myG20

Here We Go.

noreply@blogger.com (myG20) — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 14:43:00 +0000

After months of preparation and anticipation, the big week is here. This little experiment has been chugging along, not without hiccups, but for the most part steadily and reliably. It's been really interesting to see the diversity of participants and juxtaposition of posts thus far. We hope you're enjoying this project and finding value in it.

To date, we've been intentionally quiet here on the site and on Twitter. The primary reason for this is because myG20 is about you, not us. That will not change, but this week we will act (to the best of our ability) as a conduit between participants. Look for ReTweets of cool posts and blog entries containing interesting imagery produced by people on the ground. We're really excited to see where this project goes over the next few days. Thanks for participating.

As always, send questions/comments/recommendations via Twitter or email. Over and out.

New Search Categories Added

noreply@blogger.com (myG20) — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 14:12:00 +0000

As previously stated, the goal of this project is to create a dialog among participants. So last week when Twitter user and myG20-ist @davidseals posted the following message, we got to task!

Ask and you shall receive. If you now look directly below the embedded Twitter stream you'll see several preliminary search categories such as art, food & music. Basically, the search option mines all #myG20 posts for keywords relating to certain topics. We thought it might be cool to add a few emotion/inflection-based options as well, so we threw cool, love & questions into the mix.

When we announced via our Twitter stream & Facebook page last week the addition of these initial categories, we also requested that users send over any ideas we may have missed. Some really great ones came rolling in such as @PittsburghFDN's transit, @rimabean's coffee, and @aerdin's views. We plan to make this search feature of the site as robust as possible, so we included a "Submit Category" button. Feel free to send any thoughts or ideas about potential categories to us for consideration.

Again, thank you all for your support and interest in this project. Happy myG20-ing!

That's great. But what now?

noreply@blogger.com (myG20) — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 14:47:00 +0000

So, yesterday myG20.org went live. In the first 90 minutes of public accessibility, more than one hundred of you posted to the site via Twitter. Pretty impressive. Some pretty cool content emerged in that short time such as the Harris Theater Haiku produced by Pittsburgh Filmmakers, a fairly extensive guide to seven cool Pittsburgh neighborhoods, and a lighthearted (albeit somewhat serious) banter about our quality Steel City cupcakes. Some great valuable content was produced and shared by you, the people of Pittsburgh and beyond. That's the point of all of this.

But the real strength of this site will emerge as ground-level communication starts rolling in. This is where you can help. We are now seeking members for a global street team. We've created several different myG20 Street Team Kits to help get the word out locally, nationally and internationally. If you're interested in receiving a kit filled with myG20 goodies & operational tactics, send your address to myG20.org@gmail.com and we'll get the appropriate street team kit out to you ASAP.

Oh Hai!

noreply@blogger.com (myG20) — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 12:27:00 +0000

Hello and welcome to myG20.org! Our goal with this project is to create a place for people to connect -- a place for people to look to find cool things to do, interesting imagery, and the potential to communicate with like-minded others, both here in Pittsburgh and elsewhere. This project is not so much about the G20, but more about the people and things here in Pittsburgh that drove President Obama to select this city to host the summit. There was a reason. In fact, there were thousands of them. And you are it.

In the weeks leading up to the summit, myG20 will be about sharing Pittsburgh with the world. Feel free to post about things you feel deserve attention -- the hidden gems, the off-the-beaten-path destinations, the unique Pittsburgh that is often overlooked by conventional media and traditional visitor guides. Ask questions of each other. Enter into a dialog about, "Why Pittsburgh?"

In the days leading up to, and those during the summit, myG20 will take on a noticeably different feel and form. As the whirlwind of the G20 summit descends upon the city, myG20 will become a real-time guide to Pittsburgh produced by the people on the ground. As spontaneous events, performances and destinations occur, it is our hope that myG20 will serve as the hub of citizen journalism and open documentation of this very significant event.

And finally, myG20 was developed and is supported by two organizations (1, 2) that consider themselves artists and artist-friendly. It is with this spirit that we hope you use and find benefit from the project.

All the pertinent directions and information is located in the right sidebar. So have fun, experiment and enjoy your authorship. Please report any bugs, hiccups or issues to jeffrey [at] mattress [dot] org. Thank you.

Participate via Flickr - Upload from your phone!

noreply@blogger.com (myG20) — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 18:56:00 +0000

Did you capture something intriguing on your cameraphone? Will you be on the ground during the week of the Pittsburgh Summit? We invite you to share photos of your experiences with us! Step by step directions to get you uploading quickly are below.

STEP #1: Click the image below to import the myG20 Photo Upload information into your computer or mobile phone's address book.

STEP #2: Hit the streets in Pittsburgh and take some awesome photos of the people, places & things you see!

STEP #3: Share those photos with the world by sending them via email to the address contained in the VCF card you downloaded above.

ATTENTION: The subject line of the email will be the title of the photo once it's uploaded. Any text in the body of the email will serve as the photograph's description. A little context goes a long way! Tell the world where you are/were and what you think by including text in the email body.

LICENSE: All photos uploaded will be published under a Creative Commons: Attribution + Non-Commercial +ShareAlike license. If desired, please make sure to include proper attribution in the email text. Otherwise, default attribution will defer to myG20.org.

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You can also participate via Twitter.

noreply@blogger.com (myG20) — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 18:38:00 +0000

No Twitter? No Problem!

Participate with Twitter: Tag #myG20

noreply@blogger.com (myG20) — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 18:06:00 +0000

Want to share something you love about Pittsburgh with the world? Have a question about what to do in the city during a few hours of downtime? Wondering where to head for an off-the-beaten-path, authentic Pittsburgh experience? Send a message directly to this website and to the mobile device of those following the stream by tagging your Tweet with #myG20.

WHAT IS TWITTER?
Twitter is a social networking and micro-blogging service that allows its users to send and read other users' updates (otherwise known as tweets), which are text-based posts of up to 140 characters in length. Updates are displayed on the user's profile page and delivered to other users who have signed up to receive them.

NO TWITTER? NO PROBLEM!
Sharing information via myG20 is as easy as a mouse click. We've created a handy web form that accepts your content and incorporates it into the information stream. CLICK HERE to use the web form.

SHARE PHOTOS WITH FLICKR.
Want more than 140 characters of text? Share "a thousand words" by photostreaming your Pittsburgh Summit experience. CLICK HERE to find out how to upload photos directly from your mobile device to http://myG20.org.

Share Pittsburgh With the World

noreply@blogger.com (myG20) — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 17:44:00 +0000

myG20 is a real-time, crowd-curated guide to Pittsburgh that will take place prior to and during the G20 Summit (September 24 + 25). It is a bottom-up response to the top-down flow of information that takes place around events of this magnitude. The objective of this project is to provide a platform for all people and parties – both on the ground here in Pittsburgh, as well as those looking in from afar – to share information in an efficient manner.

For approximately one week in September, millions of international eyes will focus on our region. And for good reasons. The health care and education sectors along with technology and green development have helped bring our city from an antiquated steel town to a 21st century force to be reckoned with.

Arts and culture in Pittsburgh are thriving. The arts community here is vibrant and impassioned. Our city's museums, artists, performers and performing arts organizations are second to none. They've played an integral role in the transformation of Pittsburgh as well.

So while the international eyes are upon us, tell them what makes Pittsburgh such a special place for you. Engage each other in a dialog about, "Why Pittsburgh?" Share your favorite hidden gem of a restaurant. Upload a photo of a piece of Pittsburgh architecture or public artwork that has made an impact on you. Share your most vivid Pittsburgh memory. Live tweet or photostream one of the many events taking place throughout the city.

In short, make these few days in September about you -- both the people of Pittsburgh and those visiting + watching from afar. Share Pittsburgh with the world.