Global Change through Xchange

January 6, 2010 • Projects • by
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For the next few months I will be working with the British Council in helping to develop the Multilateral Community Xchange (MCX) pilot program, a component of the successful internationally recognised Global Xchange program which was primarily developed by the BC and VSO. The program will connect youth and community activists from six countries: USA, France, UK, South Africa, Sierra Leone and Rwanda.

Global XChange is a UK program comparable to the United States’ Peace Corps program. The aim of the program is to develop inter-community and inter-cultural dialogue skills through a series of activities that involve work-shadowing attachments, skills sharing, training workshops and community events. Five incredible Los Angeles nonprofits have been selected to participate: Street Poets, Create Now, Reach LA, Homeboy Industries and LA’s Best.

Here’s an example of the first program which took place in between Scotland and Malawi. Inspiring.

How can you help? Well, we’re currently looking for a sponsor to supply the group of kids who are participating with 2 Flip cameras to document their Xchange experience taking place in Durban and Belfast. Mad props and credit will be given where credit is due. So if you, or someone you know would like to participate, please contact me. I’ll continue to update this blog about the experience.

More info about Global Xchange.

globalxchange2010

A Call to Build Cross Cultural Relationships

December 29, 2009 • Projects • by
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TN2020 in Berlin. Photo by Z_Huey

In spring 2008, thirty young professionals from the US and the UK met in Berlin to discuss how we could build stronger ties with one another both professionally and personally. In fall 2008, we grew to 100 members and met again in Ireland. The group, called Transatlantic Network 2020 (TN2020), began as an initiative of the British Council to help emerging leaders develop solutions to global issues in the areas of politics, business, arts, civil society, science and media.

My involement with this young group of activists, artists, politicians, business professionals, media professionals, scientists, and entreprenuers has been nothing short of amazing. The people involved are smart go-getters who are extremely passionate about information sharing, problem solving, and giving back to their communities.


TN2020 in Ireland. Photo by Noneck

And now TN2020 is looking for new members. From their Web site:

TN2020 seeks to target outstanding early-career professionals who are shaping, or who have the potential to shape society in the coming decades. It is the goal of the network to bring together people from a wide range of educational, ethnic, religious, political and professional backgrounds.  It is essential to do this in order to have challenging discussions, real learning from others’ views and international outlooks, and ultimately – the cross fertilisation of ideas which lead to action in at least one of three focus areas – sustainable living; building resilience in communities; creativity and innovation.

All members, whatever their background, should be committed to learning from each other and working together on issues.  Members must be willing to give back, and see this as an opportunity to not only better themselves, but their wider networks and community.


Walking tour of Belfast. Discussing Protestant/Catholic divide. Photo by Plasticshore

If you’re a young professional (between 25-35 years of age) interested in cross-cultural relations and diplomacy, I encourage you to apply. The deadline for submission is January 17, 2010. If you’d like to connect with the members and join in on the conversation, there is a TN2020 Facebook group which is regularly updated.

I’ll be updating this blog more frequently on TN2020 activities leading up to the Summit in Chicago in June 2010, as well as other British Council initiatives I’m working on that I’d like you to participate in (more on that very soon). In the meantime, here are some links:

TN2020 Application
TN2020 British Council Web site
TN2020 Tumblr
TN2020 Flickr Photos
TN2020 YouTube Channel
TN2020 Twitter

TV Spots for Jinx

August 29, 2009 • Film/Video • by
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Been keeping busy. Here are two TV spots we recently produced & directed for Jinx.com — one featuring Epic Fu and the other for Empire Arcadia. We were excited to work on these not only because we’ve been following Jinx for a while, but because we felt they got it right: they wanted to highlight indie folks who were passionate about what they do, in essence becoming a co-commercial (everyone wins). Check out how they’re showcasing the work of the people who are participating in their campaign. They’re a team of passionate folks who love the web and the people on it. How could we pass that up? :)

A big shout out to the team: Steve Woolf (Dir), Lan Bui & Vu Bui (DPs), Rick Rey & Sarah Atwood (production), Tracie Cotta (makeup), Sean Gailey and Tim Norris (Jinx), and Ray Doustdar who made it ALL happen!

PBS Interviews at SXSW ’09

March 18, 2009 • Projects • by
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This past weekend Steve Woolf and I teamed up with PBS at SXSW and conducted a series of interviews with some of the best and brightest filmmakers, web personalities, and all-around creative people. We set up the PBS studio two blocks from the convention center and camped out for three days inviting people to come join us while we streamed the interviews live, and then for Happy Hour and musical performances.

Our time there was amazing. Though we didn’t have time to go to the panels, we were able to have one-on-one conversations with over 30 people throughout the weekend – definitely more than the number of sessions we would have been able to attend.

If you want to get a taste of the people who attended SXSW this year and some of the insight they gave on their panels, definitely check out the PBS SXSW ’09 playlist on YouTube. You’ll hear from folks like Guy Kawasaki, Jay Smooth, Jacob Soboroff, Charlene Li, Jeff Jarvis and many more.

Thanks again PBS, we had a blast!

SXSW Action!

March 12, 2009 • Radar • by
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 It’s that time of year again, when web, film and music geeks flock to the mecca of super-geekdom: SXSW. This year Steve and I are participating in LOADS of stuff and plan to party into the wee hours of the morning. We’re only going to be there from Friday through Monday night, so we have to get our fill.

This time around we’ll be working with PBS and partying it up at the PBS Interactive Social Media and Online Video Studio, so make sure to drop by! We’ll be interviewing and hanging out with filmmakers, interactive visionaries and online producers, and generally people who are doing awesome stuff! We’ll also be running around the convention floor, so if you see us, pull us over and say hi!

PBS HQ for this year’s SXSW will be at 406 E. 6th Street (2 blocks from the convention center). We’ll be there Saturday, March 14th – Monday, March 16th, from 12-6pm. Happy Hour starts at 6pm, and at 6:30pm we’ll have Live performances by Paul Dateh, David Kitchen, and Alejandro Escovedo!

If you can’t make it to SXSW, don’t worry, we’ll be streaming it ALL Live at http://pbs.org/sxsw. We’ll also be tweeting throughout our stay, so you can get updates of our adventures at http://twitter.com/pbsengage, http://twitter.com/zadi, and http://twitter.com/stevewoolf.

I’ll also be on a few panels, so make sure to check those out too!

Friday @ 3:30pm, Room 18BCD: How to Rawk SXSW: The Basics

Geared particularly to first-time attendees to SXSW Interactive, this panel focuses on how registrants can leverage all the different elements of the event to achieve your personal and professional goals.

Saturday @ 5:00pm, Room 12AB: The Ten Worst Social Media Campaigns

Bring popcorn and rotten tomatoes! Braving hate-mail after naming last year’s “winners,” the Suxorz ’09 panel returns to dissect the ten worst social media and web 2.0 ad campaigns of the year. Together, we’ll shame the marketers who abuse people-powered media.

See you there! :)