A must see and experience site is Museum 2.0. Nina Simon is the blog author and she does such an excellent job of making museums accessible for those who just don’t get out to visit these wonderful resources.

With web 2.0, these buildings and their treasures are open to visitors 24/7 and you are invited to not only soak up the exhibits with your eyes but participate through the wonders of social media.

Another participatory Art & Media site is called ArtsBabble.  Be prepared to while away a few hours. This is what the site is about:

“1. free flowing conversation, about art, for anyone.
2. a place where everyone is invited to join an open, ongoing discussion – no art degree required.

Read more…

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I’m overwhelmed with the innovative and energizing approach taken by Peter Block. His thinking dovetails closely with my interest in community engagement with young people and adults. I am enthusiastically incorporating many features of the community restoration approach in my efforts to restore community through social media strategies and tools.

This short video illustrates some of Peter Block’s principles and what he means by using structure, language and invitation to engage people in dialogue about restoring their community. I think that his ideas have tremendous application for community building in York Region. Fragmentation, isolation and cynicism seem to be taking deeper hold in our community.

A community restoration approach can be challenging for organizations that are used to problem solving, collaboration and outcome based discussions. I especially like how Peter Block in his book Community, the Structure of Belonging talks about how community is really an ongoing conversation. I’ve included a brilliant overview of his model titled Civic Engagement and the Restoration of Community – changing the nature of the conversation.

Community Engagement – Restoration of Community

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Non profits and businesses can now discover the profile of their audience and stakeholders (consumers, supporters, funders, volunteers etc.). With this information, non profits organizations can begin creating online strategies that engage their constituents and build stronger relationships with people that matter to them.

Read more…

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The Aids Committee of York Region (ACYR) hosted a fundraising event that celebrated the talents of York Region artists. It was called Solstice…..transforming lives.

Time for my disclaimer. I’m on the Board of the ACYR and an unabashed supporter for this wonderful organization serving our community, particularly people living with HIV/AIDS and those affected by HIV/AIDS.

The event was held at the beautifully renovated Aurora United Church. It was a magnificent evening of music and sharing. The musicians who made the Solstice CD were in attendance and performed songs from the CD. Also performing were children’s choirs from local schools and the Aurora United Church choir.

I felt very proud to be able to contribute to this evening of celebration and sharing. The ACYR extended their appreciation of support to all those that made the event such a success.

High on that list was the Aurora United Church for allowing them to be the first community group to utilize their beautiful (acoustically pristine) renovated church. Of course the musicians and all the local groups that work to make York Region a great place to live were given special thanks for participating in the Concert.

Last but not least were the community residents who bought tickets to the event, purchased the Solstice CD, and helped the fundraising goal by buying raffle tickets for a beautiful Yamaha guitar donated by a local business.

Marnie Sigmar and Precious Maseko, Directors on the ACYR Board hosted the event and did a great job of introducing the musicians and telling the ACYR story. Of course they had tremendous support from Agency staff and volunteers.

My partner and I video recorded the whole evening of music. We will be making a full DVD of the event for the Aids Committee of York Region. I will also upload some of the performances on my Youtube channel.

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Time for my full declaration. I’m on the Board of Directors of the Aids Committee of York Region.

That said, let me share news about an exciting fundraising event sponsored by this wonderful organization. Their web site’s – About Us page has full descriptions of their programming and values.

Since 1993, the ACYR has been working to improve the quality of life in York Region by raising awareness through community education, and by providing support and access to dignified care for people living with and affected by HIV/AIDS. All services are free of charge, confidential and anonymous.

The AIDS Committee of York Region will launch their new CD Solstice, on Friday, November 13, at Aurora United Church with a Benefit Concert. Come listen to the great sounds of Soul Influence, Glenn Marais, Jamie Miller, Dani Strong, The Beautiful Groove and Joe Crone, all of whom have shared a song on Solstice.

The CD also includes the glorious voices and sounds of local choirs and school bands including the Aurora United Choir, Bogart Public School Choir, Pickering College Jazz Band, and Lisa Freemantle Catholic School Choir.

Come to experience an evening of music and celebrate a journey of sharing. Tickets are $20.00/seat.

To purchase tickets, contact:

Jacqui Locke

Coordinator of Events and Volunteer Programs

905-953-0248

volcoordacyr@bellnet.ca.

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Michael Bowe is Supervisor, Diversity & Outreach for the York Region Children’s Aid Society.

Over the past 6 months, Michael and other community leaders, primarily from the non profit sector have being working diligently on establishing the York Region Multi-Media Film Development Council & Institute.

Michael is the Chair of the Council and a driving voice behind this much needed community building initiative.

In this interview, Michael gives a brief overview of the Council’s plans for a yearly film festival and eventually the creation of a York Region Multimedia Film Institute.

Turn your speakers up a wee bit as Michaels voice is on the soft side. I’ll be posting more on this exciting collaboration project over the coming months.

To see how you might fit into or participate in the Council’s plans, I’ve included a portion of their governing statements.

Read more…

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It was a great day on Friday, August 14th, 2009. My partner Alain Hurtubise (of iAutomate) and I completed a proposal we worked hard on over the preceding weeks.

We felt on the ecstatic side of life that afternoon. We had just submitted the most fully designed presentation of our thinking and what we are aspiring to provide for non profit groups in York Region. Flushed with our success, we retired to a local restaurant not far from Alain’s home and had a well deserved celebration drink.

As I had my new and untried FS200 Canon camcorder with me, we thought that we should test it out by talking about our evolving social web platform.

Alain did a wonderful job of outlining the changing landscape of web design and how we are trying to deliver an affordable social web platform to York Region non profits.

Both of us were pleasantly surprised as to the quality of video and sound from this little camera. It will definitely be put to more use in the coming weeks and months.

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What a pleasant surprise to see an article that featured Social Media Tools for Work and Learning in the Mobilize This Blog. The Mobilize This site is a blog resting in the Research Impact Knowledge Mobilization Unit at York University.

ResearchImpact, Canada’s emerging knowledge mobilization network, is designed to support the active, two-way exchange of information and expertise between knowledge creators and knowledge users.

The title of the article is “Items of Interest to Ontario Community Groups and Especially those in York Region – Help with Social Media and Access to Infrastructure $$$. whee, quite the title….

Read more…

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Figuring out my personal communication style is a full time job. Throughout my career working in non profit towers, I’ve had to speak as a representative of the tower.

Now that I am no longer an official Tower representative (as a full time employee), I feel more comfortable in speaking from a broader platform as a consultant.

I continue working and speaking on behalf of organizations through my consulting work. In my new role, I strive to represent the interests of these groups and I continue my obligation to provide high levels of service.

I have new towers to report to but I also have a degree of flexibility and freedom that I didn’t have as an employee.

Now as I look back on all the work I’ve undertaken and how fortunate I’ve being to experience so many challenging roles in the community, I feel more comfortable in letting more of my spontaneous and personal side be expressed through my weblog.

Read more…

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Danah Boyd’s talk at the Personal Democracy Forum, 2009 opened up the issues of inequality, social divisions and homophili on the Internet. Her talk helped me understand that social media is not a solution for these social ills, but a mirror or magnifying glass that reflects what’s going on in our society.

Danah uses her research on teen cultures and teens use of Facebook and Myspace as a foundation for her points. It’s a very instructive and helpful presentation that puts social media practices in a more realistic context, particularly for change agents who are adopting social media strategies as a means to address racism, classism and inequality.

Full text of her presentation can be found here

Thanks to OCASI Settlement.org Newsletter for their posting of this presentation.

Michele Martin at her Bamboo Project Blog has written a great post on homophily. Like her, I recognized this phenomenon as a factor imbuing conversations and relationships but I never heard the term before, nor thought about what this looks like in online behaviours.

Danah Boyd is a Social Media Researcher at Microsoft Research New England and a Fellow at Harvard Law School’s Berkman Center for Internet and Society. She recently completed her PhD at the School of Information (iSchool) at the University of California (Berkeley). Her research examines social media, youth practices, tensions between public and private, social network sites, and other intersections between technology and society.

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