Good day to all,

As of late, our design firm is working through a number of concepts for HOPEthiopia's marketing start.  We completed the first phase of their website in great time and are now faced with the challenge of developing a strong presence to catch the organization some attention.  With this said, our focus is going to be on a series of viral campaigns & guerilla marketing tactics.

HOPEthiopia.com Home Page

With HOPEthiopia's project scope spanning 4 main dimensions (Agriculture, Reforestation, Community Building, and Peace Gardens) we need a different angles for each unique section.  At the moment we have 7 out of 13 campaigns planned out but our imagination needs a little help getting to where we need to go.

If you are a graphics designer, musician, animator, videographer, or immerse yourself in anything related to digital creation and are interested in volunteering to help this brilliant cause please contact us for a briefing and discussion on what we need brought to the table.

Kindly,

Kevin Dubienski
 

The past week and a half has felt like Patrick Stewart ordered a warp speed on my life.  Work has been plentiful, which I'm ever so grateful for in this time of economic grief and my trip to Ethiopia has now been confirmed!  I'll be jetting out of Calgary, AB, Canada on April 25th with my backpacks and as many electronic toys as I can carry to ensure I have a portable production studio.

A couple days will be spend in London, England where Dad and I will get a chance to catch up with his mother (my grandmother).  After what I hope is a couple days filled with art, theatre and great conversation, we'll be off to Uganda to visit the Watoto project.  Here I will be working my hardest to comprehend the vastness of the Watoto project in our short 27 hour stop.  This will be key as many communal aspects of HOPEthiopia can be learned from projects like Watoto.

Finally our time of focus will arrive once we land in Ethiopia.  Throughout Dad's and my short 12 days spent in Ethiopia, I hope to capture over 40 hours of video for a chronicle style documentary we have in planning, capture thousands of images for any promotional effort, make friends, learn about the culture, serve the locals, meet with Ethiopian officials and the list goes on.

It’s finally Spring and Calgary, AB just got another dump of snow.  I think we’re in for a few more chilly days.  Work keeps me inside most days so I’ll plan for slippers and my cozies for the next little bit.

Last week my Dad (Co-Founder of HOPEthiopia), Dr. Ralph Dubienski, invited me to accompany his team for an adventure to Ethiopia.  The nature of our stay will be specific to each individual, though all-working on HOPEthiopia’s behalf.  Eekona (a joint-venture web design firm I help run) has been volunteering its services to work the publicity side of things, so I will be going there to do some major learning.


With any luck I will have the opportunity to take some well-needed photographs, shoot some video for a potential future documentary and deeply study the nation.  I would love to come home with a more educated perspective of Ethiopia to better serve the both the nation and HOPEthiopia.

For now I should get back to my swing of things so take care and I’ll talk with you soon.

Kevin Dubienski

It was mid February and if you're from Calgary, AB it is well known that this is the month to buckle up for some cold weather or get the heck away from the city.  I chose the later of the two.  On February 15, 2009 my fiance (Bekah) and I jumped on a plane and started heading south.  Destination: Tobago.

This is not my families/Bekah's first adventure to Tobago, but it was for a few others on our team.  A young accounting student (Mel) came with us to bring cheer through her spirit.  Paul (one of the most sincere and gentle men you could find) tagged along along with his 96 year old great Aunt who everyone called Aunt Olive.  With a team of this diversity, we decided to all bring our own skills to pass on to the people of Tobago.

From the second time going down to Tobago (2007), it was brought to my attention there is a huge demand for teaching on the integration of technology into the every day life plus some small business guidance on the side.  This time I prepared lectures on how to develop a basic website along with maintaining it so locals could have a fair chance at self-promotion in any way of their life.

My first lecture was held in the local church where people from the entire island came to learn the ways of the web.  I was really suprised at both the turn out of people and laptops.  As we pressed through technical difficulty after technical difficulty lots of faces started to light up.  By the end of the lecture I had music artists, church elders, company representatives and more approaching me to share their dreams, wanting to explore how to make them happen.

The next morning was an early start so we could make it to Bishop's High School (the top ranking High School in Tobago).  Here I was thrown into a lecture theater and again going to teach how to develop a basic site.  Again the staff and students seemed to receive the information very well and also give some great feedback at the end.  I was able to answer some very specific questions for both the Bishop's High School leaders and Students.

Throughout the remainder of our week stay, people I had taught periodically dropped by the beach house we were staying at to delve a little deeper into this whole Internet thing.  Brushing through more complex ideas was much more simple in a one-on-one setting.

Now I'm back in freezing cold Calgary, with these pleasant stories a only memories.  To continue my effort, the next step will be creating an online portal to foster the connections I made related to my recent online teachings.  As soon as there is something of value to show, I will post a link for anyone who is interested.  Feedback is much-appreciated as well!

If you happen to be a web designer, programmer, IT dude, etc. and are interested in ways to give back, drop me a line and I'd love to chat.

Until then, its back to work with eekona and I'm excited to see where the future will take me.

Bye for now,

Kevin Dubienski