2009 Banff – June 8 & 9 Quick Notes

Have been busily attending more insightful sessions and will blog and post more later. Or you can follow me on Twitter here.

Coming soon:

* Interview with Minister Lindsay Blackett (a followup interview to my first interview)

* Interview with CBC Dragons’ Den Dragon Brett Wilson.

2009 nextMEDIA – June 7th Quick Notes

Updated: 8:43am

I am looking forward to a full day of nextMEDIA sessions and then some partying tonight at the Crossover Cocktail and Opening Reception.

Updated: 12:08pm

Love the nextMEDIA keynote “Interactivity, Creativity & Web Domination” by Janet Kestin, Co-Chief Creative Officer – Ogilvy Toronto. Wow, Janet lead the team that created the Dove Evolution campaign. It was my honour to meet her in person finally. I will definitely blog more and post more video later.

Here are my three previous blog entries about the Dove Evolution campaign. (first one in 2006 Nov)

http://kempton.wordpress.com/2006/11/01/perfect-beauty-campaign-for-real-beauty/
http://kempton.wordpress.com/2007/06/23/doves-evolution-wins-film-grand-prix/
http://kempton.wordpress.com/2007/06/25/congrats-to-pg-saatchi-and-saatchi/

Here are some info about Janet and the talk.

Join Janet Kestin, Chief Creative Officer of award-winning Ogilvy & Mather Toronto, who helped produce some of the Web’s most talked about interactive ad campaigns, propelling brands into worldwide consciousness. (Just check out the cheeky Diamond Shreddies Campaign for Kraft, or the interactive film for female 20 something’s Waking Up Hannah.) Get your creative juices flowing and listen as Janet explains how digital media is changing the nature of creative output. Learn the underground tricks of the trade when it comes to creating interactive digital media campaigns.

* What do you have to do to entice people to experiment with media?
* Is there a prescription for creativity when it comes to digital media?
* How do you create an interactive experience that doesn’t break the narrative?
* Can you ever ensure that content will go viral?
* What would you list as your top 5 creative campaigns?

[more to come]

Minister Lindsay Blackett & Bill 44

[June 9th Update: In total, I conducted two video interviews with Minister Blackett. The first interview was conducted on June 6th and then 8th (see below YouTube videos). I was unprepared for and a bit shocked by the "justifications" and "reasonings" provided by Mr. Blackett to my questions & concerns in the first interview. After further research and readings, I was much more prepared in my second interview and less able to simply accepting Mr. Blackett's "explanations".]

[Note: The goal for this post is to add grounded reasonings to this passionate debate/discussion. Thanks.

I will update this post as more information becomes available.]

Interviewing Minister Lindsay Blackett

Earlier today (June 6th), I met and interviewed Minister Lindsay Blackett for the first time to ask him about some of my concerns about Bill 44 (PDF or see bottom of this post). (see video below)

I pointed out to Minister Blackett that Alberta Teachers Association has expressed serious concerns about Bill 44. To my surprise, Blackett was dismissive and said the union doesn’t speak for all teachers and implied the 20-30 supportive teachers he has spoken to are more representative of the general teachers’ opinions about bill 44. Is the teachers’ union really this misinformed about bill 44?

Your help (please share your grounded comments and insights)

While trying the best I could in my first interview with Mr. Blackett, I was no match against the well briefed and studied minister in the interview and I probably missed many important concerns and potential problems. So I have done more research and conducted a second follow up interview (June 8th) with Mr. Blackett.

*** Two video interviews with Minister Blackett ***

Lindsay Blackett Bill 44 video interviews (June 6th)

Lindsay Blackett Bill 44 video interviews (June 8th)

After further research and readings, I was much more prepared in my second interview and less able to simply accept Mr. Blackett’s “explanations”.

*******

Thanks for all the comments left on this post so far (as of June 8th, 7:17am). Please keep them coming. It is important to have teachers, students and informed readers sharing their informed opinions here.

Thanks to @ChrisLaBossiere at Twitter for the @albertateachers link where I was able to download and read the excellent and fair 20090508 Submission to the Premier of Alberta (highly recommended reading). After reading the submission, I now realize Minister Lindsay Blackett‘s arguments and reasonings are much weaker than his voice or his physical presence.

The following is a selection/excerpts of some of the comments received so far, I’ve added some emphasis. Please keep them coming.

From “Ken Chapman”,
“The Minister is misleading you on teacher reaction to Bill 44. You [Blackett] did a presentation yesterday to the ATA Executive Group and Senior Adminstratin in their strategic planning session. All 60 of them were negatively concerned about Bill 44. They are getting lots of teacher feedback that expresses Bill 44 concern too.“

Note: Ken is also blogging that “Students in Medicine Hat Demonstrate Against Bill 44“

From “John Winslow”,
“Mr. Blackett denies the existence of any opinions contrary to his own. Unfortunately, he never seems to have PROOF that those who agree, outside of the obediant MLA’s, exist.”

From “WhiffofGrape”,
“Over 450 teacher representatives chosen by their colleagues from across the province met at the Alberta Teachers’ Association Annual Representative Assembly over the Victoria Day Weekend. All save one voted in favour of a resolution calling for the removal of the education provisions from Bill 44.

Perhaps Hon Blackett should release all of the letters / emails that he has received relating to Bill 44.“

From ” A. Letourneau”.
“Minister Blackett should speak to his colleagues. I am a teacher, and I called my MLA Hector Goudreau to express my concerns with this bill. From conversations with other teachers, I feel the minister is wrong in his judgement that the majority of us support 44.”

*******

Excerpt from Bill 44 (emphasis added),

9 The following is added after section 11:
Notice to parent or guardian
11.1(1) A board as defined in the School Act shall provide
notice to a parent or guardian of a student where courses of
study, educational programs or instructional materials, or
instruction or exercises, prescribed under that Act include
subject-matter that deals explicitly with religion, sexuality or
sexual orientation.
(2) Where a teacher or other person providing instruction,
teaching a course of study or educational program or using the
instructional materials referred to in subsection (1) receives a
written request signed by a parent or guardian of a student that
the student be excluded from the instruction, course of study,
educational program or use of instructional materials, the
teacher or other person shall in accordance with the request of
the parent or guardian and without academic penalty permit the
student
(a) to leave the classroom or place where the instruction,
course of study or educational program is taking place or
the instructional materials are being used for the duration
of the part of the instruction, course of study or
educational program, or the use of the instructional
materials, that includes the subject-matter referred to in
subsection (1), or
(b) to remain in the classroom or place without taking part
in the instruction, course of study or educational
program or using the instructional materials.

2009 nextMEDIA – June 6th Quick Notes

Updated: 3:13pm MST

* Heated Telus debate this morning at #nextMEDIA. I commend Telus for sponsoring the debate even more people agreed with views expressed by Michael Geist than David Neale (SVP Products & Services – TELUS Consumer Solutions).

* I didn’t have any expectation when I saw the title of this morning’s keynote and I was very pleasantly surprised by how much insights Alexander Manu had packed into his talk. When I find some time, I will take a look of these downloadable book chapters.

*******

The Death of Print: Is There Any Way Out?

Moderator
Don Dodge, Director of Business Development – Emerging Business Team – Microsoft Corporation
Participants
Jerry Brown, Director – PricewaterhouseCoopers
Candice Faktor, Managing Director – Corporate Development & Innovation – Torstar Digital
Mathew Ingram, Communities Editor – Globe and Mail

[Updated: 8:23am MST, June 7th]

Many honest but grim (e.g. lost advertising revenue) insights from Candice and Mathew. Lots (and lots) of stats from Don and, especially Jerry. (In general, I am allergic to stats unless I know precisely how the stats were gathered.)

***

And then I attended the keynote “The Wolf in the Story” by Gary Carter, Chief Operating Officer of FremantleMedia, and Chief Creative Officer of FMX (FremantleMedia’s experimental division). (see below for Gary’s full conference bio.)

Since I’ve attended a talk given by Gary two years ago at Banff (or nextMEDIA?), I know how insightful Gary is. So before the keynote, I went up to say hi to Gary and told him how much I look forward to his talk because I learned a lot from him two years ago.

As expected, Gary’s talk was full of insights (and some with deep references, a few of the references were a bit lost on me). After Gary delivered his keynote, he had a very probing and insightful Q&A session with the audience and also shared with us some of the interesting things FMX was and is doing.

If you have a chance to listen to Gary, go & learn. If you want to follow the company’s activities closer, you can set up a Google news email alert on Fremantle Media.

Conference Bio:
“Gary Carter, Chief Operating Officer of FremantleMedia, and Chief Creative Officer of FMX, FremantleMedia’s experimental division focussed on non-linear, broadband-enabled projects considers storytelling in the digital age. Rejecting a narrow view of the respective roles of the professional storyteller and the amateur audience, he will argue for new kinds of narratives for new kinds of platforms, new kinds of subjects for new kinds of audiences, and new means of production for new means of consumption. And he’ll tell a few jokes. Probably.”

*******

Minister Lindsay Blackett & Bill 44

I interviewed Minister Lindsay Blackett and asked him about a few concerns with respect to Bill 44. I blogged about it in this post.

June 4th, 1989 – The Tank Man & The Gate of Heavenly Peace

Good documentaries help us understand historical event and its context.

Let us remember what happened on June 4th, 1989. You can watch (on the internet) Antony Thomas‘s documentary “The Tank Man” and Carma Hinton & Richard Gordon’s documentary “The Gate of Heavenly Peace“ (YouTube version in Chinese).

P.S.In this post, you can watch a few video clips of Antony at 2007 Banff World TV Festival.

Calgarian protester remembers Tiananmen Square

For the record from Calgary Herald (emphasis added),

20 Years Later: Calgarian protester remembers Tiananmen Square

By Gwendolyn Richards, Calgary Herald

CALGARY – It was a simple act of defiance meant to shatter illusions about the dictatorship of the Chinese Communist Party.

The decision of three young men to lob paint-filled eggs at the massive portrait of Mao Zedong as tension built and more protesters gathered in Tiananmen Square would profoundly change their lives.

Now, as the world looks back to this day 20 years ago when tanks filed into the square, setting off a massacre that put an end to the seven-week protest, the three friends are united again in Washington, D.C.

For Lu Decheng, who has quietly made a life for himself, his wife and three children in Calgary, the reunion was an “exciting moment.”

But it was also marked by their shared history, of prison time when they were worked to the bone, and the psychological torture they all suffered.

“We really escaped the death,”he said through an interpreter.

Lu Decheng has been settled in Calgary since 2006.With help from the Canadian government, his wife and two children joined him last year.

A baby born six months ago was a happy addition to the family.

Conference Board of Canada’s “Reputation”

The recent actions by Conference Board of Canada and its CEO Anne Golden have reminded us the meaning of, “It takes a lifetime to build a reputation, five minutes to destroy it.“

Read this repost by “Curtis Cook, one of the listed authors on the plagiarized Conference Board of Canada reports. Cook’s experience sheds new light on the Conference Board plagiarism story, including interference from copyright lobby funders, the exclusion of deBeer’s research from the report, and the decision to lay blame on Cook, who had left the organization almost a full year before publication of the reports.“

Read the full account by Curtis here.

Looking back, 20 years after Tiananmen Square

CBC radio show The Current: Looking back, 20 years after Tiananmen Square. Very well made show.

Conference Board of Canada Explains Plagiarized Reports

Anne Golden, CEO of Conference Board of Canada, “explains” the plagiarized IP reports on TVO’s Search Engine podcast.

After listening to the interview, I think it is very unfortunate that Ms. Golden failed to directly acknowledge the plagiarism in the report and the failure to explain why different views/conclusions, that are different from Conference Board’s paid sponsor and industry lobby group, are not included.

[via Michael Geist]

Probability News – Quotes I Love

New addition to Quotes I Love,

“News has become instant as it flows around the e-universe. It has almost become probability news as research and fact checking go out the window. Probability news means that you don’t know whether it is true or not, it probably is true, but then again, probably not. Everything is now gossip around the village pump.“
- Margaret Atwood , from York University Alumni Matters

Is this Canadian?

Here is an excerpt from the article “Margaret Atwood: Canadian culture a flickering light bulb” (emphasis added),

Sometimes on, sometimes off, Canadian culture was and continues to be a flickering light bulb, said Atwood.

Presently, she announced, Canada is in the middle of an earthquake. The earthquake, which she described as multi-dimensional, is expressing itself in a variety of forms. “In every area of life, we are doing more with less,” she said. “The so-called cultural industries are under great stress everywhere. The traditional way of doing things is being both eroded and exploded by new technologies.”

File sharing on the Internet has caused a meltdown of the music business with a mortality rate, said Atwood, that was equal to or greater than the Black Death. Google digitization of text, print on demand machines and e-readers are challenging the traditions of Canadian publishing. Newspapers and magazines are feeling the pinch of the move of advertisers to online venues.

“News has become instant as it flows around the e-universe,” said Atwood. “It has almost become probability news as research and fact checking go out the window. Probability news means that you don’t know whether it is true or not, it probably is true, but then again, probably not. Everything is now gossip around the village pump.”

Forty years of tender loving care

Thanks to forty years of tender loving care by Mrs. and Mr. C, we have a beautiful garden (see more Flickr photos). My better half and I aspire to keep a beautiful garden that we and our neighbors can enjoy for years to come and leave to the next occupant when we are ready to downsize.

Half a million views

When I started this blog less than three years ago, I had never expected it would reach half a million views (ever). Today, it passed 500,000 views. (note: I realize some blogs get 500,000+ views a day but they are big “stars” and I am not.)

This blog has nothing fancy, just my musing, ideas & things that I enjoy sharing with you. The following are the top 10 visited blog entries and stats, for the record.

1. Bill Gates’ Daughter – chain mail hoax (34,348 views)
2. Followup on the AAA BBB CCC DDD game (16,821)
3. Norman Rockwell (10,514)
4. AAA game with philosophical twist (7,668)
5. NOBU Hong Kong – a restaurant review (7,171)
6. Implications of Julie Roehm exit from Wal-Mart (6,045)
7. Dyson sucks ! (the best vacuum cleaner) (6,017)
8. Starstruck by Guy Kawasaki, Mary Pickford, PS-69 (5,819)
9. Cashback – a wonderful short film (5,003)
10. Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony: CBC vs NBC (4,282)

P.S. I never thought I and Bill Gates will be “connected” via that chain mail hoax. :)

Gate of Heavenly Peace – 20th anniversary of Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 – 「六四」紀錄片《天安門》

A few days ago, my tears flowed and my heart ached again after I watched the documentary “Gate of Heavenly Peace 《天安門》“. This film, in my opinion, is the most fair minded and comprehensive doc about the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 and the back stories that lead to the deaths and destructions on June 4, 1989 (reports from CBC and BBC).

If you like, you can watch this important and insightful documentary on YouTube Gate of Heavenly Peace 《天安門》 (where you can find the links to all 20 parts of the video).

Here is part 1 (see links for all 20 parts here).