Media Space TV is among a trio of original UWTV productions that recently received recognition for Outstanding Achievement by the Telly Awards, a nationally respected competition for the broadcast industry. The awards were given for the UWTV programs “Fostering Leadership,” “Media Space,” and “Husky Softball: A Championship Journey.”

“Media Space: Entertainment & Content” was the award-winning episode that featured alternate reality gaming entrepreneur Elan Lee in its debut season, discussing his pioneering work in entertainment and immersive gaming.

“Media Space is our very public effort to connect to what’s next in technology and communication. Elan Lee’s pioneering work in reinventing storytelling clearly foreshadows how we’ll all be interacting with media in the years to come,” said host and MCDM Director Hanson Hosein. “I’m thrilled that we’ve won this recognition for such cutting-edge subject matter – it’s truly the best of what we do.”

John Haslam, General Manager of UWTV, said “It’s wonderful to receive industry recognition for these shows, which represented a shift in our programming to bring more original, entertaining and thought-provoking shows to UWTV. We are continuing our mission to create more original programming, including new arts shows premiering this spring, that showcase the people and stories from the University of Washington.”

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By David Domke  (originally posted February 22, 2011 on the UW Department of Communication Blog)

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The Beatles sang it in 1968, in the midst of cultural tumoil around the world tied to human rights and equality. Now I’ll be talking about it Wednesday evening as part of the Seattle Arts & Lectures series, “Storyteller Uprising,” which features faculty in the Department of Communication, in particular in the Master in Digital Media program.

By Rachel Crick

Is it possible to find a word or a short phrase that describes what we do as storytellers, without using the word storytelling? A recent discussion yielded the word narrative as a possible substitute, though there were concerns that “narrative” might come across as too academic. Those involved in the conversation who come from cultures outside of the United States expressed how difficult it is to find a word that accurately translates the meaning of the phrase “storytelling” in their native tongue.

Photo by Rachel Crick

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MCDM Faculty iconoclast Ken Rufo has been up to some interesting things lately.  Always on the hunt for enlightening challenges to assumptions regarding technology and digital communications, Rufo agreed to answer some questions about a new initiative he has undertaken with the help of some MCDM students.

The initiative has the provocative (if sightly opaque) title of “The Collective for Digital Pataphysics.”

Check out this video from the Collective for Digital Pataphysics about their “Trust Protocol” project:

FTM: What is pataphysics?  What specifically is “digital pataphysics?”

Ken Rufo: Pataphysics, which is often written ‘pataphysics, is a term coined by the French absurdist Alfred Jarry to describe a science of imaginary solutions.  It’s obviously a play on “metaphysics,” which it was supposed to supplement.  Pataphysics is a kind of absurdist, experimental way of thinking about the abstract as if it was concrete, or thinking about the exceptions that might otherwise prove a rule.  It’s comic, but never merely sarcastic or mocking.  The idea of digital pataphysics is really just my attempt to apply the same experimental, theatrical sensibility to ways of learning about digital and social media.

FTM: Who is Alfred Jarry?

Ken Rufo: Jarry was a Frenchman writing at the close of the 19th Century.  He’s probably most known for his play Ubu Roi and the book Exploits and Opinions of Dr. Faustroll.

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This is the third and final blog post of a three part series about my experiences as a presenter with fellow MCDM student Katherine Turner during the 2011 American Society of Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO) conference in San Juan, Puerto Rico. See the second post Monday, February 28th, 2011, “Easy Like Sunday Morning.”

Crowdsourcing

I had kept word that I was attending the conference from my parents. I also had to block my sisters from my Facebook updates about the trip to Puerto Rico. I had known for months. My plan was to surprise my mother at the mall, grocery store, or where ever she might be.

Everyone’s reaction to my plan – that’s a bad idea. Even the taxi driver on the way to Condado from Fajardo turned back while driving and looked at me square in the eyes and said, “Mijo, la vas a matar.” He was not the only local who concurred that I was going to give my mother a heart attack. So, I called my mother that afternoon. “Guess where I am?” A few seconds of silence goes by followed by “Get the **** out of here! How can that be?” Said a very stunned Señora, or as she will very happily point out to you, Señorita.

Whenever Katherine and I talked about presenting at an oceanography conference it always seemed strange. People would reply, “I thought you were into video or photography.”

Yes, we are into video. No, we aren’t oceanographers. “So, why are you presenting at an oceanography conference?”

My mother grew more confused and perplexed when I explained the reasons why I was in San Juan presenting at an International Oceanography Conference.

Carlos Miguel Sanchez & Julia Rodriguez (Dad and Mom)

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The Seattle Refugee Youth Project is premiering digital stories created by local refugee youth on Saturday, March 5 from 1:00-3:00 in UW’s Kane Hall 120.  To accompany this blog post they granted Flip the Media a sneak preview of one of the stories:

My career in journalism started just as newspaper publishers began their awkward and ultimately impotent dance with Internet. As a photojournalist, I watched publishers and editors struggle with how to fit the paper’s Internet presence into their business model.

At the time, the notion of citizen journalists and crowd-sourcing stories would have seemed absurd. The journalist’s role was that of a gatekeeper who filtered what the audience needed to know from the noise. Read more…

This is the second blog post of a three part series about my experiences as a presenter with fellow MCDM student Katherine Turner during the 2011 American Society of Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO) conference in San Juan, Puerto Rico.  See the first post from Saturday, Feb. 26, 2011 “Hurry Up and Wait.”

Episode II, A New Hope

After waiting in line for nearly 40 minutes and salivating for a traditional  bocadillo I had to settle for avena or oatmeal. I was not able to upload the video for the conference to YouTube or Vimeo as the uploading time kept getting longer and longer. The panaderia was a ghost town as the morning rush had come and gone. Things were looking bleak.

Finally, I was able to send the video via a drop box service to the film festival producer — and the crisis was averted!

The day of the film festival we made our way back from Culebra to the mainland via an hour and a half ferry ride at the break of dawn. The whole point of coming to Puerto Rico early was to have plenty of time to fine-tune our ASLO Conference presentations.

Oh, hindsight. Why you are always two days late and a dollar short?

Sunday morning from Fajardo to El Condado was just 35 minutes and the same route in the afternoon is an hour and a half. Since check-in time was not until later in the afternoon we had to take refuge at the only familiar place we knew our kind was always welcomed. A place that inspires and nurture the human spirit – one person, one coffee cup and one neighborhood at a time. That’s right – Starbucks.

The line at the Starbucks in El Condado seemed to be one self-generating infinite loop. The irony of the situation was not lost on us. We come all the way to Puerto Rico and were now seeking settling in comfortably at a Starbucks. (In case you are wondering the only difference on the menu is Café Con Leche is listed under local favorites.) Here the tourists outnumber the locals 3 to 1.

The baristas were somewhat bilingual but not to fear I speke the Spanish.  Thirty minutes later it’s my turn and I blank on how to say quad espresso. We edge our way to a table, plug in our laptops to one of four electrical outlets in the store and boot up to get online. But …

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This is the first blog post of a three part series about my experiences as a presenter with fellow MCDM student Katherine Turner during the 2011 American Society of Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO) conference in San Juan, Puerto Rico.  Part two Easy Like Sunday Morning

The Road Less Traveled

Last week was the second time I had been home in the last twenty years. Pick any excuse and I will tell you that’s the reason it’s been so long since I’ve been back to Puerto Rico. Truth be told it’s because I’ve been go! go! go! ever since I left developing a career as a visual journalist. I have documented small-town politics, the immigration debate in our nation’s capitol, the effects of the war in local communities, hurricane Katrina, the fall of Enron, and ground-breaking research being conducted by university faculty and students in the Pacific Northwest. I’ve photographed four U.S. presidents… but I haven’t been home.

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