An Inside Look At Internet Week 2011: Panels, Parties & More

At June 18, 2011
By NESHA
In features / internet week / interviews / Society / video

An Inside Look At Internet Week 2011: Panels, Parties & More from Rhonesha Byng on Vimeo.

All last week I spent most of my days covering and participating in Internet Week, and with every status update I received the general reaction of “what the heck is that!? –isn’t it always Internet Week?”

This year marked the fourth year of New York’s annual event of informative panels, conference sessions, speakers and other events surrounding start-ups, social media, online video, and more. Experts and executives from AOL, YouTube, Google, Yahoo, Meebo and more all gathered at the Metropolitan Pavilion, this year’s Internet Headquarters to diffuse knowledge and engage a tech ready and tech savvy audience. In addition, many organizations, start ups and tech folks partnered with Internet Week creating events in the surrounding area connected to the motives of what Internet Week represents. Amongst those included various meet ups, and even a couple of concerts including SOUND CTRL’s FlashFWD event and the Girls Who Rock Benefit Concert.

Check out the video to get a snippet of what Internet Week is all about.

Interview: Poet Jasmine Mans On Criticism, Culture and Control

At May 17, 2011
By NESHA
In features / interviews / jasmine mans / poetry / Society / video / young society

The general public knows poet Jasmine Mans from the viral hit poem “Nicki Minaj” — a poem Mans uploaded one day without anticipation of the world clicking play. Not only did thousands of people click play after the piece went up, but they embedded it across multiple blog sites and tried to dissect it, analyze it, or blindly criticize it. But to those who know the world of poetry and spoken word, you may know Jasmine as a stand out award winning poet from UrbanWordNYC, and featured on HBO’s Brave New Voices. Her accomplishments stack quite high for a 20-year-old college sophomore, so after her performance at an Alpha event at DePauw University I sat down with her to get a bit more insight on her life and her work in her own words through candid conversation. We chatted about how she started, how she’s dealing with the growing attention towards her and her work, and her plans for the future.

note: *Mans was 19 years old at the time of this interview and just turned 20 this week.

You can follow Jasmine on Twitter @KingJasmineMans

SOCIETY: The Weight Of Possibility–Defining Millennials

At May 17, 2011
By NESHA
In baby boomers / defining moments / features / generation / generations / Life / millennials / posse / posse plus retreat / silent generation / Society

photo from a past PPR at one of Posse’s partner schools. [courtesy C. Moore Photography]

From Disney dreams to recession stained realities, this generation grew up on happy endings and heroes, and grew into a less rosy reality.

Conforming, civility and the Great Depression defined The Silent Generation, while war and activism defined The Baby Boomers. While, the civil rights movement and the growth of new opportunities defined Generation X. But the defining issues of the Millennials didn’t seem quite crystal clear as a few Millennials debated back and forth about whether their generation has struggled enough.

“Yes we’re struggling, but what are we doing about it? We’re sitting here.” Light applause and a lot of mumbling met that statement as 18-year-old freshman Sandy Tran, stood up amongst 170 DePauw students in a small meeting room in the middle of Bradford Woods in Martinsville Indiana.

The Millennials, defined as those born after 1980 [81-2000], fall within the age range of 11 to 30. The first crop of Millennials turned 30 this year and as a flurry of articles and studies begin to take form about this generation, this Spring a slice of the DePauw University community came together at the annual Posse Plus Retreat (PPR) to map out their own definition of their generation.

HerAgenda.com Interviews Tina Wells

At April 28, 2011
By NESHA
In entreprenurship / heragenda / interviews / Life / Society / tina wells

HerAgenda.com launched the first in a series of interviews titled “A Peek Inside Her Agenda.” In the series HerAgenda will feature different power women from across various industries who essentially embody the No one Ever Slows Her Agenda mentality through their career endeavors. They took a chance on themselves, on their dream, on their skills and turned their passions into thriving careers. The first in the series is entrepreneur and author Tina Wells who also just released her latest book this week “Chasing Youth Culture and Getting It Right.” Its her first business book but its on an industry that she’s become an expert at through her work with her company Buzz Marketing Group.

Check out a little snippet of the interview when you read more.

What is a typical day like for you?
Tina Wells: Depends on the day! Tuesday is my earliest start. I wake up at 4:45 (yes, I’m in bed by 9pm on Mondays!) and head to the gym. I train until 6, and then head home to get ready. By 7:30 (with Starbucks in hand), I head to my hairstylist’s salon. If I’m lucky and don’t do anything major to my hair (like color), I can be out of there by 9:30/10. While I’m under the dryer, though, I typically read all my morning news (every blog you can think of), check emails, and return calls.

By the time I hit my office I have a staff meeting, order lunch, and settle in for a day of calls and meetings. Occasionally I’ll head into NYC for dinner. I leave the office at 6, head home, cook dinner, and then proceed to watch a few hours of bad TV, write, and check emails until I head to bed.

How do you overcome doubt?
TW: Block it out. You just have to ignore it, or it’ll eat you alive.

Do you remember a moment where you had to prove yourself, not only to other people but to yourself?
TW: I honestly don’t. I think I was so naïve. I knew I was young, but I’ve always worked hard for what I want. I never made a conscious decision to work harder or prove myself. That was my strategy from day one – to just put everything into my company and see where it goes.

How do you feel your work is perceived as a female in our society?
TW: I hope people feel inspired. I’m just a normal girl who had a good idea, worked hard, and made it. I think for anyone to be successful, they need both the opportunity and the will. You can have one without the other and truly be successful.

What is something that women today still need to overcome?
TW: Our competitiveness with each other. We need to support each other. I’m so lucky to have the most supportive, wonderful group of female friends.

You can read the full piece on HerAgenda.com

Vanessa & Angela Simmons Talk Getting Things Done in Black Future Interview

At February 28, 2011
By NESHA
In angela simmons / black future / black history / features / Life and Society / production company / simmons / Society / vanessa simmons

photo: HoneyMag.com

Check out the latest interview in The BVX’s Black Future Series. In this piece I interviewed Angela & Vanessa Simmons. They reflect on the legacy of Black History and tell us about the launch of their OWN production company called SIMMONS TWO.

Identify your role in your field.
Vanessa: I’m learning and taking notes and trying my best today. I’m up and coming and I’m looking forward to breaking down some more barriers and hopefully creating more opportunities for people like myself.

Me and Angela we started our own production company, Simmons Two, so we plan on bringing you guys some good quality programming soon from film, to tv to web content. I’m completing my screen play with one of my best friends from college and just creating opportunities is what its all about. You have to get out there, you can’t wait for other people to get things done, sometimes you have to do it yourself. You might not know where the funding will come from or any of that stuff but you just have to create and do. Do some of the things you want to see done, be the change that you want to see in the world.

Do you think that the work you are doing now is leading to creating a legacy?

Angela: My sister and I we are working on an empire. I would hope to leave a legacy because there’s so much I want to do and so many people I want to help. I know that the work I want to do isn’t normal, and if I can impact a large group of people there’s definitely a legacy behind it and there’s something special there and something to teach and something to show. [I see a connection with ground breaking women like Madame CJ Walker] because she did exactly what my sister and I did. But she was the first to do it. She actually laid the road that made it possible for us today to make these choices.

MORE HERE.

Video Debut: Unique Zayas- Maniac

Singer/songwriter Unique Zayas’ video for his single Maniac debuted last night. Shortly after a release party at Pop Burger in NYC, the video was live on YouTube and blog sites. Let me know your thoughts on the video!

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