Benevolent Media Festival 2011

Austen Levihn-Coon is a New Media Associate at Fission Strategy. Prior to joining Fission Strategy, he worked as a Junior Associate at Joe Trippi & Associates where he implemented new media campaigns for progressive non-profits and political candidates in the U.S. and abroad. Austen got his start in online organizing as a New Organizing Institute Fellow at the Energy Action Coalition, overseeing the social media campaign for Power Shift 2009, a national youth climate change conference, which brought more than 12,000 students to Washington, DC and launched a new generation of grassroots climate… Read more

Aziz Isham was a TV executive and documentary filmmaker before launching Arcade Sunshine Media in 2010. He started his career in media at 60 Minutes, and went on to develop and produce numerous films and series for History, Discovery, National Geographic and several other broadcasters. He co-produced, with Patrick White, the critically acclaimed multimedia book Here on Earth for iPad -- which has been called 'the benchmark for interactive books in any genre' (appadvice.com) and was the first ebook to incorporate social networking. He graduated from Yale University with a BA in Anthropology, an… Read more

Helping myself by helping others

I'm a communicator who specializes in digital strategy, social media, and online marketing. I also like buses and trains. As the Retail Marketing Manager at Goodwill of Greater Washington I helped implement an award-winning social media strategy built around fashion. As the Web Communications Manager at the USO, I interacted with online fans, followers, and donors worldwide in support of our Troops. These days I stay busy with blogging about the Metro, finishing my Master's thesis, and managing a diverse portfolio of clients, including a little place you might have heard of called Be… Read more

Two years ago, I left the turbulent world of print journalism and declared that I would become a “Benevolent Media Creator.” This blog is the literal manifestation of that declaration.

Since my transition from newsrooms to nonprofits, I have been working for EMBARQ. My official job title says I’m a “Media Relations and Online Engagement Coordinator,” but when people ask me what I do, I tell them, “whatever needs to get done,” which includes being the Managing Editor for TheCityFix.com.

I graduated in 2007 with a degree in journalism and international studies from Northwestern University. As …

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Master of Science. Certificate, Appraisal Studies, Works on Paper. Curatorial Assistant. Plant lover.

On the web since 1994, I've helped a number of individuals and organizations create and improve their web presence. Communication, collaboration, education, and community are four of the most important things in any endeavor... hopefully, I help make all of them happen a little easier.

I'm also known to devour pretty much anything on TV and still cling lovingly to my old comic book collection and a bunch of books and other pre-digital-age things. ;)

Social media strategist at @worldresources (World Resources Inst). Focus on environment & social media tools. Member @waaorg, @ntenorg. Church youth counselor.

Director/Founder, Stone Soup Films Liz Norton was a freelance television producer for over ten years, with a focus on public policy issues. Those programs included several Fred Friendly Seminars for PBS, which explore thorny political and ethical issues in depth and she has also produced for MTV News, educating teens on crime-related issues such as gun control. During the Clinton Administration, Liz was a research director in the White House Office of Communications. In that role, she served as a link between the president, the press and the public, primarily on the issues involving crime an… Read more

Mike Miller owns and operates Think Out Loud (TOL in webspeak) - an award-winning media production company that produces original content for the web and broadcast. They provide a wide range of production services including cinematography, photography, editing, sound mixing, podcasting, file conversion, dvd authoring, motion graphics, and instructional workshops. Mike has a long and award winning record of producing media for non-profits.

Patrick White is an independent documentary producer and writer. He ran the development department for JWM Productions, produced award winning films about public health in east Africa, created multiple series for many of the largest networks in commercial television and recently directed My Life is a Zoo - the highly rated National Geographic series. He was also named as one of the area's best DJ's by the Washington Post…a title he's earned three years in a row. He holds a BA from George Washington University and a MA in Film from Boston College.

I have a beautiful partner in life, and an amazing young daughter. I manage web technology for the top publisher of news & information about K-12 education in the U.S. I chair the Intellectual Property committee of the USACM Council, and serve on the boards of iSolon.org and my local YMCA. I play percussion in a band, and try to influence the developing media landscape in a socially positive direction.

I am passionate about the ethical/religious meaning of technology and social institutons. I am also a follower of Gandhi and nonviolence.

I was born and raised in Framingham, MA. I now live in Washington DC and attend American University. My passion is storytelling and all of the good it can do in this world. Without storytelling impactful change would not take place, it is the individual stories that we hear day to day that motivate us to act. I also work a lot in the education field and feel very passionately about improving standards and the availability of education worldwide.