Twitter Chooses Room to Read As Its First Corporate Social Innovation Partner

For the first time ever, Twitter (www.twitter.com) has decided to formally partner with a charity as part of a Corporate Social Innovation initiative – and they have chosen Room to Read (www.roomtoread.org), a San Francisco-based non-profit which aims to empower millions of children in the developing world through education.

The Fledgling Initiative is a Twitter program that is driven by Twitter’s belief in democratizing access to information throughout the world via tweeting. As part of the project, Twitter staff will participate in making a Pinot Noir and a Chardonnay with Crushpad (www.crushpadwine.com) – a San Francisco-based custom winery. In this first-of-its-kind social winemaking project, the public will be invited to pre-purchase bottles of the wine, follow its progress on Twitter and, at some stages, have a chance to participate in its creation. Five dollars from every bottle sold will go directly to Room to Read to support and enable literacy programs in some of the poorest regions of the world.

“Like our friends at Twitter, Room to Read is thinking big and growing fast. This innovative partnership will allow us to bring new libraries to thousands of children in developing communities across Asia and Africa,” said John Wood, founder and executive chairman of Room to Read.
 

“Not only does Room to Read’s get-things-done approach speak to our start-up mentality, but as a company we want to find ways to make a positive impact in the world,” said Biz Stone, co-founder of Twitter.

The Fledgling Initiative will include multimedia content documenting the wine’s development each step of the way, in-person events at the winery, tweet ups, and even chances to taste the wine. The wine’s own micro-site (www.fledglingwine.com) will feature the news and updates.

“We’re excited to contribute to this initiative by creating two great wines,” said Michael Brill, CEO of Crushpad.  “Using the same vineyards and state-of-the-art winemaking that we’re known for, our goal is to seriously over-deliver on both quality and experience.”

The wine is currently in the fermentation process and has a set release date of fall 2010 – just in time for the celebration of Room to Read’s 10th Anniversary.