One of the most life-changing decisions I've ever made was to audition for the all-male collegiate a cappella group The UGA Accidentals.  In 2004, my freshman year of college, I tried out for the group and entered into a brotherhood of singers without which I would not be the man I am today.  I owe so much to this group and the best friends I've made while I have been a part of it.

That being said, we recently competed in a competition called the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella.  Never before have the Accidentals made it past semifinals, but this year we made history.  In two short weeks, we will be traveling to compete among the top 9 collegiate a cappella groups in the ENTIRE WORLD in the international finals in New York City!

We don't get much money from the school, and we don't have much to spend.  Frankly, we can't get there without your help.  Please watch the video, and head to our Kickstarter project to pledge your support.  Anything helps; without you we can't possibly make it to New York!

I created and edited the video below, and created the Kickstarter project associated with it.  Please let me know what you think and pledge your support!

Two years ago, Emuel Aldridge, a professor in the University of Georgia New Media Institute, showed me a video of the brand new XO Laptops from the OneLaptopPerChild campaign.  These $100 laptops were unlike anything I had seen before, obviously made for children to use in the most rural of settings.  I was hooked.   I feel very strongly that furthering the digital education of children in rural communities and developing nations will drastically reduce the digital divide.  I knew I had to get my hands on a few of these XO laptops, one way or the other. 

The wheels were turning; and as soon as I heard about UGA's EcoLodge facility in the mountains of Costa Rica, I knew I had found the perfect location for XO laptops to make a difference.  I just had to find the money to buy them.

I had been the President of the all-male a cappella group the UGA Accidentals for about 2 years at the time, so I thought to myself, "Why not use something you love to help fund this project?"

So, I founded a brand new co-ed a cappella group at UGA:  Singing4Change.  Singing4Change was a relaxed, charity-focused a cappella group with one purpose:  to raise enough money to get 13 XO laptops into the hands of Costa Rican children.

We sang songs that were meaningful to us, and promoted messages of hope and faith.  Some of my favorite memories include practicing at sunset in the top of the Summit clubhouse, watching people find joy in the music I arranged, and generally having fun singing for a good cause.  Though we did have a lot of fun singing and practicing, we never ended up making any money for the cause.  I knew I had to look for another way to raise funds.

It was then that I contacted NN, Inc., one of the top three ball-bearing companies in the world.  I approached NN with a presentation describing the XO Laptop, the OneLaptopPerChild campaign, and the need for digital education in developing nations.  The wonderful people at NN loved it.  They decided to help by participating in what's called the "Give one, Get one" program.  This program allowed us to essentially purchase 26 XO Laptops, 13 of which were sent to various locations in the world while the other 13 came to my doorstep.

So I got the laptops!  13 brand new, very cool XO laptops.  I was chomping at the bit to get them down to Costa Rica, but I still had to figure out how to get there and back.

I decided to pay for a wild trip that involved me taking the 13 laptops in a hiking backpack (thanks to Zack Goulet for letting me borrow the pack) from Athens, GA to Washington, DC, to New York City (where I saw Diggnation!), back to DC, down to Florida, and finally all the way to San Jose, Costa Rica!  After Costa Rica, I continued to LA and San Francisco...but that's another story! (see a few of the pics in the slideshow below, if you're interested)

When I finally made it down to Costa Rica, I ran into an immediate complication:  the agent at the airport had absolutely no intention of allowing me to bring 13 laptops into the country.  Apparently, he thought I had bought them cheap in the US and intended to sell them at high prices in Costa Rica.  My severely broken Spanish didn't help the matter, but a smile can go a long way to fight language barriers.  It only took about an hour of utter communication failures and Spanish/English dictionaries, and I was out of the airport an onto the streets of San Jose!  But, then what?

Luckily, one of my very close friends had recently graduated from UGA and moved down to Costa Rica to teach English.  Stephanie, an incredibly intelligent woman with a beautiful singing voice and an even more beautiful passion for living life to the fullest, patiently awaited my escape from the airport and escorted me to her house on a dirt road a couple miles away.

The next morning Stephanie made a few calls and was able to figure out how in the world I was going to get from San Jose to Heredia (Monteverde).  Turns out Monteverde is the closest little town to the incredibly tiny village of San Luis, which is home to the UGA Costa Rica EcoLodge as well as two wonderfully humble elementary schools:  San Luis Alta, and San Luis Bajo.  One school up the mountain, one school at the bottom of the mountain.  Simple enough.

But to get from San Jose to Monteverde, I had to take one of the scariest bus rides of my life.  When I say that the bus was wider than the windy, dirt road it was supposed to traverse, I mean it.  We were literally on a death ride that only stopped for stubborn cows and once for dinner.  Meanwhile, I had absolutely no idea what anyone around me or the bus driver was saying.  I was listening for one word and one word only:  "Monteverde."

I finally made it to Monteverde around 12:30 am, and caught what might have been a taxi, or could easily have been a random driver of a van, and hitched a ride down the tiny gravel shadow of a path that led to the UGA EcoLodge.  The van couldn't make it the whole way up to the EcoLodge, so he stopped, I thanked him for the ride, hoisted my 13-laptop pack onto my back and hiked up the road into the black night.  Surrounded by dark, whistling trees and ushered up the hill by the wind, I walked up to the EcoLodge a weary, weary traveler.  I recorded this short video as soon as I got into my cabina at the EcoLodge:

The next morning I awoke to a day I will never forget: the day I realized a dream and delivered the 13 XO Laptops to 45 bright, beautiful, eager elementary school children in San Luis, Costa Rica.

I traveled with a local 'tica' down the mountain to San Luis Bajo, the lower of the two elementary schools.  As soon as I pulled up to the school tears began to well up in my eyes.  The school was perfect.  There were no televisions or even clocks.  And yet the it was buzzing with excitement, literally covered with vibrantly colored drawings and paintings, and completely infiltrated by about 20 5-10 year old children.

As soon as I pulled out the laptops I was leaving with these children, I could see sparks flying in their eyes.  They were eager to play, eager to learn, desperate to do what we take for granted every day!  They nervously, timidly approached the laptops I set out and, one by one, began to tap and touch.  Within minutes, they had forgotten all about their nervous approach and were laughing and playing loudly.  The children were video chatting here and there, but seemed to enjoy text chatting even more.  They were snickering and when I asked one girl what she was laughing at, she showed me a word they had typed on the screen.  It meant butt.  I was in heaven.

Here is a (very) quick video I shot while they were playing with the laptops:

As much as I wanted to stay, I had to move on to San Luis Alta (the other elementary school up the mountain).  Before I left, I felt a soft tug on my shorts.  It was a beautiful little girl in a white dress.  She pulled me down to her level, and I thought she was going to say something to me.  Instead, she kissed me on the cheek and quickly ran off to her friends.

As I was leaving, I heard her small voice shout, "Gracias!"

I couldn't hold back the tears.

But alas, I had to move on.  Laptops to deliver, children to see!  So my tica friend took me up the mountain to San Luis Alta.  Here the school had a few rooms instead of one, and--if possible--the children were even more animated than at San Luis Bajo.

They jumped on the computers with ease, and within half an hour they were doing things on the XO laptops that even I didn't know how to do.  The teacher asked me in Spanish how long I would let them use the laptops before I had to take them back.  When I used my broken Spanish to explain that I was leaving them with her and the kids, she threw her arms around me.  She was so happy!  My tica friend translated as the teacher excitedly rattled off idea after idea for "computer time."  I can't explain how incredible it felt to hear her excitement about the digital education her students would now be able to receive.

And as quickly as it came, it was over.  By about 2pm, I was back at the EcoLodge and in my cabina.  In the rush of excitement, I had been able to ignore my fatigue.  But after delivering the laptops to both schools and finally wearing an empty pack, the true toll of travel hit me so hard even a pound of Costa Rican coffee couldn't have kept me awake.  I slept for hours.

Later that day I hiked up to the tallest waterfall in Costa Rica, and I couldn't resist jumping off.  Here's a video:

Completely coincidentally, my cousin Meredith was in Costa Rica at the time, helping at an orphanage.  Though our phones weren't working and we had no real means of communication, she had faith that Monteverde was small enough that the two of us would run into each other if she just took a bus from her town and walked around Monteverde.

I knew she would be in Monteverde, but I had no real idea when or where.  So I hitched a ride into town with an incredibly interesting Columbian man I met at the EcoLodge named Hairo.  We split a 'cab' and went to his favorite restaurant in Monteverde.  We discussed everything under the sun, from life to soccer to women.  I realized that I was so focused on getting the laptops to the kids that I had forgotten to sit back, relax, and take in the beautiful culture of Costa Rica.  After all, it's not every day you get to share a few beers and a couple hours of good conversation with a man who grew up in an entirely different world than yourself.

I sat with Hairo for a few hours, and then decided to walk around Monteverde until I (hopefully) ran into Meredith.  Wouldn't you know it, she had been sitting at the restaurant next door with her friend the whole time!  So I took them back to the EcoLodge with me and we went to the San Luis community celebration of Costa Rica's Independence Day that night.  We danced to the salsa music, and hitched a ride back up the mountain late that night.  I love my family.

The next day we decided to fork out a few Colones to zipline through the canopy.  I've never seen such breathtaking mountains, rainforest, and wildlife.  I put together a video of my time I spent with Meredith in Costa Rica, check it out:

The next day I threw a much lighter pack onto my back and bid the San Luis EcoLodge farewell.  I hopped on a bus from Monteverde to Jaco, a beautiful beach in the south of Costa Rica.  There I met Stephanie with a few of her Costa Rican students, and we ate amazing food and played soccer on the beach all day.  I talked with her friend Jeffrey for a long time and he promised that next time I come to Costa Rica, he and I are renting two motorcycles and riding from coast to coast.  I look forward to that day!

The next day we bussed back to San Jose and I hopped on a flight back to the states.  Watching Costa Rica disappear into the distance, I thought back to the indescribable trip I had just finished.  My mind wandered to arguing to get the laptops into the country, to nearly crashing on a crowded bus to Monteverde, to watching the children explore the laptops with excited, tiny fingers, to jumping off the highest waterfall, to talking with Hairo about his life, to salsa dancing with my cousin Meredith celebrating Costa Rican independence, to ziplining through the rainforest, to relaxing on the Pacific shoreline of Jaco...

There are few times in life when you simply know you will never forget the experience you just had.

As I drifted to sleep on the plane, one sweet word echoed through my head; it still reminds me of the purpose of the trip, and the lasting difference we were able to accomplish in Costa Rica.

A soft kiss on my cheek, and a quick shout as I walked out the door.

"Gracias!"

Costa Rica, until we meet again, pura vida!

Heard a great video by Kevin Rose at his website, http://kevinrose.com/, and thought I'd share it to my audience (albeit infinitely smaller!).  Please comment and let me know what you think, and if you'd like to hear more of these types of videos!

Problem

Worldwide, over 33 million people are living with HIV/AIDS and 25 million people have died from the illnesses associated with AIDS since 1981. It is estimated that over a third of those infected do not know their HIV status. Over half of the new HIV infections worldwide are in young people under the age of 25 (UNAIDS/WHO).

Worldwide, over 3.9 million people have mobile phones. And that number is expected to rise to 5.6 billion by 2013.By 2010, it is estimated that over half of the world's population will have at least one mobile phone (Strategy Analytics).

Proposition

In the Global AIDS Personal Public Service Announcement Project (GAPPSA), ten student teams on six continents will use cell phones to fight AIDS. In one day, student teams using only cell phones and laptop computers will plan, script, shoot, edit and premiere video messages encouraging their friends to be tested for HIV. Through the GAPPSA young people will use their most cherished technology to live longer, healthier lives.

In the 30 years since the launch of the first cellular networks, mobile phones have gone from purely interpersonal communication devices to media devices. Not only are people watching video on phones, they are creating their own videos. Unlike the shared medium of television, its small screen size and communication uses make the cellphone a uniquely personal media device. The personal nature of the cellphone gives it a unparalleled potential to influence personal change. Watching a video about HIV testing on the same device that a young person uses to communicate with his or her friends and family will have a different impact than watching the same PSA on a television in a room with other people.

In addition, the personal nature of the device facilitates customization of the messages to fit the demographics and media consumption patterns of the user. And, perhaps most importantly, the cell phone offers an "action outlet" to the user after watching a message. After a user watches a video encouraging HIV testing, the user can request a list (via SMS) of the HIV testing locations nearby. By creating videos that can be distributed directly to cell phones, the GAPPSA project will explore important pro-social uses for the fastest growing communication technology, mobile phones. In addition to being used to view video, cell phones now have powerful media creation capabilities. The ability to quickly shoot video on a device routinely carried in a pocket, purse, or pack opens new opportunities for rapid-response, low cost media production. And using videoconferencing technology to guide cell-phone "shooters" remotely allows talented producers to work on important social topics without expensive and time-consuming travel. Without leaving their offices, the GAPPSA will allow professional videographers to collaborate with highly mobile cell phone equipped student production teams all over the globe to create fresh messages encouraging young people to make good health choices.

The GAPPSA expands upon the success of the previous two AIDS PPSA projects to explore the global potential for new types of mobile media messages and production models. In AIDS PPSA events in both Philadelphia in 2007 and Atlanta in 2008, mobile teams were able to create a series of high quality PPSAs in a single day. The Global AIDS PPSA will add two new technological challenges to the mix. First, teams will use powerful new video conferencing technology to interact with producers on different continents. In the Global AIDS PPSA project, a producer in New York might work with a team of students in Tanzania. Or a producer in Hong Kong might collaborate with with a student team in Copenhagen. The second technological challenge will be that the only equipment used in the field to shoot video will be a cell phone, the Apple iPhone 3G(S). In the Atlanta AIDS PPSA, all the video was shot with a cellphone but the remote teams had to transfer the video to a computer they carried with them in the field to transmit the video. Now with the new iPhone 3G(S), teams will shoot and transmit their videos directly to the producer working with them in another part of the world.

Players

Several different teams will collaborate in the GAPPSA: Project Producers, Student Production Teams, Remote Producers, AIDS/HIV Experts, Mobile Media Experts, and the Pitch Review Committee. Project Producers. The Project Producers will coordinate all aspects of the GAPPSA project. These producers are in charge of all administrative tasks involved in the planning and execution of the project.

Student Production Teams. Ten student teams at universities around the world will be selected to participate. The GAPPSA project will include one student team from each of the following locations: Europe, Africa, Asia, Austrailia, and South America. North America will be represented by teams from Mexico, Canada, and three regions within the United States. Each student team will consist of 3 - 5 students and a faculty adviser. These student teams will be charged with scouting locations, recruiting actors, assisting in planning the production, shooting the video for the production, and transmitting raw video to the remote producer.

Remote Producers. The GAPPSA will enlist ten video producers from a variety of different locations to collaborate with and guide the student production teams. These remote producers will be be charged with planning the production, supervising the student production team, and editing the final production.

AIDS/HIV Experts. The GAPPSA will utilize a variety of experts on several facets of HIV/AIDS and testing. In addition to international experts, local experts will provide information on the local context for HIV/AIDS.

Mobile Media Experts. The teams will receive basic training on the mobile media equipment and techniques used in the project from professionals knowledgeable about mobile media technology.

Pitch Review Committee. A panel of HIV/AIDS and media experts will serve as the review committee to evaluate each teams "pitch" for their PPSAs. This committee must approve the project proposals before the production can begin.

Process

The GAPPSA can be divided into five different phases: Planning, Preparation, Production, Premiere, and Promotion.

Planning. The planning for the GAPPSA will begin in October. From October until December, the locations and participants will be determined. On World AIDS Day (December 1, 2009), the full details of the project will be announced. Site visits will be conducted January through March. Equipment will be shipped to participants no later than April 5.

Preparation. Several weeks of preparation will culminate in the actual production of the PPSAs on April 22. The participants will be prepared in several ways.

• Podcasts. Beginning on 3/22/09, a new podcast for event participants will be made available every week. These podcasts will include information about AIDS/HIV, mobile equipment to be used in the project, and the participants. Each participant must listen to these podcasts each week.
• Location Scouting. Each student production team will scout at least five locations that might be used in their productions. Each location must be within walking distance or accessible via public transportion. Scouting reports on these locations including pictures and a map will be posted on the GAPPSA website. These reports will allow the remote producers to formulate production strategies and schedules. Location reports must be online by April 16.
• Actor Auditions. Each student production team must secure the participation of 15 potential actors. These actors must agree to be available on the GAPPSA production day, 4/22. Video recordings of the each actor audition will be placed on the GAPPSA website so that the producers can make casting decisions. Actor auditions must be posted online by April 16.
• HIV/AIDS -- Global Orientation (4/21/09). Public health and HIV/AIDS experts will provide an overview of the global dimensions of HIV/AIDS including the science of the disease and testing issues. This orientation will be hosted in Atlanta and will be available to all participants via iChat videoconferencing on the provided equipment.
• HIV/AIDS -- Local Testing Challenges (4/21/09). Experts in each of the production locations will provide background information on HIV/AIDS in their location including special challenges their regions face with HIV testing. Each local expert will use iChat videoconferencing technology to make their presentation from the local GAPPSA location.
• Mobile Media Production Training (4/21/09). Participants will receive instruction in the equipment and techniques that will be used in the production. Experts in Atlanta will present the technology via iChat videoconferencing system.
• Idea Generation (4/21/09). The remote producers and the student teams will use collaboration software such as iChat to plan their PPSAs.
• Pitch (4/21/09). Each team will "pitch" their ideas for their production to the Pitch Review Committee via iChat. The Pitch Review Committee will offer suggestions and feedback. Each team will have to have the approval of the Pitch Review Committee before they can begin their production.

Production. Beginning at 8A local time on 4/22/09, each team will begin their production. The student production team will only be allowed to carry their iPhones on the shoot. They will be able to contact the producers via the iPhone. They will also be able to push the remote producers video clips throughout the shooting. All field production must terminate with all files transmitted by 6P. The Remote Producers will have until midnight to finalize and post their PPSAs.
During production, the public will be able to witness and monitor the GAPPSA in real-time through an iPhone app. This app will include interviews with participants, documents used in production, and GPS enabled maps showing the locations of each team.

Premiere. All of the PPSAs will be debuted on 4/23/09 via a live webcast. Each team will introduce their PPSA and explain why they chose their approach. In a webcast panel discussion, participants will review the project and its outcomes. After the premiere event, all of the PPSA will be submitted to the Department of Health and Human Services for clearance. Only those videos which are approved for distribution will be available to the public.

Promotion. The "Global AIDS App" will be released on National HIV Testing Day, June 27. This smartphone app will work on the primary smartphone platforms: the iPhone, Blackberry Storm, and Google G1. The "Global AIDS App" will include all of the cleared PPSAs. Users will be able to watch the PPSAs and then share them with their contacts via text messaging. The app will allow users to learn more about HIV testing including the location and protocol of local HIV testing centers. In addition, this app will provide researchers the opportunity to track how people are accessing HIV/AIDS information.

Equipment

The GAPPSA will utilize two types of equipment:

• iPhone 3G(S). This phone is capable of 30fps VGA quality video recording. The iPhone will be used by the student production team to shoot and transmit their video. The iPhones will also allow the student teams to communicate with the remote producers. Each production team will carry two iPhones -- one as a spare device. Each remote producer will also be equipped with an iPhone to allow constant communication with the production teams in the field via voice and text messaging. With 10 teams participating in this project, 30 iPhone 3G(s) will be required.
• Macbook Pro. The Macbook Pro laptop computer will be used in all stages of production. And it will provide the videoconferencing link via iChat. A total of 20 Macbook Pros will be necessary to equip each student production team and each remote producer with one.

Tentative Budget

• Administrative Assistance (Graduate Research Assistant) = $20,000
• Material Production = $13,000
• Site Visits = $50,000
• Equipment = $65,000
• Connectivity = $5000
• TOTAL = $153,000

Contact

If you are interested in this project in any way, contact:
Scott Shamp
Director
New Media Institute
Journalism
University of Georgia
sshamp@uga.edu
706.542.2857