Dear all,

As you know (i guess) there will be a group of bloggers participating in the 1st arab youth forum (ُEgypt 19-22 Nov), and this is the first time bloggers are recognized officially as a category of youth participating individually.

This group of bloggers will prepare some material (brochures, presentations…) to introduce blogging culture to the others participants/guests/visitors/potential partners, and since we want the biggest number possible to take part in the process, i here ask you to contribute in the content of the brochure by writing down what comes to your mind when you hear : “blog”,”blogging”,”blogger” ? how do you define a blog ? what is a blogging campaign? how do you concept the blogging culture? why you started blogging? what are your aims by blogging? do you recommend some links/addresses of blogs you think reflect the blogging spirit? what is the position in your mind of a blogger in civil/cyber society today ? …
These are only guidelines and you are free to say what you want (even one sentence, one word, one link, one picture,…) express yourself !! Practice your expression right !! Make your voice heard !! Don’t be shy !! You are doing it for the community !!
Thanks in advance.

أصدقائي المدونين,
كما تعلمون, هنالك مجموعة من المدونين سوف تشارك في المنتدى الأول للشباب (العين السخنة 19-22 نوفمبر 2007), و هذه هي المرة الأولى التي يعتبر فيها المدونون فئة مستقلة و يعترف بالتدوين كشكل من أشكال المشاركة الفردية.

هذا الفريق الشاب المشارك سوف يقدم بعض المواد للمشاركين الاخرين / الضيوف / زوار / الشركاء المحتملين (نشرات ، عروض…) للتعريف بثقافة التدوين، وبما اننا نريد اكبر عدد ممكن ان يشارك في هذا العمل، فالرجاء منكم المساهمة في مضمون الكتيب عن طريق كتابة أول ما يأتي بذهنكم عندما تسمعون : “مدونه”، “تدوين”، “مدون”؟ كيف تستطيع أن تعرف المدونة؟ ما هي حملات التدوين؟ ما مفهوم ثقافة التدوين؟ لماذا بدأت التدوين؟ ما هي أهداف مدونتك ؟ هل توصي ببعض الوصلات / العناوين لمدونات تعتقد انها تعكس روح التدوين؟ حسب رأيك, أين المدونون اليوم في المجتمع المدني؟ …

هذه ليست سوى تساؤلات توجيهية والحرية المطلقة في قول ما تريدون (جملة واحدة ، كلمة واحدة ، وصلة واحدة ، صورة ،…) عبر عن نفسك! ! مارس حق التعبير ! ! أسمع صوتك! ! شارك! !

جزيل الشكر مسبقا

It is with joy and pride that i announce to you the inauguration of this portal : www.arab-youth-bloggers.net (thanks Esra’a for everything, without your help it wouldn’t be possible), it aims to be the meeting point for youth arab youth bloggers, but the priority for now is the LAS Youth Forum.

The number of bloggers who applied is still low and we need to know why? As I said before, this event is the first of its kind and bloggers need to be properly represented in this manifestation.

The site has been created to clear up the ambiguous points in the forum, so please let me know about the things you don’t understand or u see unclear to help me write in the right topics.

And take part in the crew of the site ! If you have any interesting comments for the forum organizers or for our friends who take part in it, don’t hesitate to send them, or apply to be an author…

Regards

Amin (webmaster)

PS: promote it by posting something about it on your blog please! It is for the good of everyone!

First of all, for the ones who will comment about the inefficiency of the arab league and all this stuff, please spare me this, everyone is agreeing with this, it is true that it isn’t the best body in the arab world…

I see this forum as a great and brand new move in their policies, it is the first concrete step in favor of youth, and on the way of empowering them.. I am optimistic about it, especially because this is fully organized independently of the heads, and because there will be some serious and considered organizations like the UNDP, the UNFPA, EUROMED, and the this Swedish famous organization (i can’t remember its name !!).

The spirit of the forum itself is very unusual in the region : It is largely inspired from the Social Forums concept, that means that the organizers will define the fields of work, and the participants will choose the specified topics, will organize their methodology, set their agenda, and integrate their outcome in the final report, booklets…

http://www.lasyouthforum.org/index.php

There will be an independent group of bloggers (other groups exist like youth artists, youth activists, youth journalists,… and i will detail each of the groups in the next posts, but let me enhance the bloggers first), due to the enormous phenomenon of blogs and the place they took within the interests/habits of youth, and there will be of course interactions between the several groups…

Personally i followed the project since it was an idea, and i have to assure that i am very enthusiastic about it and i wont miss it for anything in the world !! Miss a chance of meeting some of the best young people in the region, miss the chance of having great discussions about yesterday, today, and tomorrow, the chance of changing things, and the chance of spending all paid 4 days on the beach lool !!

Seriously go have a look on the website (also in english), and apply if you’re interested…

To be continued…

I really don’t find the words! This is how we promote tolerance, peace, inter-faith, build a democracy: by well educating the future generation …

EDUCATING??? Pleeeease! This is just pure bleeding brainwashing!!

Napoléon Bonaparte (during occupying Egypt & after his conversion to islam)

To be continued…

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To apply for the fellowship, complete the Poynter application: http://www.poynter.org/seminar/2007_application.pdf and send in your application to:

AAJA/Poynter Institute Fellowship

Asian American Journalists Association

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AAJA is also highlighting a Poynter seminar for ethnic media journalists. The Poynter Institute is providing the tuition for free, which includes hotel costs, and assistance with travel costs will be also be provided.

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Poynter Deadline: September 5, 2007

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