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Posts Tagged ‘contest’

America Meet World contest: breaking down stereotypes through comedy

Posted in communication for development, communications, disruption, participation, smart aid, social media, tagged , , , , on November 24, 2013| 1 Comment »

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America Meet World – a contest to source the best comedy the world has to offer.

I met Trina Das Gupta when she headed up the GSMA’s mWomen program. We bonded at the personal level over a shared frustration with old-school aid and development approaches and an urge to change the way the US public understands the rest of the world.

Trina is always one step ahead of everyone, and she has the know-how and connections to make her visions happen. It’s no surprise then, that she’s moving full steam ahead with a cool new idea that aims to bring people together through comedy: America Meet World.

Rather than get preachy about race and stereotyping, America Meet World will take Americans around the world through laughter and entertainment. The premise is that there is more that makes us the same than that makes us different.

To curate content, Trina’s production company Single Palm Tree has launched a global video contest designed to find the best comedy the world has to offer. The contest’s winner (the video with the most votes) will win a sit-down meeting with executives from The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, and have a chance to ask for advice on building an entertainment career in the US.

Videos will also be reviewed by an all-star panel of judges, including Rebecca Paoletti, former head of video at Yahoo! North American and CEO of CakeWorks; Tim Rosta, senior VP of Integrated Marketing at E! Entertainment Networks; Baratunde Thurston, CEO and Co-Founder of Cultivated Wit and former digital director of The Onion; and John Vorhaus, best-selling author of The Comic Toolbox: How to be Funny Even if You’re Not.

Finalist videos will be featured on AmericaMeetWorld.com and across syndicated channels. The videos submitted, along with other content that Single Palm Tree produces and curates, will feed into a digital video portal that connects US audiences with global comedians. The portal will go live in 2014.

Categories include: stand-up, sketch, reality, satire. Video submissions must be from Africa, Asia, Latin America or the Middle East, and they must not exceed 3 minutes. They must be in English or have accurate English subtitles. See contest rules and tips on how to create a successful entry here.

All you comedians, now’s your chance!

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Contest: Innovations in connecting the unconnected

Posted in communication for development, development, ICT4D, ICTs, mobile and technology, social media, youth, youth media, tagged , , , , on April 8, 2013| 1 Comment »

CISCO is looking for stories about how people and organizations have used network services (mobile video and gaming, video conferencing, SMS, and social networking) to achieve different social or personal goals. The idea is to find stories not only about how technology developers are inventing things, but also about how different tools are enabling a range of things to happen and helping people to resolve challenges and achieve progress in their communities.

The application process is quite simple – just answer 5 questions through a form on the website to formulate the story. You can also download a form, fill it out, and then cut/paste into the form online if you are on slow internet. Contest and story submission information is here.

According to CISCO, by posting a story on how you’ve developed solutions, or used these services, you will be an inspiration to others and CISCO will help you promote your work through their social media channels thereby increasing your visibility. They hope that the stories help generate more conversation around the impact of Internet services.

They also hope the stories can help answer some questions around the benefits of increased connectivity. For example:

  • How will growth in Internet access impact global economies?
  • How can more communities and businesses take advantage of the significant growth in mobile services?
  • What new opportunities can be created for those least connected?
  • Why are there regional variations in adoption rates of certain networking services?

I know a lot of smaller local organizations – especially some great youth-led organizations – are doing some fantastic things, and a prize like this could help these organizations get to the next level. More information here.

The more academic folks out there may not want to submit stories, but you might be interested in the Virtual Network Indexing Forecast.

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