Clinton's Conference: Celebrity Commitments

But Clinton also is securing commitments from some entertainment figures --- just as he has with CEOs, philanthropists and world leaders who are attending the confab.

Damon's commitment, for instance, is on behalf of Water.org, a non profit he co-founded: "Over a three year period, Water.org’s new commitment will bring safe drinking water and sanitation to a minimum of 50,000 people, helping decrease the prevalence of water and sanitation related diseases. It will also enhance awareness of good hygiene practices among local communities, and focus on integrating sustainable water resources management into community practices."

Other commitments so far:

Usher: "Usher's New Look (UNL) commits to establish Powered By Service, a global initiative to engage hundreds of thousands of young people in service opportunities around the world. Through toolkits, mini-grants, and strategic partnerships, UNL will support young people as they use their unique artistic and entrepreneurial talents to create change in their communities."

Alicia Keyes: "Through the 'Safe and Sound' program, Keep a Child Alive will establish a series of safe-houses in India to protect HIV-positive women and children, and children orphaned by HIV/AIDS. They will focus their efforts on those who most desperately need medical, nutritional, and psycho-social support to fight the effects of HIV/AIDS."

In addition, Brad Pitt will be giving an update on his project, the Make It Right Foundation, which had commited to redeveloping New Orleans' Lower Ninth Ward with an environmentally sustainable design and innovative architectural techniques.

The biggest knock on the connection of celebrity and cause is that they will show up for the prestige events, but will never be seen again. That surely was the case with the inauguration, where every show biz figure under the sun turned out, but the jury is still out on who actually followed through on promises to pursue service work. This is a much more public way of securing pledges and seeing the follow through. It may even add a layer of accountability to the publicity that is reaped, although one question comes to mind: What happens to those who do drop the ball?

Update: The answer is here. They can't come back.