newmedia

Ten Twitter lessons from AAJA Seattle Innovation Salon at TASTE

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AAJA student member Peter Sessum, a three-time recipient of Northwest Journalists of Color scholarship who writes for The Daily, documented the event and wrote up 10 Twitter lessons he learned at our AAJA Seattle’s first Innovation Salon:

1. Be yourself. While Twitter can be used for business, it is expression of who you are. Relationships with customers can be built if your Twitter has that personal touch. Better to be loved, or hated, for who you are than to be invisible.

2. Don’t retweet compliments. It comes off as self indulgent and will get you deleted from Becky Selengut’s feed. It is enough that all of the sender’s followers can read it, all of your followers don’t need to as well. Simply reply a thank you and move on.

3. Be mindful of which account you are using. For the professional Twitter, posting a personal Tweet, or replying to a friend, from a business account reflects on the business. Remember to log out and log back in from your personal account.

4. Deleting posts. Recent news proves that deleting can be just as troublesome as the original post. Twitter is in real time and instant gratification. There is a feeling of urgency to post right away or retweet before there is a gap in the posting. In a professional setting, take a moment before posting. It will get read, might as well have it right.

5. Misspellings. Make a correction and move on. Do not be too critical of another’s mistakes; it will happen to you too someday.

6. Inflection is lost when typing. A public forum is not the place to give someone new a taste of your sense of humor.

7. Do not argue over twitter. A healthy exchange of ideas is good, shouting matches are not. In online fights there are no winners, only losers.

8. We are all connected in the Twittersphere. Retweets are a good way to link people you don’t know with people you don’t know. Selengut’s beautifully convoluted story that linked up strangers illustrates how to help one another. As a result, you may end up with jam.

9. There is still room for improvement on Twitter. Creative people will find new ways to utilize twitter at 140 words at a time. Limitations do not stifle imagination, they inspire innovation.

10. Most importantly, know when to unplug. Despite all the “connections” on Facebook and Twitter, it isn’t real interaction. Sit down with friends and family without phones and computers. Have some real connections, there will be plenty of time to Tweet about it later.

AAJA Seattle holds first innovation salon at SAM

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AAJA Seattle moderator Karen Johnson leads a panel on applications for Twitter. From left to right: Karen Johnson, managing editor of SeattleMag.com; food writer Matthew Amster-Burton; PR-pro Hsiao-Ching Chou; and chef Becky Selengut.
From left to right: Karen Johnson, managing editor of SeattleMag.com; food writer Matthew Amster-Burton; PR-pro Hsiao-Ching Chou; and chef Becky Selengut.

AAJA Seattle held its first Innovation Salon on May 25 at TASTE Restaurant at Seattle Art Museum.

These salons are aimed at getting journalists outside their comfort zones. By hearing from innovators in marketing, media, technology and other fields outside traditional media, journalists can learn about innovative concepts, integrate this thinking into their own work and become innovation leaders in their organizations.

Our first salon, not surprisingly, focused on the culture of Twitter and how various users wield it to have conversations, cultivate sources and disseminate their messages – all of them outside traditional newsrooms.

The stylish downtown restaurant, between the foodie suppliers at Pike Place Market and the social-media startups in Pioneer Square, was the perfect setting for journalists, foodie bloggers, marketing executives and tech analysts to gather for an evening of stimulating conversation.

The event was co-sponsored by AAJA Seattle, TASTE Restaurant and Seattle Magazine. About 40 people attended the event, which was designed to be small to encourage meaningful conversations and networking.

After chowing down on delicious appetizers prepared by TASTE chef Craig Hetherington, the audience heard from a panel moderated by Karen Johnson, online managing editor of SeattleMag.com.

The panelists were food writer Matthew Amster-Burton; PR-pro Hsiao-Ching Chou; and chef Becky Selengut.

Shoutouts to Johnson, online managing editor of SeattleMag.com, for organizing the panel and venue; chapter treasurer Nicole Tsong for providing support; and volunteer Jillian Dinnie, who sold tickets and collected money for AAJA Seattle at the door.

Want to learn more? Read AAJA student member Peter Sessum’s post on 10 things he learned about Twitter etiquette from the salon.

Ethnic media web project, “Sea Beez,” launches

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Sea Beez project

On Wednesday evening, a new ethnic media web project held its launch party at The Seattle Times.

The project is led by AAJA member Julie Pham, who is managing editor of the family-owned Northwest Vietnamese News.

Sea Beez has its seed funding from the City of Seattle Department of Neighborhoods and represents the newest “hive” for New America Media, the nation’s first and largest collaboration of 2,000 ethnic media organizations reaching 51 million adults. The NOLA Beez launched in January. The other hubs are LA Beez and San Jose Beez. LA Beez is part of a New America Media’s Digital Divide initiative, funded by the Ford Foundation.

Our AAJA Seattle chapter, the Seattle Association of Black Journalists and Chen Communications all co-sponsored the party.

About 80 people attended the event.  They included ethnic media executives:

  • Assunta Ng, founder and publisher of the NW Asian Weekly and Seattle Chinese Post
  • Gustavo Montoya, president and CEO of El Mundo, a Spanish-language weekly newspaper
  • Olga Kazakova, a journalist with Russian World Newspaper
  • Andrew Taylor, president of Japan Pacific Publications, which publishes The Soy Source Seattle, a Japanese biweekly newspaper
  • Mohamud Yussuf, publisher of Runta, the largest East African language newspaper in Seattle.
  • Grace Zhang, Seattle bureau chief for The China Press.
  • Sandy Close, executive director of New America Media.

    • The evening began with networking and attendees admiring The Seattle Times’ Pulitzer Prize winning stories. Thanks to AAJA student member Peter Sessum for shooting photos.

    Attendees read about previous Seattle Times Pulitzer Prizes

    The evening gave AAJA student members, like Andrew Doughman, a chance to practice networking and connect with editors looking for freelance contributors.

    UW journalism student Andrew Doughman is networking

    During the presentations, Julie explained the overall goals of the Sea Beez project.

      Sea Beez project director Julie Pham

      Sandy Close told the audience that all of the “hives” have a Queen Bee, looking at Julie with a smile. Great work to all involved!

    Eating While Tweeting: Social Media Lessons from Seattle’s Fooderati

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    You can have your food, Twitter and iPhone all at the same time

    AAJA Seattle’s 2010 INNOVATION SALONS:
    Join us for a lively evening of food, drinks, networking and twitterific conversation at TASTE Restaurant at the Seattle Art Museum.


    “EATING WHILE TWEETING: SOCIAL MEDIA LESSONS FROM SEATTLE’S FOODERATI”

    For AAJA Seattle’s inaugural Innovation Salon series, we bring together a group of the city’s hungriest tweeters: PR-pro Hsiao-Ching Chou, food writer Matthew Amster-Burton and chef Becky Selengut.

    Journalists, businesses owners and just about anyone else with a message is scrambling to carve a presence in emerging social media markets. This panel represents a micro-community that adopted social media and pushed its boundaries since before it was cool.

    Moderated by Karen Johnson, Seattle magazine online managing editor, this intimate salon will focus less on the Twitter basics and more on the broad lessons, stories and musings from a foodie community that has embraced, and in turn, been transformed through social media

    DETAILS
    Event: “Eating while tweeting: Social media lessons from Seattle’s fooderati”
    When: Tuesday, May 25, 2010
    Where: TASTE Restaurant at Seattle Art Museum, 1300 FIrst Ave., Downtown
    Time: 6 p.m.
    Cost: $25/$20 for AAJA Seattle members (includes appetizers provided by TASTE)
    Buy tickets: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/112278

    ABOUT THE PANELISTS
    • Matthew Amster-Burton Food writer and author of Hungry Monkey: A Food-Loving Father’s Quest to Raise an Adventurous Eater
    • Hsiao-Ching Chou Partner and social media director at Suzuki+Chou Communimedia, writer and former food editor at the Seattle P-I
    • Becky Selengut Chef and co-author of The Washington Local and Seasonal Cookbook

    SPONSORS
    AAJA Seattle
    Taste Restaurant at Seattle Art Museum
    Seattle magazine

    The Asian American Journalists Association-Seattle chapter is a local, non-profit professional and organization. Since 1985, the chapter has provided scholarships for students, professional development for journalists and service to the community in the Pacific Northwest. For more info on AAJA Seattle visit: www.aajaseattle.org

    (Images courtesy of CIO.com, Flickr Creative Commons: photos by The Mooncake Box, smcgee, highway.skylines. Graphic by Hot Chai Media)

    Attention students: Just a few days left to apply for scholarships from AAJA Seattle

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    With May 1 quickly approaching, here’s another reminder to apply for one of three scholarships from AAJA Seattle.

    Scholarships include the Northwest Journalists of Color, which offers college scholarships of up to $2,500; the Founders Scholarship, which provides registration for the upcoming AAJA National Convention and the AAJA Seattle/911 Media Arts Student Scholarship, which provides funds toward rental equipment or classes at the 911 Media Arts Center in Seattle’s University District.

    More details and a easy-to-use application form can be found here.

    Hurry! All applications must be postmarked by the deadline.

    Journalism That Matters goes to Detroit, June 3-6

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    AAJA Seattle was a proud co-sponsor of the Journalism That Matters event at the University of Washington in January. Check out a video put together by a documentary filmmaker who was at the event.

    The video features interviews with three AAJA Seattle members (Sanjay Bhatt, Mike Fancher and Ranny Kang) and you might spot other chapter members who were there, including Athima Chansanchai, Joaquin Uy, Alex Stonehill, Sam Louie, David Boardman, Caroline Li, Ava Van, Naomi Ishisaka and Carina del Rosario.

    Journalism That Matters will be holding a similar forum in Detroit with a special focus on diversity and communities of color.

    Here’s the invitation from the JTM site:

    Participate in “Journalism That Matters Detroit — Create or Die: Forging communities that initiate, incubate and innovate.”

    This focused, three-day gathering of results-driven, action-oriented participants will discover, assess, shape and create forward-looking enterprises focused on key elements of community — diversity, shared values, tolerance, participation and developing youth.

    JTM especially invites persons of color — journalists, entrepreneurs, programmers, technologists, bloggers, videographers, venture capitalists, artists, funders, educators and all who have an interest — to explore how voices often unheard or misrepresented can reshape the future of journalism.

    Need multimedia training? AAJA Seattle has you covered

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    I’m thrilled to announce a NEW member benefit for AAJA Seattle members.

    Members in good standing are now eligible for discounted rates on classes, computer lab time and rental equipment at 911 Media Arts, Washington state’s premiere non-profit for new media art and documentary film.

    Why is this important now?
    In today’s tough job market, media professionals with multimedia skills have the edge. 911 Media Arts offers classes in video and audio editing, Adobe Creative Suite 4, documentary film production and web design and programming. 911 Media also rents video cameras and time in its Mac lab.

    What does this mean for AAJA members?
    Members can take advantage of the benefit in two ways: They can immediately get big discounts on 911 Media’s classes, obtaining the same rate as 911 Media’s members, who pay $45 a year for membership. In addition, AAJA Seattle will offer scholarships to professionals and students in 2010 to defray the cost of classes, equipment rental and lab time.

    What classes can I take at 911 Media?
    Check out 911 Media’s website for the list. Bare Bones iMovie starts Monday, Feb. 21. Beginning Final Cut Pro starts March 11. “Integrating Photoshop, After Effects and Final Cut Pro” starts March 22. If there’s a topic or skill you’re interested in but don’t see on their site, let AAJA Seattle know because 911 Media has agreed to develop customized classes for our members’ training needs.

    I’m unemployed. Can AAJA help with the cost of training?
    There are lower cost online training sources as well, but AAJA Seattle has decided to offer three $250 scholarships to professional members this year that cover half the cost of their 911 Media classes. For student members, AAJA Seattle and 911 Media also are providing for two $500 scholarships that cover the entire cost of their 911 Media classes.

    How do I make sure I get the discounted rate?
    Go to the class listing on 911 Media’s website — http://www.911media.org/education/classes — and click on the link to the class you’re interested in. For example, click on “Beginning Final Cut Pro,” and when the class detail page is loaded, scroll down to the bottom of the page where you’ll see Google Checkout. You’ll select the “Member Price” when you check out. 911 Media will verify with AAJA Seattle that your membership is current.

    How do I apply for a scholarship to take a 911 Media class?
    We will likely use the same process that we use for our other scholarships. Applicants will be required to write a 250-word statement that describes how the scholarship will help them in their career and how they could use their skills or volunteer time to benefit the chapter. Stay tuned for more details.

    If you have any questions, send an email to aajaseattle@gmail.com and use keyword “911 Media” in the subject line. We hope our members will enjoy this new benefit! We are in the middle of our membership renewal drive, so if you could please renew your membership or encourage your colleagues to join AAJA, I would appreciate it. It’s more important than ever before that we sustain our community of journalists and support each other.

    Cheers,

    Sanjay Bhatt
    President, AAJA Seattle chapter

    Are the news needs of ethnic communities here being met?

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    It’s amazing to me that there’s never been a meeting convened of all the ethnic media in the Pacific Northwest. We tried to get some editors and news directors to attend a recent conference at the University of Washington.

    The conference –  Journalism That Matters: Re-Imagining News & Community in the Pacific Northwest — brought together more than 200 people who have more than a passing interest in journalism. Many were former newspaper writers. Many also were community activists, artists, and educators. There were hardly any business development or marketing people present, and we really needed their voices in the conversation.

    Yours truly represented AAJA Seattle, and I was encouraged to see some people of color there. AAJA National Board representative Athima Chansanchai was there for most of the conference, as was Naomi Ishisaka, communications director for OneAmerica. So was Yuko Kodama, a producer for Reclaim the Media. There were visits from Assunta Ng, publisher of the Northwest Asian Weekly, and Diem Ly, editor-in-chief of The International Examiner.

    I organized a breakout session on Saturday morning by asking this question: What does the news ecology look like for AAPI communities in the Pacific Northwest and what new possibilities can we create?

    More than a dozen people joined the discussion. I am listing them all (in no particular order) because I am so grateful they took the time to participate (apologies to any latecomers I left out):

    • Kenneth Gillgren of Gillgren Communication Services
    • Caroline Li, AAJA Seattle VP of Events
    • Derek Wing, communications director for the National Asian Pacific Center on Aging
    • Sam Louie, a counselor at Asian Counseling and Referral Service
    • Rosalinda Mendoza, WA State Farmworker Housing Trust
    • Nicole Ciridon, Features Editor, The Daily (UW)
    • Tima Chansanchai, AAJA National Board representative
    • John Spady, CommunityForums.org
    • Jonathan Lawson, Reclaim the Media
    • Joaquin Uy, News and Public Affairs Director, KBCS 91.3 FM
    • Carina del Rosario, freelance writer/photojournalist
    • Naomi Ishisaka, communications director for OneAmerica

    We concluded with several important directions in which to go:

    – AAJA Seattle should convene a meeting of all ethnic media executives in the Pacific Northwest to discuss our needs and explore gaps in serving our communities. The mapping exercise may lead us to new possibilities.

    – Young minority students could be trained as part of Story Corps to carry out storytelling from their communities, and given opportunities to publish online. These youth could conduct valuable oral history projects by examining their own family and culture.

    – If time and resources were available, it would be useful to bring together community-based organizations, ethnic media and mainstream media for a wider ranging discussion about how do we improve media access. We agreed that a first step is to piggyback on an existing survey process to learn more about AAPI media access and usage in our market.

    Oct. 30 deadline: Residencies for budding audio artists

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    Source: 911 Media

    THE JACK STRAW ARTIST RESIDENCY PROGRAMS offer established and emerging artists in diverse disciplines an opportunity to explore the creative use of sound in a professional atmosphere through residencies in our recording studios and participation in our various presentation programs.

    Deadline: Friday, October 30, 2009
    Applications must be postmarked or delivered by 5:00 pm on the due date.

    Applications and more information online at www.jackstraw.org.

    There are three different types of residencies: A writers program, a new media program and an artist support program. Check out the website for details.

    About Jack Straw Productions
    Jack Straw Productions is a non-profit multidisciplinary arts organization dedicated to the creation, production and presentation of all forms of audio art. Jack Straw Productions’ history began in 1962, when a group of artists, educators, and journalists formed the Jack Straw Foundation, which founded KRAB-FM, one of the first community radio stations in the United States. Jack Straw continues to assist artists, educational institutions, and community organizations that are interested in working creatively with sound through our audio production services and recording studios, artist residency programs, educational programs, and community partnerships. Jack Straw Productions has been open to the public in Seattle’s University District since 1989.

    Jack Straw Productions
    4261 Roosevelt Way NE
    Seattle, WA 98105
    www.jackstraw.org
    (206) 634-0919

    Schedule for Saturday’s Choppy Waters conference

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    Please plan to arrive early to find parking and the conference room at Haggett Hall on the north side of campus. If you did RSVP for the networking luncheon, please plan on paying $15 cash when you check in, and help us out by bringing exact change. Thanks!! We look forward to a stimulating day of discussion.

    LOCATION: Haggett Hall – Glacier Room, University of Washington

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