Harlem Stage at 30. Weaving together Harlem’s past, present and future.

I recently took a meeting with Harlem Stage around the planning for their 30th anniversary.

Harlem Stage has been one of the nation’s leading arts organizations devoted to the creation and development of new works by performing artists of color.

And they’re a fixture for the artistic community in Harlem.

According to their website,

Harlem Stage is a performing arts center that celebrates and perpetuates the unique and diverse artistic legacy of Harlem and the indelible impression it has made on American culture. We provide opportunity, commissioning and support for artists of color, make performances accessible to all audiences, and introduce children to the rich diversity, excitement and inspiration of the performing arts.

Located on Convent Avenue at 135th street, Harlem Center is a diamond in the rough.

With programming in music, dance, theater, film (like Weightless showing March 14th), education, and family, Harlem Stage has something for everyone.

Rich Medina threw down at Harlem Stage!

Last year, Harlem Stage hosted Rich Medina, twice, bringing his unique music style uptown for Harlem residents and HS patrons to enjoy.

The meeting I took today, was about one of Harlem Stage’s current challenges: how to properly convert thirty years of content, photographs, videos, audio recordings, posters, brochures and flyers, and make that content accessible to staff and patrons alike.

With the 30th anniversary gala quickly approaching (May 21, 2012), Harlem Stage is rapidly moving into the digital age.

They’ve been gearing up to bring 30 years’ worth of archival content to life, making it’s rich history available for the masses, to search, share, and enjoy, in a dynamic and interactive form.

We’re one of a number of experts being asked to help Harlem Stage craft a solution to bring this project to fruition.

And we spent much of our meeting discussing the nuts and bolts around properly digitizing, tagging, preserving/storing, and distributing/sharing Harlem Stage’s voluminous archived content.

We also talked about the opportunities that exist for Harlem Stage to make optimal use of that content once it’s ripped and tagged.

Optimally, we’ve impressed the powers that be, and demonstrated that we know what we’re doing.

At the very least, I hope that we were able to expand their understanding of what’s possible.

I, for one, am excited about the potential of working with them, and I’ll definitely keep you posted on our progress!

iMentor Interactive: The New Face of Mentoring

I just completed an interview to become a mentor with iMentor Interactive.

iMentor is an organization whose mission is to improve the lives of high school students from under-served communities through evidence-based, technology-enabled mentoring.

iMentor Interactive uses technology, curriculum, and targeted support to create a new, more powerful mentoring model.

A few weeks ago, I sat through a training session with twelve other potential mentors, and my telephone interview today brought me one step closer to being a full-fledged mentor.

What makes iMentor unique, is its perspective on mentoring.

Rather than focus on the time mentors can’t give, iMentor developed a program that works around the time a mentor can give.

iMentor mentors commit to meeting their mentees in person at least once a month, and corresponding with their mentees via email, at least once a week.

iMentor envisions a nation in which all youth are connected to college-educated mentors who can provide the support and guidance they need to graduate from high school and succeed in college.

The iMentor Interactive model is so compelling that Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg announced during his State of the City address, that iMentor is partnering with 10 leading New York-based companies.

Each company will recruit 100 of their employees to serve as mentors for high school students in low-income communities.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation also recently gave the organization $500,000 to support iMentor’s programming.

I’m still in the vetting process (iMentor screens their mentors very carefully), but hopefully I’ll be matched with a mentor soon.

I signed up for a three year mentorship, which means that (if I’m matched) I’ll mentor a student from their sophomore or junior year of high school, through their senior of high school or freshman year of college.

If you’ve ever wanted to mentor, but never thought you could, definitely check iMentor out.