Archive for the ‘28 Days of Diversity’ Category
Posted on February 3, 2012 - by Wayne Sutton
Day 3: People of color impacting the social web – Rob Fields – #29DaysofDiversity
As we all know, February is Black History Month. It’s a month where we honor those who have made an impact on American culture for equal rights, those who have invented, those who have a helped others and those who have inspired everyone to be the best they can be, not only as a person of color but as a human. For the past two years for Black History Month, I started an online series called 28 Days Diversity where I would feature someone new everyday during the month of February for just being awesome in their own right. Even though it’s black history month, the goal for 28 Days of Diversity is to feature not just African-Americans but other minorities in the web/tech space. Also note that 28 Days of Diversity is not a popularity contest or an influencer list but a list of thought leaders in the social web sector, including entrepreneurs, bloggers, conference organizers, IT professionals and friends not ranked in any particular order who I have either met in person or followed online. Each post will include a picture, bio, two links from the selected person and this paragraph.
For 2012 I wanted to not just feature individuals but also ask a question to where each featured person could share their passion with others. For 28 Days of Diversity 2012 each post/person will answer the question “What motivates you to become successful?”
For the next 29 days since 2012 is a leap, come back to visit SocialWayne.com/tag/28daysofdiversity and/or 28daysofdiversity.com to see who’s on the list. For day 3, I would like to introduce to some and present to others:
Rob Fields
Photo Credit: Ed Marshall Photography NYC
Twitter: @robfields
Website/Blog: nbifestival.org
Bio
Rob Fields is the Founder and Chief Curator of the Festival of the New Black Imagination, a platform for forward-looking, global black culture that launched in 2011. The Festival is a natural outgrowth of the work that he’s been doing on his black alt music and culture blog Boldaslove.us.
What motivates you to become successful?
A belief that a fresh conversation about what blackness means in the 21st century is not only good for black people, but for the country as a whole.
You can follow the status of 28 Days of Diversity 2011 on http://28daysofdiversity.com, http://socialwayne.com/category/28-days-of-diversity/ and syndicated on BlackWeb 2.0.
Posted on February 2, 2012 - by Wayne Sutton
Day 2: People of color impacting the social web – Sian Morson – #29DaysofDiversity
As we all know, February is Black History Month. It’s a month where we honor those who have made an impact on American culture for equal rights, those who have invented, those who have a helped others and those who have inspired everyone to be the best they can be, not only as a person of color but as a human. For the past two years for Black History Month, I started an online series called 28 Days Diversity where I would feature someone new everyday during the month of February for just being awesome in their own right. Even though it’s black history month, the goal for 28 Days of Diversity is to feature not just African-Americans but other minorities in the web/tech space. Also note that 28 Days of Diversity is not a popularity contest or an influencer list but a list of thought leaders in the social web sector, including entrepreneurs, bloggers, conference organizers, IT professionals and friends not ranked in any particular order who I have either met in person or followed online. Each post will include a picture, bio, two links from the selected person and this paragraph.
For 2012 I wanted to not just feature individuals but also ask a question to where each featured person could share their passion with others. For 28 Days of Diversity 2012 each post/person will answer the question “What motivates you to become successful?”
For the next 29 days since 2012 is a leap, come back to visit SocialWayne.com/tag/28daysofdiversity and/or 28daysofdiversity.com to see who’s on the list. For day 2, I would like to introduce to some and present to others:
Sian Morson
Twitter: @xianamoy
Website/Blog: kollectivemobile.com
Bio
Sian is CEO & Founder of Kollective Mobile, and brings 15+ years of experience in digital development and leadership to the mobile marketplace. She has a passion for creative information design, a strong technical background, and a talent for developing a team culture of user experience innovation and effective product development. Her skills, excellent client relations, and drive and determination have made her a well-respected force in the industry.
Sian started her career as the dotcom boom was changing the fundamental way that we communicate, share ideas, and bring products to market. A graduate of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, she studied Film & Television but soon became enthralled by the incredible artistic and social potential in web technology; She went on to earn a Masters degree in Interactive Media Design from Middlesex University in London.
In 2010, she founded Kollective Mobile, a mobile development agency based in Oakland, CA. Kollective helps agencies and start-ups design and grow their mobile business, by providing strategy consulting and building great apps. Currently, Sian leads client relations and drives strategy and product development, including ArtKollect, our mobile and web solutions for art professionals.
What motivates you to become successful?
What motivates me to become successful is my core belief that information is power. We are living in an unprecedented time in history.We have access to so much more information that our ancestors did. What we do with it today will determine the tomorrows of generations to come. I am passionate about bridging the ‘digital divide’ and ensuring that our communities aren’t left behind. It is my hope that with with so many black tech entrepreneurs and start-ups with black founders that we can reach back and help those who are less fortunate than we are. It’s great to market apps and products to early adopters but it is critical that we remember our own communities as well.
You can follow the status of 28 Days of Diversity 2011 on http://28daysofdiversity.com, http://socialwayne.com/category/28-days-of-diversity/ and syndicated on BlackWeb 2.0.
Posted on February 1, 2012 - by Wayne Sutton
Day 1: People of color impacting the social web – Will Lucas – #29DaysofDiversity
As we all know, February is Black History Month. It’s a month where we honor those who have made an impact on American culture for equal rights, those who have invented, those who have a helped others and those who have inspired everyone to be the best they can be, not only as a person of color but as a human. For the past two years for Black History Month, I started an online series called 28 Days Diversity where I would feature someone new everyday during the month of February for just being awesome in their own right. Even though it’s black history month, the goal for 28 Days of Diversity is to feature not just African-Americans but other minorities in the web/tech space. Also note that 28 Days of Diversity is not a popularity contest or an influencer list but a list of thought leaders in the social web sector, including entrepreneurs, bloggers, conference organizers, IT professionals and friends not ranked in any particular order who I have either met in person or followed online. Each post will include a picture, bio, two links from the selected person and this paragraph.
For 2012 I wanted to not just feature individuals but also ask a question to where each featured person could share their passion with others. For 28 Days of Diversity 2012 each post/person will answer the question “What motivates you to become successful?”
For the next 29 days since 2012 is a leap, come back to visit SocialWayne.com/tag/28daysofdiversity and/or 28daysofdiversity.com to see who’s on the list. For day 1, I would like to introduce to some and present to others:
Will Lucas
Twitter: @will_lucas
Website/Blog: about.me/will_lucas
Bio
Will Lucas is the founder and CEO of AWLCo that houses web projects such as thankyouaga.in (http://thankyouaga.in), a mobile application that helps users “collect the good”, vinyu (http://vinyu.com), a mobile check-in application that enhances the consumer shopping experience, and Classbag (http://classbag.in), an educational web platform. Lucas founded Creadio (http://creadio.com), a custom Internet streaming service that develops custom radio and television stations for brands to promote their products and services in-house in 2007. It produces custom networks for some of the worlds largest brands.
A musician, innovator, and former radio DJ, Lucas is also curator for TEDxToledo, and a respected speaker on technology, entrepreneurship, and social issues.
He is a husband and father of one.
What motivates you to become successful?
“I want to fulfill my maximum potential. That’s really it. Success is just a byproduct of that. I heard someone say ‘You judge yourself based on what you know you can do, others judge you based on what you’ve done.’ I want to make it matter that I lived.”
You can follow the status of 28 Days of Diversity 2011 on http://28daysofdiversity.com, http://socialwayne.com/category/28-days-of-diversity/ and syndicated on BlackWeb 2.0.
Posted on January 31, 2012 - by Wayne Sutton
28 + 1 Days of Diversity Starts Tomorrow AKA #29DaysofDiversity for 2012 Year 3
It’s that time of the year again, the emails have been send and the list has been made! February is black history month and for the past two years I’ve posted a series called 28 Days of Diversity.
The History
As someone in the technology/web/social space, I often travel and attend various events in the industry and notice a huge lack of diversity, and when it comes to getting attention from mainstream media/tech blogs it’s almost impossible(in 2010). That’s why I started 28 Days of Diversity on SocialWayne.com in 2010.
The goal of 28 Days of Diversity is to feature someone new everyday for the month of February for just being awesome in their own right. The list will include some leaders in the social web space, startups, bloggers, conference organizers, IT professionals and friends NOT ranked in any particular order. Each post will include a picture, bio, social media profiles provided from the selected individual and this paragraph. It’s my simple way of giving back.
Since 2012 is a leap year that means it’s 29 Days of Diversity. Like the previous years I’ll cross post the profiles here on SocialWayne.com, the 28daysofdiversity.com, weekly recaps on BlackWeb20.com and this year on google+ along with sharing the post on twitter and facebook. The hashtag for this year is… #29DaysofDiversity
I’m excited about the 29 individuals selected for 2012. Last year I asked each participate “How can we use technology to close the digital divide?” The question for 2012 is “What motivates you to become successful?” I’m looking forward to the responses.
As always, thank you for the support, friendship, following on social networking sites and reading SocialWayne.com. Have a great 2012!
Posted on February 28, 2011 - by Wayne Sutton
Day 28: People of color impacting the social web – Navarrow Wright #28DaysofDiversity
As we all know, February is Black History Month. It’s a month where we honor those who have made an impact on American culture for equal rights, those who have invented, those who have a helped others and those who have inspired everyone to be the best they can be, not only as a person of color but as a human. Last year for Black History Month, I started an online series called 28 Days Diversity where I would feature someone new everyday during the month of February for just being awesome in their own right. Even though it’s black history month, the goal for 28 Days of Diversity is to feature not just African-Americans but other minorities in the web/tech space. Also note that 28 Days of Diversity is not a popularity contest or an influencer list but a list of thought leaders in the social web sector, including entrepreneurs, bloggers, conference organizers, IT professionals and friends not ranked in any particular order who I have either met in person or followed online. Each post will include a picture, bio, two links from the selected person and this paragraph.
For 2011 I wanted to not just feature individuals but also address a topic that affects everyone. For 28 Days of Diversity 2011 each post/person will answer the question “How can we use technology to close the digital divide?” So for the next 28 days, come back to visit SocialWayne.com/tag/28daysofdiversity and 28daysofdiversity.com to see who’s on the list. For day 28, I would like to introduce to some and present to others:
Navarrow Wright
Twitter: @navarrowwright
Website/Blog: Navarrowwright.com
Bio
Navarrow Wright is the CTO of Interactive One, Interactive One is a digital and print media company
focusing on the African-American and urban market. As CTO Wright is responsible for the technical strategy
of all the Interactive One online properties which include Hellobeautiful, The UrbanDaily, NewsOne, Elev8
and BlackPlanet. He is also responsible for the technical management of the Radio One Network’s radio
sites.
With more than 18 years experience in the technology and media industry, Wright has established himself as
someone who can conceptualize and develop advanced technology solutions for leading global organizations.
Wright’s unique understanding of the Internet space and ability to marry those technical advances with
consumer demand has placed him as one of the premier technology experts in Internet and media. He prides
himself on showing youth how technology can enable them to achieve their dreams. He speaks to youth
groups up and down the east coast for various organizations and was recently given a commendation from
the city of Newark for his work with events that have a positive impact on young people. He has made it
his mission to be a voice for technology adoption in underserved areas and to ensure that the entrepreneurial
spirit is developed in urban youth. Wright currently blogs about these issues on his site Navarrowwright.com.
His blog posts have been featured on blackweb20.com and the huffingtonpost.com. You can also follow him
on twitter @navarrowwright.
Navarrow Co-founded with Hip Hop Mogul, Russell Simmons to create a social media site catering to
the hip-hop perspective, Global Grind.com. With funding from Accel Partners, the primary investors of
Facebook, “Global Grind’s mission is to be a platform that allowed the urban audience to show its
depth and breadth,” said Navarrow Wright, founder of Global Grind “by allowing its talented and diverse
members a place to find all the content that’s important to them, and giving creative entrepreneurs a place
to monetize their content and showcase it to largest audience possible. This network will be a significant
value to advertisers who are eager to reach this unique audience in a targeted and meaningful way.” Wright
successfully launched the product and raised the series A round of capitol. Wright also launched a vertical ad
network and celebrity blogger network while at Globalgrind.
Before joining Global Grind, Wright was SVP of Technology for Medical Broadcasting Company, a division
of the Internet marketing firm Digitas Inc. Prior to that, he served as CTO of Viacom’s BET Interactive. At
BET.com he created and implemented new technologies growing the Web site 300%, making it the leading
entertainment online destination for African Americans. It was during his tenure at BET that Wright realized
there was a need for a platform to showcase and promote all the creative content that is available on the net,
as well as promote content that is most important to them in a unique way. Which began to shape that idea
that eventually became Globalgrind.com
Navarrow Wright has appeared on Run’s house, Irv Gotti’s show Gotti’s Way NPR’s News and Notes and
the Steve Harvey radio show. He was picked by Network Journal Magazine as of the their “ 40 Under forty”
professionals to watch in 2009 and selected by the Innovation Generation as one of the nation’s top 100
GenerationNEXT and Information Technology leaders. Wright holds a Bachelor of Science degree from
Rider University in Computer Science.
How can we use technology to close the digital divide?
I have believed for some time now that the key to closing the the digital divide is by working to increase adoption and showing African Americans that there are relevant experiences for them online. I believe many people don’t know the advantages that exist for them in the areas of education, healthcare and career growth online and if we were able to promote those things to this audience that would definitely make a difference. The way I believe to best use technology to achieve this is by utilizing the technology medium that is most prevalent among African Americans, wireless devices. Even though less than 50% of african americans currently have adopted broadband Internet at home, we are extremely active on mobile devices. It has also been proven that when we find experiences that appeal to us we can have significant impact on them like we have had on Twitter. So I believe if we created more products to increase engagement which can also encourage us to want to enjoy those experiences at home. Then we will see the divide begin to narrow.
You can follow the status of 28 Days of Diversity 2011 on http://28daysofdiversity.com, http://socialwayne.com/category/28-days-of-diversity/ and syndicated on BlackWeb 2.0.
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Wayne Sutton helps individuals, startups and businesses succeed in understanding how to communicate on the social web via web development, user experience, brand strategy and marketing (Mobile and Social).
Wayne Sutton is an Entrepreneur, Advisor and Partner of NewMe Accelerator.
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