Archive for May, 2011

Up and coming: Tumblr and SoundCloud

Published at May 24, 2011 in Digital Media and Social Media. 3 Comments

I’ll be honest I just joined both these communities. And to be even more honest, I am just starting to get into the groove of using them . This tends to happen when I join a new network. I join, let it sit for a few weeks or months, do a little research, and then decide whether or not to go for it. (Note to self–>I should probably apply this methodology to my dating life.)

So now, I’m going for both of these, hard! It seems like I can’t stop talking about either of them. (I feel a bit like an infatuated teeny bopper who’s a little too awkward to talk to her senior crush.)  In the case of Soundcloud, I am seeing increased use with musicians. With tumblr, I see a young vibrant group of users. Odd Future or OFWGKTA, the LA based punk rap collective,  almost solely uses the network to post pics from their tour, connect with eachother and with fans.

Just looking at Tumblr’s staff tumblelog shows how much growth the company has seen. However, the biggest signs that these are taking off is the youth demographic and the prevalence among musicians i.e. Myspace in the beginning. The several of the  musicians I work with love Soundcloud. Also, several people over 35 who work in digital media seem slightly unimpressed (esp. by Soundcloud) which is another sign that these are about blast off.

Lessons have been learned in the past few years by observing the failures of Myspace and successes of Facebook and Twitter.  These new networks both have clean easy to use interfaces. They focus primarily on what people want to do on Social Networks, SHARE MEDIA as opposed to sharing every detail of your personal life. And most importantly they have been designed with mobile in mind! Tumblr looks great on your phone and makes sharing from your mobile device simple. Soundcloud encourages its users to go out and record the sounds around them. The music site is also embracing tumblr with great tumble-logs from the company and from its Community Evangelist, David Noel.

It’s going to be an exciting few months for these two as the grow and develop.

(Full disclosure: Soundcloud is hiring a Community Manager, I would love to work for them in any capacity!  I had been planning this post before I saw the job posting yesterday. The timing was serendipitous and you know what they say ‘great minds think alike.’)

2020 Media Futures at OCAD and #TweetSpeak

Published at May 20, 2011 in Toronto. 1 Comment

Monday, I was at OCAD for the 2020 Media Futures unconference. This is were we get to talk about the extreme potential futures for the next 10 years. However, according to some #therapture is coming Saturday, so this exercise may have been futile (can I use ‘lol’ here?)

Priya Rao and I had the pleasure of running an ‘unconference’ session  called ‘twitter speak’ on the language of twitter. We had a lively discussion on some twitter basics, why to tweet, and how social media is changing our relationships. Some of the ideas that came out of the discussion had to do with how Twitter (and other Social Media) use weak ties to create a ‘social currency’. The importance of these eyeballs can not be underestimated. Most of the group was enthusiatic about the medium. However, we did have two members that were more cautious and did not see how it can be useful. They raised questions as to it’s revelance and also to privacy. These are important questions to ask and for anyone working in Social Media to be aware off.

Especially on Twitter there are on hard and fast rules in regards to how much to share or what is revelant to share. This can be terrifying for people unaccustomed to social media and concerned about their privacy. And yet, this is were the conversations are happening. A recent client who teaches in university was frustrated with her students constant use of Facebook. She decided to join them there and make use of the medium to enhance her teaching.  One person in our session gave the example of the light bulb. When it was invented not everyone may have wanted to use it.  Eventually, it was everywhere and if you didn’t want to use it you literally had to stand in the dark.

For businesses, artists, and individuals, if you are not participating in social media in some way, you may soon find you are standing in the dark. It is the social media professional’s responsibility to make this transition as smooth and as painless as possible. To understand that #tweetspeak is more then learning about hashtags and RT, its about empowering people to use social media to support their work, causes, and self.

“Because the kids DEFINITELY don’t play” in Toronto: They sing, rap, dance, CREATE,

Published at May 15, 2011 in Music and Toronto. 1 Comment

It has been a packed few weeks. A 1 love TO shuffle party, an opening for a show in the Contact Photography Festival, Hot Docs (where I saw Power of Love Film, Mama Africa, and Mighty Jerome), the private screening for Made in Canada, a chance to check out Rap City, and Bryan Espiritu‘s first solo art show “Because the Kids Don’t Play” and I’m sure there are a few things missing on this list.

Scratch from the legendary Roots Crew performs on Rap City.

On Friday night I looked around at 99 Sudbury, and saw a packed, young energetic crowd all in attendance to support Bryan Espiritu who himself just turned 30 and BTKDP. It’s a reoccurring theme in this city, young people of all backgrounds not only coming out in support of but participating in, contributing to, the culture of the city. Its what makes Toronto alive, it’s what makes the city as Black Thought said when he performed here in Sept. “so hip hop”.

Paintings from BTKDP by Bryan Espiritu, May 13th 2011,

People ask me why I came to Toronto and why I stay. I came because the Canadian Film Centre’s MediaLab gave me the opportunity. But it was a musician friend (way back in 2007) who first asked me “when was I coming to Toronto?”. My response was “Isn’t it cold there?” After a long series of fated events, I ended up driving across the border for what was supposed to be a few months. I choose Toronto over SF or staying in NYC because there was music here, there was art here, there was air here. The reason I stay here is because everywhere I look I see young people doing well.

Nowhere is perfect or free from problems that plague artistic communities (lack of funds, cliques, quality control, etc..) Yet, Twenty and thirty somethings in this city don’t spend their time fighting wars, or working mind-numbing jobs just to pay off massive student loan debt and have health insurance. These facts combined with a healthy dose of government funding for community organizations like The Remix Project create a vibrant music and art scene. A scene that has barely scratched the surface of it’s potential.

(Note to Canada’s now majority conservative government, recognize the value you have in this. Think carefully before you cut funding, raise tuition, or give to many tax breaks. I grew up in northeastern Ohio and have seen how tax breaks have destroyed another city on a lake. I lived in NYC and have seen how student loan debt de-moralizes talented creative would-be entrepreneurs.)

BTKDP shows the ability of young artists to bring 600 plus people from across the city, across ethnicities, in the name of art. Hip hop came out of the collision of cultures in the South Bronx. Yes, Toronto you are ‘so hip hop’, a new breed of hip hop that embraces inclusive diversity, that adds painting and photography to graffiti as the visual component, that expands musically to include house beats, reggae vibes,and more, that uses social media to spread the word, and that promotes the 1 love ethos. And to all the young creative persons in Toronto, don’t stop now you’re just getting started.

peace and love,

New York, New York and the DIY Wedding

Published at May 4, 2011 in NYC-Events. 0 Comments

I was in New York a few weeks ago. I was there for several reasons, one of them being the Wedding Celebration of my oldest friend. She did most of the work for the event herself or with the help of friends. On Thursday night we made origami heart garlands and baked desserts for the after party.
It was a great night at iCi in Brooklyn and the decorations and thought that went into the evening were beautiful. I’m now on a mission for my friend to create her own tumble-log that would feature her own DIY projects. Tumblr simplifies the blogging process (great for novices), looks great on a phone, and is great for SEO.
For people, who might be intimidated with the pressure of creating and promoting a blog but still would like have an online presence, Tumblr is a great tool. It’s also pretty great in general and I can’t wait to see how it develops.

The private dining room at iCi in Brooklyn with my friend's handmade decorations.