Some gems from the conference:

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Brands need to UNDERSTAND & RESPECT Islamic values and demo it in their communication and behavior. Be sharia friendly. Have values like humility. Brands also need to have Fearless PUBLIC SUPPORT for these values. If a brand takes our side, we’ll need to take theirs too.

- Nazia Hussain (OgilvyNoor)

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How we engage the western media has to change. We need to re-present Islam. The commercial arena will allows us to do this.

In the mainstream perception, “halaal” and 9/11 have a very small gap. The fact that we have to defend this position is a loss in perception for us. “Terrorism” and “barbaric” aren’t part of our language. When they make negative statements about us, they automatically put themselves in the “good guy” position. If we follow the sunnah, we will claim the moral high ground.We need a proactive language. The truth is Muslims need coaching on how to talk as well as coaching PR.

The marketing language that will emerge from the western world will have ripples around the world.

Friedrich Nietzsche said God is dead. He meant that Christianity failed to give Europe what it needed. We need to approach Economics and Business from the Quran and Sunnah to be the commanders of this market.

- AbdalHamid Evans

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If you want people to commit to your brand/character, you have to connect with them on a human level. If they dont believe in your humanity, they wont believe your fantasy.

- Farhan Tahir – Actor (Iron Man, Star Trek)

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In the US you have fear due to ignorance but its not like the Netherlands where a political party comes to power due to islamaphobia.

Globally Muslims are a 1+ trillion market. We cannot ignore it. The values of Muslims (Sharia) needs to be embraced by brands: transparency, sincerity of intent, humility,  modesty, ect.

For Muslims to be recognized they need to be strong in art and design. It does well to diffuse fear because art connects at an emotional level. Muslims today aren’t known for art of design. Brands are an emotional thing owned by the customer. Products are owned by the company that sell the emotion.

Muslims need to understand that halaal is a brand ingredient, not a brand itself. We need to find a narrative and define the emotion, imagery and design that goes with it.

- Miles Young, CEO of Ogilvy

The following video of Adnan Durrani with some advice for aspiring entrepreneurs – recorded by @SaadMalik

Click here to view the embedded video.

One of the treats of AMCC for me was meeting actor Farhan Tahir (Iron Man, Star Trek) and learning about the entertainment industry from his perspective.

One of the advices he gave me was:

Hollywood is a cut throat industry and it isn’t for everyone. You cannot have a glass jaw. People will hit you hard and knock you down. You need to have some sort of support system of buffer you can fall back on so that you can get back up and keep moving forward. Without that buffer you won’t be able to continue. You need to decide or find what your buffer will be.

Farhan will be starring in a few upcoming films in the next year, one of them being a movie titled “Jinn” – one of the lead actors is this film is Ray Park (Heroes, Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, X-Men)

Click here to view the embedded video.

Photos from the conference The following photos are from last year’s AMCC (courtesy of @SaadMalik). This year’s haven’t been uploaded yet. Will post it when its up.

As you can see, Millionaire Who Went to Jannah is LIVE. I’ve got some special news for you.

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Not only will you get the benefit of learning how to master your money, but you’ll also be able to use video and marketing tools as taught in Message Mastery to promote your business. At the same time, the movie above lays down some real important principals when it comes to getting what you want to achieve. as well as an insight to who Muhammad Alshareef is.

All of the above for $247

Turns out, in one of the news coverage videos they played the trailer I produced for AlMaghrib back in December 2007. The trailer plays from 2:00 – 2:26

Click here to view the embedded video.

You can find out more on the new coverage on Houston’s local ABC-13 website: Terror Suspect Attended Classes in Houston

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I hope that this doesn’t affect the good work that people at AlMaghrib and the students are doing.

Seriously, I don’t understand what people like Umar Farouk Abdulmatallab are thinking. They’re not helping the Muslims or society. They’re simply making lives as Muslims harder.

There is a short news style documentary that has been produced describing his situation (see below):

Click here to view the embedded video.

There was a rally today in support for him. There will be another rally tomorrow and (5.9.08) and Monday (5.12.08). If you are in the New Jersey or New York area, I highly encourage you to attend.

See his website for more information: http://www.americans4qatanani.org/

How can YOU help?

• Show up for the rally, but if you can’t inform and encourage others to do so as well.
• Share this page with other people you know via the “Share This” button below. “Stumble” it, forward it on Facebook, digg it, email it to others.
• Sign the petition online: http://www.petitiononline.com/qat5871/petition.html
• Join the following two facebook groups (create an account if you don’t have one): (1) Peaceful Support for Qatanani — (2) Friend of Qatanani

Hurricane relief workers experience prejudice

By: Shirien Elmasraya

Posted: 3/28/08

Imagine trying to save someone on the verge of death, but they refuse. No, they are not insane or suffering from depression – they are prejudiced.

The room was dim. Dark, wooden walls surrounded him as he was being filmed on camera. He leaned forward in his chair, slowly telling the chilling stories he encountered after the hit of Hurricane Katrina. The darkness of the room coincided with the darkness that surrounded his narrative.

“It was like a ghost town. It was like a horror movie,” said Islamic Relief worker Ruben Vaughan. “You saw helicopters, humvees and you saw dogs, some were dead. And then you’d see cats and some were dead. And you wouldn’t really see anybody else.”

As he explained the situation, those who were interviewing him looked on as if they were frozen in time – as if they were in complete disbelief.

“We [Muslims] are a small group here, but we were able to help people in mass scale,” Vaughan said. “The best thing we’ve been able to do is to deal with people individually, let them know we’re Muslim, and even though you aren’t Muslim, we can still help you. We can still get along, we can have a friendship and learn from each other.”

Vaughan was being interviewed for a documentary produced by Leechon Films, a Muslim owned and operated film company, to debut at LSU in August.

The film is called “Tufaan,” which is Arabic for “Great Storm.” It is about the stories of the Muslim victims and relief workers of Katrina.

“If people who aren’t Muslim just realize that Islam has been around since the first man Adam, that we aren’t aliens, that we aren’t foreign and that Islam comprises of every race and background out there, then they can realize that they don’t have to fear Islam,” Vaughan said.

During the first week after the hurricane, Vaughan said he saw two very different reactions from non-Muslims who saw Muslim volunteers driving supplies.

“I remember there were a group of brothers bringing supplies to the affected areas,” said Vaughan. “On their trip they were asked by different people what they were doing. One group of people would say, ‘We don’t need your help. You can just take it back.’ And the other group of people would load up their cars and help them on their [the brothers'] way.”

Vaughan, former firefighter and former squad boss for FEMA back when the Columbia Space Shuttle blew up over Texas, sought out relief organizations to join after Katrina. He wanted to make sure he got to the affected areas to help in any way he could.

He contacted Islamic Relief, and because of his background in relief work, he was allowed to go to New Orleans at a time when only select individuals could go into disaster-ridden areas.

He explained how some of the male volunteers have beards and the women volunteers wear hijab, a head cover. Unfortunately, some of these volunteers faced difficulties from the very same victims they were helping who were prejudice against Muslims.

“I want the non-Muslims out there to know that they don’t have to fear people who are trying to help even though they see a hijab,” Vaughan said. “And they don’t know what to do or say because they are caught off guard because of all the negative things they see in the media.”

Vaughan still remains in Baton Rouge and is continuing with the hurricane recovery effort.

Prejudice is real. And while human beings see race and religion, disasters know no prejudice. It affects everyone.

I encourage everyone to attend the debut of the documentary when it’s released in August.

Leechon Films plans to donate a percentage of the money made by selling DVDs of the documentary to the hurricane recovery effort.

** To see the original column click HERE , and you can see the comments students have made below, warning they’ll mostly be hate comments lol ***

One thing we covered this week which I found extremely interesting was how photos – a lot of the time – are not a proper representation of reality. If you disagree, perhaps you want to see the examples I’m about to give you. Depending on what instance you decide to capture a photo, it could make a world of a difference as to the emotional reaction people have when seeing it.

Below, is one of the most famous pictures in American History. It’s a picture of soldiers raising the flag at Iwo Jima, Japan during WWII.

This is one of the most reproduced images of all time. I want you to stop and analyze the picture for a minute… what type of emotions does this picture evoke? What is the story or the message this image tells you?

Well, most of us see the representation of struggle. The soldiers placing the flag amidst the rubble. Patriotism. That they are exhausted yet determined to raise the flag of victory… correct?Now, look at the video of the same incident. See if the photo evokes the same emotions as the video:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Here’s another:

This image was altered for no other reason than to create drama. The man who altered this photo was later fired from the Los Angeles Times.You know what gave it away? Look closely in front of the soldier’s leg.. you’ll see the back of the Iraqi man that is sitting behind him also in front of him.

If you are interested in photography or plan to make films – specifically photo journals and documentaries- make sure that you are depicting reality for what it really is. Don’t take a picture of the one kid at Islamic school sleeping, while the others are captivated by the teacher and say that Islamic School is not of the same quality as public schools.

WAllahu ta’ala alem.
~Shirien

So what is a media kit? This is something usually put together by your PR person/firm working for you. It includes press releases, a backgrounder, a fact sheet, a bio, an image bank and more. And it’s getting to the point to where media kits are best done digitally. Make a kit and put it all on a CD, make sure you package it creatively and send it to media outlets.

I created a media kit a while ago for Leechon – and more specifically for Tufaan. The “Press Section” on Tufaan’s website is composed of a couple of things I included in the media kit, including the image bank. I plan to update the media kit and create a creative, graphically appealing digital version of it soon.

Also, it’s pretty important you get someone in public relations do to this for you. Why? Because if you want to send press releases to print media (like newspapers), then you have to write in AP style (associated press style) it was a pain to learn most of the AP Style book by heart. For example:

Wrong: Leechon gave 20% of their profits to charity.

Right: Leechon gave 20 percent of their profits to charity.

—

Wrong: She lived on Burbank Dr.

Right: She lived on Burbank Drive.

BUT

Wrong: She lived on 123 Burbank Drive

Right: She lived on 123 Burbank Dr.

There are a lot of subtle differences. If you don’t write it the correct way in your press releases, they will most likely be thrown in the garbage by the editor. Your job is to provide everything for them and make their lives easier so they willingly give you free publicity by writing about your business or project. Also, if your writing – particularly news writing- isn’t strong, make sure you hire a PR person.

If you want to know exactly what goes into a media kit, I’ll go into detail on my blog since it might get pretty lengthy. I also would like to do a series about each element in a media kit including how to write a good press release, fact sheet and backgrounder. And hopefully at the end you’ll be able to do your own PR work (well, some of it at least).

Finally, I plan in the near future to run my own PR firm for Muslims. Alhamdulillah it’s something I can do at the comfort of my own home and alhamdulillah it’s something I can do quite well, bi’fadhlillahi ta’ala. I’m currently compiling a Muslim Media Database (MMD) with the information of all media outlets and the preferred way they’d like to be reached.

If you are looking for someone to do PR for your business or project go ahead and send me an email @ media (at) leechon.com . I plan now – and in the future – to only accept a few clients at a time. And most of all, it has to be something halal and something worth promoting.

To learn more about how to make a media kit, check out my post.

~Shirien

*apparently I’m going to have to go back and talk about what exactly a press release is and why we send them out. What PR people do is still something a lot of people aren’t aware of. But until then, know that half the stuff you see on the news are things covered due to someone sending a press release. Reporters aren’t always just at the right place at the right time (or know what’s going on everywhere). PR has a lot to do with that.

Seeru fil Ard… “Travel in the earth”

Again, any project you want to produce- feel passionately about. And do it for the sake of Allah ‘az wa jal. A long time ago I make a rinky dink video called “Jannah How Badly Do You Want It?”

Click here to view the embedded video.

Not only was it done with windows movie maker, but the grammar! Anyway, the point is that this was something that I wasn’t doing for the sake of making a video but rather, I did it because at a time when my iman was high and I wanted to express that. Little did I realize later, that people were actually sending the video around. Ironically, my brother-in-law sent it to my sister when they were engaged and my sister was like “Hey wait a minute… my sister made that…”

Anyway, I decided to demonstrate the video that was tripod-less and shaky that I mentioned in my previous post. Be creative… This is accompanied by recitation from Salman Al ‘ataybi from my favorite surah in the Quran- Surat Ghaafir.

Click here to view the embedded video.

If you want to produce films, Islamic commericals, make stories or even just be a photographer you should always carry your camera around with you. I can’t tell you the number of times I regretted not having a camera with me to catch a priceless moment.

During my trip to Egypt last summer, I took my video camera with me everywhere. I usually go to Masr every year and always regretted not bring my video camera. I know it looks “touristy” but, I didn’t care… because I wanted to show all my friends what I do over there and the places I go.

My problem? I didn’t have a tripod with me. I shot some great footage (really funny moments and all of which I will never put up here to bring shame to myself) but it wasn’t professional; It was shaky. So what do you do when your footage doesn’t turn out the way you want it to be? Turn it into a photo journalism project by freeze framing the footage at the right time. And i’ll demonstrate this with some of the footage I took this past summer. The key to a photo journal are the captions. If you take 3 photos and you put a caption, those pictures should represent everything that story is telling. So I want to share some of my favorite moments from my trip to masr… and remember with every project you do, feel passionately about it. And do it for the sake of Allah ‘az wa jal:

Click the pictures to view the captions and the slideshow, inshaAllah. 

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(also click the thumb nailed image above)

What is a conglomerate you ask? Basically when companies merge under ownership.Some conglomerates have so much power and ownership, that their costs are drastically reduced increasing their overall profit. And think about cross promotion… when you watch the history channel why do you see a lot of ABC commercials or Lifetime commercials?

So lets take a look at some major media conglomerates today: who owns what?(i’ll only list the well known ones, but if you want to see all of what they own click the link below)

Taken from here:

DISNEY:

• ABC Radio Networks
• A&E – (37.5% Disney-owned)
• E! Entertainment Television – (34.4% Disney-owned)
• ESPN Radio
• ESPN Sportszone
• History Channel, The – (37.5% Disney-owned)
• Lifetime – (50% Disney-owned)
• Radio Disney

NEWS CORP: (Rupert Murdoch is crazy..)

• 20th Century Fox
• BSkyB
• Fox Movie Channel
• FOXNews.com
• FoxTel

Newspapers:

• The Courier-Mail
• Herald Sun
• New York Post
• Post-Courier Online
• The Sun
• The Times
• The Weekly Times

SONY CORP:

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
• Sony Pictures

• Columbia Records
• Epic Records
• RCA Records
• RCA Victor
• Sony BMG Masterworks
• Sony BMG Music Entertainment
• Sony Music USA

TIME WARNER

• AOL Time Warner
  • AOL Instant Messenger
  • ICQ
  • Netscape
  • Winamp
• Warner Bros.
• Atlantic Records
• Rhino Records
• Warner Brothers Records
• Bay News 9
• NY1 News
• Turner Classic Movies

VIACOM

• CBS
• UPN
• Dreamworks
• Paramount Pictures
• Comedy Central
• Country Music Television (CMT)
• Noggin
• Showtime
• Spike TV
• Sundance Channel
• TV Land
• VH1
• Paramount theme parks

VIVENDI:

• Universal Studios
• Def Jam.com
• Motown Records

6 companies controlling almost all the media.. hmm

Click here to view the embedded video.

More on cross promotion later, inshaAllah.