The Awesome Foundation — $1,000 grants for your awesome idea

This is legit, folks, with branches in NYC and SF among other places. One word: awesome. Most definitely go for it! -mia

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Forwarding the interest of Awesome in the universe, $1,000 at a time.

  • Funding for your project

    Need some funding for your crazy brilliant idea? We award $1,000 grants every month. It couldn't be simpler. Apply now.

  • No strings attached

    Your idea is yours alone. We don't want a stake in it. We just want to help you make it happen. Learn more.

  • It's spreading

    We started in Boston, but chapters are sprouting up around the world, including Providence, New York City and San Francisco. Want to help start one in your city? See how.

next HV freelancer gathering, Thursday June 3, 7:30pm, Tivoli

Hey all. Something a little different for the next freelancer gathering. Eileen McAdam, an HV freelancer and radio colleague is giving a talk at the Tivoli Bay Visitor Center on Thursday and I'd love some company. Drinks and food after at a place TBD. (Give me a call if you can't make it to the talk but want to join us after. Or just come to Tivoli and find us – oh the joy of a very small town.)

Thursday, June 3
7:30-8:30 PM (followed by food/drinks)

Tivoli Bays Talks: River Voices, Hudson Valley Sounds & Stories, Eileen McAdam, Sound & Story Project
Tivoli Bays Visitor Center, Tivoli, Dutchess County. For more information: 845-889-4745 x105

Hope you can join us!
Best,
Mia
845-444-4034
freelancecafe.org

Reminder – FC event TONIGHT at TiCouz, 6:30pm, SF

Don't forget the FC monthly gathering TONIGHT in SF! Hope you can make it. -mia
freelancecafe.org
FC on Twitter
FC on Facebook

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Please join us for our May Happy Hour at Ti Couz Restaurant (3108 16th Street, San Francisco) tonight at 6:30.  If you haven't already RSVPed to Jen, please drop a line to rori@freelancecafe.org.  Also, please bring enough cash to cover your crepe and drink + about 30% for tax and tip. See you there!

-Rori
415-730-7380

2 minute survey can create money for Spot.Us reporting

Hey all – this is from the folks at Spot.Us. They’re creating an entirely new model for funding independent reporting, and this is one way to help make it happen. I did it. It was strange, but satisfying. Kind of like Kiva.org for freelance reporters. Check it out! -mia

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With less than 2 minutes and 4 clicks you can help independent freelancers make money…for free! You can raise a free $5 to help the reporter of your choice tackle an independent reporting project via Spot.Us. You’ll also get a quick peak at an innovative sponsorship model.1. Go to www.spot.us and hit “register” in the upper left h and corner.
2. Click the large button that says “Earn Credits”
3. Take the quick survey.
4. Your account now has $5 in credits and you’ll automatically be directed to a page that lists current Spot.Us projects. Click “Apply Credits” on the pitch of your choice.

Once confirmed, you’re done!
Thank you, thank you.
Best,


David Cohn
http://Spot.Us
http://twitter.com/digidave

(310) 365-3600

Snap Judgment – LIVE!, June 6, 5pm, SF

Another great event happening in SF next week. This one from FC member Glynn Washington of Snap Judgment. Should be a fabulous show!
-mia

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Join us for the taping of our first-ever TV show: “Snap Judgment: LIVE!” That’s right, the nation’s finest storytellers ROCK one stage for one night. This event will sell out . . . but you get first dibs!

June 6th, Brava Theatre, San Francisco, 5 – 7:30 pm.

After blowing up the NPR radio airwaves, Snap Judgment takes the magic to the stage! Amazing storytelling performances backed up by the bumping beats and stylistic tunes of the “Snap Judgment Playas.”

Get your tickets now – brag to your friends later! Purchase tickets online at:

http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/113310

Your ticket includes an after-the-show-up-close-and-personal beer and wine reception with the artists.

**We will film this event, and might even put your beautiful visage on the television show!**

Glynn Washington
Host / Executive Producer
Snap Judgment Underground Studios
405 14th Street, Suite 900
Oakland CA, 94612
SnapJudgment.org

415.250.2516
“Snap Judgment.  Storytelling, with a BEAT.”
Skype: gdwashington

Book Release Party! June 16, 7:30 pm, SF

Help one of our members celebrate the release of her new book. Details below! -mia

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Please join me to celebrate the release of my book, Tortured: When Good Soldiers Do Bad Things. 

There will be drinks, books for sale, and good times! 

When:  Wednesday, June 16th at 7:30

Where:  Homestead, 2301 Folsom  (at 19th Street) 
I will be hosting readings at Modern Times, Book Passage and Alexander Book Co. (details are at justinesharrock.com) but the 16th will be pure celebration, torture free. 

Kids’ Science Challenge needs video logger

Hey all. Kids’ Science Challenge is looking for a video logger – budget and amount of work is negotiable.

Check out http://www.kidsciencechallenge.com/ and email me with a quick note about your rate and qualifications if you’re interested/available. I will put you in touch with the right person.

Thanks!
-Mia

PS: If you don’t know what a video logger is, this job is probably not for you.

TAL request for pitches

Latest request from TAL. Please note their pitch process in the third graf. Good luck!
-mia

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Hello This American Life contributors,

Thanks so much for your all responses to our last theme list. Our next list will be sent out soon, and in the meantime, we'd like to get your input on a new theme-in-progress that will air in a couple weeks: "Held Hostage".

The show will include a story about a radio station in Columbia that broadcasts messages from the family members of hostages to their captive loved ones. But we're also looking for stories that deal with less literal hostage situations people trying to escape or cope with whatever in their lives is keeping them captive. We're particularly interested in stories where the hostage situation is humorous or lighthearted. Or where the "hostage" is a thing instead of a person.

A reminder of how this process works: When you send in a story idea, you'll get a generic email letting you know that we've read your pitch. If we think the pitch is right for the show, or if we need more information, you'll hear back from us. But if you don't hear back from us within two weeks from the auto-reply email, it means the story just isn't right for us or for the needs of that particular show. The idea of doing it this way is just to get through pitches and get back to everyone a little more quickly.

Also, for this theme only, please address all your pitches to Ben Calhoun, (ben@thislife.org) and/or Lisa Pollak (lisa@thislife.org).

As always, thanks so much for your pitches. All of us here are very appreciative.

Best,
Lisa and Ben

Video Preservation Workshop at BAVC, June 7

Valuable workshop on file digitization offered at Bay Area Video Coalition on June 7. BAVC is a great organization and the workshop price is pretty reasonable for this important info. Details below.
-Mia

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Independent Media Arts Preservation (IMAP)
Presents a Workshop on Digital Preservation for Video
Monday, June 7, 2010
10 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
 
at Bay Area Video Coaltion (BAVC) in San Francisco, CA
 
If content on analog videotape is to survive for the long term, the tapes must be digitized–moved from the unstable magnetic media on which the content is currently held, into the digital realm where–in theory–they can be preserved indefinitely and migrated forward as files rather than physical objects. 
 
Digitization, however, means more than simply selecting a destination file format.  It requires a series of decisions that will determine the long-term viability of files created–and thus of the valuable video content. Workshop topics include: basic digital file creation, preservation and access file formats and codecs, software, storage and trusted digital repositories, workflows for digitization, and technical and preservation metadata. In addition, participants will examine case studies of small and large-scale digitization projects in order to understand real-world applications of principles introduced in the workshop.
 
Presenter:  Linda Tadic consults and lectures in areas of digital asset management, audiovisual and digital preservation, and metadata.  She is Executive Director of the Audiovisual Archive Network (www.archivenetwork.org), and an adjunct professor in New York University’s Moving Image Archiving and Preservation graduate degree program, teaching two core courses: Collection Management, and Access to Moving Image Collections.  Ms. Tadic’s over 25 years experience working with and managing audiovisual, digital, and broadcasting collections includes the positions of Manager of the Digital Library at Home Box Office (HBO), and Director of the Media Archives and Peabody Awards Collection at the University of Georgia. She is the past Director of Operations for ARTstor.
 
Workshop location: 
Bay Area Video Coalition                                               
2727 Mariposa Street, 2nd Floor      
San Francisco CA 94110
Phone: 415.861.3282                                                                       
 
Workshop fee and registration:
$100 IMAP and BAVC members
$150 non-members
                                              
$50 artists and students
Pre-payment is required with registration.  Space is limited. 
IMAP programs are supported, in part, by the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts, and from individual contributions.

Columbia Earth Institute travel opportunities for journalists

VERY long list of international travel opportunities for journalists through the Earth Institute. NOTE: Journalists must pay their own way, but they do want to support coverage of their research. Check it out. Or click here if you want the pdf version from their website.
-mia

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Kevin Krajick
Senior science writer,The Earth Institute
The Earth Institute <http://www.earth.columbia.edu/>

COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY
MEDIA ADVISORY

MAY 20, 2010

Upcoming Scientific Travel Opportunities for Journalists

Journalists are encouraged to cover expeditions by Earth Institute researchers, who work on every continent and ocean. Here are upcoming trips of potential interest, in rough chronological order (some dates approximate). Work in the New York City/Hudson Valley region is in a separate section below. Journalists may accompany scientists on a case-by-case basis; news organizations must pay for travel to sites.

Unless otherwise stated, projects originate with our Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory <http://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/>.   For those wishing to follow remotely, many teams post blogs on our State of the Planet pages <http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/> .

Go to our Media Advisory page: http://www.earth.columbia.edu/articles/view/2637, where updates also are posted.

More info: Kevin Krajick kkrajick@ei.columbia.edu 212-854-9729.

Kim Martineau, kmartineau@ei.columbia.edu 845-365-8708.