sigh.

off the bed, refresh, chewing on some organic energy cliff candy becky left in my car (which i now carry in my purse, subsequently all the way to austin). so, scouring the streets, chewing on a ‘candy’ that would my make my dentist scowl, happy its a warm and balmy, happy to be in sandals… looking for yet another convention center.

found my new crowd, hopped into the mega building, found the non-line, line for ‘presenters.’ that’s me.

i’m here to lead a core conversation called ‘Citizen Journalism and the little NGO that could.’ http://my.sxsw.com/events/event/443

… and its a total honor. this crazy idea i had a few years ago landed me here. tho not really landed, because it’s a continuum. this past week was monumental. something snapped in me and all of the sudden (i know, i say this often, but this is different.. and i say that often cuz it is) a whole new realm opened up. all of the sudden i let go of what could happen if i do these next 5 things to what could happen, and i don’t know what 5 things it takes to get there.

but what if….

… and shazam. i had some conversations this week that catapulted my mind  and salaamgarage into that space. and the next 5 things to get to well, those 5 things seem totally insignificant now.

obscure, i know. but i think one reaches a point in their career, or life where you can either just do the next 5 things and check ‘em off, or imagine what if, and let the 5 -500 things appear eventually, because there was no way to have ever scribbled how to answer what if on the to-do list.

you see, this is the whole deal with our sxsw panel. forget the to-do list. really, sit down and be ok with ‘what if.’ because its that thinking that will expand this planet to a place we’ve never imagined possible.

does this make sense?

stay tuned, from sxsw in austin,
amanda

“Drocolate” of in-this-economy.com wanted to ask me (Amanda Koster) a few questions about SxSW.

Drocolate: Why should I attend your core conversation at SXSW?

A.Koster: Compare the velocity of media and society’s response of Huricane Katrina vs. the Haiti Earthquake. Also, listen to: http://salaamgarage.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/AmandaKoster_podcast_sxsw2010.mp3

Drocolate: What makes you the right person to be conducting this conversation?

A.Koster: I’m an outsider. I’m not from the tech arena. When I presented at Gnomedex in 2008, I did not have an iPhone or Twitter account. Facebook did not make much sense to me. I thought FB was innovative online dating. Since then I have been able to harness storytelling, social media and passion all for social change. If I can do that, anyone can.  The passion to tell a story is the jet fuel behind citizen journalism. And it has been passion, not assignments, that got me here right now. I’ve been working as a photojournalist, writer, author for about 15 years though it has been my personal projects, again not assignments, that propelled my career and life beyond where I ever thought it could go.

Citizen journalism is more powerful than I could have ever been imagined and it is growing. Because we believe in these things it makes Amanda Rose of Twestival and I the perfect people to lead this conversation.

Drocolate: What advice would you give to aspiring citizen journalists (other than attending your convo at SXSW, of course)?

A.Koster: Your personal stories and perspectives are more valuable than ever. Make GOOD content and get it out to a relevant audience. And, there’s more to it than that:

Have a plan. SalaamGarage builds relationships/projects/plans with NGOs far in advance. We do not advocate what I call ‘drive-by-shootings’  (just showing up, shooting photos, then jet).

Be authentic. We want intimacy. I think people are tired of the slick, heavily produced story. We see through it. With the wildfire of social media and intentionally constructed social communities, impersonal, glossy stories delivered by a generic, safe personality is rapidly loosing ground.

Be relevant. Not worth telling a story about t-shirts to a dog trainer. Even if it’s the most compelling t-shirt story ever. Be relevant and focused.
Know your audience. Tell them a story 1) you care about and 2)they want to hear.

Care. There are ‘hot’ stories to tell, but you outta care about it. I travel all over the world all the time with SalaamGarage and as an free-lance journalist. There are stories that resonate with me, and other that just don’t. The advantage of being a citizen journalist is that you get to choose your story, verses being assigned something that is not dear to you.

DO SOMETHING with it. Share. Everyone is sitting on a novel, but if a tree falls in the woods….. I’ll leave it at that.

I am very passionate about this and have a lot more (not big on advice) ideas around this topic, though, this is the topic of our conversation so come join the conversation.

Drocolate: Where is your dream location to take a citizen journalism project? Antarctica? Atlantis? Detroit? Where?’

A.Koster: The White House