We are happy that people enjoyed watching Barb and I dance (our dance is the Lindy Hop but we love and admire all social dancing and dance in general) at the Northern Voice 2009 opening party at Federico's. It's always for us been about having fun with whoever we are dancing with and the music; not the steps.  People ask us how we did it or they wistfully say, I'd love to do it but can't because I don't have a partner or my partner won't dance with me or I don't have time or ...

Well this blog post is to say "YES YOU CAN"!

You don't have to be musical and you don't have to be a natural born dancer. You just have to practise practise practise practise.

The Lindy hop basic step ("the swingout") is difficult. It took us two series of dance lessons and social dancing with each other and lots of other people for six months two to three times a week to "get it". Which is to say 75-100 hours.

Then before the kid was born we danced twice a week, took more dance classes went to two Lindy Hop week long dance Camps (Swingout northwest 2000 and 2002) and so after about 1000 hours we are where we are at today. Able to dance with any Lindy Hop Dancer socially. Aware of the imperfections in our technique but having fun with the music and the dance on the rare occasions when we do get out. And all of this without either of us being dancers or having been dancers in our youth (which would obviously accelerate the process a wee bit although I think Barb's musicality and my obsession with swing music and Duke Ellington's music helped a bit).

So what are you waiting for? Find the time, and get out there and dance :-) ! Or develop software or fix bicycle flats or whatever you REALLY want to do that you have been puting off! Just make the time and do it! (And thanks to our awesome swing and Lindy Hop teachers: Graeme and Lisa and Elizabeth,  Tyler and Viva, JoJo, Toby and Tanya, and so many others! And thanks to those who we've had the pleasure of dancing with over the years!)

Really stoked to be co-presenting VideoBlogging 101 with Jordan Behan and "pro-video Lab-with-Leo and man about town" Warren Frey, as part of the almost sold out Northern Voice 2008's MooseCamp (specifically Internet BootCamp, the only pre-scheduled part of MooseCamp) on Friday February 22, 2008 at UBC. Goal: get people motivated to try videoblogging. Got questions or stuff you want covered? Please add them to our Videoblogging 101 wiki page by editing the page (or email me roland AT rolandtanglao.com).

Meet Jordan and Warren on Qik.com video after the jump:

I really believe this was the best Northern Voice ever. Why? The people ! The right mix of people! People of all "skill levels" with something to contribute. A diverse set of people with diverse skill sets. And a willingness to learn and humility from everybody (local or not, famous or not and we had plenty of famous and expert locals and famous and expert out of town people) to learn from each other.

UPDATE: For those who are academically "challenged" like myself, you  don't need high grades in school or anything academic like that. It's all about contributions, need, a high quality  blog post, video blog or podcast and diversity!

According to dictionary.com, bursary is "British English"! Is this true? For those who are British English challenged, a bursary is the same as a scholarship. We've received several interesting applications already! Apply today and see you in February!

From Get a Travel Bursary for Northern Voice | Northern Voice 2007:

QUOTE

This year Northern Voice is offering six travel bursaries of CAN $500 each. The organizing committee will be awarding these bursaries based on a number of criteria, including:

* The contributions you can make to the conference
* Your level of need
* The quality of your submission
* The diversity you might bring to Northern Voice

We’ll announce the recipients of the bursaries on February 2nd, 2007. The bursaries will be paid out via cheque mailed out to recipients or picked up on the day of the conference.

To apply, write a blog post, or record a podcast or video blog post describing why you want to come to Northern Voice. Then submit it via our travel bursaries page.

UNQUOTE

Some great news about Northern Voice 2007 (which I am one of the organizers of):

1. Speaker Submissions: The Deadline has been extended to December 1st as Lauren wrote. You don't have to be famous or a professional conference presenter: we're looking for both fresh and experienced voices who wish to present or chair a panel on topics related to the blog-o-sphere, videoblogging, podcasting, virtual worlds like Second life, the two way web/read write web/web 2.0, blogging 101, podcasting 101, etc. It's all about the abstract. If it's well written and topical, your chances will be much higher. Submit today!
2. Registration is open now! Pre-register and save $10. That's right it's only $30 for a single day and $50 for both days as opposed to $40 for one day and $60 for both days at the door. I bet we'll sell out like last year so pre-registration is recommended. Register now!