May Newsletter 2012

Congratulations Video Contest Winner Rebecca Hansen of Victoria BC. Winner of $500 cash! We asked, "What would change if the government was made up of 75% women?" and you answered. Entries came from all over the world - South Africa, India, Afghanistan, Turkey, Switzerland, France, and of course Canada! Our MP judges voted and Rebecca, our youngest entrant at only 13 years old, impressed them all with her creativity and insight.   Click here to watch the winning entry http://www.dancingwiththeoctopus.com To quote one MP juror:  "This film is a must see! Therapeutic. We need it on prime time television asap so we can get to 52% even faster !!!" The DWtO team made a fun night of narrowing down the submissions to a shortlist of 5 videos. After watching all the entries, we feasted on potluck fare - strawberry quinoa salad, salmon, and fresh local greens. Angela brought dessert, a yummy flourless chocolate cake - recipe here.  After dins we returned to the screening room to debate which videos to send to the jurors - it got pretty intense but we did it! All together it was a great night with lots of laughter and satisfaction. Watch all five finalists' videos at www.dancingwiththeoctopus.com A big thanks/merci beaucoup goes to our Canadian Federal MP judges: Carolyn Bennett (Lib) http://carolynbennett.liberal.ca/ Elizabeth May (Green) http://elizabethmay.ca/ Maria Mourani (Bloc) http://www.mariamourani.org/ Denise Savoie (NDP) http://www.denisesavoie.ca Wai Young (Conservative) http://waiyoung.ca/ We handed them a tough task - but then again, they are Lady Politicians - they can handle anything! *|FACEBOOK:LIKE|* *|FACEBOOK:COMMENTS|* From Sandy's Desk... Congrats to 13-year-old Rebecca Hansen who, after learning about the contest via CBC Radio’s All Points West with host Jo-Ann Roberts, gathered her thoughts, taught herself how to create a Youtube video, and submitted her entry without help. Rebecca and the many promising young women out there just need support to blossom into the leaders of the future!   The contest submissions were stunning – we did not know what to expect and quickly learned first-hand about the vast and powerful reach of social media.  We were deeply moved by the international mix of video entries and are now left hungry for more communication with these countries. The jury learned that the message of inequality is remarkably similar worldwide and unequivocally conclude that there is a huge need to have this conversation. Dancing with the Octopus is happy to be a conduit to making the change so women everywhere can have an equal voice. *|FACEBOOK:LIKE|* *|FACEBOOK:COMMENTS|*  Like us on Facebook Follow on Twitter Forward to a Friend What we do Dancing with the Octopus is a passionate, entertaining, 8-tentacled media project that takes a non-partisan look at the hows and whys of getting more women into politics in Canada and abroad. Cheers to everyone who entered! Strawberry Quinoa Salad! Sarah with John Gould, who lends a male perspective. Photographer going wild! Monika at the potluck. Eyes glued to the screen! Pipsqueak nuzzles Hannah! Last month DWtO noted:  - Provincial Elections: Alberta elects its first female premier, Alison Redford. - "Western Women can come to the rescue of the world...", quote from the Dalai Lama. - European Member of Parliament, Licia Ronzulli (an MEP from Italy), took her 7-week old daughter to work at the European Parliament in Strasbourg. - Of course our very first DWtO video contest -stay tuned for more!  follow on Twitter | Like us on Facebook | forward to a friend  Contact us to donate or volunteer your talents!  unsubscribe from this list | update subscription preferences