myG20 Protest Update

OOPS, shouldn't have gotten involved in this. In the time since the last update crowds have grown downtown.

One protest is against the current regime in Ethiopia and looks considerable.

Also, the protest march planned to start in Lawrencville started in Arsenal park, and was quite a bit bigger than it looked at first, It's now heading across the 40th Street bridge with plans to come into downtown across a bridge, I think.

Last tweet on MYg20 said "The Line Is Drawn".

The rest of the tweets are by paid city or foundation employees beating off over positive press articles.

G2O Art & Protest Update

First of all, this blog is not an up to date source of all G20 info. With that in mind, here are a few updates from the MYg20 twitter feed.

The unpermited march that implied it might be a violent attempt to disrupt the conference appears very very small.

The Mattress factory updated shots of the march by Burmese monks to protest the oppression in Burma which did reach the no-go perimeter downtown. This march I think made no direct reference to China.

A much more taboo gathering happened in Oakland, with a protest by Free Tibet demonstrators. Tibet is an absolutely off the table topic. Not only does the G20 include China,which considers Tibet a province, it also includes India, which has given sanctuary to the Dalai Lama and shares a militarised and disputed border with China. In 1962, a bitter border war was fought between the two countries resulting in the deaths of thousands.

Go to Myg20 for updates or follow tags like #myg20, #g20 #Pittsburgh on Twitter.

myG20

"A Crowd Curated guide to Pittsburgh"

So, what does that mean? Me, you, everyone is the "crowd". Instead of relying on the mayor, The Cultural Trust, The Tourist Office, The Post Gazette and a few interns at "approved institutions" paint a picture of Pittsburgh, we can play a part ourselves.

How does it work. OK, it took me a while to figure this out.

If your on Twitter

If you think your tweet is about Pittsburgh, Art, Culture, Food, Performances, life in Pittsburgh and you think it might be of interest to people during G20, tag your tweet with #myg20. Just put #myg20 at the end of your tweet.

For Flickr

Yes, it's even better. You can also share the images of happenings and things of interest during g20. Here's how

For Facebook

Yes, you can use Facebook too.

What happens next is that all this stuff tagged #Myg20 shows up on one site Myg20.org

"myG20 is a real-time, crowd-curated guide to Pittsburgh that will take place prior to and during the G20 Summit (September 24 + 25). It is a bottom-up response to the top-down flow of information that takes place around events of this magnitude. The objective of this project is to provide a platform for all people and parties – both on the ground here in Pittsburgh, as well as those looking in from afar – to share information in an efficient manner.

For approximately one week in September, millions of international eyes will focus on our region. And for good reasons. The health care and education sectors along with technology and green development have helped bring our city from an antiquated steel town to a 21st century force to be reckoned with.

Arts and culture in Pittsburgh are thriving. The arts community here is vibrant and impassioned. Our city's museums, artists, performers and performing arts organizations are second to none. They've played an integral role in the transformation of Pittsburgh as well.

So while the international eyes are upon us, tell them what makes Pittsburgh such a special place for you. Engage each other in a dialog about, "Why Pittsburgh?" Share your favorite hidden gem of a restaurant. Upload a photo of a piece of Pittsburgh architecture or public artwork that has made an impact on you. Share your most vivid Pittsburgh memory. Live tweet or photostream one of the many events taking place throughout the city."

MyG20 is a product of The Mattress Factory and Deep Local.