Community Video: St. Anthony’s Bazaar 2012, El Paso, Tx
What started as a small Catholic community fair 53 years ago to support St. Anthony’s Seminary, 4601 Hastings, has grown to be an annual end-of-summer tradition for thousands of all faiths and backgrounds from throughout El Paso. The biggest draws for the St. Anthony’s Bazaar are the homemade gorditas and the evening concerts, but there’s plenty going on in every corner of the sprawling estate built by prominent businessman James G. McNary in 1917.
My family has always loved playing Loteria – a sort of Mexican bingo where you mark your cards with beans. Winners get to choose prizes from a table full of yard sale knick-knacks.
In 2012, I tried to capture some of the fun and unique moments of the event using my iPhone 4s. Too bad I forgot you shouldn’t shoot video with the iPhone in portrait mode because it puts the image in the middle of a skinny panel. However, it made for a good opportunity to experiment with some cool editing and filtering techniques. I particularly liked it for the split-screen shots. Watch for it after Loteria segment. To get the shots right in the first place, follow this link to Shooting Video with an iPhone.
Chico’s Tacos recipe brings out the fans for El Pasoan’s Tumblr blog
Blogger Alley Nomi found a recipe for success in attracting followers just by posting a simple recipe titled “How to make Chico’s Tacos at home”.
She’s been posting about “sex, drugs and rock and roll,” on her playful blog of pop culture links, quotes, photos and plenty of attitude for several years now, but putting up a homemade Chico’s recipe brought in the crowd. (more…)
From modern masters to podcasts, America’s literary innovation starts at the border
You may not at first think of the U.S. Southwest as an incubator for literary innovation until you realize that its artists know that borders are artificial and arbitrary and they can’t resist crossing them. (more…)
Playtime pays off: Pulp-O-Mizer makes fun retro-future design popular
I should have been working on a new digital El Paso post for Digitalegre blog, but the shiny internet got in my way with the discovery of the super cool Pulp-O-Mizer. Seriously, look at the awesomely fast and fun pulp science fiction covers this site lets you create and tell me your inner geek can resist popping over to generate a quick mock-up of your own. (more…)
Google 2012 roundup video includes El Paso’s Eastwood High graduation flash mob
Video and the Internet were the biggest stars of a Google commercial replaying highlights of 2012 where El Paso got to show off a bit of its playful side. The 2012 graduating class of Eastwood High School gets its nano-second of fame at the 58-second mark with a snippet from its graduation ceremony flash mob celebration dance. (more…)
Twitter adds 100 more cities to Trends; El Paso, Juárez still don’t make the list
Once again the wit and wisdom of the fourth largest city in Texas and the heart of the Paso del Norte corridor is disregarded as Twitter announces the addition of 100 more cities worldwide to its Trends list. Neither El Paso nor Juárez were included as an option in last week’s update of the Twitter feature that highlights the top conversation topics in a geographical area.
OK, granted the top trending topics in El Paso tend to be Whataburger, bars and weather (spring winds, summer heat and sunny, sunny, sunny), but that doesn’t mean we’re always going to be so predictable. (more…)
Social media giving life to ‘Beautiful Bones’ Day of the Dead art project
A few of the Catrinas at Joe Vinny and Bronson’s Cafe in El Paso during the Cyber Party.
The artist’s studio is in Las Cruces, his home is in El Paso, but thousands of dollars to support his dream of bringing elegant skeletons to life are coming in from near and far thanks to digital networking and the social fundraising site Kickstarter.com
For eighteen months artist Wayne Hilton has sewn, beaded, glued and shaped the 15 exquisitely elaborate figurines at the heart of the Hermosos Huesos (Beautiful Bones) Project. Made of recycled materials, the Catrinas are a contemporary interpretation of the iconic image of “La Calavera Catrina” by Mexican artist Jose Guadalupe Posada, who created more than 20,000 graphics, woodcuts and illustrations during his lifetime, yet died penniless in 1913. Posada’s works are most frequently seen in Dia De Los Muertos or Day of the Dead celebrations. (more…)
Borderland Bloggers Nov. 14: Digital Distribution Tips to Grow Your Blog Audience
Learn how to use Social Media and other digital networking techniques to get your blog posts in front of more readers and increase interaction to grow your blog’s following at the Borderland Bloggers Meetup Wednesday, Nov. 14 in El Paso.
The Meetup is a casual no-host get-together for all levels of bloggers – including those who are interested in starting a blog.
RSVP at the Borderland Bloggers Meetup site here. There is no charge to join Borderland Bloggers. A $2 fee to help offset Meetup costs is optional for meeting attendees.
Hundreds of tourism experts promote El Paso experience tweet by tweet at SoMeT
A sampling of Instagram images shared by attendees at the Social Media Tourism Symposium 2012 in El Paso Nov. 7-9.
It was the ultimate social media scavenger hunt as tourism industry workers from around the world zeroed in on El Paso, Texas, last week in search of fresh ideas and West Texas flair. More than 230 attendees for the Social Media Tourism Symposium packed conference rooms at the Judson F. Williams Convention Centre in El Paso to learn new ways to use social media to attract visitors to their cities and get them to stick around longer once they’re there.
During the day participants navigated through sessions like “Give Foodspotting a Taste: Leveraging a Niche Social Media Site for Your Destination” and “How to Make Your Destination Pintastic” filling their notebooks, smart phones and tablets with clues for customizing their own winning campaigns back home. When not in sessions they fanned out through El Paso in search of what treats our city had to offer.
Search Instagram for the tag #SoMeT12 and you can see El Paso through their eyes as these tourism experts explored our community, enjoying great Mexican food, margaritas and a true crowd favorite – boots.
“This group is by far the most adventurous we’ve ever had,” said Brooke Underwood, director of convention development at the El Paso Convention and Visitor’s Bureau. She said many rented cars and followed up on a variety of suggestions to visits restaurants, bars and other sites beyond the Downtown area.
El Paso says #howdy to Social Media Tourism Symposium visitors
Image from sometourism.com
If you’re feeling an increase in buzz on the Interwebs around El Paso, it is most likely thanks to Social Media Tourism Symposium going on Downtown at the convention center through tomorrow. The #SoMeT, a conference about the use of social media in the tourism is here thanks to the thousands of El Pasoans who outvoted competing cities last April for the honor to host the gathering.
This means our shops, restaurants, Twitter feeds and other social media sites are packed with tourism experts from around the U.S., Europe and Canada talking about their experience in El Paso. You can follow them on Twitter using #SoMeT12 to pick up conference tips or maybe help with #ElPaso questions. Here is a look at some of the Twitter chatter about El Paso so far: (more…)
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