Fans Add Their Voice To Singers’ Causes @ (NAPSA)—If you want a voice on the world stage, bring your cell phone to the next concert you attend. Musicians and fans now use the devices to organize, voice their support and send important messages to decision makers in Washington and abroad. For instance, in support of ONE.vorg, the band U2 used cell phones to organize a text-messag- ing campaign during its U.S. and European tour. The technology also played an important role at the Live 8 show in Philadelphia. More recently, the band Coldplay invited its concertgoers to text in their support for a campaign supportingfair trade. The initiative—known as Oxfam’s Make Trade Fair campaign—advocates for reform of unfair agricultural and trade policies. Oxfam says changes to the policies will allow farmers in developing countries to get fair prices for their goods and benefit from international markets. The text initiative works through an agreement with Sun Microsystems—the same com- pany that worked with U2 and Live 8. Fans attending Coldplay’s “Twisted Logic” tour are shown a video of lead singer Chris Martin visiting poor farmers in Ghana and talking about his support for the campaign. The video encourages concertgoers to sign onto Oxfam’s Big Noise petition in support of the campaign by texting their e-mail address to 87233, “TRADE”on their cell phones. The addresses are captured and cataloged and technology is leveraged to initiate each fan’s connection to the campaign. Globally, the Big Noise petition has been signed by more than eight million people. The initiative’s goal is to add more than two million additional supporters to its ranks and then deliver the petition at the World Trade Organization Ministerial Conference in Hong Kong. “Trade could provide a route out of poverty for millions of people who live on less than a dollar a day. But under current trade rules, poor farmers are losing ground,” said Brian Rawson, Trade Campaign Organizer for Oxfam America. “Thousands of Americans, including Coldplay fans, are getting exposed to this issue. Our agreement with Sun Microsystems gives them an immediate way to support the call to make tradefair.” For more information visit www.sun.com,
