FORBES — Back in April, One World: Together At Home, the star-studded benefit concert organized by Global Citizen and curated by Lady Gaga, raised $128 million for the World Health Organization and other Covid relief beneficiaries. But while the event drew hundreds of thousands to a six-hour concert livestream and nearly 21 million viewers across the 26 networks on which a two-hour show aired live, very few of those dollars came from individual donors.

… In July, Wiz Khalifa staged a virtual concert in conjunction with esports team the Pittsburgh Knights and Softgiving—which operates a free fundraising platform for influencers as well as a managed events service for charities—to benefit Rise Above the Disorder.

The multiplatinum recording artist has an Instagram following of more than 31 million, yet he raised less than $10,000, according to Matt Pfaltzgraf, CEO of Softgiving, who notes: “Wiz’s conversion of people watching the stream was in the few hundreds of people, from his millions of social media followers.” [MORE]

WASHINGTON POST — For Deborah Scott, executive director of Georgia Stand-Up, it's as if Election Day never ended.

The get-out-the-vote efforts of civic engagement groups like hers, which helped Joe Biden become the first Democratic presidential candidate to win the state in nearly three decades, have been ongoing since Nov. 3. The group is still knocking on doors, calling voters and signing up new registrants, with a big push involving 100 volunteers planned for this weekend. Another group that works to mobilize voters of color set up tables at a recent high school graduation to register newly eligible young voters. A third group is reaching voters at transit stations. [MORE]

CNN, “Anderson Cooper 360”— This is Georgia STAND-UP, one of several voting rights groups in the state. In the run-up to November, it and other grassroots groups that had worked with Abrams hit the pavement hard. registering new voters. motivating Black turnout. and helped flip Georgia for the democrats in the presidential race, for the first time in two decades.

Deborah Scott has been in this fight for 20 years. When it comes to Georgia's voting rights, it's black women leading the charge. “Black women leading organizations and organizing and canvassing and phone banking and organizing youth and organizing churches and organizing in every pocket of georgia.” ,,,

WATCH HERE

CBS-46 ATLANTA — Rapper and actor Common's music is always inspiring and knowledgeable, and now with Election Day drawing near, he's using his talents to get Georgians to the polls early.

The GRAMMY award-winning artist is one of the most respected names in hip-hop; often noted for his positive energy and activism. And with early voting coming to a close on October 30, Common is in Atlanta for next four days discussing civic engagement.

"There's nothing like changing people by being with them," says Common. "I think it shows that you care at an even higher level." [MORE]

HYPEPOTAMUS — With many businesses and organizations continuing to suffer due to the COVID-19 pandemic, non-profits were probably hit the hardest due to their inability to raise funds through traditional methods.

Most non-profit organizations typically receive the bulk of their funds through in-person events such as galas and athletic events (such as 5k runs). And with the absence of these events, they must figure out alternative methods, which is where Atlanta-based online fundraising platform Softgiving steps in. [MORE]

DEADLINE — GameMaster, an e-sports reality competition series featuring The Big Bang Theory’s Wil Wheaton, is set to kick off production in Georgia.

Production on the show, not be to confused with the classic British Channel 4 format that starred Patrick Moore, was delayed by eight months as a result of the COVID-19 production shutdown.

The show, which is set to air on Amazon Prime Video and Twitch, will start pre-production in Atlanta on November 9 with full production beginning in January 2021.

Wheaton, who played a fictionalized version of himself on the CBS sitcom, will play the commissioner and host of the nine-part series. It will feature gameplay on 24 major video games with 12 amateur esports contestants from across the U.S. Someone will go home each week, and the last two standing will battle it out at the live finale to grab the $100K cash prize and claim the title. [MORE]

ESPN — ESL and DreamHack, two of the biggest event organizers in esports, announced Wednesday that they will merge after a five-year period that saw the two companies share ownership in Modern Times Group but operate independently. The new company will be known as ESL Gaming, with Modern Times Group as its majority shareholder.

DreamHack will continue to be the name of the festival series that spans across Europe and North America, but will be operated now by the joint leadership group. That leadership group will be led by ESL co-CEOs Ralf Reichert and Craig Levine, with DreamHack CEO Marcus Lindmark staying on to operate the large-scale festivals he has been the top executive for since October 2014. [MORE]

ESPORTS INSIDER — MTG-owned tournament organisers DreamHack and ESL have merged organisations under one corporation.

While operations for both companies will now operate under ESL Gaming, DreamHack and ESL will remain as independent brands.

The new company structure is effective immediately, with Craig Levine and Ralf Reichert leading ESL Gaming as Co-CEOs. The merger is said to allow DreamHack and ESL to “push forward new innovations to serve fans and communities” in “every region around the world.” [MORE}

THE ESPORTS OBSERVER — Global tournament organizers ESL and DreamHack will merge their operations into a single entity under the name ESL Gaming. The new structure will be led by Co-CEOs Craig Levine and Ralf Reichert. DreamHack President and CEO Marcus Lindmark will take the role of president, DreamHack SVP, project and event operations.

While the companies and their leadership structures have merged, the brands will continue to operate as they have – DreamHack festivals will remain under the DreamHack name, as will ESL competitions. [MORE]

ATLANTA BUSINESS CHRONICLE, “It’s Complicated” — State and local officials who had been urging people to complete the census, have gotten a reprieve. A federal judge ruled late Sept. 24 that the count could continue through the end of October instead of wrapping up Sept. 30.

The one-month extension will provide a little breathing room, but does not wholly eliminate the urgency. Among other things, data the bureau collects in Georgia will help determine how much money the federal government allocates to projects in the Peach State during the next 10 years. [MORE]

CBS-46 ATLANTA — Efforts to register voters got a big push as volunteers flooded metro Atlanta for National Voter Registration Day.

"What we want you to do is tell five people to come register to vote,” said volunteer Michael Pennyman, he was one dozens, working to register voters.

“I go out to the people and explain what we’re really doing and what voter registration is all about,” added Pennyman.[MORE]

ESPORTS INSIDER — San Francisco-based Golden Guardians, an affiliate team of the Golden State Warriors, has announced its partnership with Softgiving.

To celebrate the launch of the partnership, Golden Guardians will host a charity stream on September 12th for Make-A-Wish Greater Los Angeles.

Throughout the course of the partnership, Golden Guardians and Softgiving will host several charity stream events and raise money for a variety of charities during Childhood Cancer Awareness Month and National Video Games Week. [MORE]