universal positive » Education

Creative Entrepreneurs: Peter Hansen

Roger Darnell — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 18:16:04 +0000

I recently reconnected with my close friend and business colleague Peter Hansen. Over the past several years, Peter has been closely involved with Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) in Edmonton, AB Canada. Having served as the institution’s Chair, Digital Media Design, since 2002, then as Chair Digital Media and IT, since 2009, earlier this year he returned to his private consultancy, Plasmechanica Media Design. I peppered him with some questions about his experiences with NAIT, which he kindly anwers below.

Q. Briefly, what do you feel that interested students should know about NAITl, and the Digital Media and IT program?

NAIT is a very large institution. Established in 1960, principally as a trades college, it has expanded considerably and remains Canada’s largest apprenticeship institution. Notable in its expansion was the School of Applied Media and Information Technology, of which Digital Media and IT is the single largest program. During my tenure as Chair, we successfully navigated the “convergence” years, walking in lock step with the media design industries’ digital reformation. That success was measured by industry’s receptivity to our ability to turn on a dime, so to speak. Remember, we came from a standardized, traditional media world unaccustomed to rapid change and suddenly found ourselves having to increase our own agility as educators, while anticipating emerging trends in technology and society.

Q. What exciting developments in the media design and IT industries are being explored within the DMIT curriculum?

To be honest, the most exciting development in digital media and IT is the fact that we have a program that accommodates the mindsets of both.

As much as they share commonalities and that they are both engaged in what is ultimately a common pursuit, the practical philosophies of media designers and information technologists can be radically different. Harmonizing those views in ways that build synergies rather than destabilizing tensions will be a lasting legacy to what we’ve accomplished over the past decade. It’s not a simple question of replacing Web 1.0 with Web 2.0; after all, information technology predates the Web altogether. Rather, it’s the ability to take standards-rich development methodologies and using them to temper the risks inherent in the agile, open standards of our contemporary practice. This ability serves us tremendously in areas that involve cross-platform development, as found in properties delivering as TV/Web/Mobile hybrids, for example. It also helps us train for game and simulation studio realities that have programmers working alongside visual designers and storytellers, having to serve within complex production pipelines. You may also be interested in techlife, NAIT’s technology lifestyle magazine, and the 2010 DMIT studio portfoios: www.dimd.nait.ca/galleries.

Q. What did you enjoy most about your experiences with NAIT?

The most enjoyable part was going for the ride. Everything was new at every turn. One cannot understate the vitality one derives from speculating on and exploring the possible. It is only in exploring that one innovates, and we continue to live in a world that values innovation.

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PepsiCo Refresh Project 101

Roger Darnell — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 17:43:59 +0000

There’s a lot to love about PepsiCo’s commitment in America to the Pepsi Refresh Project, which is set to give away more than $20 million in 2010 to “refresh the world, one idea at a time.” PepsiCo has vowed to award over $1 million in grants each month to U.S.-based ideas with the most public votes, with up to 1,000 new ideas accepted each month. I was just asked to look into making a submission, and in doing some homework, I’ve gained a lot of admiration for this thoughtful initiative, inviting Americans to plead the case for a real-world need — or even a dream — with seemingly a very real opportunity to win financial support on some level. While hoping this might eventually become more of an international effort, I invite those now eligible to join me every day in visiting the site and using our 10 daily votes to help along our favorite ideas.

As for the ideas themselves, we can fire away, seeking $5k up to $250k for one idea per month, where you can change your monthly submission even after submitting, and if you don’t win this month, you can resubmit next month. There are five categories: Health, Arts and Culture, Food and Shelter, The Planet, Neighborhoods and Education.

The official website www.refresheverything.com provides this toolkit for developing your idea, along with a wealth of information, including key dates, what to expect and how to follow-up before, during and after submitting, and many other inspiring case studies of ideas submitted to date. You may also be interested in this April story detailing the latest winners, as well as the project’s blog.

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Stop-Motion Brand Film from We Are Plus Illustrates Powers of SMART Board

Roger Darnell — Fri, 21 May 2010 15:04:58 +0000

Jeremy Hollister, Judy Wellfare and their colleagues at NYC-based strategic creative ideas studio We Are Plus are very proud to reveal their latest project, produced in collaboration with Toronto-based Sharpe Blackmore Euro RSCG. This creative, stop-motion brand film showcasing the category-leading SMART Board interactive whiteboard from SMART Technologies is being distributed internationally in seven languages via viral seeding and Facebook, and will also be featured in other applications and materials by SMART’s marketing team. The story from We Are Plus, including complete project credits, is available here. For more information on SMART Technologies, please visit www.smarttech.com, or check out to learn more about the new Love of Learning campaign.

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Earth Day 2010 and beyond… onward and upward!

Roger Darnell — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 15:35:00 +0000

Huge thanks to Earth Day LA‘s Jim Stewart, Ph.D., for these insights for continuing to make positive impacts through our day-to-day activities… and to my inspirational buddy Kacy Palmieri, who has worked with Earth Day LA for the past several years, for passing along Jim’s sage advice.
1. Become carbon neutral: Use this carbon calculator, fill in the form with your energy use at home and on the road, and sign up to fund measures that will neutralize your carbon output.
2. Drive Less, Take Transit or Bike or Walk: A well-tuned car with properly inflated tires burns less gasoline—cutting pollution and saving money at the pump. If you have two cars, drive the one with better gas mileage whenever possible. Better yet, skip the drive and take walk, bike, or ride public transit.
3. Write your leaders now to urge them to use existing technology to raise fuel economy standards to 40 miles per gallon — the single biggest step we can take to curb global warming. This step can save nearly 4 million barrels of oil a day… and save you personally up to $2,000 at the pump over the life of your car.
4. Sign up for Green Power: Renewable energy solutions, such as wind and solar power, can reduce our reliance on coal-burning power plants, the largest source of global warming pollution in the United States. If you live in Los Angeles, call LADWP (800-473-3652) and sign up for Green Power. Some other municipal utilities offer it as well; ask yours.
5. Replace incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs, especially those that burn the longest each day. Compact fluorescents produce the same amount of light as normal bulbs, but use 1/4 of the electricity and last 10X as long.
6. Save energy at home: Start with caulking and weather-stripping on doorways and windows, then adjust your thermostat and start saving. For each degree you lower your thermostat in the winter, you can cut your energy bills by 3 percent. To save on heating bills see www.socalgas.com. Finally, ask your utility company to do a free energy audit of your home to show you how to save even more.
7. Become a smart water consumer: Install low-flow showerheads and faucets, then turn your hot water heater down to 120ºF and see hot-water costs go down by as much as 50%.
8. Buy energy-efficient electronics and appliances: Replacing an old refrigerator or an air conditioner with an energy-efficient model saves electricity bills and cuts global warming. Look for the Energy Star label on new appliances or visit www.energystar.gov. Get rebates: See www.ladwp.com for details or call 1 800 246 0441 for free pick up service, or check your own utility’s website for home appliance rebates.
9. Plant a Tree / Protect a Forest. Planting shade trees around your house absorbs CO2, and reduces air-conditioning bills. In Los Angeles, call LADWP to have FREE shade trees delivered to your home: 800-473-3652.
10. Reduce + Reuse + Recycle! Producing new paper, glass, and metal products from recycled materials saves 70-90% of the energy and pollution, including CO2, that result when products come from virgin materials. And by all means, buy recycled products!
11. Mount a local campaign against global warming: Educate your community about how it can cut global warming pollution. Support measures at the national, state, and local level that make automobiles go further per gallon of gas; accelerate the use of clean, renewable energy sources like solar and wind power; increase energy efficiency and conservation; and preserve forests around the world.
12. Buy less: Consumerism is a pattern of behavior that helps to destroy our environment, personal financial health, and human institutions. See www.verdant.net for information on how to reduce consumerism.
13. Grow your own food, and buy local produce to save transportation fuel. Also, compost your food scraps….
14. Install solar panels.
15. Get Connected! Sign up for regular updates, such as the Sierra Club’s global warming action network: www.sierraclub.org/globalwarming/e-newsletter/
16. Educate your business, church and school about how they can save money and the planet by becoming carbon neutral through the Climate Neutral Network: www.climateneutral.com.

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Adventures in Expeditionary Learning

Roger Darnell — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 22:10:13 +0000

Our children are students at Two Rivers Community School (TRCS), a North Carolina public charter school. Established only five years ago, to our eyes, this innovative, ambitious academic experiment has already delivered many amazing results. At TRCS, our kids and some 250 others are enjoying a rare learning curriculum uniquely integrating a pioneering expeditionary learning approach with advanced brain-compatible instructional strategies also known as educational kinesiology or Brain Gym. Focused on teamwork, community and the pursuit of shared academic and character-improvement goals, TRCS students and faculty-members are contributing to society by learning more everyday about the world, their community and themselves as individuals. Despite the excellence in faculty and curriculum development, despite the great promises of current students and those to come, the school’s economic challenges are great. We and other parents whose social and financial contributions give TRCS its lifeblood are intent on keeping the school alive, and if at all possible, soaring to new heights. Those interested in worthwhile charitable causes are encouraged to learn more about TRCS, as well as Expeditionary Learning Schools Outward Bound (ELS), a national, non-profit organization. More information on ELS is available by visiting their website, Facebook page, and Twitter feed.

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Moving forward: World Water Day 2010

Roger Darnell — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 16:05:23 +0000

In honor of World Water Day, it’s my pleasure to share this video that takes a hard look at the bottled water industry and proposes some simple and powerful alternative ideas that can greatly impact the Earth, our communities, and our pocketbooks. For more information, please visit http://storyofbottledwater.org.

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The 2010 (Women’s) Effect: The 100th Annual International Women’s Day

Roger Darnell — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 19:08:17 +0000

I am joining with legions of others around the world today to honor women for all they are and all they do as the greatest and most powerful force on Planet Earth. Mine will not be a lengthy tribute, but I do want to point up some of the amazing resources I’ve found that are providing different perspectives on the achievements of women, and some of the biggest challenges faced by many of them.

Last week, in honor of today’s global event celebrating women, CARE presented its “Half the Sky” event, a one-night-only event in movie theatres nationwide (www.halftheskylive.com). Inspired by the bestselling book from Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, it was an exciting night of musical performances, celebrity commentary and uplifting stories about women and girls overcoming tremendous obstacles, and featured the nationwide premiere of “Woineshet,” a powerful short film by Academy Award winner Marisa Tomei and Lisa Leone. The presenter, CARE, is a humanitarian organization that fights global poverty by empowering marginalized women and girls to bring lasting change to their communities. Please visit www.care.org to learn more.

In “Half The Sky: Turning Oppression Into Opportunity for Women Worldwide,” authors Kristof and WuDunn focused on three major problems facing women: sex trafficking, maternal mortality and violence against women. Their book argues that empowering women is the key to alleviating poverty and uplifting communities in developing countries. This article, featuring an excerpt from the book, appeared last August in The New York Times Magazine, and a new New York Times Op-Ed piece from Mr. Kristof ran today, in which he reassesses the priorities. Embracing initiatives to foster the education of girls, to support deworming and micronutrient education and aid programs, and to help women start new businesses, Kristof’s current article also points up many organizations that are championing and driving these vital causes.

In the meantime, here in the U.S., the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) is successfully propelling female entrepreneurs into economic, social and political spheres of power worldwide. Their website is online at www.nawbo.org.

And finally, I also encourage you to visit the website behind the video showcased above, which lives online at www.girleffect.org, and is based upon the wholehearted belief that powerful social and economic changes are possible when girls have full opportunities to participate.

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Designing characters, stories and more with Shilo’s Jose Gomez

Roger Darnell — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 23:14:53 +0000

If you haven’t seen the book “We Make It Good” from the filmmakers at creative production company Shilo, you are hereby enthusiastially encouraged to check it out. As you’ll see there — or by exploring Shilo’s archives at www.shilo.tv — much of the company’s extraordinary content leverages the character design talents of co-founder, creative director and director Jose Gomez. Among many illustrious achievements to date, Jose and his team helped creative agency ATTIK bring Scion’s world famous deviants to life, building upon Shilo’s many other breakthrough film projects, and some design feats earlier in Jose’s career for highly successful skate, snow and surf brands. Since regular video conferences typically involve Shilo’s entire executive team on both U.S. coasts in every company undertaking, Jose’s skills as a character designer weigh heavily into most Shilo projects. Collaborating most recently with GlobalHue Latino, Shilo’s latest film is an exploration in live-action, claymation, and imagination, using quirky characters and clay as a metaphor for building a dream community and inviting the Latino community to participate in the 2010 Census. For “Community,” Jose was very interested in all the creations within the claymation world having common personalities, reflecting the personality of Brianna Gonzalez, their young actress. Jose’s sketches of the matching animated people, vehicles and buildings are featured within their behind the scenes video below — and you can see more images, including photos from the location and set, right here.

For more information on U.S. Census “Community,” please visit Shilo’s full news release here, or www.shilo.tv.

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The power of dreams…

Roger Darnell — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 19:30:00 +0000

At an early age, I decided I was going to be a writer. Somewhere along the way, I also took a strong interest in filmmaking, and being very ambitious, by the time I was 20 years old, I developed a clear vision of myself as novelist and filmmaker. While I have made great strides on achieving those dreams over the years, I must admit that I have a long way to go in seeing them through; nonetheless, those dreams have driven me into situations that I never would have imagined, and while I’ve not yet fully accomplished those missions, I feel very fortunate to have progressed as far as I have.

By pursuing the opportunies that have come my way over the years and applying my talents, my writing achievements and my reputation for success have opened many doors. One of them opened in the early 90s when a young Orlando filmmaker named Bill Waxler decided he wanted to produce and direct a 16mm short film based on something I’d written. Delving into my past experiences, I wrote a script for a dramatic short which I entitled “Bumper Crop,” and in that story, I also explored the power of dreams to affect a person’s life. After recovering a VHS dub of a 15-year-old edit of the film earlier this year, I began anticipating some plans… which are now playing out today. In recent weeks, I have done some writing about the process of bringing the film to life — you can find them here if you’re interested: February 22, 1991: Bumper Crop, Part 1; June 29, 1991: Bumper Crop, Part 2; February 26, 1993: Bumper Crop, Part 3. In honor of Bill Waxler and the many other great friends who helped bring the film to life in 1993, it is my honor today to proudly announce a new website where “Bumper Crop” will soon live online. You can find it at this address: http://www.darnellworks.com/bmovie. I hope you enjoy it, and that you have many chances to dream — and to pursue those dreams you hold most dear.

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Laura Longsworth: Thanks for the Documentary

Roger Darnell — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 23:26:59 +0000

Thanks once again to Sundance Channel, I recently had another life-altering experience from a documentary film they chose to program. This time, the film is entitled “Luckey,” it was produced, written and directed by filmmaker Laura Longsworth, and it documents the challenges faced by sculptor Tom Luckey to carry on with his life, his artistry and his business after experiencing a major spinal injury.

Through the course of the narrative, viewers witness the struggles that come to all members of a person’s family with such a major injury. The love shown throughout is extremely touching, and I found myself deeply admiring everyone shown — with special empathy for Tom’s elder son Spencer, who steps up to help his father complete his biggest, most complicated sculpture ever. “Luckey” was completed in 2008, and the sculptural Luckey Climbers project for the Boston Children’s Museum documented in the film appears on the company’s website, along with similarly unique and imaginative constructions for hands-on museums across the country. I invite you to check out the film if you get a chance, and also to visit luckeyclimbers.com to experience one of their projects in your area, or to help get one commissioned.

“Luckey” is Laura Longsworth’s directorial debut, as well as her first film to appear on the Sundance Channel. The majority of Laura’s documentary work has been for PBS television. Among films for the nationally broadcast history series American Experience, Laura produced “Golden Gate Bridge” and “Gold Rush,” which won the Eric Barnouw Prize from the Organization of American Historians for its telling of the chaotic pursuit of wealth in 19th century California. For the public affairs series Frontline, she was associate producer for “Inside Terror Network” (winner of a Columbia-DuPont gold baton) and “Let’s Get Married,” an essay-style documentary about some of America’s poorest citizens. Last year, Laura produced “The People v. Leo Frank,” a film about a young Jewish man who was lynched in Georgia in 1915. Prior to making documentary films, Laura was a reporter at a daily newspaper.

The film’s official site is at luckeythefilm.com, and its Facebook group is here. To request a screening of “Luckey,” or to purchase a DVD, please contact info@luckeythefilm.com.

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