Happy Thanksgiving !

Happy Thanksgiving

to our PH Vermont office, DOTCOMers, our host families and all! :)

Competitions / Opportunities: Shortie Awards!

2009 Multimedia Contest

The Citizens for Global Solutions 2009 Multimedia Contest is designed for students with an interest in art, film, design, creative writing, or other multimedia and an interest in global issues. Students are welcome to work in a team.

The entry format for this year's completion is open to several electronic file-types, including but not limited to: digital video, flash animation, entire websites, online games, and spoken word audio/video submissions. We are calling on aspiring film makers, flash animators, graphic artists, poets, rappers, activists and anyone interested thinking creatively around global issues politics. We're looking for entries that can inspire, amuse and activate people out there who believe that a better world is possible.

1st Place Award: $2,000
2nd Place Award: $1,000
3rd Place Award: $500
People's Choice Award: $500

Read the details!

Submission Deadline: November 17, 2009 !

REMINDER! Call for 60 1-minute movies !

The deadline to send your 1-minute movies has been extended to 10 October!!!

Send your 1-minute message to the participants
of the Forum on Human Rights Education withYoung People

European Youth Centre Budapest
14-18 October 2009

What? a Call for 60 movies for the 60th Anniversary of the Council of Europe.
Send your 1-minute message to the participants in the Forum on Human Rights Education with Young People, that will take place at the European Youth Centre Budapest on 14-18 October 2009 (more on the Forum right below...)

Deadline to send your movie: 10 October

Call for 60 movies

Call for 60 movies in RUSSIAN

!

Civic Society Day in Armenia

The Day of Civic Society has been celebrated on 19 September in Lover's park, Yerevan, Armenia.

Civic Development and Partnership Foundation organized a "Civil Society through My Eyes" photo exhibition dedicated to the celebration of the day.

Photo contest awarding ceremony and concert made the day more festive!

And of course we had DOTCOMers volunteering for the day in the park! :)

Adobe Youth Voices International Photo Competition

Source - http://www.whatkidscando.org/AYV_Photo_Competition/Guidelines_-__Round_Two.html

What we are looking for

We are looking for a pair of photos: one that shows crisis or hardship, another that shows hope or opportunity. Each photo must also include a caption that tells about the image. We invite you to be as imaginative as you wish! The photos you see in our winners’ gallery for Round One are terrific, but do not feel that you need to mimic them. It’s not required, for example, that a photo include people (though that’s fine if it does). The image can be “manipulated” or a collage (though it’s fine if it is a straight shot). The goal is to produce two strong images that make a striking pair—that reflect a real contrast. SEE BELOW FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT PHOTOS AND CAPTIONS.

Please remember: Photos must be shot at the highest resolution possible (300 dpi).

Who can participate

This contest is open to all young people—anywhere in the world—between the ages of 12 and 19. Photos must be taken and submitted by the same person. (Teachers are welcome to help younger photographers transmit their work.)

Exhibition of winning photos

The best photo pairs will be displayed on the Adobe Youth Voices gallery at adobe.com and on the WKCD website. They will also become part of a traveling exhibit and a book, reaching an international audience of those who care about youth voice and expression and who believe in the power of youth as forces for social justice.

Deadlines and judging

The deadline for submissions is November 1, 2009. A panel of five judges will determine the winners. The panel’s decisions will be announced by November 30, 2009.

Important information about photos

All submissions should illustrate the work of young people, ages 12 to 19. Submissions can be straight photographs, enhanced with photo editing software, or manipulated (like the photos above).

Photos should be submitted in a pair—one showing crisis, the other showing hope. Photos should be a minimum approximate size of 1.2MB when saved or shot as a maximum quality (300 dpi) JPEG file, or approximately 5MB in size when saved as a Photoshop (PSD) or Tiff (TIF) file—be sure to set the camera to the highest possible resolution setting. (Photos taken with a cell phone or at a low resolution may look okay on a computer screen but they are inadequate when printed.)

Photos must be accompanied by:

• Photographer’s name
• Photographer’s age
  
• Location (city, state, country)
  
• A brief description of each image, file name, or number (so we can distinguishwhich photo is which)
  
• Date image was shot or completed (month and year)
  
• Size of image (in MB)
  
• A title for each image
  
• A caption for each image (see below for more info)
• Signed waiver—scan and attach to e-mail (photos@whatkidscando.org), fax to +1.401.245.6428, or mail to WKCD, PO Box 603252, Providence, Rhode Island 02906, USA

Photos and accompanying information should be submitted, by email, to: photos@whatkidscando.org. If you are using a dial-up account, please be patient, since it may take as long as 10 minutes to upload your photos because the files are large. If you have difficulties uploading your photos, please contact photos@whatkidscando.org to discuss an alternate means of submission. When we receive your submission, we will send you an email back, confirming we received it. If you do not receive confirmation within a week, please let us know.

Important information about captions

Captions should be approximately 100 words in length. Complete captions include the following information:

In the case of straight (documentary) photos:

• Tell where the photo was taken.
  
• Tell what is happening in the photo, with as much detail as you can.
• If the photo includes identifiable people and you have permission to use their name, tell us their name and a few words about them.
  

In the case of manipulated photos:

• Tell what inspired you to create the photo.
  
• Tell the message or idea you are trying to capture.

If your English is limited, we encourage you to find someone who can help you put your words into English. We do not want language to be a barrier. If you are having translation problems, please contact photos@whatkidscando.org and we will try to help.

Permissions

There are laws that protect the privacy of photo subjects. If the person(s) photographed are not easily identifiable—whether they are taken in a public or private setting—you do not need their permission to use their image. When the photo is taken in public, even when the person is identifiable, you generally do not need their permission. However, if the photo is taken in a private place and the person(s) are identifiable, you will need them to sign a “subject release.” Click here for a subject release form. Unfortunately, we cannot consider photographs that lack a signed subject release, when required. We will ask you for the signed release if the photo is chosen for exhibition.

Questions?

Please contact photos@whatkidscando.org.

!

Web Project Competition for Middle School and High School Students

MEDIA NOTE

Doors to Diplomacy" 2010 Web Project Competition for
Middle School and High School Students

The Department of State and the Global SchoolNet Foundation announce the 2010 "Doors to Diplomacy" award competition, recognizing the student-created Global SchoolNet Web projects that best teach others about the importance of international affairs and diplomacy.

To qualify, middle school and high school students will work in small teams with teacher-coaches. Projects must be completed by March 15, 2010, and winners will be announced in May 2010. Every team that enters a project will receive a special "Doors to Diplomacy" certificate recognizing their achievement. Each student member of the two winning teams – one American and one international – will also receive a $2,000 scholarship, and the winning coaches’ schools will each receive a $500 cash award.

For a complete description and information about eligibility and judging criteria,
visit http://globalschoolnet.org/gsndoors/.

!

CALL FOR ENTRIES: International film competition invites one minute works on climate change

Source - YPMN youth media blog

Posted on: 26/08/2009
Environmental Deadline: 15/10/2009
Region: Worldwide

Filmmakers worldwide can submit their one-minute films on climate change to a film competition called "1minutetosavetheworld Film Competition."

Deadline: October 15.

Categories include: witness accounts, adaptation stories, animation, innovation, satire, works by amateur filmmakers, works by professionals, fiction, music videos and more.

Entries should include a title and credits, and should be no longer than 90 seconds. Selected films will be screened at the Copenhagen Climate Conference in December.

For further information, visit http://www.1minutetosavetheworld.com/entry/ or e-mail info@1minutetosavetheworld.com

Call for 60 1-minute movies !

Send your 1-minute message to the participants
of the Forum on Human Rights Education withYoung People

European Youth Centre Budapest
14-18 October 2009

What? a Call for 60 movies for the 60th Anniversary of the Council of Europe.
Send your 1-minute message to the participants in the Forum on Human Rights Education with Young People, that will take place at the European Youth Centre Budapest on 14-18 October 2009 (more on the Forum right below...)

Deadline to send your movie: 27 September

Call for 60 movies

Call for 60 movies in RUSSIAN

!

Freedom of Young Media

http://www.aycn.net/groups/62-freedom-of-young-media

Online-Competition for young journalists from Asia and Europe

Until 20th September young journalists until 30 years can upload their articles, video- or audio-files, photos and pdf-files to Youthmedia.eu and AYCN.net, the social networks for young media makers from Asia and Europe.

The competition has three categories:

• What does "Freedom of Young Media" mean to you and your media?
• How are you reporting on "Freedom of Young Media" in your media?
• What challenges regarding "Freedom of Young Media" are you facing during your work?

Prizes for the Winners:

• 1. Prize: Adobe software package
• 2. Prize: DELL-Netbook
• 3. Prize: Microsoft software package

After the deadline, an experienced jury from both continents will evaluate the submissions
and choose ten winners, which will be announced and awarded in Brussels.

The contest is initiated by AMIC and the EYP and supported by Adobe, DELL, Internews, the EU Center Singapore, Reporters Without Boarders, cafebabel.com and the European Journalism Center.

To take part in this contest, please "upload" your media and afterwards click on "Add to contest" on the media page.

Back from an excursion!

AM DOTCOMers are just back from an excursion to Goshavank and Haghartsin monastery ensembles of Dilijan region, and Sevan monastery in Gegharkunik region.

Another wonderful dotcom-day :) !!!

Check out the photos :)

Grants and Opportunities for Youth Worldwide

"Inspire and Educate" Competition

The deadline for all competition categories is 12 September 2009.

New Climate Change competition! FAO, WAGGGS, YPARD and Practical Action have joined forces to encourage young people to make an active contribution to our world. The “Inspire and Educate” Competition is being held as part of the educational initiative “Our World, Our Climate, Our Food”, our worldwide project designed to raise awareness on climate change, environment and food security issues. Be ready to take part of this fun and creative initiative and send us your best ideas.

The competition is divided in 3 sections: photo section, video section and climate change adaptation section. You can find more information here: http://www.fao.org/climatechange/media/17854/0/0/


PLURAL +

http://www.unaoc.org/content/view/364/265/lang,en/

Are you a young person between the ages of 9-25? Are you passionate about building a more inclusive, tolerant society? Do you think media messages can help? If so, PLURAL+ is for you!

In collaboration with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and other international partners, the UNAOC is launching a youth video festival exploring themes related to migration and diversity.

Recognizing youth as powerful agents of social change in a world often characterized by intolerance, and cultural and religious divisions, PLURAL+ is aimed at involving youth in addressing the key issues in their community related to migrant integration, inclusiveness, identity, diversity, human rights and social cohesiveness. The practical contributions of young people - whether they are migrants, second-generation immigrants or non-migrants – can come not just by identifying constraints but also through promoting a climate of respect and appreciation for each other, helping to point the way towards a more enlightened world.

PLURAL+ invites youth to do just that by submitting short videos on their thoughts, experiences, opinions, questions and suggestions on these issues and how to promote harmonious yet diverse societies. Submissions will be accepted from 1 June-30 September 2009. A prestigious international jury will announce the winners at an awards ceremony at New York's Paley Center for Media on 18 December 2009, coinciding with International Migrants Day.

UNICEF CRC Video Contest-20th Anniversary

http://www.unicef.org/voy/takeaction/takeaction_4439.html

Introduction

Deadline extended to 30 August 2009.
We want to see what you think about children’s rights!

It’s the 20th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. In 1989, world leaders decided that children needed a special convention just for them because people under 18 years old often are neglected in the human rights debate. The leaders wanted to make sure that the world recognized that children have human rights too. As a result, the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) was developed. It is the world’s most widely ratified human rights treaty. It spells out the basic human rights that children everywhere have: the right to survival; to develop to the fullest; to protection from harmful influences, abuse and exploitation; and to participate fully in family, cultural and social life.

Take a look at the CRC leaflet [pdf] and think about what it means to you. Then make a video showing what child rights mean to you, whether it be in the world at large, your country or your community. Maybe there is an example of how children’s rights are not being fulfilled. Or maybe you want to show a situation where children are getting the rights they deserve. Tell us what you think.

Videos will be reviewed by a global panel of media professionals and youth and displayed on the main UNICEF website. The winning video will be used in the CRC’s 20th anniversary celebration and made available for broadcast around the world for the 2010 The International Children’s Day of Broadcasting.

ЮНИСЕФ Конкурс молодых видеожурналистов

From http://ypmn.blogspot.com/

В ответ на многочисленные просьбы, мы решили продлить до 30 августа 2009 года срок подачи заявок на участие в организуемом ЮНИСЕФ Конкурсе молодых видеожурналистов, посвященном годовщине Конвенции о правах ребенка (КПР).

Готовясь отметить 20-ую годовщину со дня принятия Конвенции – документа, закрепляющего за молодыми людьми их важнейшие права, - мы хотели бы узнать Ваше мнение по данной проблематике. Снимите видеоролик, иллюстрирующий Ваше толкование понятия «права ребенка», будь то в масштабах всего мира, Вашей страны, Вашей общины или лично Вас. Продолжительность видеоролика не должна превышать одной минуты. В состав жюри, оценивающего видеоролики, войдут профессиональные журналисты и молодые люди со всех концов света. Лучшие видеоролики будут транслироваться в ходе кампании, посвященной 20-ой годовщине КПР, и мероприятий в рамках Международного дня детского вещания 2010 года.

Более подробную информацию о Конвенции о правах ребенка и Конкурсе молодых видеожурналистов можно получить, нажав на нижеприведенную ссылку:

http://www.unicef.org/voy/takeaction/takeaction_4439.html

Напоминаем, что последний день подачи заявок – 30 августа 2009 года.

DOTCOM Photo Gallery

AM DOTCOMers photo gallery is updated!

DOTCOM meeting with Tert.am

Yesterday (25 June, 2009) DOTCOMers visited the office of Tert.am ("Tert" - "Newspaper" in English), one of the leading online newspapers in Armenia.

Students used their unique opportunity to ask questions and discuss media related issues with young, qualified and experienced staff of Tert.am. In addition to the interesting and useful discussions, DOTCOMers learnt about modern technologies and saw equipment that Tert.am uses for its everyday work.

Very impressive and useful meeting!

Thanks to Tert.am staff! :)

Solo Jazz Concert - Nare Zakaryan

:)

Congratulations to Nare

for her

solo jazz concert

yesterday!

Bill Evans - Waltz For Debby
George Gershwin - Summertime
Consuelo Velázquez - Bésame mucho
and more...

Yes! That was amazing :)


Thanks for inviting DOTCOMers!

"Novoe Vremya" Newspaper

Another interesting and useful event!

AM DOTCOMers visited "Novoe Vremya" newspaper office on Friday, June 15 and had an informal discussion with Mr. Satyan, the director of the newspaper. In the end of the visit students were offered a tour around the editorial to see where/what the newspaper starts from and how it gets published.

Terrific excursion!

Annual Alternative Media Festival "Zhangot ddum"

Last Wednesday, June 10 was an interesting day for the group of AM DOTCOMers. They attended the opening ceremony of Annual Alternative Media Festival "Zhangot ddum" ("Rusty pumpkin") organized by "Mkhitar Sebastatci" Educational Complex.

Though our expectations were not met in the field of media, at least the students had a great opportunity to see (and even hear) works of modern art.

Fuze Meeting & SlideShare "Tell A Story" Contest

View more Microsoft Word documents from Amit Ranjan.

AM DOTCOMers and "Menq enq" ("Kids' Crossroads")

On Wednesday, May 20th, we had another very interesting and useful meeting, this time with "Kids Crossroads" (Internews project) students. They told our AM Dotcomers about their work, about video material making process and its "rules".
They told us also about their broad and positive experience in working with Azerbaijani and Georgian colleague students.
The meeting was very interesting and it lasted about 3 hours instead of planned 1 :)

Photos from the meeting are uploaded here!

AM DOTCOMers at Barcamp EVN'09

From 17th to 19th of April DOTCOM AM students, together with more than 200 adults working in IT sphere, participated in Barcamp EVN'09.

DOTCOM Photo Gallery

AM DOTCOMers photo gallery is updated!

Announcement for AM DOTCOMers

Dear DOTCOMers,

The British Council, in partnership with the Young Biologists’ Association NGO, is happy to announce an essay competition in Armenia commemorating the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin’s birth.

Three winners from Armenia will attend the International Student Summit in London from 30 June to 2 July 2009.

Applicants are not required to be students of natural sciences – remember, Darwin’s work influenced a range of other disciplines, including history, theology, psychology, economics, philosophy, sociology and other humanitarian sciences.

The deadline for competition entries is 10.00am on 4 May 2009.

Who can apply?
The applicants should:
- be students in Armenia aged between 16 and 18 years
- have good verbal English language skills
- be interested in the work and legacy of Charles Darwin
- be committed to share with their peers the experience gained in the UK

Disseminate the information through your mailing lists and spread the word about the competition among your friends and family. For more details, please visit the website.

Upcoming Am-DOTCOM Meeting

Dear AM DOTCOMers,

Our next meeting will be:

on March 27, Friday,

at 15:30.

Place - the same (where we had the last two meetings).

Please, check your emails for details!
.

Photos of AM DOTCOMers

Dear DOTCOMers,

I am pleased to inform you that all photos of AM DOTOMers' events from now on will be uploaded here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/dotcomam .

I would highly appreciate if all our AM participants assist me and share new photos of their group events with me in future.

BarCamp EVN09 - Pre-camp for AM DOTCOMers

On Friday, March 13th, we had a wonderful meeting (pre-camp) with BarCamp EVN'09 coordinators - Arthur Papyan (http://ditord.com/) and Gegham Vardanyan (http://reporter-arm.livejournal.com/). First they talked about the upcoming BarCamp and its "rules". They encouraged our DOTCOMers to prepare presentations for the event.


Then the guests told our students about Blogs, Bloggers and Armenian Blogosphere. Our DOTCOMers were listening with great interest and then started a lively discussion. The meeting passed in a friendly and warm atmosphere.

DOTCOM meeting "Save Teghut" and "Green Light"

On March 11th DOTCOMers had a very interesting meeting with young activists of "Save Teghut" and "Green Light" youth movements. We talked about ecological problems of the country, discussed different problems that people face in their communities, talked about public awareness and we had a brisk, heated, interesting and useful discussion about the role of media (especially Internet and Blogs) in improvement of all above mentioned issues. We had 22 DOTCOMers present and almost all of them actively participated in the discussions. Many participants were thrilled with new ideas regarding the future (goals) of their blogs.

BarCamp - Yerevan, 2009

(from the official web site of BarCamp Yerevan - http://barcamp.am/)


Finally, BarCamp Yerevan will take place in Armenia on April 17-19 of 2009.


BarCamp is a brand new event, originating in the Silicon Valley of USA in 2005 that has become widespread throughout the world. BarCamp is usually a “non-conference” in the sphere of information technology or “IT,” new media and Internet. A “non-conference” is the unofficial, informal part of the conference supporting open discussions and a free exchange of ideas and opinions.

The philosophy of BarCamp is the following: all presentations are given by participants themselves, with no formally invited guest speakers and without the formality of traditional conference. Most revealing, the schedule of events is “produced” by the participants of the conference and is formed only after the conference opens, as participants add the presentations they want to hold on a white board.

The first ever BarCamp in the former Soviet Union was organized in Kyiv in October 2007. It brought together about 300 people from Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Poland, and other countries from the region and featured around 45 presentations.

After BarCamp Kiev, there was “BarCamp Baltics” in Riga (February 2008) and “Barcamp Caucasus” in Tbilisi (June 2008). The wave of BarCamps continues.

Finally, BarCamp Yerevan will take place in Armenia on April 17-19 of 2009.

“BarCamp Yerevan” will bring together bloggers, new media professionals, IT specialists, companies involved in Internet and digital technologies, journalists and journalism students, as well as any other groups interested in using technology and Internet in their work.

Tentatively, around 200 participants are expected to attend the event (roughly two-thirds will be local Armenians, and the rest will come from other former USSR countries, as well as international new-media experts).

If you want to participate in “BarCamp Yerevan”, please visit the web site and register!!!

Interesting resource...

I am happy to have this opportunity to share with all of you the resource i`ve discovered.

CommonCraft!
Common Craft is a two person, husband and wife company. They work from their home in Seattle, Washington. They make videos - short, simple and focused on making complex ideas easy to understand.
And here is a video about the Social Media by "CommonCraft", which I think is very interesting and easy to understand.



You can visit their web site for more videos.

And for those, who are new to Blogs... watch this!!! :)