Houston, Texas — October 17, 2008 — The Houston Cinema Arts Society (HCAS), announced its festival preview of cinematic programs on November 20-23, 2008, featuring internationally renowned media artist Lynn Hershman Leeson and rising digital media artist and filmmaker Alex Rivera. Curator Richard Herskowitz has deliberately programmed this Cinema and Media Arts Festival to serve as a framework for the full week-long festival that will launch in November 2009. Central to each year’s festival will be tributes to influential media artists whose work will be explored in depth, and who will engage in on-stage conversations with leading artists and critics about their careers. Surrounding these centerpiece programs will be an array of live events integrating cinema, music, and performance, outdoor projections, interactive installations in galleries, and Internet-designed and generated movies, as well as theatrical presentations of international films and videos. According to Herskowitz,…
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Melissa Fitzgerald Houston Downtown Alliance 713-658-8938 melissa@downtownhouston.org STEWART CADILLAC LUNCH SPEAKER SERIES Presented by Stewart Cadillac, the Houston Business Journal, Continental Airlines, Crescent and the Houston Downtown Alliance WHAT: The Stewart Cadillac Lunch Speaker Series is an opportunity for downtown workers and residents to bring their lunch and hear the perspectives of individuals behind organizations that are making things happen in the City of Houston. The long awaited opening of the Houston Pavilions is fast approaching. Bill Denton, Co-General Partner Houston Pavilions LP, will speak about all the Pavilions will have to offer downtown from restaurants to entertainment. WHY: Downtown workers, residents and those with a passion for promoting a vital and vibrant downtown Houston can socialize, share ideas, and find out what is happening in and around downtown. …
Social Networking Projects
- WHTUP – West Houston Tweetup group – for fun social gatherings centered on the west side of Houston, Texas, coordinated via Twitter.com and Facebook.com. Follow us on Twitter, add us on Facebook!
- TwEATup - ad hoc breakfast, lunch or dinner meetups, coordinated via Twitter.com
Organization: The Greater Houston New Media Alliance shall be organized as a non-profit subsidiary of the Laban Johnson Group, LLC , a community-driven cooperative still being formed. This will allow the us to leverage the resources of the larger organization under a mutually beneficial terms.
- Organization
- Complete bylaws
- complete logo design, integration
- complete state registration
- Systems / Process
- Member registration form into CMS
- Project Mgmt / Collaboration Portal
- Marketing Systems
- Services:
- Anti spam policy
- Anti disinformation policy
- Resources Links (ongoing)
- to maintain a map the sociopolitical network of the greater Houston community and systematically connect unconnected branches.
* subject to change
How Important Is Social Media in Houston?
by Laban Johnson
In September of 2008 In the wake of Hurricane Ike Houstonians witnessed the importance of togetherness, the value of rapid sharing of information, resources and support in our neighborhoods, at the work place and social circles. It is this spirit of togetherness that the Greater Houston New Media Alliance was formed.
Just one month prior to Hurricane Ike’s landfall, the Houston Chronicle published an article on August 7, 2008 entitled “Harris County’s population nears 4 million“. Writer James Pinkerton reported on US Census data which showed that Houston, as “one of the most diverse regions of the nation”, is very large and sprawling with “no sign of stagnation”.
While it is easy to see that this places a growing demand on city government to provide infrastructure to meet growth, the lesser reported story is the increasing challenge for individual members of the community to keep up with what is happening within their own community, and the isolation a single individual can feel amidst a population of over 4 million due to gaps in communication which are created by the sprawl.
Many small local networks exists in the forms of church groups and civic organizations, but few have placed communications with outside groups very high in their list of priorities, leaving communications blackouts, or gaps, to be filled, which continue to increase as the city sprawls.
It will take a “network of networks”, focused on interactive communication via the most effective means available to bridge the gaps created by the region’s rapid growth, to embrace the growth and embrace our city’s diversity, and improve the quality of life for Houstonians. The Greater Houston New Media Alliance exists with the purpose of filling in the gaps using social media primarily.
To illustrate, if Houston were a human body, and each of us a single “cell”, then Houston’s “nervous system” is the local media, both industrial media, and social media. Industrial media, or mass media, includes TV, Radio, and Newspapers, which are all effective for getting the word out but they are also generally one-way modes of communication, let alone expensive. Social media is a more interactive form of electronic communication which allows every single voice to be heard, and gives each individual a means to express his or her own thoughts, needs, wants, hopes, dreams, problems, fears, challenges, potential, likes, and dislikes.
By properly leveraging social media businesses and other organizations have a unique opportunity to show a genuine interest in individual audience members which triggers positive word of mouth advertising at no cost. This provides invaluable feedback data for businesses and organizations which is not readily available through other means. How do you know what people want unless you listen? If your organization does not properly leverage social media in the decision making and planning processes, you’re only guessing, and you are missing out on opportunities every day!
FOSTER OR ADOPT?
CONSIDER OPENING YOUR HEART AND HOME TO A WAITING CHILD
Catholic Charities receives calls daily from Harris County Children’s Protective Services, which also works with the outlying counties. Children from newborns to age 17 need a home. Without families these children have to stay in shelters until homes are located. Catholic Charities is located at 2900 Louisiana, Houston, Texas. Please make that call and contact Barbara Feliciano at 713-874-6597 for more information. YOU can make a difference in a child’s life!
Oct 3, 2008 10:00 AM
FOSTER OR ADOPT?
CONSIDER OPENING YOUR HEART AND HOME TO A WAITING CHILD
Catholic Charities receives calls daily from Harris County Children’s Protective Services, which also works with the outlying counties. Children from newborns to age 17 need a home. Without families these children have to stay in shelters until homes are located. Catholic Charities is located at 2900 Louisiana, Houston, Texas. Please make that call and contact Barbara Feliciano at 713-874-6597 for more information. YOU can make a difference in a child’s life!
Oct 3, 2008 10:00 AM
FOSTER OR ADOPT?
CONSIDER OPENING YOUR HEART AND HOME TO A WAITING CHILD
Catholic Charities receives calls daily from Harris County Children’s Protective Services, which also works with the outlying counties. Children from newborns to age 17 need a home. Without families these children have to stay in shelters until homes are located. Catholic Charities is located at 2900 Louisiana, Houston, Texas. Please make that call and contact Barbara Feliciano at 713-874-6597 for more information. YOU can make a difference in a child’s life!
Oct 3, 2008 10:00 AM