Introduction:
Since its creation on the eve of 2005’s Hurricane
Katrina, Beyond Katrina, www.hurricane-katrina.org has logged over 1.3 million visitors from 203
countries and featured more than 2,500 individual blog entries. What began as
an idea to track one storm has become a vibrant online community of concerned
citizens wanting to stay informed, learning from past mistakes and looking
forward to a better understanding of now natural disasters can shape the
cultural landscape for generations to come.
While the blog’s mission is to inspire recovery, transformation and new vision through the deeper wisdom of crisis, the information contained in daily posts from its primary author, Margaret Saizan and her team of guest contributors has helped shaped the debate following the nation’s worst natural disaster. From the challenges of rebuilding a city and restoring a state’s coastline to understanding the profound psychological impact of the storm and celebrating small victories in the course of daily life, blog entries continue to make readers think, laugh and respond.
National climate experts project an above average Atlantic hurricane season w this year and recommend those in hurricane-prone regions to begin their preparation plans. Whether it’s a New Orleans civic group hosting a storm preparedness clinic or a national watchdog group keeping elected and emergency leaders true to their word, if it has to do with hurricanes, it will be included at www.hurricane-katrina.org.
The challenges of hurricane Katrina have created new awareness around so many important political, social economic & environmental causes. The lessons learned and the actions taken in response to the disaster have the potential to impact the planet for future generations. Additionally, the contribution of blogs & citizen journalism to the disaster is suggestive of the enormous power & potential of real time, collaborative, personal & social media. Towards this end, Beyond Katrina continues to provide innovative ways to harness the power of this new form of media to forge new ground in responding to crisis and disaster, a growing fact of life in our increasingly complex existence.
Winner Society of New Communications Research 2006 Award of Excellence
See Press Release, here.
Our Mission Statement:
To inspire recovery, transformation & new vision through the deeper wisdom of crisis
Same Mission, New Name
Media Room:
Click here to see our press releases and other newsworthy items.
About the Publisher:
Margaret Saizan (www.margaretsaizan.org) is a new media publisher, personal/ organizational coach, and community activist. The Baton Rouge La. native became a blogger during the largest natural disaster in history – Hurricane Katrina. A graduate of Newfield Network, one of the best regarded international coach training schools, Margaret focuses on empowering leadership and facilitating action during transition, crisis, and disaster as the pathway to new vision. www.hurricane-katrina.org and Big Vision Media aspire to ignite wise action, new vision and positive change through transformational media.
Featured Contributors:
Matthew White
White has photographed every notable location on the La. coast. His photos and essays
capture a landscape touched by and triumphing over catastrophe. White
provides photo-essays of Louisiana's landscape post-Katrina and blog posts focused on hurricane
issues.
Maida Owens
As director of the Louisiana Folklife Program Owens has curated exhibits
websites, authored & edited books & articles, produced
videos, created educational materials on Louisiana’s many traditional cultures.
Through her series “Adventures of a Roving Photographer”, Owens
contributes photo-essays of her travels through post-Katrina Louisiana
Paul A. Greenberg
Paul A. Greenberg teaches journalism at Tulane University in New Orleans. He also writes for a number
of local, regional and national publications. Greenberg has been chronicling post-Katrina New
Orleans since five days after the storm.
Yoshio & Keiko Toyama
Japanese Jazz Musicians and Co-founders of The Wonderful World Jazz
Foundation which aids musicians in New Orleans.Toyama provides unique content about jazz music in Louisiana. His photo essays contain stories and rare, vintage photographs of Louis “Satchmo” Armstrong as well as jazz funerals and events in La.
Ed Dickson - As a consumer protection expert in the financial industry, Dickson's posts are focused on educating people on the potential for fraud and financial misdeeds in disaster recovery.
Rick Portier
As a TV photog in Baton Rouge Rick's been telling stories all of his life. His posts are refreshingly funny behind the scenes accounts of his experiences covering Hurricane Katrina during the storm and beyond.
Carol McClelland, PhD
Transition expert focused on helping people get back on their feet after their lives have been turned upside down by natural disaster. Carol provides tips and other resources for helping hurricane survivors navigate personal recovery.
Special Projects:
First Anniversary of Hurricane Katrina
In addition to regular postings by Beyond Katrina contributors, storm survivors, the Katrina recovery community and its supporters generously provided live on the ground coverage and content to the blog for the first anniversary. Links to everything related to the anniversary are here.
In collaboration with
The Work of Byron Katie Teleclasses for Hurricane Survivors
This project helps hurricane survivors recover from the emotional challenges wrought by natural disasters. Click this link for full details.
Photo-Essays of Louisiana Landscapes & Culture:
Why rebuild Louisiana? A picture paints a thousand words....
Louisiana: A Series of Photo Essays (Matthew White)
Adventures of a Roving Ethnographer (Maida Owens)
Satchmo & New Orleans Changed the World (Yoshio Toyama)
Building Community & Reader Engagement:
Submit Content to Beyond Katrina: We would love to have more reader generated relevant content or photographs that would be of interest to the Beyond Katrina community. If you are interested in writing for Beyond Katrina or providing interesting content, please contact Margaret Saizan at bigvisionmedia at msn dot com.
With the assistance of Informative and the company’s Adaptive Conversation technology, the goal of the current online survey is to be an open, democratic, interactive communications medium that engages blog readers in not only helping to shape the content that appears at Beyond Katrina but to encourage them to identify and act with real solutions to significant issues in Katrina recovery.
Interactive Search Engines – engages reader participation as it helps inform content at the blog.
Hurricane Season 2007 Swicki Search Engine
Hurricane Katrina Swicki Search Engine - This search engine is currently logging approximately 1200 keyword searches per day.
Open Comment Section at each post encourages reader feedback and discussion. Be part of the conversation!
Media, Research, & Non-Profit Support:
We routinely offer media support to journalists covering issues related to Hurricane Katrina recovery and post-Katrina New Orleans. In the past we have helped journalists from CNN, The Washington Post, Scotland's Sunday Herald, The Baton Rouge Advocate, and The Discovery Channel , to name a few. We have also supported a number of initiatives (in various capacities) such as The Appleseed Foundation's First Anniversary Year Report on Hurricane Katrina, The Gulf Coast Civic Works Project and The Earth Institute's Hurricane Katrina Victims-Deceased List. We frequently provide education, information and resources to students and researchers fengaged in various projects.
Recent Comments