Archive
Mobile Media Strategies by Irwin Oostindie and April Smith at Fresh Media event at W2 Perel Gallery
W2 Community Media Arts is hosting Fresh Media festival http://www.freshmedia.me , happening right now at W2 Perel Gallery 112 West Hastings by Abbott in Vancouver
—————————————————————————————————————
Irwin Oostindie and April Smith spoke on Mobile Media Strategies – and gave a live demonstration on Qik software livestreaming using WIFI on a Nokia N95 cellphone
Below is a photo of Irwin Oostindie speaking on different applications with mobile media. Jon Ornoy and Riel of Animal Mother Films together with Peter Davies of AHA MEDIA listen
——————————————————————————————————————-
Below is a photo of April Smith after being livestreamed to play onto Qik’s website on a Mac Book Pro from an Nokia N95
———————————————————————————————————————
Below is a photo of April Smith discussing Livestream Video links being embeded into websites with Yuliya Talmazan
——————————————————————————————————————
Below is a photo of Anne Marie Slater – Artist/Photographer and Curator of a Children’s Photo/Video Walk exhibit using Cellphone Cameras,
April Smith of W2,
and Gillian Shaw – Digital Life Journalist for the Vancouver Sun Newspaper
April Smith is proud to speak on Mobile Media Strategies with Irwin Oostindie at Fresh Media on Saturday Oct 24, 2009
FRESH MEDIA Workshop
Saturday 1:50-2:40 Oct 24th
Mobile Media Strategies
A discussion and hands-on learning about mobile media projects and how
people use mobile technology for journalism, self-expression, and human rights documentation.
Hands-on demos and discussions will show you how to stream mobile video using a variety of free apps like Vimeo, Qik, Livecast and more. Learn about W2’s Fearless City Mobile project and its plans for 2010.
————————————————————————————————-
Mobile Media Strategies 1:50 – 2:40pm Saturday Oct 24th, 2009
Irwin Oostindie and April Smith work with Fearless City Mobile in the DTES.
W2 Community Media Arts Society
> Perel Building, 112 W Hastings, Vancouver, BC, V6B 1G8
Alain Assailly of AHA MEDIA attended the Celebration of Local Entrepeneurs on Tuesday Oct 20,2009
Celebration of Local Entrepreneurs
October 20th, 2009 – Vancouver (Heritage Hall)
———————————————————————————————————————-
Photos and Text by Alain Assailly of AHA MEDIA
Hendrik Beune, will be training as a Legal Observer for the 2010 Olympics
Hendrik Beune, will be training as a Legal Observer for the 2010 Olympics
With thanks to Carlito Pablo of the Georgia Straight for the following article:
http://www.straight.com/article-262837/observers-train-olympics
Legal observers train for 2010 Olympics
Worse, as some incidents in the U.S. have shown, volunteers like these may even be targeted by the police. They may be arrested and charged with anything from mischief to obstruction of justice. They may also get hurt or even killed if a violent confrontation breaks out between protesters and security forces.
Nat Marshik was made aware of these risks when she attended a recent workshop for civilians interested in monitoring protests and potential hot spots during the 2010 Olympics. At the end of the training, conducted by the B.C. Civil Liberties Association and Pivot Legal Society in East Vancouver on October 11, she handed in her application to become a legal observer.
“Part of it for me is the desire to even just know what rights I have and what actions the police are going to be undertaking,” Marshik told the Georgia Straight during a break in the two-and-a-half-hour session. “I think one thing that’s characterized a lot of the lead-up to the Olympics is the general lack of transparency, and that includes all the police preparations as well.”
Eighty people have attended the two trainings conducted so far by the BCCLA and Pivot, according to lawyer John Richardson.
Richardson is the cofounder and executive director of Pivot Legal Society. In an interview after he instructed participants in the basics of legal observing, Richardson said these volunteers will serve as the “eyes and ears” on the ground that will record how human rights and civil liberties are being upheld during the games.
“It has entered the consciousness of the police and military organizers of the Olympics, and they are going to have to be extra conscientious and careful that their military and police forces are observing the Charter of Rights,” Richardson told the Straight about the presence of the volunteers during the games.
The BCCLA earlier announced that the Vancouver Police Department and the RCMP–led Integrated Security Unit for the 2010 Olympic Games had accepted its invitation for their senior officers to undergo the same training as those participating in the legal observer program.
The potential for conflict has grown as the Olympics draw closer.
On October 7, B.C. attorney general Michael de Jong introduced legislation that will authorize municipal officials in Vancouver, Richmond, and Whistler to enter private homes to take down unauthorized signage. It will also amend the Vancouver Charter to provide stiffer penalties, consisting of fines of up to $10,000 per day and imprisonment of up to six months for violators.
On the same day that de Jong brought in the proposed law, anti-Olympics activist Chris Shaw and Alissa Westergard-Thorpe filed documents before the B.C. Supreme Court challenging the constitutionality of an omnibus bylaw enacted by Vancouver on July 23, 2009. This municipal law severely restricts activities such as distributing leaflets in several areas in the city during the Olympics.
Speaking before Vancouver city council on July 7 this year, RCMP assistant commissioner and ISU head Bud Mercer said that local, national, and international groups are planning “criminal protests”. Mercer also told councillors that a force of 7,000 police, 5,000 private security personnel, and 4,500 members of the Canadian Forces will be deployed in the mega event.
Vancouver resident Henny Coates attended the October 10 clinic for legal observers. She is concerned about how citizens will be treated by security forces during the Olympics.
“I think it’s easy for rights to be overridden if we don’t make sure that they know that they’re being watched, that we’re standing up for our rights,” Coates told the Straight.
Legal observers will work in pairs. They will document in various ways—from taking notes to filming—how security officials will interact with both protesters and ordinary citizens.
Participants were told at the training that neutrality is the key to being a good observer. Hendrik Beune is willing to set aside his opinions about the Olympics when he dons the orange shirt of a legal observer.
“I think this is the best way to exercise my civil rights and do my civil duty: being an objective observer,” Beune told the Straight. “Of course, there are a lot of concerns about the Olympics, the fact that corporations seem to have more power than people now. There are going to be some protests, so I’d like to be able to observe those.”
The BCCLA and Pivot will hold two more workshops to train observers at Vancouver’s Britannia Community Centre (1661 Napier Street) on November 22 and December 6, starting at 2:30 p.m.
AHA MEDIA is very proud to be featured in Gillian Shaw’s article on Social Media as a new Olympic Event
With many humble thanks to Gillian Shaw of the Vancouver Sun for her article
The other games: Tweeters, videographers …
From bloggers to citizen journalists, the way we see and experience the Games has changed
http://www.vancouversun.com/news/other+games+Tweeters+videographers/2126923/story.html
VANCOUVER – Social media is the new Olympic event, with the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games giving Vancouver’s fast-growing social media community a chance to showcase its talents and technology.
While the Olympic movement is taking small steps into a world where conventional news services share an online space in which everyone is a publisher and producer, Vancouver’s grassroots social media is already seen as a forerunner.
The upcoming Games are giving rise to a range of social media offerings from the official 2010 hosts to contributions from citizen journalists, tweeters, bloggers and online video producers who will share their city and their Olympic experience with the world.
April Smith is already a winner and the games haven’t even started.
Once homeless in Vancouver’s downtown eastside, the 24-year-old Smith – known as AprilFilms on Twitter – has turned her life around thanks to a mentoring program that taught her new media skills ranging from web design to mobile video. Equipped with a video-enabled cellphone, Smith will be participating in the Cultural Olympiad Digital Edition, part of the 2010 celebrations.
“New media has meant a new life for me,” said Smith, who has co-founded AHA Media, a fledgling startup that fosters new media learning among downtown eastside residents.
“Back in the day I, lived in and out of the most horrible places you could think of. I was living on the edge. It really has been the saving grace to do computer work and have a home where I can lock the door.”
The stepping stone for Smith came in the form of the Fearless City Mobile Project, an initiative in which residents and artists of the downtown eastside receive training in mobile media and use their new-found skills to document stories and issues in their neighbourhood.
“There was support for me that helped me change my life,” said Smith. “I’m now teaching basic media skills to others to help them make the transition, to go on to a different future.
“It opens doors for them.”
As a Fearless City Mobile project co-ordinator, Smith is participating in Fearless City’s CODE Live and Bright Lights editions. The projects will include streaming videos created by local residents and shown on giant screens at W2, a community media arts centre opening this winter.
It’s that community conversation – a dialogue – that separates social media from conventional media and it’s a transition that the International Olympic Committee is grappling with.
Martin Sorrell, chief executive of WPP Group, one of the world’s largest advertising companies, recently told the IOC that interactive online content is crucial in attracting young audiences today.
The Olympic movement is adding its own contributions to the social media offerings, but it is a step forward that is not without its stumbles. Most recently, the IOC sent a cease-and-desist letter to Richard Giles for sharing photos from his trip to the 2008 Beijing Games on Flickr.
While the IOC was quick to defend its position, the incident is a sharp reminder of the pitfalls and challenges facing both sides in adapting to new technologies.
“It really comes down to fair play,” said Graeme Menzies, director of online communications for Vanoc. “If somebody is trying to take advantage, then that’s not OK. But if people are saying we love this, we think it’s great, we want to talk about it and share it, that’s awesome stuff.”
Menzies said his organization is recognizing the popularity of social media tools and integrating them into its newly relaunched website.
While the global Olympic movement is starting to shift attention to social media, critics say progress is slow and opportunities to showcase Vancouver have been missed.
“Vanoc has been reaching out to the community to better understand social media, but it has been slow to adopt it,” said Kris Krug, a W2 director and Fearless City Mobile mentor, who participated in symposiums at both the Turin and Beijing Olympics on how new media is changing coverage of the Games.
“Citizens, athletes and corporations will all be making media, whether it’s part of Vanoc’s official strategy or not.”
Krug, along with Dave Olson and W2 executive director Irwin Oostindie and other new media veterans in Vancouver, is organizing the True North Media House, a grassroots campaign aimed at encouraging social media coverage of Olympic sporting and cultural events.
“I have done quite a few presentations on how grassroots media-makers can embrace the Olympics,” said Olson, who said the 2012 Summer Games and 2016 Winter Games organizers are already demonstrating a “more progressive” approach to social media.
“I have been saying, come on Vancouver we can help facilitate this sea change in the way media is consumed,” he said. “The motivation for me is because I work in this field here in Vancouver, but also as an Olympic enthusiast.”
Olson said the True North Media House has garnered international attention but it faces funding challenges.
“We have talked to the BBC, CNN – people from all over the world are contacting us,” he said. “There is a tremendous amount of interest in a grassroots project like this.”
Vancouver Sun
gshaw@vancouversun.com
RESOURCES
http://www.twitter.com/2010tweets: updates from the Vanoc communications team
http://www.twitter.com/CTVOlympics: updates from 2010 broadcast partner
http://www.twitter.com/TNMGH: Twitter profile of the True North Media House, a project aimed at giving social media practitioners a centre for the 2010 Games.
http://www.facebook.com/Olympics: official Facebook page for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games with link to Torch Relay interactive site.
http://www.twitter.com/W2Woodwards: updates from W2 Community Media Arts, a participant in the Cultural Olympiad.
http://www.youtube.com/vanocwebteam: Vanoc’s YouTube site
http://twitter.com/quatchi: one of many social media sites that have picked up on Olympic-related names, this Twitter profile named for Quatchi, a 2010 mascot, bills its bio as “NO GAMES ON STOLEN NATIVE LAND!,” but has been quiet except for a few tweets.
http://www.netvibes.com/studentslive: website for student social media participation in the 2010 Olympics.
Follow Us!
AHA Media 