2009 GAP Conference

The Oregon Commission for Women held an All-Day Conference at Portland State University on March 7, 2009.

I went to this conference on Saturday and thought it was invigorating: filled with people and panelists who are full of passion and creativity.

Portland State University in conjunction with the Oregon Commission for Women hosted the 2009 Gap Conference in Smith Memorial Student Union. This all-day conference was open to the public and admission was free.

The goal of the Oregon Commission for Women is to Bridge Gender Gaps in Education, Health Care, Employment and Leadership.

One way the commission is hoping to get more young women involved is by appealing to their interests in movies, theater and films.

Lana Veenker of Veenker Casting,

who helped with the casting of the Twilight movie last year in Portland, participated in a panel discussion, answering questions presented to the group with humor, passion and perspective. You can read her blog here.

Lourrie Hammack the President of Laika House, which produced the amazing stop-motion animated film CORALINE which was written by Newberry Award winning author Neil Gaiman was also on the panel together with Jan Johnson, also from Laika House.

The panel was rounded out by Ellen Bergstone Beer, who is involved with the Women’s Film Initiative and Film Action Oregon.

It was an eye-opening panel discussion moderated by Susan Castner from the Oregon Commission for Women.

Nike’s own Phil Knight owns Laika House and his son, Travis, who is the CEO of the production company, which used to be Will Vinton Studios, here in Portland, Oregon and which became well known due to their advertising campaign for the California Raisins are taking Laika into new areas.

Laika House has recently done animated work for Dole, M&Ms, Soyjoy, Coca Cola, Carnation Breakfast Essentials, Apple, Ben and Jerry’s Phish Food, Nike, the Oregon lottery and more.

The Women’s Film Initiative is working to engage Portland Women in the film-making industry and has contributed more than $17,000 to help fund five different film-making projects: three documentaries and two narratives have been supported by these funds.

If you are interested in getting involved in this program, here is the contact information for the Oregon Commission for Women: 3218 Pringle Road SE, Suite 270, Salem, OR 97302, Phone: 503-378-2139, Email: oaco.mail@das.state.or.us

Coraline - A Seriously Creepy Kids' Book

Coraline is one creepy kids’ book. And, I loved it.

Coraline’s life is sorta boring at least in her mind. She wants to be an explorer and have exciting things to do. Well, we’ve all heard the expression, “Be careful what you wish for – it just might come true.” And boy does it ever come true for Coraline.

There is a door in the drawing room that is “only for best”. Right away you know something’s wrong with a room that is “only for best”, ‘cause who calls something that any way? The words aren’t even right.

There’s a door in there that’s always kept locked. And, when Coraline asks her mother, “Where does that door go?”

She says, “Nowhere, dear.”

“It has to go somewhere.” Coraline doesn’t believe her but her mother proves her point.

The door swings open and it opens onto a brick wall – but that doesn’t last for long.

Later, Coraline goes back to the odd door and this time it opens into another house just like her own…except when you look a little closer, it isn’t.

She has another mother and another father but they aren’t the look-alikes they appear to be. Instead the other mother turns out to be…

Well, I don’t want to ruin the story for all you readers out there.

Suffice it to say that Coraline must use her brain to win this game, and a little trickery too – along with the help of a not-so-friendly cat.

This 163 page novel is a fun read and now there’s a 3-D stop-motion animated picture – that is currently on my “To-Do” list.