January 19th, 2009
Here is a nice video of a Snowy Owl being a cared for at the Raptor Center by the Star Tribune. Its accompanied by an article noting the Snowy Owls who have taken winter residence at the airport.
More information about airport owls from a Birdchick blog post.
January 19th, 2009
Digital Youth Research
I’ve recently come across some great research and information about the way teenagers use the internet and social networking. I just started reading it all, but I think this research can provide insight about how to achieve our organizations’ missions by better utilizing new media and social networking. While the studies focus on teenagers, people of all ages – especially young adults – are plugged-in.
The Digital Youth Project: (here is a nice overview via boingboing)
“Kids’ Informal Learning with Digital Media: An Ethnographic Investigation of Innovative Knowledge Cultures” is a three-year collaborative project funded by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. Carried out by researchers at the University of Southern California and University of California, Berkeley, the digital youth project explores how kids use digital media in their everyday lives.
Taken Out of Context
American Teen Sociality in Networked Publics
(doctorial dissertation by Dr. danah michele boyd)
From the Introduction:
“While teenagers primarily leverage social network sites to engage in common practices, the properties of these sites configured their practices and teens were forced to contend with the resultant dynamics. Often, in doing so, they reworked the technology for their purposes. As teenagers learned to navigate social network sites, they developed potent strategies for managing the complexities of and social awkwardness incurred by these sites. Their strategies reveal how new forms of social media are incorporated into everyday life, complicating some practices and reinforcing others. New technologies reshape public life, but teens’ engagement also reconfigures the technology itself. “
December 22nd, 2008
MinnAqua Leader's Guide
I’m a little behind on this, but MinnAqua won a 2008 NAI Interpretive Media Award for the Fishing: Get in the Habitat! Leader’s Guide. Congratulations!
December 22nd, 2008
While 25,000 gallons of liquid fertilizer dumped into the Mississippi is a very depressing event, it does bring the River and its environmental status to the forefront of the public’s mind. Making it the perfect time for a press release or home page online news story.
To see if anyone was taking advantage of this opportunity I checked the mostly likely websites (nonprofit and local and state gov.) and didn’t see any press releases or articles. It’s possible that I missed a response on those websites, but if I missed it the public and reporters may too.
It would be great see an article or news release that addresses lingering questions: what effect may the fertilizer have on the river? does it make a difference that this happened in winter and not summer? What kind of clean-up and monitoring is Canadian Pacific responsible for? Has something similar happened in the past and how did it work out? These questions could be used as lead-ins to whatever information your organization may what to get out to the public: “to learn more about water quality attend our program/check out our website”, etc.
Here are some tips to help catch the wave:
1. Subscribe to RSS feeds to stay on top of the news (Minnesota Public Radio, MN DNR, ScienceBlogs, for example)
2. Keep an old news release or article handy so you can just fill in the blanks.
3. If a news release or article doesn’t get picked up by the media still post it on your website. Interested people will find it.
