Forbes and Mashable are among the many media sites that have posted a video of Twitter CEO Dick Costolo’s speech at the May 4 University of Michigan commencement. Mashable notes: “Costolo, a graduate of UM who pursued comedy after earning his bachelor’s degree for computer science in 1985, started his speech by tweeting a photo of the crowd and ended it saying, ‘hashtag go blue!’” [Source] [Source]
Editor’s note: To our readers who celebrate Christmas, we wish you a merry one.
At the May 4 city council meeting, amongst all the public commentary on Mack pool, the Leslie Science and Nature Center, the Ann Arbor Senior Center, Project Grow, the transportation plan, and the airport runway extension were some remarks about the Community Television Network.
In the context of the current budget discussions and the closing of the Ann Arbor News, Paul Bancel went to the podium and asked city council to think about ways to make CTN relevant. One concrete suggestion he had was to make sure some public bodies who do not currently meet in front of CTN cameras have their meetings recorded: Downtown Development Authority board (they’re working on it), the library board, and the public art commission. The board of the Ann Arbor Transportation Authority could be added to the list.
But part of making community television relevant entails an understanding by the community of what it offers. If council has a role to play in making CTN relevant, then so does the community. [Full Story]
A new local Twitter feed appeared on April 25, 2009. In the “bio,” the anonymous author describes it this way: “I spent 5 months in the Washtenaw County Jail in 2008. I had never been in trouble with the law before. Here’s what I experienced – 140 characters at a time.”
In his second Tweet: “I will not yet reveal my identity nor my alleged crime. I will say that I was 42 years old when I served my time and had never been in jail.”
The author agreed to answer some questions for us. [Full Story]
A recent Tweet by the Nonprofit Enterprise at Work (NEW), commenting on Wednesday's Cultural Alliance meeting.
The newly renovated and expanded University of Michigan Museum of Art is a social place: Tuesday night, several hundred people attended a kick-off fête for the Ann Arbor Summer Festival, while Wednesday brought members of the Cultural Alliance of Southeastern Michigan together for their annual meeting. The focus of Wednesday’s day-long event was also social, as in social networking – specifically, how nonprofits can use social media like blogs, Twitter and Facebook to fundraise, market and strengthen their organization.
Being social animals ourselves, The Chronicle dropped by both events, but was able to spend a bit more time at the Cultural Alliance forum, which was well represented by Ann Arbor groups, including the Ann Arbor Civic Theatre, University Musical Society and Arts Alliance, among others. [Full Story]
Ever wonder what our community leaders tell visitors to Ann Arbor about the city’s town gown relations? @orangepolitics is Twittering live the remarks of A2 and UM luminaries. Highlights: “Jim Kosteva, UofM: ‘town-gown relations are like a marriage wher divorce is not an option.’ Then he hands the city councilwmn some flowers!” Councilwoman in question is Briere. [Source]
