Dear 8 Hours' Overtime for a Good Cause 2014 enthusiasts, thanks so much and enjoy Friday night!

Next Friday, 8 Hours' Overtime for a Good Cause will take place in (at least) 16 cities on 3 continents. In Rio de Janeiro, Tilburg, Leeuwarden, San Fransisco, Leiden, Delft, Groningen, Brasov, Tomar, Portalegre, Utrecht, Bucharest, Amersfoort, The Hague, 's-Hertogenbosch and Nijmegen people will donate 8 hours of their time to help out local causes.

This crowd will use their combined creativity to solve real challenges, share their skills (and learn some new ones), meet new friends and enjoy a great night. The whole event is organized bottom-up by local volunteers, without a budget (at least not a monetary budget) and might differ in every city, to suit the local context. 

What's the same in every participating city though, is that this event would not be possible without the hard (voluntary) work of many many people. All of you, thanks so much and have a great night!

If you are one of the participants: These'll be some of the best hours of overtime you've ever had :) Go work your *ss off for a local cause and have lots of fun doing so!

If you are a representative of a good cause: It's very rare that you can be part of a group of people working this hard just for you! Enjoy the end results as well as the incredible process!

If you are one of the organizers: This is what you've worked so hard for. The event wouldn't have taken place without your efforts. Now it's time for you to sit back and enjoy the magic!

If you are one of the sponsors: It's incredible what can be achieved if everyone pitches in a little of what they have plenty of. Thanks so much for your donations in time, goods, ideas, network, ...!

If you are none of the above: Keep an eye out for #8i2014 on your favorite social networks and for future reports on this blog. There will be tweets, pictures, videos, livestreams, etcetera covering the night. I bet you'll want to be part of this next year!

(8 Hours' Overtime for a Good Cause 2015 will take place on 27 March 2015 ;))

<3

A very small part of the local organizers in the Netherlands, during a country meetup. These people are great :)

What 8i was like in 2013 in Groningen

It can be quite hard to grasp what 8 Hours' Overtime for a Good Cause is really like. 8i is different in every city and every year. We asked co-organizer Mark Meinema to describe his experience with '8 uur overwerken voor het goede doel' in Groningen (The Netherlands) in 2013:

"For me, 8i2013 was stunning evidence that a fantastic event can be organized in very little time (most of the work was done in less than a month!), as long as you’re surrounded by some truly fantastic people.

And it only got better because of the fabulous creative teams. I can still hardly believe that 8i generates so much energy in just one night. But most importantly, we made some products for the good cause organizations that really rocked!"

You can see what the night was like in this video by Giordano Nunes:

What 8i was like in 2013 in Rio de Janeiro

It can be quite hard to grasp what 8 Hours' Overtime for a Good Cause is. Even if you read or talk a lot about it. The event is different in every city and different every year. We asked co-organizer Marcio Gonçalves to describe his experience with '8 horas extras por uma boa causa' in Rio de Janeiro last year:

"When my friend Monica Alvarenga invited me to participate, I was thankful for the opportunity. On the day it happened, I was really surprised with the great atmosphere of donation among all participants. On that day I have learned the real meaning of giving and receiving. We had 8 extra hours of great pleasure."

What 8i was like in 2013 in Utrecht

It can be quite hard to grasp what 8 Hours' Overtime for a Good Cause is. Even if you read or talk a lot about it. The event is different in every city and different every year. It's one of those things you should really just experience.

Still, it would be nice to give you at least some idea of what 8i could be like. Take a look at this video registration of '8 Uur Overwerken voor het Goede Doel' in Utrecht, The Netherlands in 2013:

And the video of the Harlem Shake wake up exercise at midnight :)

Both video's were made by Roald from Pyropix.

Overview of 2013 results

On 22 March 2o13 more than 400 people in 20 cities all over the world where working 8 hours for charity in the project 8 hours overtime in a good cause.

The participating cities and their causes:

• Amersfoort: Leergeld, Kunst in Amersfoort, Gay Pride, Upside down Umbrella en Present
• Amsterdam: FairWork
• Arnhem: De Blauwe Kikker, Human Lightcircles, de Kansfabriek, We Can Young, Soepenstein.
• Berlin: Frieda.
• Bratislava,
• Cairo,
• Den Haag: Dopper, VSO Nederland, UFBR, WorldGranny, DeZoep.
• Groningen: 34 piepjes 300 tellen, GSV Leonardo, Kalinga, Ontwikkelingpotentieel, Ohana home.
• Istanbul,
• Leeuwarden,
• Leiden: Mama's Kitchen, Stichting MOL, Energiek Leiden, LCKV Jeugdvakanties, iDoe.
• Nijmegen,
• Pietermaritzburg: PMES.
• Portalegre: Ajudada, CerciPortalegre. 
• Rio de Janeiro,
• Rotterdam: Femmes 4 Freedom
• Tilburg: Kittenmand, Books4Life, Thomas bouwprojecten, SNF.
• Utrecht: ISKB, Mezzo & NOV, Miess, Present Utrecht, Achter de Regenboog,Teddybears for help.
• Vienna.

Postponed to a later date:

• Münster
• Berlin

Find out more here:

• An overview of the event on Storify .
• Pictures in the Flickr photostream.

Overview of 2012 results

The supported charities:

• Rio de Janeiro Frente Humana de Intervenções Organizadas, SINAL do VALE
• Lisbon Corações com Coroa
• San Francisco InSTEDD
• Portalegre Centro Social Comunitário de S. Bartolomeu, Fundação Vaquinhas e Velez do Peso, Centro Social Paroquial São Tiago, CERCI Portalegre
• New York Jerry, the DIY Server
• Berlin Boa Nnipa, Seepferdchen Kinderkunstwerkstatt, erziehungsweise, Lets do it world Berlin
• Münster FSV-Münster, VSE Münster
• Den Haag Oxfam Novib, WSPA, Nudge, Humanity House, Stichting No Guts No Glory
• Groningen Ambiance, Wil de Orka, Hardloopcentrum, EducAided, Save the Native Forest
• Apeldoorn BE-COME, Gigant, META Challenge, Reumapatiëntenvereniging Apeldoorn, Vlinderkind
• Arnhem Roses for Children, HoudiniBeweging, Bhutan, LGBTsupports
• Tilburg Stop Aids Now, Stichting Tess, Stichting Stadsbomen, Best Buddies, Super Youth, Wikiwijk
• Utrecht UAF, BYE Foundation, KerkinActie, Proruil
• Amsterdam BeeSupport!
• Amersfoort Disability studies, Stadsboerderij de Vosheuvel, Stichting kinderzorg Utrecht, Moessie de moestuin coach, Ravelijn
• Rotterdam Groene Loper, Hospice de 4 Vogels, Enviu, Wijkorganisatie Feyenoord

Flickr for photos.
The lovely video made in Lissabon about their evening:

 Two cool results too cool not to show.

What you can do with eight hours and 5 creatives!
Amigos de Potos (Groningen):

EBAN project from Boa Nnipa (Berlin):

First international 8-i cities in 2011

After being a Dutch event for some years, 2011 was the first year with international cities. These are the cities outside of the Netherlands that were first to join the Dutchies: 

Berlin

Sedus location at
Reinhardtstraße 29
Space for 5 teams
City coordinator: Frauke Lehberger
The site for the local initiative is on Facebook.

Cairo
City coordinator: Nihal Saad

London
Sedus location at
157A St. John Street
Space for 4 teams
City coordinator: Liza Groeneveld
Signup for London using this form.

Madrid
Sedus location at
José Ortega y Gasset, 33
Space for 3 teams

City coordinator: Pedro Amann

Berlin 2011 worked for Heroes and ICJA

Madrid 2011 worked for APOYAR

London 2011 worked for Unity Express and Engineers without Borders UK

Cairo 2011 worked for Bayan and Paradise

Some pre 2011 results

To give you an idea about the result, here are some results from earlier editions:

In Groningen in 2007 a tiny charity called Rahan Yam-Tel joined. They didn't have any visual identity nor written communication about their goals etc. The team of 6 creatives took the challenge and designed a logo, website, stationary and wrote all text in two languages for their site and fundraising letter. The result still stands after four years.

A couple of years earlier Bartiméus set a challenge, they had rented airtime for a radiocommercial for the saturday after 8uo. And a team led by Renger Koning met that challenge and produced a professional commercial that was used for the campain. Check out the Bartimeus Commercial.

Other organisations that have been helped in the past are: the Dutch chapter of Médecins Sans Frontières, Greenpeace (the team helped out with a campain that was still in development back then about e-waste) and local subsidiaries of the International Red Cross for example in Apeldoorn in 2011. A more complete list can be found on the Dutch website.