No vote, no grumble! Are you registered to vote? There are currently a few movements focused on getting Hawaii people (especially young people) to register and exercise their right to vote.

Kanu Hawaii, for example, is working with Common Cause Hawaii on Your Vision. Your Vote. - to get 1,000 young people to lead the charge in the 2010 elections by volunteering to work the polls, helping register voters, and voting themselves.

One of the coolest things I've seen was graffiti artist Estria Miyashiro (originally from Hawaii, now in Oakland, CA) who came home to express his support of Neil Abercrombie--and to encourage other artists to get involved in politics--by painting a mural.

He even let kids passing by try their hand at painting, as he taught them how to properly hold the spray cans and create even strokes.

During his time here, Estria also coordinated an event to bring awareness to local artists and encourage people to register to vote. Rep. Della Au Bellati dropped by to say hi, and Sen. Carol Fukunaga came by as she was filing her nomination papers (she even met some new, young constituents in the process!).

Sen. Fukunaga was so jazzed about the event, she came back with a pair of shoes to be graffiti-ed. Can you see the "Carol" on her shoe?

One of the artists tried his hand at a campaign Tshirt for Neenz....

...but non-partisan, non-political messages were popular, too.

But, I digress. Through social media, Estria encouraged people to help him paint, and finished the mural the other day.

Finishing touches.

A true artist always tags his work.

If you want to see the finished mural, you can drop by Neil Abercrombie headquarters during business hours.

Mahalo, Estria, for your work!

Are you registered to vote? According to Kanu Hawaii, when Hawaii became a state in 1959, voter turnout was 84% in the primary election – one of the highest in the U.S. By the 2008 primary, turnout was down to 37% – among the lowest in the country. Do your part to help elect the kind of leaders who will address our concerns.

Have you ever been to the annual Gridiron show? It's a variety show full of singing, dancing, and a little acting to poke fun at just about anyone and anything in Hawaii’s headlines over the past year--done by a cast comprised of (mostly) local media.

For us, the audience, it's a chance to see the local media like we've never seen them before. For the last eight years, for example, Dan Cooke has dressed in drag as Governor Linda Lingle. Last year, a chorus line of TV news personalities sang & danced across the stage. This year's theme, in light of the massive layoffs, is "There's No Business like NO Business!" Some of the cast, in fact, have lost their jobs at least once in the last two years.

I was lucky to get a preview the other day when I sat in on the rehearsals--OK, partly because my niece Ahnya has been the director for the last several years! But lucky nonetheless! That's her on the left, making sure the guys hit their marks.

Local composer Roslyn Catracchia is the music director, and harnesses the media's singing talent. Here's my homeboy Ben Gutierrez belting out one of several numbers he has during the evening.

It's a pretty exciting show! They physically get into their roles and, as you can see, put their whole selves into it.

I don't know if I could fall back like this! Yow!

They pull every move possible on stage. It's a well-choreographed performance!

Artistic director Keoki Kerr, left, with my J-school classmate Gordon Pang, practicing a dialogue to segue into the next dance number.

You'll see a few PR people in there, too. Moani Wright-Van Alst is one of the cast who can tap dance and sing!

Anyway, after watching a little bit of rehearsal, I'm looking forward to another fantastic show! It was cool to see people that we know from different media outlets working together in a totally different environment. It was even cooler to see them taking directions from Ahnya.

Go see the show! You'll be laughing the whole time. They usually sell out, so they added a Saturday matinee. Also, it's a creative fundraiser for the Society of Professional Journalists’ Hawaii Chapter student internships and scholarships.Shows:

8 p.m. Friday, Aug. 13
3 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 14
8 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 14

Diamond Head Theatre
For more information, go to the SPJ site or the Gridiron Facebook page.

For tickets:
To charge tickets by phone, call (800) 745-3000 from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. (Hawaiian Standard Time) Monday through Saturday and from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. (Hawaiian Standard Time) Sunday.

TICKETS MAY ALSO BE PURCHASED AT:
Ticketmaster outlets: Blaisdell Arena box office, Sports Gear at Windward Mall and Walmart stores at the following locations:
 Keeaumoku St., Honolulu
 94-595 Kupuohi St., Waipahu
 95-550 Lanikuhana Ave., Mililani
 1131 Kuala St., Pearl City
 101 Pakaula St., Kahului, Maui,
 3-3300 Kuhio Hwy., Lihue, Kauai
 325 Makaala St., Hilo
 75-1015 Henry St., Kailua-Kona
Tickets are $60 for Super Good Seats (lowered from 2008’s $65) and $40 for Really Good Seats.
Fees charged by Ticketmaster are: $5 per ticket for $40/$60 tickets, $3 per order

Mahalo to Robbie Dingeman and my niece Ahnya Chang for letting me sneak in to your rehearsal!

This is a little late (surprise, surprise!), but I wanted to get this out anyway! So last week, our fellow blogger Alan Okami of Ka Leo O Kalihi and his family had their 15th Anniversary party at the Willows. (pictured here with me and Ed Sugimoto, who already blogged about it!)

Papa Okami with Alan's cousin/fellow blogger, Lori Okami.

It was kind of a mini-reunion for our blogger ohana!

The party was also like a "who's who" of local entertainers, young and old. Look who I saw! Remember TJ Maeshiro, who won Aloha Tower Marketplace's first ukulele contest? He's 17 now, and so big! I feel so old!

Check out some of the food:

Check out some of the entertainment! Soul Sisters were so talented!

And here's an all-star kanikapila group at the party!

Congratulations to the Okamis and especially to my bruddah Alan! Wishing you many more generations of success.

This seems a little self-serving to be MIA for weeks and then pop back up to talk about an award, but one of the main reasons I was busy was preparing my speech! Christa Wittmier made me feel better by saying, "Blogging is so two thousand and late!"

Last night, I was honored by the Public Relations Society of America-Hawaii Chapter (PRSA Hawaii)--more specifically, by Nathan Kam--with the President's Leadership Award. Unlike the Gregg Perry PR Person of the Year, which is awarded by a jury of one's peers, this one is given at the sole discretion of the president (which Nathan is).

The theme of the night was social media, and although many of us use it, not so many PR pros are super active on it. In fact, compared to our mainland counterparts, Hawaii lags far behind in social media activity. I could go into all the reasons why more PR people here won't get more involved in the use of social media or get others into it, but my--and Nathan's--hope is that they will.

With Conchita Malaqui of Waikiki Beach Walk

In a volatile economy, having the network created by social media is what saved me. I lost my job at the end of 2008, but because I had carved a niche through my overactive Twittering, I was able to pick up clients, like Pearlridge and Waikiki Beach Walk, who needed that service. We're looking ahead to the end of the year and the opportunities seem endless. So my question to my peers was, "If you lost your job tomorrow, is your personal brand and network strong enough to keep you working?"

Maybe. If they've embraced the technology and actually do some social things, the transition is easier. Even if they're not tech savvy, if they reach out to others to help them learn, that's social in itself. I can't say enough about how I've met so many wonderful people via social media that I wouldn't have met otherwise.

Anyway, this wasn't meant to be a sermon on social media, although I do wish more of our readers were also more into it. I'm grateful for the opportunities that this blog and my Twitter have brought me, and I'm so grateful to Nathan and PRSA for this once in a lifetime award. I'm truly honored.

Congratulations to the winners of the Koa Anvil program awards, too!

Ah, the power of Twitter. Did you see the news story on KITV4 last night about the couple who met on Twitter and subsequently got married using social media?

Dallas Nagata and Ed White met at a "tweet up," or a gathering of twitter users, last year. After a whirlwind romance, they got engaged. Now, don't get me wrong, the normal focus of social media is not to hook up. If you take technology out of the picture, you could say Dallas & Ed found each other by chance through mutual friends.

Other than that, their relationship has been all about social media. We watched their romance unfold on Twitter, Facebook, and Flickr. The invitation to their wedding was done on Twtvite. The wedding was livestreamed so that people around the world--mostly family & friends who couldn't make it--could be a part of the event. We all had our cameras and phones out so we could upload photos of the event in real time.

It was at Kakaako Waterfront Park, which was one of the reasons there was such a wide range of attire, from dressy to uber casual. (Left to right: Mark Mizuno, Gypsy Raven, Jennifer Lieu, Brad Tada, Jeff Kang, Erin Kinoshita)

They decided to make it a potluck, which was a cool way to show what our virtual friends eat from their neighborhoods. Or, in other cases, to show their home cooking/baking skills. On top of that, many of us were meeting for the first time. At least one guy met the couple for the first time, here!

Later that night, in keeping with the social media activity, Dallas & Ed showed up to "Shirtless Wednesdays." For those of you who don't know, DJ Charlie Criscola (@Charlieboy808, in the large cell) hosts a weekly internet livestream in which he mixes music from about 10 p.m. to midnight. It started when he came home one night to mix music, and since he was hot, took off his shirt. People who came to the livestream then followed suit (mostly guys). It's been a weekly internet tradition ever since.

The couple then requested Elvis' "Falling in Love With You" for their first dance, which they did on camera for us. Fun!

Everything about this event was a great way to show the community that social media can build. Although it starts online, it transfers to real life. People who say they don't have time or don't want to learn about using it are, in my opinion, missing out on the richness that any kind of social interaction--online or not--can provide. Like any social situation, you need to exercise common sense, but once you learn how (like reading this blog!), you can really broaden your horizons.

Congrats Dallas & Ed! Wishing you many years of happiness. See you online.