Blogue de Lyne Robichaud

20 décembre 2010

Positive Attitude Award of the Year - Project description

General Project Description
The Positive Attitude Award of the Year is an award attributed to Empire Avenue users by members of Phoenix's Nest. This award aims to promote positive attitude as being contagious in social media.

Attitude is a mindset. A positive attitude is the outward manifestation of a mind that focuses primarily on positive things. A positive attitude gives and brings energy to a person and her entourage. Furthermore, a negative attitude saps energy. Members of Phoenix's Nest are asked to describe why they nominate a person. This collective exercise will ultimately list the different winning strategies of using social media, and will indicate why some users are more succesful, and what is their secret. Valuing and appreciating each other is also an important element of Phoenix's Nest mission.

About Phoenix's Nest
Phoenix’s Nest has 248 members (December 20, 2010) and is currently the second Top Personal/Private community of Empire Avenue. Phoenix’s Nest’s mission is to develop strong networking links in social media and convey warmth in relationships. At Phoenix’s Nest, we appreciate, respect and support each other. Members feel that they are part of an active and thriving community that is there for them. Empathy and a playful attitude are being encouraged.

Nominees (by alphabetical order)
Adriel Hampton (e)ADRIEL
Allie Wojtaszek (e)ALLIE
Andrew Yochum (e)YOCHUM
Chris Latko (e)CLATKO
Cindy Smith (e)REIGN
Claire McGonigal (e)CMCG
Collin Eagles (e)COLINEAGLES
Fee Easton (e)BOOTCOOT
Fozzie Dog (e)FOZDOG
Greg Scratchley (e)ITCH
Jitesh Panchal (e)UNS33N
John Moore (e)JOHNFMOORE
Jordan Hodges (e)JORDNH
Judy King (e)MICRA
Krimsom Gray (e)ANIME
Lyne Robichaud (e)PAPIER
Nick Provost (e)NICKP
Pooch Land (e)WOOF
Ron Stark (e)RSTARK
Teagan TheDog (e)TEAGAN

OUTSIDE PHOENIX'S NEST
Karen Suhaka (e)SMOODLE

Award Presenter
Josepf Haslam (e)JOSEPF agreed to be Presenter of Ceremony Night.

He defines himself as a catalyst for Change. He brings passion to businesses. Josepf is extremely charming and has great personality for this event. Members will be delighted with his performance.
(Listen to his incredible voice) Mercedes-Benz USA Tweet Race - #UsGuys on Twitter
(Euh, let's hope he has classy wear for Ceremony Night!) Ugly Sweater Contest Video

Josepf suggested Lyne Robichaud (e)PAPIER to make a few presentations as well. You will get to hear Lyne's French accent!

Location – San Francisco City Hall
The San Francisco City Hall building's vast open space is more than 500,000 square feet (46,000 m2) and occupying two full city blocks. Its dome, which owes much to Mansart’s Baroque dome of Les Invalides, Paris, is the fifth largest dome in the world, rising 307.5 ft (93.7 m) above the Civic Center Historic District Civic Center District. It is 14 in (360 mm) higher than the United States Capitol. The principal architect was Arthur Brown Jr. It is considered one of the finest examples of classical architecture in the country. Many people have been married at the San Francisco City Hall, but one of the most famous marriages was Joe DiMaggio and Marilyn Monroe.

Invited chef – Ferran Adrià
Ferran Adrià is considered one of the best chefs in the world. Adrià is often associated with "molecular gastronomy." He has referred to his cooking as deconstructivist. Adrià's stated goal is to "provide unexpected contrasts of flavour, temperature and texture. Nothing is what it seems. The idea is to provoke, surprise and delight the diner." As he likes to say, "the ideal customer doesn't come to El Bulli to eat but to have an experience."
Invited Performers
POP LEVI - SKINNY JEANS, BANGS AND TALENT
Pop Levy is an English singer, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and filmaker. Pop Levi likes to explain what is good in pop music and how it is "astral". Pop Levi takes and carries us through a sea of jagged guitar riffs, drums thundering, bass fluffy, guided by a unique voice. The boy was also noted for its scenic supercharged performance, such as an electrified Dylan. There is no question for him to tell about the severity of reality. Pop Levi is not a reporter. He wants to recreate reality and recreate its image.
P0P LEVI - JEAN SLIM, FRANGE ET TALENT
Pop Levi aime à expliquer ce qu'il y a de bon dans la musique pop et en quoi elle est «astrale». Pop Levi prend et transporte à travers un océan de riffs de guitare déchiquetés, de batteries grondantes, de basses duveteuses, guidé par une voix unique. Le garçon s'est également fait remarquer par ses performances scénique survoltés, tel un Dylan électrifié. Il n'est pas question pour lui de raconter la sévérité de la réalité, Pop Levi n'est pas un reporter, il veut recréer la réalité et la recréer à son image.

Two other performers to be announced.

Award Design Project
Brandon Burke (e)BLIND is designing the award (conception, creation, digital art).

Nominees Video Clip Project – Thank You Acceptance Speech
This project consists of filming nominees when they receive their award and give a Thank You speech. The purpose of a Thank You or Acceptance Speech is to express gratitude for something shown/given you, be it an award for achievement, a gracious, helpful and loving attitude.
• Acknowledgement of the audience come to witness the occasion
• An appreciative awareness of those who made it possible for you to achieve the award
• What the award means to the nominee - including reference to the values/goals/aspirations the donor organization represents and how they inspire
• Stories - small personal heart-felt annecdotes to show what receiving this gift/award means to the nominees’ life. These make it real for the audience.

Nominees are contacted by Josepf Haslam. He films each participant while they are giving their Thank You or Acceptance Speech on Skype. These video clips are a small section of a larger video presentation. They will then serve as material for the general video of the Award.

TEAM: Josepf Haslam (e)JOSEPF (animation, filming, editing)

Nominees Digital Art & Scrapbooking Project
This new project consists of digital art, computer-generated images, using nominees' faces and turning them into rock stars: photo-montages of nominees walking up the red carpet alley or anything Hollywood style; paparazzi taking pictures of nominee stars; nominees proudly holding their award, or waving hand; nominees coming out of a limousine; nominees posing on the walkway, etc. Group pictures, nominees interacting with each other, people kissing (*blushing*), nominees giving a speech, nominees dancing together, or nominees performing a song on stage, etc.

Blog post Call for nominations
Inspiration for style , idea provided by Nick Provost (e)NICKP: POP LEVI - Never Never Love

Digital art and scrapbooking team: Brandon Burke (e)BLIND (digital art, people accompanying accompanying), Josepf Haslam (e)JOSEPF (photo search, digital art, pasting backgrounds), Mitch Neff (e)MITCHNEFF (teaching and guidance about Photoshop), and Lyne Robichaud (e)PAPIER (preliminary digital art work, scrapbooking, project managing)

Award Video-clip & Photojournalism Project
Photojournalism is a particular form of journalism (the collecting, editing, and presenting of news material for publication or broadcast) that creates images in order to tell a news story. It is usually understood to refer only to still images, but the term also refers to video used in broadcast journalism. Narrative — the images combine with other news elements to make facts relatable to the viewer or reader.

A series of several elements – Thank You and Acceptance Speech, digital art, scrapbooking, photos of the location, texts and descriptions, etc. - are run in succession to produce a short, animated video. This compilation of video frames results in a genera video of the Award.

TEAM: Josepf Haslam (e)JOSEPF (project managing, conception, planification, production) and Lyne Robichaud (e)PAPIER (assistant, content provider, edition); Fee Easton (e)BOOTCOOT (digital art, removing backgrounds); Cindy Smith (e)REIGN (suggestions of apps).

Users Shell Virtual Experience Project
This project aims to keep users engaged in a virtual experience: an event-based networking linked to a form of digital interaction and social networking online (Pearltrees connect). It adds a new dimension to participation to Ceremony Night. Users surf through the virtual event (user experience, user engagement and user flow). The user experience is enriched by offering productive engagement opportunities such as surfing through shells of information, opening up shells of content, discovering profiles and photos of nominees and video streaming, and connecting to internal social networks. Content is concise and interactive.

TEAM: Josepf Haslam (e)JOSEPF (project managing, conception, planification, production) and Lyne Robichaud (e)PAPIER (assistant, content provider, edition)

Timeline
December 5 – Creation of the Positive Attitude Award of the Year – New Discussion Thread
December 5 – Invitation to members to suggest nominees
December 8 – Call for Collaboration – Digital Art – Blog post L’Ère du temps and AveInfluence
December 13 – Brandon Burke accepts to collaborate to Digital art project
December 15 – Brandon Burke asks for specifications (people accompanying nominees)
December 16 – Josepf Haslam accepts to be Presenter
December 17 – First team Brainstorming session (Lyne Robichaud and Josepf Haslam)
December 18 – Invitations to 5 nominees – Thank You and Acceptance Speech
December 19 – First Draft tool – Gathering of all the information, and presentation of the project to Community Administrators
December 20-23 – Josepf Haslam contacts 5 nominees for Thank You and Acceptance Speech
December 20-23 – Preliminary work, digital art. Search, background photos and nominees.
December 23-29 – Digital art and scrapbooking project
Early January 2011 – Preliminary elements, in preparation for general video presentation – editing, voice recording, coordination of all projects
Mid January – Final step, general video, montage, edition
Third week of January – Launching of general video, posting, marketing and communications
Last week of January – Shell virtual experience project
First week of February – Launching and posting, Shell virtual experience project

19 décembre 2010

My Year 2010 in review: from mourning to gov2.0 dreams

In 2010, I faced several bereavements. This situation made me walk towards resilience. This new force also allowed me to start dreaming again, and I finished the year by beating the horses at full speed, multiplying the projects and deliverables.

Grief is seen as a necessary process for release (of pain), named resilience. When an event causes a crisis in the life of an individual, a radical change is made in the position previously established. The last of the five stages of grief is acceptance, where the mourner gets better. The reality of the loss is better understood and accepted. The bereaved can still feel sadness, but this person recovers enough be fully functional. The person adjusts her life to the loss.

In my personal life, I lost my father Yves Robichaud in April 2009. I also lost my aunt Huguette Robichaud in January 2010.

On a professional level, I ended the forum Zonegrippeaviaire.com on January 6, 2010, three years after having founded it. I tried to obtain cooperation from the Government of Quebec (Government 2.0): the first attempt at collaboration coming from an online community. The answer came in the form of a "market study" from Services Québec, which concluded that "social media are not worth the trouble to invest time or money because they are immature and not credible." This study served as a justification to close the door to any form of collaboration. I realized that the Flublogian community of practice would never become a collaborative team in Quebec. So I resigned and decided to move on. After four years invested in this sphere, I abandoned Flublogia.

The first months of the year, I stopped all activity in social media. I undertook an artistic production: I created 780 works of quilling (topiaries, handbags, jewelry, cards, etc.). My artistic approach. My art work on Flickr.

In August 2010, I signed up on Empire Avenue as (e)PAPIER. I met Adriel Hampton again (I had followed him for about two years). Watching Adriel Hampton in action moved me to the point of making me cry, because I realized how the ideal of government 2.0 was deeply embedded in me, rationally incommensurable, as a passion of the soul. Hope is like a kind of appeal; it can sometimes fell like an intense distress. I told myself that I had nothing to lose. "To hope is to deny the future." (Emil Michel Cioran) I then ignored the limitations of mind. I wanted to believe that government 2.0 would become possible, and that I would find my place in this sphere.

In September 2010, I set the goal of finding a job as a Government 2.0 implementater.

In October 2010, I went to Edmonton, Alberta, where I attended the Beyond 2010 conference.

I met in person Chris Moore , CIO of the City of Edmonton and Jordan Hodges, performance manager & coach, Department of Information Technology of this municipality.

I was fortunate to meet several speakers of this conference: Adriel Hampton , co-founded the popular public interest podcast Gov 2.0 Radio show, Kevin Curry , creator of CityCamp, an international unconference and online community dedicated to innovation for municipal governments and community organizations and Phil Ashlock , Open Government Program Manager at OpenPlans, a non-profit organization that develops technology and media to improve civic services, urban livability, and local democracy.

I wrote several posts about this conference: in French, this one, this one, and this one. In English, this one and this one. See all my pictures of Beyond2010 on Flickr.

I was pleasantly surprised by analysis of the data (according to TweetTronics). I discovered that that I came in third position of impact on Twitter during the two days of Beyond 2010. These results encouraged me, and I continued to make efforts to stand out in the government 2.0 sphere. A TweetTronics analysis conducted on November 16, 2010 showed that I ranked among the Top 10 for key word #gov2.0 on Twitter. At December 17, 2010, my number of followers on Twitter had increased (from 890 in October) to 1330.
I resumed my work with Adriel Hampton by covering live in French Gov20Radio shows.

I also wrote a series of blog posts related to what was said in Gov20Radio shows, thus developing French-language content:
- October 31 2010 show, guest Chris Moore, this post;
- November 7, 2010, guest Brooks Bennett, this post and this one;
- November 14, 2010, guest Geordie Adams, this post and this one;
- November 28, 2010, guest Lovisa Williams, this post and this one;
- December 5, 2010, guest Nic Adler, this post.
Via Empire Avenue, I met several people and strengthened networking ties. Two government 2.0 advocates - Adriel Hampton (e)ADRIEL and Alan Silberberg (e)GILGOV - participated in the project Men Calendar 2011 (get your free copy), an Empire Avenue online community that I manage with six other admnistrators.

Projects underway
In November 2010, I was excited about the launch of the project Global Citizenship, led by several people, including Lovisa Williams and Alan Silberberg. I was eager to communicate my interest to them, and I am look forward to collaboration. Blog posts about this project: this one and this one.

In November I was invited by John Moore to become a contributor of Government in Action. I am the first francophone government 2.0 advocate to publish content in French in United States. Other contributors to this site are, among others Andrew P. Wilson, Nick Charney, and Lovisa Williams.

In November, I met S. Rousselet from Youth Diplomacy, organizer of the Youth Summits G8 G20. I proposed an exciting project to be included in the forthcoming Summits, and I hope it will materialize in Paris, France, in May-June 2011.

I am currently planning a project related to Francophonie, scheduled for 2012.

Other projects I proposed
I suggested to promote and develop the G4, a coalition of Canadian open cities. See my post.

I talked about the need for a governement 2.0 multilingual communication strategy. See my post.I hope that an organization, a consortium of organizations, a government, or a group of governments, will support the establishment and financial support of a multilingual communication strategy in order to develop worldwide the government 2.0 tendency.

A job for me in 2011
In an interview published on Planet Empire Avenue by Brad Grier last December 13 (It takes a community to raise a calendar), I mentioned that I am looking for a job related to Government 2.0 in 2011.
"I have a tremendous amount of passion, an iconoclast way of thinking, analytical abilities, and moreover, I speak French: I can be a good voice for government 2.0. I want to find a job! I would like my dreams of becoming a Government 2.0 implementater to come true. The current Quebecois political situation is not conducive to this – our Premier Jean Charest’s nickname is ‘The Godfather’ – so I hope that someone, somewhere, will see me, and integrate me into an international (or foreign) government 2.0 team, or hire me as a community manager."
Despite the vagaries of life, I am satisfied by what I have accomplished in year 2010. I managed to bypass certain difficulties and to start planning many projects.

17 décembre 2010

Revue de mon année 2010: du deuil aux rêves de gov2.0

Au cours de l'année 2010, j'ai traversé plusieurs deuils. Cela m'a fait cheminer vers la résilience. Cette nouvelle force m'a permis aussi de recommencer à rêver, et j'ai terminé l'année en battant les chevaux à toute vapeur, multipliant les projets et les livrables.

Le deuil est considéré comme un processus nécessaire de délivrance, nommé résilience. Lorsqu'un événement provoque une crise dans la vie d'un individu, un changement radical est opéré dans la situation établie jusqu'alors. La dernière des cinq étapes du deuil est l'acceptation, où l'endeuillé reprend du mieux. La réalité de la perte est beaucoup plus comprise et acceptée. L'endeuillé peut encore vivre de la tristesse, mais il a retrouvé son plein fonctionnement. Il a aussi réorganisé sa vie en fonction de la perte.

Sur un plan personnel, j'ai perdu mon père Yves Robichaud en avril 2009. J'ai perdu aussi ma tante Huguette Robichaud en janvier 2010.

Sur un plan professionnel, j'ai mis fin au forum Zonegrippeaviaire.com le 6 janvier 2010, trois années après l'avoir fondé. J'ai tenté d'obtenir une collaboration de la part du gouvernement du Québec (gouvernement 2.0): la toute première tentative de collaboration venant de la part d'une communauté en ligne. La réponse est survenue sous la forme d'une «étude de marché» de Services Québec, qui concluait que «les médias sociaux ne valent pas la peine qu'on y investisse temps et argent, car ils sont immatures et non crédibles.» Cette étude a servi de justification pour fermer la porte à toute forme de collaboration. J'ai réalisé que la communauté de pratique flublogienne ne deviendrait jamais une équipe collaborative au Québec. Alors je me suis résignée, et j'ai décidé de passer à autre chose. Après quatre années investies dans ce milieu, j'ai abandonné la sphère du Flublogia.

Les premiers mois de l'année, j'ai cessé toute activité dans les médias sociaux. Je me suis lancée dans une production artistique: j'ai créé 780 oeuvres de quilling (des topiaires, sacs à main, bijoux, cartes, etc.). Ma démarche artistique. Mes oeuvres sur Flickr.

En août 2010, je me suis inscrite à Empire Avenue - le nom de mon titre étant (e)PAPIER - et j'ai retrouvé Adriel Hampton, que j'avais suivi auparavant pendant environ deux années. Voir Adriel Hampton en action m'a émue au point de me faire pleurer, parce que je réalisais à quel point cet idéal de gouvernement 2.0 était profondément ancré en moi, rationnellement incommensurable, comme une passion de l'âme. L'espérance est une sorte d'appel, de recours éperdu. Je me suis dit que je n'avais rien à perdre. "Espérer, c'est démentir l'avenir." (Emil Michel Cioran) C'est alors que j'ai fait fi des limitations de l'esprit et que j'ai voulu croire que le gouvernement 2.0 serait possible, et que j'y trouverais ma place.

En septembre 2010, j'ai fixé l'objectif de trouver un emploi en lien avec l'implantation d'une gouvernance 2.0.

En octobre 2010, je suis allée à Edmonton, en Alberta, où j'ai participé à Beyond 2010.

J'ai rencontré en personne Chris Moore, CIO de la Ville de Edmonton, ainsi que Jordan Hodges, qui agit à titre de 'performance manager & coach' du département des technologies de l'information de cette municipalité.

J'ai eu la chance de rencontrer plusieurs des conférenciers de cet événement, dont Adriel Hampton, co-fondateur de la populaire émission d'intérêt public de Gov2.0Radio; Kevin Curry, créateur de CityCamp, une "non-conférence" internationale et communauté en ligne dédiée à l'innovation pour les administrations municipales et les organismes communautaires; et Phil Ashlock, gestionnaire de programme à OpenPlans, une organisation à but non lucratif qui développe des technologies et des médias pour améliorer les services civiques, l'habitabilité urbaine, et la démocratie locale.

J'ai rédigé plusieurs billets à propos de cette conférence: ceci, ceci, et ceci. En anglais, ceci, et ceci. Voir toutes mes photos de Beyond2010 sur Flickr.

J'ai été agréablement surprise, en analysant les données (d'après TweetTronics), de constater que je suis arrivée en troisième position d'impact sur Twitter pendant les deux journées de Beyond 2010. Ces résultats m'ont encouragée, et j'ai poursuivi les efforts pour me démarquer dans la sphère du gouvernement 2.0. Une analyse de TweetTronics effectuée le 16 novembre 2010 a démontré que je me suis classée parmi le Top 10 pour #gov2.0 sur Twitter. Au 17 décembre 2010, mon nombre d'abonnés sur Twitter est passé (de 890 en octobre) à 1330.
J'ai repris ma collaboration avec Adriel Hampton en couvrant en direct en français les émission de Gov20Radio.

J'ai également rédigé une série de billets en lien avec ce qui se dit à Gov20Radio, développant ainsi du contenu francophone:
- Émission du 31 octobre 2010, invité Chris Moore, ce billet;
- Émission du 7 novembre 2010, invité Brooks Bennett, ce billet et celui-ci;
- Émission du 14 novembre 2010, invité Geordie Adams, ce billet et celui-ci;
- Émission du 28 novembre 2010, invitée Lovisa Williams, ce billet et celui-ci;
- Émission du 5 décembre 2010, invité Nic Adler, ce billet.
Grâce à Empire Avenue, j'ai fait la connaissance de plusieurs personnes et consolidé des liens de réseautage. Deux défenseurs du gouvernement 2.0 - Adriel Hampton (e)ADRIEL et Alan Silberberg (e)GILGOV - ont participé au projet de Calendrier des hommes de Phoenix's Nest (obtenez votre copie gratuite), la communauté de Empire Avenue que je gère avec six autres admnistrateurs.

Projets sur les rails
En novembre 2010, j'ai été emballée par le lancement du projet de Global Citizenship, piloté par plusieurs personnes, dont notamment Lovisa Williams et Alan Silberberg. Je me suis empressée de leur communiquer mon intérêt et j'ai hâte de pouvoir y collaborer. Mes billets à propos de ce projet: celui-ci et celui-là.

En novembre, j'ai été invitée par John Moore à devenir fournisseur de contenu de Government in Action. Je suis la première défenseur de gouvernement 2.0 francophone à publier des contenus en français aux États-Unis. Parmi les autres fournisseurs de contenu de ce site, on compte notamment Andrew P. Wilson, Nick Charney, et Lovisa Williams.

En novembre, j'ai fait la connaissance de S. Rousselet de Youth Diplomacy, l'organisateur des Sommets de la jeunesse G8 G20. J'ai déposé un projet emballant à intégrer dans le cadre des prochains sommets, et j'espère que celui-ci se matérialisera à Paris, France, en mai-juin prochain.

Je concocte présentement un projet en lien avec la francophonie, prévu pour 2012.

D'autres projets que j'ai proposés

J'ai suggéré de promouvoir et développer le G4, une coalition de villes ouvertes canadiennes. Voir mon billet à ce sujet.

J'ai parlé de la nécessité d'adopter une stratégie de communications multilingue de gouvernement 2.0. Voir mon billet à ce sujet. J'espère qu'un organisme, un groupement d'organismes, un gouvernement, ou un groupement de gouvernements, viendra/viendront appuyer la mise en place, et soutenir financièrement des stratégies de communication multilingue, dans le but de développer la tendance de gouvernement 2.0 à travers le monde.

Un emploi pour moi en 2011
Dans une interview de Brad Grier publiée sur Planet Empire Avenue le 13 décembre dernier (It takes a community to raise a calendar), j'ai mentionné que je recherche un emploi en lien avec le gouvernement 2.0 en 2011.
"I have a tremendous amount of passion, an iconoclast way of thinking, analytical abilities, and moreover, I speak French: I can be a good voice for government 2.0. I want to find a job! I would like my dreams of becoming a Government 2.0 implementater to come true. The current Quebecois political situation is not conducive to this – our Premier Jean Charest’s nickname is ‘The Godfather’ – so I hope that someone, somewhere, will see me, and integrate me into an international (or foreign) government 2.0 team, or hire me as a community manager."
Malgré les aléas de la vie, je suis satisfaite de mon année, car j'ai réussi à passer outre certaines difficultés et mettre en chantier de nombreux projets.

16 décembre 2010

It takes a community to raise a calendar


Posted on December 13, 2010 by Brad Grier (e)BGRIER in Announcements, Planet Empire Avenue.
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In mid-November I became aware of some activity happening in one of the more active communities in Empire Avenue. It seems that within the Phoenix’s Nest was a group of folk with heart and creativity to spare.

And thus, The Men of Empire Avenue calendar was conceived. You can buy the calendar through eBay (it’s a .pdf you’ll download) and proceeds go to the Canadian Red Cross, but if you’re interested in some of the detail and background on the genesis of the calendar, read on, gentle reader, read on.

To fill in some of the details, I decided to ping the head honcho over at the Phoenix’s Nest, Lyne Robichaud (e)PAPIER for the details. She kindly consented to an email interview, so without further adieu, here’s the what how and who of The Men of Empire Avenue calendar.

So, where did this idea (of calendars) come from? What made you think is is a great idea?
By mid-October, after Phoenix’s Nest completed the Hairdo Competition (where members were asked to add their wildest hairdos at the Phoenix’s Nest group pool on Flickr, and then voted for their favorite picture via an online survey), Darcy Kieran (an ex-EAv user) and Victoria Lee (e)VIXLEE came up with the idea of calendars. The Hairdo Competition made us realize that there was interest from members for projects featuring popular members of the community.

Members were first asked to create a wish list of people they would like to see selected. In two weeks, they came up with several suggestions that led to designing two calendars: one for the men of Empire Avenue, and another one for women. Furthermore, Adriel Hampton (e)ADRIEL suggested we should make a calendar dedicated to ‘talking animals’ as well, but we extended this project to 2011. Dragon_flaming suggested we use the calendars as fundraising tools. Allie Wojtaszek (e)ALLIE proposed the Canadian Red Cross as our cause. The Canadian Red Cross raises funds to provide immediate needs and longer-term relief for survivors of a disaster.


No project of this scope happens in a vacuum. Tell us about your team and what they’re bringing to the table.
The dynamics within the Phoenix’s Nest community are wonderful. Since this community has been founded, Dragon_flaming and I have continuously hammered these three words: friendship, solidarity and love. This last word – love – is very strong, and I did not think it would become widely used. This week, Adriel Hampton (e)ADRIEL declared: “No secret, I love everyone! “. If we were selling content, as we sell shares on Empire Avenue, I would not accept the bids go below a million eaves for this comment. So much has been accomplished in just three months!

We manage to consolidate strong networking ties by ongoing conversations happening simultaneously on all platforms – Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, and Empire Avenue.

Our community administrative team is scattered around the world: Jitesh Panchal (e)UNS33N is in India, Fee Easton (e)BOOTCOOT in United Kingdom, Steve Jaeschke (e)DRAGONSCALE in Australia, while Doug Walters (e)DARING, Avenue Influence (e)AVEINFLUENCE (edited by John Moore (e)JOHNFMOORE) and Adriel Hampton (e)ADRIEL are in United States, and I am [(e) PAPIER] in Canada. This has proven to be an advantage as we are able to cover all time zones.

Phoenix’s Nest community administrators are building a group that focuses on a passionate niche by interacting with community members and engaging in conversations; by being helpful to others, by responding to their requests of calls of action and information (it is important to listen and react to the needs of the community); by participating to group projects; by bringing ideas – consistent, relative and relatable content.

Sometimes we do fun and silly things and we all have fun together. However, we are also capable of conducting extremely deep and serious conversations on difficult topics, such as the beneficial effect of social media on the structural crisis of gender relations (a discussion thread called ‘Active Directory of Couples and Secret Lovers’).

Community development seeks to empower individuals and groups of people by providing these groups with the skills they need to affect change in their own communities.

Phoenix’s Nest is an exploratory laboratory, where we contribute to online community development.

How did you select the images profiled in the calendar?
Once members completed the wish list of ideal participants, we sent invitations to these people. Most of them accepted. We did a second round of (collective) suggestions to fill up our number of months/participants to 13. We are still looking for three to four more ladies for Women Calendar 2011, which should be completed by January 2011. In most cases, participants handed in one photograph, while some gave us access to their complete online portfolio of photos, where we were allowed to choose one.

For the cover of Women Calendar, we insisted on selecting an image as strong as the one provided by Brian Smith (e)COMEDY for cover of Men Calendar (he’s sitting with legs open, while two voluptuous women are tearing apart his T-shirt). In order to optimize the selection process, we set up a jury composed of Jordan Hodges (e)JORDNH, Fee Easton (e)BOOTCOOT, Chris Latko (e)CLATKO, Jitesh Panchal (e)UNS33N and Brian Smith (e)COMEDY.

Adriel Hampton (e)ADRIEL was the first of participants to write his biography. He set the standards high! Completing all the biographies took quite a bit of time, spending numerous hours communicating with participants and editing biographies. While participants were asked to write in English, I decided to compose a completely different version in French. I met three of the participants in person last October in Edmonton (Jordan Hodges (e)JORDNH, Tim Conrad (e)TIMCON and Adriel Hampton (e)ADRIEL). But for the remaining ten ones, I had to get really well acquinted with them, in order to be able to synthesize in a few sentences the essence of who they are.

A big thank you to Greg Scratchley (e)ITCH for his attention, dedication and his aesthetic sense (Greg is in charge of the graphic design of the calendars). Visual communication uses visual cues in order to exchange with others. By visually enhancing our Empire Avenue environment, Greg allows recognition of projects by a larger set of members.

The gentlemen profiled in the calendar are: (e)ADRIEL, (e)JORDNH, (e)UNS33N, (e)BLIND, (e)SILGOV, (e)YASH, (e)TIMCON, (e)CLATKO, (e)COMEDY, (e)DRAG0N, (e)ITCH, (e)CJUNKY, (e)MRWORK

What is your favorite ‘month’ and why?
I often say that everyone is unique, like a flower; we each have a special beauty. I don’t have a favorite month just as I do not have a favorite member; they are all fantastic. I like to encourage people to see the best in others; encourage them to do the best they can do to make themselves a better person. I am always working to do the same. That is how our society will change. I believe that every act has a universal dimension.

Egotistical materialist society is running rampant through the world at the moment. Change can only occur when the “influential” members of the society really want to change themselves and influence others to value and recognize that we are useful and involved in something bigger. Within any community, there is a wealth of knowledge and experience which, if used in creative ways, can be channelled into collective action to achieve the communities’ desired goals.

Tell us a little bit about yourself
I am a creator and analyst with 12 years of experience in managing Web projects. I possess an ability to synthesize all without losing the thread, to see pieces of the whole. I led marketing and community development projects – from conception and organization of contests, community involvement, content partnerships – for the family and childhood vertical portal, PetitMonde.com. I founded and edited, for three years, the international bilingual forum Zonegrippeaviaire.com, which focused on the role of social media in pandemic preparedness. Unfortunately, the Quebec government rejected social media, and categorically refused to collaborate with the online Flublogian community of practice of Zonegrippeaviaire. For this reason, I ended the project in January 2010. I worked as a pandemic preparedness analyst for a consulting firm, Web Escape Agents, based in Versailles, France, where I analyzed policies of industrialized countries and UN, and helped businesses to plan and implement preparedness.

I also worked as a director of communications for fundraising campaigns, where I learned how to communicate on a large scale with 30,000 graduates. I led government relations (lobbying) for several years where I succeeded in changing provincial and municipal laws, and influenced decisions of elected leaders. Now, I’m passionate about Government 2.0, and I would like to work in this area. “Government 2.0″ is the integration of the new generation of digital media to the structure and functioning of an Administration. It is about transparency, data access, participation, collaboration and citizen engagement. The key to success? The message must be contagious and reach people on an emotional level. I have a tremendous amount of passion, an iconoclast way of thinking, analytical abilities, and moreover, I speak French: I can be a good voice for government 2.0.

In late October, I took over leadership of Phoenix’s Nest – currently the third Top Personal/ Private community of Empire Avenue – when Dragon_flaming deleted her account. Phoenix’s Nest’s mission is to develop strong networking links in social media and convey warmth in relationships. At Phoenix’s Nest, we appreciate, respect and support each other. Members feel that they are part of an active and thriving community that is there for them. Empathy and a playful attitudes are encouraged.


What’s next for you and your team?
FOR ME – I want to find a job! I would like my dreams of becoming a Government 2.0 implementater to come true. The current Quebecois political situation is not conducive to this – our Premier Jean Charest’s nickname is ‘The Godfather’ – so I hope that someone, somewhere, will see me, and integrate me into an international (or foreign) government 2.0 team, or hire me as a community manager.

FOR PHOENIX’S NEST TEAM – We have two ongoing projects to complete before jumping into next year’s planning: Women Calendar 2011 and Positive Attitude Award of the Year. The Positive Attitude Award of the Year is an award given to Empire Avenue users by members of Phoenix’s Nest, which aims to the use of social media in positive ways. This collective exercise will ultimately list the different winning strategies of using social media, and will indicate why some users are more succesful, and what is their secret. We’re stretching the Award project by adding a digital art component: computer-generated images, using nominees’ faces and turning them into rock stars. Nominees will be announced in Grammy-Awards-style.

Our 2011’s planning includes several projects. In February, we will unveil ‘The Mysterious Lips’ project. In March, we thought of something that will highlight interesting information about our members. We are also planning another competition in the Spring. In the Summer, we will share our ‘Cool flip-flops’. And we are thinking about redoing the calendars at the end of the year, but we would like to add a bolder much better prepared fundraising campaign. We have also recently associated ourselves with Avenue Influence (e)AVEINFLUENCE, an online community where Empire Avenue users can come to discuss Empire Avenue, share guides, blog posts, and other general information to benefit fellow users. Avenue Influence will contribute to creating opportunities for Phoenix’s Nest to learn new skills and, by enabling members to act together.

So there you have it. The Men of Empire Avenue 2011 calendar is now available, and it looks like things are on track for the much anticipated Women’s calendar shortly. Stay tuned!

10 décembre 2010

The Men of Phoenix's Nest


Phoenix's Nest, Empire Avenue's third most popular personal/private community, has been lead by two forceful fearless women (with no consort): Dragon_flaming and Lyne Robichaud (e)PAPIER. They like men to be bold, witty, successful, handsome, faithful, playful, with a developed sense of aesthetics - an interest for art (literature, music, visual arts, cinema, theatre, opera, etc.) -, and extremely passionate in everything they do.

They like men with ENERGY!

When Dragon_flaming was the community leader, chivalry, knights and dragons helped highlight the 'Good Guys'.

Metrics (of survey, Hairdo Competition) have shown us that men are three times more popular than women at Phoenix's Nest. Instead of voting for their favorite hairdo, members of Phoenix's Nest voted for their favorite person. It turned out that participants with the most votes were men. These results surprised me a lot because they had no connection with hair... it was all about (male) sex appeal, attractiveness or personal qualities.

The mythical universe of dragons was removed when The Dragon's Cave turned into The Phoenix's Nest. But this reality continues to persist. Men continue to be more popular. To my regret, women have shown a need for more self-assertiveness. It took four to five times more efforts to build the Women Calendar (compared to the male project). And despite these additional efforts, we were not able to launch them simultaneously. We have fallen behind on schedule for the ladies' project. (We are going to complete the Women Calendar soon. It should be launched in early January 2011.)

Therefore, in our future projects, we must reflect this reality: leverage men' strength, but always remember that we should try to work on empowering women.

I do not know exactly what kind of impact the Men Calendar 2011 will have on Phoenix's Nest dynamics. It will have one. I am certain. However, I am unable to evaluate to what extent.

Calendar will be launched in three days from now, on Sunday December 12 2010. So it is a good timing for life coaching the foals...

I noticed that Adriel Hampton (e)ADRIEL has been more playful lately. He has shown dedication and care for others. He also had several iconoclast ideas, which I must admit, have completely floored me! His repeated use of the word 'love' (synonyms and derivatives) has not gone unnoticed. His new attitude is having a positivite impact on his popularity.

Jitesh Panchal (e)UNS33N won the second position at the Hairdo Competition last October (Sanket Farande, also from India, was no.1, but he deleted his EAv account). Lately, Jitesh received a lot of cheers and comments as a nominee of the Phoenix's Nest Positive Attitude Award of the Year.

Other participants to the Men Calendar are Jordan Hodges (e)JORDNH, Brandon Burke (e)BLIND, Chris Latko (e)CLATKO, Yashvir Dalaya (e)YASH, Tim Conrad (e)TIMCON, Brian Smith (e)COMEDY, Tom Edwards (e)MRWORK, Steve Jaeschke (e)DRAGONSCALE, Alan Silberberg (e)SILGOV, Greg Scratchley (e)ITCH and Marc Rogers (e)CJUNKY.

There is more energy at Phoenix's Nest. We can all feel it. I remember that when a new member arrived as The Dragon's Cave, Dragon_flaming was forced to generate animation for newcomers. This task took some of her time and energy. And it eventually tired her. I do not systematically welcome everyone like Dragon_flaming used to do. I let the members of the community do it. I did not give instructions to the administrative team. I did not point out this task. It just happened naturally: now everyone participates. Yesterday, a new member showed up at The Phoenix's Nest (Becky @SoCaliGirl123 (e)EDC10) and in a matter of a few hours, she received 26 welcoming messages.

A high energy level pushes a person to enjoy life. It is a strength coming from the inside, leading to live more intensely.

More (personal) energy in social media leads to success, popularity and recognition. If members of our community combine passion with a positive attitude, this will lead to a higher level of energy, and it will affect our social relationships.

So, PUT THE SWITCH ON!

08 décembre 2010

CALL FOR COLLABORATION - Digital art for Positive Attitude Award/Phoenix's Nest


Phoenix's Nest is looking for creative people to make a photo-reportage Grammy-Awards-style for our Positive Attitude Award of the Year.

The Positive Attitude Award of the Year is an award attributed to Empire Avenue users by members of Phoenix's Nest, which aims to promote positive attitude as being contagious in social media. Attitude is a mindset. A positive attitude is the outward manifestation of a mind that focuses primarily on positive things. A positive attitude gives bring energy to a person and her entourage. Furthermore, a negative attitude saps energy. Members of Phoenix's Nest are asked to describe why they nominate a person. This collective exercise will ultimately list the different winning strategies of using social media, and will indicate why some users are more succesful, and what is their secret. Valuing and appreciating each other is also an important element of Phoenix's Nest mission.

This new project consists of digital art, computer-generated images, using nominees' faces and turning them into rock stars: photo-montages of nominees walking up the red carpet alley or anything Hollywood style; paparazzi taking pictures of nominee stars; nominees proudly holding their award, or waving hand; nominees coming out of a limousine; nominees posing on the walkway, etc. Group pictures, nominees interacting with each other, people kissing (*blushing*), nominees giving a speech, nominees dancing together, or nominees performing a song on stage, etc.

We also would need scenario designers and script writers. These contributors will help Phoenix's Nest create a fun outstanding and very original photo-montage.

Woouuu ooouuu! I wonder what kind of nice dress I will end up wearing to the Positive Attitude Award ceremony... and who will be my consort! So thrilling!

Examples of digital art involving Empire Avenue users
Claire McGonigal (e)CMCG with Brad (digital art by William Pitcher (e)RZR)

Lance Taylor (e)LANCETAY with Brad (digital art by William Pitcher (e)RZR)

Duleepa Wijayawardhana (e)DUPS in squirrel suit (digital art by Lance Taylor (e)LANCETAY)

Deadline for participation
Deadline for digital art: January 5th, 2011.

All nominees will be announced in the photo-reportage.

Have fun playing with images!

About Phoenix's Nest
Phoenix’s Nest has 237 members and is currently the third Top Personal/Private community of Empire Avenue. Phoenix’s Nest’s mission is to develop strong networking links in social media and convey warmth in relationships. At Phoenix’s Nest, we appreciate, respect and support each other. Members feel that they are part of an active and thriving community that is there for them. Empathy and a playful attitude are being encouraged.

Nominees, Positive Attitude of the Year
So far, 17 nominations have been received for the Positive Attitude Award of the Year:
Adriel Hampton (e)ADRIEL
Allie Wojtaszek (e)ALLIE
Chris Latko (e)CLATKO
Fee Easton (e)BOOTCOOT
Fozzie Dog (e)FOZDOG
Greg Scratchley (e)ITCH
Jitesh Panchal (e)UNS33N
John Moore (e)JOHNFMOORE
Jordan Hodges (e)JORDNH
Krimson Gray (e)ANIME
Lyne Robichaud (e)PAPIER
Nick Provost (e)NICKP
Omar Habayeb (e)OKMMH
Pooch Land (e)WOOF
Reign @reigny (e)REIGN
Ron Stark (e)RSTARK
Teagan Thedog (e)TEAGAN

06 décembre 2010

La passion est l'ingrédient magique de la gestion de communautés virtuelles


Depuis sa conférence au Gravity Summit du 8 novembre dernier (voir mon billet à ce sujet: «Les politiciens s'humanisent grâce aux médias sociaux»), Adriel Hampton a parlé des gestionnaires de communautés (en ligne) dans ses émission de Gov20Radio. Il a mentionné qu'il y avait plusieurs gestionnaires de communautés au Gravity Summit, mais que la majorité d'entre eux se trouvaient dans une phase de création de leur communauté.

Adriel Hampton semble chercher à établir ce que serait un gestionnaire idéal. Il interroge ses invités, il leur demande de creuser le sujet. Cela forme un fil conducteur des deux dernières émission.

À l'émission du 28 novembre 2010, Lovisa Williams a parlé de 'disruptive technology'. J'ai établi une analogie avec la pensée iconoclaste dans ce billet «'Disruptive technology' et gov2.0», étant donné que sa définition fut «tout ce qui perturbe la façon dont vous pensez et comment vous travaillez».

La pensée iconoclaste se forge par la perception, la réaction à la peur, et L'INTELLIGENCE SOCIALE. L'intelligence sociale est la compétence d'une personne à comprendre son environnement de façon optimale et de réagir de manière appropriée pour une conduite socialement réussie.

Hier (5 décembre 2010), Gov20Radio recevait Nic Adler, propriétaire de The Roxy Theatre, une émission intitulée 'Social Strip'.

The Roxy est une boîte de nuit légendaire située sur le Sunset Strip, à West Hollywood, en Californie. The Roxy a été inauguré le 23 septembre 1973 par Elmer Valentine et Lou Adler. L'historique de The Roxy est pavée de canons de la musique. Le plancher de danse ouvert de The Roxy et ses superbes installations de son offrent aux fans (admirateurs) l'une des expériences de divertissement les plus intimes.

La page Facebook de The Roxy comporte près de 94,000 admirateurs. Leur stratégie de gestion des médias sociaux récolte un succès phénoménal, et Adriel Hampton a cherché à percer leur secret.

Nic Adler a succédé à son père Lou dans cette entreprise familiale (Ann Johansson pour le New York Time)

«La passion --- l'énergie --- le dévouement (à un projet, à un travail, à une carrière) qui mènent au succès, se retrouvent à la fois chez les utilisateurs de médias sociaux et les artistes de l'industrie de la musique», a indiqué Nic Adler.

La passion est l'énergie - affective, physique, mentale, psychique, et souvent spirituelle - qui nous pousse à concentrer nos efforts.

Ainsi, la passion est l'énergie. La question importante est, vers quelle fin cette passion est-elle dirigée?

Mais l'intention complète l'équation de la passion. C'est l'ingrédient magique qui donne à la passion sa raison d'être. Sans l'intention comme ancrage, la passion n'a pas de système de guidage interne ou externe. L'intention est l'ancre, le phare, la direction, la boussole qui nous guide pour prendre des décisions qui permettent à nos vies et nos carrières d'aller de l'avant.

Le cœur est le moteur de l'intention, et non pas l'esprit ou l'ego. Quand quelqu'un a leur cœur à son travail, le sens abonde. Il sont - et se sentent - utiles dans leur travail de même que dans le reste de leur vie.

Un étude publiée en août 2010, effectuée par Jacques Forest, Geneviève A. Mageau, Claude Sarrazin, Estelle M. Morin , à propos de la passion dans le travail, avait pour conclusion que la passion est liée à la vitalité et à l'engagement. «La passion harmonieuse est liée positivement à la santé mentale, aux trois éléments d'état psychologique optimal de flow (à savoir la concentration, le contrôle et l'expérience autotélique), à la vitalité et à l'engagement affectif. Ces relations sont partiellement explicables par la satisfaction des besoins psychologiques de base que sont l'autonomie, la compétence et l'affiliation sociale.» (Étude “Work is my passion”: The different affective, behavioural, and cognitive consequences of harmonious and obsessive passion toward work)

La passion est l'ingrédient magique de la gestion de communautés virtuelles.

Les personnes qui pensent différemment (iconoclastes) et celles qui sont passionnées par ce qu'elles font, sont sans doute susceptibles de rencontrer le succès dans leurs stratégies de gestion de communautés dans les médias sociaux.

@TheRoxy's "Sunset Strip" Twitter list
284 membres dans le pool groupe de Flickr
Près de 94,000 admirateurs, page Facebook

05 décembre 2010

New community administrator on Phoenix’s Nest team: Adriel Hampton

Adriel Hampton. Photo: ©Jeremy Maurer

PHOENIX’S NEST, IN A SECRET LOCATION. SUNDAY, DECEMBER 5th, 2010 − Today, Adriel Hampton (e)ADRIEL @adrielhampton joined the community administrative team of Phoenix’s Nest.

Adriel has been a “valued contributor” for three months at Phoenix’s Nest. His official title was Sergeant-of-arms (when this community was called The Dragon’s Cave). Members of the community appreciate his assiduous presence, friendly contribution, and common sense. (e)ADRIEL is currently in the first position as Top People Shares on Empire Avenue.

Phoenix’s Nest has 238 members and is currently the third Top Personal/Private community of Empire Avenue. Phoenix’s Nest’s mission is to develop strong networking links in social media and convey warmth in relationships. At Phoenix’s Nest, we appreciate, respect and support each other. Members feel that they are part of an active and thriving community that is there for them. Empathy and a playful attitude are being encouraged. But most important is the feeling that they are useful and involved in something bigger. Within any community, there is a wealth of knowledge and experience which, if used in creative ways, can be channelled into collective action to achieve the communities' desired goal.

Adriel Hampton is an early Gov 2.0 adopter and co-founded the popular public interest podcast Gov 2.0 Radio show (also on Empire Avenue, (e)G2R) that has featured tech and public policy leaders including Jeffrey Levy of the Federal Web Managers Council, Tim O’Reilly of O’Reilly Media, and Craig Newmark, founder of Craigslist. He has worked with U.S. state and federal Gov.2.0 experts to develop and launch an official Twitter account for San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera. Since 2003, Adriel has worked as an investigator for the San Francisco City Attorney's Office, and he began his career as an editor, designer and writer for several San Francisco Bay Area daily newspapers. In 2009, he ran a grassroots campaign for U.S. Congress.

With the administrative team, Adriel Hampton will contribute to creating opportunities for Phoenix’s Nest to learn new skills and, by enabling members to act together.

Community administrators Lyne Robichaud (e)PAPIER (Canada), Jitesh Panchal (e)UNS33N (India), Fee Easton (e)BOOTCOOT (United Kingdom), Steve Jaeschke (e)DRAG0N (Australia), Doug Walters (e)DARING (United States), and Avenue Influence (e)AVEINFLUENCE look forward to collaborating with Adriel Hampton in the months ahead.

New community administrator on Phoenix’s Nest team: Avenue Influence


PHOENIX’S NEST, IN A SECRET LOCATION. SUNDAY, DECEMBER 5th, 2010 - Today, Avenue Influence (e)AVEINFLUENCE joined the community administrative team of Phoenix’s Nest. Avenue Influence – www.avenueinfluence.com @avenueinfluence, the real scoop on Empire Avenue – is a We-blog and online community edited by John Moore (e)JOHNFMOORE. This community is a place where Empire Avenue users can come to discuss Empire Avenue, share guides, blog posts, and other general information to benefit fellow users.

So these two communities, Phoenix’s Nest and Avenue Influence, will be working together.

Phoenix’s Nest has 238 members and is currently the third Top Personal/Private community of Empire Avenue. Phoenix’s Nest’s mission is to develop strong networking links in social media and convey warmth in relationships. At Phoenix’s Nest, we appreciate, respect and support each other. Members feel that they are part of an active and thriving community that is there for them. Empathy and a playful attitude are being encouraged.

But most important is the feeling that they are useful and involved in something bigger. Within any community, there is a wealth of knowledge and experience which, if used in creative ways, can be channelled into collective action to achieve the communities' desired goals.

Community development seeks to empower individuals and groups of people by providing these groups with the skills they need to affect change in their own communities.

Empire Avenue is in a startup phase of development, a jumpstarting a landmark initiative in social media. “Empire Avenue is a great game which is also a social network tool for creating value-based relationships,” wrote Duleepa Wijayawardhana (e)DUPS, in ‘Freedom to expand’.

How can the communities of Empire Avenue contribute to development of relationships?

Avenue Influence brings fresh ideas and dedication to community development. Avenue Influence’s editor John Moore has an impressive background as consultant necessary to help guide Phoenix’s Nest as it works to achieve this goal.


John Moore is an open government strategist, consultant, and analyst. He has experience working with local governments and small and medium business owners to achieve their goals. John is also a prolific blogger, a frequent speaker on open government, government 2.0 and social business strategies, and has grown strong, thriving communities across the web. His experience in this area is regularly used to help organizations and individuals to achieve their goals while building a loyal and engaged following.

With the administrative team, Avenue Influence will contribute to creating opportunities for Phoenix’s Nest to learn new skills and, by enabling members to act together.

Community administrators Lyne Robichaud (e)PAPIER (Canada), Jitesh Panchal (e)UNS33N (India), Fee Easton (e)BOOTCOOT (United Kingdom), Steve Jaeschke (e)DRAG0N (Australia), and Doug Walters (e)DARING (United States), look forward to collaborating with Avenue Influence in the months ahead.
 
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