Using the SNS as a platform for vendor voices

Each day NASNA will post the answers to 4 common questions asked to all workshop presenters leading up to the conference.  Check back daily for more information on this year’s conference workshops and roundtables.

1) Why do you think your workshop topic is important for street newspapers and/or nonprofits?

NASNA and its global counterpart INSP have been incredibly successful at building connections between street papers at the organizational level by facilitating communication and exchange between editors, directors, and vendor coordinators. However, they have always struggled to find new ways of building the same kinds of platforms and links among the homeless and low-income people who work as vendors.

The global vendor blog project is an opportunity for street papers to not only draw upon digital media technologies to create new platforms for participatory communication by their vendors, but it is also an exciting move toward building structures for collaboration and dialogue among vendors in different parts of North America and around the world.

2) What is one thing attendees will take away from your workshop/discussion?

Attendees will receive a practical introduction to the global vendor blog project—a technical walk-through the back-end of the blog platform, an overview of accessible technologies to support multimedia blogging, and tips on facilitating vendor blogging workshops—which will enable them to participate in the project at their own street paper.

3) What are you most looking forward to at the conference?

I’m really looking forward to the opportunity to meet some new street paper folks and to reconnect with old friends that I’ve met at past NASNA and INSP conferences.

4) If someone can’t make your workshop what’s the best way for people to contact you if they have questions?

I’m available by email at erinand@gmail.com. I will be coordinating the launch of the blog project through the end of August and then the Street News Service intern at INSP will be taking over, so the contact after that point will likely be sns@street-papers.org.

Tagged as: Erin Anderson, INSP blog project