A little about me…& being TRAPPED IN TRANSIT

what to say about me…at the moment I am in the process of changing careers. I mention this first b/c work is a lot (most really) of what I do these days. I was a Prevention Education Consultant, and now I’m going to be the Emergency Preparedness Officer/Pandemic Planner for my local RHA. I am super excited about my new position, and right now I am even more excited about Brazil and the IGF.

I really believe that discussions like this one are important, b/c they help to create awareness. I believe a good portion of the world’s general public does not realize how important the issue of Internet Governance is – for EVERYONE! Imagine if you could only access what one small group of people decide is “right”…wouldn’t you rather have a discussion among many groups – one of whom hopefully represents your interests.

AKA access to information, news, government, business, history, medicine, skill development & training opportunities etc. etc. etc…That list could get quite long, when you start to think about it. I think neutrality is key, but not everyone agrees so the debate is definitely opening up.

I first became interested in ICT development in my final year of university (Go Axemen!), when I took a course on the Politics of DIFFERENCE. It was then that I started to see the many opportunities that ICT access can present to otherwise isolated communities – and perhaps more importantly – youth in isolated communities can start to see what the rest of the world has to offer – and even what they can bring back or share with the rest of their community.

K so there’s my first rant for the evening I say first b/c I have a little something to say about being TRAPPED IN TRANSIT too…

So as everyone saw this morning I was supposed to be flying out to Rio in the morning – I had three connections to make. I missed the first one by 4 MINUTES and was forced to stay in Winnipeg for 24 hours until I could take the same set of connections. So I have made it 750 Kms so far out of how many thousand??? I will get there though and when I do I’m going to have to work to get caught up – FUN TIMES!

I would like to take a personal shout out to UNITED AIRLINES FOR BEING SO UNHELPFUL. Their CUSTOMER SERVICE was FOURTH RATE. But in the end after some tears and pleading I managed to get the flight for tomorrow (at least I will get to go!). I probably shouldn’t say too much since I am still with them for the last 15 hours of my journey tomorrow. hehe….nice flight attendent…

~ by cassondra on November 10, 2007.