name: Lukas Blakk

email: lukasblakk@rogers.com

url: http://camptales.blogspot.com

amount: $1200.00

usage: To allow me time to get the vlog up and running. I\'d like to be able to make creating this vlog my part time job for september/october.

15hr/week - 8 weeks = 120 hours

120hrs * $10 per hour = $1200.00

timeline: August 2006 - October 2006

Over the three months I will work on the site\'s functions - set up the vlog so others can join and post - put a call out for submissions and try to spread the word about the vlog. Also I will spend August in the woods of Michigan gathering as many stories as I can.

description: http://camptales.blogspot.com

Also titled \"Land of the Silver Birch\" - this is a vlog dedicated to summer camp experiences. This is something I have wanted to do for a long time now. As a kid I went to a variety of camps over the years and each one is still extremely vivid in my mind. There\'s a particular atmosphere at summer camps that cannot be replicated anywhere else. Something about all these elements colliding - Teenage counselors, hundreds of kids, a lake, a dining hall, a wide variety of athletic & creative activities, songs and campfires, meeting new people from outside your neighbourhood, lifelong friendships formed. Many camps that I went to still exist and there\'s something key about that longevity that I feel should be highlighted. Camps live on long after the camper has come and gone - a touchstone in a fast paced, high turnover world. The camps I went to were public, largely funded by church dollars or government funds. Camp can give kids from all kinds of backgrounds a wonderful week or two of consistency, leadership and skill building, regular meals, and comraderie. The camp I worked at as a teenager was aim directly at \"at risk\" youth - I truly believe that we made a difference in these kids\' lives.

I\'ve already named the blog and thrown up a general introduction, but I would need some dedicated time to really get some content up there. This summer I will be working my 13th michigan women\'s music festival - the closest thing to camp that I get as an adult. I will be surrounded by hundreds of potential interview subjects and I will gather material there as well as back here in Toronto.

Ultimately I would like to set this up in a similar fashion to the new Vidlicious site - where people can post their vlogs to the site under several categories including favourite songs, campfire stories, general camp life tales and more. I hope to see this site become a meeting place for folks who have perhaps attended the same camp - as well as a place for interested parties to learn about other camp experiences.

This project is specific to sleepaway camps, though no story would be turned away.

With regards to it\'s importance to the videoblogging community; I think that one way to help get more voices into the vlogosphere is to encourage stories about various themes so that people don\'t need to create a whole show for themselves - they can create topic-specific content to share instead and participate on various vlogs as desired. I think this is exemplified with the GLBT Family Blogging Day that just passed - people come out from the woodwork for themed assignments and I hope that this site will encourage the public to dig out old photos, sing old songs from memory and generally share a momment about their lives that all can enjoy.

Deliverables:

1 vlog abot summer camp tales that people can subscribe to, post to, and enjoy

minmum of 10 vlogs covering the types of vlog posts mentioned on the introduction page of the vlog.

full integration with videoblogging resources - vlogmap, vlogdir, itunes, blip.tv, internet archive, etc... so that the site can be found easily and is as user-friendly as possible.

ACTION:

6.5.05: emailed her to get more info. The group agreed that her project isnt specific enough. We would also like to see details.