Ross Sheil

An American, a Brit and a Jamaican are all given the same task to do…

American
'Can I start now?' Done with time to spare.

British
'Not possible mate.' Gets it done, grudgingly.

Jamaican
'No problem, leave it with me!' Half done by deadline.

CARIMAC have agreed to adjust the rates of my Writing for the Web workshop. New prices are as follows: $25,000 per person (discounted from $35,000) and $20,000 per person for groups (min. 3 persons).

Have so far received significant interest in the course. Most of all we've had some early registrants! However, some bloggers expressed their concern about being priced out, which I passed onto CARIMAC.

So, individuals can now register as for the reduced price, which is $10,000 less than before; or they can save a further $5,000 by registering as a group of three or more.

The workshop content is a daily work in progress, as I try to keep the information as relevant and current as possible. I'll blog more details about the workshop next week: editorial voice/style, website usability, changing reading habits etc.

Click here to register online via CARIMAC
Contact me: ross.sheil@yahoo.com

Nowadays in Jamaica, it seems everyone is talking about social media, apps, iPads etc. Yet, how can we actually make sense of these tools as journalists and marketers?

Answering this question is the purpose of a workshop I've been asked to conduct at Carimac, UWI's media training centre here in Kingston. The 2 day course, to be held on the weekend of June 23-24 will represent a decade of research and practical experience on my part.

A lot of content – including most recent/relevant examples – to condense into just two days!

Course description: "This workshop seeks to equip participants with the tools to reach and interact with audiences online – via writing content for the web: whether for editorial, communication, marketing and/or commercial purposes. Areas covered will include recent web trends/behaviours affecting how people consume web content – as well as the practical steps needed to seize these opportunities at the individual and institutional levels. Technology, different platforms (e.g. mobile), social media and other forms of web content such as video will also be key."

Click here to register online via CARIMAC
Contact me: ross.sheil@yahoo.com

Big Black Barry, himself familiar with West Kingston, yesterday blogged an interview with New York writer Mattathias Schwartz, who wrote the lengthy New Yorker magazine expose about the aftermath of the Tivoli Gardens incursion that left more than 70 people dead. About how life in Jamaica has been cheapened and how we in the media could have done a better job. If you read anything today it might as well be this: Death, Lies and Videotape Part 1 and Part II

Okay we've known about it for a while, but those outside of the Caribbean, they can get a feel from this article of the growing influence of China in Jamaica and the region. Increasingly people here are looking for business links not in the United States but in the world's most populous country instead. My former Gleaner/Observer colleague Camillo Thame contributed reporting to this article from here in Kingston.

"Chinese workers watched television in the cafeteria after a shift on the Baha Mar construction site. Unlike in Africa, South America and other parts of the world where China’s forays are largely driven by a search for commodities, its presence in the Caribbean derives mainly from long-term economic ventures, like tourism and loans, and potential new allies that are relatively inexpensive to win over, analysts say."

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/08/world/americas/us-alert-as-chinas-cash-buys-inroads-in-caribbean.html