tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-68828711551513792392024-03-05T07:46:31.678-08:00The In BetweenConnections between People, Places, Technology, etcBonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03790435526883548135noreply@blogger.comBlogger23125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6882871155151379239.post-85484284075553069722010-01-14T16:06:00.000-08:002010-01-14T16:14:18.910-08:00Motivate Me!<span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(117, 117, 117); font-size:12px;"><p style="margin-top: 0px; line-height: 1.7em; padding-top: 0em; padding-right: 0em; padding-bottom: 0em; padding-left: 0em; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">It's pretty tough to get people motivated enough to actually do something these days.</span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; line-height: 1.7em; padding-top: 0em; padding-right: 0em; padding-bottom: 0em; padding-left: 0em; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">We are dealing with increasingly savvy audiences, with more options, and less time to commit significant effort, to actively contribute to good causes.</span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; line-height: 1.7em; padding-top: 0em; padding-right: 0em; padding-bottom: 0em; padding-left: 0em; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Good online/offline campaigns rely on strong organizing, clear message, and recognizable outcomes. In addition, a successful campaign needs an inspirational way to motivate people to participate and engage. So how do we begin this process?</span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; line-height: 1.7em; padding-top: 0em; padding-right: 0em; padding-bottom: 0em; padding-left: 0em; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">We know that community generated activity builds stronger bonds with a brand or campaign - having a hand in the creation of something makes people more likely to invest in its ongoing success. A community of actively engaged individuals are also much more likely to participate in collaborative myth creation, spread your message by word of mouth, and act as ambassadors, or brand evangelists.</span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; line-height: 1.7em; padding-top: 0em; padding-right: 0em; padding-bottom: 0em; padding-left: 0em; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">How do we get peoples attention and motivate them to actively do something to participate in a good cause?</span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; line-height: 1.7em; padding-top: 0em; padding-right: 0em; padding-bottom: 0em; padding-left: 0em; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The following is a handful of ways commonly used to motivate us to engage with campaigns:</span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; line-height: 1.7em; padding-top: 0em; padding-right: 0em; padding-bottom: 0em; padding-left: 0em; "><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Boo! Arrgh!</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Use fear to scare people into action</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />Fear is often used to motivate engagement - particularly around issues of safety, health and your responsibilities to your loved ones.</span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; line-height: 1.7em; padding-top: 0em; padding-right: 0em; padding-bottom: 0em; padding-left: 0em; "><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Nice Booty</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Reward and incentivize through prizes or material gain</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />Pay to engage - prizes don't necessarily have to be cash value - they can be things that your target audience will value.</span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; line-height: 1.7em; padding-top: 0em; padding-right: 0em; padding-bottom: 0em; padding-left: 0em; "><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Game On</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Encourage competition</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />Engage that latent competitive drive: award points, challenge people to compete for a high score. </span><a href="http://www.chorewars.com/" style="color: rgb(238, 170, 35); text-decoration: none; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Chore Wars</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> is a great example of using a points system to get people more engaged in doing unappealing household chores. </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">(I have long envisioned a challenge that pits homes/dorms/companies monitoring their energy consumption against each other in a game of conservation. Anyone want to build it with me??)</span></i></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; line-height: 1.7em; padding-top: 0em; padding-right: 0em; padding-bottom: 0em; padding-left: 0em; "><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Stroke that Ego</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Spotlight talent and reward effort with praise and profile</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />We all like to get praised. And increasingly, online recognition can be turned into power and opportunity. If members of your community are participating for recognition, make sure there are good opportunities for them to build profile and portfolio.</span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; line-height: 1.7em; padding-top: 0em; padding-right: 0em; padding-bottom: 0em; padding-left: 0em; "><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Fun is Good(!)</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Make it more fun to do good stuff</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />Why not helping people feel good about doing good. It is important to be respectful of sensitive issues, but it is also important to let people enjoy themselves.</span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; line-height: 1.7em; padding-top: 0em; padding-right: 0em; padding-bottom: 0em; padding-left: 0em; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">A great example of fun at work is </span><a href="http://www.rockcorps.com/" style="color: rgb(238, 170, 35); text-decoration: none; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">RockCorps</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - a day of service working for a good cause, performed with friends, that earns you a concert ticket to an exclusive show. This is a winning model for engagement - By giving young people a way to feel like they are doing a good deed by hanging out with friends, and get rewarded for a day of service. The new initiative from Disney - </span><a href="http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/disneyparks/en_US/WhatWillYouCelebrate/index?name=Give-A-Day-Get-A-Disney-Day" style="color: rgb(238, 170, 35); text-decoration: none; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Give Day Get a Disney Day</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - follows a similar model.</span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; line-height: 1.7em; padding-top: 0em; padding-right: 0em; padding-bottom: 0em; padding-left: 0em; "><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Power Hungry</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Offer opportunities to lead and organize</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />A recent McKinsey Quarterly survey has found that as companies tighten their belts and reduce fiscal rewards, employees can be motivated, sometime more effectively, by offering greater leadership opportunities, praise and direct attention. In online and offline organizing, the opportunity to lead a house party, or run a local event can be a great motivator.</span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; line-height: 1.7em; padding-top: 0em; padding-right: 0em; padding-bottom: 0em; padding-left: 0em; "><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">We're all Dumb and Lazy</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Make the default option the best one</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />Make the lazy option the best option. </span><a href="http://www.nudges.org/" style="color: rgb(238, 170, 35); text-decoration: none; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Nudge</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> highlights the little things we can do to change peoples behavior for the better. Instead of asking people to decide to opt IN, make your preferred option a decision to opt OUT and watch how many more people commit.</span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; line-height: 1.7em; padding-top: 0em; padding-right: 0em; padding-bottom: 0em; padding-left: 0em; "><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">In Sympathy</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Put your audience in the shoes of those in need</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />Build empathy with your audience, tell emotional stories that people can relate to.</span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; line-height: 1.7em; padding-top: 0em; padding-right: 0em; padding-bottom: 0em; padding-left: 0em; "><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The Velvet Rope</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Get a glimpse behind the curtain</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />Nothing builds demand like limited supply. Exclusivity, VIP, invite only. Does anyone still need a Google Wave invitation?</span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; line-height: 1.7em; padding-top: 0em; padding-right: 0em; padding-bottom: 0em; padding-left: 0em; "><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Edutainment</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Teach through storytelling</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><a href="http://www.participantmedia.com/" style="color: rgb(238, 170, 35); text-decoration: none; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Participant Media</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> is a production company that makes great movies. Most people know them for their multi award winning films like the Soloist or the Kite Runner. Less people are aware of the huge social undertakings that go on behind the scenes of every film. Each one of their films becomes a vehicle to educate and engage the broader cinema going public in a range of issues explored through their stories. Eg. The Soloist launched a mental health</span><a href="http://www.participantmedia.com/social_action/soloist/campaign.php" style="color: rgb(238, 170, 35); text-decoration: none; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">campaign</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">. By using popular cinema to tell well crafted and engaging stories, they are able to educate a broader audience of engaged individuals.</span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; line-height: 1.7em; padding-top: 0em; padding-right: 0em; padding-bottom: 0em; padding-left: 0em; "><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">We're all in This Together</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Feel part of something bigger than yourself</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />Provide ways for people to collaborate and own a little piece of a bigger whole. Initiatives like </span><a href="http://setiathome.berkeley.edu/" style="color: rgb(238, 170, 35); text-decoration: none; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">seti</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> or </span><a href="http://carrotmob.org/" style="color: rgb(238, 170, 35); text-decoration: none; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">carrot mob</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> rely on people working together to create something as a community. When there is a shared sense of ownership and responsibility for success - be it a community like </span><a href="http://www.thehighline.org/" style="color: rgb(238, 170, 35); text-decoration: none; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The High Line</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">, open source software, or a collaborative story - we rely on each others singular strengths to support the cohesion of the whole.</span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; line-height: 1.7em; padding-top: 0em; padding-right: 0em; padding-bottom: 0em; padding-left: 0em; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Good campaigning, advertising and engagement will use a combination of these techniques to entice, incentivize and engage people to participate.</span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; line-height: 1.7em; padding-top: 0em; padding-right: 0em; padding-bottom: 0em; padding-left: 0em; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Obviously, the core of a good social media campaign is based in a deep understanding and affinity with the issues at hand, the message, and the action required. Knowing the issue, the message, and the actionable ask will determine the most appropriate way to engage an audience to participate.</span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; line-height: 1.7em; padding-top: 0em; padding-right: 0em; padding-bottom: 0em; padding-left: 0em; "><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">What other techniques are used to engage people in issues?<br />What are some other good examples of campaigns that use a combination of these techniques?</span></i></b></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; line-height: 1.7em; padding-top: 0em; padding-right: 0em; padding-bottom: 0em; padding-left: 0em; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Originally published on </span><a href="http://echoditto.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">EchoDitto.com</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> on December 03 2009</span></p></span>Bonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03790435526883548135noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6882871155151379239.post-84079271099404771702010-01-14T15:58:00.000-08:002010-01-14T16:29:37.719-08:00Entertainment & Engagement Part 2: Choose your own adventures<span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(117, 117, 117); font-size:12px;"><p size="1em" style="margin-top: 0px; line-height: 1.7em; padding-top: 0em; padding-right: 0em; padding-bottom: 0em; padding-left: 0em; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Imagine a story, told in 6 different languages , from a myriad perspectives, that you personally have a hand in shaping and creating. Imagine collaborating with hundreds of people in countries all over the world to decipher a codex that ultimately reveals the location of lost artifacts physically located in cities around the world. Imagine building a network of explorers to visit these sites to unearth these objects. Imagine discovering the rules to a lost sport. Imagine teams of people all over the world learning these rules and training for months, participating in time trails and ultimately competing simultaneously around the world in a new Olympic sport.</span></p><p size="1em" style="margin-top: 0px; line-height: 1.7em; padding-top: 0em; padding-right: 0em; padding-bottom: 0em; padding-left: 0em; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Imagine following all this on blogs, youtube, twitter, facebook. Imagine communicating with the main characters – writing them emails, sending them video, and having them respond, having your contribution to the puzzle recognized and valued by your peers and becoming an active member of this community of adventurers and new athletes.</span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; line-height: 1.7em; padding-top: 0em; padding-right: 0em; padding-bottom: 0em; padding-left: 0em; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">P.S. This is the future of our entertainment. And the future is here.</span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; line-height: 1.7em; padding-top: 0em; padding-right: 0em; padding-bottom: 0em; padding-left: 0em; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The scenario above describes some of the activities performed by the community that participated in 2008’s </span><a href="http://www.thelostring.com/" style="color: rgb(238, 170, 35); text-decoration: none; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The Lost Ring</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">. The Lost Ring was a trans-media production or </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternate_reality_game" style="color: rgb(238, 170, 35); text-decoration: none; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Alternate Reality Game</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> (ARG) jointly sponsored by McDonalds and the 2008 Olympics.</span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; line-height: 1.7em; padding-top: 0em; padding-right: 0em; padding-bottom: 0em; padding-left: 0em; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: normal; font-weight: bold; font-family:Tahoma, sans-serif;"></span></span></p><h3 style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; color: rgb(92, 93, 98); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;color:#000000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" font-weight: normal; white-space: pre;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /><br /></span><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/HV2taCwugzk&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/HV2taCwugzk&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /><br /></span></span></span></h3></span><p></p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">In a few short years we have amassed the skills and hardware to become an active audience of trans-media producers. We have been trained to vote for the outcome of reality TV shows, are enabled by an array of personal media production and editing equipment, and have enough everyday online interaction to play over a variety of platforms. As a result, we now have the ability and desire to fully participate in our entertainment and shape its outcome through our own personal contributions</span></span><p style="margin-top: 0px; line-height: 1.7em; padding-top: 0em; padding-right: 0em; padding-bottom: 0em; padding-left: 0em; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Events like The Lost Ring encourage participants to become active agents in the outcomes of their entertainment. Participants become deeply engaged with the story, and empowered to go out and explore, create, and evangelize.</span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; line-height: 1.7em; padding-top: 0em; padding-right: 0em; padding-bottom: 0em; padding-left: 0em; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">To date, many of these trans-media productions have been created with clear civic motivations. One of the best known “future modeling” ARG’s is </span><a href="http://www.worldwithoutoil.org/" style="color: rgb(238, 170, 35); text-decoration: none; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">World Without Oil</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> (WWO). It was created in 2007 by </span><a href="http://www.writerguy.com/" style="color: rgb(238, 170, 35); text-decoration: none; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Ken Ekland</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> with </span><a href="http://www.avantgame.com/" style="color: rgb(238, 170, 35); text-decoration: none; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Jane McGonnigal</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> (also creator of The Lost Ring). WWO challenged participants to augment their own lives in response to a fictional oil crisis and document the process. Part game, part user created survival manual, WWO has become the benchmark for community building using interactive storytelling. A layered mash-up of technology and DIY, the community produced an array of blogged, video and photographic content to personally engage with an entertaining fiction, and collaboratively brainstorm solutions to a very real crisis.</span></p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px; "><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /><br /></span><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/M-hzUGFD-Gc&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/M-hzUGFD-Gc&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Working to build and engage active and participatory communities in important civic issues, I believe there is much to be learnt from and shared with trans-media entertainment.</span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(117, 117, 117); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px; "></span></span><p style="margin-top: 0px; line-height: 1.7em; padding-top: 0em; padding-right: 0em; padding-bottom: 0em; padding-left: 0em; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; line-height: 1.7em; padding-top: 0em; padding-right: 0em; padding-bottom: 0em; padding-left: 0em; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Both require agile and responsive organizers with a clear vision and strategy and great skill for facilitation and direction. Both require building relationships of trust and responsibility, of fostering and encouraging curiosity, innovation, and creativity. Both require the sustenance of a public and collaborative narrative - audience and producer working together to build, sustain and extend a story that merges and overlaps with our everyday in a multitude of ways.</span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; line-height: 1.7em; padding-top: 0em; padding-right: 0em; padding-bottom: 0em; padding-left: 0em; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">To keep citizens motivated to get and stay engaged in a civic society, we need to be ever cleverer, enthusiastic, entertaining and convincing. Gaming metric and collaborative storytelling taps into some basic part of us that is competitive and imaginative and childlike.</span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; line-height: 1.7em; padding-top: 0em; padding-right: 0em; padding-bottom: 0em; padding-left: 0em; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Audience created collaborative fiction builds an emotional connection with the audience that better facilitates action and mobilization. It allows us to build a more trusting community who, having co-authored the story, will allow themselves to be guided through it. As a new political consciousness takes shape in and around popular culture, and we master to the tools to write our own narrative, we will truly be choosing our own adventures.</span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; line-height: 1.7em; padding-top: 0em; padding-right: 0em; padding-bottom: 0em; padding-left: 0em; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Some other great trans-media productions:</span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; line-height: 1.7em; padding-top: 0em; padding-right: 0em; padding-bottom: 0em; padding-left: 0em; "><a href="http://wetellstories.co.uk/" style="color: rgb(238, 170, 35); text-decoration: none; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">WeTellStories</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> is a fantastic 2007 project developed in collaboration with UK based </span><a href="http://www.sixtostart.com/" style="color: rgb(238, 170, 35); text-decoration: none; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">sixtostart</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> and Penguin Books. Working with up and coming Penguin authors, sixtostart developed 6 stories into web based interactive adventures. Using existing and familiar platforms like blogs and Google maps, the collaborations have opened up new possibilities in storytelling platforms. My pick of the bunch is the exquisitely executed </span><a href="http://wetellstories.co.uk/stories/week1/" style="color: rgb(238, 170, 35); text-decoration: none; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The 21 Steps</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> by Charles Cumming - A murder mystery translated into a cross London chase over Googlemaps.</span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; line-height: 1.7em; padding-top: 0em; padding-right: 0em; padding-bottom: 0em; padding-left: 0em; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">SixtoStart are currently producing an awesome new transmedia game to teach young people about privacy issues in social media:</span><a href="http://www.smokescreengame.com/" title="http://www.smokescreengame.com/" style="color: rgb(238, 170, 35); text-decoration: none; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">http://www.smokescreengame.com/</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> is getting rave reviews. Check it out.</span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; line-height: 1.7em; padding-top: 0em; padding-right: 0em; padding-bottom: 0em; padding-left: 0em; "><a href="http://www.whysoserious.com/" style="color: rgb(238, 170, 35); text-decoration: none; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Why So Serious</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">: Multi-Award winning ARG Why So Serious was used to launch the Dark Night in 2008.</span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; line-height: 1.7em; padding-top: 0em; padding-right: 0em; padding-bottom: 0em; padding-left: 0em; "><a href="http://jchutchins.net/site/personal-effects/" style="color: rgb(238, 170, 35); text-decoration: none; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Personal Effects</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">: Dark Arts A recent novel by JC Hutchins – Personal Effects: Dark Arts – combines the traditions of a paperback with the gameplay of an ARG - allowing the reader to enter the world of the story through interactive elements.</span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; line-height: 1.7em; padding-top: 0em; padding-right: 0em; padding-bottom: 0em; padding-left: 0em; "><a href="http://yellowarrow.net/v3/" style="color: rgb(238, 170, 35); text-decoration: none; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Yellow Arrow</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> gives the personal storytelling element a 2.0 perspective. In their words: “ Yellow Arrow is a global public art project of local experiences. Combining stickers, mobile phones and an international community, Yellow Arrow transforms the urban landscape into a "deep map" that expresses the personal histories and hidden secrets that live within our everyday spaces”. Begun in New York in 2004 Yellow Arrow has grown to over 35 countries and 380 cities around the world.</span></p></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Originally published at Echoditto.com on September 25 2009</span></div>Bonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03790435526883548135noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6882871155151379239.post-66665194710068772332010-01-14T15:52:00.000-08:002010-01-14T16:16:34.086-08:00Entertainment & Engagement Part 1: Reality TV<span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(117, 117, 117); font-size:12px;"><p style="margin-top: 0px; line-height: 1.7em; padding-top: 0em; padding-right: 0em; padding-bottom: 0em; padding-left: 0em; font-size:1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Has voting for reality TV, trained us to vote in reality?</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; line-height: 1.7em; padding-top: 0em; padding-right: 0em; padding-bottom: 0em; padding-left: 0em; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Have reality TV shows like Big Brother or American Idol - which challenge the audience to vote to determine the outcome of their entertainment - trained a generation of Americans to get to the polls and become more engaged citizens? Are shows like Big Brother responsible for the highest American youth voter turnout since 1972?</span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; line-height: 1.7em; padding-top: 0em; padding-right: 0em; padding-bottom: 0em; padding-left: 0em; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">* Youth Turnout Rate Rises to at Least 52% with 23 Million Voters Under 30<br />* 3.4 Million More Young People Vote than in 2004<br />* Young Voters Account for at Least 60% of Overall Increase<br />* 18% of All Voters Were Young</span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; line-height: 1.7em; padding-top: 0em; padding-right: 0em; padding-bottom: 0em; padding-left: 0em; "><a href="http://www.civicyouth.org/?p=323"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">From CIRCLE – The Centre for Information & Research on Civic Learning & Engagement</span></a></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; line-height: 1.7em; padding-top: 0em; padding-right: 0em; padding-bottom: 0em; padding-left: 0em; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">According to a </span><a href="http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m4021/is_2001_Sept_1/ai_78426786/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">2001 survey</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> of over 2000 Americans (aged 8 to 54): </span><cite><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">"The No. 1 reason people watch (reality TV) is the thrill of "guessing who will win or be eliminated from the show."</span></cite><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> That thrill is the reason cited by 69 percent of all reality TV watchers, and 84 percent of regular viewers, who make a point to watch. The second and third most common reasons viewers tune in are to </span><cite><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">"see people face challenging situations" and "imagining how I would perform in similar situations," stated by 63 percent and 42 percent of all viewers, respectively.</span></cite></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; line-height: 1.7em; padding-top: 0em; padding-right: 0em; padding-bottom: 0em; padding-left: 0em; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">It is easy to see how these motivations for engaging with entertainment could be transferred to the political landscape.</span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; line-height: 1.7em; padding-top: 0em; padding-right: 0em; padding-bottom: 0em; padding-left: 0em; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Lets take last years election as example. With larger than life villains and heroes, a classical “sword from a stone” story arc, celebrity cameos, unlimited interactive trans-media, and MC’d nightly by Colbert, Stewart, and Fey, the election of Obama played out like a blockbuster series of American Political Idol.</span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; line-height: 1.7em; padding-top: 0em; padding-right: 0em; padding-bottom: 0em; padding-left: 0em; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Obama was able to build an engaging and relatable brand that people really cared about, his message of HOPE was able to become a generic vessel for peoples aspirations and he became a symbol for people apply their own beliefs to. Like many reality show contestants, he started out as just a regular guy, he let people imagine how they would perform in his situation.</span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; line-height: 1.7em; padding-top: 0em; padding-right: 0em; padding-bottom: 0em; padding-left: 0em; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">We have now been exposed to about 10 years of reality TV. As a society we understand the format and what is expected of us as an audience. Audience responses demonstrate a sophisticated approach to what they are seeing that has been honed over long periods.</span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; line-height: 1.7em; padding-top: 0em; padding-right: 0em; padding-bottom: 0em; padding-left: 0em; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">In a 2001 study of Big Brother fans, </span><a href="http://nms.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/5/3/400"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Jones writes</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">: </span><cite><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The fact that audiences apply a sliding scale of factuality to reality programs suggests one of the ways they have learned to live with this genre over the past decade. Audiences watch popular factual television with a critical eye, judging the degree of factuality in each reality format based on their experience of other types of factual programming. In this sense, viewers are evaluators of the reality genre, and of factual programming as a whole.</span></cite></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; line-height: 1.7em; padding-top: 0em; padding-right: 0em; padding-bottom: 0em; padding-left: 0em; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">As savvy evaluators of our media, we are now versed to demand certain things from our entertainment. One of those things is the ability to participate in the outcome of events.</span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; line-height: 1.7em; padding-top: 0em; padding-right: 0em; padding-bottom: 0em; padding-left: 0em; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">In 2005, the </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Girl_(contest)"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Super Girls</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> phenomenon hit mainland China. Super Girls is a pop star making program modeled on the Idol franchise where contestants sing and are voted off by the audience. The final episode of the 2005 season was one of the most popular shows in Chinese broadcast history, drawing over 400 million viewers.</span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; line-height: 1.7em; padding-top: 0em; padding-right: 0em; padding-bottom: 0em; padding-left: 0em; "><cite><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">One of the main factors contributing to the show's popularity was that viewers are able to participate in the judging process by sending text messages with their mobile phones to vote for their favorite contestants. During the 2005 regional contest in Chengdu alone, 307,071 message votes were cast for the top three contestants…This was considered as one of the largest "democratic" voting exercises in mainland China.</span></cite></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; line-height: 1.7em; padding-top: 0em; padding-right: 0em; padding-bottom: 0em; padding-left: 0em; "><cite><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Audience participation has been cited as the most crucial factor in its success. As winners were determined by cellphone short messaging votes... the show "blazed a trail for cultural democracy," said Zhu Dake, a renowned critic of cultural matters. "It's like a gigantic game that has swept so many people into a euphoria of voting and selecting, which is testament of a society opening up," Zhu argued… An even more noteworthy thing is that the Super Girls have stimulated the will to participate.</span></cite></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; line-height: 1.7em; padding-top: 0em; padding-right: 0em; padding-bottom: 0em; padding-left: 0em; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Politics as entertainment has the potential to both open doors to engagement and also trivialize important and serious issues. The key driver I see for encouraging a blend lies in the comment above – </span><strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Stimulating the will to participate</span></strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">. If politics can act as entertainment, and the audience is taught to engage with their entertainment in a meaningful and critical manner, then people will learn the tools to increasingly engage in the debate, in the creation, and in the management of their society.</span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; line-height: 1.7em; padding-top: 0em; padding-right: 0em; padding-bottom: 0em; padding-left: 0em; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">As we move towards increasingly interactive and pervasive entertainment, and audiences progressively demand the ability to influence and author the outcomes of events, it seems inevitable that we will learn to become more socially engaged in our communities.</span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; line-height: 1.7em; padding-top: 0em; padding-right: 0em; padding-bottom: 0em; padding-left: 0em; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; line-height: 1.7em; padding-top: 0em; padding-right: 0em; padding-bottom: 0em; padding-left: 0em; "><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">This was originally published over on </span><a href="http://www.echoditto.com/blog/entertainment-engagement-part-1-reality-tv"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">EchoDitto.com</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> on September 21 2009. </span></b></p></span>Bonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03790435526883548135noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6882871155151379239.post-75055108874342790882009-04-20T05:42:00.000-07:002010-01-14T16:10:20.515-08:00Come Out & Play<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq0LyNW6AhSPZb-SAhXbFCmyycUECKbtQGRdUZyYt8CHozFbOBT07a1GWwhr5MW6wPexHIYn50hkXyYGBXV4fJQqKd0tV-5cdiyyM7XNnQDwend1Xffymq4OPE7mk5spWF5r0pBuztXj-2/s1600-h/IMGP4242.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq0LyNW6AhSPZb-SAhXbFCmyycUECKbtQGRdUZyYt8CHozFbOBT07a1GWwhr5MW6wPexHIYn50hkXyYGBXV4fJQqKd0tV-5cdiyyM7XNnQDwend1Xffymq4OPE7mk5spWF5r0pBuztXj-2/s320/IMGP4242.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5326756127476828018" border="0" /></a><br /><span class="status-body"><span class="entry-content">Game submission for NYC's <a href="http://www.comeoutandplay.org/">Come Out & Play</a> festival closed yesterday so now the count down is on until we can take over the streets of NYC and turn the whole city into a playground!</span></span> The festival will run from June 12-14. <a href="http://www.thetanknyc.org/">The Tank</a>, a wonderful non-profit arts space, will play host and serve as the central headquarters.<br /><span class="status-body"><span class="entry-content"><br />Lets hope old favorites like <a href="http://snap-shot-city.com/">Snap-Shot-City </a>and <a href="http://roaming.ironammonite.com/2008/09/korean-laser-ball.html">Korean Laserball </a>will return as well as a host of other awesome and exciting games!<br /><br /><br /></span></span>Bonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03790435526883548135noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6882871155151379239.post-20486548922259550922009-03-17T10:56:00.000-07:002010-01-14T16:11:02.632-08:00Congratulations Six to Start!I posted a while ago about the awesomeness of Six to Start and their We Tell Stories project.<br />They have just been awarded the Experimental and Best of Show awards at SXSW for the collaboration with Penguin Books.<br /><br />Congratulations!<br /><br />Read more here:<br /><a href="http://uk.techcrunch.com/2009/03/17/six-to-start-wins-big-at-sxsw/">http://uk.techcrunch.com/2009/03/17/six-to-start-wins-big-at-sxsw/</a><br /><br />Other big winners:<br /><br />Games: <a href="http://www.alternaterealitybranding.com/tdk_sxsw">Why So Serious? The Dark Knight Alternate Reality Game</a> from 42 Entertainment<br />Community and Peoples Choice: <a href="http://lostzombies.com/">Lost Zombies</a><br />Activism: <a href="http://www.tweetcongress.org/">Tweet Congress</a><br /><br /><br />Full listing here:<br /><a href="http://sxsw.com/interactive/web_awards/winners">http://sxsw.com/interactive/web_awards/winners</a>Bonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03790435526883548135noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6882871155151379239.post-90734286048903102492009-03-16T08:53:00.000-07:002010-01-14T16:13:38.630-08:00Extreme NeighborlinessLocal communities are organizing to become stronger together. Described by Allison Arieff as “Extreme Neighborliness” - a concept <a href="http://arieff.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/02/03/saving-the-suburbs-part-2/">“so old-fashioned as to seem innovative”</a> - this movement is gaining power as scalable local initiatives are applied to the social web.<br /><br /><a href="http://carrotmob.org/">Carrotmob.org</a> from San Francisco, and <a href="http://www.wannastartacommune.com/">WannaStartaCommune?</a> from LA are leading the way in community organizing for local economic, social and environmental benefit.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">So Easy</span><br />Carrotmob uses the power of the crowd to effect sustainable change through local shopping. By harnessing an action that people are doing anyway – grocery shopping - and organizes in a way that uses the power of the group to demand sustainable action. One customer, buying one carton of milk, may not be able to influence their local retailer, but 500 customers, buying 500 cartons of milk, have a combined buying power that would make any local store pay attention.<br /><br />At no extra financial or logistical cost, customers are secure that their purchases are working for local sustainable good. Carrotmog explains it well: Carrotmob simply asks people to coordinate and plan the purchases they are already making. This model is not threatening, not expensive, not time-consuming, not uncomfortable, not “radical,” not confusing, and not negative. It’s the perfect level of involvement for most people.<br /><br /><object width="400" height="225"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><param name="movie" value="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=2913530&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1"><embed src="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=2913530&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="400" height="225"></embed></object><br /><a href="http://vimeo.com/2913530">How Organized Consumer Purchasing Can Change Business</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/carrotmob">carrotmob</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.<br /><br />SoYouWannaStartaCommune? is providing tools for small groups of neighbors to organize the sharing of local resources to save money, time and energy. They provide a downloadable pdf http://www.wannastartacommune.com/store/cart.php?m=view guide that gives instructions for Getting Started, What's in a Commune, a Resource-sharing Guide, Potluck & Workshop Planning Tools, Simple Organizational Documents and Technology Tips to help you manage and grow your commune.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOAaUoS1_GnU8KpoXvvMRie89xRvbiB9PAJ7JPgIoDEXhUgTe9iPKS8y4w4hidwTeuaSs6IksVDES3vvUiaiiFxepdEi4qiGF3JYFPiqNs2cW-rRPHd7smE5tR3yj8Gfr4KfcYWtIKPhnN/s1600-h/WSAC_pilots.gif"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 156px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOAaUoS1_GnU8KpoXvvMRie89xRvbiB9PAJ7JPgIoDEXhUgTe9iPKS8y4w4hidwTeuaSs6IksVDES3vvUiaiiFxepdEi4qiGF3JYFPiqNs2cW-rRPHd7smE5tR3yj8Gfr4KfcYWtIKPhnN/s320/WSAC_pilots.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5313815097918641058" border="0" /></a><br /><br />They too harness the assets available at a small community’s disposal when they work together – Linked back yards or disused land? Room for a vege patch. Limited car parking? Try car sharing. Combined energy usage? Solar or wind power becomes a viable option for a group of housing. Varied work schedules? Potential for shared child minding. These assets are already in the community. All it takes is to come together in an organized way to take advantage of them.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">win + win = WIN</span><br />Carrotmob challenges businesses to compete for consumer loyalty. As a result, these stores get a ready made fan base willing to support them. Though they pledge a percentage of their profit to sustainable improvements, they increase their customer base and increase total sales. By implementing sustainable improvements to their stores, they will also reap the reward of long term cost savings from increased energy efficiency.<br /><br />Carrotmob can put rewards in place that will make environmental responsibility the most profitable choice. Companies will do what we want, not because of negative pressure, or morality, or a boycott, or a petition…there are enough sticks out there. We need a big juicy carrot. They will do what we say because they won’t be able to resist the profits.<br /><br />SoYouWannaStartaCommune? challenges neighbors to pool their talents, assets and expenses to find sustainable and communal solutions.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Scalable</span><br />Carrotmob have big plans. They are using the power of the local to effect small changes in family owned businesses. The power of their movement now is firmly rooted in a block by block, neighborhood by neighborhood engagement. With a little organization, they see potential to move up from local grocery stores, to big shiny corporations. As the consumer communities they create grow larger, the more power they wield.<br /><br />SoYouWannaStartaCommune? needs to be based in smaller local groups. As a community grows, and the less personal contact you have with each other, the less likely you are to go out of your way to compromise or help someone out. Working in groups based around culdesacs or apartment blocks defines a community and connects them with a strong bond of locality. That said, the suburban commune concept is infinitely scalable as communities form block by block, apartment complex by apartment complex.<br /><br /><br /><object width="400" height="302"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><param name="movie" value="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=925729&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1"><embed src="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=925729&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="400" height="302"></embed></object><br /><a href="http://vimeo.com/925729">Carrotmob Makes It Rain</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/carrotmob">carrotmob</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.<br /><br />Using the power of the group requires an organizer. Someone who is willing to lead and schedule and mediate. As demonstrated by these two initiatives, there are an increasing number of people out there willing to teach you the tools to organize. To enable you to harness the power of your local groups and challenge communities to effect change. In the words of Carrotmob – to “do it with the carrot not the stick”.<br /><br />(PS. thanks to Will for the heads up on Carrotmob. x)Bonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03790435526883548135noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6882871155151379239.post-52590557631025044022009-03-05T11:48:00.000-08:002010-01-14T16:13:14.728-08:00and Zombies<meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 11"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 11"><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CBONNIE%7E1%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="State"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="City"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="PlaceName"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="PlaceType"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="place"></o:smarttagtype><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> <w:dontgrowautofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:latentstyles deflockedstate="false" latentstylecount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><object classid="clsid:38481807-CA0E-42D2-BF39-B33AF135CC4D" id="ieooui"></object> <style> st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } </style> <![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} a:link, span.MsoHyperlink {color:blue; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single;} a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed {color:purple; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single;} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} </style> <![endif]--><o:p></o:p> <p class="MsoNormal">The new book by Seth Graham-Smith is feeding a Zombie frenzy. Just add “and Zombies” to a search and see what you can find.</p><p class="MsoNormal">
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<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlsSliw2BQg2v6DLSLceranJcd-4Vk2VCD5WlCzdJSkO8uYU8WAC__Ocdi_B2AXxN4GXkOXMzaVpGXfkH40VQDmcejo_J080k3MTY5Tr-ns6W7RZ5N12SVpSoKvMGkWgtwTeNMxyCARfdn/s1600-h/zombies.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 211px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlsSliw2BQg2v6DLSLceranJcd-4Vk2VCD5WlCzdJSkO8uYU8WAC__Ocdi_B2AXxN4GXkOXMzaVpGXfkH40VQDmcejo_J080k3MTY5Tr-ns6W7RZ5N12SVpSoKvMGkWgtwTeNMxyCARfdn/s320/zombies.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5309793184504109026" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal">
<br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Pride and Prejudice</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> </span><b style=""><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">and Zombies</span><o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Pride and Prejudice and Zombies features the original text of Jane Austen's beloved novel with all-new scenes of bone-crunching zombie action. As our story opens, a mysterious plague has fallen upon the quiet English <st1:place st="on"><st1:placetype st="on">village</st1:placetype> of <st1:placename st="on">Meryton</st1:placename></st1:place>--and the dead are returning to life! Feisty heroine Elizabeth Bennet is determined to wipe out the zombie menace, but she's soon distracted by the arrival of the haughty and arrogant Mr. Darcy. What ensues is a delightful comedy of manners with plenty of civilized sparring between the two young lovers--and even more violent sparring on the blood-soaked battlefield as Elizabeth wages war against hordes of flesh-eating undead. Complete with 20 illustrations in the style of C. E. Brock (the original illustrator of Pride and Prejudice), this insanely funny expanded edition will introduce Jane Austen's classic novel to new legions of fans.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Pride-Prejudice-Zombies-Classic-Ultraviolent/dp/1594743347">By Seth Grahame-Smith</a> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">
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<br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Road Signs <b style=""><span style="font-weight: bold;">and Zombies</span><o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><st1:place st="on"><st1:city st="on">Austin</st1:city>, <st1:state st="on">Texas</st1:state></st1:place> - Hackers perform public service warning commuters of Zombies in area: "Zombies ahead! Run for your lives!"</p><p class="MsoNormal">
<br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/PoCrqkQfJ5E&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/PoCrqkQfJ5E&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">
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<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">Interactive internet movies <b style="">and Zombies</b></p><p class="MsoNormal">What would you do? This interactive horror film allows viewers to make their own decision to live or die. Make the right choice, and live on to the next scene. Make the wrong decision and it could be your last. Http://www.survivetheoutbreak.com</p><p class="MsoNormal">
<br /></p><a href="http://www.survivetheoutbreak.com/"></a> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><object width="480" height="295"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/DCilNmdXB4Y&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/DCilNmdXB4Y&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="295"></embed></object>
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<br /><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://www.survivetheoutbreak.com/"></a><o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">
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<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">Banks <b style="">and Zombies<o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Zombie Banks is <a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/bal-md.marbella19feb19,0,7476934.column">“an apt label, given that zombies are basically "the outer husks" of what they once were, robbed of their inner soul and staying alive by feeding off the living”</a>. Listen to Zombie Banks here at <a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/player/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=100762999&m=100762962">NPR</a>.
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<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/SSdSW9OZ5I0&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/SSdSW9OZ5I0&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>
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<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">Pirates<b style=""> and Zombies<o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Instructables.com - The World's Biggest Show and Tell - engages in a pirate attack on Threerings.com, makers of Whirled, an online game environment.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">
<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3ut3VtyoB4" target="_blank"><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/j3ut3VtyoB4&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/j3ut3VtyoB4&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>
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<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3ut3VtyoB4" target="_blank">
<br /></a></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <span style=";font-family:";font-size:85%;">Three Rings gathers its zombie horde to defend its honor against the nefarious Instructables crew.
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<br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3LkDne1g2q0" target="_blank"></a></span>Bonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03790435526883548135noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6882871155151379239.post-77532167481564065882009-03-05T10:48:00.000-08:002010-01-14T16:18:43.494-08:00Reality TV & the Will to ParticipateIs Big Brother responsible for the highest USA voter turnout since <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_election%20">1972</a>?<br /><br /><ul><li>Youth Turnout Rate Rises to at Least 52% with 23 Million Voters Under 30</li><li>3.4 Million More Young People Vote than in 2004</li><li>Young Voters Account for at Least 60% of Overall Increase</li><li>18% of All Voters Were Young</li></ul><a href="http://www.civicyouth.org/?p=323">From CIRCLE – The Centre for Information & Research on Civic Learning & Engagement </a><br /><br /><br />Have reality TV shows like Big Brother or American Idol - which challenge the audience to vote to determine the outcome of their entertainment - trained a generation of Americans to get to the polls?<br /><br />Has voting for reality TV, trained us to vote in reality?<br /><br />I went to a <a href="http://cms.mit.edu/events/colloquiaforums.php#022609">Communications Forum at MIT</a> last week that focused on: Popular Culture and the Political Imagination. The panel included <a href="http://www-rcf.usc.edu/%7Eblakley/index.html">Johanna Blakley</a>, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/ref/business/bio-carr.html">David Carr</a>, and <a href="http://www.nyu.edu/classes/duncombe/">Stephen Duncombe</a>, with <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Jenkins">Henry Jenkins</a> as moderator. The conversation focused on the new political consciousness taking shape in and around popular culture and raised the concept of the election as entertainment.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnidHlQL8Ba0i9IuwMibYr-ZMCWnWi8WIiil_vD70L3t1H6_fmTiIGwLrxHXH1S-ppq80oskHATDNxPqAMHcZnVszudPkBXfaY_EzSZcQjXSSmb3seChrQp-voRadu2Ri7344lyIli3IUK/s1600-h/obama-comic.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 210px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnidHlQL8Ba0i9IuwMibYr-ZMCWnWi8WIiil_vD70L3t1H6_fmTiIGwLrxHXH1S-ppq80oskHATDNxPqAMHcZnVszudPkBXfaY_EzSZcQjXSSmb3seChrQp-voRadu2Ri7344lyIli3IUK/s320/obama-comic.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5309783961479870930" border="0" /></a><br />With larger than life villains and heroes, a classical “sword from a stone” story arc, celebrity cameos, unlimited interactive multi-platform media, and MC’d nightly by Colbert, Stewart, and Fey, the recent election played out like a blockbuster series of American Political Idol.<br /><br /><a href="http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m4021/is_2001_Sept_1/ai_78426786">According to a 2001 survey of over 2000 Americans (aged 8 to 54):</a> "The No. 1 reason people watch (reality TV) is the thrill of "<span style="font-weight: bold;">guessing who will win or be eliminated from the show</span>." That thrill is the reason cited by 69 percent of all reality TV watchers, and 84 percent of regular viewers, who make a point to watch. The second and third most common reasons viewers tune in are to "<span style="font-weight: bold;">see people face challenging situations</span>" and "<span style="font-weight: bold;">imagining how I would perform in similar situations</span>," stated by 63 percent and 42 percent of all viewers, respectively."<br /><br />It is easy to see how these motivations for engagement could be transferred to the recent election. As the panel discussed, Obama was able to build an engaging and relatable brand that people really cared about, his message of HOPE was able to become a generic vessel for peoples aspirations and he became a symbol for people apply their own beliefs to. Like many reality show contestants, he started out as just a regular guy, he let people imagine how they would perform in his situation.<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/mIujl5gmoJ4&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/mIujl5gmoJ4&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />We have now been exposed to about 10 years of reality TV. As a society we understand the format, the tricks and what is expected of us as an audience. Audience responses demonstrate a sophisticated approach to what they are seeing that has been honed over long periods:<br /><a href="http://www.isj.org.uk/index.php4?id=314&issue=114">"The fact that audiences apply a sliding scale of factuality to reality programs suggests one of the ways they have learned to live with this genre over the past decade. Audiences watch popular factual television with a critical eye, judging the degree of factuality in each reality format based on their experience of other types of factual programming. In this sense, viewers are evaluators of the reality genre, and of factual programming as a whole."</a><br /><br />As savvy evaluators of our media, we are now versed to demand certain things from our entertainment. One of those things is the ability to participate in the outcome of events.<br /><br />In 2005, the Super Girls phenomenon hit mainland China. Super Girls is a pop star making program modeled on American Idol where contestants sing and are voted off by the audience. The final episode of the 2005 season was one of the most popular shows in Chinese broadcast history, drawing over 400 million viewers.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXGp3enzN-OEUyeJStUbqTZrFwJ4wg1I5XUKcao3fvMbJ7NOnUdsXEtfYSySy4eVWs2YpCET0n9rXKa6dH4MSYAWrTWdFfsH11PggdBL1Fyzkv2bVXQ-2fDsHTSvdx5tVFEmHZd5ur_X8k/s1600-h/super+girl.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 209px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXGp3enzN-OEUyeJStUbqTZrFwJ4wg1I5XUKcao3fvMbJ7NOnUdsXEtfYSySy4eVWs2YpCET0n9rXKa6dH4MSYAWrTWdFfsH11PggdBL1Fyzkv2bVXQ-2fDsHTSvdx5tVFEmHZd5ur_X8k/s320/super+girl.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5309783967815779554" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Girl_%28contest%29">"One of the main factors contributing to the show's popularity was that viewers are able to participate in the judging process by sending text messages with their mobile phones to vote for their favorite contestants. During the 2005 regional contest in Chengdu alone, 307,071 message votes were cast for the top three contestants, each vote costing 0.5 to 3 yuan. This was considered as one of the largest "democratic" voting exercises in mainland China."</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.zonaeuropa.com/20050829_1.htm">Audience participation has been cited as the most crucial factor in its success. As winners were determined by cellphone short messaging votes... the show "blazed a trail for cultural democracy," said Zhu Dake, a renowned critic of cultural matters. "It's like a gigantic game that has swept so many people into a euphoria of voting and selecting, which is testament of a society opening up," Zhu argued. </a><br /><br />A further comment: <a href="http://www.zonaeuropa.com/20050829_1.htm">An even more noteworthy thing is that the Super Girls have stimulated the will to participate. The SMS voting seems to have introduced a new form for direct election. It is direct, it is convenient, it is fast and it works. It can simplify the voting process. It can be done in a few minutes' time. It seems to be just a technical problem to make it become the main means of voting. </a><br /><br />Politics as entertainment has the potential to both open doors to engagement and also trivialize important and serious issues. The key driver I see for encouraging a blend lies in the comment above –<span style="font-weight: bold;"> Stimulating the will to participate</span>. If politics is entertainment, and people are taught to engage with their entertainment in a meaningful and critical manner, then people will learn the tools to increasingly engage in the debate, in the creation, and in the management of their society.<br /><br />As we move towards increasingly interactive and pervasive entertainment, and audiences progressively demand the ability to influence and author the outcomes of events, it seems inevitable that we will learn to become more socially engaged in our communities.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Note – I would love to find some more recent data to dis/prove this. Who can help?</span>Bonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03790435526883548135noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6882871155151379239.post-64280972095191861422009-02-25T20:13:00.000-08:002010-01-14T16:17:32.723-08:00Shhhh...<meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 11"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 11"><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CBONNIE%7E1%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="country-region"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="City"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="place"></o:smarttagtype><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> <w:dontgrowautofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:latentstyles deflockedstate="false" latentstylecount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><object classid="clsid:38481807-CA0E-42D2-BF39-B33AF135CC4D" id="ieooui"></object> <style> st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } </style> <![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} a:link, span.MsoHyperlink {color:blue; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single;} a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed {color:purple; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single;} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} </style> <![endif]--><o:p></o:p> <p class="MsoNormal">Recently I’ve been posting a lot about growing trends for pop-ups and guerilla activities. Increasingly, these niche events are gathering operational momentum through the development of online communities accessed predominately through Facebook, blogs and mobile organizing tools. Secret-ish societies are forming to host underground events that are available only to a select crowd of people in the know, and are providing personalized individual experiences just for you and a select group of friends.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Not always entirely legal, in that they don’t always comply with licensing and fire code legislation, or are cash only, they are becoming an increasingly popular option for a good night out or intimate online experience.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p style="font-weight: bold;" class="MsoNormal">
<br /></p><p style="font-weight: bold;" class="MsoNormal">Food</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://marmitelover.blogspot.com/">Kilburn The Underground Restaurant</a> <span style=""></span>is a popup restaurant in <st1:place st="on"><st1:city st="on">London</st1:city></st1:place> that has just caught my attention. Held in the chefs house, her blog acts as menu and chronicles the trials and tribulations of running a fine dining establishment in your front room. The blog is a great read, and based on reviews/photos, a pretty decent meal. Quite interesting that her paypal account, originally used to process guests payments, has been blocked – but luckily <a href="http://www.wegottickets.com/location/2522">wegottickets.com</a> has taken over this service. Now that it has started to get a bit of <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2009/feb/10/underground-restaurants-london">mainstream press</a> <span style=""></span>I can only hope the exposure doesn’t kill it off. If you are in <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">London</st1:place></st1:city>, you better get in quick to experience the next Mexican themed meal.
<br /></p><p style="font-style: italic;" class="MsoNormal">
<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-style: italic;">(Note - You could also try a similar set up at the </span><a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/City-of-London-United-Kingdom/The-Secret-Ingredient/114200085161?sid=4a7658da4c46835d6e2c9e26428c6d5c&ref=s">Secret Ingredient</a><span style="font-style: italic;"> on Facebook)</span>
<br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p style="font-weight: bold;" class="MsoNormal">
<br /></p><p style="font-weight: bold;" class="MsoNormal">Film</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://www.secretcinema.org/">Secret Cinema</a> <span style=""></span>started up in 2008 as a way to view films in a themed location with a select group of people. Quickly sponsored by Nokia, the group is now staging monthly film extravaganzas in secret locations around the <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">UK</st1:place></st1:country-region>. Sign up for updates, but Tell No One!</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><script src="http://www.gmodules.com/ig/ifr?url=http://www.google.com/ig/modules/youtube.xml&up_channel=secretcinema2046&synd=open&w=320&h=390&title=&border=%23ffffff%7C3px%2C1px+solid+%23999999&output=js"></script></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p style="font-weight: bold;" class="MsoNormal">
<br /></p><p style="font-weight: bold;" class="MsoNormal">Sounds</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://www.blackcabsessions.com/">Black Cab Sessions</a> puts your favorite musicians into a black cab to record a song. They are simple and intimate moments with incredible artists as they sing their way through a city. This session with Brian Wilson is a must see. (Thanks Annette!)</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/7mv69Sz7TSA&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/7mv69Sz7TSA&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></p> Bonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03790435526883548135noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6882871155151379239.post-7302011568568804782009-02-18T15:19:00.000-08:002010-01-14T16:19:54.750-08:00FreeconomicsBefore the economic collapse of the world as we knew it, there had been a little early freakshow interest and media coverage on the growing <a href="http://freegan.info/">Freegan </a>movement in the UK. Freegans are urban foragers who stalk the overflowing bins of supermarkets searching for tasty food just past its sell-by date.<br /><br />Though they share some values, Freegans are not to be confused with <a href="http://forageoakland.blogspot.com/">Urban Foragers</a>, who hunt through parks, gardens and roadsides for edible plants and berries to make a meal.<br /><br /><object width="400" height="225"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><param name="movie" value="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=2666963&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1"><embed src="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=2666963&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="400" height="225"></embed></object><br /><a href="http://vimeo.com/2666963">Sky Full of Bacon 07: Eat This City</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/user384019">Michael Gebert</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.<br /><br />Once held up as radical examples of alternative lifestyles, they are now part of a growing movement of people seeking separation from the mainstream capitalist market economy. They join a growing group of people who are living a lifestyle based not on buy buy sell sell, but on barter and trade, on skill share, and on a currency of goodwill.<br /><br />Called a Shareconomy, a Goodwill Economy, a Moneyless Economy, or Freeconomy, these people are forging a new way of living more communally or “off the grid”.<br /><br />A Goodwill Economy can work in a number of ways. The simplest is through basic barter and exchange – I need a cake and I have a pair of shoes, you need some shoes and have a cake. We swap. We are happy. Hooray.<br /><br />This is a long proven model that works in localized and engaged communities worldwide. In co-operatives and community farms food is often exchanged for physical labor. Between groups of friends clothing is pooled and exchanged to update wardrobes. What limits this as a more formal economic model is the direct relationship between the two parties – if our needs don’t align, then it doesn’t work.<br /><br />As societies become larger and more complex, the model of barter and exchange limits expansion and growth. The introduction of a standard measurement or currency allows for greater scope for exchange of goods and services. Once we measured the worth of goods and services in gold weight – for example, a pair of shoes is worth so many grams in gold. Over time, this has evolved into our modern system of currency. Though modern paper money and coinage is, in itself, practically worthless, it is given value through the belief of that which is represents. So a five dollar bill is merely the idea of something given the value of five dollars.<br /><br />What goodwill economists are experimenting with is changing the ideology of the currency. Instead of paying for a cake with dollars and cents, or trading it for a pair of shoes, the cake becomes worth a value of goodwill. This goodwill can be traded for other goods and services, or stored and accumulated for later use.<br /><br />This still sounds like money right? Well it is, kind of. It performs the function of currency, but also has a collective effect of working to build social capital.<br /><br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Putnam">Robert Putnum</a>, expert in social capital and author of <a href="http://www.bowlingalone.com/">Bowling Alone</a>, writes about how more socially engaged communities perform acts of kindness and community action with a trusting belief that these gifts of goodwill will be returned at some undefined point in the future. Not valued in monetary terms, the act of giving time to community pursuits and taking part in communal activities are critical ways to sustain a more healthy and engaged community.<br /><br />In a goodwill or share economy, these acts of kindness and generosity generate status for the individual, and contribute to a more efficient community. In a goodwill economy, wealth is redefined through active participation in your community, being rich means accumulating goodwill status through your engagement with others. These are communities defined by trust, participation status and personal experience.<br /><br />Wikipedia works on the principles of a shareconomy rewarding the community as a whole for the input of individuals. Web based recommendation and rating models, as popularized by Amazon or Ebay, reward engaged users with higher status and build connection and trust among the community.<br /><br />Goodwill economy websites have potential to combine similar status models with online banking hybrids to track personal progress. People are rewarded with greater opportunity the more they meaningfully participate, to create insular economies of highly engaged individuals on a broad and complex global scale.<br /><br />Examples:<br /><br />The hub for international Freeconomists is <a href="http://justfortheloveofit.org">justfortheloveofit.org</a> – you go to the site to give and get given – build up goodwill, engage with a global community of like minded individuals, and feel good about spending up big!<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/2funpl8L1dk&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/2funpl8L1dk&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br /><a href="http://www.couchsurfing.com/">Couchsurfing.com</a> is a site that uses community status to generate an economy of sleepovers and short stay accommodation. Couchsurfing founder <a href="http://nxhx.org/">Joe Edelman</a> has recently launched his new venture <a href="http://groundcrew.us/">Groundcrew.us</a>, a mobile tool designed to mobilize crowds with individual missions and messages. Joe has aims of using Groundcrew to create a new goodwill economy of mobile experiences generated by a community of engaged individuals.<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/tbcvVkIUZQY&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/tbcvVkIUZQY&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br /><a href="http://swappler.com/">Swappler.com</a> is a highly anticipated new site from the <a href="http://portablecontent.com/what-we-do">Portable Content</a> crew that acts as <blockquote>“an online fashion portal and brand that takes designers, stores and consumers online. As an entry level it allows style and eco-conscious people to upload their clothes and swap them with other people from around the world.”<br /></blockquote>Even the Freegans, early radical activists against over consumption and economic excess, are now touching a mainstream audience more broadly concerned with living a socially engaged and sustainable lifestyle.<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/VOEF75VwAtY&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/VOEF75VwAtY&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/wSlDzu13ytI&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/wSlDzu13ytI&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />Who would have thought that digging around in bins would be a precursor to a new age of social engagement and enlightenment!Bonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03790435526883548135noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6882871155151379239.post-23987939301936252009-02-16T09:45:00.000-08:002010-01-14T16:20:16.414-08:00Ole!Elizabeth Gilbert talks about the creativity and genius - Essential viewing for anyone involved in the creative process - thanks Andy and Chris for the heads up!<br /><br /><object width="446" height="326"><param name="movie" value="http://video.ted.com/assets/player/swf/EmbedPlayer.swf"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><param name="bgColor" value="#ffffff"></param> <param name="flashvars" value="vu=http://video.ted.com/talks/embed/ElizabethGilbert_2009-embed_high.flv&su=http://images.ted.com/images/ted/tedindex/embed-posters/ElizabethGilbert_2009.embed_thumbnail.jpg&vw=432&vh=240&ap=0&ti=453"><embed src="http://video.ted.com/assets/player/swf/EmbedPlayer.swf" pluginspace="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" bgcolor="#ffffff" width="446" height="326" allowfullscreen="true" flashvars="vu=http://video.ted.com/talks/embed/ElizabethGilbert_2009-embed_high.flv&su=http://images.ted.com/images/ted/tedindex/embed-posters/ElizabethGilbert_2009.embed_thumbnail.jpg&vw=432&vh=240&ap=0&ti=453"></embed></object>Bonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03790435526883548135noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6882871155151379239.post-60431447398146243082009-02-08T09:45:00.000-08:002010-01-14T16:22:15.716-08:00Fairey Tale<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://obamiconme.pastemagazine.com/"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 223px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNyXioMCajCkrMDm-aoVHtQykFXYns2w5zWb1BNg61-v4LzalUOB8fNR8Hhfm0tfrHyJZXC5Fv-LutKesC69jnHePQbz3rGMOOT6S-xetpPk2aRPQSH24TFsAqCUg0N14fgT4L2aa4putr/s320/obama-hope.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5300486242754272258" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://obeygiant.com/">Shepard Fairey</a>, the creator of the Obama HOPE image, and artist behind the OBEY street art, was arrested in Boston on Friday night at the opening of his new exhibition at the <a href="http://www.icaboston.org/exhibitions/exhibit/fairey/">ICA</a>.<br /><br />He was <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/02/07/shepard-fairey-arrested-i_n_164872.html">arrested </a>for outstanding warrants for damage to public property, a charge he has already faced 15 times. In addition to his arrest, a new concern must be his attorneys ongoing discussions with the associated press over the use of their image as the inspiration for the Obama poster. They want credit and compensation.<br /><br />Shepard Fairy talks about his poster for Obama<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/vi2CIO1wfFc&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/vi2CIO1wfFc&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/QxhgIoXzMrQ&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/QxhgIoXzMrQ&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />His work is all over the streets in Boston and Cambridge, in a combined gallery/stealth/sponsored street campaign – similar to the Tate Modern exhibition of street artists last summer. My understanding is there are commissioned works on the streets of Chinatown sponsored in part by the gallery and part by the local business association as well as a number of major pieces that have gone up in secrecy over the two cities in the last few months. One giant piece I noticed on construction hoarding in Cambridge was taken down the next day – my assumption was that it was removed due to its controversial imagery – I have since heard rumor that the owner of the construction site was notified that it might be worth something...<br /><br />I’m not sure how I feel about that guy profiting from what was meant to be a public piece of art. Yet I see that it was clearly his property to do with what he chooses.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHk2myXrwm583s2sgv4RJ-1QONvRWv4BoX7IYjVCRviLfrzBUuR05-_uaRKjrPyTsLgS02PdDCqVex9JAe-ksJtfLKsikA9o2VhFu-2tY85ezMTiIoFupFcNB5bmixCQdwje4c-HHSXD_c/s1600-h/liverpool.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHk2myXrwm583s2sgv4RJ-1QONvRWv4BoX7IYjVCRviLfrzBUuR05-_uaRKjrPyTsLgS02PdDCqVex9JAe-ksJtfLKsikA9o2VhFu-2tY85ezMTiIoFupFcNB5bmixCQdwje4c-HHSXD_c/s320/liverpool.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5300487402738508626" border="0" /></a><br />The value of street art as a commodity raises an interesting conversation - The infamy of Banksy, his recognition as a mainstream artist and a cache of celebrity buyers, has pushed street art into legitimate and sellable art form. This has had a game changing effect. No longer is a mural seen as a nuisance to be washed off, now its seen as a gift to be protected (<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/judygr/1726545683/">many Banksys across London are protected by sheets of plastic screening</a>), a value add (<a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1082014/Banksy-graffiti-DOUBLES-price-derelict-pub-.html">in the case of the Liverpool pub a Banksy mural was auctioned with the building thrown in!</a>), or an opportunity to pilfer and profit (<a href="http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23383158-details/Thieves%20remove%20Banksy%20classic...%20and%20the%20wall,%20too/article.do">pieces of wall removed with angle grinders and the stolen piece auctioned on ebay for twenty thousand pounds</a>). They have become tourist attractions with Banksy tours and guidebooks to the city available.<br /><br />Yet the location of these pieces, outdoors and all weather, painted and postered and usually publicly accessible, make them at their core, transient and temporary. Somehow the protection of these public pieces seems false, and people profiting from them seems unfair. That said, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_Supper_%28Leonardo%29">Last Supper</a> was painted on a wall made, in part, of beaten earth, and if that hadn’t been protected and maintained, we would be missing one of the worlds great artworks.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMxN1SptsbvxLcoayQ8U4yH9mFZ_0wlJt5dS60Gr_pqer7saFXYTc4NMANrml5DqyqO5I8cPnboWgShjRpKdoLRJTFC4BEdv3DUcrH9xQYNVQwaH0Ds-jqOisuA3r6jSoB4eHqAmR1-309/s1600-h/IMGP5324.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMxN1SptsbvxLcoayQ8U4yH9mFZ_0wlJt5dS60Gr_pqer7saFXYTc4NMANrml5DqyqO5I8cPnboWgShjRpKdoLRJTFC4BEdv3DUcrH9xQYNVQwaH0Ds-jqOisuA3r6jSoB4eHqAmR1-309/s320/IMGP5324.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5300487774615815442" border="0" /></a><br />So what’s best? Protect and preserve the works artificially? or let them fade, be defaced, and lose them to the rigors of the public realm?<br /><br />Now, in addition to stealth bombing works, there seems to be growing opportunity for artists to partner with local governments, business associations and developers to place artworks in public open air galleries and sanctioned spaces.<br /><br />The Brisbane City Council <a href="http://www.qldue.com.au/artforcetheory.html">Electricity Box</a> program has been running since the late 90’s/early 2000's (?) and is a great example of local government providing a public gallery space for artists that has been a launching pad for many rising Australian art stars.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKjwEkVHepOdrO5qWxwnshE6_334E-KL1AA8h_KY07pxAbqaOjrIyokUhkQnLIq0MBqKC-797dl_VNZE4IfVBkeCq3i7sTn2AoXsv0Vj0Z4WH2_UgsNgvrtaL9pU5n4lZupcZW1JH_cJIv/s1600-h/IMGP4242.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKjwEkVHepOdrO5qWxwnshE6_334E-KL1AA8h_KY07pxAbqaOjrIyokUhkQnLIq0MBqKC-797dl_VNZE4IfVBkeCq3i7sTn2AoXsv0Vj0Z4WH2_UgsNgvrtaL9pU5n4lZupcZW1JH_cJIv/s320/IMGP4242.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5300486489287128898" border="0" /></a><br />Mentioned above, in Summer 08, London’s <a href="http://www.tate.org.uk/modern/exhibitions/streetart/">Tate Modern</a> partnered with Nissan Quashqai to host a group of international street artists in an exhibition that extended beyond the gallery to the facade of the building and the surrounding streets. Like the current Fairey exhibition, the artists extended their reach even further out into the city with pieces located all over the city.<br /><br />A short film by one of the featured artists: Muto by <a href="http://www.blublu.org/">Blu</a><br /><object width="400" height="300"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><param name="movie" value="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=993998&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1"><embed src="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=993998&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="400" height="300"></embed></object><br /><a href="http://vimeo.com/993998">MUTO a wall-painted animation by BLU</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/blu">blu</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.<br /><br />Quashqai Ad<br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Cu5RVXYXkIE&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Cu5RVXYXkIE&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />The Quashqai campaign claimed the urban environment as its playground – an increasingly common theme in advertising – see anything by <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GURvHJNmGrc">Sony Bravia</a>, or just about anybody working in mobile. As mobile and locative applications increase in usability, the extension of new and interesting urban applications is enormous.<br /><br />As an urban designer and community builder, I am super positive about any message that challenges people to more meaningfully engage in the world around them, that challenges citizens to use the public spaces of our cities, and that engages in active political discussion about how our urban environments grow and evolve.<br /><br />With ongoing cooperation between artists and designers, big business, local governments and business associations there is great opportunity to implement exciting collaborations that challenge people to adventure and exploration. The chance for artists to access meaningful funding opportunities is also an added and often overlooked necessity.<br /><br />With creative visionaries like Sheppard Fairey exploring new ways of working across industries and funding platforms he is leading a charge of artistic enterprise and political dialogue. By engaging artistically, politically and publicly he is reaching out to a more engaged world. Lets hope he can sort out his legal issues asap!Bonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03790435526883548135noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6882871155151379239.post-86113467436603343892009-02-07T10:39:00.001-08:002010-01-14T16:21:00.867-08:00PopUpThe craze for pop-ups has spawned temporary restaurants, stores, cinemas, landscapes, magazines and hotels.<br /><br />A recent evolution in New Zealand saw YellowPages team with local businesses (all listed in YellowPages obviously!) to create the <a href="http://www.yellowtreehouse.co.nz/">Yellow Treeehouse</a> – a pop up restaurant located 10m up a tree.<br /><br /><object width="480" height="295"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/C82qHSJ5F74&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/C82qHSJ5F74&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="295"></embed></object><br /><br />All in all it seems to be both a terrific example of a branded popup, interesting design exercise, and good restaurant: Word of mouth buzz – check! Architecturally inventive – check! Decent food – check! Like Melbourne’s’ <a href="http://www.greenhousebyjoost.com/">Greenhouse by Joost</a> or Londons <a href="http://www.bookflashnow.com/">Flash </a> by <a href="http://www.bistrotheque.com/">Bistroteque </a>, it is the popular new kid on the temporary block.<br /><br />However, as an interesting twist on the traditional popup, Yellow Treehouse also offered a popup job. A job to present the process of design, construction and running of the restaurant through video and daily blogging.<br /><br />Tracy Collins was selected from a pool of applicants with experience in presenting, project management, restaurants and piano accordion and her job has been central to the message of the campaign. Tracy gives a very likable 2.0 face to the campaign, in a professionally structured and edited way.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><blockquote><a href="http://www.yellowtreehouse.co.nz/#/Traceys-Blog/">I heard about this amazing project when my flatmate Matt spotted it in the Rodney Times. I’d set the goal of challenging myself this year and thought ‘why not?’. I auditioned, then got a call a couple of days later saying I was shortlisted. I turned up thinking there would be ten of us and there were only three. Wow. Two days later I got the job. Yay!<br /><br />The timing was great. Just the other week I was sitting in an Indian restaurant thinking I really need more work before Christmas as money was a bit tight. Obviously someone is smiling on me. Otherwise I’d be playing my accordion which I do professionally (honestly) which is great but has its ups and downs. I also do a bit of presenting and have trained in Film and TV make up. This project couldn’t have come at a better time but is definitely going to be a challenge. Not only do I have to find all of the people we need on Yellow but once the restaurant is built, I’ll be helping run it. Brilliant eh?</a></blockquote></span><br /><br />In another pop-up job opportunity, The Queensland Tourism Board has recently launched <a href="http://www.islandreefjob.com/">The Best Job In The World Campaign</a>.<br /><br />They are calling for applicants for a job to live on Hamilton Island (above the Great Barrier Reef) for six months. The job carries a salary package of AUD$150,000 for a six-month contract.<br /><br /><object width="480" height="295"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/5Smi3TuY5Lg&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/5Smi3TuY5Lg&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="295"></embed></object><br /><br />They are looking for someone: <blockquote>with an adventurous attitude, passion for the outdoors and good communication skills. A broad range of experience is considered and Tourism Queensland will be selecting applicants based on: - Enthusiasm for the role, Entertainment value (personality and creativity), Presentation skills (being media-friendly), At least one year's relevant experience.</blockquote><br /><br />If you think you fit the role there is still 14 days before application close.<br /><br />You will however be facing competition like Osama Bin Laden – The Guardian reports - <span style="font-style: italic;">The people at Queensland's department of tourism were still a little taken aback when the world's most wanted man sent in a video explaining why he was the perfect candidate to act as caretaker of Hamilton Island in the Great Barrier Reef.<br />In the 30-second clip, which is available on YouTube, a prankster with a questionable sense of humor has overdubbed footage of Osama Bin Laden and used subtitles to make his case for the job. "I enjoy the outdoors and sandy areas," the subtitles read. "I've got experience with videos, delegating tasks and experience with large scale event co-ordination."<blockquote><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/blog/2009/feb/05/osama-bin-laden-australia-tropical-island-job"></a></blockquote></span><br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/EMfojmVlP-c&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/EMfojmVlP-c&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />Osama has been showing up in other strange places recently – most notably joining <a href="http://adsoftheworld.com/media/print/samsung_i450_music_phone_let_music_fill_your_head_1">Idi Amin</a> in a (risky/questionable?) campaign for the Samsung i450 Music Phone.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdwJo9ZF0q4zql7KtRlxxFe6ZN5vC-2ZzZOR_ZZHcjdxrfHSjz6SQf2pk26TfGHq9d_BU_KnRSxAd1c_tLif6b_hSC4FeLhxQ_LI0b01jXsJEL8LmqNBXT1UbPbnNQOLo_sYzx19f2F96m/s1600-h/samsung3.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 219px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdwJo9ZF0q4zql7KtRlxxFe6ZN5vC-2ZzZOR_ZZHcjdxrfHSjz6SQf2pk26TfGHq9d_BU_KnRSxAd1c_tLif6b_hSC4FeLhxQ_LI0b01jXsJEL8LmqNBXT1UbPbnNQOLo_sYzx19f2F96m/s320/samsung3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5300128153370658882" border="0" /></a><br /><br />The association of Osama with these campaigns – both unexpected and intentional – shows an interesting shift in his pop mythology as he continues to elude capture for his crimes. Like the <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/linniekin/527617055/">Branson/Guevara</a> pairing, its sure to be controversial.<br /><br />Now it will be interesting to see who and what pops up next!Bonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03790435526883548135noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6882871155151379239.post-62671921922462404132009-02-07T07:03:00.000-08:002010-01-14T16:22:54.605-08:00Data Representation<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.jamphat.com/rap/"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 263px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgglUGUhTZMFXj3I6oGIgsyhe5sALooVzGF4V8cYlfWGe9Ib0H77gS9iUhXBEOgXx9GfCJC7uiRxU8vQ4p9iHCw4-8pVCZuaQPkmwVxFrnwjgteG7HFCcoYa2G3JjTWklfroGQ6eVIFe4ua/s320/image216.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5300091002404705170" border="0" /></a>
<br /><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 11"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 11"><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CBONNIE%7E1%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="City"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="country-region"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="place"></o:smarttagtype><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> <w:dontgrowautofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:latentstyles deflockedstate="false" latentstylecount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><object classid="clsid:38481807-CA0E-42D2-BF39-B33AF135CC4D" id="ieooui"></object> <style> st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } </style> <![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} a:link, span.MsoHyperlink {color:blue; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single;} a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed {color:purple; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single;} span.description {mso-style-name:description;} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">I like <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data">data</a>. And really like it when cold hard fact is represented in engaging and inventive ways. Like any story well told, the representation of data is key to getting a message across.</p>
<br /><meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 11"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 11"><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CBONNIE%7E1%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> <w:dontgrowautofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:latentstyles deflockedstate="false" latentstylecount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} a:link, span.MsoHyperlink {color:blue; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single;} a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed {color:purple; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single;} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal">Once of the most powerful ad campaigns of recent years was the 2005 “Meet the World” flags campaign - created by <a href="http://www.draftfcb.com/flash/index.html">FCB </a>for Grande Reportagem. The concept uses flags of different nations to visualize data relating to social and political issues of that country.</p><p class="MsoNormal">
<br /></p>
<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0jDqOkYoMe6KrtorXvDrVGWtoc9c__83Tk0-ciZ8D7jIM2ss5tJ3dSNfgcEvSqNBDuosfx7FhElg54eskCAP03DMkzX-0w4KAFKQ0XW57JuaweCHPfmhUh27-y2e4B8xsVPFJ9UDd0mXy/s1600-h/Columbia.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 226px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0jDqOkYoMe6KrtorXvDrVGWtoc9c__83Tk0-ciZ8D7jIM2ss5tJ3dSNfgcEvSqNBDuosfx7FhElg54eskCAP03DMkzX-0w4KAFKQ0XW57JuaweCHPfmhUh27-y2e4B8xsVPFJ9UDd0mXy/s320/Columbia.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5300098501731522274" border="0" /></a>
<br /><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">
<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">Recently, Microsoft have released a new music package called Songsmith.<a href="http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/um/redmond/projects/songsmith/"><span style="font-style: italic;">Songsmith generates musical accompaniment to match a singer’s voice. Just choose a musical style, sing into your PC’s microphone, and Songsmith will create backing music for you. Then share your songs with your friends and family, post your songs online, or create your own music videos.</span></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://www.kreidler-net.de/">
<br /></a></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://www.kreidler-net.de/"><o:p> </o:p></a></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="description"><a href="http://www.kreidler-net.de/">Johannes Kreidler</a> has used Songsmith to derive melodies from Stock Charts.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal">
<br /><span class="description"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="description"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/2-BZfFakpzc&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/2-BZfFakpzc&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">
<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">In an oldie but a goodie from TED – (Thanks Andy!) <a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/hans_rosling_shows_the_best_stats_you_ve_ever_seen.html">You've never seen data presented like this. With the drama and urgency of a sportscaster, statistics guru Hans Rosling debunks myths about the so-called "developing world."</a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/hans_rosling_shows_the_best_stats_you_ve_ever_seen.html"> </a>
<br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><object width="334" height="326"><param name="movie" value="http://video.ted.com/assets/player/swf/EmbedPlayer.swf"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><param name="bgColor" value="#ffffff"> <param name="flashvars" value="vu=http://video.ted.com/talks/embed/HansRosling_2006-embed_high.flv&su=http://images.ted.com/images/ted/tedindex/embed-posters/HansRosling-2006.embed_thumbnail.jpg&vw=320&vh=240&ap=0&ti=92"><embed src="http://video.ted.com/assets/player/swf/EmbedPlayer.swf" pluginspace="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" bgcolor="#ffffff" allowfullscreen="true" flashvars="vu=http://video.ted.com/talks/embed/HansRosling_2006-embed_high.flv&su=http://images.ted.com/images/ted/tedindex/embed-posters/HansRosling-2006.embed_thumbnail.jpg&vw=320&vh=240&ap=0&ti=92" width="334" height="326"></embed></object></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">
<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">With more and more sense data (GPS, mobile, wifi, RFID etc) becoming available, the ability to track flows, movement and transfers in real time is becoming increasingly significant.</p><p class="MsoNormal">
<br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">I worked with the <a href="http://senseable.mit.edu/">SENSEableCity Lab</a> at MIT last year on a project to engage people in real time representations of movement tracking data for bicycle use in the city of <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Copenhagen</st1:place></st1:city>. Below, WikiCity Rome, one of the labs earlier projects uses cell phone and other sense data to make meaningful real time representations of what’s happening in the world around us.</p><p class="MsoNormal">
<br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/eXOCbrQYqbY&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/eXOCbrQYqbY&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">
<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">In the brilliant BBC series, <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/britainfromabove/"><st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Britain</st1:place></st1:country-region> From Above</a> (Thanks <a href="http://www.daviddennis.net/">Davey</a>!), GPS data traces are used to track shipping and flight paths across the country. The striking visuals used in this program demonstrate the charming qualities of data to meaningfully engage people with the world around them.</p><p class="MsoNormal">
<br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><object width="480" height="295"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/z50XoqzOBLQ&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/z50XoqzOBLQ&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="295"></embed></object></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><object width="480" height="295"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/sEZcBeE33wc&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/sEZcBeE33wc&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="295"></embed></object></p> Bonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03790435526883548135noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6882871155151379239.post-59558629587922414522009-01-31T10:01:00.000-08:002010-01-14T16:23:54.775-08:00Call to ActionYou have the power to make a difference. Yes You.<br /><br />All around the world, individuals and organizations are making it easier for you to get engaged and get active in making the world a better place.<br /><br />A great big call to action has gone out to the world - In fashion, music, education, gardening, public space, art, politics etc. The concept of user generated experience (or just getting out and doing stuff), of volunteering time, energy and innovation has re-infiltrated our everyday lives and people are getting together online and on the ground to make incremental changes to their communities in fun and adventurous ways.<br /><br />Now is the time to take matters into your own hands. Are you ready to get involved?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />The Call To Action: Crime Fighting - Mexico City</span><br />Mexico called, and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superbarrio">Super Barrio</a> answered. Maybe a little to much action for most, Super Barrio is the real life masked crime fighting hero of Mexico City’s working class.<br /><br />He can be seen in the 2007 feature documentary film <a href="http://www.opencityworks.com/superamigos/">S</a><a href="http://www.opencityworks.com/superamigos/">uper Amigos</a> where he is joined by companions Super Gay, Super Ecologista, Super Animal and Fray Tormenta as they fight against evil slumlords, corrupt politicians, homophobia, pollution, animal rights abusers, and poverty.<br /><br />Wearing the traditional Lucha mask of Mexican wrestlers, the heroes patrol the streets of Mexico city fighting injustice. <span style="font-style: italic;">The masks are magical devices that represent the community. With them, the superheroes can be everyone and no one at the same time. The masks are symbols of collective hope.</span><br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ePda4x7o_ZE&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ePda4x7o_ZE&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">How You Get Involved:</span> Go see the film, <a href="http://www.opencityworks.com/superamigos/leyendas_en.html">Buy a Tshirt</a> - $8 from every sale goes to help their causes, get inspired into action by their <a href="http://www.opencityworks.com/superamigos/leyendas_en.html">theme songs</a>, or don a lucha mask of your own and go bust some injustice! Kapowee!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />The Call To Action: Art - Montreal</span><br /><a href="http://cca-actions.org/">Actions: What You Can Do With the City</a> presents 99 actions that instigate positive change in contemporary cities around the world. Held at the Canadian Centre for Architecture between November 2008 to April 2009.<br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><br />The CCA is challenging citizens to be part of the movement and take actions big or small to change the everyday life of their cities. Whether old or new, submit your photos or videos and share the story. All entries will be displayed on the website and reviewed by the Actions team. Only a handful might make it to the CCA’s Shaughnessy House.</span><br /><br />An example of a submission is Michael Rakowitz's <a href="http://www.we-make-money-not-art.com/archives/2004/12/parasite-shelte.php">paraSITE </a>project using ventilation shafts to create inflatable temporary shelters for the homeless.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3z3Kgp9_obZkA7oh-zEvJ6rDNcNIFkZkt1uvixDqj7Z_crTBy_C4Cpr46Tk8hb5Engus31eYP5YsTTZZns2qaHCk65M0kXRew-onOjsiP9CfzImOeTJWmkdktk0JOG-ZZDfF_-OaeKC06/s1600-h/parasite2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 288px; height: 196px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3z3Kgp9_obZkA7oh-zEvJ6rDNcNIFkZkt1uvixDqj7Z_crTBy_C4Cpr46Tk8hb5Engus31eYP5YsTTZZns2qaHCk65M0kXRew-onOjsiP9CfzImOeTJWmkdktk0JOG-ZZDfF_-OaeKC06/s320/parasite2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5297522514104520146" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">How You Get Involved:</span> Submit an entry. Submit a Challenge.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />The Call to Action: Fashion – New Orleans</span><br /><a href="http://www.promdressesforneworleans.org/">Prom Dresses For New Orleans</a> has a simple goal – help the young ladies who lost everything in Katrina get to the prom.<br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Many of the residents of New Orleans lost everything... Help make prom possible for the young ladies in Louisiana who no longer have a dress to wear to prom. Share your past prom and party dresses, so that others can experience the joy these dresses brought to you. They still need our help! Your generosity is greatly appreciated!</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9ccnBMqc3qDLVTQmU0FJLERJBMCULihnoZDkookWTPBWFF2dPyKWPzalfWAhkeacbmnIRcRPG1lui7j__0TrEdTMZI_SlqTXL6F6Xf8beD4uAdDk99jCbeIihJaNn6ikIJ6u2BozhA-pO/s1600-h/Marisa01ea.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9ccnBMqc3qDLVTQmU0FJLERJBMCULihnoZDkookWTPBWFF2dPyKWPzalfWAhkeacbmnIRcRPG1lui7j__0TrEdTMZI_SlqTXL6F6Xf8beD4uAdDk99jCbeIihJaNn6ikIJ6u2BozhA-pO/s320/Marisa01ea.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5297522358788324482" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">How You Get Involved: </span>Give another girl the chance to regret wearing puffed sleeves and pink satin. Send your worn prom and party dresses to a new home and another night of self conscious dancing.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Call to Action: Politics – Australia</span><br /><a href="https://www.getup.org.au/">Get Up! </a>is an independent Australian political action group aiming to build a progressive Australia.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">GetUp! brings together like-minded people who want to bring participation back into our democracy. GetUp.org.au is providing Australians with the tools to fight back, and take innovative and effective action on important issues facing our country. GetUp members are building a ground-up movement of real people who are putting the participation back into our democracy.<br /><br />GetUp.org.au members take action. By signing up for updates, GetUp.org.au members receive emails alerting them to new campaigns and providing ways of affecting positive change. Whether it is sending an email to a member of parliament, engaging with the media, attending an event or helping to get a television ad on the air, GetUp members are always only ever asked to take targeted, coordinated and strategic action.</span><br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/oOZkyYoJTFU&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/oOZkyYoJTFU&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />How you get involved: </span>sign up, participate in campaigns.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />Call To Action: Education - USA</span><br /><a href="http://www.onceuponaschool.org/">Once Upon A School </a>is the result of Dave Eggers’ 2008 TED Prive Wish. It is a collaborative online initiative developed to inspire and collect the stories of private citizens engaged in their local public schools.<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/FaSF1gPBKrA&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/FaSF1gPBKrA&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />How you get involved:</span> Tell stories, Get involved in your local school.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />Call to Action: Music – USA & UK... more to come</span><br />I should just come out and say that I love <a href="http://www.rockcorps.com/main.asp">Rock Corps</a>. It’s a terrific balance of social action, good solid community work, high profile engagement and damn good fun.<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/QGjxbZovN5g&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/QGjxbZovN5g&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">RockCorps harnesses the power of music to inspire volunteering. We produce concerts for which the only way in is to volunteer 4 hours at a project we organize with non-profit partners. You can't win a ticket; you can't buy a ticket; you have to earn a ticket to a concert that becomes a celebration of giving back.<br /><br />In 2005, we launched a national movement and since that time, more than 30,000 young people have been directly involved in one of our projects. Millions more have heard the message that "Volunteering is Cool".</span><br /><br />Rock Corps is partnered with <a href="http://www.boostmobilerockcorps.com/">BoostMobile </a>in the USA and with <a href="http://www.orangerockcorps.co.uk/">OrangeMobile </a>in the UK. Stay tuned – I’ve heard rumors of new collaborations coming in China and Australia in the next year.<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/CRneEkT8vkA&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/CRneEkT8vkA&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">How you get involved: </span>Sign up with friends, work for 4 hours, party.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />Call to Action: Leisure – San Francisco/Global</span><br />One of the earliest action games, <a href="http://sf0.org/">SFZero </a><span style="font-style: italic;">is a Collaborative Production Game. Players build characters by completing tasks for their groups and increasing their Score. The goals of play include meeting new people, exploring the city, and participating in non-consumer leisure activities.</span><br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Uw4cEr9Rsl8&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Uw4cEr9Rsl8&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />How you get involved:</span> Sign up, join a team and get started.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />Call to Action: Gardening – London and beyond...</span><br /><a href="http://www.guerrillagardening.org/">Guerilla gardening</a> is an emerging form of public space reclamation using plants in illicit cultivations on publicly owned land. Lead by Richard Reynolds, author of <a href="http://www.guerrillagardening.org/onguerrillagardening.html">Guerilla Gardening – A Handbook for Gardening Without Boundaries</a>, this growing global movement encourages you to get out a trowel and plant a few seeds in any space that needs a little herbaceous helping hand.<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/HgsJwJ9HFe8&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/HgsJwJ9HFe8&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />How you get involved:</span> Check out Guirilla Gardening tips at any one of the growing number of specialist blogs, make a seedbomb for some planting pandemonium, grab a trowel and some seedlings and set out on a landscaping mission.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />Call to Action: Volunteer – Global</span><br />A few years ago I was talking to a friend about how she wanted to volunteer to help out some sort of nonprofit organization. She didn’t know what she wanted to get involved in, but knew that as a financial analyst she had some critical skills to offer. However, as a busy professional she had no way to she could find no way to find out who needed her services. We decided that there needed to be some kind of dating agency for volunteers and organizations that could match skills, locations, availability etc. Unsurprisingly, someone else had the same ideas and created the extremely excellent <a href="http://www.volunteermatch.org/">Volunteer Match</a>.<br />It does what it says on the tin. It matches volunteers to organizations.<br /><br />How you get involved: Check out http://www.volunteermatch.org/ and find an opportunity that’s right for you.Bonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03790435526883548135noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6882871155151379239.post-14041230563099477852009-01-28T14:19:00.000-08:002010-01-14T16:25:45.732-08:00Up Up and Away!<meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 11"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 11"><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CBONNIE%7E1%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="City"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="place"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="country-region"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="State"></o:smarttagtype><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> <w:dontgrowautofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:latentstyles deflockedstate="false" latentstylecount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><object classid="clsid:38481807-CA0E-42D2-BF39-B33AF135CC4D" id="ieooui"></object> <style> st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } </style> <![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; 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mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} </style> <![endif]--><meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 11"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 11"><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CBONNIE%7E1%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="City"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="place"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="country-region"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="State"></o:smarttagtype><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> <w:dontgrowautofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:latentstyles deflockedstate="false" latentstylecount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><object classid="clsid:38481807-CA0E-42D2-BF39-B33AF135CC4D" id="ieooui"></object> <style> st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } </style> <![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} h3 {mso-style-next:Normal; margin-top:12.0pt; margin-right:0in; margin-bottom:3.0pt; margin-left:0in; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; page-break-after:avoid; mso-outline-level:3; font-size:13.0pt; font-family:Arial;} a:link, span.MsoHyperlink {color:blue; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single;} a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed {color:purple; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single;} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} </style> <![endif]--><p class="MsoNormal">Years ago a friend gave me a hot tip – <span style="font-style: italic;">When traveling, always carry some party balloons. </span>
<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">This seemed like rather odd advice at the time, but has since proved invaluable. On my travels I have used balloons as emergency water bottles, rubber bands and pillows, but have found that they are most valuable as a way of engaging with people.
<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">
<br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">As a joyful gift to a begging child, as a welcome diversion for a whole carriage of people playing “keepy uppy” on a crowded train, as a distraction for a crying baby silenced by a magic ball of color floating through the air, as a make-do for a spontaneous game of<span style=""> </span>beach vollyball.</p><p class="MsoNormal">
<br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Balloons embody a sense of wonder and magic that doesn’t diminish with age, wealth or geography, and enable people to come together in a somehow neutral way to share in a fun and magical experience.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">
<br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal">The magic of balloons was harnessed for a large collaborative performance piece in <st1:country-region st="on">Singapore</st1:country-region> and later for <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">London</st1:place></st1:city> by <a href="http://www.haque.co.uk/openburble.php">Haque Design and Research</a>.</p><p class="MsoNormal">
<br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><i style="">The Burble is held down to the ground by the combined weight of the crowds holding on to the handle bar. They may position it as they like. They may curve in on themselves, or pull it in a straight line - the form is a combination of the crowd's desires and the impact of wind currents varying throughout the height of the Burble.</i></p><p class="MsoNormal">
<br /><i style=""><o:p></o:p></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><i style=""><o:p> </o:p></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><i style="">As people on the ground shake and pump the handle bars of the Burble, they see their movements echoed as colours through the entire system. Part installation, part performance, the Burble enables people to contribute at an urban scale to a structure that occupies their city, albeit for only one night.</i></p><p class="MsoNormal">
<br /><i style=""><o:p></o:p></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><object width="400" height="225"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><param name="movie" value="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=662988&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1"><embed src="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=662988&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="400" height="225"></embed></object>
<br /><a href="http://vimeo.com/662988">Burble London</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/hdr">haque d+r</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">
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<br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://www.electricmoons.com/indexAtom.htm">The Atom Performance</a> from Electric Moons, Christopher Bauder and Robert Henke builds on the concept of Baloon Ballet and creates a moody performance using gas balloons, lights and sound. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">
<br /><i style="">“A room is filled with deep, evolving noises from a four-channel sound system. An eight-by-eight array of white, self-illuminated spheres floats in space like the atoms of a complex molecule.”<o:p></o:p></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">
<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><object width="480" height="295"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/zEepuIzOjXc&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/zEepuIzOjXc&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="295"></embed></object></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Like this somewhat sinister performance, clearly balloons aren’t always benign - as demonstrated by the recent Superbowl Coke commercial - these guys clearly have their own agendas.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/xiMf5cCDy1I&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/xiMf5cCDy1I&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></p> <p class="MsoNormal">
<br /><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p><span style="font-weight: normal;">They’re not really balloons, but the menagerie of inflatable sculptures from Joshua Allen Harris, seen recently in the streets and subways of <st1:place st="on"><st1:state st="on">New York</st1:state></st1:place>, share similar characteristics. Created mostly from garbage bags, his works are tethered to vents and fans, and lie dormant until the shifting air currents of the city breath life into them - then they come alive with movement and action as they draw attention to the hidden systems of the city.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">
<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">
<br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/poi8klIN7A4&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/poi8klIN7A4&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">A similarly elegant and organic sculpture debuted recently at the R/C airship regatta in <st1:place st="on"><st1:city st="on">Friedrichshafen</st1:city>, <st1:country-region st="on">Germany</st1:country-region></st1:place>.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">
<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">
<br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><object width="400" height="225"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><param name="movie" value="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=1968128&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1"><embed src="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=1968128&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="400" height="225"></embed></object>
<br /><a href="http://vimeo.com/1968128">Air Art</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/user568554">flip</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">
<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">
<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">FinFish seems like it might be an early version of a new version air ship as envisioned in Manned Cloud by<span style=""> </span><a href="http://www.massaud.com/site/fr/#">Jean-Marie Massaud</a> (as seen in <a href="http://www.dezeen.com/2008/01/10/manned-cloud-by-jean-marie-massaud/">Dezeen</a>) - <o:p></o:p>Perhaps showing greater opportunity to not just travel the world with balloons in the future, but in them.
<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">
<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2TAS9jdIrrqrJey5v-XZBvOqgrdtfcvmp9KtF4t4fbvhjhuXk6a5-_TmDyoZC1orfK7OHQWW1GqUnVfC2O6d6zG4tjRMQRqeEmE5nu2iWhJWn8odQH907k7lkJxoU8MtaBtm0RS3f5Xpk/s1600-h/01-manned-cloud-bdsq.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2TAS9jdIrrqrJey5v-XZBvOqgrdtfcvmp9KtF4t4fbvhjhuXk6a5-_TmDyoZC1orfK7OHQWW1GqUnVfC2O6d6zG4tjRMQRqeEmE5nu2iWhJWn8odQH907k7lkJxoU8MtaBtm0RS3f5Xpk/s320/01-manned-cloud-bdsq.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5296475905684431970" border="0" /></a></p> Bonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03790435526883548135noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6882871155151379239.post-69692702327640391882009-01-20T13:55:00.000-08:002010-01-14T16:24:53.436-08:00Inauguration SpecialThe 5 things I'll remember most from the 2008 election.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">1. Yes We Can Engage</span><br /><br />A report by the <a href="http://www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/252/report_display.asp">PEW Internet & American Life Project on the Internet and the 2008 Election </a>states that: <span style="font-style: italic;">a record-breaking 46% of Americans have used the internet, email or cell phone text messaging to get news about the campaign, share their views and mobilize others. </span><br /><br />It goes on to say: <span style="font-style: italic;">35% of Americans say they have watched online political videos, 10% say they have used social networking sites such as Facebook or MySpace to gather information or become involved, 6% of Americans have made political contributions online, 39% of online Americans have used the internet to access "unfiltered" campaign materials, which includes video of candidate debates, speeches and announcements, as well as position papers and speech transcripts. </span><br /><br />A deep and pervasive message of the Obama campaign lay in rebuilding peoples trust in a fair and evenhanded government. To do this they reached out through a variety of channels to engage people in the campaign, the issues, and the race to the white house.<br /><br />Small donation funding through Changedotgov, online video messaging, mobile text messaging all played a role in campaign engagement strategies. Youtube dominated every aspect of the presidential campaign. It was used heavily by both campaigns, then by the transition government, and looks set to continue to be the preferred means of communication in the new administration.<br /><br />Outside of the political arena, the election still dominated many online campaigns, with individuals and corporations soliciting for user generated content and comment around increasingly tenuous links to their products and the political landscape. Debates, formal consultation, music, and virals engaged millions, made multiple 15minute stars, and launched a new president with intimate knowledge about his fellow Americans.<br /><br />Obama Girl kicked things off by telling B and us, just how much she is crushing on Obama.<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/wKsoXHYICqU&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/wKsoXHYICqU&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />And the <a href="http://www.wsbtv.com/news/18390844/detail.html?rss=atl&psp=news#">Ron Clarke Kids</a> just about wrapped things up by explaining how we can vote however we like.<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/UxlwYP0HNdc&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/UxlwYP0HNdc&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />Meghan McCain reached out to millions of younger voters with <a href="http://mccainblogette.com/">McCainBlogette.com</a> sharing her musings on pop culture and the political trail.<br /><br /><embed src="http://blip.tv/play/gZBSx_wPhpYT" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="478" height="299"></embed><br /><br />Even Pepsi got in on the act with its <a href="http://www.refresheverything.com/">Refresh Everything</a> campaign – Dear Mr president...<br /><br /><object width="480" height="295"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/qwYR1u-fd6s&fmt=18&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/qwYR1u-fd6s&fmt=18type=" application="" flash="" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="295"></embed></object><br /><br />As the PEW study confirms, <span style="font-style: italic;">despite the growth in the number of people who are politically engaged online, internet users express some ambivalence about the role of the internet in the campaign. On one hand, 28% of wired Americans say that the internet makes them feel more personally connected to the campaign, and 22% say that they would not be as involved in the campaign if not for the internet. At the same time, however, even larger numbers feel that the internet magnifies the most extreme viewpoints and is a source of misinformation for many voters.</span><br /><br />It also provides a limitless record of all the gaffs and blunders made by the candidates during endless months of 24 hour news cycles. The following - McCain forgets - is possibly the most painfully awkward moment of the election.<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/0oWzaioeTT0&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/0oWzaioeTT0&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />2. Michelle Obama<br /><br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelle_Obama">Michelle Obama</a> brings a little <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZ-WMHLO5Kg">Abbey Bartlett sizzle</a>, a little <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/gallery/2008/sep/02/michelle.obama.fashion?picture=337085118">Onassis style</a> and whole lot serious education and career credentials to the White House. She is a hugely inspiring woman, as a successful lawyer, public servant and nonprofit exec, a caring mother and supportive wife. On the campaign trail she has been a moving orator and stimulating advocate. Democratic Convention Speech:<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/sTFsB09KhqI&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/sTFsB09KhqI&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">3. I’ll See You in the Debates Bitches!</span><br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/oHXYsw_ZDXg&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/oHXYsw_ZDXg&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />When the McCain team started trash talking with the Obama Celebrity Ad they probably didn’t count on the unlikely and bizarrely coherent response from the Hilton camp(aign?).<br /><br /><object width="480" height="295"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Ko5v_Oo_4U0&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Ko5v_Oo_4U0&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="295"></embed></object><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">(NB. Luckily, lest we be confused by her coherence on energy policy and apparent dry wit, Hilton decided that one short inspired moment if irony could be spun into a </span><a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4WDjuiQmxA">hugely annoying and inane musical parody/grab for attention</a><span style="font-style: italic;"> and balance was restored to the world.) </span><br /><br /><br />In other unexpected celebrity partnerships, Mike Huckabee teamed up with Chuck Norris to tell America how its gonna be.<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/MDUQW8LUMs8&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/MDUQW8LUMs8&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />and Will.I.Am teamed up with a whole lot of musicians to tell us that Yes We Can.<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/jjXyqcx-mYY&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/jjXyqcx-mYY&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">4. Palin</span><br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/NrzXLYA_e6E&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/NrzXLYA_e6E&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />She came out of nowhere, she polarized opinion, she shocked, she horrified. She provided some of the most engaging and terrible sound bites of the election. She shattered the remainder of John McCains already tarnished reputation. She was <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OavoTPttLK0">“one step from stealing”</a> from the campaign. She can kill and skin a moose. She inspired <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cf9NqaZ4fw">Tina Fey</a> to new heights of comedic genius. She could have been president. There is little doubt that she’ll be back.<br /><br />Katie Connolly, the McCain campaign Newsweek embedded reporter on Palins spending spree:<br /><br /><object width="425" height="398"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><param name="movie" value="http://bc.newsweek.com/players/v2/embed/newsweek.swf?l=1904732925&t=1906937043&c=40211"><embed src="http://bc.newsweek.com/players/v2/embed/newsweek.swf?l=1904732925&t=1906937043&c=40211" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="425" height="398"></embed></object><br /><br />Matt “like a bad Disney movie” Damon says it best:<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/C6urw_PWHYk&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/C6urw_PWHYk&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">5. Daily News</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgydbwR3AdIw255SqxXWGEnyPZVwnRz-kyAMLaENFdzJ_5OYsGui_v9w-GLqcJlw-nMxUxBnNk8-SFtowhdBbc6PRBXmW6gghmbwaGe2FCfB4NrGVuRSkXFCmnu2tT9l-OZo8QgQLl-0Uas/s1600-h/new-yorker-cover-obama-michelle-joke-vl.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgydbwR3AdIw255SqxXWGEnyPZVwnRz-kyAMLaENFdzJ_5OYsGui_v9w-GLqcJlw-nMxUxBnNk8-SFtowhdBbc6PRBXmW6gghmbwaGe2FCfB4NrGVuRSkXFCmnu2tT9l-OZo8QgQLl-0Uas/s320/new-yorker-cover-obama-michelle-joke-vl.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5293502340993880514" border="0" /></a><object width="425" height="344"><br />Together, <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/">The New Yorker</a>, <a href="http://www.thedailyshow.com/">The Daily Show</a>, and <a href="http://www.newsweek.com/">Newsweek </a>shaped my experience and understanding of the long and often confusing 2008 presidential election.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The NewYorker</span><br /><a href="http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/covers/2008">The NewYorker covers</a> acted as a rough guide to election events, injected controversy, added humor. Reporting during and after the election covered events and op eds with bipartisan intellect and alternative shifts in focus from mainstream media.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Newsweek</span><br />Since 1984 Newsweek has embedded reporters into the campaign trail to follow the candidates throughout the process of the election. Reporters follow the candidates for over a year with unparalleled behind the scenes access, on the condition they stay silent and their findings remain unpublished until after the election.<br /><br /><br />McCain embedded reporter Katie Connolly talks about her time with McCain.<br /><object width="425" height="398"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><param name="movie" value="http://bc.newsweek.com/players/v2/embed/newsweek.swf?l=1904732925&t=1909191809&c=40211"><embed src="http://bc.newsweek.com/players/v2/embed/newsweek.swf?l=1904732925&t=1909191809&c=40211" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="425" height="398"></embed></object><br /><br />The special edition, 8 chapter report, can be read <a href="http://www.newsweek.com/id/167582">here </a>and in clear language describes the process of electing an American president, details the infighting between the Clinton and Obama campaigns, the unraveling of the McCain “strait talk express“, the FBI investigation of the hack of both campaign databases and much much more.<br /><br /><br /></object><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWgRVpo3-ui6bBIDomFJjK4_5ZNiXY2CHESQb1tBwOzZF8LQt__72oN-sTm1ZPpcEMRuYeeYruZmFAeBtd597G7_0lMchmbLetJ7WlF7YHFh-bO4lchj4u9eYfmv8tKBWHDmhHzGD2fuSD/s1600-h/stewart-colber-cover_l.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 215px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWgRVpo3-ui6bBIDomFJjK4_5ZNiXY2CHESQb1tBwOzZF8LQt__72oN-sTm1ZPpcEMRuYeeYruZmFAeBtd597G7_0lMchmbLetJ7WlF7YHFh-bO4lchj4u9eYfmv8tKBWHDmhHzGD2fuSD/s320/stewart-colber-cover_l.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5293502561815954018" border="0" /></a><br /><object width="425" height="344"><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Daily Show</span><br />Indecision 2008 - John Stewart and the Daily Show provided unparalleled coverage of the election – the issues, the candidates, the ridiculousness. If you don't watch anything else, watch this:<br /><br /><style type="text/css">.cc_box a:hover .cc_home{background:url('http://www.comedycentral.com/comedycentral/video/assets/syndicated-logo-over.png') !important;}.cc_links a{color:#b9b9b9;text-decoration:none;}.cc_show a{color:#707070;text-decoration:none;}.cc_title a{color:#868686;text-decoration:none;}.cc_links a:hover{color:#67bee2;text-decoration:underline;}</style><div class="cc_box" style="position: relative;"><a href="http://www.comedycentral.com/" target="_blank" style="display: inline; float: left; width: 60px; height: 31px;"><div class="cc_home" style="border-style: solid; border-color: rgb(207, 207, 207); border-width: 1px 0px 0px 1px; background: transparent url(http://www.comedycentral.com/comedycentral/video/assets/syndicated-logo-out.png) repeat scroll 0% 0%; float: left; width: 60px; height: 31px; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;"></div></a><div style="border-style: solid; border-color: rgb(207, 207, 207); border-width: 1px 1px 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,Verdana,sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; font-size: 10px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; float: left; width: 299px; height: 31px; color: rgb(112, 112, 112);"><div class="cc_show" style="overflow: hidden; position: relative; background-color: rgb(229, 229, 229); padding-left: 3px; height: 14px; padding-top: 2px;"><a href="http://www.thedailyshow.com/" target="_blank">The Daily Show With Jon Stewart</a><span style="position: absolute; top: 2px; right: 3px;">M - Th 11p / 10c</span></div><div class="cc_title" style="padding: 1px 3px 3px; overflow: hidden; font-size: 11px; color: rgb(134, 134, 134); background-color: rgb(245, 245, 245); line-height: 14px; height: 21px;"><a href="http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=216314&title=barack-obama-path-to-the" target="_blank">Barack Obama: Path to the Presidency</a></div></div><embed style="float: left; clear: left;" src="http://media.mtvnservices.com/mgid:cms:item:comedycentral.com:216314" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="window" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" allownetworking="all" flashvars="autoPlay=false" bgcolor="#000000" width="360" height="301"></embed><div class="cc_links" style="border-style: none solid solid; border-color: -moz-use-text-color rgb(207, 207, 207) rgb(207, 207, 207); border-width: 0px 1px 1px; float: left; clear: left; width: 358px; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,Verdana,sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 10px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; color: rgb(185, 185, 185); background-color: rgb(245, 245, 245);"><div style="width: 177px; float: left; padding-left: 3px;"><a target="_blank" href="http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=166515&title=Barack-Obama-Pt.-1">Barack Obama Interview</a><br /><a target="_blank" href="http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=167938&title=John-McCain-Pt.-1">John McCain Interview</a></div><div style="width: 177px; float: left;"><a target="_blank" href="http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?searchterm=Sarah+Palin&searchtype=site&x=0&y=0">Sarah Palin Video</a><br /><a target="_blank" href="http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?searchterm=indecision+2008&searchtype=site&x=0&y=0">Funny Election Video</a></div><div style="clear: both;"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div></div><br /><br /></object>Bonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03790435526883548135noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6882871155151379239.post-79077532110654429802009-01-19T10:49:00.000-08:002010-01-14T16:26:21.279-08:00The Transition<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXXFBS56_UgnBehoeXI1Ejb5i-Xn54MLOMIKATHhiTo7kNqT-2f5w_G1Y4WNve3z2kPw-xABhLI4IR19xGtkbFlD2az0P_x7HRElqbAmIrTh7V64g-ApxmXYdC66QLjW4fH_r-lul7wilK/s1600-h/obama-hope.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 223px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXXFBS56_UgnBehoeXI1Ejb5i-Xn54MLOMIKATHhiTo7kNqT-2f5w_G1Y4WNve3z2kPw-xABhLI4IR19xGtkbFlD2az0P_x7HRElqbAmIrTh7V64g-ApxmXYdC66QLjW4fH_r-lul7wilK/s320/obama-hope.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5293081232243857138" border="0" /></a><br />The USA is about to have a leader with a real understanding of grass roots activism, with face to face experience of community engagement and organization, and with an ongoing commitment to supporting communities, urbanism and innovation. Obama understands that key to rebuilding the American dream lies in repairing its urban infrastructure and rebuilding its cities.<br />I am terrifically excited by an American president whose rise to power is based in local communities and who appears to be making a resolute commitment from the get go to respond and repay that support by attacking a range of critical issues at their source.<br /><br />With a solid commitment to urban policy and innovation the new government is promising great transformation. By continuing to engage citizens in discussions about critical issues - with timely and personal response and feedback, this new government is already delivering much needed change.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Urban Policy & Innovation</span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">The following is taken from <a href="http://change.gov/agenda/urbanpolicy_agenda/">http://change.gov/agenda/urbanpolicy_agenda/</a> (this link may change post inauguration) – I wouldn’t normally copy/paste such a large block of text, but I think its hugely important to note the critical connections made here between urban policy and community engagement, innovation clusters and sustainable economies, livable cities and healthy communities. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Obama-Biden Plan</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">As a community organizer on the South Side of Chicago, Barack Obama learned firsthand that urban poverty is more than just a function of not having enough in your pocketbook. It's also a matter of where you live -- in some of our inner-city neighborhoods, poverty is difficult to escape because it's isolating and it's everywhere. Our job across America is to create communities of choice, not of destiny, and create conditions for neighborhoods where the odds are not stacked against the people who live there. Barack Obama will lead a new federal approach to America's high-poverty areas, an approach that facilitates the economic integration of families and communities with efforts to support the current low-income residents of those areas.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Strengthen Federal Commitment to our Cities</span><br /><ul><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Create a White House Office on Urban Policy:</span> Obama and Biden will create a White House Office of Urban Policy to develop a strategy for metropolitan America and to ensure that all federal dollars targeted to urban areas are effectively spent on the highest-impact programs. The Director of Urban Policy will report directly to the president and coordinate all federal urban programs. </li></ul><span style="font-weight: bold;">Stimulate Economic Prosperity in our Metropolitan Regions</span><br /><ul><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Support Regional Innovation Clusters:</span> Thriving innovation clusters across the country like the North Carolina Research Triangle Park and Nashville's thriving entertainment cluster prove that local stakeholders can successfully come together and help reshape their local economies. Barack Obama and Joe Biden will create a federal program to support "innovation clusters" -- regional centers of innovation and next-generation industries. This innovation clusters program will provide $200 million in planning and matching grants for regional business, government, and university leaders to collaborate on leveraging a region's existing assets -- from transportation infrastructure to universities -- to enhance long-term regional growth. </li></ul><ul><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Create a National Network of Public-Private Business Incubators:</span> Barack Obama and Joe Biden will support entrepreneurship and spur job growth by creating a national network of public-private business incubators, which facilitate the critical work of entrepreneurs in creating start-up companies. They will invest $250 million per year to increase the number and size of incubators in urban communities throughout the country.</li></ul><span style="font-weight: bold;">Livability of Cities</span><br /><ul><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Build More Livable and Sustainable Communities: </span>Our communities will better serve all of their residents if we are able to leave our cars to walk, bicycle and access other transportation alternatives. As president, Barack Obama will re-evaluate the transportation funding process to ensure that smart growth considerations are taken into account.</li></ul><ul><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Foster Healthy Communities: </span>How a community is designed -- including the layout of its roads, buildings and parks -- has a huge impact on the health of its residents. For instance, nearly one-third of Americans live in neighborhoods without sidewalks and less than half of our country's children have a playground within walking distance of their homes. Barack Obama introduced the Healthy Places Act to help local governments assess the health impact of new policies and projects, like highways or shopping centers.</li></ul><span style="font-weight: bold;">Engagement Online</span><br />Meeting during their work on the 2003 Gov. Howard Dean Presidential Campaign, Internet and online communications firm <a href="http://www.echoditto.com/">EchoDitto</a> <a href="http://www.echoditto.com/about"><span style="font-style: italic;">wrote the blueprint for Internet political strategy</span></a>. It is fair to say that their subsequent work for clients such President Bill Clinton and Barack Obama for Senate must have contributed much inspiration for the online engagement strategy for the 2008 presidential campaign.<br /><br />Youtube became the medium of choice as live debates, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1MGi12RspA">question answer sessions</a> and political messages flooded the site. As Beccy Allen - researcher from the <a href="http://www.hansardsociety.org.uk/">Hansard Society</a> notes - "<a href="http://www.hansardsociety.org.uk/blogs/edemocracy/archive/2009/01/06/post-election-engagement-can-the-administration-match-the-campaign.aspx"><span style="font-style: italic;">online campaigning has longer term consequences for government - once you have engaged people you can’t just turn it off. To make online engagement legitimate and effective in terms of continued engagement and policy development, a clear strategy for using citizens’ input and an explanation of where their input will go is important</span></a>."<br /><br />During the Transition, Obama’s “<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/30/AR2008123003104.html">One president at a time</a>” mandate hasn’t prevented his transition team for Innovation and Civil Society from continuing to engage American citizens in an ongoing conversation about the new government agenda. Continuing to use YouTube as their medium, the team poses questions for the public to respond to. Focusing on issues of service, economy, energy etc. the call to action continues.<br /><br /><object width="480" height="295"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/tRcO9aIixpg&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/tRcO9aIixpg&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="295"></embed></object><br /><br />In an personally engaging (and hugely time consuming) means of feeding back, Paul Schmitz from the Transition's Innovation and Civil Society Team responds personally to the comments and suggestions received online.<br /><br /><object width="480" height="295"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/-CeNeXzoZCU&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/-CeNeXzoZCU&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="295"></embed></object><br /><br />Also at ChangeDotGov – The Obama-Biden Transition Project - you can Ride on the Whistle Stop Train Tour, Join the Discussion, or watch any number of clips documenting life inside the Transition administration. This element of transparency and immediacy is something new in modern politics.<br /><br /><script src="http://www.gmodules.com/ig/ifr?url=http://www.google.com/ig/modules/youtube.xml&up_channel=ChangeDotGov&synd=open&w=320&h=390&title=&border=%23ffffff%7C3px%2C1px+solid+%23999999&output=js"></script><br /><br />The mood in the USA right now is electric. There is such a sense of anticipation as the country readies itself for tomorrows fairytale inauguration. See what we’re all waiting for as Obama “Thanks” the nation in his last Youtube address before the big day:<br /><br /><object width="480" height="295"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/qN1S1LdkUeg&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/qN1S1LdkUeg&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="295"></embed></object>Bonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03790435526883548135noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6882871155151379239.post-36988095808033730952009-01-15T11:39:00.000-08:002010-01-14T16:27:20.548-08:00Collaborative Innovation EconomyIn the fairly grim <a href="http://archinect.com/features/article.php?id=84596_0_23_0_C">Archinect industry survey</a> released today, President of the Boston Society of Architects, Diane Georgopulis, is quoted saying: <span style="font-style: italic;">"architects at some level are kind of the canaries in the mine. When development dries up, architects are probably the first people to know."</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhceW-neEzIAKSABykSoDnnulElT9YnQDMV4tKplHiXoL5_L1G7ZAf7Dd50cDNOBjK5K-nOPZEFuK9eJ9skrrRY65KHrkTnFDk1zOlRw_XicsHsYvxgNN9oEVZZU-TT9Pg_RPMOmjVYFJvX/s1600-h/110308_172928.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 245px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhceW-neEzIAKSABykSoDnnulElT9YnQDMV4tKplHiXoL5_L1G7ZAf7Dd50cDNOBjK5K-nOPZEFuK9eJ9skrrRY65KHrkTnFDk1zOlRw_XicsHsYvxgNN9oEVZZU-TT9Pg_RPMOmjVYFJvX/s320/110308_172928.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5291618143363695186" border="0" /></a><br />As economic canaries, architects are now at the coalface of the changing economy. The survey goes on to detail the doom and gloom of thousands of design professionals, the fear and concern about job losses, and paints a fairly scary picture for both professionals and students in an industry suffering huge losses and a bleak outlook. However, like most news dealing with the economy these days, it attempts to finish on a high note – suggesting opportunities for re-skilling, building networks, focusing on what’s important, diversifying – and in an industry with a tradition for collaborative and competition based work this should put them in an ideal position to take advantage of the new style of crowd sourced, collaborative work towards innovation.<br /><br />Competitions have become a common and democratic way to generate innovative ideas for modern building and city design. In Australia, the most recognizable architectural landmarks are the result of international competition and collaboration. In 1912, Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony were awarded the winning entry to <a href="http://www.idealcity.org.au/">design the new Australian capital</a>. In 1957 (out of 233 entries from 32 countries) Danish architect Jørn Utzon was announced as the winner of the competition to design the <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/metarenato/190646507/">Sydney Opera House</a>. More recently, in 1997, London based <a href="http://www.labarchitecture.com/">LAB Architecture Studio</a> (partnering with <a href="http://www.batessmart.com.au/pages/index.html">Bates Smart</a>) beat 177 local and international entries to win the competition to design <a href="http://www.pps.org/great_public_spaces/one?public_place_id=532">Federation Square</a>.<br /><br />As the recent <a href="http://www.jellymongers.co.uk/auction.html">Bompas & Parr Jelly Banquet Auction</a> demonstrates – architects will <a href="http://bustler.net/index.php/competitions/">compete </a>for just about anything!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9Zbw8bBPO-4dbxMsXjWWYVM1qb5OYhLrPhPZZVLr9Y09xGGa3uKMOTm3-Wj9vwuOQcuCC_ipEsUd1VLsEV-DI7DK_Wy79zwb3IgyOEaoHK3QeZyEzvpTq9_YiKxcD58j8lKIYY8ZfoUPe/s1600-h/stPauls2_jelly.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9Zbw8bBPO-4dbxMsXjWWYVM1qb5OYhLrPhPZZVLr9Y09xGGa3uKMOTm3-Wj9vwuOQcuCC_ipEsUd1VLsEV-DI7DK_Wy79zwb3IgyOEaoHK3QeZyEzvpTq9_YiKxcD58j8lKIYY8ZfoUPe/s320/stPauls2_jelly.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5291617307948749282" border="0" /></a><br />In the last few years, with the evolution of more intuitive web based mass collaboration, innovation competitions have become a cheap and wildly successful means of generating massive numbers of innovative ideas from a global pool of cross industry talent.<br /><br />Thanks to the success of mass collaboration projects - see <a href="http://www.wikipedia.org/">Wikipedia</a>, <a href="http://www.ornl.gov/sci/techresources/Human_Genome/home.shtml">Human Genome Project</a>, <a href="http://www.pandora.com/mgp.shtml">Pandora</a> - and innovation competitions - see <a href="http://www.goldcorpchallenge.com/">Goldcorp Challenge</a>, <a href="http://www.netflixprize.com/">Netflix</a>, <a href="http://www.forum.nokia.com/Events/Training_and_Educational_Events/Forum_Nokia_for_Universities/Mobile_Innovation_Competition_2008.xhtml">Nokia</a>, <a href="http://code.google.com/android/adc.html">Android</a>, <a href="http://www.kpcb.com/initiatives/ifund/index.html">IPhone</a> - and demonstrated by the mass media uptake of texts like <a href="http://www.herecomeseverybody.org/">Here Comes Everybody</a>, <a href="http://www.wikinomics.com/blog/">Wikinomics</a>, and the crowd written book <a href="http://wearesmarter.org/">We are Stronger than Me</a>, innovation collaborations and competitions are seen as a new driving force for creative action.<br /><br />A great use of these competitions has been for catalysts for social enterprise and innovation. For example:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.greenchallenge.info/">Picnic green challenge:</a> <span style="font-style: italic;">One bright idea can make a big difference. The entrant with the best idea for a greenhouse-gas-reducing product or service wins €500,000, expert coaching and a starting list of customers!</span><br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/kl6U50tgfNM&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/kl6U50tgfNM&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/xprize">The X Prize</a> is a forum hosting innovation prizes:<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/_GAferFgSF8&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/_GAferFgSF8&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br /><a href="http://www.googlelunarxprize.org/">The Google Lunar X PRIZE</a> <span style="font-style: italic;">– a $30 million competition for the first privately funded team to send a robot to the moon, travel 500 meters and transmit video, images and data back to the Earth. </span><br /><br /><a href="http://www.progressiveautoxprize.org/">Insurance Automotive X PRIZE</a> <span style="font-style: italic;">- invites teams from around the world to focus on a single goal: design viable, clean and super-efficient cars that people want to buy... This will be a race for the ages, with major publicity and $10 million waiting for the champions… and perhaps our future hanging in the balance. </span><br /><br /><a href="http://www.changemakers.net/">Changemakers:</a> <span style="font-style: italic;">is building the world's first global online "open source" community that competes to surface the best social solutions, and then collaborates to refine, enrich, and implement those solutions. Changemakers begins by providing an overarching intellectual framework for collaborative competitions that bring together individual social change initiatives into a more powerful whole. </span><br /><br />The are currently running competitions in <a href="http://www.changemakers.net/en-us/competition/powerofus">re-imagining media</a>, <a href="http://www.changemakers.net/en-us/designingforbetterhealth">designing for better health</a>, and collaborating with Nike to run a competition to promote and <a href="http://sportforchange.changemakers.net/en-us/womeninsport">engage women in sport</a>.<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/vAiBmFBb4V8&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/vAiBmFBb4V8&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />Increasingly, as a lack of full time job security forces professionals to rethink how they work, collaborative research and competitions become a more valuable means of both embedding oneself in a learning network, and distinguishing oneself from the crowd.<br /><br />As the projects above demonstrate, there is some serious capital investment behind these ventures – so as we all pull together to stay afloat in these uncertain times, a new collaborative social innovation economy is emerging. And that’s good news for architects and good news for all of us.<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/kpfsYIN9cZ8&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/kpfsYIN9cZ8&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>Bonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03790435526883548135noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6882871155151379239.post-53285643143487255142009-01-14T10:55:00.000-08:002010-01-14T16:28:03.208-08:00Tribute RewindIn a cunning reversal of fan tribute, OASIS have put their new songs in the hands of NYC street performers to launch their new album – letting others interpret their material before it becomes ubiquitous is an interesting means of subversion, and putting the new songs directly into the hands of buskers is a lovely way of engaging directly with commuter communities.<br /><br /><a href="http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=50015059">Oasis - Dig Out Your Soul In The Streets</a><br /><object width="425" height="360"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><param name="movie" value="http://mediaservices.myspace.com/services/media/embed.aspx/m=50015059,t=1,mt=video,searchID=,primarycolor=,secondarycolor="><embed src="http://mediaservices.myspace.com/services/media/embed.aspx/m=50015059,t=1,mt=video,searchID=,primarycolor=,secondarycolor=" allowfullscreen="true" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="360"></embed></object><br /><br />There is an interesting tension between fan made tributes and their creators – while the Indiana Jones reenactment <a href="http://www.theraider.net/films/raiders_adaptation/index.php">The Raide</a><a href="http://www.theraider.net/films/raiders_adaptation/index.php">r</a> received glowing praise from Spielberg, it is still only available in very limited release. But despite the sometimes lukewarm reception, fans continue to pay tribute – big and small.<br /><br /><br />Lego Izzard<br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/rZVjKlBCvhg&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/rZVjKlBCvhg&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/tdj/3172356182/in/pool-farside"><br />Gary Larson Farside Reenactments</a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTStKevp50qlNvCtWo4kEfJ9IkNuyNqGNLYpbwgBCVffqwEok9iBNk9NiOTwoA8rOt65_bHw-PxVgb0FLD-h18Ci_wR06y30dmz9Z8AI7Y49GKRnieaVKsSPk3TepK_enjN-u4V38LD5Ib/s1600-h/250359145_a448ad997a.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 262px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTStKevp50qlNvCtWo4kEfJ9IkNuyNqGNLYpbwgBCVffqwEok9iBNk9NiOTwoA8rOt65_bHw-PxVgb0FLD-h18Ci_wR06y30dmz9Z8AI7Y49GKRnieaVKsSPk3TepK_enjN-u4V38LD5Ib/s320/250359145_a448ad997a.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5291225836179549026" border="0" /></a><br /><img src="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Bonnie%20Shaw/My%20Documents/09%20research/Blog/250359145_a448ad997a.jpg" alt="" /><br />Computer Games - Mario Reenactments<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/UJMepmfOgU0&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/UJMepmfOgU0&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />Star Wars meets Family Guy in Blue Harvarst<br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/_TNN9xV2MkI&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/_TNN9xV2MkI&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />And in a poetic yet labyrinthine tribute to the Michel Gondry tribute film Be Kind Rewind - that follows fans inspired to remake (or <a href="http://swededfilms.com/films.html">swede</a>) their own tributes to films - Gondry swedes his own preview. ow my head.<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/-B0dJQ35rDs&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/-B0dJQ35rDs&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />The Gondry film ends with a celebration of the message that our own stories are often the most important. Demonstrating a common community engagement technique, the characters collect the stories and personal histories of the local neighborhood and create a community produced film event.<br /><br />Community engagement specialists, architects, urban designers etc often use community filmmaking to engage citizens in the regeneration of their local areas as demonstrated in the short film <a href="http://www.newislington.co.uk/community/new-islington-people/">“I’m Moving In”</a> from Len Grant. It’s about the redevelopment of the Cardroom Estate in Manchester – part of a collaboration between innovative British developers <a href="http://www.blogger.com/www.urbansplash.co.uk/">Urban Splash</a>, architect <a href="http://www.blogger.com/www.alsoparchitects.com/">Will Alsop</a> and the community of New Islington.<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/mfXwG--VOLA&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/mfXwG--VOLA&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br />As Urban Splash continue to demonstrate, community engagement and regeneration can be meaningful, commercially exciting, creatively innovative and artistic. I'm as excited by the possibilities demonstrated by their work in Manchester as I am by the role reversal executed by the OASIS buskers.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">(Perhaps, in modern meme tradition, the final clip for this post should be the Manchester band performing a song written by one of the New Islington residents?)</span>Bonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03790435526883548135noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6882871155151379239.post-57995152055122206002009-01-12T11:27:00.000-08:002010-01-14T16:28:33.780-08:00What the Helvetica!Text and typography are ubiquitous in the public realm. Signage, directions, slogans, graffiti… but recently I’ve been noticing an explosion of text and typographical art both online and on the ground – from <a href="http://www.katharinehamnett.com/">slogan tee’s</a> to a cursory glance over at <a href="http://ffffound.com/">fffound </a>– seems like everyone is text obsessed.<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/z-TOOoo2oNs&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/z-TOOoo2oNs&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/z-TOOoo2oNs&hl=en&fs=1"></object>The 2007 <a href="http://www.helveticafilm.com/">Helvetica </a>film, “a feature-length independent film about typography, graphic design and global visual culture… looks at the proliferation of one typeface (which recently celebrated its 50th birthday)”.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-Cl-tWFRrEFEgDGP4Q3FdaCOUWbfq2jbIgYDm1YTVKcSuL4i5bwx_bi3RjJKizd5Qy_wIDjvmeKhCKh1pSKk_hWbUSDLMwYd2er5ZhimYIoQZvldsDcgFVzY7SmjiRb2TYrJ8xCWZw9F7/s1600-h/eine.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-Cl-tWFRrEFEgDGP4Q3FdaCOUWbfq2jbIgYDm1YTVKcSuL4i5bwx_bi3RjJKizd5Qy_wIDjvmeKhCKh1pSKk_hWbUSDLMwYd2er5ZhimYIoQZvldsDcgFVzY7SmjiRb2TYrJ8xCWZw9F7/s320/eine.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5290492203912001058" border="0" /></a><br /><br />On the streets on London, <a href="http://www.einesigns.co.uk/">Eines</a>’ giant lettering provides captions to places and experiences while his rollerdoor series provided the backdrop for the recent <a href="http://www.thisisalphabeat.com/">Alphabeat </a>launch.<br /><br /><p><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://swfs.ilike.com/swfs/v.swf" width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://swfs.ilike.com/swfs/v.swf"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><param name="flashvars" value="artist=Jay-Z&extendedFeed=1&mid=254047002&autoPlay=0&autoPlayMore=1"><embed src="http://swfs.ilike.com/swfs/v.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" flashvars="artist=Jay-Z&extendedFeed=1&mid=254047002&autoPlay=0&autoPlayMore=1" width="425" height="355"></embed></object></p><br />In another recent musical/typographic collaboration, <a href="http://evan-roth.com/jay-z/">Evan Roth</a> has created a terrific textual video feast for the new Jay Z/Kanye/Santo Gold video Brooklyn We Go Hard for <a href="http://www.redwire.com/">(Red)Wire</a>.<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/XBfF5C-A1pw&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/XBfF5C-A1pw&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br /><a href="http://www.nielsshoemeulman.com/">Niels Meulman’s</a> work with Caligrafitti garnered him a solo show in 2007 and his stylish work is popping up more and more frequently.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgYkep6rJmB0_mRNx4nQYB82FIDybwX0IDaOM3_Ba77D9iIvsFocNmyeawkpAhQP9jfP5cyLfDLhvSXTL7as7ArS5qzK0p0AelDioFD9Gvm2TKo7GaBAmPY30tl-ow7erVo8_F39bU2KMr/s1600-h/_poem5.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgYkep6rJmB0_mRNx4nQYB82FIDybwX0IDaOM3_Ba77D9iIvsFocNmyeawkpAhQP9jfP5cyLfDLhvSXTL7as7ArS5qzK0p0AelDioFD9Gvm2TKo7GaBAmPY30tl-ow7erVo8_F39bU2KMr/s320/_poem5.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5290493838982491314" border="0" /></a><br />In a beautiful and poetic intervention, London based artist and illustrator <a href="http://crosshatchling.co.uk/">Anna Garforth</a> is experimenting in Moss Graffiti – Growing words on wisdom on the walls of the city. Instructions available <a href="http://www.storiesfromspace.co.uk/data/html/mossgraffiti.html">here</a>.Bonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03790435526883548135noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6882871155151379239.post-25085246634915254322009-01-12T06:33:00.000-08:002010-01-14T16:29:19.258-08:00Once Upon a Time...As we become more intimately and ubiquitously engaged in multimedia multiplatform lives – with constant and unlimited access to a variety of media – print, video, audio, web, mobile etc – and more active in massively multiplayer/collaborative forums – <a href="http://www.wikipedia.org/">Wikipedia</a>, <a href="http://secondlife.com/">SecondLife</a>, <a href="http://www.facebook.com/">Facebook</a>, <a href="http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/">WoW</a>, etc – new forms of interactive storytelling are emerging as viable mainstream platforms.<br /><br />The written word is jumping on and off the page to engage new interactive applications, temporal elements, video, mapping, mobile content and gaming elements. This collaborative cross-pollination continues to create a hybrid storytelling mashup that offers endless possibility in interactive entertainment and fun.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzjcfURdPz4I-ML0nrle53S2Cf0Tt7zE2ZgRo-0qP72oXuh5RSnS1WfRqkD6YkTnx90bOrAvAR8S3qb0qcnyjTxM-HxKSceazFXS0kK-goZxHeAuvNd_lrxnXjNy4QL_wRGMOqYYPS-HpN/s1600-h/the21steps.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 402px; height: 163px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzjcfURdPz4I-ML0nrle53S2Cf0Tt7zE2ZgRo-0qP72oXuh5RSnS1WfRqkD6YkTnx90bOrAvAR8S3qb0qcnyjTxM-HxKSceazFXS0kK-goZxHeAuvNd_lrxnXjNy4QL_wRGMOqYYPS-HpN/s320/the21steps.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5290452770077196802" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://wetellstories.co.uk/">WeTellStories</a> is a fantastic project from 2007 developed in collaboration with UK based <a href="http://www.sixtostart.com/">sixtostart</a> and Penguin Books. Working with up and coming Penguin authors, sixtostart developed 6 stories into web based interactive adventures. Using existing and familiar platforms like blogs and Google maps, the collaborations have opened up new possibilities in storytelling platforms. My pick of the bunch is the exquisitely executed <a href="http://wetellstories.co.uk/stories/week1/">The 21 Steps</a> by Charles Cumming - A murder mystery translated into a cross London chase over Googlemaps.<br /><br />Watch Adrian and Dan Hon of Six to Start talk about the We Tell Stories project here:<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/tHSgjLjz-BA&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/tHSgjLjz-BA&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br /><br /><br />A new novel by JC Hutchins – <a href="http://jchutchins.net/site/personal-effects/">Personal Effects: Dark Arts</a> – combines the traditions of a paperback with the gameplay of an <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternate_reality_game">ARG</a> - allowing the reader to enter the world of the story through interactive elements.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcPbtVvrbE0Hch5vq70OUuvXmDo4aQsg07FUoChV6x6ZSkcnBpnCNk8SqPB2Cp9As1I3fvyOXVQGdXxTyIdwIUZNAVj0LiceU5fy05UbufdmWlkoyCDynLB05uV-fqW13BoD0FQ8ZJciFu/s1600-h/peda_cover_teaser.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 311px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcPbtVvrbE0Hch5vq70OUuvXmDo4aQsg07FUoChV6x6ZSkcnBpnCNk8SqPB2Cp9As1I3fvyOXVQGdXxTyIdwIUZNAVj0LiceU5fy05UbufdmWlkoyCDynLB05uV-fqW13BoD0FQ8ZJciFu/s320/peda_cover_teaser.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5290451125646942386" border="0" /></a><br />The traditional paperback murder mystery jumps off the page into a myriad online alternatives. Characters have active lives online that the reader can access by using additional cards and props that accompany the book, , searching for events online, even calling phone numbers called by characters in the story. A collaboration between J.C. Hutchins and <a href="http://smithandtinker.com/">Smith & Tinker</a>, Darks Art goes live in June 2009 and promises to shake up publishing with a new mainstream form of interactive storytelling.<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/MHn4XB4tLH8&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/MHn4XB4tLH8&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br /><a href="http://smithandtinker.com/about/founders/jordan/index.php">Jordan Weisman</a>, CEO & Founder of Smith & Tinker, is also behind another interactive storytelling smash hit <a href="http://www.cathysbook.com/">Cathy’s Book</a>. Published in September 2006, Cathy’s Book reads in the form of a young girls diary and provides a set of clues for her disappearance. This novel uses weblinks, phone numbers, and community forums to engage readers in an interactive world that lives outside the pages of the book. In an interesting move, a <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/12/business/media/12book.html?_r=1&ex=1307764800&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1231772411-IlxJDS9fTjdn6lODaSinDw">product placement deal</a> was struck with Covergirl cosmetics, and particular products name checked in the text (these were removed in final print) in return for promotion on friendly websites.<br /><br />Author, Sean Stewart speaks in detail about creating the novel <a href="http://www.intellinuts.com/blog/?page_id=26">here</a>. A sequel, <a href="http://www.cathyskey.com/">Cathy’s Key</a>, was published in May 2008.<br /><br />Stepping into a more geospatial/documentary arena, and there are a number of exciting projects exploring mobile ways of bringing local stories to life.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVoU5IF69nJAlRIsv9CWN-irHQqUD7RkkSiC08aCwqB8T9bmlXD2iiPyPjrIW2Te9Cis5oVH6xWHNUnVGYYhdDzpQ5A2MRPSH9YBnbLx25HFH7sDz0zjdC7PPJgFI75qVJfUxmGUbKSE0u/s1600-h/ear.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 213px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVoU5IF69nJAlRIsv9CWN-irHQqUD7RkkSiC08aCwqB8T9bmlXD2iiPyPjrIW2Te9Cis5oVH6xWHNUnVGYYhdDzpQ5A2MRPSH9YBnbLx25HFH7sDz0zjdC7PPJgFI75qVJfUxmGUbKSE0u/s320/ear.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5290451364571051186" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://murmurtoronto.ca/">Murmur</a> is a Toronto based storytelling project that first began in 2003. In their own words: “[murmur] is a documentary oral history project that records stories and memories told about specific geographic locations.”<br /><br />One of the first storytelling projects to go mobile, the project is still going strong with little change to their initial modus operandi. The project team record the stories of local residents and make them available through mobile. Murmur signs are installed in project locations with a phone number that participants can call to listen to the stories on the spot.<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/oi7ij9iydhA&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/oi7ij9iydhA&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><a href="http://yellowarrow.net/"><br />Yellow Arrow</a> gives this personal storytelling element a 2.0 perspective. In their words: “ Yellow Arrow is a global public art project of local experiences. Combining stickers, mobile phones and an international community, Yellow Arrow transforms the urban landscape into a "deep map" that expresses the personal histories and hidden secrets that live within our everyday spaces”. Begun in New York in 2004 Yellow Arrow has grown to over 35 countries and 380 cities around the world.<br /><br /><br />Fiction or factual, these projects often get off the ground with funding from arts grants, advertising sponsorship, or brand collaboration - a common issue faced by producers of this new media is how to sustainably monetize their art. Cathy’s Book and Dark Arts are forging new commercial expectations for production and carving out a new publishing niche for this cross over genre.<br /><br />Now, with Disney currently recruiting in its <a href="http://disney.go.com/disneyinteractivestudios/thinkTank.html">Interactive Think Tank</a>, this can only mean new and interesting developments are on the way.Bonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03790435526883548135noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6882871155151379239.post-42708166553875866192009-01-12T06:15:00.001-08:002010-01-14T16:30:04.363-08:00Musical Therapy<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_therapy">Robert Burton wrote in the 17th century in his classic work, The Anatomy of Melancholy, that music and dance were critical in treating mental illness, especially melancholia</a>. Perhaps that’s why, in these uncertain times, more and more people are turning to song and dance on the web to connect and combat the anxiety of the economic downturn. For your own dose of web enabled musical medicine check out:<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Dk0_fhPZLf8&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Dk0_fhPZLf8&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />Beyonce’s <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mVEGfH4s5g">Single Ladies</a> has sparked a dance craze not seen since <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLGLum5SyKQ">Soulja Boy</a><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYp2Aloz-uE"> (here </a>in a meeting of dance memes with the<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMnk7lh9M3o&feature=related"> inmates of CPDRC</a>), with almost 30.000 Youtube uploads at last count. Like <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2cYWfq--Nw">Daft Hands</a> before it, as more and more people reinterpret the routine, the challenge to distinguish is becoming <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rknRJVdpOo&feature=related">harder</a>/<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04ZtfEfh9nM">faster</a>/<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_lrKhmx2WU">weirder</a>!<br /><br /><embed src="http://static.ning.com/topsecret/widgets/video/flvplayer/flvplayer.swf?v=3.11%3A13245" flashvars="config_url=http%3A%2F%2Ftopsecret.ning.com%2Fvideo%2Fvideo%2FshowPlayerConfig%3Fid%3D2659035%253AVideo%253A5152%26x%3DWYTxrcchLAuvqFSedhNXwSsimKojJL8W&video_smoothing=on&autoplay=off" scale="noscale" wmode="transparent" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" width="448" height="364"></embed><br /><small><a href="http://topsecret.ning.com/video/video">Find more videos like this on <em>Top Secret Dance Off</em></a></small><br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><a href="http://topsecret.ning.com/">Top Secret Dance Off</a> turns this throwdown challenge into a team game where you and your team members compete in filmed challenges to show off your mad interpretive dance skills. You can play with your friends anywhere in the world with group events and parties to come.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCqYdLb-7FYlWaYNUya4ZVOjV23xfZjwtKZ3MHPFqLy31KKg7df7J5JIjJAwF81v2L426ZF_FKp85gq7OM8r2aIAU_WMbhp6A0iumk6zGx0Id-7Q0n79vbpNuljIgi-f4of5dzCH9jC28c/s1600-h/img_4093_web.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 232px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCqYdLb-7FYlWaYNUya4ZVOjV23xfZjwtKZ3MHPFqLy31KKg7df7J5JIjJAwF81v2L426ZF_FKp85gq7OM8r2aIAU_WMbhp6A0iumk6zGx0Id-7Q0n79vbpNuljIgi-f4of5dzCH9jC28c/s320/img_4093_web.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5289811595942353538" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:100%;">In the UK, <a href="http://home.luckyvoice.com/">Lucky Voice</a>, the new Karaoke venture from Martha Lane Fox (the brains behind lastminute.com) is revolutionizing a good night in with a web enabled microphone device that allows you to set up your own karaoke bar in the comfort of your own lounge.</span><br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/IawJJ4Ak9qM&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/IawJJ4Ak9qM&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><a href="http://www.playauditorium.com/">Auditorium</a> is one of the most delightful ways I have found to get a little musical magic in my life. It’s an incredibly beautiful, classical themed, interactive puzzle that uses directional paddles to fill audio bars with light and music. Spend hours hypnotically manipulating light and music and just try to keep the smile off your face.<span style="font-size:100%;"><br /><br />Take that (economic) depression!<br /></span>Bonniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03790435526883548135noreply@blogger.com0