******* TOTO Challenge #2 ******* Create video on technology and poverty

Below is ActionAid’s second challenge to the Project TOTO nominee shortlist. Nominees have until Monday, 14 December 2009 to complete the challenge.

Instructions:

Create a 60-second video blog on role of technology in fighting poverty

This challenge is testing your ability to use video blogging as a medium, but also your creativity and understanding of the issues. We are not seeking a polished production here, just an example of your ability to pull together an interesting video blog in a short period of time.

Address the following question in your video blog:

“How can technology be used to help the fight against poverty?”

You don’t have to talk specifically about social media or even the internet. You might talk about mobile phone use in Africa or water filtration systems in Asia. Or you might have your own futuristic idea of how technology might be used to combat poverty in years to come.

Minimum blog requirements:

Your video blog must:

-          address the above question

-          be no more than 60 seconds

Above and beyond these minimum requirements you’re free to do whatever you want – whether it be talking direct to your webcam, or using a photo slideshow with voiceover, using animation or something filmed ‘on location’ – or a combination of all of these.

IMPORTANT: Do not use material that infringes copyright (including music). For more information, check out YouTube’s copyright FAQ page: http://www.youtube.com/t/howto_copyright

Submitting your video:

All videos need to be uploaded to YouTube either through ActionAid Australia’s YouTube account or your own.

If you have your own YouTube account:

-          upload your video to your personal account

-          visit: http://www.youtube.com/group/ProjectTOTO

-          submit your video to the Project TOTO group

If you don’t have your own YouTube account (and don’t want to create one):

-          Your video must be less than 1GB and be in one of the following formats:

-        MPEG (preferably MPEG-4)

-        AVI

-        MOV

-        WMV

-          Submit your video to ActionAid Australia in one of the following ways:

-       Use TransferBigFiles (free, no signup) or similar file transfer service

-       Drop it off in person at 69-71 Parramatta Road, Camperdown NSW 2050

-       Or send it via snail mail to Locked Bag 5515 Camperdown NSW 1450

-          Your video will then be uploaded to ActionAid Australia’s YouTube account

For help with uploading your video, or to suggest alternative methods, write a comment on this post.

Your video blog will be judged based on the following criteria:

- Quality of content: Does the video blog provide interesting ideas or examples of how technology can be used in the fight against poverty?

- Entertainment value: Is the video blog entertaining to watch? It doesn’t have to be funny or heavy on special effects, but it does need to be engaging enough that people would watch the video from beginning to end – and potentially pass it on to friends to watch.

- Video views and star ratings: How many people watch the video and how popular is it? This is both a test of the quality of the video (a more interesting video will be more popular) and your ability to distribute content to people who are interested (seeded in the right networks, the video will get more views).

UPDATE: Check out the responses to this challenge >>>