Phillip Smith

Community Bandwidth is back in Toronto. April 2010 update.

Yes, it's true: after a one-year adventure and exploration of living and working in South America, we are back in Canada (more specifically, Toronto). So, now that we've had a chance to settle in and surprise a few friends here and there, I thought I should probably post an "official" update.

On the Community Bandwidth side of life, I'm excited to be able to continue my work with a number of passionate independent publishers and progressive media organizations. More than ever, I believe that "media activism is the new environmental movement." Watching the issues that I feel passionate about ignored by mainstream press is frustrating -- but I jump out of bed every morning with the knowledge that the global media ecosystem is in a period of massive change and there is much work to be done toward reshaping it.

On the personal side of life, its amazing to re-connect with our community in Toronto and to be close to family and friends again. Their excitement at having us back is like rocket fuel (the environmentally-friendly and sustainable kind, of course!).

When we set out for South America, I tried to keep the list of ambitions small: catch my breath and reflect on five seven (!) years of hard work running Community Bandwidth, spend some time planning for this year, make new friends in South America, put some volunteer hours into open-source projects, and -- most importantly -- to scheme with colleagues in the media reform movement.

I'm happy to report that they were all achieved and I had fun in the process of working on them; not to mention the enjoyment of learning a new language (Spanish) and finding my way to the gym more frequently that I ever had in the past. All-in-all, it was a life-changing experience that I would highly recommend to others.

That's it for today. Keep your eyes and ears out for some exciting news regarding changes and new services at Community Bandwidth: take a moment to subscribe to e-mail updates (bottom right-hand of the page), or to connect on LinkedIn, Twitter, or Facebook.

About

Hi, I'm Phillip Smith, a veteran digital publishing consultant, online advocacy specialist, and strategic convener. If you enjoyed reading this, find me on Twitter and I'll keep you updated.

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