Everything in between

Last Christmas, I gave you my heart… Oups. Last WebSummit, I gave you my heart!

Written by Sabine Demosthenes

MONTREAL – When I woke up in the morning of the last day of the greatest tech summit of all time ( I know, you’ve must be annoyed that I keep writing that sentence but it is so true), I got this song stuck in my head of Phil Collins Another Day in Paradise (Oh, think twice dalalala) as I prepare myself to conquer the world at the Web Summit for one last time in 2018. I grab a big glass of orange juice and I gave a big kiss to Grace, the dog of Ana and Bruno my hosts during the week, on my way out to the Web Summit (please don’t tell Bily Whisky, my Maltese, that I did kiss a girl and I like it …).

When I arrive at the Media Village, I was so ready for my one of one interview with a fascinating woman. Her name is Charlotte Summers and she is the COO of Diabetes Digital Media.

You will hear really soon our nice conversation at the Web Summit. I learn some many things about Low Carbs diet and I saw in Charlotte, a warrior for the diabetes patients to have a better health and a better lifestyle. In my book, Charlotte’s rock! All the Charlottes I know are so cool.

Welcome to my Charlotte’s Club Charlotte Summers.

There were so many interesting conferences like the Do We Need a Declaration of Digital Human Rights with Brett Solomon of Access Now, Peggy Hicks UN Office of High Commissioner for Human Rights and Adrian Lovett of World Wide Web Foundation. The moderator was Belinda Goldsmith of Thomson Reuters Foundation. Good and hard questions were asked about digital human rights. We are witnessing, especially right now, all the bullying that we are happening online from private citizens and some public figures like a certain person that is in charge of the United States of America. We do have a chart of human rights but do we need a chart of digital rights in this social media era? Yes, the chart of human rights should be enough but with everything that is going on, I do wonder if we need digital rights big time. The panel did debate on this question and of the 4, 1 of them did agree that we should maybe be considered to have a digital rights chart. I think we will still have this conversation in 2019.

In the afternoon, I met Marko Bitenc of GenePlanet for a small chat that you will have the chance to hear it really soon on The Chronicle.

Marko Bitenc is the CEO of GenePlanet. GenePlanet is an innovative healthcare and lifestyle solutions based on preventive genetic testing. Their goal is with preventive guidelines, they will help individuals to live a more fulfilling and healthy lifestyle. We may have to know someone that dies of a genetic predisposition and probably didn’t know at all he got those genes. I find it fascinating and it does give me a little bit more hope about the innovation of science to make our life a little bit healthier.

After my chat with Marko, I ran at the other side of the Pavillon (they got 3 big tents at the Web Summit) to see Lucas Di Grassi on stage.

Last time I saw Lucas was two years ago in Montreal.

Actually, Lucas was my next interview on my Thursday schedule right after his talks. But we did have to reschedule it. So be ready for two interviews (one in person and one in writing) with Lucas!

Back at Luca’s talk at the Auto/Tech and Talk Robot stage, Lucas talks about the human-machine race for the future.

The kid in me was super-excited. Lucas is the CEO of Roborace, the world’s first competition for human and machine teams, using self-driving and manually-controlled cars. Where do I sign to be a pilot?

Oh, I can hear my hubby saying you a pilot, haha, you must be kidding me.

Ok back to the topic. I saw it with my own eyes a driverless car (Lucas did show us a cool video) speeding up during a test drive and let me tell, human racers have some deep competitions coming really soon. Lucas is a passionate person and so smart.

I couldn’t see a better CEO than him for Roborace.

Paddy Cosgrave, the Web Summit Founder, gave a nice closing speech and before I forget to mention, during the Summit I think it was Wednesday late afternoon, all the women in tech were invited to go on stage for a big photo and a big applause from the public.

Wow, I’m so happy for every woman in the tech world to have this recognition.

As I prepare myself to fly home to my little family and to my Canadian weather and shinanigan, my heart was being nostalgic with all the conferences, the new friends like Paolo, Bruno, Grace and Ana and the partners I met at the Web Summit.

I had a little moment of happy tears but I didn’t cry a river because I couldn’t believe all the things I witnessed.

But I was so proud to be part of it. And then, a big smile came upon my face.

Why?

Collision 2019 will be in Toronto. The North-American version of the Web Summit will be in the Tdot! And then, I realize, Toronto will be my playground in May 2019.

Guess who will be back in the Tdot?

https://geneplanet.com

https://www.diabetes.co.uk/contributors/charlotte-summers/

https://roborace.com

Felt like a Rockstar at day 2 of the Web Summit

Written by Sabine Demosthenes

MONTREAL – The feeling I had when I woke up last Wednesday was super happy and confident. I suddenly felt like a rockstar! Before I left for the summit, I grabbed a big glass of orange juice and my dear friend for the week, Grace, a beautiful dog whose home I was staying at, along with amazing hosts: Ana, Bruno, and Paola. Grace was looking at me with those big beautiful eyes and this look: “Oh no you are leaving…” I told her that today (Wednesday) would be a fabulous day at the summit and I would be back that night to tell her all about it.

Yes, I do have conversations with dogs. They are such good listeners… I think.

On my metro ride to the Summit, a young lady introduced herself. She saw my media bracelet and she asked me if I was going to the Summit.

I was happy to tell her yes. Her name wasDiana. She is a young, smart journalist for the Youth Association of Journalists in Lisbon (I hope I got the name right). Diana was a dear companion during the rest of the summit. We met every now and then and I truly cherished our new friendship.

One highlight of the day before I forgot to write about was walking through the Alexis Ohanion Sr interview for CNN. I kept my cool and I tried to listen. At the end of his interview, as I was on my way out and without any expectation, I told him to go see a talk on the main stage that I will tweet a picture of. I heard him say “oh ok cool”.

As I promised, I tweeted the picture I took. I didn’t expect that in the next 5 minutes, he would have liked the picture and retweeted it. Boom!!!

Only at the Web Summit things like this happen, or maybe in the subway.

Back to Day 2. I was sitting in the main auditorium during the early afternoon (around2 pm) to see the amazing Dr. Ben Goertzel of Hanson Robotics, a company creating expressive, life-like robots with friendly personalities. Dr. Goertzel wasn’t on stage by himself, Sophia and Hunt were rocking the stage with him.

Who are Sophia?

Here is Sophia:

Interview with Sophia

It’s so amazing to see them and to have to privilege to be invited to the press conference given by Dr. Goertzel and Sophie The Robot. Good questions were asked.

The Internet wasn’t at it’s best, so Sophia was under the weather, unfortunately. We did witness all the beautiful work that the Hanson Robotics Family has been building. The future looks promising for all of us.

Thirty minutes later, I went to another press conference. This time, it was with the brilliant artist, Imogen Heap. She is such a multi-talented musician, producer, engineer, philanthropist, and a kick-ass woman (yes, kick ass).

Mycelia is a research and development hub for music makers (Hallelujah!).

I even got the opportunity to ask her a quick question!

After this beautiful day, I went back to the place I was calling home for the week I was in Lisbon. Grace (the dog) and I hung out and she listened (again) to all the adventures I had during that fabulous day.

The next thing you knew, I was dreaming about the next day, the last day of the Summit with dear Grace next to me.

https://www.reddit.com

http://myceliaformusic.org

http://www.hansonrobotics.com

The beat goes on at the Web Summit Day One!

Written by Sabine Demosthenes

MONTREAL – It took me two days to get my groove back from flying home after this year Web Summit in Lisbon. More importantly, to get back to Earth after having the time of my life at the best tech conference in the world and reliving the pleasure of discovering a city I first visit six years ago.

If you don’t believe me, please have a look at a few home videos of myself (my cameraman aka The Educated Fool is not with me). I apologize for the quality of the video, but it does capture the emotion.

You know what, here is a better video from The Web Summit family. Ah, much better!

Day one at the Web Summit 2018

Last Tuesday was Day One of the Web Summit, and what a day it was! I met some inspiring startups like Newsadoo; a News version of Spotify. I have met so many friendly people who genuinely want to change the world through their startup ventures. During Carlos Moedas’ press conference, he is The European Commissioner of Innovation and Research, I took a big breath and had a little talk with myself. I said, “Go Sab, it will be alright.” I asked this question. Check out the video and I’m sorry for my French-speaking accent :

I have had the pleasure of speaking with João Andrade of Chromatikborn. Chromatikborn’s goal is to change the way fashion retail is organized. I’m a fashion lover and so for me, it’s a no-brainer to be excited about his startup.

During the afternoon, I saw Stephanie Mc Mahon on stage twice! She is one of the architects of the WWE Evolution. She talks about the evolution of women in male-dominated sports entertainment, specifically wrestling.

She also talks about where she wants to see the WWE in ten years. She wants it to be as big or even bigger than Disney. With everything Stephanie has accomplished, I wouldn’t be surprised if it did happen.

After a day of stars in my eyes and going weak in the knees (Thank God for my Adidas Superstars and no, this is not product placement… Hmm Adidas, call me!), I went to have dinner near the place I’m staying all alone.

Walking the streets of Lisbon during the night is mystical and magical. It’s my second time visiting this beautiful city. I will almost call it my third home away from home.

I’m falling in love with Lisbon all over again.

I went to a local restaurant (Chu Chu). I just wanted to eat, to relax and to enjoy memories of the day.

I ordered a half bottle of Vinho Verde and watched the sports network on their TV. By the time I finished my dinner, a friendly man had come to sit right next to me. Next thing you knew, we were having a really interesting conversation! We started talking about where I’m from, The Chronicle, and The Web Summit. Later, we spoke of his moving to Lisbon from France, yesterday’s mid-term election, and iconic French actors as we drank Porto.

When I finally put my head to my pillow last night, I couldn’t believe the day I had.

I fell asleep and woke up with a desire to repeat the same day I had yesterday.

Guess what?

Wednesday was as fun and magical as Tuesday!

A story of mending hearts with Children Mending Heart

Written by Sabine Demosthenes

MONTREAL – Once upon a time, there was a young, vibrant little girl named Sab. She was the typical happy girl, teased by her hero – her big brother, Don. She was born prematurely at 6 months, but since she grabbed her first breath, she was a warrior… She was a happy warrior.

Her first friend was her cousin, Sand. Sand was one year younger than Sab. The two of them were inseparable and constantly mimicked each other.

Around the age of three, Sab made new friends since her family moved to a new neighborhood. Mimi, Reg, Jackie, Ronnie, and Freddie, along with her cousin Sand and big brother Don were her crew. She felt so complete. When she left her crew to start kindergarten, she thought she would find the same kind of friends she had already made, but that wasn’t the case. It was the total opposite. This was the first time she encountered rejection and bullying. She didn’t say anything to her parents or to her brother about it because she didn’t want to dwell. She just couldn’t wait to play with her crew, lovingly called Pigeon’s Crew. For her, solace was in her crew.

Three years later, her world changed. Her family moved from one street to the next, but Sab lost her soulmate, Mimi. Even though they were just one street apart, the friendship would never be the same. They were not going to the same elementary school for grade one and faced this new chapter of their lives apart.

This vibrant little girl slowly started to lose her spark.

Why?

She was constantly bullied by the mean girl of the school she went to. This went on up until her sixth grade. The mean Nad was a total nightmare! For no particular reason, she just hated the sweet Sab. Sab was really sad about it and even afraid to go to school, but she kept it to herself.

When starting high school, she thought she would get a break, but she encountered a new version of the Mean Nad and this one wasn’t alone. Mean Mel was a total bitch (sorry for the language). With her crew, they vandalized Sab’s locker, they stole the precious pens that she cherished, they pulled at her long, thick hair in the bathroom thinking it was a wig. The leader of the crew was a mean boy, Mean Kenny E. Sab was totally unhappy and suicidal. She wanted badly to end her life, but she always thought about her hero at times like this, her big brother Donald and her parents. Wrestling was a refuge for Sab. Ever since she was a little girl, she wrestled her brother and wrestling was a religion in her home, for the whole family.

Her idol was Bret, The Hitman, Hart. In him, she saw someone courageous and very bright. He wasn’t the tallest one, but he was the smartest one! He was fearless. Sab held on to his character and his determination to get through each day, every day.

At the end of her second year in high school, oh I forgot to note – she went to a private school – she did the unthinkable…

She managed to register herself at the local high school, one that had the worst reputation. It was an act of survival for her and probably the best decision she made. The bullying she suffered at the previous schools was because she wasn’t like the other kids. She didn’t fit their definition of normal. She was curious about the world, about other cultures and she didn’t speak with the particular accent attributing to the Haitian community. So, she was bullied. When she finally started going to her new school, Calixa, she was finally able to breathe again. She rekindled her friendship with Mimi, who ended up at Calixa too. She met new friends and they were so sweet.

She even grew a strong friendship with Grace, a sweet Italian kid that was living in front of her when she moved at the age of 6.

Her confidence grew back, little by little, and her new crew was a remix of the old one with a few new faces.

She stayed the sweet girl, wanting to do good and be kind to everyone. She was broken for a while, but with the help of her friends and her family, she was able to rebuild again. In her adult life, she encountered challenges, but she is grateful to be alive.

This sweet Sab is me.

Writing this post was not easy, but I had to do it. This month is a special month. It is Bullying Prevention Month. I’m collaborating with the Children Mending Hearts (yeah!) to bring awareness to the issue of bullying. Since 2008, The Children Mending Hearts (CMH) Foundation has provided free art education programs to more than 25,000 children in the county of Los Angeles.

I always said to myself when I was younger that if I’m still alive when I grew up, I want to help children that suffer like me and to tell them, please stay as kind as you are and don’t change yourself. Better days are on the horizon.

The founder of The CMH, filmmaker Lysa Heslov (one of my heroes), had the vision to create a foundation that will inspire children to grow up to be compassionate and socially-conscious adults. For me, that is truly a beautiful mission. In the 80s and 90s, we didn’t talk about bullying at all in school. Some TV shows navigated the subject, but not like today. Lisa and the rest of the CMH team’s mission are to change the culture of bullying into one of empathy and action.

My 35-year-old heart is happy to learn about this beautiful mission.

During this month, let’s make something cool and artsy to send a message. By painting our nails blue (come on boys, it’s 2018, you can do it!) and post a picture on social media with the hashtag #bluenailsbullyfree and tag @childrenmendinghearts. I

went to get my nails done! For the whole month, I will be sporting fifty shades of blue nails. Hm, maybe not THAT many! In two weeks, I will post my nails in a new kind of blue to show my support for a cause really close to my heart.

So, let’s do it! Let’s encourage the next generation to continue being kind, being fearless, and to remember to be compassionate human beings. I sure will continue to do it. With Children Mending Hearts, I can’t wait to be part of their team and witness the legacy they will leave for the future generation.

https://www.childrenmendinghearts.org

Sex, Drugs, Rock n’ Roll and Food with Anthony and Eric

Written by Sabine Démosthènes

Montreal – In the twentieth and twentieth-first centuries, we have witnessed some of the most beautiful and powerful friendships. There were Ben and Jerry, Sinatra-Martin-Lawford-Davis Jr, Thelma and Louise, Affleck and Damon, Kidman and Watts, Brodeur-Obama-Winfrey, Obama and Biden and this list can go on and on.

One of my favorite duos includes two of the most well-loved and well-known chefs in the world. Their chemistry is palpable.

I’m still laughing about that Parts Unknown episode in Chile when they were hiking toward their cacao field in Peru. Tony was so, hmm… let’s say he wasn’t used to hiking like Éric was, but he kept walking (with a few F words here and there), enjoying time with his friend.

I will be honest with you guys, as a teenager in the 90s (1996-2000), the only time I saw the name Éric Ripert was when I went to my local library and saw Anthony’s book, Kitchen Confidential, on the stand as a new book. I found the man on the cover super sexy (I was a young, hormonal late teenager). I started reading the book. Anthony wrote about his first family trip to France with his parents and his younger brother and his shitty, bratty attitude. I was hooked. I was hooked to his ways with words. This trip was raw, funny and enlightening.

Years later, with Tony’s shows: No Reservations, Layovers, and Parts Unknown, I felt like I, and probably you too were part of their friendship or, should I say brotherhood. They spoke the same language of humility with a sense of gratitude for their chosen art. Their personalities just clicked, like soulmates.

What I really enjoyed with them was that I felt I could hang out with them, no reservations. You will see it in this next video I will share with you. I could clearly be in the corner cutting some hmm, let say the octopus and drinking my glass of wine, listening to their stories with my innocent mind … Not so innocent actually, but still.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRJTKcNYMRs

Sex, Drugs, Rock n’ Roll and Food with the boys.

I will end this post with a nice quote from our dear friend, Jim Morrison.

”A friend is someone who gives you total freedom to be yourself”

https://www.le-bernardin.com

La reine Doualé est morte… Vive la nouvelle reine Clémentine. Passe-Partout 2.0

Rédigé par Sabine Démosthènes

À celle qui a bercé mon enfance avec la fameuse berceuse créole.

À celle dont on me taquinait souvent jusqu’à l’âge adulte en m’appelant Doualé.

La charmante petite marionnette des Caraïbes a rendu l’âme (je pleure comme les pleureuses des enterrements haïtiens).

Repose en paix ma chère Doualé dans les placards de Télé-Québec. Tu vas me manquer.

1977-2018!

Mais gloire à la nouvelle marionnette des Antilles. Elle sera digne d’un enfant d’origine haïtienne sans aucun accent. J’ouvre une petite paranthèse à certaines personnes de mon passé qui trouvait que j’étais étrange vu que je n’avais pas d’accent comme eux et vu que je n’avais pas d’accent, il trouvait que je n’étais pas une vraie haïtienne comme eux. Je ne perdrais pas trop de temps à vider mon sac mais je suis extrêmement contente que la chère Clémentine va représenter des jeunes enfants québécois d’origine haïtienne qui sont fiers de marier leurs cultures haïtiennes et québécoises. Je ferme la parenthèse.

Revenons à Clémentine.

Elle fera son entrée glorieuse sur les ondes de Télé-Québec dans la nouvelle version de Passe-Partout.

Soudainement, la tristesse du départ de Doualé est un plus facile à accepter avec la venue de Clémentine.

En passant, mon Fardoche sera un fermier noir! Pour ceux et celles qui sont en train de se révolter parce que Fardoche devrait être comme la version originale que Pierre Dufresne a si bien interprété et il doit être un caucasien, svp, calmez-vous.

Premièrement, nous sommes en 2018 et deuxièmement, pourquoi pas. Les deux acteurs qui auront joué ce personnage culte de la télévision québécoise sont deux excellents acteurs. Pierre Dufresne est un icône du théatre québécois. Et Widemir Normil est une légende également dans le monde du petit écran québécois. Widemir Normil est un sacré bon acteur et je suis si contente qui fera partie de cette équipe.

Un petit mot pour Widemir. Est-ce que ça serait possible que Fardoche 2.0 chanterait une version de la chanson des légumes avec un petit remix version 2018 et qu’il pourrait s’inspirer des chansons de Biggy Smalls, Wu-Tang, Tropicana d’Haïti, James Brown, Patrick Norman, Beau Dommage et Offenbach? Je serais très heureuse.

Bravo à l’équipe de production de Passe-Partout 2.0. J’ai très hâte de découvrir à nouveau cette émission qui m’a si marqué (ah, les états d’âmes de Passe-Partout).

Je me demande si Ti-Brin sera de retour en version Hipster. Ce petit rebel avec son manteau de cuir.

Svp, pas de Mélodie. Elle était tellement fatiguante (je vous épargne des mots pas très gentils qui démontrent mon mécontentement vis-à-vis de cette bébé la la. Ok, Sab, calme toi).

Voici une preuve de son côté fatiguante en …

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p85XTiS6kjU

Hm, peut-être que les fameux gardiens (et non gardiennes) de Cannelle et Pruneau (Cannelle et Pruneau chantent une chanson, Cannelle dit les mots, Pruneau fait les sons… Je me rappelle encore de cette chanson oh wow, c’est intense) qui étaient des étudiants de l’UQAM auront finalement décidé de faire des études supérieures à l’UdeM au sommet de la montagne (je suis une bleue dans l’âme).

Est-ce que Pellerin et Pellerine sont encore ensemble ou comme ils vont faire partie de la statistique montante du taux de divorce?

J’attends avec impatience le remix 2018 de Passe-Partout.

http://www.telequebec.tv

Quoi penser des VMA…

Suite au Gala des MTV Videos Music Award 2018, disons que nos analystes ne fuent pas très impréssionnés par l’hommage que la Reine du Pop a rendu à la Reine du Soul.

Laissons nos analystes s’expliquer.

De la part de l’équipe du Chronicle et du Northside, on tient à donner nos condoléances à la famille et aux amis de la grande Aretha Franklin.