New Mid-City Arts Videos – Upcoming Street Art Events – Vox Humana – Heavy Surveillance

We recently created two new trailers for events this weekend. The first trailer is for the LA Art Machine – VOX HUMANA live painting event at the Los Angeles Art show at the convention center. This features live painting by RETNA, MAC, KOFIE, and MEAR1.

LA Art Machine presents VOX HUMANA x Mid-City Arts x 33third from 33third Los Angeles on Vimeo.

The second trailer is for a live painting event “Heavy Surveillance” at 33third / Mid-City Arts happening on Feb. 20-21 2010 @ 6pm-until featuring T-Kid 170, POSE2, DUSTER (style wars), AXIS, VOGUE, Jim Darling, and Dabs & Myla. The event is FREE and open to the public. Plus there will be a storewide sale.

Heavy Surveillance Trailer – Feb. 20-21 2010 @ 6pm-until @ 33third Los Angeles from 33third Los Angeles on Vimeo.

Purchase Street Art Supplies @ 33third.com

Sree Sreenivasan is a professor and Dean of Student Affairs at Columbia Journalism School and contributing editor at DNAinfo.com.

Ask a journalist about the state of the media and the answer you get may range from dire predictions about  journalism’s imminent demise to cautious optimism. The doomsayers point to falling newspaper circulation, fragmenting TV audiences and the 18,000+ jobs lost in 2009. Sites like PaperCuts, which painstakingly tracked those job losses (and has already noted 815 losses for January of 2010), and Twitter () feeds like TheMediaIsDying, help reinforce the notion that the American media is, well, dying.

For the optimists, this is an exciting time of great opportunities, with more media being created and consumed than ever before. Here’s part of what Joshua Micah Marshall, creator of Talking Points Memo, told the graduating class at Columbia Journalism School last year:

It’s the people who are entering the profession right now that are going to create the editorial models, the publishing models, the business models, that define journalism in the 21st century.

And that is something that’s exciting, it’s a challenge, which, in my mind, totally outweighs the bumps in the road, the instabilities, and the lack of security that journalists face today that maybe they didn’t 20 years ago.

Of course, no one knows for sure exactly where we are headed, but this seems like a time when preparing to deal with the changes ahead would be a good idea.

And that’s what Mashable did earlier this week with its fourth Mashable NextUp NYC, as part of Social Media Week. Held at the 92YTribeca — the hip, downtown version of the venerable 92nd Street Y of the Upper East Side (“free Wi-Fi” announces a chalkboard at the door) — the event attempted to look at the changing media landscape and the evolving role of journalists in it. When Mashable’s Adam Hirsch asked former contributor (and my student at Columbia J-school) Vadim Lavrusik to do a public conversation with me on the topic, we decided to bill it as “The Future Journalist: Thoughts from Two Generations.”

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The Tra-digital Journalist

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Once upon a time, I used to be a young, fresh-faced journalist of the future, so it horrifies me that I’ve turned into the voice of an older generation. But Vadim is an example of what it will take to succeed in the future: a balance between the traditional values and skills of journalism, and the digital skills and mindset that are so critical these days. My colleague, Sig Gissler, administrator of the Pulitzer Prizes, coined the term “tra-digital journalist” and it describes Vadim and so many other young journalists today (be sure to read his Mashable post on 8 Must-Have Traits for Tomorrow’s Journalist, which served as a backbone for our discussion).

The concept of the tra-digital journalist is among the many ideas we discussed and we’ve put together our slides below and also have a Twitcam () live-streamed video of the conversation.

 

 

Here are some of the other key concepts that we discussed:

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The Fundamentals Are Critical

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Despite the importance of technology, it’s the fundamentals of journalism that are still critical. The fundamentals include: great reporting and writing, journalistic ethics, specialization by topic or beat, investigative skills, news judgment. Also invaluable, critical thinking and critical reading — too many journalists don’t pay attention to either.

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The Future Journalist Is…

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We identified specific digitally-oriented skills and traits a future journalist would need. These include being:

• a multimedia storyteller: using the right digital skills and tools for the right story at the right time.
• a community builder: facilitating conversation among various audiences, being a community manager.
• a trusted pointer: finding and sharing great content, within a beat(s) or topic area(s); being trusted by others to filter out the noise.
• a blogger and curator: has a personal voice, is curator of quality web content and participant in the link economy.
• able to work collaboratively: knowing how to harness the work of a range of people around him/her — colleagues in the newsroom; experts in the field; trusted citizen journalists; segments of the audience, and more.

 

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Business Items

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We discussed some business-ish skills and traits that are going to be useful.

• an entrepreneurial spirit: having an experimental open-mindedness, being an innovator.
• being entrepreneurial within an existing company: you don’t have to be at a startup to be entrepreneurial; there might be a lot you can do within some large corporations.
• business savvy: understands the business of his/her industry; understand value of content; understand new media business models
• knows & embraces metrics: understands the value and danger of metrics; studies today’s major metrics tools, Google Analytics (), Omniture, Nielsen, Bit.ly, etc
• thinks “Career Management,” Not “Next Job”: understands value of thinking long-term; thinks strategically about career choices; keeps re-tooling

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Be a Permanent Learner

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Most journalists don’t appreciate how much better they’d be at their jobs if they were constantly learning new ideas and skills. Such a learner’s media diet may include:

• Mashable ()
• PaidContent.org
• ReadWriteWeb
• Lifehacker ()
• Poynter, Mediabistro blogs, Mediaite, CJR, etc
• [what would you add?]

Being on deadline or in crisis mode is not the time to try and figure out new technology. When the plane lands in the Hudson, it’s too late to figure out Twitter. When your company starts layoffs, it’s too late to figure out LinkedIn (). Start carving out time to learn new concepts and tools.

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Social Media

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Wouldn’t be Mashable if we didn’t talk about social media. Using the syllabus of my Social Media Skills for Journalists course (developed with adjunct professor Adam Glenn), we outlined what social media can do for journalists:

• find new story ideas, trends and sources
• connect with audience(s)
• bring attention and traffic
• help them create, craft and enhance their personal brands — this point is absolutely essential for journalists to grasp. Once upon a time your work spoke for itself. Nowadays, there’s too much competing for everyone’s attention and you have to make sure you get your work out there and get it noticed.

Smart journalists understand that social media is for listening, not just broadcasting or sharing what’s on your mind.

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Mashable’s Convening Power

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As with most events these days, I learned much from the audience Q&A and the networking sessions before and after the talk. My boss, Nicholas Lemann, Columbia J-school Dean and New Yorker contributor, often talks about the convening power of a place like our school: the ability to bring together influential people to have important conversations. I saw up close for the first time Mashable’s in-person convening power, having experienced its online convening power for a long time now. Attendees included a cross-section of folks doing some of the most interesting work in media today. And, as you will hear in the video, many people in the room knew more about the topic that I did, including Edelman’s Steve Rubel and members of the Mashable editorial team (who, in some ways, are living prototypes of tomorrow’s journalists).

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The Folly of Predicting the Future

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As we say in the slides, the social media scene today is where radio was in 1912, where TV was in 1950, where the web was in 1996. A lot of wonderful opportunities and terrible mistakes lie ahead of us. Predicting the future of journalism at any of those points would have resulted in a lot of wrong predictions back then. While we are sure many of our predictions are going to be wrong in specifics, we have the chutzpah to presume they are right directionally. We welcome your feedback and input.

Connect with Vadim Lavrusik on Twitter (@lavrusik) and via his blog, Lavrusik.com and his new project covering startups in New York City, NYC3.0.

Connect with Sree Sreenivasan on Twitter (@sreenet) and via his Facebook () tech tips page, Facebook.com/SreeTips. His columns about the media and technology run in DNAinfo.com, a Manhattan news site he helped put together with Ameritrade founder Joe Ricketts (whose family just bought the Cubs and Wrigley Field). The syllabus and notes for his Social Media Skills for Journalists course is at bit.ly/socmediaskills and his workshops collection is at bit.ly/workshops. On Friday, Feb. 5, 2010, he is hosting two free webcasts, Basic Twitter for Journalists and  Advanced Twitter for Journalists, one of them featuring Mashable founder Peter Cashmore. Details and archive at bit.ly/columbiajtw2.

Image courtesy of 92YTribeca in New York City

Meh, my advice, DON'T GET A J-SCHOOL DEGREE. I know, I have one. Multimedia skills are way more valuable. Learn to code.

Funny Video: Tiger Woods Featured in Google Super Bowl Ad

This fictional commercial was created by Slatev.com and distributed on YouTube. It is in the same style as Google's television ads.

 

via artdaily.org

Cy Twombly, Untitled, 2007, from Blooming, A Scattering of Blossoms & Other Things. Acrylic on panel, The Broad Art Foundation, Santa Monica. ©Cy Twombly. Courtesy: Gagosian Gallery.

The exhibition opens on February 6 and runs through May 16, 2010 at the Portland Art Museum.

http://www.portlandartmuseum.org/

One of the most important voting law changes in American history has gone almost completely unnoticed, particularly by African-Americans. A new 14-member citizens panel will choose voting districts in the nation’s most populous state-California. Between now and Feb. 15, individual citizens need to nominate themselves to be part of this commission, which will be selected by an obscure group of state employees in the State Auditor’s office.

To apply for the panel, go to http://wedrawthelines.ca.gov
Every 10 years, after the federal census, California and every state in the country – must redraw the boundaries of its legislative and State Board of Equalization districts to reflect the new population data. How these boundaries are drawn affects how people are represented. Previously, these boundaries were drawn by lawmakers, but when voters passed Proposition 11 (the Voters FIRST Act) in the November 2008 general election, that responsibility transferred to the people in the form of a new Citizens Redistricting Commission.

In states like California, regulations affecting voting rights need to be reviewed by the U.S. Department of Justice before they can go into effect to ensure the regulations do not adversely affect voting rights of racial or language minority groups. This process, under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, is commonly referred to as “Preclearance.” On December 18, 2009, the regulations implementing provisions of the Act were precleared by the U.S. Department of Justice. The following was included when initially submitted:
As called for by the Voters First Act, the California State Auditor has created—by random drawing—an Applicant Review Panel (ARP). The ARP is made up of three certified public accountants with at least 10 years of independent auditing experience, as required by the Voters FIRST Act. The three panel members are from the California State Auditor’s Office and are responsible for reviewing the applications of persons interested in serving on the Citizens Redistricting Commission. The ARP will select 120 of the “most qualified” applicants and publicly interview them in Sacramento. The ARP will then further reduce the applicant pool to 60 of the most qualified applicants who will become finalists for selection. Sections 60830-60837 and 60848-60852 of the bureau’s regulations describe the ARP’s role and responsibilities during the process for selecting the members of the Citizens Redistricting Commission.
The Citizens Redistricting Commission will define the geographic boundaries for 80 Assembly districts, 40 Senate districts, and four State Board of Equalization districts so that they contain reasonably equal populations.

The Commission will have 8 ½ months to determine and agree on the districts starting January 1, 2011, through September 15, 2011—when the final maps must be presented to the Secretary of State for certification. During this 8 ½ month period, the duties of the commissioners will be complex and and may be time-consuming, but the Commission can hire staff and consultants to assist them in coordinating the activities of the Commission. However, there will be tasks that only the commissioners can perform. These tasks include, but are not limited to:

• Holding public meetings throughout the State. Commissioners will solicit and hear public input as they determine which communities share common interests and should share common representation. During the hearings, testimony and presentations can be expected to be lengthy. Each meeting will require multiple members of the Commission to be in attendance and many meetings may be conducted in the evenings and on weekends to allow for more public attendance.
• Reviewing and discussing pertinent data used to set geographic boundaries for districts. This information includes the census data from which the districts will be drawn, computer modeling of the census data to create potential districts, and the discussion and compromise that accompanies such an important process that will impact California for 10 years.
• Hiring staff and directing their work. Some of the tasks may include: drafting and promulgating regulations; appointing a staff director; scheduling meetings and hearings, including the advanced notification of interested parties; maintaining records of the Commission’s deliberations; overseeing payroll, travel reimbursements, equipment purchases, and maintenance; and communicating with the entities that will request information regarding the Commission’s progress.

• Voting and approving the final maps developed. The final maps will be the product of the redistricting process after public debate and compromise through different iterations of proposed district maps.

The time each commissioner will devote to the process and which tasks will be assigned to each individual commissioner will be up to the Commission. However, carrying out the duties of the Commission should be first and foremost for each commissioner during the 8 ½ month period in which the Commission must define the state Senate, Assembly and Board of Equalization district lines.

    

	Click HERE
	Full Episode

  392: Someone Else's Money

This week, we bring you a deeper look inside the health insurance industry. The dark side of prescription drug coupons. A story about Pet Health Insurance, which is in its infancy, and how it is changing human behaviors—for example, if you have the pet health insurance, you bring your pet to the vet more often, and the vet makes more money and...well, you can see the parallels. And insurance company jargon, frighteningly decoded.

 

This show was a co-production with NPR News, and was one  of two shows we did on health care: the other is More Is Less. We also have more health care resources here.

Prologue.

Host Ira Glass talks to Rob Lamberts, a doctor and blogger in Georgia, who describes the crazy world of medical billing, where armies of coders use several contradictory different systems of codes...and none of it makes us healthier. (5 minutes)

Act One. One Pill Two Pill, Red Pill Blue Pill.

Planet Money's Chana Joffe-Walt explains why prescription drug coupons could actually be increasing how much we pay, and prevent us from even telling how much drugs cost. (13 1/2 minutes)

Act Two. Let's Take Your Medical History.

Alex Blumberg and Adam Davidson recount how four accidental steps led to enacting the very questionable system of employers paying for health care. (11 1/2 minutes)

Act Three. Insurance? Ruh Roh!

Planet Money correspondent David Kestenbaum investigates the growing popularity of pet insurance, and what it reveals about insurance for people. (14 minutes )

Act Four. Sorry Johnny... It's Only Business.

This American Life producer Sarah Koenig reports on a very surprising reason why insurance companies dump members, and how this reasoning contradicts President Obama's argument for what will lower health care costs. (11 1/2 minutes)

Song: "Give Me the Cure," Fugazi

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RECURRING WEEKLY:
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Tuesday’s with Exectec
7:30 PM @ D’Amore’s Pizza Connection on Westwood
1136 Westwood Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90024

Thursday Lunch
12PM @ Santa Monica/ 3rd

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FEBRUARY EVENTS
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Thursday, February 4th
GDP Talk (co-sponsored by TechZulu)
6:30-10:00pm
The Belamar Hotel
3501 North Sepulveda Blvd.
Manhattan Beach, CA

Speakers:

Scott Bell, Founder, Gross Domestic Product, Inc. — Everything Your Broker will Never Tell You

Greg Ferenstein, UC: Irvine Researcher, Fast Company Expert Blogger — American Education: “What is Litrarcy?”

Kurt Daradics Founder of CitySourced, Co-Producer Digital Family – The Future of Civic Communication

Adam Mefford, Co-Founder MindShare.LA — The iPod Generation Goes To Work!

Get tickets early or pay $15 to get in, all of which will go to charity, or $0 if you are a bit strapped for cash at the moment.  Each ticket will provide: Heavy tray-passed appetizers & Hosted Wine/Beer for 2 hours. Discounted cash bar for sprits.

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 Thursday, February 4th
Meeting of the Minds (MOTM)
6:30-10:00pm
Chapter 8
29020 Agoura Rd
Agoura Hills, CA

This month MOTM is holding a dinner with professional trainer, Scott Leese. Scott coaches Olympians, Pro Athletes, & Top Executives how to achieve rapid transformation and peak performance. Scott is also a master practitioner of NLP and will show you ways you haven’t ever thought of to get to the next level in your personal and professional life.

They will be exploring questions like:

- What environments can you create to thrive?
- What are your daily behaviors that dictate success?
- What capabilities do you need to reach your goals?

*Participation is capped at 16 people.  Cost is $50 and includes dinner.

RSVP REQUIRED

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Friday, February 5th- Sunday, February 7th
Gov 2.0 Camp LA
5405 Wilshire Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90036

Gov 2.0 LA is the first west coast unconference on social media and government live.  The event will cover a multitude of themes such as: Language and gov 2.0, women in technology, road blocks and barrier breakers, state and local, the policy pickle and much more.

Show kicks off with an opening reception at the W Hotel Hollywood (6250 Hollywood Boulevard, Hollywood, CA 90028) at 7pm, with the first full day starting Saturday the 6th at 9:00am.

Check out the un-agenda here

Free to attend. Register here

If you can’t make it in person, plug into TechZulu’s live webcast

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Saturday, February 6th
Caltech Enterprise Forum: Digital Media Content and Distribution:
Growing Greenbacks in a Converging Ecosystem
9:00am-12:00pm
California Institute of Technology: Baxter Lecture Hall
Pasadena, California

The digital media ecosystem is growing rapidly with content distributors, mobile devices and social networks connecting users like never before. Navigating this shifting landscape has become increasingly more complex as content converges though myriad distribution channels, and legacy producers and distributors battle among themselves, and a legion of newcomers, to protect their turf. Amid the turmoil, opportunities for enhanced profitability are arising, but will the keys to success solely be found in content creation, or will new distribution models and innovative technologies ultimately determine the winners?

This event will examine the current state of digital content convergence and explore the future landscape for new distribution models with an informative keynote address, followed by a diverse panel of experts from various content channels.

Keynote Speakers:

Albert Cheng, Executive Vice President, Digital Media, Disney-ABC Television Group

Scott Barrow, Co-founder, Media Hog, Former VP of Operations, Napster

Panelists:

Krishnan Rajagopalan, Vice President, Digital Media Technologies,
Motion Picture Association of America, Inc.

Brian Deagon, Investor’s Business Daily

Joshua Wattles, Vick Law Group, Formerly General Counsel of Paramount

Steve Banfield, Consultant, Former GM and SVP, Sony Connect

Moderator: Joe Jasin, Managing Director

Cost $40 on-line registration fee $50 at-the-door.

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Tuesday, February 9th
DealMaker Media & Docstoc Present: February Mixer & Startups Uncensored
6:30-8:00pm
Santa Monica Public Library (Auditorium)
601 Santa Monica Blvd.
Santa Monica, CA 90401

This month’s Startups Uncensored will be on “Google Adsense for Websites”. It will be an open and frank town-hall conversation talking about how to best optimize and monetize your website with Google Adsense.

We are joined this month by two senior members of the Google Adsense team from Mountain View, California who have worked with hundreds of publishers to maximize the revenue they’re able to make with Google Adsense.

The event is free and is followed by a reception and mixer at the Docstoc Offices in Santa Monica by the 3rd Street Promenade.

This event is capped at 140 attendees. Confirmation will be required or your spot will be given up for our waiting list.

RSVP here

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Tuesday, February 9th
ThinkLA’s February Interactive Mixer
6:00-9:00pm
Rush Street
9546 Washington Blvd.
Culver City CA 90232

Member: $25
Non-member: $40

Advanced registration required.

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Wednesday, February 10th
Digital LA presents: The Actor Producer Panel
7:00-10:00pm
SAG
5757 Wilshire Blvd
Los Angeles, CA

We’re teaming up with SAG’s New Media group for our panel on how actors can use online tools to create, develop, distribute and market their web stories
- Creation: Actors skill sets in creating, developing online content
- Development: Developing ur story idea for web compared to traditional media
- Distribution: Beyond just posting it on YouTube: Getting a distribution deal
- Marketing: How to use social media to develop and promote your web series and yourself

Our panelists include:
- Jodi Binstock - Producer Web Therapy starring Lisa Kudrow; (formerly at E! Networks, Disney ABC TV)
- Amber J. Lawson - Babelgum, Comedy Publisher
- Brandon Martinez - Abrams Artists Agency, New Media Agent
- Marc Hustvedt - Tubefilter, Editor-in-Chief; Ex.Pr. Streamy Awards, SAG  @MarcHustvedt @Tubefilter
- Moderator: Kevin Winston - Digital LA founder  @kevinwinston @DigitalLA

AGENDA
7-8p: Check in and networking
8-9:30: Panel, Q&A
9:30-10p Even More Networking

Advance registration required.

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Thursday, February 11th
LinkedOC Presents: Seth Godin
7:00-9:03pm
St Regis Hotel & Spa
1 Monarch Beach Resort
Dana Point, CA 92629

Join us on Thurs. Feb. 11 from 7:00-9:30 pm for an unprecedented night of networking, charitable support for Haiti and evening with Seth Godin–Best Selling author, A-List lecture circuit speaker and marketing guru.

Be prepared to hear game-changing insights about the new rules of marketing. Seth will deliver a 1-hour keynote…a very important and timely message: “How to be Indispensable” based on his new book, “Linchpin: Are You Indispensable.”

VIP tickets still available or be part of TechZulu’s contest to win a ticket.  Details here.

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Thursday, February 11th
TECH cocktail San Diego
6:30pm – 9:00pm
BASIC, 410 TENTH AVENUE
San Diego, CA 92101

We are excited to be bringing our first TECH cocktail event to San Diego looking to help amplify the local technology signal and have fun doing it! Join us for an evening of fun mingling with other technology enthusiasts, VCs, bloggers and entrepreneurs.

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Sunday, February 14th
The Los Angeles PHP Developers February Meetup
3:00pm
Panera Bread
501 Wilshire Boulevard
Santa Monica, CA

Meets the second Sunday of every month at Panera Bread for a mashed up meetup with PHP, MySQL and Semantic Web members.

Exchange ideas and talk about code, architecture, innovation, and open source in general. Talk about how PHP based technology is changing the world. Anyone interested in PHP is welcome!

Visit the official web site

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Friday, February 19th - Sunday, February 21st
So Cal Linux Expo (SCALE)
Los Angeles Airport Westin
5400 West Century Boulevard
Los Angeles, California 90045

The premier Open Source conference in the U.S., now in its 8th year, has content for everyone.   If you’re looking to learn, choose talks from a developer’s track, a beginner track, or one of the three general interest tracks. If you’re interested in chatting with the exhibitors, feel free to wander the Expo floor, with over 80 booths of open source folks eager to talk to you.

If you’re an educator and are interested in what Open Source software can do for you in the classroom, or as an administrator what it has to offer, plan to attend OSSIE, the Open Source Software In Education seminar on the Friday prior to SCALE.

If you are interested in the role women play in the Open Source software field, we invite you to attend WIOS, the Women In Open Source conference, also on the Friday prior to SCALE. If you’d like deeper content than you can get in a 45-minute seminar, check out SCALE University for in-depth training on selected topics.

Full access pass is $60.

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Tuesday, February 23rd
Social Media Club OC: Hottest Social Media Tools for 2010
7:00pm-10:00pm
122 N. Harbor Blvd, suite 110
Fullerton, CA 92832

We have seen an explosion of growth in the use of social media, the tools, the strategies and the people and companies involved in social media. We are going to review these new tools and discuss the value. Expect interaction — everybody gets 3 minutes to share their favorite new social media find for 2010.

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Thursday, February 25th
Digital LA’s: Digital Drinks in the OC
Geisha House
2773 North Main Street
Santa Ana, CA

Come celebrate TechZulu’s birthday at the new Geisha House - Santa Ana.

$10 advanced registration required.