Activated: The Future of Content

We talk to the guys from Common House in Richmond, Virginia.

On this episode of Activated, Maps (@mapsglover) and Jamon (@jgyszn) stop by to walk down memory lane and discuss our favorite content from our youth. Room Raiders, Next, Cribs, Video Games and Movies, we covered how what we took in as kids, influenced our output and understanding of technology today. The Future of Content, forreal.

On this episode of Activated we chat with Marshall Pollard, a community leader and educator who is putting our students, our kings and queens, in the driver's seat of their own education and in turn building a new generation of leaders and creators. We dig deep on the education system, community wellness and building a learning infrastructure through empathy and creativity.

On this episode of Activated, we sat down with Jessica Tunon founder of NetWalking. The authentic conversation centered around the theme of her innovative approach to networking through hosting walks throughout the city. We chatted building genuine professional relationships and how to truly get to know someone in a more natural way. With a few laughs and sharing of similar experiences, Jessica brought an original take on the concept of networking.

Baka and Moss sit with Elliott and Jahi from Soul Mega Brewing to discuss their journey to craft brewing and how they use content and experiential marketing to spread the word and build partnerships in the DC hospitality community. Tap in at soulmegadc.com to learn more and follow them on social media at @soulmegadc to keep up with their happenings.  

We caught up with the incredibly talented performance artist & creator Ophelia Jacarini to talk inspiration, creative process and the pillars that support artist expression - the heart, mind, and gut. ⁣⁣⁣ ⁣⁣⁣ Ophelia is a French artist based in Hong Kong whose work explores movement through different mediums, primarily fabric and textile. Her recent installation called Bejart, inspired by a French choreography is currently on display at the Eaton Workshop DC

@fatifilm and @ogbaka_ caught up with the multitalented #DMV artist Jordan Barre to talk artistic purpose, spirituality in creativity, and how she manifests her visual narratives. Jordan is a painter, artist, writer and current resident creative at @eaton.dc. Her work encourages reflection on the cultural and social narratives that require healing in our modern society.

This week on the #Activated podcast we introduce our new creative director Fatima Syed (@fatifilm) and dive into her creative journey as a documentary photographer and visual storyteller.⁣⁣ ⁣⁣

Welcome to episode numero dos of Mary’s Center’s #TasteofAdMo miniseries. Today, we have a roundtable conversation with two participating Taste of AdMo restaurants creating super groovy spaces, cookin’ up some bomb cuisine, and collaborating with the local community to build a more welcoming, accessible AdMo familia. Here with me is Alisa Dan, Brand Manager from Pitango Gelato, a father-daughter operated gelato and Italian eatery that prides itself on providing simple, natural flavors And Dave Delaplaine, General Manager at Roofers Union, a champion for local beer offering classic American fare. Like the tunes? Your hearing Sidewalk Jazz by our good friend Complex Music. Find more on Soundcloud and on IG at @cmplexmuzik!

Ask anyone about Adams Morgan. We guarantee that 50% of the time you’ll get responses about the nightlife. The music, raunchiness, and drunken charades of power-hour enthused twenty something year olds. When asked about the food scene – newcomers and college students alike will rave about the grease-streaked slices of jumbo slice. But, Adams Morgan is more. It’s vibrant, dynamic, and ever-changing. It’s a cocktail rich in neighborly love. Representing DC’s past, present, and future, while reflecting the exploding diversity across the region. How did we get here? Well, we’ll find out through this exclusive #TasteofAdMo miniseries. I will say though, within these handful of blocks there are eclectic individuals, beloved community institutions, and incredible restaurants with dishes that shattered DC’s segregated restaurant scene and defied the notion that Washington was ever a “culinary backwater.” On today’s episode, we’ll learn about one restaurant at the forefront of DC’s pupusa fever. A representation of the city’s Latino diaspora, El Tamarindo has been a cornerstone of the AdMo community for over 35 years. Family owned, this super funky restaurante not only has incredible food, but a story that shows us what it means to achieve your own American Dream. So, “Wepa!” Without further ado, let’s listen to my conversation about familia, cultura, and comida with El Tamarindo’s owner, Ana Reyes. Like the music on today's podcast? De Mi Tierra by Cindy Zavala aka Salvadoreina. She is an incredible Cumbia-Hip Hop Entertainer and a good friend of Mary's Center and Taste of Adam's Morgan.

There’s a lot that goes into us and who we are that shapes the things we do today. As kids we are sponges to everything around us. Each conversation, Each interaction - are seeds planted within us that grow into the acts that we take and become known by. Our guest today has done something interesting with that idea. Lafayette Barnes is in all ways a child of the culture. As the heir to the Washington Informer platform he is taking an important step to make sure that the voices of our past and our lessons learned are not lost on millennial audiences but also pushing forward the new ideas of black culture, creativity and politics in DC today. When you are apart of a family owned business you have no choice but to lend your eyes and ears to progressing your family. Today we’re gonna speak to a man who sees his community’s voice as that family owned business and now uses the skills and ideas learned to push the culture forward.

For 20 years, CulturalDC has been making space for art. That means physical places like galleries, theaters and affordable housing for artists. But it also means we make space in the conversation. Podcasting is an exciting way to have those conversations and make our work and artistic programs accessible to a broader audience. We look forward to sharing insights from some of our key collaborators with you. Our first episode features a conversation between CulturalDC’s Executive Director Kristi Maiselman and critically acclaimed artist Jennifer Rubell about the exhibit you’ve probably heard of: Ivanka Vacuuming. A Q&A portion with the live audience follows. CulturalDC, as part of its 20th Anniversary Season presented this limited engagement performance art piece in early February 2019. Inspired by a figure whose public persona incorporates an almost comically wide range of feminine identities – daughter, wife, mother, sister, model, working woman, blonde – Ivanka Vacuuming was simultaneously a visual celebration of a contemporary feminine icon; a portrait of our own relationship to that figure; and a questioning of our complicity in her role-playing. Jennifer Rubell is an American conceptual artist whose work centers on the viewer’s physical interaction with the object. Her practice has long focused on the relationship between femininity and feminism, bridging the domestic and the monumental to create work of enormous visual power and poetry. She works in a wide variety of participatory mediums ranging from interactive sculpture, painting and video to food performance. Rubell received a B.A. from Harvard University in Fine Arts. She lives and works in New York City. Kristi brings over 15 years of experience in nonprofit and for-profit arts organizations including the Corcoran College of Art and Design, Rubell Family Collection, Conner Smith, Hamiltonian Artists and the National Gallery of Art. Maiselman received her BFA in Photography from James Madison University and her MA in Arts Management from American University. She lives in Shaw with her husband and daughter.

Activated is a podcast on the future of content and technology’s role in leading the creative spirit. As two creative entrepreneurs that run a digital production company called Caandor Labs - were fascinated by the growth of DC’s creative economy and the rapidly changing world of digital media. We wanted to start conversations with influential creative minds to better understand how they interact with new media, technologies and ideas that will revolutionize the way we engage with the future of content.