posted on April 18, 2012 by
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#WeVisitEgypt ~ A Digital Egyptian Travel Tale

Courtesy of Audrey Scott & Daniel Noll of UnCornered Market

 

We are Roamancing Egypt (again)!

As some of you may be aware we launched Emme Rogers and Brie Mason into their latest digital, interactive transmedia tale this past summer, Roamancing ~  a travel tale in search of those most elusive of creatures: love and romance.  We’ve been having fun with it and for those of you that are familiar with Emme, I am sure you can imagine the silly shenanigans and characters we’ve met along the way, from being presented with a key to City of Yorkton with the fabulous Katrina German to forever bumping into a few delightfully mischievious Blues Men that have wormed their way into our hearts and our stories. With a trip to Egypt this past December to speak at the International Organisation for E-Tourism Conference in Cairo, Lori Yearwood and I decided that like many of the wonderful storytellers that we work with, it was time to weave ourself into our own tales.  I am glad we did, as I had a lot of fun telling a tale or two with Lucy Duck and the Roamancing Red Boots in Egypt, and I am proud to say I am the first of our team to have done the Roamancing strut overseas (even if I looked ridiculous in doing so).

 

Lucy prepares to enter the Mosque

 

One of the realisations from being in Cairo during demonstrations in Tahrir Square, was the impact of mainstream media images on people back home.  I was perfectly safe and having a grand time, yet perceptions from media images in North America were that Egypt was in a state of violence and chaos.  The biggest threat to me?  Too many marriage proposals.  Here are two posts I wrote on the topic, upon returning home:

It struck me that when we’ve seen images of rioting in Canada, no one worries for ones safety in still visiting the country.  That is not the case with Egypt, as the culture is so different from our own.  Yet I felt welcomed and safe in visiting Egypt and saw how damaging the media images from Tahrir Square have been to Egyptian Tourism, a major player in the Egyptian economy.

 

Hmm … Clearly the ‘flat’ aspect of the bread making was lost of me.

 

It is for this reason that we have been consulting with the Egyptian Tourism Authority on using digital storytelling to share the wonderful and exciting travel experiences that you can have in Egypt in ‘real’ time. I am also pleased to share that the Egyptian Tourism Authority has similarly been consulting with two of the wonderful digital storytellers and fellow speakers that I recently met in Cairo, Daniel Noll and Audrey Scott. Daniel and Audrey are the husband-and-wife storytelling team behind the award winning travel blog, Uncornered Market. For over five years, they have continuously travelled around the world, inspiring others to create their own life and travel experiences.

Together with Audrey and Dan, I will be heading to Egypt from April 21 – 29, 2012 with Emme Rogers, Lucy Duck, and the Roamancing Red Boots in tow to share our adventures in Egypt in ‘real’ time and demonstrate for the World Tourism Organisation (UNTWO) Conference on Media and Tourism: Partnering with the Media in Challenging Times how digital media and travel bloggers can be used to change the conversation about tourist destinations challenged by negative perceptions related to current events.  As a part of this, Dan, Audrey and I will be hosting an informal session with the Egyptian Tourism Authority at the beginning of the  Conference on Thursday April 26th, 2012 to demonstrate our #WeVisitEgypt digital storytelling campaign.

 

Audrey Scott & Daniel Noll of Uncornered Market in Cairo

 

We invite you to join us on our Digital Egyptian Adventure by following along with the hastag #WeVisitEgypt on your social networking feeds, as well as through uncorneredmarket.com, roamancing.com and emmerogers.com.  Furthermore, we invite you to join us in demonstrating to Tourism how effective digital media, including social media and blogging can be in sharing a message. Here are some ways that you can become involved in the #WeVisitEgypt Campaign:

  • Share what we are doing in Egypt and the #WeVisitEgypt hashtag to your media channels;
  • Follow #WeVisitEgypt on your social networking channels and retweet content that appeals to you;
  • Interact with us on our adventure at @UMarket, @Roamancing, @EmmeRogers and @EricaHargreave; and
  • Share your own photos, video and blog posts from Egypt with the #WeVisitEgypt hashtag (and we will do our best to retweet them).

Thank you in advance for whatever ways you decide to join in the #WeVisitEgypt Adventure.

Best wishes,

Erica Hargreave

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posted on February 14, 2012 by
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A Very Cool Example of Innovative Transmedia Storytelling from a Chronicle YouTube Post

With having worked extensively with film and television, in training, strategizing and implementing digital and transmedia storytelling, we are aware that it’s been a struggle to get filmmakers to think in advance of how to tell their stories to multiple platforms and to leave a budget for it to be done properly.  Our Message? Remembering that we are storytellers and telling a story, and that this is just as important to your digital feeds, as it is to the screen, to engage and titillate the audience’s imagination. It is for this reason that we get so excited when we see innovative examples of transmedia storytelling from films and television series.

This is exactly what we found recently with this youtube video and real world event, acting as a teaser for the movie Chronicle:

 

[youtube dcDN409ZBv4]

 

Thanks to the Roam Mobility Blog for sharing this!

Wish we’d been following this through from the start to have seen how the full campaign transpired.

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posted on January 9, 2012 by
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Copyright, the Web and SEO

I am constantly amazed at how many people seem to think that in the digital space it is okay to cut and paste other people’s work. They will cut and paste full blog posts written by others onto their site and use photos without the proper permissions, neglecting to credit and link the sources.  I’ve seen this with my students, which results in an immediate ‘0’, but more concerning I’ve seen this in grad students work, grad students who are being paid as editors of online publications. Worse than that I have seen established businesses doing this, even production companies that are trained in copyright law and will threaten legal action the second anyone shares their video content on youtube.  What they don’t seem to realize is pirating other people’s writing and photographs on the web is the same thing.  It is copyright infringement. This is why you need to hire professionals to manage your digital voice and not assume that an intern or your IT person has the skills to be the front line voice for the company in the digital space.

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.

 

 

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posted on January 5, 2012 by
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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

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posted on October 26, 2011 by
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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

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posted on July 1, 2011 by
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We Are Canadian!

A fine example of some brand storytelling that you can’t help but love:

[youtube zWDXE9Pbjic]

Happy Canada Day!

Filed Under: Events, Stories In Action
posted on February 23, 2011 by
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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.

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posted on January 2, 2011 by
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Oh Christmas Tree, Oh 21st Century (Christmas, Local Anxiety Style)

It wouldn’t be right to let the holidays pass without our annual tradition of a little bit of green, and since this year’s holiday activity was a little more slanted to relaxation, I thought we’d share a little music video our pals Mark Leiren-Young and Kevin Crofton of Local Anxiety made to ring in the season.  Besides which, our gal Emme Rogers helped them out and has been hounding us to post this.  As best we can tell, her shoulder starred in the street scene.  If Mark gets this on a CD, I am sure she’d be happy to kiss a few more autographs.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ErxSXlKQsg]

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XlyA9BXy7DM]

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.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1BrFs-w1_I]

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ByYt5e2h5KA]

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:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLYXTu1Pp_o]

Happy New Year!

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posted on December 30, 2010 by
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Bringing a Little Relaxation to Your Holidays

Dating back to the days of writing and creating our Kids Science and Environmental Show we started a holiday tradition at Ahimsa Media of sharing an activity that you could do with your loved ones or on your own.  Typically, this activity has had a green slant to it. While this year’s could still be considered green, our theme this year is slanted a little more to unwinding and relieving stress … turning your tub into your own little spa oasis.

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.

Filed Under: News
posted on December 28, 2010 by
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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.

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