January 24, 2018

The Unedited StoryCorps Interview: Norma Mai Tsen Wang Braun & Dava Weinstein

Did you know that the stories you hear from us on NPR and our podcast are excerpts of interviews pulled from the StoryCorps Archive? Participants visit one of our recording locations with a friend or family member to record a 40-minute interview with the help of a trained StoryCorps Facilitator, or record a conversation using the StoryCorps App. We’re sharing this unedited interview from the StoryCorps Archive with you in its original form.

In October 2008, Norma Mai Tsen Wang Braun talked with her friend, Dava Weinstein, about what it was like to grow up in China during World War II, her family’s emigration to the United States, and her experiences as a child of mixed race parents. Their conversation was recorded at the StoryCorps’ Lower Manhattan StoryBooth in Foley Square.

Norma remembers always having to run during her childhood: “I remember my legs weren’t long enough to run fast enough.” She shares the story of Englishman in Hong Kong who took them in, remembering that “He allowed us to stay the whole week, which is the longest we’d stayed anywhere when we were running… And the day we left was the day he was interned by the Japanese, and we never saw him again.”

She tells Dava about wandering around markets as a young child and how one day, she came across a homeless woman suffocating her baby. The woman told her, “’I was able to sell my son, but no one wants a daughter, and I can’t watch her starve to death.’”

When Norma and her family moved to the United States, her and her siblings were beaten up by the other kids in school because they “looked Asian” and “any Japanese had to be an enemy.” She recounts the story of a kind teacher who kept them after school and took it upon herself to teach all of them how to speak English: “I think these are America’s unsung heroes, our teachers.”

Throughout the conversation, Norma recalls stories about her mother’s strength and sense of humor. She tells Dava about the time her mother took over a luncheonette in Philadelphia so that her family would always have something to eat. When her customers would give her advice, Norma remembers, her mother would say, “’It’s so wonderful that you give me advice, and whenever you pay my bills, I’ll take them.’”

All material within the StoryCorps collection is copyrighted by StoryCorps. StoryCorps encourages use of material on this site by educators and students without prior permission, provided appropriate credit is given. This interview has not been fact-checked, and may contain sensitive personal information about living persons.

Source: SNPR Story Corps

January 23, 2018

Job Market: Tap into the Talent Attending SXSW

All employers know the importance of talent acquisition, but the reality is that it’s no easy task. Sifting through applications, conducting interviews, hoping to find the perfect candidate–the process is tedious and long. That’s why we started the SXSW Job Market.

The Job Market offers businesses the opportunity to tap into the large pool of talent attending SXSW. In fact, last year the Job Market saw 12,501 attendees from 95 countries over two days.

This year’s Job Market, which is open to all SXSW attendees as well as free and open to the public, promises to be just as exciting and there are still some spaces left. If your company is looking for top-tier professionals, don’t miss your chance to get in front of the thousands of creative, highly-educated and tech-savvy candidates planning to attend the Job Market on March 10-11. Apply now for a space.

In addition to a space on the expo floor, all companies that exhibit at the Job Market get a free listing on the SXSW Job Board for year-round recruitment.

If that’s not enough to convince your HR department to visit Austin in March, check out some of the candidate statistics from the Job Market in 2017:

• 89% of candidates had a bachelor’s degree or greater
• 77% of candidates had 3+ years’ experience in their field
• 26% of candidates had 13+ years’ experience in their field
• 76% of candidates are willing to relocate for their career

Don’t miss out! Seize the moment to meet with qualified, awesome job candidates over two days of SXSW. Apply to exhibit at the Job Market now.

Apply Now

Photo by Randy & Jackie Smith

The post Job Market: Tap into the Talent Attending SXSW appeared first on SXSW.

Source: SxSW Film

January 23, 2018

Net Neutrality, Local Elections, and Tech: Government Track Sessions for SXSW 2018

The Government Track focuses on areas related to government policy on all levels as well as privacy issues on both the personal and corporate level. Specific topics include policy and civic engagement on the local, state, and federal level; the relationship between government and technology; big data tracking; and surveillance concerns. Discover what our 2018 Government Track has to offer.

“Government is omnipresent. Whether we know it or not, so many parts of Government impact our daily lives,” says SXSW Programmer Monica Sack. “Understanding those different areas, how they affect us, and different ways in which we can participate will hopefully help us all stay engaged in the process.” During Conflicting Visions: The Debate on Net Neutrality, panelists discuss the ramifications of the repeal of the existing rules on Net Neutrality, while in Reforming the Vote lawmakers weigh in on how voter reform can potentially harm voter turnout.

Dive deeper into the Government Track as we highlight different sessions that discuss net neutrality, local elections, tech, and much more. Government Track sessions are held March 9-12 with primary access to all badge types.

Government Session Highlights

Conflicting Visions: The Debate on Net Neutrality

Speakers: Gigi Sohn (Mozilla/Georgetown Law/Open Society Foundations), Maura Corbett(Glen Echo Group LLC), and Curt Levey (Committee for Justice)

Net Neutrality is the highest profile issue in FCC history to-date. After the 2015 approval of Net Neutrality rules, upheld in 2016 by the US Appellate Court, many thought the battle was over. But in June 2017, Chairman Ajit Pai announced his intention to roll back these protections and in December 2017 the FCC voted 3-2 to repeal the existing Net Neutrality rules. We’re bringing together leaders from both sides to discuss what’s next and what this means for the Internet we know and love today.

Add to Your Schedule

Can Small-Donor Progressives Win Local Elections?

Speakers: Beto O’Rourke (US House of Representatives) and Ryan Grimm (The Intercept)

Bernie Sanders showed that big money isn’t needed to run a presidential campaign, changing the national calculus. But can the same be done in Texas? Will 2018 be the year small dollars make the difference at the local level? Join us for a candid conversation between Rep. Beto O’Rourke, D-Texas, who is running against Ted Cruz for Senate and Ryan Grim, The Intercept’s DC Bureau Chief.

Add to Your Schedule

Tech Under Trump: A 2017/2018 Scorecard

Speakers: Gary Shapiro (Consumer Technology Association), Aneesh Chopra (CareJourney), Matt Lira (White House – Office of American Innovation), and Michaela Ross (Bloomberg Law)

Despite the news headlines, the tech community and the Trump administration share many of the same goals, specifically around building a vibrant, 21st-Century American workforce, expanding access to broadband and updating our nation’s infrastructure. The endgame – for everyone – is to ensure that America leads the world in innovation. One year in, how is tech’s policy agenda faring in the age of Trump? What’s worked? What hasn’t? And what are the top policy prospects for the coming year?

Add to Your Schedule

Resist Tech & What Influences Congress

Speakers: Yuri Beckelman (Office of Congressmen Mark Takano), Travis Moore (TechCongress), and Therese Acuna (Harvard – Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation)

Frustration with the outcome of the election has led to an uptick in civic activism, and startups have been launching to harness that energy. Some get it right by using tech to improve the quality of contact between elected officials and their constituents, while some get it wrong focusing on quantity of contacts. Learn what actually happens when you contact your Member of Congress — how your messages are received and affect decision making, and how understanding this will improve your advocacy.

Add to Your Schedule

Reforming the Vote

Speakers: Mike Allen (Axios), Terri Sewell (US House of Representatives), and Richard Hasen (UC Irvine School of Law)

Voting in America is hard. And optional. While 22 industrialized countries have gone to great lengths to force their citizens to vote, some American lawmakers are trying to make it even harder for some citizens to reach the ballot box. We also know that adversaries have successfully hacked state voting systems. Axios’s Mike Allen speaks with experts and lawmakers about the complicated and frightening implications of voting reform.

Add to Your Schedule

Browse All Government Sessions

Crossover Track Recommendations

Adventure outside of the Government Track – explore SXSW sessions across all 24 Tracks of Conference programming. These sessions are not a part of the Government Track, but these subjects will interest anyone with an interest in government.

• First Amendment Report Card – Lata Nott (Newseum), Robert Corn Revere (Davis Wright Tremaine LLP), Ilya Shapiro (Cato Intitute), and Gene Policinksi (Newseum)
  Track: News & Journalism

• Displaced Kitchens: Community Empowerment via Food – Nas Jab (Komeeda) and Jabber Al-Bihani Jr (Komeeda Inc)
  Track: Food

• Redefining Sanctuary Cities – Alvaro Bedoya (Georgetown University Law Center), Vanita Gupta (The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights), and Tanvi Misra (CityLab, The Atlantic)
  Track: Cities Summit

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Interactive Opening Speaker Senator Cory Booker Teaser – Photo by Alexa Gonzalez Wagner

The post Net Neutrality, Local Elections, and Tech: Government Track Sessions for SXSW 2018 appeared first on SXSW.

Source: SxSW Film