Cowboy Friday!

Three cheers for our wacky office as the event we look forward to every month is almost upon us. Men, start growing that facial hair if you haven't started already so you can steal the show with a stylish 'Hulihee' or a throwback Amish 'Chin curtains'. Us ladies have been instructed to grow some cleavage to serve as cowgirls to our hairily endowed boys. But whilst we pine in envy of the endless possibilities of the male chin, perhaps there's something else we can bring to the table?

Here's the facebook group devoted to cowboy friday. Join and leave a suggestion?

Ride 'em on home, boys, HEEEEHAW!

Keywords: cowboyfriday,cowboy,friday,mediacatalyst,beards,mustaches,cleavage

 

On citizen journalism and unexpected combinations (2)

Hybrids and  mashups

In technology, a mashup is a web application that combines data from several sources to form a single integrated tool; i.e. a user can add reviews to tourist locations in Google Maps for the benefit of travelers, thereby creating a new and distinct web service.

Social and networking technologies have given birth to mashups and hybrids. But the principle and practice of mixing unexpected combinations is not just limited to the realm of web applications. It is also refected in other more traditional media.

Imagine Rome and Juliet in modern-day Tokyo, where the warring Capulets and Montagues are represented as Yakuza clans. Hamlet in an Earth devastated by global climate change and where the cyberworld is in a state of war. A Second Dark Age caused by a global energy crisis as setting for ‘The Tempest’.

These are some of the titles from the ‘Manga Shakspeare’ collection by UK publishing house SelfMadeHero. The collection showcases Shakespeare’s classic tomes combined with the iconic Japanese comic book style. It has been flying off the shelf in the UK and Asia since it was released in 2007.

(Read more...)

Keywords: comics,collaboration,hybrid,mashup,manga,shakespeare

 

On citizen journalism and unexpected combinations (1/2)

“They came and put the flag, gave us 10 candles but no food.”
“They don’t help, but force us to leave. Where should we go, my young man?”
“Nobody comes (to help)! But they have taken away all the donations from us.”

-- survivors expressing their anger at the Burmese government

We are in trouble, help!
We are hungry!
- written on the road after the storm

Enabled in part, and mediated by today’s internet and networking technologies, citizen journalism—or participatory journalism— has become a more permanent element of the media landscape. Whereas before was a clear delineation between author and reader, news maker and audience; today’s social, networking and collaborative-based applications like blogs, wikis, forums, widgets combined with easy-to-use but hi-tech digicams and mobile computing have  blurred the lines between ‘amateur’ and ‘professional’ in the world of journalism.

That average citizens can engage in the writing, production and distribution of news and opinion is not an entirely new concept. It has been rooted in many struggles for change in world history and advocated in recent years by development workers.

Thanks to many ordinary citizens who participate as both witness and storyteller of the world around them, even more people like us get to see the world from a point of view other than that of oragnised media industries. More than this, in the midst of danger and conflict, the world is given the chance to see what’s real, raw and unglamorous — reality uncut. Like the plight of Burma.

(Read more...)

Keywords: Burma,journalism,citizen,journalism,networking

 

What do you do if you're Dutch and looking for government-related info?

You google.

Dutch people prefer to use Google over the websites of government agencies when searching for government-related information. This was the conclusion of a research conducted by the University of Twente under the commission of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. According to the study, finding out the right kind of information users are looking for either takes too long, or the process seem to be too complicated as majority of the users don't possess the right kind of skills to be able to pull out the information they need from the site. Which 'skills' in particular were not mentioned in the paper, but it's probably about information searching skills. However, the study also revealed that it's not just a matter of possessing the right 'search skills', but more importantly, the way government agencies' websites are built -- the websites are not based on the search behaviour of its target users.

Not a shocking headline for us working in interactive media ('It's the users, stupid!'), but this is still the case for many organisations, both public and private. In the quest to surface all information that a company or institution can offer, they end up overwhelming users instead of helping them. Users end up disoriented and lost. And of course, who would they turn to but Google.

It's a pity the report didn't specify which government agencies sites were evaluated, or the factors that led the researchers to conclude that such websites were not oriented to the users' search behaviour. It's still an interesting point to consider especially in the realm of good governance, where correct and relevant information-gathering and dissemination can contribute to participation, transparency, accountability and effective and efficient processes.

 

MediaCatalyst wins Webby's People's Voice Award!

The wait is over, and... we have won the People's Voice Award! Our work for Canon EOS 400D came out on top in the category 'Rich Media Single: Promotional'. The People's Voice Award is the part of the Webby Awards that is decided by popular vote. The global web community gets to decide which of the nominees is their favourite. This year, close to 500.000 people cast their votes, a record in the history of the Webby Awards. At least some of those fell in our lap, for which we are very grateful indeed!

Now that we've earned some bragging rights, here's some choice quotes, blatantly copied from the Webby's official press release:



"The Webby Awards honors the very best of the Internet," said David-Michel Davies, executive director of The Webby Awards. "This win is a testament to the skill, ingenuity, and vision of its creators."




"Hailed as the “the Internet’s highest honor” by the New York Times, The Webby Awards is the leading international award honoring excellence on the Internet, including Websites, interactive advertising, online film and video, and mobile Websites."




"Hailed as the "Oscars of the Internet” by the New York Times, The Webby Awards is the leading international award honoring excellence on the Internet, including Websites, interactive advertising, online film and video, and mobile web sites. Established in 1996, the 12th Annual Webby Awards received a record 9,500 entries from all 50 states and over 60 countries worldwide. The Webby Awards is presented by The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences."





We'd also like to congratulate our fellow Amsterdammers at CCCP who deservedly won the Webby Award with their awesome Hema product page viral. Great work indeed, and after a slew of Dutch 'Official Honorees' and Nominees, we're glad someone is bringing home the trophy!

Keywords: webbyaward,people,svoiceaward,canoneos400d,mediacatalyst,winner,yay!