The following Media Release should interest all NZ community organisations, but note the closing date: 29 June 2008. Read on for how your group may get free media expertise in the yMedia Challenge.

Registrations are now open for students and non-profit organisations.

Registrations are now open for this year’s yMedia Challenge. The Challenge brings web generation students together with non-profit organisations to work on media and technology projects that benefit them and the communities they serve.

yMedia Director, Pamela Minett believes that there are many non-profit organisations who could benefit from being more visible on the internet, but many just don’t know where to start.

“Non-profit organisations often lack time and resources to develop an online presence. The yMedia Challenge recognises that tertiary students brought up in the web era have innate digital skills that are invaluable to these organisations. In addition to helping out a good cause, these students also gain valuable work experience which can help them get jobs when they graduate,” she says.

Initiatives for community groups undertaken last year included Facebook Flyers, Banner advertisements, Bebo pages, YouTube videos, and PayPal donation links for their non-profit organisation. One team developed a website for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome New Zealand (www.sids.org.nz).

“We’re changing the way that charities think and the way they connect with the people they need to reach. This, more than anything else, can make a difference” says Auckland University of Technology student Leah Royden.

Tertiary students enter the yMedia Challenge in teams and each team chooses a yMedia registered non-profit organisation to work with. The students then have two weeks to create a digital solution that best addresses the individual needs of the organisation.

16 teams will be selected for this year’s challenge and each will each receive $1,000 for their two week project.

A series of student and community-focused workshops will also be held before the Challenge, discussing changing technologies and the media landscape. Industry professionals from Chrometoaster, Shift, Terabyte and Xero will present on web 2.0 technologies, digital design & strategy, project management and social media. The workshops give students and community groups the opportunity to collaborate with industry professionals and learn from their experiences.

The workshops run in Auckland and Wellington between June 30th and July 10th.

Non-profit organisation registrations for the yMedia Challenge close on June 29th. Student registrations for the yMedia Challenge close on July 4th. The challenge begins on July 28th.

Non-profit organisations and tertiary students can register for workshops and this year’s yMedia Challenge at www.ymediachallenge.co.nz.

About yMedia Group

yMedia Group was established in 2007 by Pamela Minett and Adele Barlow. Its goal is to aid worthwhile projects and give people looking to work in the digital media industry some practical experience. Pamela and Adele’s vision is to maximise the positive impact of young people as change-makers through the use of media and technology.

Key supporters of the yMedia Group include InternetNZ, Microsoft and The Tindall Foundation.

Ends

For more information contact:
Nathan Champion
Relationship Manager
nathan@ymediagroup.org, 027 514 8454.

Pamela Minett
Director
pamela@ymediagroup.org, 027 420 8324.

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In February 2008 Nielsen Online revealed that most New Zealand Internet users are generating web content. (Source: 02/26/2008 Consumer Generated Media: Evolution or Revolution?. )

We like photos, videos, music, blogs

In plain English: we share photos, links and videos, through websites such as Flickr, YouTube, MySpace. We read and write blogs and wikis. We download and stream audio and video content. We like photos, movies, music, and probably podcasts. We edit and comment; we upload.

The report also found that once people are comfortable online, they then often become more involved — they actively edit and comment on content from others and upload video and music to the web.

It’s a revolution in relationships

“We are seeing a revolution in the way in which consumers here in the Pacific and around the world are interacting, communicating, creating and nurturing personal and professional relationships, expressing and publishing their opinions and thoughts, creating and distributing content for and to one another, and entertaining themselves,” says Melanie Ingrey, Market Research Director, Asia Pacific, Nielsen Online.

Nielsen Online found that people tend to take up these activities if their friends and peers are doing them. They join services (such as Bebo) if their friends recommend them.

Problems facing us here in New Zealand are lack of time, slow Internet connections and concerns about security.

Kiwis want to reconnect

A further report tells us that 62% of online New Zealanders have browsed other people’s online profiles within the past 12 months, and 49% have actively updated their own online profile. (Source: 02/12/2008 New Zealand Surfers Ride Social Networking Boom.)

Old Friends, Bebo and MySpace

Their profiles are on Old Friends, Bebo and MySpace. Kiwis want to reconnect with people from the past such as former colleagues and old schoolmates.

” … different social networking platforms cater to varying online identity desires,” notes Melanie Ingrey, Market Research Director, Asia Pacific, Nielsen Online. “Sites such as MySpace essentially promote a fantasised identity where relationships are based on common network interests while Facebook is grounded in real identity and online connections are simply an extension of real friendships. Then you have sites such as LinkedIn which promote social networking for business and career advancement purposes.”

What are you doing?

So, that’s what Kiwis are doing this year. What’s your organisation doing in response?

Do you have a blog where visitors can comment on what you’re doing? Bloggers can also track your activities and write about you on their own blogs.

Do you share photos and videos from your events, using services such as Flickr and YouTube? If you do, then visitors will spread the word about your organisation when they tell others about your content.

Do you recruit volunteers by means of a MySpace or Bebo profile?

Kiwis want to participate. Do you know how to Engage your Community?

Written for and reproduced from CommunityNet Aotearoa Panui, March 2008.

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