"NUF Said" Youth Polling & Reporting Project Begins

The Chicago Youth Voices Network (CYVN) kicked off its first collaborative project this past weekend at Columbia College. Some 40 Chicago-area youth representing Beyondmedia Education, Community TV Network, Columbia Links, Free Spirit Media, North Lawndale Community News, Open Youth Networks, Radio Arte, Street-Level Youth Media, True Star Foundation, Young Chicago Authors and We the People Media attended the two-day social media training workshop and project orientation event. CYVN's project, the Youth 2.0 Recovery Reporting Project, later was renamed NUF Said (Network, Unity, Future) by Beyondmedia Education youth leader Crystal Jackson, who won a Flip video camera  for coming up with the creative title.

      On day one, youth engaged in brainstorming sessions with local issue experts. Together, they developed polling questions on crime, housing, environment/health, education and employment, that will later be used to gather data reflecting the real-life experiences of Chicago youth during the economic recovery. On day two of the training, youth participants learned new social media skills, such as how to engage their friends and classmates in a Polldaddy.com survey, the online polling application that will be used to poll Chicago youth.  The event also included speakers Natalie Moore of WBEZ, Alex Moffett-Bateau of the University of Chicago’s Black Youth Project and Jacob Colker, Co-Founder and CEO of The Extraordinaries.

      Congratulations to CYVN on a great start and kudos to Tom Bailey, NUF Said project coordinator, and Mindy Faber, CYVN project coordinator, for their hard work in the past months. Stay tuned for news about the first wave of polling and resulting reports, articles and online media projects for analysis of the results.

There are many ways to follow the progress of NUF Said over the next year:

• See NUF Said’s photos on Flickr.

• Follow @CYVN on Twitter.

• Become a fan of NUF Said on Facebook.

• Read their bookmarks on Delicious. 

• View CYVN's project website for NUF Said updates.

About CYVN
The Chicago Youth Voices Network is a collaborative of youth media programs, professionals and organizations working together to strengthen the youth media sector in Chicago. By gathering leaders together for peer learning, advocacy and joint projects, the Chicago Youth Voices Network works to strengthen the organizations that amplify the voices of our city’s young people, their families and communities. Founding members of CYVN were all McCormick Foundation Journalism program grantees.