#94: 1 March 2010
FROM THE EDITOR
Ailsa Wylie, English Editor
newsletter@…
Spring is in the air! After the coldest February I can recall since coming to Japan almost 11 years ago, temperatures are finally getting into double-digits during the daytime.
Did you watch the Olympics? I confess that I didn’t watch anything but the opening ceremony, but I did download an iPhone app from CTV (the Canadian TV network with the broadcast rights to these Olympics) which I could check for updates. I also used the New York Times and BBC apps for Olympic and other news.
Every time iPhone users are together, we just can’t resist comparing apps. I just counted 84 on my phone! I confess that some of them are not well-used (yet?), such as the three different money-management apps! But I have found some TangoTown apps for studying kanji for the various levels of the Japanese Language Proficiency Test. (I failed level 1 again, if anyone’s keeping track.) And there are a few others which are aimed at native speakers but useful for students of the language at the intermediate level and up. If you’re hungry, Gurunabi and Cookpad are two useful Japanese sites with equally useful apps for finding a restaurant and planning a meal respectively. And I’ve just downloaded the Nike Training Club app, aimed at women who want a training program to help them get in shape – you can connect with your friends and share your journey!
As Cathy mentions below, DEJ is now on Facebook and Twitter. A Twitter app can help you follow us on your phone too!
ROTA LEADER REPORT
Misao Kajiro, Rota Leader for March
leader@…
First of all, DigitalEve Japan celebrated its 9th Anniversary in February. I would like to thank all members who have supported DEJ over the years, especially to the volunteers who have contributed their time and skills to the group. DEJ was and is not anything without their efforts.
Next year, the Steering Committee is planning a digital art competition to celebrate our 10th Anniversary. It seems to be an opportune time to encourage and cultivate up-and-coming DEJ members. We made a new team for the big event and need some staff who can lead this event. If you are working in graphic design or video editing, or are familiar with digital art creation, please give us your thoughts. The theme, judges, prizes and sponsors will be discussed at the mailing list soon.
Just when we thought we had started the New Year, spring is almost upon us. The cherry blossom is a symbol of spring’s arrival in Japan and “Hanami” is a seasonal event of DEJ. The next Meet the DEvas will be held at “Shitamachi” (downtown near Sumida river) viewing Sakura and enjoying local foods. Details will be coming soon to the mailing list.
MEMBERSHIP TEAM NEWS
Misao Kajiro, Membership Coordinator
membership@…
Total membership was 351 as of the 26th of February.
As I see it, digital trends such as Twitter, YouTube, Ustream or Spider, which may be changing the way we watch TV, will be making a big impact upon our future style of communication. I am strongly interested in the possibilities of these new forms of communication, though it is hard to keep track of today’s rapidly transforming technologies.
EVENT TEAM NEWS
Waki Kawamoto, Event Coordinator
events@…
First of all, sorry everyone for cancelling the event on the 24th. One of my client’s executives passed away and I had to go to his funeral that night. In Japan, March is the month to say goodbye; it is the end of the fiscal year and school year. Although this is not the reason, I am leaving my company myself and starting a new job in April. Since this is my first job hop for me, I have no idea how to prepare… So, if you have any advice, please let me know 
The MTD will be held as a Hanami though we should follow the weather reports, so please look for an announcement to the list. We will let you know the dates shortly!
WEB TEAM NEWS
Cathy Cox, Web Content Coordinator
web@…
The new DEJ website is now live!! Many thanks to Clare for her expertise, and a special thanks to Angelica for setting up the Wordpress template and taking the final, scary steps to bring the new site out from hiding!! Please check it out!!
Also this month, we set up a DEJ profile on Facebook (as “DigitalEve Japan”) and Twitter (@digitalevejapan). Although we haven’t had much activity in these areas yet, we hope to realize their full potential in the coming months. Even if you don’t have a Twitter account, you can follow the DEJ Twitter Feed on our website, where our most recent tweets are automatically posted.
As always, if you have any content (graphics, text, etc.) that you’d like to contribute to the website, please let us know!!
MEDIA TEAM NEWS
Chiharu Kawai, Media Coordinator
International Women’s Day event – March 8th
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Spring is around the corner. I hope this finds you well. As I briefly mentioned last month, there is a music/talent event organized by a local Australian singer/song writer, Sorcha, at the Pink Cow in Shibuya on Monday, March 8, 2010 to celebrate International Women’s Day. As media coordinator I have participated in such events in the past handing out DEJ postcards and flyers. This year I am singing and playing a few blues songs and also will be promoting DEJ there. For details about the event, please see the following link: http://www.sorchamusic.com/ I will also send out a separate announcement.
This is a charity event for Polaris Project Japan
If you have time, please come join the event!
SUBMISSIONS TO THE NEWSLETTER
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Editors (E to J) who can help in publishing this newsletter.
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The Digital Digest is brought to you by the Newsletter Team:
Koko Iwata, Yoko Kawabe, Angelica Lim, and Ailsa Wylie.