To put this into book terms, this would be like somebody stealing a whole chapter of someone else’s book and sticking it into their book.

Hard at Work Coming up with a Complimentary Solution

Not only is it copyright infringement and shows you lack all creativity, but it also dings you with search engines.  Search engines, like Google, discount your site when they find duplicate material elsewhere on the web. So it does not pay to cut corners in this way.

Professional Photographer, Ralph Velasco photographing Dan & Audrey of Uncornered Market in Egypt

Now if there does happen to be a post by another organization or individual on the web that you wish to draw eyes to on your site, here is how to do it, to be complimentary, meet copyright law and prevent getting blacklisted by search engines:

1. Write an original introduction of your own introducing the blog article you want to highlight;
2. Share a quote from the blog article you wish to highlight;
3. Post a link to the original blog article you wish to highlight; and
4. End the post with some original writing of your own.

The same goes for photographs.  If the photo you wish to share on your site does not have the Creative Commons license on it, ask the photographer’s permission, credit and link them, and compensate them for it’s use. If it does have a Creative Commons license on it, then you still need to credit and link the photographer, preferably to their professional site.

Remember quality content takes time to create and it needs to be respected and credited.  You wouldn’t want your content pirated, so don’t pirate the content of others.

In terms of Ahimsa Media, it was a year that saw much growth in the company in a positive way, in which Lori and I really were able to make some informed decisions on the direction we wanted to take the company.  It was also a very busy year for the company, in which we:

• Built the social media strategy around a number of television series;
• Managed the digital storytelling, digital audience building and social networking for 6 TV Series and Films;
• Wrote successful funding applications for clients;
• Taught at 3 Post-Secondary Institution across Canada, including a grad school lab;
• Spoke around the World at film festivals and travel conferences on the digital space;
• Launched a new transmedia travel property, Roamancing, with Emme Rogers; and
• Sat on the Advisory Board for Merging Media and the Adhoc Advisory Board for a new Digital Program at a Post-Secondary Institution.

It even ended personally with 2 marriage proposals in 2-days, but then I guess that’s Egypt for you.

As we head into 2012, we look forward to exciting new challenges, growing as speakers around the world, building in the travel industry in addition to the fun we have with the film and television world, and of course, a little Roamancing (before long we shall have this word in everyones vocabulary, as really who doesn’t want to roamance).

Happy New Year everyone!  Wishing you a year of love, health, happiness and a whole of fun, wherever your adventures end up taking you.

With love and laughter from,

Erica, Lori and the rest of the Ahimsa Media gang

No Conference is ever perfect, but this one rates highly in my books, because it encourages a conversation with media makers and technologists from a number of different sectors, including traditional media, emerging media, social media and gaming; and it invites in a number of different voices and opinions from around North America. On top of that, Merging Media provides the opportunity for people to connect through networking events, B2B meetings, and a Master’s Class. For me these are the key ingredients to evolving our ideas and creating the future of media.  It is thanks to events, like this, that we have built a valuable network of colleagues, partners, contractors and friends over the years.

Can Convergent Roulette at Merging Media 2010, photographed by Liz Kearsley.

Merging Media 2011 takes place in Vancouver this week – Thursday October 27th & Friday October 28th – and it is not too late to take part.  You can still sign up.

Some of the highlights:

• An impressive list of speakers (I’d mention them all, but there are a lot of them, including many that I adore and love listening to) on some interesting topics, including gaming, monetizing, technology, traditional media in an interactive landscape …etc.
• International B2B (Business to Business) Sessions
• The VEDC Innovation Gallery where our BC Technology companies will be demoing their latest ‘Tools of Engagement’.

I am also pleased to share that we will be pitching our latest project with Emme Rogers and friends, Roamancing, as a part of the Pitch 360. This is not only a project that we are having a lot of fun with, but that truly reflects the nature of this events, as it combines the efforts and creativity of a number of people world-wide from traditional media, emerging media, social media and gaming.

Hope to see you at Merging Media this week!

Erica

Happy Canada Day!

Paperny has a couple of exciting opportunities for the filmmaking community coming up, that we wanted to highlight:

Opportunities for Television Writers and Story Editors

The deadline is fast approaching for this posting.  If you have experience as a story editor or writer on Doc. Series or Doc Soap genre programs and are available to work in Vancouver, then don’t delay, get your CV and list of references in.  All the details on who Paperny is looking for can be found on Media Job Search Canada.  The application deadline is Friday February 25th, 2011.

So You Think You Can Make TV? Contest

Paperny has just launched a pretty cool opportunity for young Canadian filmmakers aged 19-30.  Basically, they are challenging young filmmakers to have fun showing off their creativity and skill by creating a 2-minute or less trailer for a lifestyle or factual series.  The Prize?  $3000 and a one month unpaid internship at Paperny Films in Vancouver.  For all the details, check out Paperny’s contest page and be sure to get your submission in by the entry deadline on April 15, 2011.

Grace Lynn Kung, Richard Yearwood and the cast of InSecurity up next, after The Rick Mercer Report

For those of you who don’t know Richard personally, he is an incredibly talented man with an even bigger heart.  It’s why we love him.  He keeps us laughing and on our toes, especially with his repertoire of accents on the phone.  My favourite has got to be the time a little old lady called me up looking for her doctor’s office, only to discover it was Richard.  This InSecurity File on Richard and N’udu pegs Richard to a T.

Now if that doesn’t make you just love and adore Richard and his alias N’udu, then I’m sure his Bomb Primer will.

Needless to say InSecurity is a comedy and spoof on serious spy and crime drama shows. Best described, in my mind, in the Postmedia News:

if James Bond were Mr. Bean ~ Sheri Levine

You can follow along with the InSecurity antics of Benjamin N’udu and his fellow NISA Agents on their website, facebook or through their twitter feeds:

• @NISA_Nudu
• @NISA_Jojokwan
• @NISA_Claude
• @NISA_Burt
• @NISA_Peter
• @NISA_Alex
• @InSecurityTV

Now if you buggered up the whole green Christmas thing, no worries, just use the words of Mark’s niece, Emma (not to be confused with Emme – this kids got way more talent), as an inspiration for a socially conscious New Year. Either that or go get a glass of wine and go back to the bath bubbles.

Oh and if Emma made you feel worse for wear at the beginning of your New Year, don’t fret, this should put the kid in perspective:

Happy New Year!

Have fun making these and then find a good book and go enjoy a bit of well deserved down time soaking in the tub!

Photo by Roger Mateo Poquet

Bath Bombs

This is an old favourite of ours from the days when we use to spin tales of magic for kids, while getting them excited about science through a potions class or two.  For further details, you’ll have to chat with the Great Professor Ericacea.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups of baking soda
• 1/2 cup of citric acid
• 2 tbsp of coconut oil
• 5 – 8 drops of food colouring
• 10 – 15 drops of essential oil

Whipping up a bit of Bath Time Bliss:

• In a dry bowl, mix baking soda and citric acid together.
• Melt coconut oil and mix together with baking soda and citric acid.  This should make the dry ingredients clump together, so that you can mold the mixture into balls.  If not, then melt and add in a bit more coconut oil.
• Add food colouring and essential oil and mix thoroughly.
• Shape mixture into the desired-sized balls (1 – 2 inches in diameter) and leave to dry on a plate for at least 24 hours.

Photo by Sharyn Morrow

Now all there is left to do is find a good book, run a warm bath, drop in one of your bath bombs and relax!

Finding Citric Acid

Back in the day, it use to be that citric acid was a relatively easy and inexpensive ingredient to find at the pharmacy.  This is sadly no longer the case, but still needed in the bath bombs, as it and the baking soda are what create the fizz. So here are a few places where you should be able to find citric acid at a decent price:

• health food stores
• grocery stores, as a product called Fruit Fresh, which is usually found with the canning supplies
• home brewers / winemakers (rumour has it that prices here are excellent on citric acid)

And if all else fails, you can substitute cream of tartar for citric acid, but as cream of tartar is thicker, you will only need 1/2 the amount of cream of tartar to citric acid. For example, if the recipe calls for 1 cup of citric acid, substitute in 1/2 cup of cream of tartar.

Choosing your essential oils:

The essential oil is the key ingredient to setting the perfect mood in the tub, so you want to make sure you find the right one for you.  Here are a few of my favourites:

Lavender

• refreshing, relaxing and calming
• anti-inflammatory
• good for muscles pains, rheumatism, headaches, insomnia, stress, colds …

Grapefruit

• refreshing and stimulating
• good for anxiety …

Orange / Mandarin

• refreshing and relaxing
• good for anxiety, insomnia, muscle pain, skin, stress …

Peppermint

• refreshing and stimulating
• anti-inflammatory
• good for nausea, fever, stress, headaches, muscle pain …

You can find essential oils at the pharmacy or health food store.

Simple Soaks

The beauty of the essential oils is they can transform your bath into a bit of bliss in a few seconds, minus much effort on your part.  Here are a few quick tips:

• Simply add a few drops of your favourite essential oil to your running bath water.
• Create a milk bath with 1/2 a cup – 1 cup of powdered milk and a few drops of your favourite essential oil.
• Soak in a tub with 1/2 a cup – 1 cup of epsom salts and a few drops of your favourite essential oil.  This ones great for aching muscles.

Photo by Mary Pattavina

Gingerbread  Body Scrub

This scrub makes your skin feel lovely and is a great alternative to going in hunt of essential oils, as most of the ingredients are in your kitchen larder.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of epsom salt
• 1 cup of sea salt
• 1 cup of your choice of oil (almond, jojoba, olive, sunflower …etc)
• 1 tsp of cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp of ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp of ground cloves
• 2 tsp of brown sugar
• a mason jar

Whipping up a bit of Bath Time Bliss:

• Mix all of the dry ingredients in a bowl.
• Transfer dry ingredients into a mason jar.
• Pour oil into the jar.

Now all you need to do is place the mason jar of scrub beside the tub and enjoy a few luxurious baths.  Just don’t use the scrub on your face.  You’ll also find that like with the essential oils, the spices have a few comforting properties of their own.  You can read about them below.

Ginger

• warming and stimulating
• good for nausea, exhaustion, arthritis, colds, flu …

Cloves

• warming and stimulating
• good for headaches, stress, nausea, colds and muscle tension …

I hope this gets your 2011 off to a blissful start.

With love from the gang at Ahimsa Media.

Erica and Lori captured on camera by Jeremy Lim, enjoying a goofy moment.

This year’s shoot was even more delightful than usual, as we were fortunate enough to shoot at Burnaby Village Museum, which is an absolutely magical place.  For two storytellers, this was a wonderful present to the senses as we were surrounded by rich stories from the history of BC .  Talk about inspirational!

If you haven’t been, you must go.  Burnaby Village Museum is a living history museum, with historic interpretors dressed in period clothing spinning tales of BC’s history.  Having worked in such environments in my teens and twenties, I can tell you I have discerning eye and am not easily impressed when it comes to interpretive sites.  Burnaby Village Museum impresses me.  It is a place of magic.

To experience a bit of the magic for yourself you can visit the Museum from noon until 8 pm each day, up until January 2nd, 2011.  Who knows you may even see Rudolph.  He was after all created there.

Burnaby Artist Denver Gillen's Illustration of Rudolph.

After that the Museum doesn’t reopen until May 2011, except for special event openings.  Hoping they host their scavenger hunt again in February and March.

Photo Courtesy of John Biehler

The focus of both these courses are to inspire the participants to use digital tools, such as social media, to make your online communications more engaging, build community and to learn to use storytelling elements to impart information, whether about yourself, a brand or a more traditional story, such as a novel or a television series.  We will look at the new world of transmedia storytelling and will explore the development of digital media strategies around your properties. The courses are hands-on and the goal is for participants to choose a project to focus on and build over the 8 – 10 weeks.

A review from a past student:

“Erica has the gift of making a very “technological” subject accessible and understandable for everyone… even those who are not quite up to speed yet with all the ins and outs of Social Media. Her wealth of examples and stories infuse what could be an overwhelming topic with a sense of normality and fun. Her willingness to go above and beyond when it comes to encouraging the learning process, creativity and support is highly appreciated and mark her as a very generous educator.” ~ Ina Stockhausen,  April 5, 2010

Winter 2011 Interactive Storytelling Courses:

• BCST 1073: Interactive Storytelling (A Credited BCIT Course in Broadcast Communications)

Audiences today want to access media from multiple platforms: online, offline and on the go. Learn the art of interactive storytelling and learn how to use the tools, such as Twitter, WordPress, Flickr, YouTube, Facebook, podcasting and blogging, to tell your stories.

• 10 Wednesday Evenings, January 12 – March 16
• 6:30 – 10:00 pm
• Instructor: Erica Hargreave
• 3 Credits
• Burnaby Campus
• CRN: 77465
• $349.30

• Interactive Storytelling (A Capilano University Continuing Studies Course)

The face of media is rapidly changing. Join traditional and digital storyteller, Erica Hargreave, as she introduces you to the art of interactive storytelling and how to use tools such as Twitter, WordPress, Flicker, YouTube, Facebook, podcasting and blogging to tell your stories. Audiences want to access media from multiple platforms: online, offline and on the go. More and more audiences are demanding the ability to interact within the story, and with the characters and authors. The collective “voice” of media is changing, audiences desire a much more personal tone in what they read and interact with. This personal tone and voice extends beyond the story to the corporate brand as well. Audiences want the story behind the story, to feel that they are part of the story, the creators and the brand itself.

• 8 Tuesday Evenings, January 25 – March 15
• 6:30 – 9:30 pm
• Instructor: Erica Hargreave
• North Vancouver Campus
• CRN: 10047
• $329