DOCUMENTARY ACTIVISM: HOW TO LAUNCH A SOCIAL JUSTICE FILM FESTIVAL AND OUTREACH PROGRAM
IAFOR IICEHAWAII 2019 CONFERENCE WORKSHOP
FACILITATOR: GREG CHAN, KDOCS
JANUARY 5, 2019
As educators, how can we cultivate sites for speaking truth to power that extend beyond our classrooms? Focusing on KDocs Documentary Film Festival and its Outreach Program based at Kwantlen Polytechnic University in Vancouver, Canada, this workshop will explore possibilities for establishing a film festival (or special screenings) plus community outreach activities (town halls, doc-making workshops). We will consider best practices and lesson learned from KDocs, which began in 2012 as a special screening of Siebel Newsom's "Miss Representation," an event that featured Margaret Atwood as its keynote speaker, and has since grown to a 4-day film festival in 2018 that welcomed over 1,500 guests, 15 keynote speakers, and 37 panelists.The workshop will allow us to- Identify social justice issues most relevant to our students, colleagues, and institution;- Craft a mandate and mission statement for a starter film festival;- Determine recruitment strategies for keynote speakers and panelists;- Explore partnership opportunities across the disciplines/in the community; and- Map out an initial plan for funding and sustainability.As Paulo Freire says,"I engage in dialogue because I recognize the social and not merely the individualistic character of the process of knowing. In this sense, dialogue presents itself as an indispensable component of the process of both learning and knowing." Join us to discover how documentary activism can be the catalyst for Freire's dialogue -- dialogue that has the power to engage us in critical thinking and understanding about ourselves, our communities, and our world.
Social Media Profiles: Best Practices for Mastering Your Digital Footprint
BCTLC Festival of Learning 2016 Workshop
Facilitator: Greg Chan, KPU
June 8, 2016
Morning Session: Web Visibility Matters (3 hours)
While some have embraced social media as an extension of their professional practice, others remain unsure about how it can or should play a role. Welcome to your primer for web visibility: a two-part interactive demonstration that will create meaningful connections between your teaching, research, and service activities and your “followers.” Engaging with these like-minded individuals who exist beyond your office, department, classroom or institution has the potential to expand your reach as a professional. The process of discoverability will demystify several popular social media sites for the post-secondary professional and acquaint you with their basic set-up and functionality. You will learn how to take a controlling interest in your web real estate, which will prevent random sites and aggregators from constructing your professional identity for you. Please bring a laptop with your social media accounts bookmarked (if applicable). Note that you will be live-tweeting with the #socialmediaBCTLC hashtag throughout the morning, which can be a stand-alone session or the prerequisite for the afternoon session.
By the end of Part I of the workshop, you will have accomplished the following:
Identified the social media options best suited to your work (Twitter, Linkedin, Facebook, ResearchGate, ORCID, Google Scholar, Academia.edu);
Separated your professional profile(s) from your personal one(s) or unified them with a clear intention;
Populated professional profiles on a targeted selection of social media sites, linked them together as a block, and acquired a following; and
Created a customized strategy for SEO (Search Engine Optimization).
Participants live-tweeting from the session
Afternoon Session: Web Authorship Incubator (3 hours)
Now that you have learned the fundamentals of web visibility and SEO, it is time to master your digital footprint by piloting a landing page: a website dedicated to your professional practice. All of the social media profiles you populated in the morning session will be linked to this “mothership,” if you will. You will be introduced to several platforms for your site, from which you will choose one to host your definitive web profile. Working in clusters, you will design a homepage, create your shell site’s pages, and familiarize yourself with set-up basics; you will also have one-on-one time with the facilitator in this web authorship incubator. A laptop is required for this session, as web construction activities will be the focus of the afternoon.
By the end of Part II of the workshop, you will have secured the following:
The early development of a landing site (via Wordpress, Weebly, A Small Orange or Squarespace) as the capstone to your social media profiles;
A dedicated domain name where followers can visit you; and
An advanced level of SEO.
Background Readings:
Fitzpatrick, "Establish and Maintain Your Online Identity"
Lupton, "Academics' Use of Social Media"
ProfHacker, "Creating Your Web Presence: A Primer for Academics"
Social Media Profiles:
Strategies for Controlling Your Digital Footprint
Dates: February 22, 23 & 24, 2016
RSVP: arts@kpu.ca
We have all done it before: Googling our name to see what the search engine returns.
What if the result is someone who shares your name but is a professional wrestler from Tampa Bay or a podiatrist from Edmonton? Or what if the search returns a site you don’t necessarily want to be defined by – think ratemyprofessors.com or landoffree.com? What if the real you doesn’t appear in the search results until page six? The only thing worse than mistaken identity is web invisibility, as this allows other sites and aggregators to construct your professional identity for you. You should know that most web surfers don’t look beyond the first two pages in a search query, so where you rank in that listing is critical.
Instead of leaving your web presence to chance, you have the power to coordinate your online persona, redirect traffic (possibly to a landing site/personal web page), and achieve SEO (Search Engine Optimization) by installing yourself on page one or two of those search results. Discoverability can play a pivotal role in your research, citations, networks, and reach as a professional, provided you are SEO-savvy.
This hands-on workshop will guide you through the process of taking control of your digital footprint, which may include strategies for the following:
Identifying the social media options best suited to your work (Twitter, Linkedin, Facebook, ResearchGate, ORCID, Google Scholar, Academia.edu);
Separating your professional profile(s) from your personal one(s) or connecting them with a clear intention;
Building profiles on a targeted selection of these social media sites and linking them together as a unified block;
Using your social media presence to draw attention to your profile(s) through targeted posts, tweets, and blogging; and
Creating a landing site (via Wordpress, Weebly, A Small Orange or Squarespace) to unify all of your social media profiles.
Day One will take participants through the basics of social media profiles, while Days Two and Three will be set aside to populate these profiles and possibly launch a landing site. You are welcome to sign up for one or all three days, depending on your needs. This workshop is open to all faculty, staff, and administrators ready to take full control of their digital footprints.
Readings:
Fitzpatrick, "Establish and Maintain Your Online Identity"
Lupton, "Academics' Use of Social Media"
ProfHacker, "Creating Your Web Presence: A Primer for Academics"
