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|
| Index |
| The
idea behind CultureSurfer.com
CultureSurfer.com Statistics
CultureSurfer.com Visitors
The People Behind CultureSurfer.com
CultureSurfer.com in the media
CultureSurfer.com site launch press release
Naomi Silver head shot
CultureSurfer banner ad
Misc. |
The
idea behind CultureSurfer.com |
| Our
tag line, "Your window on the world, " pretty much says
what we are about. We give you a small glimpse into other cultures
as well as the arts and culture. Our site showcases arts and culture
as well as content that is multi-cultural.
At
CultureSurfer.com, we use the broadest definition of the term
"culture." Culture isn't only high culture such as ballet,
classical music, paintings, fine dining, and theater, but also
popular culture such as the latest gadgets your kids are begging
you for, Madonna's latest hairdo, and clothing for dogs. Culture
defines who we are and touches every aspect our of lives. This
is why you see content not normally thought of as culture such
as sports and politics on CultureSurfer.com. But of course we
also bring you some of the incredibly talented artists, musicians,
writers, actors, and dancers that the world has to offer.
This site is meant to be truly global, truly international. The
predominant language for the site is English for two reasons.
First, this is the native language of the staff at CultureSurfer,
LLC. Second, we had to choose a language to make the site accessible
to as many people as possible around the world. In other words,
we are attempting to cross the language barriers which so often
prevent the understanding of other cultures. |
CultureSurfer.com
statistics |
| CultureSurfer.com
launched in early September, 2007. We have visitors logging on
from 21 US states with 60% of our US visitors coming from New
York and California. Our visitors come from over 90 countries,
from virtually every part of the world.
A few statistics from CultureSurfer.com's first 7 months online
-Number of visitors on CultureSurfer in 7months: 25,000
-Percentage of visitors logging on from the US: 90%
-Percentage of new visitors on the site: 69%
-Cities most visitors are logging in from: San Francisco (and
surrounding area), New York city, St. Louis
-City outside the US most visitors are logging in from: Stockholm,
Sweden
-Countries most visitors are logging in from: US, Sweden, Canada,
Germany, Japan, France
-Number of videos on CultureSurfer.com: 316
-5 most viewed pages on the site: Homepage, Sports, Asian Culture,
Cinema/Theater, Fashion
-Average time spent on site: 3.5 minutes per visit
-Average number of page views per month: 8,500
-Average number of hits per month: 80,000
|
Month/Year
2007
September
October
November
December
2008
January
February
March
(Statistics from April, 2008)
|
Visitor Count
2
991
1,894
3,456
3,662
2
4,562
3,212
4,497
|
| CultureSurfer.com
visitors |
| Our
visitors come from the following countries. Approximately 90%
of our visitors come from within the United States. We will have
more information about our visitors as soon as we have results
from an upcoming visitor poll.
|
| 1.
ALBANIA
2. ARGENTINA
3. AUSTRALIA
4. AUSTRIA
5. BAHRAIN
6. BANGLADESH
7. BARBADOS
8. BELGIUM
9. BELIZE
10. BENIN
11. BOLIVIA
12. BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA
13. BRAZIL
14. BULGARIA
15. CAMBODIA
16. CANADA
17. CHILE
18. CHINA
19. COLOMBIA
20. COSTA RICA
21. COTE D'IVOIRE
22. CROATIA
23. CZECH REPUBLIC
24. DENMARK
25. DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
26. ECUADOR
27. EGYPT
28. ESTONIA
29. FRANCE
30. GERMANY
31. GHANA
32. GREECE
33. GUATEMALA
34. HONG KONG
35. HUNGARY
36. INDIA
37. INDONESIA
38. IRAN, ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF
39. IRELAND
40. ISRAEL
41. ITALY
42. JAMAICA
43. JAPAN
44. JORDAN
45. KOREA, REPUBLIC OF
(Statistics
as of March 21, 2008) |
46.
KUWAIT
47. LAO PEOPLE'S DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC
48. LIECHTENSTEIN
49. LITHUANIA
50. LUXEMBOURG
51. MACEDONIA, THE FORMER YUGOSLAV REPUBLIC OF
52. MALAYSIA
53. MEXICO
54. MOROCCO
55. NETHERLANDS
56. NEW ZEALAND
57. NIGERIA
58. NORWAY
59. PAKISTAN
60. PANAMA
61. PERU
62. PHILIPPINES
63. POLAND
64. PORTUGAL
65. PUERTO RICO
66. QATAR
67. ROMANIA
68. RUSSIAN FEDERATION
69. SAUDI ARABIA
70. SENEGAL
71. SERBIA AND MONTENEGRO
72. SINGAPORE
73. SLOVAKIA
74. SLOVENIA
75. SOUTH AFRICA
76. SPAIN
77. SUDAN
78. SWEDEN
79. SWITZERLAND
80. TAIWAN
81. THAILAND
82. TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO
83. TURKEY
84. UKRAINE
85. UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
86. UNITED KINGDOM
87. UNITED STATES
88. UNKNOWN
89. URUGUAY
90. VENEZUELA
91. VIET NAM
|
The
people behind CultureSurfer.com |
 |
Naomi
Silver, President and founder of CultureSurfer, LLC
Naomi grew up in St. Louis, Missouri & has been fascinated
by different cultures since she was young. Her degree is in History
and Russian Area studies, she has studied 6 languages, loves to
travel, and is proficient in French. She became familiar with
various ethnic communities in St. Louis during work on two national-level
political campaigns. Naomi's fascination with the world around
her and her desire to create something of her own compelled her
to create this site. Naomi works full-time (and then some) on
CultureSurfer.com as an interviewer, producer, editor, videographer,
web mistress, and marketing department. |
 |
Jeff
Stein, videographer, assistant editor, assistant web master,
& cycling correspondent
Jeff grew up in Illinois and Wisconsin and holds a Master's Degree
in French. When he's not helping Naomi with the website, he's
either teaching middle school French, he's out on a bike ride
(preferrably in France), or he's onstage doing improv. Jeff also
happens to be Naomi's husband. |
| CultureSurfer.com's
contributors |
 |
Brian
Hall, CultureSurfer website advisor/guru
Brian is the Information Manager at the Regional Arts Commission
(RAC). He maintains the RAC
website, including the ArtsZipper
calendar, and provides technical support for the online eGRANT
application. Behind the scenes, he also maintains the database
and keeps the RAC computers up and running. In his spare time,
he can often be found biking the Riverfront Trail. |
 |
Miriam
Cohen, world-wide photographer
Miriam grew up in St. Louis but has spent much of her life traveling
to Europe, Asia, & Australia (she's half Aussie). Miriam graduated
from Washington University in 2007 with a double-major in Psych
and French, minors in Graphics Communications and Art & is
working towards a degree in Communications & Art. She takes
fantastic photos, combining insight into different cultures with
an eye for beauty. See Miriam's photos on: http://picasaweb.google.com/CyanSurf,
E-mail Miriam: cyansurf@gmail.com |
 |
Mark
Forman, (aka Bluesman) filmmaker, Taichung, Taiwan
Mark Forman produces a diverse mix of eclectic international indie/podsafe
music and videos. The Blue Shogun was the synergistic reaction
of Mark's 2 alter-ego's: Brooklyn Bluesman and the Reigning Shogun
of Taiwan. Mark also expends a great deal of creative energy at
his business, a dynamic marketing agency based in Greater China.
See Mark's blog. |
 |
Marloes
Veldhuizen, filmmaker & correspondent, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Marloes is a very talented filmmaker & correspondant who
lives in the colorful & cultural city of Amsterdam. She is
the creator of The Amsterdam Report and VideoBuzz. Check out Marloes'
blog. |
 |
Liz
Reeves, public relations consultant
Originally from Omaha, Nebraska, Liz came to St. Louis, MO
in the 1980's where she discovered a city with a rich and diverse
cultural landscape. Liz supports the arts and other cultural organizations
in St. Louis by promoting the diversity of culture in her new
home town whenever possible. Green Grass Creative specializes
in mobile marketing, entertainment marketing and special events.
E-mail: dl_reeves@sbcglobal.net. |
 |
Jon
Gohl, cycling correspondent
Jon lives in St. Louis and works with a landscaping company. He
is a racer on Mesa's cycling team & knows the sport of cycling
inside and out. Jon frequently travels to Mexico and speaks Spanish.
|
_jpg.jpg) |
Matt
James, photographer
Matt lives in St. Louis & works at Mesa Cycles. He loves shooting
photos at bike races in this area. Check out his work at www.mattjamesphotos.com.
|
 |
Daniel
Platschek, automotive correspondent
Daniel lives in St. Louis, Missouri but is originally from Caracas,
Venezuela via Atlanta, Georgia. He is bilingual in Spanish and English
and is absolutely in love with cars. Daniel has a real job but his
passion is test-driving cars and writing car reviews. He is also
active as a volunteer in the Hispanic community of St. Louis, and
he is a talented photographer (see photos). |
CultureSurfer.com
in the media |
|
Honorees
presented at the International Women's Day Luncheon
Sponsors: Chez Leon Restaurant, Coastal Check In, L'Oreal USA,
Parktown Imports, Sisley-Paris Cosmetics, Utopia Salon & Spa,
World Trade Center, and Zonta Club of St. Louis
By
Hazel A. Tamano
March 10, 2008
Professional
women gathered together on Saturday, March 8, 2008 to honor three
women for their leadership at the International Women's Day Luncheon
hosted at Chez Leon Restaurant in St. Louis. These women represented
their leadership in the areas of international business, arts/culture,
and education. Through advocacy, mentorship, and education women
in various leadership positions continue to be an important aspect
towards improving the livelihoods of women in their personal and
professional lives.
Honorees
Jennifer Ozimkiewicz works at Monsanto as the Brand Business Director
for DEKALB corn, the second largest corn brand in the U.S. Jennifer
has been with Monsanto since 1995, holding a variety of commercial
management positions. Most recently, she returned from Europe
where she was the Area General Business Lead for the Mediterranean
region based in Madrid, Spain. Prior to this assignment, she worked
in Lyon, France as the Seed and Trait Strategy and Licensing Director
for Europe-Africa. She has also been a Corporate Strategy Lead,
working with Monsanto's Executive Team on enterprise strategy
and acquisitions. Her other commercial positions within the company
have included marketing management, account management and product
management. Prior to joining Monsanto, she was a Marketing Director
for a small environmental services firm. Jennifer has a B.A. in
International Relations from the University of Madison-Wisconsin
and an M.A. and M.B.A. from Washington University. Jennifer currently
resides in St. Louis with her husband and four year old son.
Dr.
Cheryl Bielema, President, has been a member of Zonta International
and the Zonta Club of St. Louis since 2003. She has served as
Vice President, Program Chair, Yellow Rose Awards Program Co-Chair,
and Area Meeting Chair. She teaches part-time in the College of
Education Transition to Teaching Program at UMSL, which provides
an accelerated certification for K-12 teachers in Missouri and
internationally.
She
works as Instructional Designer in the Center for Teaching and
Learning, consulting with faculty in the integration of technology,
student-centered instruction, and evaluation. She coordinates
workshops in collaboration with several campus units, including
Information Technology Services and Continuing Education. She
assesses training programs, faculty technology use and technology-enhanced
learning experiences, including a longitudinal study of blended
courses using Blackboard, an online course management system.
Previously, she worked at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign,
in Information Technology, College of Agricultural, Consumer and
Environmental Sciences, as well as in the University of Illinois
Extension program. Her teaching experience is in Curriculum and
Instruction and Educational Technology. Her Ph.D. in Human Resource
Development and a Master's degree in Adult and Continuing Education
are both from the University of Illinois.
Naomi
Silver, a native of St. Louis, is the creator of CultureSurfer.com.
Her years of experience as a political consultant brought her
together with various ethnic communities in the St. Louis area.
Her appreciation and love of the diversity of cultures in her
hometown, in addition to her experiences through extensive travel,
encouraged her to share her experiences with others via the internet.
CultureSurfer.com
is a multi-sensory medium that encourages the understanding of
our global community through video. Naomi maintains a hands-on
approach to managing her site, doing everything including production,
interviewing, filming, editing, and day to day site maintenance.
CultureSurfer.com highlights ethnic communities and art forms.
Visitors can view videos that showcase diverse cultures (Bosnian,
Latin, Asian, African, and African-American) and cover a broad
range of topics (Art, Cinema & Theater, Music, Literature,
Fashion, Dance, Sports, and Politics). There are currently over
270 videos on the site and over 4,000 visitors per month, 15%
of whom log online from outside of the United States.
About
IWD
International Women's Day has been observed since in the early
1900's, a time of great expansion and turbulence in the industrialized
world that saw booming population growth and the rise of radical
ideologies. Women's oppression and inequality spurred women to
become more vocal and active in the campaign for change. In 1908,
15,000 women marched through New York City demanding shorter hours,
better pay and voting rights. In accordance with a declaration
by the Socialist Party of America, the first National Woman's
Day (NWD) was observed across the United States on February 28,
1909. Women continued to celebrate NWD on the last Sunday of February
until 1913. In 1910 at a Socialist International meeting in Copenhagen,
an International Women's Day of no fixed date was proposed to
honor the women's rights movement and to assist in achieving universal
suffrage for women. Over 100 women from 17 countries unanimously
agreed on the proposal. Three of these women later became the
first women elected to serve on the Finnish parliament.
Following
the Copenhagen decision, International Women's Day (IWD) was honored
the first time in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland on
March 19, 1911. More than one million women and men attended IWD
rallies campaigning for women's rights to work, vote, be trained,
hold public office and end discrimination. However, less than
a week later on March 25, 1911 the tragic 'Triangle Fire' in New
York City took the lives of more than 140 working women, most
of them Italian and Jewish immigrants. This disastrous event drew
significant attention to working conditions and labor legislation
in the United States that became a focus of subsequent International
Women's Day events.
On
the eve of World War I campaigning for peace, Russian women observed
their first International Women's Day on the last Sunday in February
1913. In 1914 rallies were held across Europe to campaign against
the war and to express women's solidarity. In 1917 on the last
Sunday of February, Russian women began a strike for "bread
and peace" in response to the death over 2 million Russian
soldiers in war. Four days later the Czar was forced to abdicate
and the provisional Government granted women the right to vote.
From
1918 to 1999 for decades, IWD has grown in strength annually.
For many years the United Nations has held an annual IWD conference
to coordinate international efforts for women's rights and participation
in social, political and economic processes. 1975 was designated
as 'International Women's Year' by the United Nations. Today,
organizations and governments around the world continue to observe
IWD annually on March 8th, and is a recognized official holiday
all throughout the world. The United States has even designated
the whole month of March as 'Women's History Month'. Great improvements
have been made, and annually thousands of events are held throughout
the world from political rallies, business conferences, government
activities, theatre performances, and networking events to inspire
women and to celebrate their achievements.
Reference: http://www.internationalwomensday.com |
CultureSurfer.com
site launch press release |
|
For
more information contact:
Naomi Silver
info@culturesurfer.com
www.culturesurfer.com
Cell: (314) 537-0896
A Global Web Site for An Increasingly Global World
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(December
2007) CultureSurfer.com is an interactive multi-cultural website
that encourages understanding of our global community by showcasing
arts and culture from around the world. Its mission is to expose
visitors to both the mundane and the extraordinary in the lives
of the famous, the creative and everyday people from various cultures.
CultureSurfer.com
highlights ethnic communities and art forms. Visitors can watch
videos showcasing cultures including; Bosnian, Latin, Asian, African,
and African-American and covering aspects of culture such as;
Art, Cinema & Theater, Music, Literature, Fashion, Dance,
Sports, and Politics. Video content is provided not only by CultureSurfer.com
staff but also by individuals from around the world. CultureSurfer.com
is constantly changing and evolving as new content is submitted
and posted, providing the viewer with a unique experience with
each visit to the site.
CultureSurfer.com
currently offers more than 250 videos covering everything from
interviews with artists, film directors and athletes to coverage
of sporting events and fashion shows. In addition to videos of
interviews and events, CultureSurfer.com also provides photo galleries
where viewers can see everything from music festivals to Norwegian
fjords. To enhance the visitor's experience, CultureSurfer.com
offers links to other sites of interest as well as a directory
of events calendars from cities in the United States and around
the world.
CultureSurfer.com
was created by St. Louis native, Naomi Silver. Ms. Silver's years
of experience as a political consultant brought her together with
various ethnic communities in the St. Louis area. Her appreciation
and love of the diversity of cultures in her hometown, in addition
to her experiences through extensive travel, encouraged her to
share her experiences with others through CultureSurfer.com, a
multi-sensory medium that allows her to open a window on the world's
cultures. Ms. Silver maintains a hands-on approach to managing
her site and provides her own take on things through the CultureSurfer.com
blog.
Since
going live in September 2007, CultureSurfer.com has seen a steady
increase in viewers visiting the site with over 10,200 viewers
from over 70 different countries. Ms. Silver estimates CultureSurfer.com
will have been visited by over 20,000 visitors each month by this
time next year.
CultureSurfer,
LLC Partners
Body & Mind LLC
Travel Bully.com
CraftMafia.com
Green Grass Creative, Inc.
International Institute of St. Louis
Matt James Photos
The Contemporary (museum)
The Improv Trick
The University of Missouri-St. Louis Center for International
Studies
Media
Partners
Sabah (Bosnian newspaper)
St. Louis Chinese-American News
The St. Louis International Film Festival
CultureSurfer.com
is seeking additional partners. Please refer to the contact information
above if interested. |
|
Naomi
Silver head shot |
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Click
here for high-resolution image
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| CultureSurfer.com's
Logo
We chose the Kokopelli for a specific reason. As this is a site
about culture, we thought it fitting to use the Kokopelli in our
logo since he has been a cultural icon among Native American Indians
for several thousand years. We also like the Kokopelli because
he likes to have fun, he looks cool, and he makes us laugh. To
read more about the Kokopelli myth, click
here
Various
cultures have their own version of the Kokopelli. To see images
of the German Eulenspiegel, click
here. If you know of other similar myths from other cultures,
please click here
Questions?
Click here.or call
Naomi at (314) 537-0896.
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