FedEx Office (formerly known as Kinko's) is extending a helping hand to job seekers today: free resume printing. Customers can print up to 25 black-and-white copies of their resume at any of the company's 1,600+ stores across the United States.

"We understand that the economy has affected many people in a very profound way, and we want to help," said Brian Philips, president and CEO of FedEx Office. It's a timely expression of free love and sympvertising, both of which are powerful brand building tools if used in a relevant setting, and they're appreciated more than ever when times are tough. Time to figure out what your company can offer (potential) customers, with as little investment and as much empathy as possible. (Related: Billboards hand out free gloves, hats and scarves — Kraft serves up soup and warmth in heated bus stops.)

Website: www.fedex.com/us/office
Contact: fedexoffice.customerrelations@fedex.com

Spotted by: Judy McRae

The venerable Moleskine-style notebook may claim the likes of Picasso and Hemingway among its past users, but an Oregon-based printing and publishing company recently launched a new alternative that offers the added appeal of eco credentials and customizability, and squarely targets (artistic) minipreneurs.

Pinball Publishing's Scout Book is a pocket-sized notebook with saddle stitching and a durable chipboard cover. Artists, designers and other minipreneurs can customize the 32-page notebook by uploading their own cover art and choosing an interior paper style—lines, grids or blank, with a choice of 18 Pantone ink colours. Both the cover and interior are made from 100 percent recycled paper, inks are soy-based, and Pinball uses renewable energy sources in its manufacturing. Minimum order is 250 notebooks, and multiple cover styles can be included in one order. Pinball specifically targets artistic entrepreneurs on Etsy and elsewhere with the Scout Book, which seems a natural for branded promotional giveaways, too.

Besides bringing one more product category into the ever-expanding realm of customizability, the Scout Book is also a testament to the growing ranks of (part-time) artistic and crafty entrepreneurs, who have become an attractive market of their own. Give them new options, make their lives easier, and they'll return your love in kind! (Related: White lines make paper stand out — Design-before-you-buy on German version of Etsy.)

Website: www.pinballpublishing.com/printing/scout-book?sec=scoutbooks
Contact: info@pinballpublishing.com

We've written about several technology-enhanced games that aim to get kids to exercise; one we hadn't seen, however, was an online game that strives to promote social change. Sure enough, though, Akoha is a new, reality-based game that uses mobile, web and real-world challenges to ask the question, “What if playing a game could make the world a better place?”

Launched into public beta in December, Akoha challenges players to carry out missions that involve performing small acts of kindness for others. Each player gets equipped with a deck of 24 mission cards—priced at USD 5—each of which describes a challenge to be carried out. Examples include “Donate an Hour of Your Time,” “Give Someone a Book” or “Send Drinks to a Couple in Love." Each card also includes a Mission ID number that's used to track the mission online. Every time a player performs one of these missions, he or she hands the card to the mission's beneficiary, or the person who receives the act of kindness. That person can then log onto the game's site to register receipt and write a short description of their experience of the mission, complete with photos or videos if desired. From there, they can explore the game and begin conducting missions of their own. The original player, meanwhile, enters their own description of the mission and earns points for completing it, allowing them to advance in the game; they can also track the influences of their missions around the globe, with each person's story of receiving and forwarding the mission documented online. The general idea, then, is that more players get recruited along the way and more good deeds get performed around the world. Players can also suggest their own mission cards, and they'll soon be able to custom-design their own mission decks as well.

Akoha is another nice example of what our sister site calls the OFF=ON trend, whereby the lines dividing the online and offline worlds are becoming less clear. By late January players of the game had carried out more than 2,000 missions in 33 countries—60 percent of them having joined Akoha because they received a mission card. Through a community challenge with charity partner Room to Read, Montreal-based Akoha will sponsor the construction of a new library in Nepal once 25,000 missions have been completed. Akoha also plans to begin offering sponsorship opportunities for organizations to give Akoha decks to their members. One to try out, partner with, or otherwise get involved in...? (Related: Clothing brand asks its wearers to be kind.)

Website: www.akoha.com
Contact: info@akoha.com

Spotted by: Khady Beye

The word "commune" may connote images of long-haired hippies and failed experiments, but in today's ailing economy, that's no reason to abandon the concept altogether. So goes the thinking behind Wanna Start a Commune?, a website now in beta that's dedicated to promoting a fresh take on the communal-living idea.

Wanna Start a Commune aims to provide members with the tools they need to share resources of many kinds, whether or not they actually live together. The site's 24-page "Tools for Commune Starters" pamphlet—downloadable for USD 3—includes a "get started" checklist, resource-sharing guide, potluck and workshop planning tools, organizational documents and technology tips for managing and growing a commune. Commune-related events are in the works; meanwhile, interested consumers can follow the organization's three pilot projects currently underway in the Los Angeles area at CuldesacCommune.org. In one pilot in Topanga, for instance, members are taking a communal approach to planting wildflowers, rodent control and building a new well, as well as carpooling and installing a communal pizza oven. The other two—one in Hollywood and one in Rustic Canyon—are teaming up to barter services, install a shared solar array, create a disaster preparedness plan and offer salsa dancing lessons. The group invites consumers interested in starting pilot projects of their own to contact the site for help.

There's nothing like necessity to make once-discredited ideas gleam anew with fresh possibility, and that's particularly true in this case given that neighbours are already forging new connections online and shoppers have begun teaming up to wield their crowd clout for discounts and other benefits. The communes of the '60s may not have lasted, but who's to say a modern approach won't make them just what we need today? (Related: Neighbourhood approach to renewable energy.)

Website: www.wannastartacommune.com
Contact: us@wannastartacommune.com

Spotted by: Alex Warren

Billions of people may inhabit this planet, but when it comes right down to it, most of us are still primarily interested in what's going on in our own backyards. That's part of the premise behind The Printed Blog, which we covered back in January, and it's also the driving notion behind The Local, a new initiative from The New York Times.

Launched on Monday, The Local is a group of community news and information websites devoted to residents of five particular areas of New York and New Jersey—specifically, Clinton Hill and Fort Greene in Brooklyn, N.Y., and Maplewood, Millburn and South Orange, N.J. The sites will feature posts by both NYT journalists and community members alike about day-to-day life in their neighbourhoods, with topics including schools, restaurants, businesses and real estate, economic life, crime, government services, transportation, volunteer opportunities, outdoor activities, parenting issues and more. Features will include calls for citizen engagement, such as posts that mobilize users to resolve a local problem; blogs, Q&As and creative works by community members; neighbourhood calendars; and virtual "refrigerator" art by community children. For the Brooklyn sites, The Times is partnering with the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism, where students will collaborate in Clinton Hill and Fort Greene by both contributing and teaching residents about reporting and the use of interactive media.

Jim Schachter, the NYT's editor for digital initiatives, explains: “We’ll be reporting on the big concerns in these communities, from deer hunts to property taxes, crime to school budgets. And we’ll be striving to empower residents to report on their own communities, as well as to contribute their creativity and ideas.”

Combining both professional and citizen journalism with a strong element of (still) made here appeal, The Local has the potential to engage Generation C(ontent) in new ways—possibly providing a model for struggling newspapers everywhere. One to watch!

Website: www.nytimes.com/marketing/thelocal
Contact: www.nytimes.com/membercenter/formh.html