Jun

27

Mark Bowness is celebrating his Birthday!

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There will be no blogs today (apart from this one, which technically is not classed as a blog).

I will be out celebrating, buying some new clothes, going for meals and hitting the gym… normal services will resume tomorrow.

If you are fortunate enough to share a birthday with myself, happy birthday to you.

If it is not your birthday today have a great non-birthday Day, make it real special, treat yourself, they only come 364 days of the year, unless it is a leap year when you are lucky enough to get one extra. Go on, spoil yourself and have a great day.

Mark

EDIT: This should have gone up on the 25th, I forgot to actually publish it!

Jun

24

Mark Bowness believes we should wake up and smell the coffee

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I have met some really exciting contacts during my time away, a number of them I am liasing with and I am getting to know more about their work, their passions and their projects. It is great to see a whole bunch of young people who are out and about believing in what they are doing and who have a real desire for all things People. Passion. Planet.

I recieved an e-mail last night from one of these contacts which contained some provoking projects that he is involved with. I found one particular link that he sent me, fascinating. It was a link to a site called Black Gold Movie. In the early hours of this morning I read every aspect of this site and eventually went to bed feeling inspired and challenged.

The story of Black Gold Movie is described on their site:

“Multinational coffee companies now rule our shopping malls and supermarkets and dominate the industry worth over $80 billion, making coffee the most valuable trading commodity in the world after oil.

But while we continue to pay for our lattes and cappuccinos, the price paid to coffee farmers remains so low that many have been forced to abandon their coffee fields.

Nowhere is this paradox more evident than in Ethiopia, the birthplace of coffee. Tadesse Meskela is one man on a mission to save his 74,000 struggling coffee farmers from bankruptcy. As his farmers strive to harvest some of the highest quality coffee beans on the international market, Tadesse travels the world in an attempt to find buyers willing to pay a fair price.

Against the backdrop of Tadesse’s journey to London and Seattle, the enormous power of the multinational players that dominate the world’s coffee trade becomes apparent. New York commodity traders, the international coffee exchanges, and the double dealings of trade ministers at the World Trade Organisation reveal the many challenges Tadesse faces in his quest for a long term solution for his farmers.”

I am passionate about this sort of film making, films that follow a story about someone who is trying to make a difference in the lives of others, this can only be commended. This film has only just been released but as it is telling a valid story it seems as thought it is provoking debate and discussion which will hopefully lead to change.

I would really like to encourage readers of this blog to check out this film, click here to check out worldwide film screenings.

The film will be aired in Liverpool in July, I will certainly be heading over to see it.

Check it out: Black Gold Movie

Jun

22

A quick run down of the past few days…

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i am back! I am VERY tired! Despiite having come back to a heap of e-mails I thought that I would blog a quick update.

The UGTV conference was really interesting, speakers ranged from one of the guys from Alexis d’ Amecourt from 19 Entertainment to Richard Williams who is the Creative Director of BBC Vision. User Generated content is basically a move towards allowing the viewers to participate in the programme content whether this be pictures, video clips, web cam etc. One recent example in the UK was the BBC’s Springwatch. This trend is basically a move towards production companies and broadcasters capitalising on the rise in the participation of the likes of youtube, myspace and facebook. However, one thing was clear to me, these companies were talking about pushing and promoting their brand via User Generated Content however, at the same time the rise in the likes of youtube, facebook and myspace is down to the very fact that these concepts are web-based and therefore have a much more undergroud feel to them. The reason that they are popular is because they are not corporate. It would be interesting to see whether an underground phenonemon can be taken into the corporate successfully. 19 Entertainment, owned by Simon Fuller heralded a user generated content project that they launched in America that gained a participation of 300,000 people. I wondered whether that number, in America, was actually that significant.

These are interesting times and it feels like we are all fumbling in the dark in order to advance forward, but it is also exciting times.

I then headed off to Manchester for the Striding Out network event. This was an initial event as they are launching Striding Out in Manchester later on in the year. I was really encouraged and inspired by the range of people who were there from fashion designers to restaraunt owners, it was all very inspiring. It is great to see people come together with similar creative and entreprenurial minds who are all wanting to work together in order be of benefit towards one another. It is also interesting to see the rise in younge entreprenuers who want their businessess to be socially ethical.

I had a great few days away, but now e-mails to catch up on and projects to work on.. oh and I have to get to the gym!

Jun

19

Mark Bowness launches facebook Capital of Culture ‘08 group

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I have become very passionate about Liverpool being the Capital of Culture next year. Liverpool is my home city and it is thriving with culture, with variety, with art and entertainment. Liverpool is a great place.

For some time the planning of events for the Capital of Culture have been underway but last week a shock announcement was made. Joe Anderson, Liverpool’s Labour Chief quits his Capital of Culture role and has accused the festival board of failing to deliver on it’s promises. Anderson’s key concerns where 1) FAILING to engage communities and real people 2) FAILING to provide a 2008 events programme that excited people. 3) FAILING to provide a worthwhile legacy for the city and missing the chance to kick-start creative industries. One day later Lee Forde, events manager for 2008 also quits his role.

This is a great shame. I am not interested in the what, the why and the how or blaming anyone in particular for anything. What I do believe in, however, is that the people of Liverpool and the people who love Liverpool can harness an opportunity in order to do something, off their own back in order to celebrate this City being the Capital of Culture 2008. I have many thoughts along these lines however I have launched a group on facebook in order to get people interested, discussing and see whether there is any way that the people of Liverpool and the people for Liverpool can pull together in order to do something pretty exciting.

If your on facebook and this interests you, head on over and join!

Check it out: Liverpool Capital of Culture ‘08

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