The Ryakuga Blog

Ewipkek Radio from Flat Bay

2012-01-22T04:36:00.000-08:00

On January 19 and 20, 2012, The Flat Bay Band Council hosted a historic community radio event, the first Mi'kmaq radio broadcast in Newfoundland.

Over the 2-day broadcast, youth and elders came together to share stories, music and traditional knowledge from the community. Students from the College of the North Atlantic Community Studies program were also welcomed into the community and assisted in the broadcast, providing technical support with the broadcast and social media promotion.

Some highlights of the broadcast included:

Knowledge about traditional Mi'kmaq drumming with the help of members from Grandmother Drum, Flat Bay's Women's Drumming Circle, and listeners enjoyed recorded and live performances from them.
A history of the Mi'kmaq in Flat Bay was read online by Elder Calvin White and his nephew Ivan.
Information about the upcoming Flat Bay Pow-Wow, taking place July13-15, 2012, and gave listeners a detailed account of what a Pow-Wow was, its importance for the community, and how it worked. Including a discussion of Pow-Wow traditions and expected behaviour of participants.
An interview with Chief Liz LaSaga

In addition to the FM broadcast, Ewipkek Radio was simulcast online, and social media tools were implemented to engage participants from away. Facebook and Twitter were used to promote the event and solicit greetings; the Twitter hashtag #flatbayradio was active with over 40 tweets being tagged. People from Flat Bay who were located elsewhere in the country and world tuned in indicated they were so happy to bring a piece of Flat Bay into their homes and offices for those broadcast days.

Between January 18 and 21 our Facebook page recorded visits from the following towns in Newfoundland: St. John's, Stephenville, Corner Brook, Bell Island, Branch, Mount Pearl, Fogo, Placentia, Baie Verte, Witless Bay and Bonne Bay.

Across Canada, people checked out the broadcast from: Halifax, Winnipeg, Yellowknife, Ottawa, Fredericton, Niagara Falls and Toronto.

Globally, people tuned in from the USA, Greece and Kreuzberg, Berlin.

Ryakuga was honored to be a part of this historic event. We hope that it is the first of many community broadcasts from within the Mi'kmaq community, in Newfoundland and the whole Atlantic region.

Network 12 Handy Social Media Link List

2012-01-13T07:35:00.001-08:00

Here is a list of useful Network 12 social media links for
communication, organization and promotion of the event in addition to
this mailing list. This will come in handy particularly for those who
are planning on participating virtually.

On Facebook
Network 12 Group (formerly Network 11 Group) - currently 59 members -
http://www.facebook.com/groups/network11/
Radio Bell Island Group - currently 318 members
http://www.facebook.com/groups/radiobellisland/
Ryakuga Page - currently 35 followers
http://www.facebook.com/ryakuga

On Twitter
@ryakuga - 77 followers - http://twitter.com/ryakuga
hashtag #network12

Skype Name: ryakuga

Blog
The Ryakuga Blog http://ryakuga.blogspot.com/

YouTube
Channel is in development.
http://www.youtube.com/ryakugacollaborative

There is a handbook for virtual participation available at the end of this link:
https://docs.google.com/document/pub?id=1NbZzbBgat3h38Yf4Dmn9M1PqW4Hlgyih2BmfrSC6Jzk&pli=1

Announcing Community Radio NL - Network 12 Conference

2012-01-13T06:54:00.000-08:00

Radio Bell Island is very pleased to announce that we will host
Network 12 on March 23 & 24, 2012, here on Bell Island. We will have
our radio station set up here at St Michael's High School and will
broadcast with lots of interesting programming from March 19 to 25.
Similar to Network 11 in Bonne Bay, we hope to invite participation
from other Community Radio Enthusiasts from all around the Province
with a particular empahsis on "electronic media participation". This
means to wouldn't have to "physically" be here to take part. However,
for those who would like to come "in person" we hope to facillitate
this as well and are in the process of applying for funding to cover
your travel, accomodations, meals, etc.

Please contact us if you:

1/ would be interested in connecting with us via Skype, Facebook, even
telephone, twitter or text at some point during this Conference (March
23/24)

2/ would be interested in visiting us here at Radio Bell and taking
part in person

We are also interested in re-broadcasting Programming from your Radio
Station so please consider submitting something interesting from your
archives. We will have an emphasis on "Youth" as well and hope to have
a feature panel discussion on youth issues, in particular "staying in
your community vs. moving away to work". All ideas and input welcome -
it's community radio after all

You can find more information out on Facebook at
Network 12 Group
Radio Bell Island Group
Ryakuga Page

or subscribe to this here blog!

Augmenting Community Radio with Social Media

2011-12-28T06:00:00.000-08:00

Social media is a term which refersto the user-generated, participatory applications of information andcommunication technologies (ICTs). It is the defining feature ofwhat some call Web 2.0 (O ’Reilly ,2003)the interactive public sphere of the Internet. Web 2.0 delineates theparticipatory infrastructure of the World Wide Web. Its architectureis rooted in the principles and practices of rich public dialogues.

The impact of social media on theways we relate to and communicate with one another has beensignificant: over half of the Canadian population is now signed upfor Facebook (SocialBakers .com ,2011); over 13 million hours of video footage was uploaded to YouTube in2010 (SocialMediaObservatory .com ,2011);and between 2010 and 2011, Twitter activity, measured by tweets perday, increased by 252% (JeffBullas .com ,2011). Social media then, provides individuals and organizations with afree and powerful tool kit for engagement and communication.

In the advertising world this istranslating into social media campaigns around brands and products. Positive narratives about, and customer engagement with, the campaignare viewed as the keys to, and measurements of success to theadvertiser. Social media is also a powerful tool for gatheringmarket research, so that campaigns can be targeted and archives ofuser data can be accumulated. Social media campaigns are designed tosell a product or idea; a campaign iscreated around abrand or product based on an organization’s desire to do so.

In the activism world, this istranslating into social media campaigns for social justice;fundraising efforts for Tsunami victims (PoliticsOnline .com ,2004)and the successful of the Egyptian revolution (Wired .com ,2011)are two powerful examples of how individuals harnessed the power ofsocial media independently to mobilize and effect positive change. Social justice campaigns are designed to help and share; a campaignemergesaround a cause or an issue based on individual response to it.

Next week, Ryakuga will be releasing a handbook for using socialmedia to augment community radio events, campaigns are blended. The“product” being sold is individual and community identity, thepositive change desired is sustainable community and individualself-esteem development. The campaign also allows for an archive ofthe event to be created, and can provide a virtual home base for thecommunity event or station.

Adding a virtual overlay to anexisting community can strengthen the bonds between the people withinit and can have phenomenal positive identity effects (Willson, 2006).Social media can facilitate the emergence of a community dialogueusing text, photography, video, and sound.

Participating in a communitybecomes a specific and deliberative action when social media is usedwithin it, and active participation becomes documented and archivedfor reference. Recognition for participation is given through directfeedback from other community members, which reinforces feelings ofinclusion and belonging in the participant. Using social media toparticipate in a virtually defined community is a self-referentialaction and becomes connected to the very essence of the communityitself.

Using social media, communitydialogue is documented as the multitude of voices that participatedusing social media tools. It is the whole of the communicationbetween the community members who created it.

(Charlene Gagnon, 2011)

Radio Week in Cuslett!

2011-12-05T08:07:00.001-08:00

By Arlene Morrisey

Here's a brief summary of the Radio week in Cuslett from November 21-25, 2011.

The Radio Communications week in Cuslett was a component of a training/work experience program and the concept was to 'engage 10 TIOW participants between the age of 55-64 with the operations of a community radio station' for one week of the project. Each participant developed content for the programming and all learned how to operate the equipment.

Monday, November 21st. Interviews with local farmers reggie Careen and Dermot Power, Fatima Academy and lots of local music from the Cape Shore area.

Tuesday, November 22nd. Another busy day with interviews from the locals, lots of music, a live performance by Priscilla Dalton of St. Bride's and the participants got involved with developing commercials for local businesses. Fatima Grade 7 students dropped by to entertain for awhile.

Wednesday, November 23rd.: Along with the Radio there was also a theater component and tonight there was a Turkey Dinner prepared by the group and a play was staged 'on air'. The participants also sang songs and did a traditional set dance from Harbour Deep..."Running the goat" Other students of Fatima dropped by to entertain again during the day.

Thursday, November 24th. was a 'Snow Day' but we got on the air in the afternoon and we interviewed local resident, Doreen Coffey about her recent trip to the Bahamas. We also interviewed former resident, Carl English of the Cape Shore who is now residing in Spain. Tony Power also dropped by and told ghost stories. Of course we had lots of tradional and local music.

Friday, November 25th.: Fatima Academy students dropped by again and we had an interview with former resident, Connie Foley who is now residng in Taiwan where she runs her own private school. We clued up the week with a review of the radio programming and the participants helped dismantle the tower. We had a great week and it was alot of fun and great learning experience for everyone involved.

We kept the schedule flexible to allow for spontaneous events to occur. It was a valuable week of learning and we were pleased with the outcome.

Network 11 starts tomorrow!

2011-10-19T10:34:00.000-07:00

Network 11 is an unconference. According to Wikipedia - An unconference is a participant-driven meeting. The term "unconference" has been applied, or self-applied, to a wide range of gatherings that try to avoid one or more aspects of a conventional conference, such as high fees, sponsored presentations, and top-down organization.

So the Thursday night meeting when we get together at the cottage hospital is important. It's then we decide on mini-sessions, mini workshops and the radio schedule - and the management committees so together we can ensure the two days run smoothly as possible.

The Food Committee has already been established: Joanie Cranston of the Bonne Bay Cottage Hospital Heritage Corporation; Kate Power and Erin McGee of VOBB, and Allison Eaton, Bonne Bay Marine Station. Incidentally, they are asking if anybody has dietary concerns. Allison suggests people even bring their own mugs to help keep the unconference as green as possible. We will need people to work with them to ensure food distribution and cleanup.

Another initiative already started is the Virtual Facebook committee. Charlene has put a lot of volunteer work into getting Facebook set up and she will be participating virtually in the event. Mallory McGrath and Arlene Morrissey are also helping out virtually. Dan Murphy (leading our Skype initiative) and Donavon Taplin will be taking part from the conference.

We need to both report from the community to Facebook and report on-air what's happening on Facebook. Joan did a fine job of that during the Conche simulcast. Charlene will also be tweeting updates from the event on the Ryakuga Twitter

The third mechanism is the programming committee. Some programs are predetermined such as the Benefit Concert; Harvest Festival; Rural Secretariat Session, and the Thursday night introductions. Saturday afternoon is youth programming - designed and controlled by youth.

But that leaves lots of time for specialty programming from the different communities. We have recorded programs from earlier events and live programs. Please come prepared to discuss your ideas. The programming committee will begin on Thursday night to time slot the programs.

The fourth group to choose from on Thursday is the Technical Committee - we need people to operate the equipment throughout the event. (Although Nicole could probably do it by herself : ) This committee will interact with the photographers - to ensure documentation - and the Virtual/Facebook group.
We will also need to archive and document all our programming.

We can all sign up for committees, mini-sessions, and mini-workshops when we arrive at the Network 11 Unconference (or let Fred know before the event).

Network 11 Logistics

2011-10-17T18:39:00.000-07:00

Network 11 Unconference is designed to facilitate informal networking. We also hope people make use of our FaceBook and Blog before and during the event.

http://www.facebook.com/groups/network11/

http://www.ruralcommunities.net

In other words, we want people to make suggestions online. And, at any rate, all will be discussed and decisions made when we are together face to face on Thursday.

There are a variety of sub-agendas on the go. For example, St. Anthony wants to set up a permanent station; Fogo Island wants to use community radio as a networking tool in their 2012 anniversary celebrations.

Also, this suggested agenda doesn't include a radio programming schedule. People are already sending in suggestions and requests for programs.

Thursday 7 pm:

Gather on air with snacks in the cottage hospital radio studio/social networking center
Groups and individuals introduce themselves and their interest/projects (basically where we've been with communications and networking)
Later off air with discussion and choice of mini sessions, workshops and conference committees
Review and discussion of the unconference schedule

Friday am:

Continental breakfast
Mini sessions and mini workshops
Radio programming including report backs

Lunch - town hall

Friday pm:

The Rural Secretariat is facilitating a deliberative dialogue session on the development of networking among community media practitioners in Newfoundland and Labrador - town hall
Potluck supper/social - town hall
Radio programming

Saturday am:

Continental breakfast
Garden Project Initiative (10 am)
Harvest Festival and Craft Fair (11 to 4) broadcast - town hall
Mini sessions and mini workshops
Radio programming including report backs

Lunch at the craft fair - town hall

Saturday pm:

Youth radio broadcast
Wrap up round table in the marine station - building the network
Radio programming including report backs
Catered dinner social - town hall
Benefit concert (8 pm) - remote broadcast - town hall
Social - Lion's Club

Sunday am:

Continental breakfast

Facebook Pages vs. Facebook Groups

2011-10-16T14:47:00.000-07:00

This was originally posted in the Network 11 Facebook Working Group on October 16, 2011 by Charlene Gagnon as a resource for determining appropriate use of Facebook platforms.

Facebook offers two types of organizing and promotion tools that can be used to augment community radio projects : Pages and Groups.

Pages and Groups offer different features and are intended for specific uses.

This post will try to explain the differences so that you can decide which platform works best for your community station.

You are reading this post in a Facebook Group. The Network 11 Facebook Group in fact!

This group is open, in that any member of the Facebook can come to this address and view the content if they have a Facebook profile. And any member of the Facebook can request to join this group. When a person becomes a member of this group, they can add new members to it.

A person is never sent a "request" to join a group, the default setting is for people to be automatically added.

The default settings for groups is to receive email notification any time a member of the group posts to it. You can change those settings by clicking the "edit notifications" button in the top right of the group home page.

You can share links, photos, videos, polls and docs to a Facebook group. You can also have live chat with all group members that are online at the same time.

You can post to Facebook groups from email. For this group, members can email network11@groups.facebook.com and the email will show up as a post in this group.

Ryakuga on Facebook is a Facebook Page.

A Facebook Page has a single "official" voice. It can have multiple administrators, but all posts appear on the page as from a single voice. For example, the Ryakuga Page could have 4 administrators, but regardless of who posts, it will always just show as a post from Ryakuga.

If a Facebook Page is published, it can be seen by any member of the public regardless of if they have a Facebook account. Anyone with a Facebook account can "like" a Facebook page, and they will receive updates in their news feed of activity.

Settings controls are a lot more detailed with Facebook Pages than with Facebook Groups. There are a variety of viewing and posting options. People who "like" a Facebook Page can add links, photos, videos and contribute to discussion forums on the page.

Anyone who likes a Facebook Page can recommend the page to anyone on their friends list. It comes in the form of an invitation.

Pages can "like" other Pages, and administrators are given the option of using the Facebook as the Page. So the Ryakuga Page could post to the Network 11 Group.

These are a few of the major differences between Groups and Pages.

The general rule is that Groups are used for horizontally organized information sharing among members. Pages are more for promotional/public relations purposes.

Network 11

2011-09-26T12:20:00.000-07:00

Network 11 is a participatory event about participatory communications.
It will take place from October 20 to October 23 at the Bonne Bay Cottage Hospital and Marine Station in beautiful Bonne Bay Newfoundland.

The purpose of the Network 11 event is to support the creation of an informal network of community groups interested in using community radio - enhanced by participatory media tools - as a vehicle for community development and community-based research.

During Network 11 a variety of sessions/workshops about the bread and butter of participatory communication processes will be held, and then reported back about on-air through a live radio broadcast. Simulcast online using Internet tools.

Participatory communication processes are designed with the goals of sustainable community development and community-based research guiding them. These processes support the growth of a culture which promotes collaboration, self-help and citizen engagement.

Stay tuned to this blog for more information on Network 11.

RSVP to Network 11 on Facebook

You can also like us on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter.

Feile Tilting Community Radio 2011

2011-09-07T11:38:00.000-07:00

Féile Tilting 2011

A Celebration of Irish/Newfoundland Culture

Listen Live September 8 - 11, 2010 on 105.9 & 102.5 (Fogo Central) FM
or
Online at www.ryakuga.com

Schedule of Events

Feile Tilting Facebook Group

Participatory Media

2011-09-05T07:11:00.000-07:00

What is participatory media?

Participatory media is:

any media in which the audience can also be the broadcaster
any media “whose value and power derives from the active participation of many people. Value derives not just from the size of the audience, but from their power to link to each other, to form a public as well as a market.”(Rheingold, 2008).
any media which facilitates the emergence of public voice and dialogue through active engagement with citizens of a community

Why is participatory media important?

Participatory media allows participants to express their voices, explore their identities, and connect with other members of their communities; all elements of active citizenship. (Rheingold, 2008). The ability of citizens to be able to communicate with each other helps promote democracy and good governance through the emergence of public dialogues.

Dialogue is defined as “the ongoing civil project of building collective norms and values through the broad exchange, articulation and dissemination of knowledge... dialogue has the ability to bridge asymmetries in democratic practices, by building collective norms, values and governance among diverse sectors (or “stakeholders” in the modern parlance of government) of Canadian society.” (Naylor and Dale, 2005).

Little Summary...

2007-03-29T17:34:00.000-07:00

In March of 2007, the Equity and Technology Research Alliance partnered with Ryakuga Communications and hosted a community radio broadcast in the town of Wolfville, Nova Scotia. This broadcast was the second of two radio broadcasts funded by an INE Public Outreach Grant which was conceptualized to allow researchers of the “New Economy” to communicate their findings beyond the traditional academic audience; with the first taking place from the cafeteria of Eastern Shore High School in November 2006.

The Wolfville broadcast was a huge success, both in the eyes of those who organized it, and the members of the community who participated and tuned in for the full 5-days.
Additionally, the event was simulcast over the Internet and allowed the broadcast to be streamed anywhere there was an Internet connection.

One of the ways in which we promoted the event was using the power of social networking on the Internet. We incorporated elements of the new “social media” with traditional broadcast; adding interactive blog and photo sharing elements to enhance and encourage community participation. Indeed, people were tuning in and reading about what the Equity and Technology Project was up to from across the planet. The blog was started on March 20th (the day before the broadcast) in eight very short days the blog was viewed 339 times with 743 page views. We were able to share the experience with visitors from not only Nova Scotia, but all across Canada and seven other countries throughout the world.

Many ideas were shared over the days of the broadcast. The content included discussions related to Dr. Looker’s research and conversations about community issues and organizations. In many cases the two overlapped as a consistent stream of dialogue about sustainable rural development, equity, culture and technology flowed throughout the broadcast day. By the end of the five-day broadcast not only had we created a fine discourse about how technology can enhance equity, we had proved it and turned the broadcast into a demonstration of best practice in itself.

The most important aspect of the whole process of the radio broadcast was a sense collective ownership and collaboration; policy officials, community members and organizations, artists, students, local business owners and academics were all participating together. It is important to keep the dialogue that was started running. Even if we are no longer on the air, continue talking and collaborating and listening.

Andy's Blog...

2007-03-27T16:14:00.000-07:00

A link to Andy's (Thugs at Bay) blog about the event here...

http://www.wolfville.org/community-radio-in-wolfville

The day after...

2007-03-26T12:19:00.000-07:00

I would just like to extend a formal thank-you to all who have participated and co-operated with us in the Equity and Technology Community Radio Broadcast in Wolfville. The event was a huge success and would not have been possible without the tremendous support and participation of you all.

We will be posting links to some audio in the blog and at Ryakuga's site in the coming weeks. We will also be indexing the recordings and making them available to the community at the local CAP site soon.

If you are interested in receiving follow-up information on the project and what was accomplished in Wolfville these last few days; please let me know by posting a comment here. And please give us feedback on what you liked and what you thought could have been done better.

Fred Campbell fred@ryakuga.org
Ivan Emke iemke@swgc.mun.ca
Dianne Looker dianne.looker@msvu.ca
Chris Cann chris@ryakuga.org
Charlene Croft charlene.croft2@msvu.ca

Cheers all
And Thanks again.

Sunday links

2007-03-25T11:56:00.000-07:00

Again I'm here to update the links from some of our guests today.

Jordan Walker and Bill Cruess's Facebook Group and online petition for Africville reparations (you will need a Facebook account to access this link)

Edith Callaghan www.ruralsustainability.org (for your Wolfville Sustainability Survey)

Debbie Reimer Kids Action Program kidsaction@xcountry.tv

Community Media

2007-03-25T10:21:00.000-07:00

Well we're on the final day here at Wolfville Community Radio. If you tune in now you can hear a discussion about the importance of community media and thoughts and plans on how to potentially get Wolfville a form of interactive community media (radio and television).

2007-03-24T16:44:00.000-07:00

Open Mic

2007-03-24T15:48:00.000-07:00

Live Jam down here at the Atlantic Theatre Festival offices on Main Street Wolfville.

If you like what you're hearing check out these wonderful artists online.

www.myspace.com/adambazinet

www.myspace.com/robinsonfactor

www.youtube.com/rocknboyz

if you aren't...

2007-03-23T14:15:00.000-07:00

listening to the webcast... you really should be. TAB which stands for Thugs at Bay is playing LIVE in our studios and they are FANTASTIC.

www.tabmusic.ca

More Websites

2007-03-23T13:12:00.000-07:00

What a packed day today... the momentum is building. We've had people in and out all afternoon.

We've covered a lot of ground today. We have been diligently working on getting those audio files available from the Intellectual Property discussion; the Broadband Development Discussion and the CAP Site Discussion.

So here are some of the links from our guests today.

Local Midwife Louise MacDonald www.midwife.ca (scotiamidwive@yahoo.com)

Head of the NSTU Ron Brunton www.rbrunton.ca

Jacob Deng Fundraising to build a school in the Sudan and the Goat Campaign
www.wadeng.org

Skylor Petrovich High Tech Teens Program at the Wolfville CAP site
flashworkshop@gmail.com

Pro-wrestling Announcer "Captain" Kirk Starrat
www.mainstreamwrestling.net

That's all for now. There are lots of new photos on the Flickr account. And tab will be coming in and playing for us very shortly... and after that Jack MacDonald.

CAP Site Discussion

2007-03-23T09:01:00.000-07:00

We were a little late getting underway... technical issues. But we're underway with it. I know many of you are trying to listen to the webcast... and Fred is getting innundated with Skype-ins. But we have limited bandwidth and can't get everyone in. We will be making this discussion available online as soon as we're done... as well as our discussion this morning with Dan MacDonald of Innova Corp. who was here representing the NS Government regarding Broadband Access to Rural NS. We touched on the future of CAP in that discussion as well.

Dan provided us with this link... http://www.gov.ns.ca/econ/broadband

So we're trying to get this out there... bare with us.

Blog Roll Call...

2007-03-22T18:51:00.000-07:00

We are trying to record this whole process and look at the interconnections from a research perspective. It would be great if you could help us out with it and let us know where you are in the world and how you heard about this little community radio project.

We know that there are people tuning in from many communities across Nova Scotia... and thank you to all who are linking to this blog from your site. The CAP Society of Cape Breton has linked to us... so we're going to return the favour and link to them. Tomorrow Colleen Stinson will be joining us via call-in on a discussion about the CAP program... which is appropriately timed on a day of a new budget.

We have heard from people tuning in across the planet; receiving emails and words of encouragement from those geographically near and far. To date we've had people visiting this blog from 5 different provinces (plus Nova Scotia) including some friends in the Yukon. Tomorrow we will be talking to a few teachers from Nunavut via call-in as well.

But there are people looking at what we're doing here in little old Wolfville from the UK; Australia; South Africa; the Netherlands and the United States too.

We're gaining momentum... the weekend is packed.

TAB is coming in to play for us live tomorrow. Get a preview at www.tabmusic.ca

We start in right away in the AM discussing Broadband for Rural Development.

IP Discussion...

2007-03-22T15:22:00.000-07:00

Went really well... Did any of you listen? Did you hear it on the webcast? The User Created content segment got cut short... but John and I will revisit it later on.

Thanks to all those who participated

Glen: http://www.glenleck.com/
Angela: http://www.theathonline.ca/
Charlene: http://deliciouswolf.blogspot.com
John: http://www.housser.ca

and Ann Dulhanty and Erin Patterson

check out www.eff.org (Electronic Frontier Foundation) for updates in the world of Intellectual Property

Right now there is a great youth Jazz band playing... Easily Distracted

2007-03-22T12:04:00.000-07:00

Thanks for the opportunity for Dick Groot and myself to get our PCN news out to the listeners of Wolfville Radio.

Here are some contact details:
Eastern Valley Prostate Cancer Support Group (also know as the VIP's) meet on the last Wednesday of each month from 7-9 pm in the Board Room of the Eastern Kings Memorial Community Health Center at 23 Earnscliffe Ave in Wolfville.

For more info on community presentations or to attend a meeting please contact
Dick at 542 6125 or Bill at 542 7112.
Listening, Learning and Living with Prostate Cancer.

Links from this morning

2007-03-22T09:09:00.000-07:00

A theatre and arts filled morning today...

Nigel Bennet from the Atlantic Theatre Festival about the upcoming season

APRIL 21, 8 pm ONE NIGHT ONLY!! A MAN IN BLACK; A TRIBUTE TO JOHNNY CASH
tickets $20.00 adult and $15.00 student available at the Acadia Box office 542 5500

ATLANTIC THEATRE FESTIVAL 2007 SEASON

After a successful renewal season with their award winning production of Noises Off, the Atlantic Theatre Festival is heading back into production this year with three outstanding shows.

Shirley Valentine; is a story about one woman journey to Greece and to finding herself.

The Drawer Boy; Think Farm life is boring? Think again! Think plays about farm life are boring? You be the judge with this great play written by Canadian play write Michael Healey.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream; Shakespeare’s classic tale of love and intrigue, a tale of mistaken identities, of fairies and mortals. An ass’s head, and a play within a play. Chaos and confusion run amok in a moonlit wood, yet all ends well in this dream

Chris and Matt from the Ross Creek Arts Centre talking about the importance of arts education in the Valley and the workshops and camps that they offer for youth and portfolio development.

From their Website:
Welcome to the Ross Creek Centre for the Arts, an education and development centre for the arts based in rural Nova Scotia and reaching out to the world. On 186 spectacular acres of farm and forest overlooking the Bay of Fundy, the Centre has facilities and programs designed to serve the artistic and cultural communities of Nova Scotia, of Canada and of the world.

And then Ken Schwartz joined in from Two Planks and A Passion Theatre Company talking about their upcoming OUTDOOR performance of a Canadian adaptation of The Odyssey (Rick Chafe)

Other Media

2007-03-22T06:59:00.000-07:00

Ivan did an interview this morning for The West Coast Morning Show on CBC radio... and Friday just before 8am (Atlantic Time) there will be an Interview that I did with some Jr.High Kids on the street on Information Morning (CBC radio again)...

Thursday...

2007-03-22T04:45:00.000-07:00

Well I'm fairly pleased with how yesterday went. Everyone who came down really enjoyed themselves. With all the commotion though... I didn't get all the links posted from the guests...
So here are a few:

www.nsnet.org
www.rustbucket.ca
www.mikeaube.com
www.creativeaction.ca

Its too bad that not everyone is so enthusiastic about hyperlinking.

Anyway... let's see what today brings. The Intellectual Discussion Panel is today. I hope there is a LOT of participation in that... and on into the User-Created Content discussion.

I'll have my laptop on my lap while doing the User-created bit... so I can read stuff as it comes in.

Ryakuga has a Skype... it's ryakuga If you don't get anywhere with it...
I have a Skype... it's deliciouswolf

RUST BUCKET!

2007-03-21T15:53:00.001-07:00

These guys are rocking!!!!!

Wolfville Radio Signal Report

2007-03-21T15:51:00.000-07:00

Wolfville Community Radio 98.7 MHz FM
30WReport of Signal Survey,
done 11am-2pm Wed 21 March 2007
Driving around (about 190km) listening on my car radio.

NORTHWARD (from Wolfville transmitter)
Good signal reception:Canning, Kingsport, Medford, Pereau, Rabbit Square.Good signal reception along the top of North Mountain:Lookoff, Arlington, Glenmont, Brow Mountain.Signal good in central Scotts Bay (from the Fire Station, about half km northward). Otherwise reception very poor to nonexistent on Fundy side of North Mountain.
WESTWARD
Good signal reception:New Minas, Greenwich, Port Williams, Starrs Point, Church Street, Chipmans Corner, Sheffield Mills, Gibson Woods, Centreville, Northville, Billtown, Lakeville, Keddys Corner, Steam Mill.Fairly good in east Kentville, marginal to poor in central and west Kentville.
SOUTHWARD
Good signal reception: Melanson, Gaspereau, Forest Hill.Marginal to poor at White Rock, Lumsden, Davidson Street.
EASTWARD
Good signal reception:Grand Pre, Hortonville, Avonport, Avonport Station, Oak Island, Blue Beach. You may post this in the blog if you choose.Regards,--

truckin' along...

2007-03-21T13:16:00.000-07:00

Earlier Corporal Craig Smith gave a fascinating discussion on racism and his struggles in becoming an RCMP officer. He's written a book called "You Better Be White By 6am." Logan gave a great interview! Thanks Logan! He'll be uploading the interview to his website in the next few days. Craig Marshall Smith was actually on CBC's Information Morning this morning and then came here!

And... Information Morning will be doing a spot on Wolfville Radio on Friday!
Stay tuned...

Hey everyone

2007-03-21T11:17:00.001-07:00

Hello im Logan Hudak a second year applied arts and new media student at the Nova Scotia Community College in the neighboring community of Kentville nova Scotia.Known for its laid back way of life and apple blossoms Kentville isnt thought of a technilogical center or reasource for the province. I am some what of a technofile myslef in the sence that i am an internet addict as well as a buddign graphic designer and an electronic musician. I think technology can give a lot of youth here the oppurtunity to be nationally or even internationally competative in these technology based fields if they can be exposed to it.I think that historically since the emphasis has been on agriculture in the valley that a lot of youth in the past think they dont have that oppurtunity or the ability to enter other these other work worlds. With high speed internet here now and the schools working hand in had to support and provide training with technilogical advancements its opening a lot of doors. To me its all about looking forward and embracing advancements in industry and technology and to make sure that every student young or old has the oppurtunity and ability and the confidence to put themselves out there and highlight this beautiful part of the country.

thats all my two cents if you want more info on myslef and what im doing stay tuned and check out my website at www.loganhudak.com

cheers
L

about the schedule...

2007-03-21T09:48:00.000-07:00

You may have noticed that it's not a fixed schedule. Things are changing all the time. People show up... people don't show up... people reschedule...

It's all really relaxed around here... and the schedule is included in that :)

That's why we encourage people to just show up down here... or email us community announcements and stuff they want to have read on air...

I'll be uploading new pictures momentarily...

From Jen Grant... Healthy Living Week

2007-03-21T09:06:00.000-07:00

We are holding boys and girls activity weeks in April and May and I am currently trying to get the word out there aboutit. Please see the attached memo for more information.

Here's the link to the story

2007-03-21T08:20:00.000-07:00

From Alexander MacKinnon via email

Apart from a general notice to pet owners, this may be worth an interview with the local Wolfville animal clinc for a local angle/follow up to this story:Pet Owners. An interview on CBC radio's Information Morning program this morning with alocal vet in Halifax stated that the pet food recall is much more serious thanearlier media reports may have indicated. Local pets are being affected andshowing up in Halifax clinics. Owners should be alert to abnormal petbehaviours. Cats in particular have been a problem because when ill they tendto just curl up and sleep, not an unusual cat behavior to begin with, but amore noticeable sign will be abnormal desire to drink large quantities ofwater.A complete list of the recalled products along with product codes, descriptionsand production dates was available from the Menu Foods Web site,http://www.menufoods.com/recall. The company also designated two phone numbersthat pet owners could call for information ? (866) 463-6738 and (866)895-2708

empowering barrier free community creativity

2007-03-21T07:46:00.000-07:00

Communities who learn how to play creatively together tend to be healthier in a variety of ways. Barrier free creative activities bring people together in a way that celebrates diversity.
And, as we all know, diversity is healthier for all concerned and, when it is embraced whole heartedly, it leads to higher levels of innovation and prosperity.

Here are two innovative programs for fostering creative diversity and shifting from "ME" culture to "WE" culture.

Wolfville Movie Games Saturday March 24 10:00 a.m. - 4:00p.m.
Wolfville Library and locations all over town.
http://www.creativeaction.ca/mgames

Jam Dance Thursday March 29 7:00 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
New Minas Civic Centre Commercial Street acrossfrom Canadian Tire.

http://www.alexandersociety.org/jamdance.html

Getting started...

2007-03-21T06:43:00.000-07:00

Okay... we're on air now... still working some things out.

Here's the address for the webcast

rtsp://199.60.222.47/wolfville.sdp

This is not a clickable link though... you have to copy and paste it into a Quicktime player.

Call-in Number is 542-1042

Email is wolfvilleradio@gmail.com

long day...

2007-03-20T17:22:00.000-07:00

Well the gremlins were back today... but they've yet to win. We even did some test broadcasts playing some of the local music CDs that Ryakuga has gathered from other communities who organized their own community Radio Stations. If you are a musician and have a CD that you'd like us to play (and add to the collection for future broadcasts in other communities) bring them on down! Chris picked up the broadcast in Baxter's Harbour... so we may luck out with range. Please let us know we're you're listening to us on 98.7 FM in Kings County.

Thanks to all of you who popped in today... I look forward to interacting with you more in these coming days. And I apologize... as Ivan pointed out that it's Kipawo not Kipowa. So the old Kipawo Arts Centre is the new headquarters of the Atlantic Theatre Festival. We will be talking to Nigel from the ATF over the broadcast too.

The schedule is still working its way out. There have been a few shuffles and a few additions. But it's filling out. You can send us your community announcements to be read on air between some of the gaps... or if you stumble across an interesting link online and want to share it... email it to us at wolfvilleradio@gmail.com

The call-in number is 542-1062 and the webcast address is going to be here soon. You'll need Quicktime to listen to it. It's a free download here... and you don't have to fill in the registration form for it to work. And if you don't know what itunes is install the version without it (it's the bottom button in the free download section). I think we'll set up a Skype account spefically for it as well. But I'm exhausted now and will do it tomorrow.

Becoming Web 2.0

2007-03-19T15:57:00.000-07:00

Web 2.0 is a buzzword you'll be hearing a lot over the next few days, and might have heard before. Charlene wrote a great post about Harnessing Web 2.0, and some of the concepts and theories.

I thought it would be appropriate to share some of the things that you can do to become more web 2.0 enabled. This is just a short list of some of the things I do (and know about), so please feel free to contribute your experiences and tips. Here are some to get started with:

Get a Flickr account to upload your photos to. Tag them, share them with groups, and network with your contacts. See my photos here.
Share your videos with Vimeo, YouTube, or Google Videos
Bring all your blogs together with an aggregator, like Bloglines, that can collect all the new posts from your subscribed blogs. Most aggregators can also collect RSS feeds from your favourite news web sites, and any other syndicated web site, to show you only new unread content. Just look for the orange icon, or any mention of words like RSS, feeds, or syndication. See what I read here.
Share your bookmarks with Del.icio.us, or Digg, instead of bookmarking a web site in your browser, bookmark them online. You'll be able to access your bookmarks from any web site, and also see how many other people have bookmarked the same sites, and find other popular sites similar to your tags. See my bookmarks here.
Set up a personalized homepage on Netvibes, that can save tons of personalized, dynamic content, and you can access it from any computer
Do your research on WikiPedia, where the content is created, edited, and censored by the users. Heavy use of cross-referencing and linking strengthens the network and provides virtual references.
Establish your personal online entity on MySpace or FaceBook.
Find, post, and sign up for local and interesting upcoming events on Upcoming.org
If you're interested in sharing your work, progress, and day-to-day musings, set up a blog for free with services like Blogger or Wordpress.

Like I said, these are just some of the things you can do to be more web 2.0 embedded. If you have other great sites you use, tips, or questions, leave your comments on this post. Check out some of these sites, and then you'll be ready to contribute to our discussions on Intellectual Property, and user-created content web sites and web2.0 Thursday afternoon from 4:30-5:30 and 5:30-6:00pm respectively.

We're almost there...

2007-03-19T14:59:00.000-07:00

Today Fred Chris and John got the antenna fastened to the roof and the phone line and high-speed was connected. It was iffy for a while there. Always blips and gremlins when such things have to happen. But, as they often do, things turned out just fine in the end. The infrastructure is in place.... and as soon as we get the equipment hooked in we'll be live.

We'll be setting up and doing some test broadcasts tomorrow... therefore as the day progresses we'll be getting Skype and the webcast straightened away.

I encourage everyone who gets involved in the broadcast to participate in this blog. Listen to the shows and email and phone-in to participate. Or come down and snap some photos to upload to the Ryakuga Flickr Group (there's a link down the page too). Let us know if your reading this blog... let us know what you think.

There are a few pictures there now... getting set up.

Live Photo Blogging

2007-03-19T14:48:00.000-07:00

What a world we live in. Here is an example of the technological capabilities we now have.

I have set up a system to make simple things even easier, in fact, does them for you. When I take a photo with my camera, the photo is automatically downloaded to my computer. From there, a program called WatchDirectory... well... watches the directory that the photos get saved to. When it sees a new photo there, it e-mails it to my Flickr photo account, and then Flickr can post it to any blog I have set up.

So, we will have a camera floating around during the broadcasts, and all of the photos from it will be instantly uploaded to an online photoblog. We will be uploading the photos to the Ryakuga Flickr account, and the location of the blog will be published when we decide which one we're using. You'll be able to see who's there, and what's going on, as it happens!

One of the keys to this process is WatchDirectory. I spent quite a bit of time figuring out how to automate the uploading of new photos. I looked at several different monitoring and uploading programs, and WatchDirectoryis definitely the best. Many of the others required complex scripting, had difficult interfaces, or simply couldn't do what I wanted. WatchDirectory does everything I want, plus more, in an easy to use, powerful interface. I can configure it to e-mail each photo to as many e-mail addresses as I want, and then perform whatever actions I want (copy, move, delete, whatever). If you are interested in any sort of file monitoring or automation, I suggest you check out WatchDirectory. Also, as a special treat for readers and listeners of the Equity and Technology Community Radio Broadcasts, if you use the coupon code "etrb" you will receive 25% off your purchase. Thanks Gert for all your support of the project and help implementing this!

Harnessing Web 2.0

2007-03-18T21:03:00.000-07:00

One thing that we're really going to try to do is use the social networking power of Web 2.0 to promote this Radio Broadcast. Unfamiliar with Web 2.0? Well you are using it right now...

Web 2.0 is catchphrase coined by Tim O'Reilly back in 2002 which refers to the marketing potential of the Internet via social networking. It's the user-created side of things. Institutions of Web 2.0 include Wikipedia Google Flickr Myspace Facebook BitTorrent… pretty much any web based service that allows for user control of it's service.O'Reilly put forth Web 2.0 as a marketing concept for business (one that explains the beta phenomenon on the net)… but much of the "lessons" we learn from Web 2.0… as O'Reilly tries to sell the concept as a new business model… are extremely relevant to the community development context of the web. Web 2.0 is the user-created universe.

One of the biggest tenants of Web 2.0… perhaps the one thing that drives the movement and evolution of the web (and the physical communities of it's users) is trust. It's a new trust… one based on word of mouth (user endorsement through hyperlinking) and one that does not really have any real-world measures (aside from those who use Web 2.0 merely to bring their physical realities online).

Web 2.0 also fosters an environment of collaboration and cooperation. The comment function allows us to interact with the information images and concepts that are being presented to us instantly. We (as users in Web 2.0) are no longer passive receptacles of information… our interaction changes the information we are being presented… whether it is in disagreement or agreement of that information. If we disagree… we question and thereby present different ideas to the topic… if we agree… we reinforce the idea of collective consent towards the topic or idea.

Anyway Web 2.0 has the potential to connect communities and citizens towards progressive social goals... not merely economic ones... and I think that we can exemplify this during the broadcast

Intellectual Property Panel Discussion

2007-03-18T20:19:00.000-07:00

We have pulled together a great group of people for our discussion of intellectual property, which will be occurring on Thursday, March 22nd, from 4:30-5:30. It's surrounded by a few other great programs: immediately before (4:00-4:30), I will be discussing my work with VR photography and Virtual Learning Environments, and immediately following, Charlene will be coming in to begin a discussion on user-created content web sites (a la Flickr, WikiPedia, YouTube, Del.icio.us, Digg).

Anyways, back to the topic of IP. Our panel consists of:

Myself (http://housser.ca/) - Digital photographer and new media producer, psychology student
Charlene Croft (this web site) - Sociologist researching Equity and Technology, self proclaimed "MySpace junkie"
Erin Patterson (Acadia University) - Acadmic Librarian
Ann Dulhanty (Fred C Manning School of Business, Acadia U) - Lecturer
Angela Wilson (The Athenaeum) - Editor in Chief of Acadia's student newspaper
Glen Leck (http://glenleck.com/) - Musician, graphics artist, business student

We'll be doing our best to discuss some of these topics:

The changing importance of collective information

User created web sites like Flickr, WikiPedia, YouTube, Del.icio.us, Digg

New models of, "copyleft," to address these new models

Creative Commons Licensing
Open-Source software development

Changes to profit models

Declining sales of traditional media like CDs, while artists publish their music online for free to gain exposure
The ongoing fight with the RIAA/Viacom

Photographic rights and model releases - what if a photo's online before you even have a chance to ask for a model release form?
What will the future of the online world look like?

Who will own rights to what, and how will money be made?

These are just some tentative ideas that I have been toying with, and we will be developing a more fleshed out list of topics throughout the next few days.

If you have any suggestions, questions, or comments, you can

Post a comment to this message
Call in during the last part of the show next week
E-mail me: john [at] housser [dot] ca

Schedule being updated hourly...

2007-03-18T12:15:00.000-07:00

The schedule is now available for viewing. As you can see, we still have some space for more.

One thing that this schedule might be lacking is creative writers. Has anyone written a radio play they'd like to perform? What about some poetry and short stories? Any acoustic musicians want to bring down their guitar and pluck out some tunes with the super-talented Ivan Emke (who plays a mean mandolin)? Artists... use this broadcast to get your work out in the community!

from John Housser

2007-03-16T16:00:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone,

My name is John Housser, and I am a student in Wolfville at Acadia University. As briefly as I can, I am going to try to tell you a little bit about who I am, how I got involved in this project, and what I will be involved in during the broadcasts next week, as well as a special, "Atmosphere," VR Photography event that will be happening on Thursday.

I have been working with Dr. Cynthia Alexander for several years, working on projects helping address issues in diverse and unique communities, like Mi'kmaq Nova Scotians, African Nova Scotians, and the Inuit of Nunavut. In working with these groups, we have been trying to show how new media technologies and techniques can be leveraged to create more culturally appropriate, progressive, cultural and educational learning materials. One of the major technologies we have been using is Virtual Reality (VR) photography. VR photography involves taking a series of photographs of a location, digitally stitching them together into a 360-degree panoramic photograph, and then projecting them using computers into a virtual reality environment. This can create an incredibly captivating and engaging interaction between the viewer, and any location in the world, no matter where they are. Using VR photography we can capture any environment, and then send an immersive image to anywhere else in the world, all in a very short time.

I will be coming in later next week (Thursday, March 22nd, at 4:00pm) to discuss how I got involved in VR photography and its extension to Virtual Learning Environments as an applied learning tool with the Inuit of Nunavut.

I will also be involved in a panel discussion, on the changing environment of Intellectual Property (IP), in this new digital age of, "web 2.0." This discussion will focus on topics like how user-created content web sites are changing research, news, and media sharing (think: WikiPedia, YouTube, Del.icio.us), how open-source development is changing the models of research and development, new alternative rights management strategies (going from, "All Rights Reserved," to, "Some Rights Reserved") like Creative Commons licensing, and many more contemporary issues in IP. This discussion will be happening immediately following my discussion of VR photography and VLEs on Thursday, March 22 nd from 4:30-5:30pm, and we will be welcoming call-in questions or comments closer to the end of the discussion.

During this panel discussion, I will also be tying a number of these pursuits together… As a VR photographer, I have been involved in an event called the World Wide Panorama which is an event that happens four times a year, where VR photographers around the world have one week to capture a VR photograph on a common theme. This years event is during the same time as the community broadcasts (March 20-25), and the theme is, "Atmosphere." My intentions are to capture a VR photograph during our IP discussion, and present this as an interpretation of the changing atmosphere of IP, communications, and information. The image will be published as part of the WWP, as well as on my personal web site ( http://housser.ca/), and become part of the Equity and Technology project as well as Ryakuga.

I look forward to the events next week, and hope that you will tune in, call in, and check out the online materials that will be created as a result of these broadcasts. Feel free to contact me (john [at] housser [dot] ca) if you have any questions, topics you'd like to see covered in either of my discussions, or anything else.

See you next week!
John

Community Jam Session...

2007-03-16T05:01:00.000-07:00

Is scheduled for Saturday night starting at around 6pm and on into the evening. We're inviting all the musicians who have played over the broadcast to return to play with all the other musicians who have played... and telling non-musicians to come down too to bang on hand drums... shake maracas... and sing.

Intellectual Property Panel Discussion...

2007-03-14T02:53:00.000-07:00

... is scheduled for Thursday March 22 from 4:30 to 5:30. A student from Acadia is taking the reigns on this one.

Panel discussions organized to date...

2007-03-13T08:51:00.000-07:00

I think the panel discussions are going to be valuable to getting a community discourse started (or enhanced) on some of these issues. Here are the scheduled dates and times on the Panel Discussions so far...

Friday March 23rd - 10:00 AM to 11:30 AM
Why is Access to Broadband Important to Rural Development?

Friday March 23rd - 12:30 PM to 1:30 PM
The Fate of the CAP Program

Saturday March 24th - 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM
Food Security - Global and Local

Sunday March 25th - 11:30 AM to 1:30 PM
Sustainable Community Development in Kings County

Sunday March 25th - 2:00 PM to 3:30 PM
Grassroots Media - Why It's Important and How It's Happening

There are a few more panel discussions cooking up regarding Intellectual Property and Digital Democracy.

A full schedule of the Broadcast will be available on Monday March 19th.