StoryToGo

Exploring storytelling in its many forms in this digital age

Events

OE Global 2020 : A Case for Virtual and Open Conferences to Bring People Together to Share Ideas

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#OEGlobal20 - a virtual and open conference

I had the great pleasure last week to participate in the OE Global 2020 Conference virtually from my home in Richmond, BC, Canada. While I have attended other virtual events and conferences throughout the year, this one was a bit different, and more engaging and exciting for me for a number of reasons:

  • Firstly as I had been invited to speak at OE Global 2019 in Milan, but had not been able to afford to attend, it was wonderful that a virtually hosted conference made that possible.
  • Secondly as I had met a number of the delegates for the first time at another conference in 2019, and I was looking forward to ‘seeing’ them again.
  • Finally, as the conference was designed in such away to accommodate people from around the world, and as Alan Levine had created an online community for delegates to connect before, during, and after the conference.

All the hard work and strategy that the team from Taipei Medical University, OE Global, eCampus Ontario, and TU Delft put into organizing the conference paid off. Just look at the stats below.

The conference statistics from the OE Global 2020 Conference.

It seems I was not alone in the question of affordability and accessibility opening up the conference. “75% of the people were first time attendees. Doing this conference in an online fashion enabled a lot more people to participate, who perhaps wouldn’t have been able to if we’ve done it in-person.” ~ Paul Stacey of Open Education Global

One of the exciting things moving forward, post the conference is that OE Global has made all of the recorded talks open and accessible on YouTube, and will be opening up OEG Connect for others to join in the discussion and begin working together on open educational initiatives.

As you begin exploring OE Global 2020, below are the talks and workshop that I gave with others here on StoryToGo, including Lori Jones, Danielle Dubien, Lori Yearwood, and Kevin Ribble:

  • Drawing Eyes and Building Awareness Around OERs

  • StoryToGo : Building Global Connections, Opportunities and Sustainability in the Middle of a Pandemic

  • Are You Asking? Accessibility of Open Educational Resources in Online Learning

These are all projects and initiatives that we’d love to invite others to participate in. Join in the conversation, brainstorming, and planning on OEG Connect:

Hope to see you in the mix on OEG Connect!

The Power of the Protest – Positive Changes Coming from the June 2020 Black Lives Matter Protests

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One of our Roamancing writer’s recently did the research and wrote a letter to a loved one about Systemic Racism, Police Brutality, and positive change coming from the Black Lives Matter Protests and Marches to explain to them why the current Black Lives Matter protests and marches are needed. As we feel this is an important issue and think she did an excellent job of both researching and addressing the problem, we are sharing her letter in 3-parts, here, on Being Emme, and on Roamancing. Her research is focused on the United States, but as is evident in the news in recent weeks, this is very much an issue that needs addressing here at home in Canada too. You can read the first part of her letter by clicking here and the second part of her letter here.

We chose StoryToGo to share the final part of Alex’s letter, as it shows the powerful and positive impact that one form of storytelling can have – that of the protest. These are also stories that we wish to share further, and by sharing them in 3-parts that span 3-different sites with 3-different communities of readers, we hope that Alex’s research and words will resonate further.

June 2020 Black Lives Matter Protests in Phoenix, Arizona.

Dear …

I took your advice and have been doing a lot of research and reading on the subject and I wanted to share with you what I’ve found.

It’s okay if we don’t see everything the same way – I’ll always listen and think about what you have to say and hope you’ll do the same for me! Because what’s the point of having a brain if I don’t use it for critical thinking? You taught me that. 

Anyways love you lots and hope you’ll read with an open mind.

Alex Charters

Below is a continuation of Alex’s letter that began with the sobering facts on police brutality and a brief history of systemic racism.

A poignant question at the Black Lives Matter March in Phoenix, Arizona (June 2020).

I understand a lot of what you said on Sunday and agree that Canada is not America. We have our own problems that we need to face but I think supporting the Civil Rights Movement in America is very important right now. (And added by the editor similar issues do exist in Canada, particular towards our Indigenous people.)

The international support and media attention have forced America to take action and start making real change.

Alex Charters

Positive Changes Coming From the Black Lives Matter Protests:

Re: George Floyd

Photo care of Lorie Shaull

Derek Chauvin was arrested and charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter of George Floyd. This is almost unheard of with 99% of officers getting no charges in the shooting of suspects. 

Re: Breonna Taylor

The ‘no-knock” warrants that allow police officers to enter homes without providing any notice will now be regulated. 

Re: Michael Brown

Ferguson (where Michael Brown was murdered) just elected its first black mayor and she is also the first female mayor.

Other Positive Moves

Black Lives Matter Protests in Phoenix, Arizona – June 2020
  • In California, prosecutors are lobbying the state bar to ban district attorneys from accepting money from police unions.
  • In Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti announced that he will “seek to identify $100 million to $150 million in cuts from the LAPD,” and that the funds will funnel into different areas such as jobs, health care and education.
  • In New Jersey law enforcement will be adding mental health professionals, as well as other reforms.
  • In San Diego police end the use of carotid restraint.
  • In Colorado a bill was introduced to address abusive law enforcement.
  • Unanimous passing of mandatory police education and bias training passed through Michigan’s Senate.
  • Minneapolis City Council voted unanimously to require police officers to intervene anytime they see unauthorized use of force by another officer and to ban police chokeholds altogether. 
  • In New York City, Mayor Bill de Blasio pledged to redirect some of the New York Police Department budget toward youth and social services. De Blasio also committed to repealing Section 50-A, which prevents the public from accessing disciplinary records of police officers.
  • The US Marine Corps released guidance on the removal of public displays of the Confederate battle flag. 

I think the problems black Americans are facing are very real and these protests are an extension of the Civil Rights movement from the 1960’s. These movements are pivotal in making change.

Alex Charters

For a first hand account from the Black Lives Matter protests and marches in the United States, read Lori’s experiences partaking in the marches in Arizona, as an interracial family.

References

Ringing in 2020 with Storytelling and Digital Media Courses at BCIT

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As we ring in a new year, it had me reflecting on what is important to me, and this old proverb …

Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.

Photographed by Cristian Palmer, care of Unsplash.

There is no greater gift that you can give yourself or another than learning a skill that helps pursue one’s passions. This is the reason why sharing knowledge is an important part of what we aim to do here with StoryToGo.

The Importance of Sharing Knowledge For Us

When I started speaking in 2008 about bridging the worlds of media, interactive and cross-platform storytelling, and digital media, it occurred to me that while inspiring people through my talks was great and all, to truly help people to take action, they needed a course giving them guidance and support while they build and craft their storyworlds.

Interactive Storytelling
Erica Hargreave and Caitlin Burns on a Panel on Convergent Storytelling.
Photographer: Liz Kearsley

A year later, after pitching the local post secondary schools, my first post-secondary school courses launched at BCIT and Capilano University. Since then my team and I have also built courses and workshops and taught community, undergraduate and graduate courses at Ryerson University, Humber College, and NVIT. In addition, we’ve helped build new programs and revise old programs. It has both been an honour to teach and share with others, and fulfills a passion of ours. We love teaching.

Creating Our Courses Online

In 2011, after speaking in Egypt, we recognized that to truly make a difference to people that could most benefit from our courses, we needed them to be available online.

Erica Hargreave speaking on ‘Real Time’ Storytelling at the UNWTO Conference on Working with Media in Challenging Times in Marsa Alam, Egypt.

Thanks to BCIT and our colleague Kevin Ribble, they were by 2013. This has also allowed Lori Yearwood to help build and teach those courses with me.

2020 Courses at BCIT

I am happy to share that as we move into 2020, we now have 2 online post-secondary credited courses and 2 intensive community courses offered through BCIT’s Broadcast Media and Communications Part Time Studies. All of our courses are project based, in which our students come out of them having built or built upon projects of their own that they are crafting for their future endeavours.

For those of you who are looking to give yourself and someone in your life the gift of learning this year, these are a few of the courses that we will be teaching in 2020:

Photographed by Ian Schneider, care of Unsplash.

More Coming on StoryToGo

Also keep your eyes peeled here as we will be launching the StoryToGo Classroom site later this year with mini online courses, and tailored online and blended courses for organizations from us and our rich group of storytelling friends and colleagues.

If you have a course that you would love to see offered through StoryToGo, please let us know in the comments, and if you wish us to tailor create a course for your organization, please send us an email.

Photographed by by Danielle Macinnes, care of Unsplash.

Raising a glass of whatever your preferred beverage to a happy and rewarding new year and new decade, rich in learning!

‘Monetizing Your Storytelling Content’ Panel – What Would You Ask Them?

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I am greatly looking forward to moderating a panel this coming Saturday, March 9th, 2019 at the British Columbia Travel Writers Symposium on ‘Monetizing Your Storytelling Content’.

Building sustainable funding models around storytelling projects is a topic that I am researching and exploring at the moment for a Master’s project with Mary McDonald (and some non-Master’s help from Lori Yearwood). Our plan is to give StoryToGo a much needed redesign and share the Case Studies in Sustainable Funding Models for Storytelling here in the StoryToGo Community, with all of you.

Saturday’s panel features three smart and successful storytellers and entrepreneurs from Vancouver’s travel media community. They include Vancouver blogger Miss 604 Rebecca Bollwitt (who is a pioneer in turning blogging into a business), popular YouTuber Josh Rimer (who also happens to be Mr Gay Canada 2019), and cross-platform storyteller Claudia Laroye The Travelling Mom (who has successfully bridged the worlds of traditionally and digital media in her storytelling).

So this brings me to my question to you, what questions would you ask these three around monetizing your storytelling content and building a sustainable funding model behind your storytelling?

Looking forward to your thoughts and including what I can into the panel. I will be sharing what we learn from our panelists over here at StoryToGo in the coming weeks.