Xeni Jardin for #followfriday

Xeni Jardin is an individual who triumphantly navigates a state of conscious transformation and gives us all something to watch and learn while at the same time remaining mysterious. She's not above-it-all--she's in it.

Her tweets from Guatemala were magnificent, and completely different than her tweets from Los Angeles, or, come to think of it, New York, or any other city that she visits. In 140 characters, she paints the portrait of the *tone* of a place on par with Truman Capote.

DIP on Boing Boing (Boinged by Xeni, twice and Cory, twice).

140 Conf Demonstrates "Twitter's Domination & Scope"

Diandra Louarn working at the recent 140Conf.

[Dancing Ink Productions Intern, Diandra Louarn, a journalism graduate student from Paris, France, recently participated and worked at the Twitter-based 140Conf. Her report on the conference follows.]

By Diandra Louarn.

Last week I spent two intense days working as a staff member for Twitter's first “140 characters conference” in New York City. Over 500 people showed up, among them major actors of Twitter's revolution such as Ann Curry, Wyclef Jean, Chris Sacca, Justine Ezarik, Tim O'Reilly, Rick Sanchez along with Dancing Ink Productions' team Rita King and Joshua Fouts.

The format was 10- to 20-minute micro conferences moderated and led by guest speakers expounding on diverse topics related to Twitter's trends and its infinite possibilities. Plunging into this cutting edge and super excited community felt like I had literally jumped into the effervescent heart of the “Imagination Age” for 48 hours. I tried not to drown in the wild ocean of computers commenting – I should say “twittering” - each unique detail of the conference. What a fascinating picture, I thought: All the attendees, eyes riveted on their screens, were interacting with each other through tweet exchanges. Both speakers and attendees were equally enthusiastic and more than willing to connect and share their ideas in an effort to make a difference.

Twitter is establishing a new set of rules, which are reminiscent of innovations, improvements and changes that arose earlier in the 20th century, after the Great Depression. Depressions, crises and recessions often bring a deep need for cultural evolution. It follows a theory I believe in called Kondratiev Waves. The theory argues that capitalist societies cycle in 50- to 60- year waves. Viewed through this prism, Twitter is earning a legitimate spot within the current global transformation that is shaking the economic, politic, cultural, and communication models of today.

How 140 characters can matter

Throughout the 140 Conference, people expressed a strong desire to build something serious together and using Twitter to define these new rules. There was no need to convince any one of Twitter's impact. The critical role of Twitter was demonstrated during the first panels of the conference, which discussed Twitter's possible role as a communication tool during the civil unrest following the Iranian elections.

The “Twitter as a news gathering tool” panel with Ann Curry of MSNBC and Rick Sanchez of CNN attributed Twitter with playing a fundamental role in their work as journalists. Rick Sanchez expressed that social media is not a gag, rather it is a tool to change the world. Ann Curry added that, now, news that would not otherwise be available or accessible in mainstream media becomes accessible because of Twitter. It is the chance to know what is happening now, accurately. She also noted that this is only the beginning and we all need to take responsibility, step up and care about the things that really matter.

These examples make me believe that the potential of Twitter is endless and hopeful. Further, because it has an international context, Twitter will likely continue to grow over the next few years.

Conversely, many of the 140 Conf attendees were critical of Facebook, not only because it is a competitor and the leading social network, but because they couldn't see any serious and professional aspects to be developed within Facebook community. It didn't seem to bother anyone that this so-called "unexploitable community" represents over 200 million people while Twitter, despite an amazing monthly growth of 1382%, remains under 10 million. This makes it seem like challengers to Facebook or Myspace will only be more carefully considered for their grass root potential. But I think the revolution of social media has to be considered in the wholeness of its movement. Twitter and Facebook are, for me, interconnected and they don't serve they same purposes, much like two different TV channels.

I don't believe it is necessary to place such a heavy burden on social media and denigrate its social nature. Twitter, Facebook, Myspace and their competitors became famous, first and foremost, because they were playful. Their strengths come from people's desire to connect regardless of any cultural, political or social criteria. Most of these people aren't concerned about current issues of the day, and yet these people constitute what makes social media so successful. This extraordinary diversity makes the social networks stay social and avoids turning them into restrictive professional networks only.

Because we are local and global citizens

Social media, more then ever, has the extraordinary capacity to give a global echo to ideas created by ordinary citizens. I feel lucky to get to live such an immersive experience in the US. The 140 Conf reminded me that everything I like about the US is how citizens are able to federate behind social and cultural values. I had the opportunity during the two days of 140 Conf, to meet extraordinary journalists whose values and ethics increased the passion and interest I have for journalism. When I return to France in a few months, I will keep my experience as a true gift influencing my personal leitmotif for the basics and ethics of my future profession.

Each internet user doesn't necessarily have something to say or feel like stepping up to make a difference but, from now on, what matters is that we have the tools of expression and change at our disposal.

In the end, 140 Conf was not only about Twitter even if Twitter is currently seen in the US as the new leader influencing news gathering new procedures and stakes. It demonstrated its strong impact and bright future more than once during diverse international crises, where Twitter basically built the bridge between citizens and information at the global scale.

To me, the most significant aspect of those 48 hours remains Ann Curry's statement in which she said that says that American and international news judgment is dramatically evolving. I think she artfully raised the question: How are new communication and interaction tools redefining the world?

Other 140 Conf panelists discussed whether or not Twitter's disruptive breakthrough was a positive change for US news judgment. I think this is an amazing and genuine attempt to open minds and bring awareness to an evolving subject. As a foreigner, I am always surprised by the organization of news in the US shows that seems to prioritize local news and barely pays attention to international issues. Yet Twitter redefines the rules by creating a buzz that allows any kind of information to reach global audience and eventually end up on the news anchor's desk. Judgment is not taught; it is continuously changing, partly because the world is getting more and more connected and each local citizen can bring something unique.

How to Use a Smartphone During a Meeting

Alex Williams wrote "At Meetings, It's Mind Your Blackberry or Mind Your Manners" for the New York Times.

Is it really either/or?

Williams describes a person who took up space at a meeting thumbing away for an hour and a half, playing a racing game. This type of person, I suspect, will soon be rendered moot in the hungry riptide of savvy, talented and creative people who are starting to shape the Imagination Age.

The article goes on to review the mix of reactions various companies have to the use of iPhones and BlackBerrys. One company advises its clients to have its employees turn off devices during meetings (strategic error--why not try taking breaks for checking smartphones periodically instead of cutting employees off from any and all chance of attending to business and/or achieving a work/life balance?)

This made me laugh:

"Beyond practical considerations, there is also the issue of image. In many professional circles, where connections are power, making a show of reaching out to those connections even as co-workers are presenting a spreadsheet presentation seems to have become a kind of workplace boast.

Mr. Brotherton, the consultant, wrote in an e-mail message that it was customary now for professionals to lay BlackBerrys or iPhones on a conference table before a meeting — like gunfighters placing their Colt revolvers on the card tables in a saloon. “It’s a not-so-subtle way of signaling ‘I’m connected. I’m busy. I’m important. And if this meeting doesn’t hold my interest, I’ve got 10 other things I can do instead.’"

Like the cocky thumb-racer on the edge of extinction described above, this kind of worker will soon also be baffled, on the sofa, wondering how it all went downhill so quickly. The point of smartphones is not braggadocio, although we've all seen the type, as if touching a device connotes someone-more-important on the other end. Sometimes this type of person seems like Tom Cruise playing Ben Stiller in a movie, or the other way around, I often find.

The point of devices is the depth of the connections that get facilitated by their existence. The people who understand this will dominate the new economy and culture through authentic engagement.

As for the meetings where speakers are being drowned out by typing--you'd better hope your audience is tweeting your comments and giving you your own hashtag, otherwise maybe they really aren't interested, and its time for new content.

*Artificially High Savings*

Jon Taplin asks: will the politicians listen to the people?

I just came across this intriguing post about the implications of an increase in American savings at the individual level.

This issue requires serious immediate consideration when new economic models and projects are measured for sustainability and value in The Imagination Age.

On November 24, 2008, I attended this event:

State of the World: Asia
insights on key priorities driving consumer behavior and policy decisions in Asia

November 24th - 8:30 a.m.-10:30a.m.

Ritz Carlton 50 Central Park South, Salon One

The leadership discussion will center on the findings of the Gallup World Poll Asia:
a 3 year analysis of the priorities and challenges facing consumers and citizens
across Asia from Gallup’s unique network of frontline pollsters.

The briefing and discussion was led by Dr. Rajesh Srinivasan, Gallup Senior Scientist Asia and Markus Jaeger, Deutsche Bank, Global Risk Management Team.

Dr. Srinivasan used a phrase that day when presenting the findings to describe rural Chinese thrift: artificially high savings.

Artificially high savings? Can savings can be "artificially high?" And if so, what are the implications, benefits and pitfalls of such a condition?

Life is Either a Daring Adventure or Nothing

What if there were interesting places that everyone could go to, interesting activities that everyone could participate in . . . everyone but you? How would you feel? People with disabilities find interesting ways to do things to overcome obstacles just getting through every day. You may not be aware of it, but if you’re active in Second Life, chances are you interact with someone with a disability.

Helen Keller Day in Second Life is a 24-hour event that will be held on Saturday, June 27 at the four The Ye, Olde, Supporte, Faire sims.

Contact person: Saxet Uralia

Linden Lab is collaborating with and assisting Virtual Helping Hands and a coalition of community volunteers who are proud to announce Helen Keller Day in Second Life. Helen Keller Day is a community-event exploring how and why to employ, educate, entertain, and engage everyone through virtual worlds.

Helen Keller Day is a day that is set aside for information acquisition, education, exploration of employment opportunities, social engagement, and enjoyment of arts and entertainment… There will be vendors, employers, presentations, and pure, unbridled fun.

It’s a day dedicated to raising our level of awareness for our fellow Second Life residents who cope with disabilities. At some time in our lives, we’ve all felt what it feels like not to be able to participate… not to be included. Knowing how to include someone with a disability, and make them feel welcome, is an important social skill, and a small but significant kindness that we can all benefit from and feel good about.

Participants will meet people learn things, get freebies, and be entertained for their efforts.

You will hear keynote speakers Keller Johnson Thompson, the great grandniece of Helen herself and Linden Labs Education and Healthcare Developer, John Lester, aka Pathfinder Linden. You will hear from experts in the fields of virtual education, employment, social engagement and entertainment. There will be building contests featuring skilled builders doing accessible builds before our virtual eyes. There will be a world premier “movie” featuring “Max,” the virtual guide dog developed in Second Life for SL users who are blind or sight impaired. Also featured will be an exhibition of Max's abilities, a fashion show, chess, a Braille chat display, dancing, singing quests and storytelling... even a virtual goldmine!

There will be experiences designed to spark the imagination and “see” and “hear” the world with all the senses in new and thought provoking ways. Join the pioneers in virtual worlds who are inspired by the spirit of Helen Keller to explore ways in which everyone can participate…and create a world that richer for all.

Please come and learn, connect, explore, be entertained, and pick up freebies while sharing this positive and uplifting experience with us.

SL is about as “barrier-free” an environment as it gets - People who cannot walk in real life can fly and teleport here in SL. Some, however, are not as fortunate: Deaf and hearing impaired people can be unwittingly excluded from voice chats, and people who are blind or visually impaired still face massive challenges in being able to use the highly visual 3D environment at all – Which is why Helen Keller Day is coming to Second Life, Saturday, June 27th. It’s a day that is set aside for 24 solid hours of information, education, exploration of employment opportunities, arts and entertainment, and social engagement, at the four The Ye, Olde, Supporte, Faire islands. There will be vendors, employers, presentations, and mainly… fun.

Throughout all that, Helen Keller Day is about consciousness raising.

Video of 140Conf Panel in Digital Diplomacy & Cultural Collaboration

Jeff Pulver has posted videos from the two days of the 140Conf, including our panel on Digital Diplomacy & Cultural Collaboration, which is embedded above. (Yesterday we posted the transcript of Rita J. King's speech.) Thanks again to our panelists for participating.

We were the warm up act for Wyclef Jean, who did not disappoint. His yarn about a persistent fan named Hector is laugh-out-loud hilarious. I'm posting his video below.

So Farsi Good

My #followfriday recommendations:

@mashable: Facebook Releases Persian Translation

@TimOBrienNYT: Google will now translate between Farsi and English.

The Ethics of Changing Your Twitter Location to Tehran

At the #140conf in NYC yesterday I served on a panel moderated by Joshua Fouts, Digital Diplomacy and Cultural Collaboration. (Video archive of the panel is here.) 44 tweets and retweets were generated by the comments, and I received several requests for fielding ethical questions related to the use of Twitter as well as the publication of Twitter names in a major publication. I wrote a statement prior to the panel, and while I didn't deliver directly from the written comments, that statement, which sums up my position, is pasted below:

Twitter’s #iranelection demonstrates that the digital culture is tied irrevocably to the physical world. The digital is real.

The developing ethics of cultural collaboration can help us avoid turning this magnificent tool for greater understanding into an instrument of further destruction through misinformation, a tragedy made all the more ironic for its motivation: the desire to meaningfully connect with others or, in the case of #iranelection, to participate in the world’s first digitized revolution.

Understanding issues related to anonymity and the creative construction of digital identities is critical. In 2001 I wrote a cover story for the Village Voice, “Terms of Service: Sweaty Scenes from the Life of an AOL Censor.”

“Just as playing Dungeons & Dragons doesn’t turn a kid into a wizard, pretending to be a homicidal maniac on line doesn’t make a man a killer. But what it does make him is one of the greatest ethical dilemmas facing modern society.”

Last night one of my friends called after midnight because she needed to know how to use Twitter so she could follow #iranelection. “What is RT?” she asked. “What is RT?”

“It means retweet,” I said. Then I explained the hashtag, and the etiquette of including handles in a retweet, and editing to stay within the 140 character limit.

“People are switching their locations to Tehran,” she said, “to protect protesters.”

I've been hearing people suggest this constantly in the last day, but is it the right thing to do? It might serve a purpose, but won’t it also deliberately obscure the ability of Iranians to communicate with one another? And won’t it give the impression that more Iranians are tweeting at a time when many people have reported that Iranians they follow have stopped?

Is switching your location to Tehran if you’re really not in Tehran ethical?

“But people are dying,” my friend said. “Look, is it unethical for a person in Second Life to create an avatar that can walk if that person is really in a wheelchair in the physical world? In that case, lying serves a purpose, to transcend limitations.”

I do not believe that creating an environment in which a paraplegic’s avatar can walk is the same as listing one’s location as Tehran. Human beings are well capable of suspension of disbelief, which amounts to trusting one another to create a collaborate narrative that highlights the most authentic aspects of how we see ourselves and one another, to explore, to push the boundaries of what it means to co-create the mixed-media, mixed-reality world in which we live.

Twitter is important. Clay Shirky just gave a TED talk to the State Department, and the State Department asked Twitter to postpone a shutdown to keep more Iranians communicating.

TED founder Chris Anderson said,"Spend half an hour looking at the #iranelection stream on twitter and browse some of the vivid individual accounts of what's happening on the ground. Then see how a massive number of non-Iranians have begun declaring their solidarity. Feel nothing? (Are you human?!)"

We will move from here toward augmented realities and telepresence. We cannot go backward from this evolution in human consciousness, but the road ahead will be dangerous as the shift occurs. We are forming a sense of global ethics that sits like an overlay map on a three-dimensional framework of different rituals, customs and systems of belief. We are doing this together.

New British Council Report: "Breakthrough Cities"

The British Council, one of our collaborators (see Rita J. King's 2008 essay "The Emergence of a New Global Culture in the Imagination Age") has just released a new report called "Breakthrough Cities" about how to mobilize creativity and knowledge in cities. The report explores a number of different options for facilitating this, including games, and centers around a concept they call the "Urban Ideas Bakery," which is "a 2-3 day creative process for the developing of innovative solutions for social and urban challenges."

It's an easy-to-read report with some good ideas and a refreshingly global perspective. We will follow it with interest.

Thanks Andrew!

Olivier Knox

Olivier Knox covers Congress and Politics for Agence France-Presse, the world's oldest and third-largest news agency.


I received the below invitation today in Second Life, and if not for the fact that I'm already committed at that time I'd definitely go to this event.

You are invited ....

Event title: Washington Political Correspondent Olivier Knox Live in SL
Sponsoring/hosting institution: Virtually Speaking
Date: Thursday, June 18
Times: 6pm - 7pm SLT
Locale - InWorld Amphitheater

Olivier Knox covers Congress and Politics for Agence France-Presse, the world's oldest and third-largest news agency.

This is a very timely moment to speak with him. AFP has been providing breaking in depth coverage of the situation in Iran. We'll also chat about the impact of twitter on breaking news and social organization have come to the fore.

Olivier was an AFP White House correspondent from December 2000 to January 2009, operating out of the veal pen-sized workspace where they kept him so he didn't develop any unsightly muscle mass. (not from RJK: This is exactly what the press release said. I suggest that if you only skimmed the last sentence, you might consider reading it again).

Prior to chronicling President George W. Bush's tenure, Olivier covered then-vice president Al Gore's White House campaign. From 1998-2000, he covered the US Congress, including then-president Bill Clinton's impeachment and subsequent Senate trial. Before that, he was an editor/reporter on AFP's English Desk in Washington, a job he took after graduate school. Olivier is the son of a French mother and an American father whose French astounds native Francophones. He grew up in Middlebury, Vermont and Paris, France.

Virtually Speaking with Jimbo Hoyer is a regular public affairs program of Inworld Studios, featuring live, in-depth, intelligent conversations with opinion leaders before a virtual studio audience. Programs are simulcast on Blog Talk Radio. CS Kappler is the alternative show host. Widget Whiteberry dresses the set and promotes Virtually Speaking on the net. Pebea Quandry creates avatars for our guests. Dire Lobo manages tech and the site.

Bookem Streeter stocks the books at Jackson Street Books online , Pb Recreant provides support - and DJs afterwards.

Iran, Twitter, Ethics and the Virtual World

Our panel (Evan O'Neil of the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs, me, Josh [we are both Senior Fellows at the Carnegie Council] and Andrew Kneale of the British Council) had to rock at the #140conf in NYC today--we were opening for Wyclef Jean, who made it known just how far he'd go for a fan. I didn't chase him into the bathroom to get the below picture but if I had, I have a hunch he would have posed on the throne, and signed an autograph on a square of paper to boot.

Josh moderated the panel. I spoke about the evolution of ethics within the digital culture. 44 tweets and retweets resulted, including one very compelling ethics query related to the use of revealing Twitter names in a major publication.

Dancing Ink Productions was well represented! Our intern, Diandra Louarn, worked at the #140conf and will be writing about her experience.

Will the Revolution be Digitized?

Andrew Sullivan, on the Daily Dish, provides a list of Twitterers from Iran such as the above account, attributed to MirHossein Mousavi, whose loss in the election is being protested in Iran. John Perry Barlow reports on Twitter that the young Iranians he follows have fallen silent.

Brian Stelter of the New York Times, an avid Twitterer, meanwhile, wrote an article to document criticism of CNN's coverage of the protests across Iran:

Untold thousands used the label “CNNfail” on Twitter to vent their frustrations. Steve LaBate, an Atlanta resident, said on Twitter, “Why aren’t you covering this with everything you’ve got?” About the same time, CNN was showing a repeat of Larry King’s interview of the stars of the “American Chopper” show. For a time, new criticisms were being added on Twitter at least once a second.

Andrew Sullivan, a blogger for The Atlantic, wrote, “There’s a reason the MSM is in trouble,” using the blogosphere abbreviation for mainstream media.

CNN said, “We share people’s expectations of CNN and have delivered far more coverage of the Iranian election and aftermath than any other network.”

The Story of a Culture: Who are *You*? Who are *We*?

This is me. Who are you?

Hello, members of the digital culture, wherever you're from in the physical world! I'm on a panel at the #140conf on Wednesday, and I'm going to use *us* as an example of what I mean when I say "digital culture exists first in the physical world."

Does the digital culture cheapen our human connection? I don't think so. I haven't met many of you in person, but I've known you for years (yeah, you, Mac Tonnies!) Others, I've known for years in the real world, but we don't even follow each other on Twitter (what's the deal, Clifford Pickover?) Some, I've had the magical experience of getting to know first in the digital ether and then in person (including Josh Fouts, Cory Doctorow, Alice Taylor, Alexis Madrigal, Tish Shute, Clay Shirky, all manner of IBMers, Philip Rosedale, Jeff Joerres, Grady Booch and countless others who have become a global tribe).

I almost forgot to mention the Copper Robot!

I have work relationships with some of you via Skype, on a constant basis (Christa Dellaripa), and others are friends from third grade (Jenny Roman-Taylor, gorgeous mother of two who throws a softball like nobody's business, I will visit you soon in the physical world, I promise!) who, realizing that I have no friends on Facebook, joined Twitter and gets nearly instant replies. There's a level of access and adaptability that we have now in our relationships, which have grown stronger as a result of the candor and creativity we cultivate together within the digital culture.

On Wednesday, I'm planning to make a very brief but direct case for why the digital culture is the ultimate tool for public diplomacy at a time of unprecedented collaborative creativity. I'd love to hear from all of you about how you view the global tribe you've come to find within the digital culture. Who are you? What does it mean to be a member of the digital culture?

Please leave a comment on the post and I will create my statement for Wednesday in part from what I learn from you. Please pass the link along. Retweet! :)

Not So Secret Anymore

Shira Lazar interviews two Victoria's Secret models on the red carpet from the Webby Awards. (Lazar also interviewed Tim Berners-Lee, who invented the Web, and many others. She got an animated response by asking Berners-Lee a good question about his daily internet routine). Victoria's Secret won for Best Fashion Site. Photo above is a still from the video.

The models are enthusiastic about the launch of the Victoria's Secret Facebook fan page earlier that day. Purpose: to see what the fans want. I hope they're getting an extra zero tacked to their salaries for that additional task. A Facebook page for the brand's PINK products has 1,251,485 members.

Journalistic Experimentation and Creative Diplomacy

The family of detained journalist Laura Ling is sharing information on Twitter, which is, in itself, part of the key to unlocking the puzzle of journalism's evolution. Laura Ling and Euna Lee have been detained in North Korea since March 17, and their best bet might just be creative diplomacy. (Click here for official information, current status and back story).

Journalism can be fatal

Yesterday at the Incentive to Innovate conference, I clapped when Arianna Huffington noted, from the dais, that the debate about saving newspapers is much less important than saving journalism. The battle to free Euna Lee and Laura Ling has become unmistakably emblematic of the growing hostility from and toward North Korea, but it is also a chance to take stock of a field that has gained unprecedented new power: journalism.

Risking one’s life for freedom is a prized American value, and journalists, like soldiers, are often on the front lines of this battle. This is The United States of America. We might argue about the details, but our free press is a necessity in order for us to maintain our overarching national identity at home and abroad.

734 journalists have been killed on duty since 1992 (among them, tragically, is Dan Eldon, who was murdered by a mob in Somalia in 1993 along with three colleagues. My career as a journalist was inspired by Dan Eldon. Invisible Children, boingboinged today was also originally inspired by Dan’s work and life).

Of the dead journalists, 72% were murdered (others died in crossfire or other instances). Political groups are suspected to have executed 32% of the killings, with government officials at 18% and military suspects at 5.9%. Journalism is an extremely dangerous job for those, like Euna Lee and Laura Ling, who work to uncover dangerous truths about the current status of the human condition.

Can journalism be safer and more effective?

While heartbreaking clemency pleas from Lee and Ling’s families and the petitions circulated by global citizens continue to gain momentum, a larger problem that affects the entire industry must be tackled at the same time: how can we make journalism more effective and at the same time, safer?

The debate about the medium in which news is delivered isn't nearly as critical as protecting the lives of the people who are dedicated to documenting the truth.

We can’t give up on the full consequences of what it means to have a free press, any more than the fear of death, capture or injury on the battlefield will ever stop soldiers from enlisting, but we can respond smartly to geopolitical challenges on the path to documenting dangerous realities with a mix of increasingly sophisticated techniques that will soon involve augmented realities and telepresence (lest the industry get comfortable with the notion that the current switch from print to digital is the only hurdle).

Digital interactions strengthen real human bonds

Check out the author of the Liberate Laura site, Richard Horgan:

On April 26th, Pulitzer Prize winning New York Times foreign correspondent Nicholas Kristof tweeted (@NYTimesKristof) that there was “No Twitter page – yet” for Laura Ling and Euna Lee, the Current TV journalists detained since March 17th by a deluded North Korean regime. Los Angeles freelance entertainment journalist Richard Horgan (@filmstew) read this tweet and, motivated by both a personal interest in the case and a Twitter acquaintance with Ling, decided to take up Kristof on the Twitter challenge. Thus, @LiberateLaura was born and with the help of some generous Twitter page followers, this companion WordPress blog.

Last week, I met Wired writer Alexis Madrigal in the Vinegar Hill neighborhood in Brooklyn, where we discussed the fact that membership in the digital culture has given us access to our global tribe--those individuals who are, based on unique and utterly indefinable personal metrics--closest to one's own way of seeing the world.

Conversely, we now have access to those with radically differing views, which is just as valuable, because it creates an opportunity for conflict mitigation, humanizing of the other, before violence is created by ignorance and fear. To accomplish this, equal thought needs to be given to the philosophical development of new skills that make the most of the tools that will become increasingly ubiquitous in the creation of an ongoing human drama--the ultimate mixed-media, mixed-reality program. Which brings us to the Governator.

Kim Jong-Il crazy about Hollywood movies?

In addition to keeping a tight watch on events and links, Liberate Laura publisher Horgan offers his own opinions on how to free Ling and Lee, such as sending in the Governator to take action for reasons that actually made sense instantly, as improbable as that seems:

True, the Governor of California does not have extensive foreign relations or diplomacy experience. Nor am I trying to suggest capitalizing on any echo of the fictitious scenarios he once made $20 million enacting (though how I wish he could travel back in time to March 16th and counsel Lee, Ling and their cameraman Mitch Koss to abort their next-day trip to the border).

No, the reasons @schwarzenegger might prove a uniquely valuable choice are three-fold:

1) As sitting Governor of one of the world’s top economies, he has the requisite stature;

2) Because he is a “fresh face” choice, he also represents possibly in the eyes of the North Koreans a more emblematic reflection of the seriousness of the U.S. government;

Kim Jong-il is (still, presumably) crazy for Hollywood movies.

Why might this work?

I recently attended a meeting at which a major plan for creating a new public diplomacy outreach strategy was discussed. Josh Fouts, the former founding director of the USC Center on Public Diplomacy, is the Chief Global Strategist at DIP, and we spend a significant amount of time working on this subject, which is evolving in many of the same ways as journalism.

A famous photograph of Louis Armstrong playing the trumpet amid a crowd of Egyptian children was projected and we wondered: Who do we have in the United States that can pack that kind of star quality, charisma and meaning into a critical foreign diplomacy task for ultimate success?

I know he's busy with a budget crisis and all, but I can't help thinking that Arnold has always been cut out for a lofty profile. There's just something about him; a mystique that can move mountains.

Maybe it’s just wishful thinking, because I can’t stop thinking about Laura Ling and Euna Lee, wondering what they must be dealing with at the moment and admiring the courage it took to accept this assignment at all. Their conviction is a warning shot in the field, and the implications of the disturbance will be far-reaching. The time of great journalistic experimentation and diplomatic creativity has begun.

Spencer Zuzolo, Rita J. King's recent appearance on "Copper Robot"

Spencer Zuzolo of Lafayette, Louisiana non-profit 3D Squared (about which we have blogged) appeared alongside DIP's Rita J. King on a recent episode of "Copper Robot," hosted by Mitch Wagner in the virtual world of Second Life. The above video highlights parts of that appearance, which describe the work of 3D Squared from the voice and avatar of its creator. Many thanks to Second Life's Zen Paine and Treet.tv for the editing and recording assist.

A Live Broadcast on Swine Flu from a World Where Germs Can’t Be Transmitted

"Live from the AUC Virtual Newsroom: The CDC on Swine Flu." Broadcast quality video from the May 16, 2009 live event with the CDC in the AUC Virtual Newsroom produced in collaboration with Ill Clan Animation Studios.

This morning, Thursday June 4, 2009 Lawrence Pintak (co-director of the AUC Virtual Newsroom project with Dancing Ink Productions) appeared on CNN to discuss President Barack Obama’s speech from Cairo, Egypt.

A Live Broadcast on Swine Flu from a World Where Germs Can’t Be Transmitted

On Saturday, May 16, 2009, the AUC Virtual Newsroom featured Glenn Nowak and Jay Bernhardt of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), members of Global Voices and journalists from 12 countries in a discussion about Swine Flu and the transformation of media. Walid Al-Saqaf, represented the journalists and bloggers. Al-Saqaf is the former editor-in-chief of the Yemen Times and currently the Founder and Administrator of YemenPortal.net. "There is something about Second Life that is good and that is that you can never get contaminated by any disease even though you meet millions of people," said Al-Saqaf, to the audience in the virtual newsroom, in Cairo and on the web.

Lawrence Pintak, Director, Kamal Adham Center for Journalism Training and Research at The American University in Cairo (and newly appointed Dean of the Murrow College at Washington State University) who hosted the event said, "This has been an adventure for all of us ... One story that the whole world is dealing with these days is swine flu. Here in Cairo, the government has ordered that every single pig be killed. That’s something the WHO and other experts oppose. So we thought it appropriate to use this unique virtual bridge to allow our group here in Cairo – and bloggers participating in this event around the world – to learn a little more about how to get to the truth about the disease in order to better educate their audiences. For that, we have turned to the Centers for Disease Control."

Overcoming Limitations on the Free Flow of Information

Rita J. King, CEO and Creative Director of Dancing Ink Productions, moderated the panel: "Before the event, we met with many of the participants to discuss the free flow of information they wanted to achieve. The CDC is new to social media but is setting an example among government agencies. The journalists and bloggers are from 12 different countries. Some are dealing with various limitations in the struggle to deliver accurate, meaningful information to their respective audiences."

King, who is also an investigative reporter, is the author of "Big Easy Money: Disaster Profiteering on the American Gulf Coast," and co-author of the newly published book, "Race, Place and Environmental Justice After Hurricane Katrina."

Joshua S. Fouts, Chief Global Strategist at Dancing Ink Productions offered, "This event once again demonstrated the power of digital culture and in this case digital diplomacy to create new opportunities for cultural dialog across time and space."

A New Approach to Global Dialogue

While this was the first time the CDC has participated in a live broadcast from Second Life, the agency already had a headquarters set up within the virtual world when they were invited to participate in the broadcast from the AUC Virtual Newsroom.

The CDC has recently started to explore the use of social media and provide links and resources for an increasing number of followers. Currently, @cdcemergency has over 240,000 followers.

Many of the bloggers and journalists who had been new to Second Life for the Inuagural Broadcast from the AUC Virtual Newsroom arrived to the event customized, familiar with how to communicate and navigate within the space.

The broadcast was streamed live to the internet by TREET.TV (watch entire archive here), and anyone watching from around the world could watch the broadcast and communicate in live real time chat with event moderators and participants in Second Life.

Glenn Nowak, Director, Division of Media Relations, Office of Enterprise Communication Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Jay M. Bernhardt Director, National Center for Health Marketing at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) both already had avatars.

Jay Bernhardt, who heads the social media operations told the audience, "I recommend people visit the CDC social media website On that site it lists a lot of different things people can get access to. Some are subscriber based like Twitter feeds for example and you can sign up for any or all of our Twitter feeds, which obviously can be mobile enabled."

Glen Nowak offered these thoughts on the fact that people around the world rely on the CDC's data, "What we're trying to do with people living in developing countries when it comes to things like novel flu viruses or other health threats is we're trying to raise awareness of what the health issues are. We're trying to give people a perspective. We're trying to give them the information we have about how much a threat this does pose."

The Classic Smackdown as a Cure for Stuffing It

Kara Swisher and Robert Scoble's public fight has (so far, at least..) stopped short of "yer momma" but hirsute minions have been invoked. Seesmic CEO Loic Le Meur, shown above, wasn't the only person to LOL.

Web 3.0 or 2010 Web?

I don't know enough about the argument to take sides, and I'm not into short-term categorical names for what amounts to an evolution in human consciousness. However, on a day when Twitter was shut down in China, it was fun to see such a rip-roaring back and forth exchange.

E-Motion: First Column

DIP's intern, Diandra Louarn, a native of Paris, France, will be posting a weekly column about her work at Dancing Ink Productions. Her first submission is below. Diandra is doing graduate work in journalism at New York University.

Yesterday, as I was heading back to my apartment in Manhattan, I randomly discovered a pretty wall fountain between two gigantic midtown stones buildings. And like coming out of nowhere, I heard over my shoulder, "Don't give up, you'll be fine," whispered by this smiling homeless guy, right before he disappeared, as fast as he showed up. Although I walk those streets million times a week, I am still amazed by the magic of New York City. Each corner is a new adventure, each block a new surprise. Walking in New York City streets is the particular sample of the best life has to offer in terms of its most unpredicted, most stunning and most exciting aspects.

As a matter of fact, working at that DIP is simply like walking in Manhattan.

I started to work at DIP last January. Since then, amazing projects and crazy ideas, keep coming out of the blue, everyday. But the first days as a newbie are always delicate and this time, the stakes happened to be be slightly different: Brand new environment, distinct labor culture, non‐native language and of course a different country... the adaptation period was holding some challenges! The hardest was to find my place within this fascinating cutting‐edge company, which means in DIP language, to jump, create my opportunities, make it happen. This 'go‐getter' attitude also requires a continuous self‐questioning and a working maturity strong enough to handle what became a real state of mind. As well as New York City, DIP doesn't sleep, and once you get involved with DIP it naturally ingrains as a part of your life and affects positively the way you perceive the surrounding world.

Through the E‐motion column, I will try, for the next coming weeks, to cover what is happening behind DIP's curtain, using my own words to report the unceasing news, actions, and events within the insatiable source for creativity embodied by the web. DIP is starting a busy and exciting summer. More than just a company, DIP will keep offering their unseen and exclusive positions, policies or projects on what they call 'The New Global Culture and Economy in the Imagination Age'. I will let you know what I learn.

As a 22 year‐old European girl, trying to make her way out of this gloomy crisis climate, it is very encouraging to see a such an 'always‐in‐motion company' that believes in the future... Now, you can might be able to imagine where this column title, E‐motion, comes from.

140 Conf: Digital Diplomacy & Cultural Collaboration

I'm pleased to be moderating a panel in a few weeks at the upcoming June 16 & 17, Twitter-themed "140Conf." We blogged extensively last December about how the Israeli Consulate of New York was hosting a Twitter press conference as a new venue for public diplomacy outreach. Since then, governments, non-profits and NGOs have expanded their cultural outreach efforts using Twitter. Our panel will be exploring how Twitter is used for digital diplomacy, public diplomacy and cultural outreach.

Panelists include (with pictures from and links to their Twitter selves, natch):

Andrew Kneale from the British Council.
Andrew Kneale is the Transatlantic Project Coordinator at the British Council, the UK's international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities. Based in Washington DC, he joined the British Council in 2006 working first in education before taking up a role developing Transatlantic Network 2020 -- an intercultural dialogue project aiming to bring new energy to the transatlantic relationship, and build coalitions of young European and North American influencers to take collaborative action on global issues. Andrew previously worked at Qorvis Communications -- an independent public relations agency in Washington, DC. He is originally from the UK, but moved to the US when he was a teenager. Andrew holds a BA in Political Science and Psychology.

Michael J. Friedman from the US State Department.
Michael is Division Chief of Print Publications at the U.S. Department of State, Public Diplomacy division. He leads a team that supports U.S. public diplomacy by creating book length manuscripts, article anthologies, poster shows, and other materials that "tell America's story" to an international audience.

Evan O'Neill from the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs. (You can also find Evan twittering here.)
Evan O'Neil is managing editor of Global Policy Innovations magazine. He has been with the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs since October 2002. During this time, he worked on the Council’s Empire and Democracy Project, coordinator of the Fellows Program, and on numerous publications.

Rita J. King, CEO and Creative and Creative Director of Dancing Ink Productions and Senior Fellow at the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs. She is an award winning investigative journalist and artist.
She has authored or co-authored numerous reports on Digital Diplomacyvirtual worlds for public diplomacy and cultural dialog. Her work has been widely profiled, including by CNN, The New York Times, the BBC, The Chronicle of Higher Education, MSNBC, NPR, the Christian Science Monitor and The New York Times. For seven years while working as an investigative reporter, Rita’s primary focus was reporting on corporate culture. This work culminated in her report, “Big, Easy Money: Disaster Profiteering on the American Gulf Coast,” followed by a civil rights quest with the president of the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self Development across the Deep South. She now specializes in strategic development and creative content for a new global culture and economy.

More information about the 140 Conf can be found here. Thanks to Jeff Pulver for the invitation and hosting the conference.

Deen Tight: Islamic Hip Hop Documentary

Official trailer from the new Muslim Hip Hop documentary, "Deen Tight"

One of the ongoing discussions in the foreign policy and especially public diplomacy/cultural outreach parts of government over the past eight years has been how to engage Islamic cultures. In 2003 I was part of a group that suggested we send US Muslim Hip Hop artists on tour overseas much like Dizzy Gillespie did for the State Department in the 1950s. The above documentary trailer is an example of how far we have come since those conversations.

In fact, a number of artists have worked to highlight how global Hip Hop as an art form serves as a cultural bridge. Joshua Asen, creator of the documentary "I Love Hip Hop in Morocco" produced the film out of his years living in Morocco following September 11. (For those in the New York area, there will be a screening this Saturday, June 6 at 6:30pm at the Brooklyn Museum.)

We experienced the power of art dramatically when we launched our Digital Diplomacy project, Understanding Islam through Virtual Worlds, a year ago in Doha, Qatar and witnessed the spontaneous hip hop performance in Farsi and Arabic respectively by Iranian hip hop artist Yas and Palestinian hip hop artist Muhammed Mughrabi.

In our project we discovered that art itself -- specifically digital art -- was a gateway for cultural dialog and discovery.

Hat tip to Kait Foley at Inside Islam for the link to the above documentary trailer.

What is a promise to be ethical worth if ethics are unclear?

People on Twitter discuss the new business school ethics oaths taken by recent grads (written about in the New York Times article, A Promise to be Ethical in an Era of Immorality." Are such oaths a meaningless gesture or a step on the right direction?

This is a period of ethical assessment. What is a "promise to be ethical" worth when it isn't entirely clear where the line is between profit and the greater good? Many people, from undergraduates to seasoned executives, are working together to tackle this massive ethical question, and significant progress is being made coming to terms with the fact that systems have to change in order for authentic ethical oaths to be meaningful.

Joel Bakan's book and film "The Corporation The Pathological Pursuit of Profit and Power," explains: The corporate legal entity under present law is considered a person. That person, based upon it's personality and characteristics, Bakan argues, is an irresponsible, remorseless, superficial, reckless psychopath. But the people who compose it are not, as the ethics oath suggest, aware of the collective result of their contributions toward the psychosis. The intrinsic and extrinsic results of the decision-making process are not always clear at the time they manifest.

I was with Joel Bakan during his NYC premiere party at the Avalon (which I still think of as the Limelight). While I interviewed him, a guest drifted by dressed as the businessman in silhouette on the front of Joel's book. I can still see him now. He carries a briefcase. Floating above his head, suspended as if in air but actually attached to a thin wire, is a feathered white halo. From the back of his ubiquitous stuffy dark suit, a devil tail trails.

The people who work for corporations are not unearthly demons that slime up out of sulfurous caverns filled with "clean coal," despite the mandate to place profits above all else, even at the peril of the planet and the people who inhabit it. Those people are just regular folks, getting up in the morning, getting dressed in dry cleaned suits, grabbing their briefcases and carrying the full weight of the angel on one shoulder and the devil on the other.

The dialogue between these two opposing forces has been blurred, like listening to chants in a foreign language. The words are still being translated. Once that painstaking process occurs, the words have to be synthesized into concepts across many boundaries. Dangerous individuals and organizations that don't care about the long term or even the immediate widespread effects of greed will continue to exist well beyond the ethics oath, and few among them, it can easily be imagined, will have a problem pulling out the ethics card to prove his good intentions.

Bloodsport greed went mainstream, but it was only a matter of time before the game collapsed. Nevertheless, the fact that business school grads are thinking along the lines of ethics oaths, reactionary or not, demonstrates the beginning of a new era that should be seriously supported.

“I don’t see this as something that will fade away,” Diana C. Robertson a professor of business ethics at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, told the NYT's Leslie Wayne. “It’s coming from the students. I don’t know that we’ve seen such a surge in this activism since the 1960s. This activism is different, but, like that time, it is student-driven.”

Talented entrepreneurs have been newly released into the wild and they're looking to create space for themselves and their work in a changing world at a time of unprecedented collaborative design capabilities. They have a great responsibility on their shoulders to design fair, transparent and authentic systems that not only minimize harm to the planet and the people on it, but to pave the way for the maturation of increasing interconnectedness. This will require an ethical commitment to fearlessness, transparency and accountability. At the MBA oath site, volunteers are asked to get involved. Count me in.

Rita J. King is an investigative journalist who specializes in deciphering the consequences and motivation of corporate culture (read "Big, Easy Money: Disaster Profiteering on the American Gulf Coast" or the newly published "Race, Place and Environmental Justice After Hurricane Katrina") and a Senior Fellow at the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs. Rita is the CEO and Creative Director of Dancing Ink Productions (DIP), a company that works in the service of a new global culture and economy in the Imagination Age, which is marked by innovation, forward motion, and a new way of seeing.