Yet another Dave Thorvald Olson project - this one serves up all the leftover bits which don't fit elsewhere - more craft than the art - nuggets perhaps noticed or observed, announcements of fresh paintings, podcast and/or publications, static montage, various snippets of prose, sites of note or ones you might enjoy, messages to future self, relics from past, snapshots i'd like you to see, fleeting reminiscences, future predictions, occasionally lurid predilections and mysterious items uncovered. In short ephemerae-phem-er-a - n
1) A range of collectible items that were originally designed to be short-lived
2) Something that is transitory and without lasting significance
Kicking off Earth Day 2008, a group of eco-minded social media makers produced over 50 pieces of social media at the EPIC Sustainable Living Expo in Vancouver, BC April 18-20. The multi-media coverage including audio podcasts, video clips, blog articles, and a vast collection of photos. In all, the crowd-sourced campaign featured over 70 eco-conscious businesses and sustainability-minded organizations, plus numerous noteworthy presenters and even a “green” episode of CBC’s the Dragon’s Den.
The media dispatches were published using many “web 2.0″ technologies including posting on the happyfrog.ca “Frog blog” and at the new EPIC Expo blog, as well as the writer’s personal blogs and various eco-community sites. The rich-media content was distributed via multiple channels including photos at the happyfrog Flickr pool, “Pondcasts” in iTunes, Frogwalking videos on Blip.tv and You Tube, and even micro-blogging on Twitter.
Brought together by BC green web community site, happyfrog.ca, the social media makers comprised a diverse assortment of personalities, interests, and demographics which resulted in a variety of topics and points of view.
Rewarded with a bamboo/organic cotton t-shirt and an “honorarium”, the “Frog Squad” showed their commitment to spreading practical ecological information to effectuate positive change with this multi-day blog marathon. The citizen journalists explored every facet of the show from sampling organic beer, vodka and coffee, to checking out presenters like Mike Holmes, Adria Vasil and Simon Jackson.
Frog bloggers Miss604 and hummingbird post with Adria Vasil at EP
Working from a “blogger’s lounge” (a coffee table, a few chairs, and a borrowed Salt Spring coffee airpot) next to the happyfrog booth in the concourse, the volunteer team of experts provided almost real-time coverage by publishing continually throughout the day. The stream of content allowed interested people from out of town to experience the expo - as well as building excitement during the run of the 3-day event.
Mike Holmes at EPIC photo by John Bollwitt
The resultant grassroots footage is dubbed “social media” since it is meant to be shared. Site visitors are encouraged to add favorite posts to their social networks and shared bookmark services, send to a friend or post a comment on the blog. Further, with Creative Commons licensing, the interviewees may re-use the content on their blogs to help magnify their message. Highlights:
Simon Jackson, fervent protector of the Spirit Bear, garnered a report from the floor by Raul (AKA hummingbird 604), background info by Jonathon Narvey (jnarvey), plus a podcast of his stirring presentation.
Super-contractor Mike Holmes’ candid presentation was live blogged by Rebecca Bollwitt (AKA Miss 604) and Raul interviewed with Adira Vasil, author of Ecoholic.
More audio “Pondcasts” (produced by johnbollwitt of Radio Zoom) included happyfrog Community Manager Dave O’s (daveo) conversations with the Reddot Campaign against junk mail, local news source The Tyee, a tech-activist offering solar power web hosting, Simple hemp shoes, and stylish and efficient Vespas.
Videos interviews with LevelGround Trading, Industrial Artifacts, Hank&Cheef, and many more vignettes from the floor with hosts Christy and Cliff.
Reports from the journey by two Salt Spring coffee roasters who biked their way to EPIC to tell about the company’s carbon cool initiatives and green tax on disposable cups.
Handmade body care crafter Naked was featured in a podcast interview and a post by eco-enthusiast Alexa Booth (xabooth).
Vancouver designer coverage with a Devil May Wear podcast, blog post about Dahlia Drive, and an eco t-shirt comparison including RioRain, HTNaturals and Me to We.
Sustainable travel tips with a podcast and blog post about Parks Canada and a post on Adventure Travel by Colleen Coplick (colleenc) who also points about the problem with plastics and the benefits of the EPIC Sigg bottles.
Greg Andrews (GregEh) also noticed the Sigg bottles along with Frogfile sustainable office products - ditto by Karen Fung (countablyinfinite) who also reported on the fancy solar lounge table and the design panel hosted by Shared Vision.
If you are interested to learn more about how and why we took on this campaign, please contact Dave Olson, Community Manager, dave (at) happyfrog (dot) ca
Really truly pleased to read all the kind words from folks who rolled by my Northern Voice presentation F*** Stats, Make Art - sorry for messing up your SEO mojo with the inappropriate title ;-). To all who showed up, thanks! Really a treat to see so many friends, heros, colleagues and new friends smiling back - makes doing my “Dave O Show” a blast.
I really dumped my guts into my spiel about making art with the mighty tools at our disposal. With a group of opinionated, smart and savvy folks, I wasn’t sure if my message would be redundant or met with indifference or confusion. The resultant cavalcade of positive remarks suggests I articulated much of what i set out to share.
Hmm … what do I come up with for next year? As per the convo percolating at Nancy White’s post, perhaps a creative arts track of some kind is in order. As for me, I’d very much to learn about the other part of the publishing business which i know very little about - agents, distribution, editors and all that. Remember tis important to know much fu!
Also a lovely treat to riff with my Crazy Canucks colleagues in the Sports Blogging and Podcasting panel. This rag-tag group grew into a team over the past 61 shows and the panel was as easy and intuitive as the podcasts. We know each others strengths and are “giving” to one another in the conversation. The questions in the session were great and show a real understanding of the weird tension we have with the “official”ness of the Canucks and the trade off of objectivity and creative control vs selling out.
Alanah and JJ live outside the Vangorrvy tech industry bubble and run the two most popular Canucks blogs out there. Alanah’s is famous for drunken live blogging which is no surprise why she ranks #1 for drunken canucks fan. JJ is the people’s ambassador to GM Place - walking the concourse with him is a task as he’s stopped more often than Mike Weaver would. And of course my good buddies the Bollwitts - the Vancouver blog and podsafe music podcast darlings.
Mighty Thanks to the kinds people who organized the event. I’ve becomes great friends with some of these diligent inclusive and inspiring peeps and truly enjoy learning more about their many skills and noble dedication to knowledge sharing. I encourage others to step up and help out driving the vision of the event going forward. Special thanks to KK, Boris and Roland who (unbeknownst to them) served as sounding boards for bits and pieces of my presentation in progress. Their reaction, diatribes and riffs helped my schtick for the better.
So if you’ll pardon me, … for the self-indulgence file, here’s an annotated NV08 roundup for personal archeology (in no particular order):
{Note: Last year’s podcast presentation induced the creation of yet another podcast feed which features all my odds and ends which don’t fit elsewhere from marketing lectures to sound seeing strolls. This is now a series i guess.}
After Matt’s talk, I sat in Dave Olson’s session called “F&*% Stats, Make Art. He’s clever and funny. Dave’s big into the podcast side as well. I also spoke to him briefly after he spoke - very gracious.
Dave Olsen rules. He is swearing too. He is swearing so much his talk is called “f— stats, make art”. He stresses that we should put our hearts into our work, otherwise what we are doing is just bullshit. And that we need to start really caring about what we are creating. On and control your transparency; because he doesn’t really want to know all that shit about you. All humor aside it was an inspiring talk, Olsen stressed that we should get back to ourselves “people say that if you want to be an artist you need to go to art school - bullshit - study yourself” states Olsen. Find your craft and take it seriously he states, and there is a big difference between typing and writing. (Dave Olsen)
today i want to tell you about the session that touched me the deepest. it was dave olson’s “f**k stats, make art”. miss 604 has a great synopsis of it, and you can find my notes at the end of this post.
one of the things that became very obvious for me after dave’s presentation was sadness/frustration/disappointment that i had abandoned my practice of doing at least one piece of “artful writing” a day, no matter how short, kitschy or silly. dave may just have just stirred me enough to go back to that.
so i ended up writing two poems and would like to dedicate them both to dave.
thanks to dave olson, no. 1
a concussion of the most
mindful sort
comes over me as i indulge in these
northern voices.
poems must be written,
suns must be risen,
earths must be quaked
in this pyramid of
gentle thoughts
– not just yours,
not just mine –
that shake up this world.
I did one last year on Stats: The Forbidden Love, and given that this year there was a talk on “Fuck Stats: Make Art” maybe it’s time for another one. After all, they are independent principles, not antagonistic. And Oscar Wilde cared passionately about his stats, you just know it.
{Note: This is a sweet piece of prose!}
But I must admit, even as an Egalitarian of long standing, that there is something wrong with a world in which grown men are not ashamed to admit they’re too scared to go into neighborhoods that don’t frighten a woman. They looked me in the eye, one after another (the men, not the eyes; mine are virtually on top of one another, except the ones I keep in the freezer) and told me that the Gallery Gachet wasn’t in Gastown, it was (horror of horrors!) in the Downtown EastSide (although the out-of-towners called it the Lower East Side, presumably thinking it was a wormhole to Manhattan or something). As if Gastown were an idyll of upper-middleclassdom, which it is not and never has been. The people who work in Gastown are convinced it’s a postcard and that the bums and junkies they see on the street each day are “spillover” from the Downtown EastSide, just on the other side of Maple Tree Square. That the junkies, streetwalkers, and bums have been there since 1860 never seems to occur to them and, day in and day out, they remain convinced that it is the down and outs who are the anomaly, not the chino-clad technologists and graphic designers.
After catching yuppie cooties at the Lame-lighter, i led a rag-tag gang (past the endlessly sprouting fancy furniture stores) on a late-night foray to the Gachet where we imbibed and roasted til the last Seabus sailed. Dig what they are brewing up there for sure.
PS My spiel about the fucking of the stats and so on … was more about inspiring folks to step it up and reap validation from producing quality work which evokes passionate responses rather than settling for the saccharine pleasure of statistics. There is some audio of my pontifying somewhere.
Have I mentioned before that our pal Dave Olson is awesome? He’s here to talk about how Art Makes the Future. History may have been forged by popes and generals but the only reason we KNOW about it is because someone took the time to write and paint about it.
{Note: My pal Miss604 took attentive notes which resemble my own scribblings - which i’ll post once i recall where i stashed the bits}
Stephen Rees I had three pages of scribbled notes in my moleskin to transcribe. It seems to me that you got the spirit if his - very impressive - presentation.
Apparently, Dave was on the same stream as our “Writing on Walls” session - tapping into our creativity. I’m glad the session was recorded and blogged. It was interesting to see that there were quite a few sessions that pinged on a central core of creativity.
{my comment:}
Indeed Nancy, i’d hoped to hang out in your arts and crafts funtime and enjoyed seeing lots of creative hi-jinks going on. Not sure if you remember but you made a great “podcasting lunch” sketch for my amigo Cosmo and i at Mindcamp 1.0 in Seattle. I also enjoyed your ’symbolic word poetry remix’ wall.I wish you could’ve stopped by to enjoy my schtick (and i’d have enjoyed your input for sure) but gratefully the recording and remarkable notes will tide you over til next year. With all these common themes emerging … How about a “analog expression” track? I was also displeased being up at the same time as Monique’s preso about books and writing and missing Alan’s tour de force ~ sigh.
##
Facebook Wall round-up (used without permission with my pardons):
Keith Bao wrote at 5:19pm
“Know Much Fu”I f*@!k’n dig this!!!!!!
Refreshing and honest, down to the core.
It was an honour to be there listening.
I’m home sick today and have been listening to back episodes of Postcards from GB for the last hour or so…listened to the most recent one twice cause I liked it so much :-)Ditto on the session motivation. Totally inspiring.
I had expected something bordering on more technical, but still had a good [and informative] time listening to all the speakers; including my friend Stephanie’s talk on design, and Dave Olson (aka. uncleweed) and his Fuck Stats Make Art motivator.
There were two more sessions that were seminal. First, Dave Olson producer, writer and visionary gave a great talk about the need to make art, not stats. Truly great rant that put a number of things in perspective for me. We get so caught up in the techno, the art suffers. It shouldn’t. And if Dave has anything to do with it it won’t. When everyone seems bent on promoting wikis, blogs, 3rd Life and all the other accoutrements, Dave was extremely refreshing. I would suggest you follow his work. This guy is truly unique.
After looking at the schedule the first thing I saw was the Sports Blogging and Pod Casting. Which I am very excited about because that is the Industry I want to have a career in. I have heard about the speaker Rebecca Bollwitt from many people and with not a lot of women on the panel, I am quite excited!I think another session with Dave Olson will be interesting F*** Stats,Make Art which seems like my sort of thing and will be a good discussion.
{note: kudos on the fine taste to get the Daveo double-hitter ;-0}
Dave Olson also had an outstanding session about making art instead of worrying about “fucking stats”. Looking forward to hanging more with these guys in Austin real soon.
If you missed it, plan to go next year and book early. Maybe next time they will have decent coffee, enough food for lunch and somewhere to hang your coat up. But these are minor quibbles. Excellent presentations today from Matt Mullenweg, Marc Canter, Dave Olson and Alex Waterhouse Hayward.
I was really looking forward to meeting a lot of bloggers whom I’d only read or heard about, as well as picking up a few tricks of the trade for myself.Hope to catch up with her at the Green Living show for happyfrog’s frogblog - IT’S ALL GREEN, IT’S ALL GOOD
Dave Olson’s podcast features a rousing rendition of the Canadian national anthem, his antics in Amsterdam and an impromptu longboard hockey game at the University of British Columbia’s Chan Centre.
{note: the Canadian anthem referenced is a humorously lackluster rendition from the Canadian Little League championship in Whalley, Surrey BC - fortunately i keep better versions in the feed too ;-))
I’m spoiled because new product demos are a dime a dozen in SF. I’m less interested in the technology available than I am in the way it is used. For this reason, my favorite presenter was a fellow I’d never heard of, Dave Olson.Dave Olson is a bit of hoser. He produces the Canucks Outsider Podcast, published a grade school punk zine featuring D.O.A and publishes Uncle Weed- a marijuana lifestyle blog and podcast. Olson’s lecture, entitled, “Fuck Stats, Make Art” was a welcome change from the widget wankery preached at most conferences. Olson entertained with embarrassing childhood anecdotes while still managing to deliver a great message.
He argues that somewhere in the process of monetizing and analyzing the web, content producers have sacrificed their need to create art and have fun. In essence, they’ve become meta-douches. It seems Dave Olson is putting the passion back into publishing and as long as this hoser keeps giving ‘er, I’m behind him 100%.
Dave Olson commanded a pre-lunch time slot with his rousing, bullet-point-free presentation entitled “F*ck Stats, Make Art” at Northern Voice 2008. “Art makes the future” Dave states. What we know about history is based on art, because someone chose to record it. Technology changes our focus on what art is. Oil paints were a technology revolution that allowed post-impressionist painting. The Internet has lowered the bar immensly for the distribution of art, but the most popular content seems to be the least meaningful, most simpleminded things like “some guy dancing around the world“.
Dave goes through a brief history of things he has created over the years: from a photocopied punk rock fanzine, through paintings, poetry, photography, writings, and now podcasting. He contrasts craft vs. art: you can take pride and enjoyment in your craft, your day job, but the meaningful personal expression comes through in art. Embracing translucency, instead of transparency, is his policy. No one cares to hear minor details of your life, and there should be things you don’t want to share, but you do want to put your whole self in the work. “Declare your story” and talk about what you create; “put the log back in blog”.
A slide with Google’s Larry Page and Sergey Brin pops up, and Dave goes into redefining success. Validation can be found from things other than stats, such as reader/listener mail and feedback. Success is for each person to define for themselves. Hold yourself to high standards and maintain your reputation. Hunter S. Thompson is referenced, in that he could write anything because he was very good at it. Rewards will come, possibly when you’re dead, but good art will have longevity. The presentation concluded with a standing ovation.
Whether they knew it or not, intended it or not, the following people challenged me to think a little harder about creativity and craft. People close to me wonder why I don’t identify as being creative. The following Northern Voice speakers have me wondering too.
Dave Olson challenged me to step it up a notch, and to consider another media form if I’m struggling at the one I think I’m good at (writing). Podcasting, maybe? I don’t like the sound of my own voice, so that strikes video out as well. Photography is the medium I sunk the most into already, so I will try to bring the SLR to more places, make the same mistakes everybody makes when they start out, and document the process better. I’d like to learn how to draw. And sing. Outside of the conference, he remarked that he likes to find a third place, away from work and away from home to be creative. This has me thinking of the ideal place to work somewhere (and on something) not domestic and not commercial, but somewhere in between.
(I know that my desire to learn how to sing directly conflicts with the angst about hearing my voice, so don’t bother pointing that out.)
My favorite presentation of the weekend wasn’t about blogging at all, but rather a homage to making art; a visually stunning and clever rant by my good friend Dave Olson entitled “F*ck Stats, Make Art.” A standing ovation followed his talk, and I think I was first on my feet.
##
Who’d I miss? Post a link to join the muster roll. Thanks again to all for the kind words - i look forward to seeing what you brew up! Keep an eye and i’ll post my notes or slides or something, sometime, maybe …
Here are some of your favorite DaveO NV08 photos from other Flickr members.
Without rambling on too much, Northern Voice is a community run conference which is cheap, educational and fun. It is also sold out. Too bad for you. Moose Camp - the first day (Friday) “un” conference has some slots to accommodate a few more eager learners.
I am posting my pitch here (and at the wiki F*ck Stats, Make Art Dossier ) so i don’t lose it and forget what i am proposed to speak about. I am batting third in the main hall with F*** Stats, Make Art after Matt Mullenweg and Marc Canter. Lots of other good stuff going on including the two other presentations parallel to mine.
–
Fuck Stats, Make Art
Dave Olson, NV 08
Why
Publishing almost anything and reaching a worldwide audience is suddenly ridiculously easy yet that doesn’t mean a vast stream of top-quality content flowing down the tubes. Often, the stuff that floats to the top is goofy, nonsensical or cheesy slices of contemporary pop culture - either contrived or wrangled their way to the top of the viral avenues.
Tis easy to get hung up how many people visit your site, view your video, comment on your pictures, add you as a friend etc., however these metrics mean very little in the long term.
How
By taking a rambling, pictorial journey through his own career of creating grassroots art, Vancouver’s renegade social media maker Dave Olson will extoll, encourage and explain the importance of digging deep to muster creative self expression which will stand the test of time.
Besides spieling on the importance of creating meaningful content, and reasons for concentrating energy on action rather than talking, Dave will share insider tips on outreaching to mainstream media and using promotional skills to amplify your personal message.
We’ll explore questions and topics like “why bother?” “what constitutes success?” “how to express yourself?” “exploring mediums” and “making technology your b!tch” - though a veteran computer user, Dave will seek to tame the intimidation and paradox of endless opportunities which often thwart rather than encourage creativity.
Known for an intensely casual, fast-paced style (laced with humorous anecdotes), Dave is an experienced teacher who ran web design classes, and guest lectured to classes at Vancouver Film School and presented to Rotary Clubs, Chambers of Commerce, loggers and rock bands.
Background
Since publishing a ditto-machined community newspaper in 3rd grade, Dave’s made punk rock fanzines on hijacked xeroxes, poetry chapbooks printed on hemp paper in Guam, homegrown business docs and tv appearances in Japan, filmed and distributed a feature-length documentary travel film, created dozens of voluminous websites, series of semi-ledendary podcasts on topics from hockey to literature, started activist ISPs in Olympia, and published expository essays in major magazines on political conundrums and public policy issues. He also worked at Kinko’s for three months just to use the colour copier surreptitiously afterhours.
Bonus
From a young age, he’s parlayed his artistic and business endeavors into a litany of media appearances from radio in Guam to newspapers in Vancouver to a feature in High Times magazine who said,
“Though his hair is kind of wild these days and a thick beard covers most of his face, you can’t pigeonhole Dave as a hippie. He’s kind of a Renaissance guy who can speak at length on anything from ecology to music to pro hockey.” Chris Simunek, High Times 03/2002
http://hightimes.com/ht/news/content.php?bid=99&aid=3
A graduate of Evergreen State College where he studied philosophy, international business, public policy and writing, Dave also attended Univ. of Utah, Univ. of Guam, has worked as a mushroom farmer (Japan), grape picker (Germany), private beach club host (Guam), toured with the Grateful Dead, wrote the Law School Admission Test, made photo journals from SLC Winter Olympics and enjoys oil painting and making static montage paper art to fill up his cluttered studio.
Credentials
Dave presented (a pinch hitting) well-received presentation about podcasting at NV 2007 and (another pinch hitting performance) on a panel “Blogging your Passion” at Moosecamp 2006.
Also active participant in Barcamps, Drupalcamps, Transitcamps and enjoys camping in a tent best of all.
I’ll be attending this Robbie Burns Dinner and am noting it here so i remember to rent my kilt.
Date: Saturday, February 9, 2008
Location: The Scottish Cultural Centre
Address: 8886 Hudson Street, Vancouver, B.C.
Time:: Cocktails at 6 p.m. and dinner served at 7 p.m.
Cost: $45 per person including dinner, entertainment and door prizes
This particular feast to the great Scottish bard (and noted ne’er do well and carouser) Robert Burns is put on by the Maple Ridge Pipe Band who are apparently the cream of the scene so i look forward to some excellent piping and drumming.
Bonus:
Robert Burns on Remembrance Day - Postcard #17 - With a head full of cold medicine, Dave reads a haibun poem for Remembrance day and then enjoys John Cairney reading from Robert Burns’ exploits and indiscretions in Edinburgh in a mighty brogue.
To a Mouse Cosmo reads Robert Burns’ classic poem “To a Mouse” in honor of the 248th anniversary of the Poet’s Birthday.
Wandering around enjoying community entertainment along Commercial Drive during the Parade of Lost Souls festival during the pagan Halloween in Vancouver, BC, Oct. 2007. Features drums, fireworks, mariachis and conversation snippets.
Along with SillyGwallio, Uncle Weed watches the giant new BC Ferry choogle into the cruise ship dock on Canada Place. Along the way, passing the Mars Martian flying boat (with the ability to load up water to carry and dump elsewhere) while the Seabus goes about its business passing the heliport and the West Coast Express waits patiently in Gastown railyards.
Each year, folks plunge into the frigid salty brine at English Bay, some lingering for seconds while others hunker down in a quest to outlast eveyone. Follow along as Dave walks towards the spectacle and meanders through the crowd and observes a nut-shrinking showdown between a drunken Romanian viking with a horn and a couple of other goofballs.
Kicking off Earth Day 2008, a group of eco-minded social media makers produced over 50 pieces of social media at the EPIC Sustainable Living Expo in Vancouver, BC April 18-20. The multi-media coverage including audio podcasts, video clips, blog articles, and a vast collection of photos. In all, the crowd-sourced campaign featured over 70 eco-conscious businesses and sustainability-minded organizations, plus numerous noteworthy presenters and even a “green” episode of CBC’s the Dragon’s Den.
–
Date: Saturday, February 9, 2008
