOMS

This Saturday, TOMS at UGA will be participating in the AXO Flag Football Tournament. Today, while the boys practiced their plays, the girls made team jerseys.

Open Club Meeting This Wednesday

Hey guys,

All prospective members are welcome to join the newly created TOMS at UGA Campus Club for an open club meeting this Wednesday, Oct. 7, at 8 p.m. in the Journalism building, room 509.

We will be talking about TOMS, going over the events planned for the semester and welcome any ideas and help promoting the TOMS Club and its events.

Look forward to seeing you all there!

Rene

TOMS Around Town

Athens has spotted another TOMS Supporter!

On Sunday, October 4th, American Eagle shopper, Vaille Hurt came into the store sporting TOMS Shoes. Vaille is an 8th grade student at Malcom Bridge Middle School in Bogart, Georgia, and when asked why she loves TOMS, she responded, "I love TOMS because they work for a great cause to help children that don't have it as great as we do."

Would you like to be featured in our next TOMS Around Town update? Just wear your TOMS and get spotted by a UGA TOMS Shoes Campus Rep, and you may be the next face of the TOMS Around Town update.

Why shoes?

Click to enlarge:






























pc: TOMS Shoes.

TOMS & Hanson: Use Your Sole Tour

I know you all remember the band Hanson, the three blonde boys whose first single, Mmmbob, topped the charts in 1997. Since then, Hanson has continued to grow both in their music and their mission. The band has been an avid supporter of TOMS from the beginning, not only by wearing their shoes, but also by participating in South Africa shoe drops and raising money for Friends of TOMS by hosting one-mile barefoot walks before the start of each show. These walks are also helping to spread awareness of the lack of amenities such as shoes, clean water, education and healthcare available around the world and fund efforts to provide these necessities.

So far, Hanson and their devoted following have walked 28,201 miles, enough to walk around the world, and are well into their second lap. The third leg of their tour will be the Use Your Sole Tour with HelloGoodbye, which is scheduled to kick off in Hanson's hometown of Tulsa, Okla. on September 30 and finish up in San Diego on November 8.

During the Use Your Sole tour, Hanson and fellow tour mates HelloGoodbye, Steel Train & Sherwood will continue taking part in the one-mile walks before each show to benefit Friends of TOMS.

The tour dates closest to Athens, Ga. and UGA are October 22 at Amos' Southend in Charlotte, N.C., October 26 at Workplay Soundstage in Birmingham, Al., and October 28 at the Tabernacle in Atlanta. Tickets are $25 or $18.75 each for a four pack.

To learn more about Hanson's efforts and to locate a barefoot walk near you visit TaketheWalk.net.

Introducing new lace-up TOMS: Cordones.

Named after 19th century Argentine writers who stood up for their passions in the mid-nineteenth century, the TOMS Cordones are a new, trendy TOMS style that stays true to the original alpargata shape and offers fun, fall fashion rooted in giving.

New Limited Edition DMB TOMS

Great news! TOMS Shoes and Dave Mathews Band have teamed up to release two styles of Limited Edition DMB TOMS designed by Dave himself!


The collaboration with TOMS originated when the band, inspired by the One for One movement, offered to be the official sponsor of the Spring TOMS Vagabond Tour. Tracks from the band’s critically-acclaimed new album, Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King, were featured on the tour, which traveled to college and high school campuses to engage some of the nation’s most socially-minded youth.

Dave designed the shoes personally and the shoes are vegan-friendly, made with 67% sustainable hemp and 33% recycled PET plastic bottles. The sole contains recycled rubber.

The limited-edition Fire Dancer TOMS and Sun TOMS are available on tour with the band and online at www.davematthewsband.com, and as always, with every pair you purchase, TOMS will give a pair of new shoes to a child in need. One for One.

Win big & give back with TOMS + Element

This past February, TOMS announced an exciting collaboration with Element Skateboards. In addition to 5 limited edition TOMS + Element shoes, the two companies teamed up to create a One for One skateboard. With every pair of shoes purchased, TOMS will give a pair of new shoes to a child in need. As part of the One for One collaboration, with every skateboard purchased, Element will give a skateboard to a child in need in Durban, South Africa.

This October, TOMS, Element, and volunteers will head out to Durban to deliver matched pairs of TOMS shoes and skateboards… and they want YOU to be part of the adventure.

To enter write a 1,000 word essay or record a 3-minute video telling TOMS why you want to be part of the TOMS + Element South Africa Shoe + Board Drop this October. TWO winners will be chosen this August!

To learn more visit Element and submit your application.

Back on board

Hey all! It's been over a month since we last saw each other. Summer began, vacations were taken and now its time to get back into the swing of things.



Here are some new developments since the last post:

The wonderful TOMS at UGA PR team has graduated and are moving on to bigger and better things (a.k.a. real jobs and grad school) leaving the TOMS stuff to me, Rene', and the other UGA TOMS Campus Reps.

We're all working together with TOMS to start a TOMS Campus Club at UGA for Fall '09 to share the One for One mission on campus and help spread awareness of the change a pair of shoes can make in a child’s life. Anyone interested in joining the club or who wants to keep updated on new TOMS at UGA developments, email us at TOMSatUGA@gmail.com.

TOMS has released new summer styles, from palm tree & anchor prints to seersucker and new rope-soled styles. Check out TOMS' website and trade in those flip flops for TOMS.

"One Day Without Shoes" Montage

A recap of the "One Day Without Shoes" event at Brumby Beach. Thank you to everyone who participated! The day was a great success!

Fun Pic Thursday

Harry Dawg loves TOMS

photo courtesy of Rene Smith

Earth TOMS

On Wednesday many students across campus will go out of their way to promote and participate in green initiatives in honor of Earth Day. TOMS at UGA will take part in an Earth Day celebration sponsored by the Go Green Alliance titled “It's SO Easy Being Green!”

From 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. the TOMS team will be in Tate Plaze raising awareness about the ways TOMS Shoes works to help the environment. In addition to being committed to its “one for one” mission, the company works to make its shoes as eco-friendly as possible.

Several shoe styles are available that are 100 percent vegan, meaning no animal bi-products were used in the making of the shoes. The dye of many styles of shoes is lead-free. In the newer styles, the soles are made of a recycled rubber blend. The April 2009 edition of 'InStyle' magazine included TOMS Shoes on its list of fashion-forward items winning a “green award.”

Not only are you helping children in need when you purchase TOMS, but you are also helping the environment. TOMS Shoes is truly dedicated to producing “shoes for tomorrow” in every way possible.

Lesson Learned

We did it. On Thursday students were showing up to class barefoot all over campus. Two hundred and fifty people were spotted shoeless at our Brumby Beach event alone! We jumped, danced, ate, colored and played in the perfect spring weather.

Halfway through a walk from Brumby Beach to the arch, my tender, winter feet began to feel some major pain. I stubbed my toes, burnt my feet on the pavement, cringed through the rocky parts and did a small jig when I made it to the cool tile of the MLC. In short, I'm spoiled. My walk was only for about 30 minutes and all I could think of were the children who walk barefoot for miles. That’s a powerful way to realize how much we take for granted.

Together the TOMS Shoes team increased awareness of the company's mission and of the 40 percent of the world that goes without wearing shoes every day. I’ve been working with TOMS Shoes for months now, but never before was its message more apparent to me than it was on Thursday.

Thank you to those who came out to Brumby Beach and sacrificed a little bit of comfort to walk in the steps of those who go barefoot every day.

Today is the day! “One Day Without Shoes” officially started at Brumby Beach. Join the TOMS at UGA team, kick off those shoes of yours, and “bare your sole” from noon to 6 p.m., with a barefoot walk to Bolton Dining commons to end the day at 5:30 p.m.

Not only are we here to play barefoot on the super-cool jumping machine, decorate our newest TOMS Shoes, sport our latest pedicure barefoot or hang out with Joel in his man TOMS … but we are here to honor the 40 percent of the population who walks without shoes everyday.

If you’re still not sure what TOMS is all about, it’s simple: people are suffering from diseases they acquire in their lives without shoes. These diseases, which make them outcasts and cause a host of medical problems, are 100% preventable. They just need shoes.
So girls, boys, dawgs, faculty, staff, townies – if you’re in Athens today then make your way to Brumby Beach today from noon through 6 p.m.

48 Hours and Counting!

The count down is officially underway: only two days until “One Day Without Shoes!”

Although it may be dreary and rainy today, we checked the weather report, spoke with the gods and are assured the sun will be shining on Thursday! We should have some nice, dry spring grass to play around in our bare feet.

While we may joke about Claire’s affinity for Blake Mycoskie and Joel’s love of Man TOMS, we haven’t lost focus on TOMS Shoes’ mission.

More than two billion people, that’s 40 percent of the world, walk without shoes each day. Think about how many shoes are in your closet right now and compare it to this statistic; astonishing, isn’t it?

Even more unbelievable is the fact that podoconiosis, a disease that causes extreme swelling, ulcers and deformity in the feet and legs, is 100 percent preventable by wearing shoes. 100 percent preventable! What a difference one pair of shoes can make.

If you are debating whether to take your shoes off for a day, a class or even an hour, then draw strength from the alarming number of people who live without this luxury each day. Walk barefoot with pride knowing that with each step you take, you raise awareness for billions around the world, not only making their lives more comfortable, but saving them as well.

Photo provided by Lindsay Lamphere from the South African shoe drop in 2007

Fun Pic Thursday Once Again!

It's "Fun Pic Thursday" once again! Here is your weekly dose of TOMS pics from Relay For Life last Friday.

One Day Without Shoes

“One Day Without Shoes” is right around the corner! We only have one week, and we are working around the clock to get people excited about this event.

“One Day Without Shoes” is a national day of recognition, led by TOMS Shoes, of the 40 percent of the world who live without shoes every day. Forty percent! Just take a minute to think about how many different pairs of shoes we each have – a pair for running, a casual pair, dress shoes, even a pair to wear around the house – and realize how much a pair of shoes impacts a life.

To raise awareness of this issue, we are hosting a concert on the University of Georgia’s Brumby Beach complete with a moonwalk, food, a TOMS Shoes documentary showing and opportunities to speak with the TOMS Shoes campus representative Rene Smith. We are also having a “Style Your Sole” party for people who pre-ordered a pair of TOMS shoes. The best part is that we will all be barefoot!

Join us for the event April 16 or pledge to go barefoot for the whole day or just long enough to raise awareness about this issue.

Spreading the word- One step at a time!

As you know, the TOMS at UGA team attended the University of Georgia's Relay for Life Friday, and it was a blast!

The highlight of the night was the barefoot lap. At 8:30 p.m., our team, many of our friends and a few TOMS fans endured the blustery weather and walked shoeless around the track in honor of those who go shoeless every day. As we walked holding our TOMS flags with pride, we shared the story of TOMS Shoes and the purpose of One Day Without Shoes. The excitement for One Day Without Shoes is mounting as we continue to spread the word around campus and prepare to bare our soles!

Several attendees were interested in learning about TOMS Shoes and its mission as well as the upcoming on-campus events. We collected numerous uniquely decorated paper feet stating the amount of time students pledge to go barefoot April 16 for One Day Without Shoes. A few people also browsed through the TOMS catalog to pre-order shoes for the "Style Your Sole" party that will be held during our One Day Without Shoes extravaganza.  

TOMS at Relay For Life

TOMS at UGA will be at Relay For Life on Friday, April 3.

In true TOMS style, there will be a barefoot lap at 8 p.m. during the Relay as a preview for One Day Without Shoes on April 16.

From 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. we will distribute promotional codes for free shipping, so look for our TOMS banner with blue and white balloons.

You can also save $5 by pre-ordering TOMS shoes to be delivered on April 16 at the One Day Without Shoes event. To pre-order, bring cash or check with your order information. You can also decorate a paper foot for our TOMS poster.

Please join us by showing support for both TOMS and Relay For Life as we enjoy a night of feet, fun and fundraising.

TOMS Creator on CNBC

TOMS Shoes creator, Blake Mycoskie, is featured on CNBC as an entrepreneur.

Style Your Sole

If you were not there you should have been. Last Thursday the TOMS Vagabonds hosted a “Style Your Sole” event at Cine in downtown Athens. There was free food and a documentary showing. But the best part was getting to decorate and design your own pair of TOMS shoes. All you had to do was pick out and purchase your favorite pair of TOMS from a table full of merchandise then get down and dirty with your creative side. The Vagabonds provided spray paint, fabrics, buttons, glue and more all to help your inner artist come out. It was great to see different ideas and creativity emerge through pairs of shoes.

I took my roommate with me. She was a virgin to the cause, and it was a great way to introduce her to the TOMS experience. I bought a T-shirt that read “Drop TOMS not Bombs” and she bought the white TOMS shoes so she could “style her sole.” After she used up the last of the black spray paint, one of the Vagabonds took her picture with what we believe could be the next best seller of TOMS shoes. We left with spray paint stained fingers. It is like taking a piece of your own creativity with you wherever you go, baring your soul on your sole. It was a fun night.
-Katie

Malory Toscano styling her TOMS shoes.

TOMS First Family

Claire's dream has come true! She finally met Blake at the "Style Your Sole" event at Cine last Thursday; well, sort of.

Fun Pic Thursdays

On our continuing journey with TOMS, we all received a well-deserved time-off during spring break. Some of us went on cruises, some to Savannah's St. Patty's day parade as well as various places around the country. But throughout our break, we kept TOMS close to our hearts, as you can see from our traveling TOMS pictures that can be seen on our Facebook page. As a tribute to our spring break photos, we decided to start "Fun Pic Thursday," so sit back and enjoy and be sure to check back every Thursday for a new fun pic.

Man-TOMS

So after Claire’s post, I guess most of you are well-educated, enthusiastic TOMS fans now. However, there is one large issue that was not addressed in any of the videos or Web sites or promotional materials – Man-TOMS.

I am a confident, secure male with a pretty defined, conservative style. At the same time, I think that I possess the attitude such that I can get a little adventurous with my wardrobe and still pull it off. That being said, Man-TOMS have created an internal conflict in me that is the size of Claire’s crush on Blake. The girls I’m working with are encouraging me to rock some Man-TOMS, and to be frank, I think it would be cool to wear a pair. The problem is that I’m just not sure I can pull them off. I’ve seen a few guys around campus sporting Man-TOMS, and they seem to wear them successfully. The whole California look may not be for me, or very common at the University of Georgia, but there’s still something deep down in me that says to buy a pair of Man-TOMS, just try them out.

It would be a $50 gamble – is it worth it? Am I just going to wear them a few times and be done with Man-TOMS? Am I going to start a trend throughout the fraternity world, and then through the whole campus? This Man-TOMS saga to be continued…

-Joel

The Vagabonds are coming! The Vagabonds are coming!

The official traveling TOMS crew, known as The Vagabonds, will be coming to Athens this Thursday at Ciné. Festivities will begin at 6:00 p.m. with the documentary showing on the big screen at 6:30 p.m. The Vagabonds will be hosting a Style Your Sole event where you can purchase and paint your own pair of TOMS and have a pair donated to a child in need. They will also raffle off Dave Matthews Band tickets and have food catered by Athens’ own, Mama's Boy. Come out and join us for a fun evening, we really hope to see you there!

It's Go Time

In our first few weeks of research, we have found that not many people really know what the deal is with TOMS Shoes. Lots of students have heard of them or know someone who has a pair (or four like me...obsessive, I know), but few know the story behind them. With that in mind, I thought that this video of TOMS founder Blake Mycoskie explaining how he started TOMS would be a good introduction to what this company is up to and what their mission is all about. And even if a heart-warming back story isn’t your thing, the video is still definitely worth watching….Blake is a stone cold fox. So now that you are an expert on all things TOMS, go and spread the good news and welcome to what promises to be an oh-so-entertaining documentation of the world as we now know it – TOMS Shoes shenanigans.

And for all of our A.D.D friends out there here it is in bullet form:
-Lots of research
-Blake is a total babe
-Shenanigans
-We love TOMS Shoes and so should you

TOMS Love,
Claire

Find out more, see how TOMS was born