Julianna Yau’s blog

Last week, I attended the first Ignite Waterloo event, and was completely blown away. It was my first time attending any Ignite event, and I’m amazed by how well the format works — 5 minutes and 20 slides per presentation, and no notes! The most invigorating part of it was the sheer variety of presentations. Although I wasn’t interested in all of the presentations (maybe 2 or 3?), I was exposed to much more than I would have at any other event.

It was extremely refreshing to be in a wholly different group than the usual suspects. Because of the variety of topics, it wasn’t just people from the local geek community. I met Angela Pause, a freelance writer, and her friend (whose name escapes me, but I believe starts with an M), who used to be a scenic painter. I met Saravana Rajan, who works in the health industry and is doing some really cool consulting work to improve long-term care & monitoring of chronic diseases.

But, more importantly, I was overwhelmingly proved wrong in my earlier feeling that Waterloo lacks the coolness that I had formerly found in Toronto. It seems the vibe and richness has always been here, but took Ignite Waterloo to really bring to the surface and hit me over the head. It’s been a long time since I’ve been to an event anywhere with the electricity and excitement I felt at Ignite Waterloo. I can hardly wait for the next one!

I used to be a big supporter of Telus. Great customer service, competitive plans, and…well, I really didn’t need anything else!

But that is quickly changing.

I recommended Telus to my business partner, and she has had nothing but problems with them. Billing problems, delayed delivery of voicemail notification, delayed delivery of text messages, and god knows what else. This is a huge problem for us, as we can’t conduct business efficiently if she can’t get her messages promptly (some of them were delayed by almost 48hrs).

Their customer service has degraded quite a bit. Not that I ever had to call them much, but service was always with a smile. The staff at their stores used to be more knowledgeable and better mannered. I used to be able to understand the person on the other end of the phone. None of that is true anymore.

Their new “Clear Choice” plans are what really did it for me, though. I was excited when Telus announced they were getting rid of the system access fee, and expected the new plans to be 2 or 3 dollars off either way. Instead, I found that the closest approximation to my current plan is a whopping $17 more per month. That’s $204 more a year! Of course, I realize that I can keep my current plan, but the prospects of changing my plan are more than a little distasteful. The next plan up from what I have now will cost me $34 more per month — or $646 over the course of the remainder of my 19 month contract.

What’s worse is the equivalent to my plan on Bell is actually 81 cents cheaper per month, and Rogers’ is only 32 cents more per month. An upgrade of my current package to Bell? $16 more per month — that’s a dollar less than what my current package would cost with a “Clear Choice” plan.

So the real clear choice seems to be leaving Telus whenever I can get a sweet deal and a new phone from Bell, Rogers, or one of the new telcos opening up shop next year!

Math overview:

(all plans except Clear Choice include System Access Fee, 911 Fee and Taxes; prices are current as of November 26, 2009 and are monthly)

My friend at Open Studio sent me the article What can we learn from the “netbook” from The Artful Manager. The article was a good reminder for me that not everyone in the cultural community is as immersed in technology as I and many of my new friends from Twitter. Based on the interest in the Technology in the Arts conferences, I would agree with Andrew Taylor that integrating the use of netbooks into a cultural manager’s daily routines could take some work. But there is certainly no shortage of people already using them.

Photographer Sean Puckett picked up an HP tablet a while ago (which I, naturally, ogled) for use as a super digital-photoframe. If I didn’t already have my EeePC, I probably would have gotten one too. Not merely is it a fully functional computer (albeit too lightweight for gaming or for intense audio-visual work), but it’s an absolutely charming option for a portable portfolio. Less clunky than hauling around photos; more practical than having everything on a flash drive and hoping to have access to a computer; more instant than giving someone a card with your website on it.

Amrita, owner of Tinku Gallery, recently acquired an iPhone so she could easily show her artists’ work to others when she’s away from the gallery. Because of the size of the screen, the iPhone was a much better option for her than a BlackBerry. A netbook, on the other hand, was more than she needed, as she already had a full-sized computer.

I’m almost always equipped with a travelling office, with either my EeePC or full-sized laptop, my BlackBerry, occassionally a digital camera (if I know I’ll need it) and more flash drives and SD cards than I can fill. Unlike Sean and Amrita, my gadetry is mainly for administrative work. Although I have photos of all of my work on all of my devices, my BlackBerry keeps me in contact with people from the arts admin work I do, and my EeePC is used to its intended purpose—a connection to the internet (and a glorified note-taking system). For someone who is currently loving connection, being able to access all of my contacts (and not just their contact information) and any information available online makes my life a lot easier.

The question, still, is how to keep up with it all.

Last May, I ordered some stuff from Kuroten for a friend’s birthday in July. After a relatively smooth transaction with them last January, I assumed this would give me more than sufficient time to receive everything in time for my friend’s birthday. After almost monthly follow-ups, I finally received it. Today. (Okay, Canada Post left me a parcel pickup slip on Thursday, but I wasn’t able to go to the post office until today).

It’s been a very frustrating transaction, and I’m not quite sure whether I’d do business with them again. I certainly won’t if I need anything quickly, but I’m not sure they sell anything I could afford to wait on for 8 months. They did send me a “token of apology” for the delay in shipping:

It’s very cute (and, thankfully, not pink), and I’m trying to focus on the fact that they did eventually send me the order and a nice little gift, rather than the fact that I don’t really need more flash memory:

It’s probably nothing much compared to what other people have, but I really only make active use of two of those, plus the SD card in my camera.

So, what do you think? Do they get a second chance? They do source some very cool stuff.

A few days ago, a friend pointed me to Social Innovation Generation (SiG) and its first event, Studio|Earth. I, of course, signed up for the event and somewhat precariously selected the Social Technology/#waterskool workshop. I was a bit concerned it would be tedious for someone who is already engaged in social media, but Joseph Dee, Sam Ladner, Lisa Torjman, Billie Mintz and Susanna Kislenko did a fantastic job with making the workshop closer to a Barcamp and having the participants actually work on a problem.

They talked about needing to think about an actionable step following the use of social technology, not just a click-to-join or click-to-donate model. I was very happy to hear that I was not the only person struggling to bridge click-activism with “real”/offline activism. This is something which has bothered me since the explosion of consumer advocates using e-petitions during the release of the last copyright bills.

What’s difficult is actually working on the issue, rather than preachers of the anti—social-technology and pro—social-technology groups yelling at each other.

In telling people about #hohoto, many were blown away by how the organizers were able to raise $25,000 for Food Banks Toronto in two weeks. A few (and one in particular) lashed out at me about how exclusive and un-social the event was because only people on Twitter knew about it. I’ve learnt that, in these situations, I should just let these people rant because they are mostly angry and not interested in an open dialogue.

This opinion of social technology being exclusive and un-social was again mentioned at the Social Technology/#waterskool session at Studio|Earth (and kudos to Lisa handling the criticism so well!). Here, coupled with the #hohoto complaint, it felt like people are angry and feeling left out and left behind because they choose not to participate in social technology. Its frustrating to me that they are simply disengaging, rather than changing how social technology relates to those who don’t have access to it or choose not to access it.

The (in)accessibility of social technology isn’t something noticed only by people who don’t use it. Amrita Chandra reflected on this on Twitter exactly a week ago today, which triggered an interesting conversation between her and Duarte Da Silva

The presenters at the Social Technology/#waterskool workshop recast this as a goal to use awareness to change behaviour, and to use social technology to enrichen, not replace, current methods of advocacy and action. Through the work of the breakout sessions, we found that some of the things we need to work on now are:

• connecting the different people who are involved with the same issue (e.g. the water crisis)
• reducing the noise and focusing the activity; avoiding multiple, simultaneous, converging stresses
• getting the attention of the natural leaders, online and offline

From managing Artifice and generally taking on way too much, I have a good idea of some of the major arts/tech/culture events coming up in the first half of 2009. Here are my choice picks (I am, of course, involved in most of these somehow):

Third Thursdays at Globe Studios
This is a new initiative of Globe Studios, where the building and many studios will be open to the public for demonstrations and other interactive activities. We will be bringing in some guests to fill the space too. Please take a look at the website if you want to participate.

Cinematheque Waterloo’s screening of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Jan 18 and 20
One of the best films I’ve ever seen (and I’ve seen a ton of films). I still have two free tickets to give away.

KW CultureCamp, Feb 7
Culture + BarCamps for Kitchener-Waterloo

Technology In The Arts Conference + Canada 3.0 Conference, May 10-12
This is in Stratford, and will be a wonderful mix of art and technology.

spOtlight 2009, June 5-7
The spOtlight festival will be returning to the Waterloo Region in 2009. Here is some information about how to participate.

One of my contacts pointed me to Getting To First Base, which is an introductory book to online marketing via social networking. It has a less evangelical feel than The Cluetrain Manifesto where rethinking business is concerned, and provides a good overview of the social sphere and guidelines for how to start wading in that pool. It’s also an extremely easy read—I was able to get through it in less than an hour, despite Acrobat Reader’s refusal to scroll through the pages smoothly.

Just before hitting the half-way mark in the book, I started to really wonder how many companies are well-managed enough to know how to properly use the advice given. With all sizes of companies and not-for-profits, there seems to me that the separation between those who know how to engage and those who don’t is vast. It doesn’t feel like the basic concepts of brand management and public relations has really changed. What has changed isn’t even who is talking about you, but how much more the “public” and “consumers” are able to be heard by each other.

Perhaps most people haven’t realized it, or maybe they just don’t want to talk about it, but the strength of the consumers’ voice means that PR can no longer be a simple whitewashing of a company. Although mistakes happen and the public can be forgiving, a company now really needs to be well-managed, self-aware, honest and transparent to not become a company people love to hate.

The problem? The perception is that many companies were not built on principles of good management, self-awareness, honesty and transparency. In most cases, that’s true. And changing the culture of a company is extremely difficult, and increasingly so with the age of the company. Smaller companies fall victim to being managed by people who may not necessarily have an innate skillset for things in and around the world of marketing.

More than ever, it really does matter whether you’re providing quality products and quality customer service. People feel empowered by being able to speak honestly about a product or service, and they like it. If your printer sucks, word will get around. Boasting about its great features won’t do much, because people know your job is to make your printer look good. But offering to fix the problem, or engaging the consumer on possible improvements, works. The problem again is that most companies don’t have an organizational structure or mandate which allows this to happen.

The section Should You Build Your Own Social Network? cover what I think is the biggest symptom of a company’s disconnect with what to do with social networking. In an attempt to maintain some sort of control and not wanting to play with others, some companies try to start their own social network. And waste a ton of time and money.

Overall, the book provides good advice to its target audience, but I’m still skeptical about whether it can be used by its target audience.

And I’m glad they follow their own advice. The Friends reference had me sold.

Updated: Added embedded video of live show (clip).

The next stop was the Steroscope display by Project Blinkenlights, which was my raison d’être for Nuit Blanche. We took the subway to Osgoode, and I could feel my heart start to flutter when we caught glimpses of it through the trees as we approached. We went up to the overpass to get a good view, and it was every bit as phenomenal as I had hoped. We arrived just in time to catch a bit  of the live performance involving a dj playing music to what was happening on City Hall.

I was so excited that I was actually having difficulty breathing, and was completely awestruck by what I was seeing. I don’t think there’s any way to describe what it felt like, watching all of  the windows in City Hall act as a single unit to display pixelated images. It was particularly amazing because I knew it took them two weeks of working at night to install the drop sheets over the windows and place lamps, each connected to a wireless dimmer switch, behind the drop sheets. For a geek like me, knowing that the central computer system allows me to play arcade games by calling into a phone number, and that I was able to upload animations to the computer, was all the more thrilling. I feel breathless just thinking about the experience—the exhilaration can only be parallelled by the time I went parachuting (not tandem).

After meeting up with Justin, I managed to talk to one of the Blinkenlights guys, who was very friendly. I must admit I was completely starstruck, and Adriana did much of the talking for me. The Blinkenlights guy mentioned that the display would be up for two weeks until October 12th, and that pretty much pushed my excitement over the edge, knowing not merely that I had the chance to return to see it some more but, more importantly, that it would be there through to the election. We (and by “we”, I mean Adriana) told him about the election and what our Prime Minister was doing with arts funding, and he told us “Fuck the Prime Minister”. We giggled like schoolgirls and Adriana told him how important it was that their display would be at City Hall leading up to the election, and he said “Good! We like to sit on people’s faces!”.

While wandering around Nathan Phillips Square, I heard nothing but statements of absolute awe and excitement from the people at the event, with people calling friends to tell them how amazing the display was and how much they would enjoy it if they were present.

It took me a while to connect to the games (partially because the live show had the phone lines closed, partially because of the demand for the games after the live show was over).  For a while, I was being persuaded by my friends that it wasn’t interactive, but I knew that it was because I was familiar with the project even before I knew they were participating in Nuit Blanche. After much persistence, I was able to dial in to play Space Invaders, and scored a puny 17 points before the dreaded GAME OVER screen loomed over me.

After wandering a bit more in Nathan Phillips Square, midnight rolled around and we proudly held up our ART signs for 4 minutes and 33 seconds in homage to John Cage’s 4 minutes an 33 seconds of silence and in support of art & culture in Canada. I was shocked that we were the only people there participating in the protest, but also felt empowered because we were getting much attention. Some people were very obviously humoring us, but I received several nods of comradery from people passing by.

Some exciting (for me, anyway) not-directly-related-to-art-but-still-kind-of-related opportunities arrived in my email today:

Social Technologies Summit: Call For Submissions — Deadline 5pm, 13 October 2008
13-16 May 2009
Manchester UK

Futuresonic’s acclaimed international conference, the Social Technologies Summit brings 500 opinion formers, futurologists, artists, researchers, technologists and scientists from the digital culture, technology and art communities together around shared issues to do with social media, society, art and the city.

Digital culture burns bright with social connectivity

Inviting proposals for talks, presentations, workshops and session themes. Submissions of innovative formats for social interaction and experimentation are encouraged.

Call For Submissions — Deadline 5pm, 13 October 2008

Download an application form / guidelines here:
downloads.futuresonic.com/social2009.zip

For further information contact
Lisa Roberts
Social Technologies Summit Programme Manager
FutureEverything
+44 161 237 9000
social09@futuresonic.com

See also — A GBP 5000 commission plus many other opportunities are available in the Futuresonic 2008 Art & EVNTS calls for submissions.
www.futuresonic.com/getinvolved

Stanford Law School Announces Center for Internet and Society and Stanford Constitutional Law Center Joint Fellowship

The Stanford Law School Center for Internet and Society (CIS) and The Stanford Constitutional Law Center (CLC) announce a new joint fellowship for the study of the intersection of copyright and constitutional law. We are looking for an inaugural fellow to work with faculty and staff from both Centers on range of research and litigation projects addressing the relationship between the Constitution’s Copyright Clause, the First Amendment and the Fair Use
Doctrine.

The primary responsibility for the fellow will be to work on current CIS Fair Use Project litigation. In addition, the Fellow will also be an active part of the CIS and CLC communities, attending lectures and symposia, assisting with Center activities and working with students on related projects. The Fellowship will provide significant opportunity for the pursuit of individual research and scholarship in preparation to enter the academic teaching market. The fellowship position is offered for one year with the opportunity for renewal.

Applicant Requirements:

2-5 years of post-law school civil litigation experience with substantial experience in constitutional law (preferred) and
intellectual property (required) matters;
Excellent writing and analytic skills;
Demonstrated ability to direct litigation of impact cases; and
Demonstrated ability to work in a self-directed and entrepreneurial environment.

The position is for 12 months, with the possibility of renewal for a second twelve months. The start date is September 2008, although this may be flexible depending on the right candidates availability. Salary will be approximately $40,000 per year, with benefits.

Preferred submission deadline is September 8, 2008, however applications will be accepted until the position is filled.

Applicants MUST apply online via the Stanford Jobs website at
http://jobs.stanford.edu/find_a_job.html
Search “Job number 31382″

Applications may also be submitted by email to the following address:
Gelman@stanford.edu.

For more information about the CIS and the FUP, please visit
http://www.cyberlaw.stanford.edu.

For more information about the Stanford Constitutional Law Center, please visit our website at
http://www.law.stanford.edu/program/centers/conlaw/

Not exactly what I was hoping for, but it was to be expected. Now to work on a letter regarding the budget cuts and the copyright bill. So much for keeping away from the politics of it all.

Dear Ms. Yau:

The Honourable Andrew Telegdi, your Member of Parliament, forwarded to me a copy of your e-mail of April 2, 2008, regarding net neutrality and your concern that Bell Canada is engaged in anti-competitive behaviour by controlling or “shaping” the traffic of independent Internet service providers (ISPs) that provide service through wholesale access to Bell’s digital subscriber line (DSL) network.

As Minister of Industry, I am responsible for the Telecommunications Act, which sets out the objectives of Canadian telecommunications policy. The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), an independent public authority, is charged with implementing these objectives in its role as regulator of the telecommunications industry.

Canadian consumers can choose their ISP in a competitive marketplace, where prices are not regulated. Indeed, the competition between telephone and cable networks, as well as satellite, wireless and other players, has ensured that Canadians have a variety of choices, in terms of both price and quality, when selecting an ISP. Provisions in the Telecommunications Act and Competition Act ensure that the competitive marketplace operates effectively.

Under section 27 of the Telecommunications Act, the CRTC has the authority to address issues of unjust discrimination or undue preference in order to ensure that the marketplace operates fairly and effectively. If consumers feel that carriers are engaging in unjust discrimination or undue preference, complaints can be brought to the CRTC, where they are subject to a formal process. The recently created Commissioner for Complaints for Telecommunications Services (www.ccts-cprst.ca) has also strengthened consumer protection with regard to telecommunications, and was established precisely to address consumer complaints on deregulated telecommunications services, such as Internet access.

In addition to the measures available under the Telecommunications Act, the Competition Act carries the power to address anti-competitive behaviour by ISPs, including cases of abuse of dominance and misleading advertising. The Competition Bureau ensures that prices in all sectors of the economy, except those that are regulated, are set by market forces and are not the result of anti-competitive behaviour. Under the abuse of dominance provisions in the Competition Act, it is illegal for a dominant firm to engage in the practice of anti-competitive acts resulting in a substantial lessening of competition, including disciplining or targeting competitors in order to raise prices or reduce customer choice.

As you may know, the Canadian Association of Internet Providers (CAIP) has filed a complaint with the CRTC regarding Bell’s traffic management practices. While I cannot comment on specific matters before the CRTC, please note that the Commission regulates wholesale access by independent ISPs to high-speed Internet access services from both telephone and cable companies. Under the CRTC’s regulatory framework for wholesale services, Bell is required to provide access to its DSL network to independent ISPs at regulated rates and terms of service. If the CRTC finds Bell or any other network operator to be in violation of these terms or otherwise engaging in unjust discrimination or undue preference, the CRTC has the power to address these issues under the Telecommunications Act.

Access to the Internet is a key issue for Canadians. Industry Canada is monitoring domestic and international developments to ensure that our legislative and regulatory frameworks remain effective. Should you believe carriers are engaging in unjust discrimination and undue preference, I encourage you to contact the CRTC at 1-877-249-2782 or by e-mail at info@crtc.gc.ca. Please note that, on May 15, 2008, the CRTC set out a process to address the issues raised in CAIP’s above-noted application. Further details regarding this application and the CRTC’s recently announced process to look into the matter can be found on its website at www.crtc.gc.ca.

Once again, thank you for taking the time to write, and I trust that you will find this information helpful.

Sincerely,

The Honourable Jim Prentice, P.C., Q.C., M.P.