It’s also big because this is around the time every year that the effects of seasonal depression/Seasonal Affective Disorder lift for me and others I’ve talked to. Seasonal depression/SAD is one of the most common types and is related to the amount of sunlight we receive and the shorter winter days. As days like today become more frequent the serotonin levels jump back to normal levels, signaling the return of the shiny happy people you know and love.
Shiny happy people laughing/Everyone around love them, love them/Put it in your hands…
And the return of projects. Life is nothing without projects and I’ve been working on some big ones that I’ll talking about more throughout the year. But right now I’m getting ready for some immediate travel as I get set to ramp up the writing, public presentations and travel starting in April.
Starting this weekend I’ll be on the go most of the month working, writing, meeting with folks, learning and thinking about media, arts and tech and how they relate to social justice, while hopefully stretching out and growing just a bit more as I make the leap into my 35th year (April 10th-Aries bitches!).
This weekend I’m covering Wondercon in San Francisco for another as yet to be announced project. For comics and alt media geeks, Wondercon is part of the holy trifecta of yearly conferences along with Comic Con and the Alternative Press Expo. The comics and costumes are very cool, but I’m interested in media sustainability and innovation so I’m hoping to talk to a lot of publishers and authors about their business models, how technology can level the distribution playing field and some of the realities of running niche media organizations. I know, I know-not nearly as exciting as all the costumed fanboys and 7 foot tall comic book comic book characters I’m sure will be running around. Don’t judge me.
And then next Wednesday, April 6th, I’m part of a massive media panel at the San Francisco Public Library. Sponsored by Society of Professional Journalists “Town Hall: New Media Turns the Corner” is a yearly conversation with local media makers to discuss what’s been done right, what’s been done wrong, and how the industry can survive in an online age. Judging from the lineup I’m guessing that I’m representing the community media angle and I’m actually pretty impressed and excited by the rest of the roster. There are a lot questions and issues I’d like to discuss with traditional and corporate media and this sounds like a good place to begin that conversation. The rest of the panel is:
Brian Farnham, Editor in Chief, Patch.com/AOL
Leland Yee, California State Senate
Anthony Moor, Local News Editor, Yahoo.com
Kwokshu Leung, Exec. Producer Mandarin/Cantonese News, KTSF
Dr. Dina Ibrahim, professor of Broadcast and Electronic Media, SFSU
Barry Parr, media analyst, co-founder of the Mercury Center
Lanita Pace-Hinton, Director, Knight Digital Media Center, UC Berkeley
David Callaway, Editor in Chief, MarketWatch.com, Dow Jones
Pat Kenealy, Managing Partner, IDG Ventures SF
Co-hosts: Rose Aguilar and Hana Baba, KALW-FM; Tom Murphy,SPJ NorCal board member
You can find more info on the SPJ website.
So, then early the next morning I’m on a plane to Boston for the National Conference on Media Reform. The conference brings together activists, advocates, artists and media changemakers from around the country for three days of deep thinking, deep geeking and deep partying (come on, you can’t work this hard for a cause and not blow off some steam. You’d explode). I’m speaking on a panel on community media, citizen journalism and engagement http://conference.freepress.net/session/414/creating-and-sustaining-citizen-journalism on Friday and participating in a social justice Strategy session hosted by MAG-Net http://www.mag-net.org and hopefully popping into the Beyond Books Symposium at MIT. http://journalismthatmatters.org/biblionews/
By then I figure my brain will be buzzing with new media ideas awesomeness and I’ll have a few days to write, get ready for the next project, and celebrate my 35th B-Day (anyone who’se going to be in Boston on the 10th give me a shout).
Then on April 13th I fly to Perugia, Italy for a presentation at the International Journalism Festival. http://www.journalismfestival.com/. I’ll be talking about social media, online tools for journalists and community media best practices. Shouts to ONA for the connect.
Finally, I’m in Rome from April 18th-23rd. The plan is to decompress, shape some of my sure-to-be-frantic notes into something that resembles reporting and make some headway on a creative writing piece I’ve been wanting to focus on. And yeah, I suppose I’ll take a little time away from the computer to actually see the city. It’s supposed to be relatively interesting. Or something.
Then it’s back to the Bay on the 23rd for, well, a break. I’m tired already just writing about it but I’m expecting to get some great experiences and hopefully some insight into the broader world of media. And plus I figure after a long Winter hibernation it’s best to jump back in with both feet. Yeah?
**As he kicks off his shoes, and climbs up onto the high dive.**
