AHA Media

Hendrik Beune and April Smith of AHA MEDIA hear Phoenix Winter sing in German.

Hendrik Beune and April Smith of AHA MEDIA are very happy to help a library with excited Bosman Hotel Community residents of the “At Home/ Chez Soi” project.

With a new library onsite, residents can improve their literacy and life skills through positive peer community engagement. Sharing books and new found knowledge brings friends closer together at the Bosman.

Over 100 people will now have access to books and resources to help enrich and support their lives.

Many thanks to the wonderful support from Angelika Sellick , Literacy Outreach Coordinator of  DTES Adult Literacy Roundtable and Megan Langley of Carnegie Centre Library.

Plans to build the Bosman library started a few months ago and our first donations have begun to arrive.

The official opening of the library is scheduled for Thursday 24 May 2012.

Located in the former Bosman’s Motor Hotel in downtown Vancouver, the Bosman is an important part of the Mental Health Commission’s At Home / Chez Soi initiative – the largest research project of its kind in the world studying mental illness and homelessness. In Vancouver, At Home / Chez Soi is focusing on people who also have substance abuse and addiction issues, and over the next four years will provide housing and support to 300 homeless mentally ill people in the city.

Liz Evans, Executive Director, PHS Community Services Society, said: “The Bosman project offers hope because it embraces the very values our society strives for – one that is inclusive and one that says that every life matters and every individual deserves a chance to be their best self. The Bosman is an exciting start to acknowledging that we can live in a community, in a city and in a country where fellow human beings living with a mental illness do not have to be sleeping on our streets.”

At Home/Chez Soi: Largest research project of its kind in the world

At Home/Chez Soi is a ground‐breaking national research project in five cities -Vancouver, Winnipeg, Toronto,Montreal and Moncton – to find the best way to provide housing and services to people who are living with mental illness and homelessness. Using a ‘Housing First‘ approach, the research project focuses on first providing people who are homeless with a place to live, and then the other assistance and services they require. The goal is to see if this approach is better than traditional care.

The research will help make Canada a world leader in providing better services to people living with homelessness and mental illness.

For more information on the At Home/Chez Soi project, please visithttp://www.mentalhealthcommission.ca/English/Pages/homelessness.aspx (English)

orhttp://www.mentalhealthcommission.ca/Francais/Pages/Litinerance.aspx (French).

The Mental Health Commission of Canada is a non-profit organization created to focus national attention on mental health issues and to work to improve the health and social outcomes of people living with mental illness.  In February 2008, the federal government allocated $110 million to the MHCC to find ways to help the growing number of people who are homeless and have a mental illness.  For more, visit www.mentalhealthcommission.ca.

The PHS Community Services Society provides affordable, low-barrier supportive housing and services to marginalized people, many of whom suffer from mental illness, physical disabilities and addictions. These services include a supervised injection facility, detoxification and addiction recovery services, an art gallery, life skills training, low threshold employment and banking.

SATURDAY MARCH 24 SCHEDULE

2pm WELCOME
Gather in the second floor Community Lounge, enjoy a cup of complimentary coffee and baked goods from our in-house cafe. Tour through our 3-levels and basement crossmedia studio. Hear a welcome “state of the union” address from W2 Board and staff on what we have accomplished, where we are at, and where we are heading.

2:30-3:30pm FIRST CONCURRENT SESSIONS +++++
Choose a topic or working group that you are currently involved in, are curious about, or waiting to dive deep into!

A) PROGRAMMING
media arts, festivals, music, literary, electronic arts, all ages, long tables, your ideas…

B) COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS
crosscultural, redress, digital divide, access, DTES, urban Aboriginal, SFU students, your ideas…

C) CROSSMEDIA BROADCASTING
W2 TV, CJSF, Coop Radio, Shaw Cable, multi-platform broadcasting, interactive, demos, tech services, your ideas…

D) VIDEO HISTORY of W2
area for video presentations/looping with some presenters/informal

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3:30-4pm BREAK / informal open space
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4-5pm SECOND CONCURRENT SESSIONS+++++

A) COMMUNICATIONS
Web, graphic design, social media, computer programming, street teams, your ideas…

B) W2 MEDIA CAFE
Social enterprise food operation, catering opportunities, politics of food production and serving, coffee, local food, urban agriculture, your ideas…

C) W2 RADIO
The W2 Morning Radio Project is W2′s current affairs program broadcast every weekday at 6-8am on 102.7FM. This conversation is designed for current or future contributors to discuss the state of the show and how we can build it.

D) LETTERPRESS
Interactive demonstration on letterpress, programming, fundraising, your ideas….

E) VIDEO HISTORY of W2
area for video presentations/looping with some presenters/informal

5-6pm RECEPTION
Join us at this optional reception for a complimentary beverage and food samplings from the W2 Media Cafe, as we wrap up the day with conversation. This is for individual W2 members like you, plus group members: Simon Fraser Student Society, Open Media, Coop Radio, CJSF, KAYA Songweavers, AHA Media, Vancouver Indigenous Media Arts Festival, W2 Radio, Fearless TV, and you!

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Activate your W2 Belongs to Me member card while you are here today! Earn benefits from your participation with W2′s membership loyalty program. The more contributions you make or coffee or meals you purchase, the more discounts and free access to W2′s resources you receive. Ask a staff member for more information.

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Follow W2 on Twitter http://twitter.com/W2woodwards

AHA MEDIA and Positive Paid Work had the wonderful opportunity to meet Michelle Demers and learn more about Self-Publishing recently!

Richard of AHA MEDIA says: “What an excellent and informative event! A Must for anyone interested in Self Publishing!”

Richard Czaban and Hendrik Beune of AHA MEDIA at Michelle Demers’ Self-Publishing Q&A

As a follow-up to her popular talk on self-publishing, local author M.A. Demers will answer questions about the industry, her experiences as a self-published author, and the technical requirements of self-publishing, in particular ebooks.

In March 2011, M.A. Demers self-published her first mystery novel, Baby Jane, to Amazon’s Kindle, followed in May with the print-on-demand trade paperback. In November she publishedThe Global Indie Author: How Anyone Can Self-Publish in the U.S. and Worldwide Markets, copies of which will be available on the evening at a special event rate.

Michelle graciously autographed her The Global Indie Author: How Anyone Can Self-Publish in the U.S. and Worldwide Markets book for us at AHA MEDIA and Positive Paid Work

Michelle and Hendrik share a laugh!

Michelle Demers and her friend Joyce Thierry smiling together after an exciting night of The Global Indie Author: How Anyone Can Self-Publish in the U.S. and Worldwide Markets.

“There’s no one right way to publish a book but there is one wrong way: uninformed.”

The phenomenally rapid growth of self-publishing, in particular e-publishing, has taken the world by storm. Never before has there been this great an opportunity for writers to be heard and read, and to build a global audience. But self-publishing is also the new Wild West, full of promise and snake oil in equal measure. The Global Indie Author separates fact from fiction, providing the information you need to create a publishing plan that is realistic and achievable.

The Global Indie Author begins with a 10-step guide to getting your book onto Kindle quickly and easily, followed by expansion into ePubs. Part II contains in-depth technological instructions for both ebook and print production, complemented by real-world knowledge on the mechanics of the industry gathered through the author’s own experience in bringing her debut novel, Baby Jane, to market.

The Global Indie Author also exposes secrets and strategies the industry players don’t want revealed so they can lock you into unfavourable contracts, take your money before you start asking questions, or convince you that what is really good for them is good for you. And by adding information relevant to foreign writers, The Global Indie Author provides the necessary know-how for anyone who desires to publish in the lucrative U.S. market and around the world.

The most comprehensive manual ever written on self-publishing, The Global Indie Author covers:
*To Kindle in Ten Steps: the Quick and Easy Way to Self-Publish
* Beyond Kindle: the ePub Format
* Manuscript Editing
* Libel, Copyright and Trademark Infringement
* The ISBN System
* ONIX Code and BISAC Categories
* Interior Book Structure
* Cover and Interior Images
* Software * Manuscript Formatting for eBooks
* Creating and Testing Kindle Books and ePubs
* Digital Rights Management
* Print Formatting and Production
* Distributors, Wholesalers, and Aggregators
* Marketing * Royalties and Withholding Tax
* The Vanity Press Machine

See Michelle at her next talk!

Tuesday, January 17, 2012, 7:00 PM
Vancouver Public Library Central Branch,
350 West Georgia Street, Vancouver

An Introduction to Self-Publishing

The phenomenally rapid growth of self-publishing, in particular e-publishing, has taken the world by storm. Whether as an end in itself, a stepping stone to traditional publishing, or a means for established writers to republish out-of-print titles, self-publishing provides new opportunities for writers. Join me to learn about the pros and cons of self-publishing, the skills you will need to succeed, and the resources available. Copies of The Global Indie Author will be available at a special event rate. Copies of my novel, Baby Jane, will also be for sale.

http://mademers.com/globalindieauthor/events/

Also by M. A. Demers

There’s more to good and evil than meets the eye…

Baby Jane – A Novel

When human remains are found in her pre-war fixer-upper in an east Vancouver neighbourhood, Claire Dawson’s grand plans to fix the house – and her life – take a disturbing turn. Suspicious there might exist a relationship between the discovery and her own tragic past, Claire insinuates herself into the investigation, unknowingly placing herself in harm’s way and Homicide’s Detective Dylan Lewis in an impossible conflict of interest. And when Dylan’s grandmother, a Coast Salish medicine woman, wades into the mystery, challenging the demon whose earthly form is behind the murder, the three find themselves embroiled in a high-stakes battle where lines are blurred and worlds collide – but souls are ultimately freed

http://mademers.com/babyjane/