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.

For example, Kristina Lee Podesva, a Vancouver-based artist has created a langarapublicart.ca project that is pretty cool. She is the inaugural Artist in Residence Program at the Langara College Centre for Art in Public Spaces.


According to the website:

The Langara College Centre for Art in Public Spaces was formed in 2008 as an innovative approach to the public art requirement of the City of Vancouver. The Centre has a mission to engage communities in the research, production and presentation of art in the public realm. The Centre encourages dialogue, and fosters opportunities to collaborate on, experience and learn about art in public spaces.

The 2008 – 2009 Program includes a public Speakers Series and Curriculum Development initiatives in addition to the Artist in Residence Program.

Project: This is a Vehicle

THIS IS A VEHICLE is a collaborative, online work by Kristina Lee Podesva, Artist in Residence at the Langara College Centre for Art in Public Spaces. THIS IS A VEHICLE represents one aspect of Podesva’s overall residency project, Vehicle, which re-purposes shipping containers as “reading rooms” and as discursive sites for thinking through the experience and phenomena of globalization. Similarly, THIS IS A VEHICLE invites participants to re-purpose everyday and not-so-everyday objects by imagining their new and uncommon functions

Dates: January 13 – April 21, 2009
Hours: Mon – Thurs, 4-8pm
Opening Night: January 13, 7pm

Location: Langara College, 100 West 49 Ave, Vancouver.

I am participating in the project by sending a couple of photos that I have reappropriated to info @ thisisavehicle.com.

This is a Vehicle



for

holding conference badges

Relevance: Public spaces should continually be re-mixed, hacked, and reappropriated by the public. Let’s keep urban spaces as people places.

I decided to make my trip adventurous by taking the Greyhound bus each way. I had 14 hours of fun as I chatted with cool people and made friends for life or until one of us deletes the other on FB .


Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel


The Fairmont Banff Springs is a beautiful hotel where the event was held and I really enjoyed spending my nights at the HI-Banff Hostel - definitely one of the finest hostelling international places in North America.

Kay Gruenwoldt – Nokia

Kris Krüg shooting Megan Cole interview of Jim Louderback, Revision3

Boris Wertz – Nexopia.com

Jeff Barr – Amazon.com

Maria Hale – TELUS

Jeremy Wright – b5media

Gavin McGarry, Deborah Day, Matt Toner, Keith Clarkson, & Jacqueline Nuwame

Megan Cole & Biren Ghose

Brian Traynor – N95 winner for having oldest mobile phone at nextMEDIA

Relevance: A fun opportunity to learn from and meet digital media movers and shakers

So, take out your sharpie and mark your calendar for Sept 26-27th. Then signup. It’s free.

It looks like this year Rebecca Bollwitt will be running WordCamp with Duane Storey.


What is Barcamp?

BarCamp is an ad-hoc un-conference born from the desire for people to share and learn in an open environment. It is an intense event with discussions, demos and interaction from attendees.

All attendees are encouraged to give a demo, a session, a presentation, or help with one. All attendees are expected to be participants. All presentations are scheduled the day they happen. Prepare in advance, but come early to get a slot on the wall.

Presenters are responsible for making sure that notes/slides/audio/video of their presentations are published on the web for the benefit of all and those who can’t be present.

Anyone with something to contribute or with the desire to learn is welcome and invited to join.

So, mark your calendar for Barcamp Vancouver 2008 from Friday September 26th 5pm – Saturday September 27h 5pm. Will there be s’mores? Should you bring a tent? Will you meet fun people that become friends for life? Well, I don’t know the answer to the first 2 questions, but the third is a definite yes!

I attended Barcamp Vancouver 07 for the first time last year and met alot of new people for the first time. I remember sitting on the couch meeting someone named Linda Bustos, talking about Malta with Darren Barefoot, and chatting about tagging with Todd Sieling. I was totally nervous giving a presentation as Kris Krüg played on a skateboard. As has become a tradition as I’ve attended events around campus, I took a picture with Rebecca. Good memories. It was also the first time using my Digital Rebel XTi.

I remember the Friday night as I arrived at the Alibi Room all existed to try out my new camera. I got ready to take a photo of Kris Krüg and I could figure out why I couldn’t zoom with my camera. That’s when he said “Phillip, it’s a fixed lens, you got to step back”. Hopefully I’ve improved since that night.

Darren Barefoot – Barcamp Vancouver 07



Roland Tanglao & Kris Krüg – Barcamp Vancouver 07



Me presenting – Barcamp Vancouver 07

Linda Bustos – Barcamp Vancouver 07

Relevance: Barcamp is about family, community, and sharing what you love to do in your life with friends.

Last Thursday I was the photographer for the Late Fragment DVD Release Party at Republic.

Bartender – Republic


It was a fun experience and I enjoyed seeing my Late Fragment friends again that I had met at VIDFEST when I saw Late Fragment for the first time. Thanks to Ana Serrano for blogging about my photos that night.

Ellen, Louise & Marine

Joleen, Jenna, & Sandy

Mateo Guez – writer/director – Late Fragment

Jessie Bennett

Brandon Jay McLaren & Jeff Parazzo – actor – Late Fragment

James Dee Roches & Jacqueline Nuwame




Doug Dohms & Esteban Torres

You can view all the photos on my Flickr page.

Thanks to Jacqueline Nuwame (we chilled at nextMEDIA), I was able to video interview Jeff Parazzo who plays the character of Théo and Mateo Guez who was the writer/director for that storyline.

Jeff Parazzo – Late Fragment from tyfn on Vimeo.

Mateo Guez – Late Fragment from tyfn on Vimeo.

From the Press Release:

On July 8th, the distributor, Mongrel Media released the Launch Party DVD across Canada as North America’s first interactive dramatic feature film.

Co-produced by the Canadian Film Centre’s (CFC) Media Lab and the National Film Board of Canada (NFB), Late Fragment is a critically-acclaimed work that boldly pushes storytelling into the realm of digital interactivity. Based on an interface model developed by acclaimed director Lars von Trier, this unique film allows the viewer to control the flow of the story with the click of a button.

Now audiences at home can discover Late Fragment’s multi-plot, non-linear and interactive narrative stories of three strangers. A young mother grappling with loss, a man reconnecting with his troubled son, and a male stripper facing his past — Faye (Krista Bridges), Kevin (Michael Healy) and Theo (Jeff Parazzo) are drawn together as participants in a restorative justice process, where victims and offenders share their stories. Written and directed by three directors (Anita Doron, Daryl Cloran, and Mateo Guez), the stories intertwine according to the viewer’s guidance, on a path to redemption, reconciliation, or revenge.

Relevance: A great opportunity to meet and interact with people interested in film and digital media

Faye, Kevin and Théo – three troubled strangers, three lives fractured by thoughts and acts of violence. In the interactive feature film Late Fragment, their narratives interlock in a unique cinematic experience in which you play a creative and interactive role. Navigating through the movie, you uncover their stories, and their secrets, at will, controlling the flow and direction of the elaborate sequencing with a simple click.

I am look forwarding to meeting some of the people associated with the film again. In attendance will be Jeff Parazzo, the actor who plays Théo (below) and Mateo Guez, one of the three writer/directors (Théo storyline).

Late Fragment Homepage

Facebook event

Hope to see you there. If you plan to attend, make sure you R.S.V.P.

Jeff Parazzo, actor Théo in Late Fragment

Relevance: I enjoyed watching the film and l expect to have a fun experience tonight.

Third Tuesday Vancouver organised by Monica Hamburg and Tanya Davis (aka NetChick) will be taking place tonight at Republic (one of my favourite clubs in Vancouver).

Republic

THIRD TUESDAY VANCOUVER is a free monthly meetup for Vancouver area communications and marketing folks interested in learning/sharing more about the practical applications of social media in society, organizations, business and government.

Third Tuesday meetups typically include a guest speaker who talks with the group about different social media technologies and trends and how these things apply to communication and community building. We encourage group discussion and learning, and we do this by keeping our meetups very casual and open, but focused as well, so that our members walk away with new insights and actionable ideas for their businesses.

Today the speaker will be Jeff Young. He will discuss Intellectual Property Law in Social Media. It is the second half of his presentation from last Winter in which he will focus on trademarks, rights of privacy, and intellectual property law.

Jeff received his Bachelor of Law degree from UBC, where he also studied Commerce, before beginning his 18 year legal career which started in corporate and real estate law and ultimately focused on intellectual property and entertainment, particularly in film/TV and music. Jeff currently teaches Film Law and New Media Law in the School of Business / New Media Dept. at BCIT. Jeff is also a music composer, producer and supervisor with credits on numerous recordings including projects delivered to Warner, Universal, CBC, CTV, NBC, Global and the Knowledge Network.

Relevance: It will be a fun and informative event. You should be there, if you are interested in social media!

DreamBank.org is about helping dreams come true and doing it in a way that helps the planet and important social causes. Instead of giving gifts that, although appreciated may not really be wanted, with DreamBank you contribute to someone’s dream. As well as helping fulfill a dream, your contribution helps spare the planet some of the nasty side effects of manufacturing and packaging unused gifts. Plus your gift automatically generates funds that are given to important social causes.

There is a social networking aspect to DreamBank as members can create profile, add friends, and share dreams. The look and feel of the There is an excellent resource page with links to information, the blog, and FAQ. here. You can also follow DreamBank on twitter.


Rebecca Bollwitt DreamBank Profile Page


I was fortunate to video interview Dawn Bowles, the Founder and CEO of DreamBank and was able to gain an insight into what DreamBank is about, its objective, and how the idea came to be.
Dawn Bowles – Founder & CEO, DreamBank


Some of the invited guests:


Darren Barefoot & Julia Szabo – Capulet Communications



Linda Roger & Julie Selby



Julie Szabo & Monica Hamburg


Rebecca Bollwitt – Miss 604


Erica Cardenas & Jessica Phillips


Chris Lemay & John Lyotier

Todd Sieling – Corvus Consulting

All my photos are available on Flickr here.

Relevance: It will be fun to watch as people achieve their dreams though sharing in DreamBank.

On June 5th, I attended the presentation by Richard Florida as part of the Research in Society Lectures at the 77th Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences (Congress 2008) held this year at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada. I enjoyed his presentation. He spoke without notes and was a pleasure to listen to.

Chad Gaffield – President, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, Richard Florida, & Noreen Golfman – President, Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences

From his website:

In the last 5 years, Florida has penned two national bestsellers, The Rise of the Creative Class and The Flight of the Creative Class.

His new book, Who’s Your City? takes a look at the way that people choose the places they live and how that affects everything from their real estate to their families.

His previous books, especially The Breakthrough Illusion and Beyond Mass Production, paved the way for his provocative looks at how creativity is revolutionizing the global economy.

Florida has authored pieces for The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, The Economist, The Harvard Business Review, The Atlantic Monthly, The Chronicle for Higher Education, U.S. News and World Report and more.

Richard Florida – Who’s Your City?

Some notes I jotted down on my Blackberry from his presentation:

• we are going through a large scale economic and social transformation from which will occur the rise of the creative class
• today our human creative capacity – defined as people paid to do mental or creative work – is becoming the stuff of economic growth
• every single human is creative, 30 percent get to use it, what we need to do is engage the full 100%
• we need to do better in society – the highest levels of economic inequality are also in creative centres (e.g. Austin, San Francisco, New York City)
• we need to upgrade our service industries – there is a new class of job that can’t be farmed off-shore
• world is becoming more geographically unequal than ever before.
• 18 percent of the world’s population drives the world economy
• people have to be mobile today – they are migrating to 20 places in the USA
• most recent book – “Who’s Your City?” – some people like the title, others hate it
• How do cities affect social and psychological well-being?
• What are the pesonalities of cities?
• How does place affect our psychological well-being?
• recommended look at Dan Gilbert’s book Stumbling on Happiness
• when someone gets place right in their life, it has an extraordinary effect on their well-being
• Important to find the place that fits you – focus of Who’s Your City?
• Open communities – (those with open values and beliefs) – do much better, have a higher level of well-being
• Quality of Place is important
• people feel higher levels of being if higher quality of place – e.g. if there is investment in history, also higher levels of happiness. Integration of the natural environment is key
• explained the story of Paul Allen and how his experiences with Jimi Hendrix as a youth motivated him to fund the Experience Music Project design of a centre to explore of creativity and innovation in popular music.
• Asks Why did Hendrix motivate Paul Allen?
• Richard hated school and learning, found that the smartest kids either ended up in prison or died before college
• Why have so many successful people left college?
• Wonders how college can be exciting
• Wants students to love to learn




Richard Florida – Book Signing of Who’s Your City?



My signed copy of Richard Florida’s Who’s Your City?

My photos from Congress 2008 are available on Flickr here.


Relevance: I wonder when creativity will be sufficiently rewarded in our society. I like how social media is making me more aware of creative spirits beyond my neighbourhood — however I still don’t know much about the creative people on my block.

On Friday May 23rd at the Creative Exchange Conference as part of the Vancouver International Digital Festival (VIDFEST 2008), I attended the Content.com: The Care and Feeding of Audiences session in which Heather Armstrong of Dooce.com and Maggie Mason of Mightygirl.com & Mightygoods.com, also author of No One Cares What You Had For Lunch: 100 Ideas for Your Blog spoke.

Heather Armstrong – Dooce.com @ VIDFEST

I enjoyed the format they used for the session as they sat down in two chairs across from each other while displaying blog posts and comments on the screen behind them. Over the hour they talked about how they got into blogging, how it affects their lives, and discussed fan behaviour (the good and the bad). It was a fun session and I look forward to seeing them again.

Heather Armstrong, Phillip Jeffrey, & Maggie Mason

My photos of the Creative Exchange Conference are on Flickr here.


My photos of the VIDFEST 2008 Conference are available here.

Relevance: Always like to hear about the experiences of blogging from other bloggers that love what they do.