Happy Mother’s Day 2010

Comments 1 by Rebecca Bollwitt

Last weekend I enjoyed an annual girls getaway with my mother, sister, and niece in Victoria. It was a fantastic way to reconnect, explore, and also celebrate my mother’s birthday. We’ve been doing our girls getaway weekends for 8 years now and for 6 of those years we’ve stayed at the lovely Delta Ocean Pointe. Its location, views, kid-friendly staff, and facilities are the reason we return each year. It’s also my mother’s top choice.

I’ll be writing my Top Five for 2010: Victoria so I won’t go into too much detail about the places we visited and the sights we saw. However, I will pay tribute to my mother today, whom I’m sure was expecting a birthday post too but I hope this makes up for it… Continue reading this post ⟩⟩

How Should Journalists Use Social Media

Comments 5 by Rebecca Bollwitt

My first Day Two session at Northern Voice is How (Should) Journalists Use Social Media, with speakers Lisa Johnson of the CBC and Kirk LaPointe of the Vancouver Sun.

Kirk LaPointe & Lisa Johnson - Northern Voice

Lisa talked about how she uses her own blog, Twitter and Facebook to reach out and find stories. First off, she explained that using social media makes a city smaller and more friendly.

“A big part of our job is to find out what’s happening,” she noted. By reaching out through online channels journalists in a newsroom aren’t just asking each other “do you know someone who…?” they can ask social networks. She said she’s found people for stories such as accountants, residents of Tsawwassen, business owners etc. just by searching Twitter or asking questions online.

Lisa added that Twitter is “a social scanner, like a police scanner.” You can find news and immediate information about an event, region, or issue. Chances are you can also find someone on the scene or taking Twitpics, immediately documenting the situation.

Kirk LaPointe & Lisa Johnson - Northern Voice

Kirk presented second as the words, “We will die before the newspaper does” appear on the big screen. While Lisa’s talk was more about how she uses social media to report, Kirk’s is focused on the state of the industry. “No audience problem. No news problem. More business problem,” stated his next slide.

“If we don’t find a business model in this, you’re going to get what you pay for,” he adds in reference to free, digital content. “Our biggest challenge is we need to redefine public and subsidy.”

Moving onto content he says journalists need to rethink the way they approach a “story”. It’s no longer a “story” but it’s a topic. Report on a topic and that’s the starting point — the beginning of the conversation.

“Know more each day about your audience,” said the next slide from Kirk. “We need to know what it is they are consuming, and what they’re not consuming.” He moved onto engagement and community building, emphasizing that it’s not a “frill” – these connections need to be taken more seriously than ever.

Kirk’s final slide reads: “The next decade is messy, but I can be fired more easily than you.”

During the Q&A Linda Soloman of the Vancouver Observer asks about the policy of mainstream outlets drawing inspiration from articles from bloggers but not giving credit. Kirk responded by saying he’s noticed Vancouver Sun content on their site as well however Linda assures him that VO always links and give credit (what we call a “hat tip” in the blogging realm”). Kirk said that everyone gets “ripped off” in some form or another and it’s hard to police that kind of thing, which is very true. Before the back-and-back got a bit too heated, it was agreed to take this particular discussion offline.

Personally I can see where Linda is coming from. Often I’ll see a blogger write something unique or tweet some news that is then picked up by a major outlet, who in turn does not credit the blogger or tweet as the source of the story. This is where I actually see radio stations excelling. I’ll get on-air credit from Jonny Staub at The Beat or James Sutton from The Peak for something I’ve posted online, which is wonderful. I get a shout out, they get to share information in real-time over the air, and in turn I will probably thank them publicly. This helps build bridges and strengthen the online community, in my eyes.

The discussion continued as the room emptied for lunch. This was yet another great panel session at Northern Voice with some great questions from the audience and insight from the speakers.

Museum of Anthropology: Border Zones

Add a Comment by Rebecca Bollwitt

The Museum of Anthropology is one of my favourite places in Vancouver, and I even shared that with the world through a feature I did with Google a few months ago. I recently visited for the first time since their renovation and was given the grand tour by Karen Duffek, Curator Pacific Northwest, Contemporary Visual Art.

MOA - Museum of Anthropology

Design by local architect Arthur Erickson beautifully showcases traditional and contemporary works of art and cultural significance from around the globe. Although the museum’s founding collection was from the South Pacific, there is no missing the First Nations influence.

MOA - Museum of Anthropology

The great hall is bright and open with floor to ceiling windows allowing the light to float in an surround stunning totem poles, bentwood box displays, welcome poles, and other artifacts.

MOA - Museum of Anthropology MOA - Museum of Anthropology

MOA - Museum of Anthropology

Winding your way through the new and improved research galleries you’ll take a journey from the South Coast of BC all the way over to China and Botswana. The gallery is setup so that you can circumnavigate the globe as you make your way past each display.

MOA - Museum of Anthropology MOA - Museum of Anthropology

MOA - Museum of Anthropology

Items within the window cases have also been carefully arranged in order to respect the traditions of their cultures. “We can think about finding a way to express the respect for the spirit that lives in the headdress at the time it is dressed. We need to show people from outside that it is still a living culture, that sacred things are still highly respected,” reads a quote from C. Anne Robinson within one of the window cases filled with Tseshaht headdresses.

MOA - Museum of Anthropology MOA - Museum of Anthropology

Other items have been set out for display under cloths to respect the sacred tradition of the pieces, which are not for everyone’s eyes.

MOA - Museum of Anthropology

Another new addition is the MOA CAT. This system, setup on touch-screen iMacs, allows you to instantly look up pieces by region, collection, artist or style then locate them on the gallery floor.

MOA - Museum of Anthropology MOA - Museum of Anthropology

As a part of the Museum’s participation in the 2010 Cultural Olympiad, the Border Zones: New Art Across Cultures exhibit will be running until September.

MOA - Museum of Anthropology

Border Zones features contemporary pieces from around the world including law poles from Australia, a sound installation, and floating boats that make their way from the Audain Gallery, through the museum, out the glass windows, and around the grounds as a part of the piece From the Yangtze to the Fraser.

MOA - Museum of Anthropology

MOA - Museum of Anthropology MOA - Museum of Anthropology

MOA - Museum of Anthropology MOA - Museum of Anthropology

MOA - Museum of Anthropology

A centrepiece of the museum is the Bill Reid sculpture The Raven and the First Men which lives in the Bill Reid Rotunda. I found out something new about the rotunda on my tour; turns out it was an old gun placement during World War Two (like a few others along hill above the beach in Pacific Spirit Park or Stanley Park). When Erickson designed the museum, he kept this in mind and built up around it. One of the museum’s most significant pieces now sits atop this wartime relic.

MOA - Museum of Anthropology

If you have the chance, I highly recommend stopping by the MOA anytime year-round although the Border Zones exhibit is pretty remarkable. The Museum of Anthropology is open daily from 10:00am – 5:00pm (and until 9:00pm on Tuesdays). Admission is $14 for adults, $12 for students, $35 for families and there is a Tuesday evening flat rate of $7.

Northern Voice 2010: Day Blog

Comments 4 by Rebecca Bollwitt

I have just checked into the Northern Voice conference at the Life Sciences Centre at UBC. Each year this blogging conference (probably the largest of its kind in Canada) features workshops and sessions about personal blogging and social media topics.

Northern Voice 2010 Northern Voice 2010


Photo credit: Tinfoiling on Flickr

I have been attending for the last four years and each time I cover the event in a different way. I probably won’t be liveblogging all of the sessions I attend however here are a few that I am looking forward to today:

  • Keynote Bryan Alexander
  • Online Publishing & The Law with Dan Burnett
  • Copyright & Online Expression with Martha Rans & Hart Snider
  • OMGWTF The World of Chatroulette with Dean Hudson
  • … and many more (I’ll update the list for Saturday too)
  • Northern Voice 2010

    I’ll be updating this post throughout the day and will pull in the Twitter feed from the conference using the tag #nv10.

    Update Northern Voice is known for its conference t-shirts that read, “Bloggable”. Today we have the youngest attendee ever (and probably the cutest) sporting his own conference tee.

    Bloggable

    Update After a welcome from Darren Barefoot and sponsor shout outs from Julie Szabo we’re onto the keynote by Bryan Alexander. Continue reading this post ⟩⟩

    Vancouver Receives Fair Trade Town Status

    Add a Comment by Rebecca Bollwitt

    This afternoon City Council passed a motion to support Fair Trade, making Vancouver the first major city in Canada to achieve “Fair Trade Town” status.

    Fair Trade VancouverThe application process has taken about a year however this afternoon’s vote sealed the deal. From a press release issued today, “The city’s endorsement of the application was the last step required by TransFair Canada to bestow Trade Town status on Vancouver. This award officially recognizes two decades of work by local and international Fair Trade supporters, as well as a civic ethical purchasing policy that was enacted in 2005.”

    Mayor Gregor Robertson said, “We want to be the greenest city in the world, and a part of that is ensuring that our goods and services are produced and delivered in a responsible way.”

    This Saturday May 8th, World Fair Trade Day is being celebrated at the Ten Thousand Villages store on Granville Island (1660 Duranleau Street).

    Participate in a drumming circle, thrill to African Dancing with Jackie Essombe and friends and hear about Vancouver’s bid to become the first major city in Canada to gain “Fair Trade Town” status. Have a slice of Fair Trade birthday cake made by students from the Pacific Institute for Culinary Arts, to be served in the store at 2:00pm along with Fair Trade coffee.

    In honor of this recent achievement there will be a ceremony from 1:00pm – 2:00pm outside the store with speeches from City Councilors and representative of the Fair Trade Movement. World Fair Trade Day events will then continue at the Improv Centre from 2:30pm until 4:00pm.

    Fair Trade is an alternative and ethical way of doing business with the developing world. Unlike conventional trade which seeks to obtain the lowest possible prices for imported products – no matter what this means for the quality of life of farmers and producers – Fair Trade seeks to ensure that farmers are able to live a life of dignity.

    You can read more on FairTradeVancouver.ca, the website of a non-profit group that hosts meetups and provides information about where to buy Fair Trade products in Vancouver. They are also on Twitter @Fair_Trade_Van.