Happy 2012!
2011 was a year of challenges, both personally and in business.
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
Merging Media 2011
Two principles that Ahimsa Media has been built upon are education and the sharing of ideas and collaborating with others. This is what we did back in the day with Megan Cole and Bridging Media to encourage the conversation between technology, digital media and traditional media. When Megan and I got busy on other projects, I am glad that others picked up where we left off with the conversation. Most notable of these is Vancouver’s Merging Media Conference, which I have had the honour of sitting on the Advisory Board for the past two years.
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
Meet Ahimsa’s New Summer Interns!
It’s summertime again, that glorious moment when Ahimsa Media gets to pull new talent onto our team. Two new talents, actually, fresh out of the school year and willing to lend us their creative energies for the summer. Meet Ahimsa’s summer interns for 2011, Kelly Lui and Kino Zhao!
Kino and her cat, "Mister"
Kino Zhao is a 3rd-year double major in philosophy and psychology at UBC, with strong interests in social psychology, storytelling and travel. She is an avid blogger and has lived in five cities so far, beginning with Beijing and currently resides – for now – in Vancouver. Restless for new experiences and full of wanderlust, Kino enjoys hopping on the bus in new cities and going where the wind blows her. She tries – without much success, she says – to convince others how important and interesting philosophy really is. Kino’s new companion is her recently acquired car, whom she affectionately calls May.
Kelly Lui
Kelly Lui is an English Literature major at UBC considering a minor in Sociology or Creative Writing. She had her appetite for poetry whetted this year by Milton and Marvell. She loves getting into the psychology of fairy tale characters and superheroes, and re-telling the stories with a psychological twist. She is currently working on a story about superheroes, which she hopes to turn into a graphic novel with a friend. She is a big fan of the Canucks, and anything made with potatoes. She lived in Hong Kong until she was fifteen, has been living in Vancouver since grade 10, and, like Kino, is very well-traveled.
AhimsaMedia is fortunate to have these two creatives on board for the summer. We look forward to featuring their voices on our upcoming projects. A warm welcome to Kino and Kelly!
Some Exciting Opportunities With Paperny Films
Storytelling excites us. We have fun with it! It’s how we get are kicks, and as such we are pretty pleased about our latest client, Paperny Films, as they are all about stories too and are telling some entertaining ones, from foodie adventures with true to life characters like Bob Blumer to the legends of music greats like Ron Sexsmith. No issues with getting out of bed in the morning around here.
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.
Don’t Forget to Tune into the Dashing Richard Yearwood Tonight on InSecurity
There are so many reasons why we adore and are proud of Richard Yearwood around here, but tonight it’s for his latest role as NISA Agent Benjamin N’udu in the new CBC Series InSecurity. Don’t miss the Premiere tonight (January 4th, 2011) at 8:30 pm on CBC, right after The Rick Mercer Report.
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:
Burnaby Village Museum – A Storyteller’s Delight
At Ahimsa Media the winter holidays are all about relaxing and spending time laughing and having fun with the folks we love. It is for this reason that Lori and I take a break from the pre-holiday craziness each year to laugh, be silly and shoot our holiday card together.
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.
New Courses for the New Year
We are pleased to be ringing in the New Year with two new Interactive Storytelling Courses for Professionals at BCIT and Capilano University.
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
Launch Party 10: A Vancouver Event Not to Miss (and where to win tickets)
Back in the days when I was a children’s and educational writer for television and magazines and first exploring the digital sphere, I was incredibly fortunate to be welcomed into Vancouver’s technology scene and shown the lay of the land by a few of the early leaders in the space. My guides and translators in the digital realm included Boris Mann, Megan Cole and the gang at Strutta. My first encounters with the folks at Strutta were at their inaugural Launch Party, which very much became an event that help me to meet and mingle with some of the brightest minds in technology in this fine city of ours and to spark my imagination on how some of their technologies could be used in telling stories. I’d be remiss here if I were not to mention one of the founders behind Launch Party, Maura Rodgers, who I have found to be one of the key visionaries in building Vancouver as an International Hot Spot in technology. Not only is she a forward thinker and a believer of life long learning, but she has been incredibly giving of her time over the years and has always offered her guidance and advice when I’ve needed it. While still involved with Strutta, Maura’s main focus these days is on Bootup Entrepreneurial Society, a community and mentor driven non-profit organization that was formed to inspire entrepreneurship in Canada and help Internet startups take their idea from conception to commercialization. And it is this organization that now hosts Launch Party Vancouver (LPV).
Launch Party Founders - Maura Rodgers, Danny Robinson & Dimitri Sirota - at LPV3, as taken by Phillip Jeffrey.
I’m telling this story as the next Launch Party – LPV10 – is this coming week on Wednesday December 1, 2010 at 6 pm at Canvas Lounge in Gastown, and I happen to know that Emme Roger’s is giving away a pair of tickets to the event. All you need to do is comment on her post, before 9 pm on Saturday November 27th, 2010, as to why you wish to go to LPV10 and she will stick your name in a hat and draw the name of one lucky commenter for the pair of tickets.
Regardless, as to whether you win or not, LPV10 is worth checking out, if you are already in the tech community and want to reconnect with others in the industry and check out the latest tech launches or are new to the world of technology and are there to learn and immerse yourself in the community. Just be sure to purchase your tickets before Wednesday December 1, 2010, as after that tickets jump in price.
Look forward to seeing you on Wednesday!
Erica
Liz Joins #mobilersca to Experiment with the Android Galaxy Smartphone
Love any excuse to sing the praises of our team and I am most pleased that Liz Kearsley just gave us such an excuse.
Liz has been selected to be one of Canada’s first Mob!lers! Samsung Canada picked her and 29 other 20-somethings living in Canada to take part in a competition with their new Android Galaxy S Vibrant Smartphones. Liz and her Team Vansung will duel it out against five other teams in Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver for cash and prizes, including a trip to Korea, in 4 challenges designed to experiment with transmedia with their Galaxy Smartphones.
Before the fun started, Samsung set the guys a mini challenge in Toronto which Liz’s Team Vansung won.
Mohammed Hassan-Ali
Here are Liz and her teammates:
Mohammed Hassan-Ali - @skysurfer64
Desired Superpower: To change the weather, so everyday he can avoid ever getting caught in those Vancouver downpours.
In Real Life: Grad Student studying Biomedical Physiology and Kinesiology
Gyslain Lalonde
Gyslain Lalonde
Desired Superpower: Batman Wannabe
In Real Life: Server and reality TV talent
Chris McGuire
Chris McGuire @chrisonhismac
Desired Superpower: To be untouchable, yet imperceptible.
In Real Life: Web & Mobile Developer
Peter Verge
Peter Verge @peterverge
Desired Superpower: Snooping on Other’s Text Messages (a fly on the cell, if you will)
In Real Life: All Round Personality, MC and Broadcast Journalist in the making
Liz Kearsley
Liz Kearsley @LizKearsley
Desired Superpower: Information Osmosis (not surprising, as we see her similarities with an amoeba)
In Real Life: PhotoJournalist
Please help us to cheer them on in their last 4 competitions by keeping an eye on the Samsung Mobile Canada facebook page. Go Vansung Go!
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