1. Your profile says that you were a journalist in a former life. What made you change careers?

An oft-asked question. I had a great run with journalism, working at a well-known magazine in New York, and then as a freelance writer based in Los Angeles. If it sounds glamorous, well… it was. Journalism was magical–it provided me with a constantly expanding education and fantastic perks.

When I moved back home to Vancouver, however, I needed to pay the bills, and journalism’s a much smaller industry here than in those big cities in the States. Hence, I set aside time to dream about what I wanted to be in my second career. During the course of a couple writing projects I’d done for Nike Running, I’d worked with two digital agencies. I realized that more than anything, I wanted to be an Internet strategist–and here I am. The skillset from journalism is remarkably transferable. The approach is the same: seek to understand, and then to be understood.

2. Being a journalist demands a certain code of ethics. Do you see new media/emerging media/social media having that kind of a code of ethics?

This is a tricky one. Any content provider should have a responsible code of ethics. Naturally, not all do. The fear with emerging and social media is that there are sometimes no checks and balances to ensure that a code of ethics is in place as there are with traditional media formats–fewer editors, no producers.

The good news is, that with the emerging media, the general public is empowered to take on those roles themselves. Is everyone in the general public as experienced as a formally trained and employed editor or producer? No. But many people subscribe to the belief that the voice of a multitude can be far more powerful than that of an individual. At present, anyone can put their opinion into the public sphere more easily than at any other time in our history, and similarly, anyone can respond. Under the best circumstances, information put out over emerging and social media channels is of high quality because it invites the public to become a participant, a policeman, an opponent, a fan, or something we haven’t even thought of yet. Most people reading this can probably conjure a plethora of examples of this–Wikipedia, the success of sites like Digg, Yelp, NowPublic….

I’m a relativist. To me, it always depends on the context of the particular situation. But frankly, my opinion doesn’t matter. Emerging media and social media are now, unequivocally, part of the information delivery system we use. Whether or not there’s a code of ethics at the moment, one will evolve.

3. You are being sent to Paris on a covert mission. Who do you take with you and why?

I take a powerful and wily accomplice, Mr. Jon Cartwright, the most resourceful man I’ve ever met. Once, in Oregon, he fixed my motorcycle with some electrical tape and a bolt he found on the ground in a parking lot, and I rode it all the way home. (In fact, I still haven’t switched in the correct part.) He builds furniture and masterful marketing plans. He’s tri-lingual. He also has Jedi-mindpower. And despite his spy-like prowess at just about everything, he’s exceedingly humble, an admirable quality indeed.

4. What’s your favorite sport figure and why?

Raul, this is going to make me sound arrogant, but I don’t watch sports. I play ‘em!

5. Social media and web 2.0 are all about the conversation. How do you see web 3.0 evolving? What is the next wave of social media trends?

A while ago I watched a TED talk on these interactive computing blocks called Siftables. The blocks couldn’t do much on their own, but together they could create interactive experiences–creating math games, storytelling, blending paint colours, and even producing music with fades and gradients of sound. Alone they were cute. Together they were REMARKABLE.

Then today I read this story theorizing about how Netbooks could impact the future of the print media. It described new Netbooks which used the open-source operating system Linux, and posited a future in which, in the face of diminishing sales margins, hardware companies produced devices less as monolithic COMPUTERS and more as multi-purpose media machines. The kicker of a sentence for me was this: “Consumer-hardware companies increasingly have to become media companies, and vice versa.”

Both these news items made me think about how constrained we are, at present, to our particular computer, or our iPhone, or our newspaper. I think the WSJ put it best. Web 3.0 is “the complete integration of computing into every part of our lives in a way that is seamless, ubiquitous and, ideally, dead simple.” The possibility exists for greater interaction between devices themselves, and with the advent of cloud-based softwares and services, more ubiquity, speed and accuracy. Overarchingly, the social mediums we use will increase both in terms of software and hardware. It’s an exciting time to be a part of the Internet!

Related posts:

1. Guest post: The untold history of the world’s best cryptic crossword, by Grace Carter
2. My interview with David Berner on The Power of Social Media in Public Policy
3. Congratulations to @invoke on their OpenWebAwards win

Credit: Brad Searles

I fell in love with their song “Pining” (you can download all of The Hush Now’s release CD tunes by clicking here), and was delighted to find that they named a song “Vancouver”. Given that I fell very much in love with their music, I thought it’d be a good idea to interview them on my blog. Despite our repeated efforts to manage to do the interview online (via Skype or podcast) we finally settled on doing a written Q&A. Here for your reading pleasure, The Hush Now…

1. Where does name The Hush Now come from?

I was just trying to find a name that would fit the style of music. I had a lot of bad names I thought of and then The Hush Now fell into place. I liked the imagery it invoked, a mother quieting a child, the murmur of a crowd as something important is about to happen. There’s a sense of peace but expectation. I’d like to say it was from the Jimi Hendrix tune, but that would be a lie.

2. You have been using Twitter quite effectively. How do you find it in terms of keeping in touch and having conversations with your fans?

I love twitter. I’m a bit of a recluse…I hate talking on the phone (hence why our interview probably didn’t happen as planned). But I love texting. I love the efficiency of it. Saying as much as possible in the least amount of text. Twittering is like being able to text your closest 500 friends. I’ve also met some wonderful folks through twitter. I hope it doesn’t get abused and locked down under mountains of spam, because it really is a great social experiment. BTW, my iphone is broken so I haven’t twittered in a bit. Bummed.

3. Most music bands tend to have a MySpace page (you do too). Have you explored other social networking sites? I know that some of your songs are in Blip.fm, as I have blipped them myself!

Today as a band, you have to manage so many social media pages. In the old days, you could just have a website, but that just doesn’t cut it anymore. It’s actually an incredible amount of work for a DIY outfit to make sure all the social media outlets are fresh and up to date. There are some tools that allow you to push to all, but not all. If there is a developer out there, figure out a way to consolidate fans from all sites into a single “sortable” list so bands can let folks know when they’re in town for a show. This would be HUGE.

4. You put one of your albums entirely for download. Do you have concerns in regards to copyright issues? How do you think it will affect your future?

Well, the copyright is always protected because the songs have been registered. The face of the music business is changing (obviously). People really don’t want to pay for music anymore I think. I know I don’t. What I’m trying to foster is to involve people so that maybe they’ll consider coming to a live show. By doing this, you give a band a fighting chance to make a living with music again (if they’re willing to tour). Who knows. At the end of the day, I want people to hear our music. We’ve had over 50,000 downloads to date. If we were selling the album, maybe we would have sold 100 (not including friends and family who are always eager to help out). Right now, we’re unknown, so the goal is to get the word out and try to figure out a new path best we can. Maybe I’ll fuck it up, but it won’t be from not trying. Ha

5. When will we see you in Vancouver (Canada)?

Actually, we’ll be in Seattle on 18 June for a show at El Corazon if anybody wants to make the trip down? Maybe we can make Vancouver our next time out west???

6. Speaking of our fair city, I noticed one of your songs (and one of my personal favorites) is named Vancouver. What was the inspiration for this song?

Yes, I used to play in a band called Cerulean. We were on tour for about 4 months which ran through Thanksgiving. I was living in my car at the time, so instead of heading back to LA for the break, I bought a ticket to Vancouver and holed up in Chinatown for about a week with a guitar. I’d bounce around the city but I always had to make my way through the drug addicts in chinatown. Maybe I was a bit sheltered, but I had never seen anything like it. No teeth, eating ice cream, shooting up between the toes, hookers with falling fishnet stockings, the rows of drinking houses. It was really amazing. I’m not judging, but I was definitely in awe of the spectacle. So I had this idea that if I could choreograph a dance for all these folk out in the streets, that would be soooo awesome (hence the line “we could be beautiful, bending turning if we tried”) Funny thing, I never felt afraid while I was there. It was like an odd disney land ride of sorts. I did see a picasso exhibit while I was there too.

7. I’m personally a fan of Pining. It evokes sounds that bring some tough memories for me. However, the song in itself is beautiful. What was the inspiration behind it? What kind of sounds/artists influenced you in that particular song?

Well, pining for somebody I’ve found can be such a destructive force. My twenties were pretty much a stalemate because I was stuck on somebody. The thing I came to realize though is I was actually pining for the idea of something that didn’t exist. All those imaginary wanderings and what if’s of the perfect love. It didn’t exist. It never existed. And it was incredibly painful. The imagery of the song actually harkens back to Christmas on Long Island. Christmas lights adorning houses. Snow with a frozen crust that crunches as you walk. The desolate cold you feel outside while you long for the warmth you imagine exists in the houses you pass. The song is very much 10cc too, you know that song “I’m not in love” it’s so beautiful. Working with Dave Newton, I just said to him, I want this song to sound like 10cc and he smiled and went to work. Pining, Ashes and Roleplay are my favorites on the album.

As Noel mentions in the Q&A, they will have a show in Seattle on June 18th if anybody can make the trek down (sadly, I can’t). If you like to be in touch with The Hush Now, they are on Twitter and you can become a fan on Facebook as well.

[EDIT - Patrol Magazine compares The Hush Now to Death Cab by Cutie - I love them both!]

Related posts:

1. The Hush Now’s new album: Constellations
2. 7 Questions with Mojave
3. Pining by The Hush Now #MusicMonday

Credit: Frozen Reflections Photography (used with permission)

A few days ago, Premier Gordon Campbell (leader of the British Columbia Liberals) offered to answer up to 5 bloggers’ questions and be a guest writer on our blogs. I’m glad I was one of the 5 bloggers whose questions were answered, given that I’m the editor of the non-partisan, pluralistic blog BC Vote. Furthermore, having taught Public Policy before (and knowing that my former students would expect me to be involved in the policy-making life of British Columbia) and being interested in environmental policy and politics in the province that I call home, it makes sense for me to write more about politics and policy in BC (although I have done so in the past, just for the record). I actually think one of my best posts was this one (Putting back the public in public policy). Premier Gordon Campbell’s responses to my questions are presented below. Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions!

Q: Give me 3 reasons to vote for each one of the other parties (NOT to vote for yours).

A: I think everyone entering public life does so to make a positive contribution. Having said that, it should come as no surprise that I would not actually vote for the other parties. The NDP’s policies would put jobs at risk and that’s something I can’t and won’t defend. I do think the Green Party is committed to the environment and that is good but I believe the way to restore it is through a strong economy.

I would encourage all voters to compare platforms and decide what direction they feel would works the best to keep BC strong. The BC Liberal Platform can be found at http://www.bcliberals.com/platform/

Q: Explain to me what the main differences you see in your platform as opposed to the other parties

A: The BC Liberal platform lowers costs on the economy, and lays a foundation for job creation with lower taxes and sound fiscal management. We know from experience that leaving more money in people’s pockets and reducing the cost of doing business actually stimulates the economy and is an incentive for job creation. In contrast, the NDP’s platform adds more than $1 billion in new taxes, including a tax aimed at our resource industries that is expected to cost our province 60,000 jobs. According to the Chamber of Commerce, the additional wage costs the NDP plan on adding to small business will result in 50,000 jobs lost. In today’s economy, we can’t afford to lose even one job. Finally, the NDP have a platform that adds billions in deficits which are taxes on the future. They are still making up their budget as they go along and that creates real uncertainty at a time when we need to build stability and confidence.

Q: Explain to me your social media strategy, long term.

A: I don’t think anyone can predict where social media will be headed in the future. If you think back five years, Facebook was brand new and very few people were using it. The Twitterverse hadn’t even been invented. People, especially younger people, are looking for ways they can access information efficiently and conveniently and stay in touch in real time. Technology is changing faster than many of our social institutions. But it is changing them. Social media, in particular, provides new opportunities for people to engage with politics and government.

As has been said: “Things will change less in the next two years than we expect, but far more in the next 10 years.” We all have to find time to learn how to use these new technologies to make our lives better.

NOTE – In the spirit of full disclosure and pluralism I have also contacted the offices of the Leaders of the NDP and Green Party to ask if Ms. Carole James and Ms. Jane Sterk would be interested in answering similar questions and/or guest post on my blog.

Related posts:

1. Why blog (Guest post by @WhatsForLunch)
2. Guest post by Jane Sterk – Leader of the Green Party in British Columbia
3. Canadian elections results 2008 and poverty – Blog Action Day 2008