Fade to Play

EVOKE trailer (a new online game) from Alchemy on Vimeo.

EVOKE is an alternate reality game directed by Jane McGonigal, an alternate reality game master (see her World Changing interview here).

From her blog:

EVOKE is an online game designed to teach collaboration, creativity, knowledge networking, entrepreneurship, courage, resourcefulness, sustainability, and vision.

Our goal: to empower young people all over the world, and especially in Africa, to start tackling the world’s toughest problems: poverty, hunger, sustainable energy, water security, conflict, disaster relief, health care, education, human rights.

It launches on March 3rd and will end on May 12th. What are you waiting for? Sign up now.

Today I was on CBC’s On the Coast discussing the changes that Facebook will be making to enhance the control users over their data and to enable more informed choices regarding privacy. Over the last year Facebook has worked with the Office of Privacy Commissioner of Canada to address a series of recommendations that would allow compliance with Canadian privacy laws.

According to Facebook:

“Our productive and constructive dialogue with the Commissioner’s office has given us an opportunity to improve our policies and practices in a way that will provide even greater transparency and control for Facebook users,” said Elliot Schrage, Vice-President of Global Communications and Public Policy at Facebook. “We believe that these changes are not only great for our users and address all of the Commissioners’ outstanding concerns, but they also set a new standard for the industry.”

Until these changes have been implemented I would recommend everyone read Facebook’s Statement of Rights and Responsibilities, their privacy policy, and think twice about whether it is necessary to add a third-party application to your profile.

Thanks to Rebecca Bollwitt aka Miss604 for directing CBC to me today.

Relevance: Education about how one’s data is used by Facebook or third-party applications should be combined with the ability to control access to one’s information as desired.

Over this summer, the focus of this blog will be changing as I develop a strategy for using these new media tools to share my thoughts and related research as a UBC PhD student. I also figuring out how I can best keep my committee informed through new media.

What may be best then is to create another blog/tumblr to use exclusively for my photography and new media responsibilities. I’m sorting out the best way to do this.

Tonight I joined the Society for Geek Advancement, which was created by Shira Lazar.

THE SOCIETY FOR GEEK ADVANCEMENT was founded upon the principles that we should all embrace our inner and outer geek and have fun while doing it. As individuals who love learning, innovating and believe in possibility as well as change, the second step of responsibility is to “be the geek that keeps on giving”. As a member of SGA, we work together as a global community to provide the tools and help others realize their true potential too!

As someone that is constantly using his Blackberry to update twitter, check Facebook, and read Google News, I am excited that this society now exists.

What is even cooler is that the society is connected with Room to Read, a great charity created by former Microsoft exec, John Wood, which partners with local communities in developing countries to build libraries, construct schools, and create local language children’s literature.

So get out there and tell others about the Society for Geek Advancement.

Yes, I am a Geek (and totally love it)!

Today is World Water Day and the fourth year of the Water for Life Decade.

The Water for Life Decade 2005-2015 will give a high profile to implementing water-related programmes and the participation of women. The UN hopes that the Decade will boost the chances of achieving international water-related goals and the United Nations Millennium Declaration.

In Canada, there are a number of initiatives promoting water as a public right such as the Blue Communities Project and World Water Week events in British Columbia.

According to Oxfam Canada:

• 890 million people – about a seventh of the world’s population – do not have access to safe drinking water.

• Some 2.5 billion people also live without access to basic sanitation.

• 1.2 billion of which have no access to any form of sanitation.

What is really cool is how social media (e.g. twitter, blogs, Slideshare) are being used to promote safe drinking water:

Leslie Bradshaw tweeted about how her followers on twitter could get involved. Each person that follows @WorldH20 or @chlorine on twitter or joins the corresponding Facebook group would result in 100 liters of water being donated to those in need.

According to Leslie Bradshaw:

The project itself has been made possible by the American Chemistry Council (a client I have enjoyed working with via New Media Strategies), in partnership with GOOD Magazine, Population Services International and a group of leading health organizations.

This is a great cause, so get on twitter and Facebook and help out. Each of us can play our part.

Relevance: shows the power of social media

With Heather Armstrong and Maggie Mason – Vancouver Digital Week 2008

Vancouver Digital Week organised by New Media BC is only 2 months away. I attended last year and had an incredible time. Highlights included: getting a photo with Heather Armstrong & Maggie Mason, interviewing Grant McCracken, and watching local luminaries playing Rock Band at the PopVox Awards.

The three events most of interest to me are: Convergence 2009, NextMEDIA Vancouver, and the PopVox Awards.

Convergence 2009 is organised by Cossette West. I was able to interview Sandy Fleischer last year about his expectations for the event. This year should be even better.

A gathering of digital-savvy marketing and communications thought-leaders from across North America sharing ideas on how to stay competitive in the ever-shifting digital landscape. This year we focus on digital branding through social media and why you should integrate it into your marketing strategy…starting now.

NextMEDIA Vancouver is new to the Vancouver Digital Week. I attended their nextMEDIA Banff event last year and expect their keynote and reception to be top-notch and an excellent opportunity for networking. It will be fun to catch up with the nextMEDIA team.

The PopVox Awards are totally fun and entertaining. Can’t wait to see what surprises are planned this year.

Submit your project or nominate a peer (or yourself!) to win prizes and celebrate the diverse achievements of this dynamic sector. After all the votes are in, the winners will be announced at the POPVOX AWARDS Gala on May 13th, 2009.

This year Vancouver Digital Week takes place at the Vancouver Convention Centre. Hope to see you there!

You can also add everyone on twitter: Cossette West, Vancouver Digital Week, PopVox Awards.

Relevance: Anyone interested in learning more about digital media should be here. I made some real good friends last year and it definitely enhanced my knowledge about new media.

Hayfa Makes Music

Last Thursday I was privileged to attend a fundraiser for Coree @ The End Cafe, Vancouver.  She just got accepted to take part in an Otesha Project cycling and performing tour through British Columbia during the summer of 2009.

For those who haven’t heard of it, the Otesha Project (www.otesha.ca) was founded by two 21 year-old women in 2002 with the aim of mobilizing youth to create local and global change through their daily consumer choices. Coree and her team mates will cycle 2,253 km starting in Vancouver, cycling up the inside passage, across to the island, north to Port McNeil and then south again, ending in Victoria. During that time, they’ll deliver dozens of theatre-based performances and workshops that focus on the many ways our choices impact the world, and how we can make that impact more positive.

Three groups (Hayfa Makes Music, The Blenheim Street Project, and Leigh Denholm) performed.  The music was great. Definitely, check them out on myspace.

Leigh Denholm

The Blenheim Street Project

Kathleen Forrester


Hayfa Abichahine

John Cullen


The indie music scene in Vancouver is pretty cool.

Although YouTube can be thought of as a site to watch your favourite music videos, it has also become an environment for young people to express their creativity through singing or the playing of instruments. In the Toronto Star online, there is a story about Yunior Lopez, a 20-year old Toronto viola student that is one of 5 Canadians chosen for one of 90 positions in the YouTube Symphony that will play together in a live concert at Carnegie Hall in April.

The young Cuban-born violist grew up in the world’s gambling capital, where his scientist father had gone to take a job in construction. He said he picked up the viola at age 11, when he had to choose an instrument in his arts-school orchestra.

“I really wanted to play the cello, but I rode my bike to school and there was no way I would’ve been able to do it with a cello,” Lopez recalled.

He made so much progress that he landed a contract with the Las Vegas Symphony “at the same time that I was supposed to start my senior year” in high school.

Relevance: This is very cool. What other examples exist of social media being used to solicit talent?

Today I was interviewed by CBC News – The National for a segment they are doing on Facebook. It was taped and will air in the future.  It was my first time being interviewed for TV so I’m pretty excited to see the segment. In the interview, I cited stats from themeaningofweb.com regarding how 10.6 million Canadians use Facebook while talking about the popularity of Facebook.

Here is a quick video I made prior to the interview:

Relevance: Do you think about what you are saying before you post to a public Facebook group?  Do you have concerns about what people might say on a Facebook group you’ve created or are the admin for? Do you monitor the wall conversations?

On January 13th, I was part of a panel hosted by the Office of Learning Technology as part of the Teaching and Learning with Technology Speaker Series at UBC.

Facebook’s popularity is uncontested but questions remain as to its role and purpose in an educational setting. How are students and educators using Facebook? What are the benefits and drawbacks of this social networking tool? Come join our diverse panel for a discussion that promises to provide multiple perspectives, deeper understanding and further questions.

The other two panelist were:
Sheryl Adam, a Humanities and Social Sciences Librarian, Koerner Library
Cyprien Lomas, Director of the Learning Centre in Land and Food Systems

The panel was moderated by Cindy Underhill, Office of Learning Technology

I enjoyed being a part of the panel. It was a great opportunity to learn from the staff and professors in attendance about their opinion regarding how Facebook can be used to network with each other and how they were using it educational purposes. There were comments made that the focus of these discussions shouldn’t be limited to Facebook but should involve how social media can be beneficial for education.

In addition, as there were not alot of students in attendance, there were questions about how best to reach students so that they can be adequately informed about Faceboook privacy issues? For example, for some exchange or foreign students coming to UBC, (e.g. China), this is their first exposure to Facebook.

I would love to see a panel about social media and education in which we discuss the advantages of tools like twitter for learning environments. Another beneficial panel would be about applications like Evernote and how they can enhance time management and productivity for students.

There is a podcast available.

Thanks to Catherine Paul, Office of Learning Technology for organising this panel.

Relevance: Knowledge about the social media, facebook, and online productivity tools is beneficial in understanding not only why a certain application may have value for educational settings, but to clarify why another may be better.