I’ve been bouncing off the walls since I got the official word, and now I can finally broadcast it in every medium: I’ve been accepted into the first class of this year’s Progressive Women’s Voices program! Here’s a brief description of this killer training that I’ll be receiving:
We are "changing the conversation" by making sure that there are plenty of qualified, authoritative, progressive women experts available to editors, reporters, producers, and bookers. For the women chosen to participate in our 2009 Progressive Women's Voices program, we provide intense media training sessions in New York, with weekly follow-up briefings and continued training, as well as support and resources for media bookings.
Not only am I thrilled to be participating myself, but I’m especially excited to work with amazing classmates — Rinku Sen, Jehmu Greene, hello! — and almuni of the program (Carmen, Courtney, I’m lookin’ at you…). Thanks to the Women’s Media Center for giving us all this fabulous program.
A while back some folks I occasionally associate with had an idea to distribute the news we would actually want to read. I was full up on extra-curricular activities, so I didn’t get involved, other than to say I’d help get the word out when it happened.
Then on Saturday evening, I was headed into the city to see Hamell on Trial (excellent show, highly recommended), and I ran into one of the conspirators on the train. “Check out today’s Times,” he said gleefully. “Can you believe this?” I couldn’t. All this good news. Seriously? I took it all in, hook line and sinker. War over? Friedman resigns? Maximum wage? Huh? There was a spring in my step for sure.
Later that night, I was, shall we say, a wee tipsy, trying to explain what I’d read to my friends. “No, seriously, I read it in the friggin’ Times, you guys, Harvard is closing its business school! I swear to God!”
Slowly, pieces started floating together in my addled brain. This was the project I’d vaguely heard about, come to fruition. Brilliant. I was on the distribution crew this morning, and I can’t say I’ve had a better time early in the morning at Rockefeller Center. The looks on folks’ faces were just priceless.
I’m super excited to announce that my new segment on GRITtv with Laura Flanders has launched! I’ll be doing regular segments featuring all things tech: politics (like episode 1, here), life hacks, sanity checks, gadget giddiness, you name it. Have suggestions or hot tips? Send them to blog AT deannazandt.com!
Shameless self-promotion, because I’m honored to be included in an article with so many stellar women of the media world — check out Adele Stan’s fantastic writeup on women making media: Thanks, We’ll Make Our Own Media.
A crazy time here in Deannaland. I was in Cambridge this past weekend for the annual Best-Conference-Ever: Women, Action and the Media. I did double-presentation duty once again, sitting on Jenn Pozner’s panel about women, feminism and blogging, and then did my workshop on “Empowering Online Communities.” (See the presentation and the followup materials here.)
I was interviewed for an article about the Internet and the campaign season for LinuxInsider:
“A lot of little folks are being empowered with tools and communications in ways that were previously unavailable,” Zandt told LinuxInsider.
This, she said, is “a huge paradigm shift, from a small number of people controlling communications to everyone having the power to communicate with everyone else.”
Jason Alexander was emceeing a gala at a conference I was attending. After a friend snuck me into the VIP reception room right before the show started, I turned around to find myself standing next to him. He was nothing at all like any of the personalities I'd seen him play. (Remember the smarmy best friend in Pretty Woman? I sure do.) No, instead, he radiated this unexpected aura of hip, friendly, and-yet-you-see-me-ten-times-a-day-now-on-TV celebrity.
Last night, I went to go see the Nader film (I wrote a review for AlterNet this morning, too)… before the film started, I went to get some popcorn and all that. The guy behind the counter said, “Who’s next?” Just as I was starting to place my order, somebody next to me leaned in and ordered two Cokes.
I was about to get all righteous and indignant, but then I saw it was Phil Donahue. I grew up watching Phil Donahue on days I stayed home sick from school, watching him bound up those stairs with that microphone, and here he was, cutting me in the popcorn line. What does one do about this? Me, I stood there with my mouth agape, confused. Do you elbow Phil Donahue? Do you tell Phil Donahue that he cut you? Do you care that much about getting your popcorn in a timely fashion?
Me being me, I just started laughing. Luckily, another guy was behind the counter and took my order pretty much right after that.
Last night, I went to go see the Nader film (I wrote 
