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LinkTV - Giving the world a voice
August 02, 2008 in News & Events | Comments (0)

Before you read any further, please know this.

On the left to right political spectrum I admit fully, wholly and down to the very marrow of my bones to an inclination leaning more to the left than not. But I'm a pragmatist above all. And given a compelling set of facts and convincing argument I'm more than willing to alter my view.

Disclaimer (of sorts) aside, I hope you'll read on...

Several months ago I had the pleasure of crossing paths with a fascinating and inspirational group of people. They call themselves "refugees from Broadcast television news."

To be honest, I don't recall if they gave themselves this descriptor or if I created it after our first meeting at their offices over near the old Barbary Coast. But now, having had the pleasure of working with them a bit, I have to say that it fits.

The organization is LinkTV. And the team there is comprised by seasoned veterans whose collective experience ranges from newsroom and programming to management and distribution ... and they add to the mix a deep passion for social media, social change and an understanding of technology.

With their network, this group brought together the best of all worlds. They truly approach news and story-telling from as global a perspective as possible. And more so than almost any media organization I've experienced (at least in TV), the LinkTV crew truly embraces what they clearly feel is a moral imperative ... Television without borders.

Imagine the joy it gives me to be able to say that not only do I respect their work, but that I have a chance to work with them!

In partnership with Seesmic, LinkTV seeks to expand the conversation about truly global issues ... literally. Using Seesmic's video conversation technology, LinkTV expanded its Dear American Voter project -- a campaign to engage the world in a truly international discourse about key issues here that have ripple effects around the globe.

The following conversation tackles a topic that makes me alternately angry and sick-to-my-stomach -- the impact that the faltering US economy has internationally.

These are strong voices - and they're voices you won't hear on every single newscast (sick of sound bites anyone?) ... And thanks to the Seesmic platform - you can actually engage and join the discussion.

If you're already using Seesmic, clicking "reply" will prompt you to login. If you don't have a Seesmic account, don't sweat it. The window will prompt you to create one - but it's only your name, email and a username ... you won't leave this site, and you won't get spammed.

I promise.

And if video commenting just isn't your thing, you can leave a text comment below too.

Either way, I hope you'll get involved!

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Transparency, Social Media and Where's Waldo
August 04, 2008 in It is what it is - opinion column | Comments (0)

I'm not precisely sure at what point it happened, but it would seem that at some juncture I opted to live my life as somewhat of a group activity.

I don't know that it was particularly planned, orchestrated or otherwise arranged, but with very little exception I share pretty much everything.

Okay so that's not entirely true ... there are some subjects I've chosen to avoid altogether. There are others I raise only when utterly integral to a given story. But as a rule, the day-to-day, moment-to-moment experience that is my ever-so-mercurial ride through the world of start-ups, Silicon Valley and ... well ... life ... has become an open book.

Friends who've known me a while probably would just say that technology finally caught up to the way that I just ... am. Which, put in perspective, is that it's a pretty rare occasion when you can't tell what I'm feeling at a given moment.

If I'm happy - it's clear.

If I'm sad - it's clear.

And if I'm angry ... well, let's just say most folks don't particularly like me in the state. Frankly neither do I.

But that's not the point of this post.

I realized that unlike some of my blogosphere brethren, I don't have a sidebar on this blog that enumerates the various and sundry ways by which you can find me.

Quel horror.

And so, with a brief interlude at the keyboard, I rectify this trespass with the following selection of social media flavors. (It's not as though finding me on-line is particularly hard. Hell, just Google me and you'll see at least a few pages of accurate connections. Strangely if you remove the space between my names you get some other very interesting items. Like this video I've only just found ... )

But for those not inclined to hunt - and frankly so I have it all in one place - I've created this directory of sorts.

Twitter: cathybrooks
FriendFeed: cathybrooks
Seesmic: cathybrooks
LinkedIn: cathybrooks
Identi.ca: cathybrooks
Yelp: cathybrooks
Flickr: cathybrooks
YouTube: sfloislane
Plurk: cathybrooks
Upcoming: cathybrooks

Whether it's one or more of these, I hope you'll connect, communicate with me and - above all - tell me what you think.