Internet Symphony Global Mashup

YouTube has mashed-up over 3,000 video entries from their YouTube Symphony competition to premier Eroica.  Although this isn’t the first time a composition has been created through mashing bits of audio and video, this is TRULY AMAZING.

Tonight, 90 musicians from around the world — including a Spanish guitarist, a Dutch harpist and a Lithuanian birbyne player — will gather in New York City for a historic social-media-driven performance at Carnegie Hall.

So the new answer to the old saying “How do I get to Carnegie Hall?” is “Make a YouTube video of yourself.”  And sure, a little bit of practice too…

From my original post about this project:

This is a great example of social media bringing together a community of musicians from around the world to accomplish a task that couldn’t happen in a 1.0 world.  Imagine the camaraderie that these musicians will enjoy… just because of simple videos and votes from strangers like myself that will bring them together for one night at Carnegie Hall.  And social networks – whether it’s YouTube, Facebook or another crowd-gathering site – will keep them connected for years to come.

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YouTube Symphony Orchestra

YouTube is bringing together the world’s first collaborative orchestra.  And though it’s too late to enter to be considered for the project, it’s not too late to participate by voting on 3,000 audition videos from more than 70 countries and territories spanning six continents. Submissions came from Kazakhstan, Mauritania, Eritrea, Venezuela, Vietnam, Russia and the U.S., and included everything from the violin to the toy piano and even an audition on the musical saw.

The selected few will perform this spring at Carnegie Hall. You can now vote from the selected finalists who have been narrowed down by a panel of musical experts from the London Symphony Orchestra, Berlin Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra and other leading orchestras around the world.  The final selections are based on such criteria as musicianship, vitality of performance and originality.

What a great idea to bring together musicians from around the world that otherwise would never have come together.  It’s all a twist of fate and a whole bit of luck bringing together these amateurs and professionals alike to perform on one of the most coveted stages in the world.

This is a great example of social media bringing together a community of musicians from around the world to accomplish a task that couldn’t happen in a 1.0 world.  Imagine the camaraderie that these musicians will enjoy… just because of simple videos and votes from strangers like myself that will bring them together for one night at Carnegie Hall.  And social networks – whether it’s YouTube, Facebook or another crowd-gathering site – will keep them connected for years to come.

Had I known about this earlier, I may have tried to get a hold of a contra-bass clarinet and entered myself. There’s something about being a part of a group of people symphonizing to make music.  It’s a beautiful thing, and I miss it a lot.

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My Op-Ed on Stories About Twitter, Etc.

Twitter

I just read this fun op-ed from the Washington Post by Jeanne McManus.

It comedically devalues life in a Twitter world:

Which comes first? The Twitter or life itself? Are we writing about what we’re doing or are we writing about what we’re going to do or are we doing it because we need something to write about?

I enjoyed her short musing.  But now, I can’t find a link to follow her tweets anywhere on the entire op-ed page!  Nor have i been able to locate her through Twitter’s “Find People” tool. I’m bummed, as she sounds really interesting, whether these are her real tweets or not:

Jeanne has measured out her life with coffee spoons. Huh?

So I write my own public request to Ms. McManus… and to any other editor, writer, reporter who covers new and social media seriously or comically – on TV, in print or online: please share how we can follow you or become a fan on these new tools which you write about.

NPR’s Science Friday does a great job of this.  While driving from Annapolis to D.C. several weeks ago, @Padrepablo and I listened to Ira Flatow (@scifri) interviewing Tim O’Reilly (@timoreilly).  Ira repeatedly mentioned how we could follow them.  And caller Jeff Levy (@levyj413) – the EPA’s web manager – who talked about government and social media also shared how listeners could follow him. I’ve since learned a lot from following Mr. Levy.  I’d like to easily do the same from others.

Of course, privacy is a concern, so I understand if you don’t easily share your Twitter name with your article… but then could you consider separate public and private personas? When used correctly, I can only see sharing Twitter accounts as a great learning and conversation tool.

Taking my own advice, you can follow me @sherrymain.

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Implementing New and Social Media in Non-Profits

(Although I write this post with specific focus on higher education and non-profits, I think it’s a useful guide for start-ups looking to establish themselves on the Web as well.)

New and social media have been around for the last 15 years.  But not until recently have they truly become interactive and conversational.  The tools and communities that make up this medium continue to change the way we see, hear and touch the communities around us.

When I was hired as a communications director a few years ago, my job description in short was to educate the public about research, maintain a static website, and design print publications.  It quickly became apparent that the old ways weren’t working:

  1. Information changes too fast. News gets old quick, and to print/re-print to keep up with changes became expensive, and environmentally unfriendly.
  2. Were we telling the right stories? We were feeding what we thought our audience wanted to hear.  There had to be a way to “listen” so we could better apply our efforts.
  3. Money and the Environment. The cost to print and mail materials – in dollars, trees and carbon footprint – are constant concerns in our world today.  In other words, corporate social responsibility.
  4. Walking the talk. This is unique to us, but as a leading computing- and technology-focused institution, if we cannot connect in a way that demonstrates the power of computing and technology, then we have failed to communicate.

Thus, we slowly began to transform our communications strategy and have arrived at the tools that make up new media and social communications today. (All this, in addition to many traditional media efforts that we still practice.)  Here’s what we’re doing in higher education at UC Irvine’s Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences:

  • RSS. If you do nothing else, offer an RSS feed to your news, blogs, event calendars, videos, etc.  You can probably gain 50% of your value simply by allowing your community to stay in touch with you, without having to actually check-in.
  • Blogs. Both students and alumni blog about what’s on their mind.  Students most often talk about classes and social activities which paint a true picture of college life.  Alums keep in touch and share their experiences about ICS and being in the real world.  Both serve as great recruiting tools for students, parents and faculty.
  • Multimedia. Video profiles, audio snippets and podcasts engage the audience in unique ways. Digital media is portable, and when done correctly, engaging.  We create videos profiling students, special lectures and events, etc. We maintain a presence on YouTube and Flickr.  Here’s an example of a marketing video:

  • Social Networks. Today, we exist on LinkedIn and Facebook.  But only on these two networks, for the reasons that they are the most reputable, and our particular community are most active on these two social networks.  The beauty of participating in a social network it that its content is crowd-sourced – your community helps contribute to the cause.
  • Twitter. This is an experiment, but an inexpensive one.  In fact, we automatically feed news through Twitter so that prospective students (@BrenAdmissions) and interested community members (@UCIbrenICS) can quickly follow us.  We also “listen” to buzz in our community through Twitter and make efforts to engage with the “twitterverse”.
  • Second Life. TechCoast Island, our presence in Second Life houses a virtual Bren Hall.  For our ribbon-cutting ceremony, we invited guests from afar to join in the virtual celebration concurrent to the live events. Today, it is used to model real-world research in a virtual setting… an innovative solution to conserving resources and money. We’ve even held lectures and meetings at TechCoast.

  • Share Functions. If someone wants to share and offer feedback on anything that is a part of your Web presence, let them.  It’s the best way to create buzz and spread news organically.  These functions can range from digg to del.icio.us to StumbleUpon and more.

These new and social media applications may not work for all ventures.  In fact, I urge that each organization explore and understand their community and resources before investing too much time into these mediums.  But given that you have an active online community that is willing to participate, and that you can produce enough content to keep your online presence from becoming stale, it’s worth at least giving the free resources a try.

Our strategy continues to change as quickly and often as technology and social media do.  I’m curious to hear what other non-profit and educational institutions are doing in this arena.  Do share!

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Should My Town Use Social Media? (C-Post #3)

Yes.

This is an interesting topic because on my trip to Steamboat Springs with the in-laws I had a discussion with my mother-in-law – who works on marketing for the City of San Dimas – on how Facebook groups, Twitter, etc. could help communications for the city.

Whether the community will use the tool or not is a separate question.  But eventually, when the masses get hip with social media, a city’s ability to be ahead of the curve will be crucial to its public relations.  And this will become more evident in a disaster situation such as wildfires, earthquakes, tornadoes, etc.

In addition, it’s a cost-saving and time-saving measure when social media is incorporated into its strategy.  Not only should social media tools be used to commuicate outward to a community, but city leaders should use it as a forum to listen to its people.

If I were a mayor, I’d immediately implement the following:

TWITTER: An account for the mayor, city council members, and the city.

E-NEWSLETTER: An opt-in email system where residents can find out the latest about new measures, road closures, school sign-ups, recreation, etc.

WIKI: The best way to learn and share about a city is to solicit the expert residents in the community.  DavisWiki is a great examples (and a resource I wish would have existed while I lived there!).  Some of the cool things I wish I had a one-stop resource for in my city (and surrounding cities) include:

  • City Life Outdoor Activities, Study Spots, Entertainment, Local Publications, Night Time, Music Scene, Volunteer Opportunities, Schools, Research & Development, Libraries, Gyms, Local Art, Retail, Public Services,  Medical Services, Spiritual Organizations
  • Food and Drink Grocery Stores, International Foods, Restaurants, Coffee Shops, Catering, Buffets, Cheap Food, Breakfast, Lunch Specials, Vegetarian Options, Vegan Options, Alcohol
  • City Orientation Town History, Glossary, Breaking News, Weather, Environment, Geography, Davis At-a-Glance, Social Structures, Organizations, Local Politics, Media, Member Pages, Outskirts, Parks, Greenbelts, Transportation, Driving in Davis, Gas Stations, Bike Paths, City without a car, Rental Housing Guide, Residences, Apartments, Cooperative Housing, Links to nearby wikis

My prediction is that business owners will jump on the Wiki bandwagon because it will serve as a free advertisement of their business and is more telling than an entry in the yellow pages when photos, videos and reviews are incorporated.

That said, someone please start a local Wiki!  I’d be a willing and able participant.

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  • © 2010 | Lost in Mastication | Sherry L. K. Main