The Japanese American National Museum, 100 N. Central Ave. in Little Tokyo, hosts the 2013 V3 (Vision, Visibility, Voice) Digital Media Conference on Saturday, June 15, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Presented by the Asian American Journalists Association-Los Angeles, V3con will highlight and expand multi-platform Asian American and Pacific Islander communications by gathering thought-provoking online journalists, creative social media communicators, seasoned bloggers, and those interested in engaging on digital platforms. In this unique, one-day conference setting, all are invited to share their experiences, knowledge, endeavors, and visions with others during interactive panels and workshops.

Comcast NBCUniversal is a gold sponsor of the second annual V3con.

Panel and plenary topics include “Asian Visibility in Hollywood and Globally Online,” “The Future of Journalism in the Digital World,” “Social Media Lessons from the 2012 Presidential Campaign,” “Creating Moving Messaging: Nonprofits and Digital Media Options” and “Sustainability: Success as a Woman in Digital Media.”

Hands-on workshops will cover subjects as varied as taking better mobile photos, growing your digital footprint and giving a good interview, and demonstrating the latest in smart accessories and devices.

Panelists include Phil Yu (a.k.a. “Angry Asian Man”); marketing legend Bill Imada of IW Group; Elisa Camahort Page, co-founder of “BlogHer”; actor Parvesh Cheena; actress Lynn Chen; visual journalist Marilyn Chung; filmmaker Patrick Epino; digital editor Megan Garvey of The Los Angeles Times; tech editor Gregory Han; Robert Hernandez of USC.

Visit www.v3con.com for details.

Award Recipients

Restaurateur Roy Choi, civil rights pioneer Grace Lee Boggs and journalists Richard Lui and Gil Asakawa were honored Friday during a gala awards reception at the Pacific Asia Museum in Pasadena.

“We are privileged to recognize four such distinguished honorees at V3con,” said Jocelyn “Joz” Wang, founder and executive director of the event. “They come from such varied walks of life, yet the paths they have chosen represent a lifetime of service to their communities and accomplishments that have boosted the stature of Asian Americans everywhere.”

The three “V” awards given at V3con recognize the contributions, talents and values of path-breaking individuals who have enabled Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders to become recognized as a significant force in media. Each of this year’s recipients has significantly raised the profile of the AAPI community in the mainstream.

The Vision Award, given for a career spent covering or promoting Asian America, this year recognizes two individuals who have fulfilled this mission in different ways.

Richard Luiis a journalist and dayside news anchor for MSNBC whose reporting focus is on politics. From his base in New York, he also anchors “Early Today” for NBC News. Lui previously served for five years at CNN Worldwide, anchoring the 10 a.m. edition of CNN Headline News’ “Morning Express”; in that role, he was the first male Asian American in the U.S. to anchor a daily national cable news show. Before entering journalism, he spent 15 years in business with Fortune 500 and technology companies.

Lui, a first-generation Asian American, has spent 25 years in community service in the U.S., Asia and Africa, volunteering for organizations including the Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies and APIA Vote.

Los Angeles chef Roy Choihas been at the forefront of the food truck phenomenon, leading a movement through the innovative use of social media to connect with customers. The South Korean-born chef, through Kogi Korean BBQ To-Go, dishes out a fusion of Korean and Mexican food throughout Los Angeles and Orange counties. Choi’s prominence within the culinary community has helped bring Asian cuisine to the forefront.

He was named Best New Chef by Food & Wine magazine in 2010 and recently appeared on Bravo TV’s “Top Chef” as a guest judge, elevating the AAPI community’s presence in the mainstream media.

The Visibility Award recognizes media personalities and artists who are helping Asian Americans become accepted as part of the mainstream pop culture, not exotic outsiders. The 2013 honoree, Grace Lee Boggs, is an activist, writer and philosopher whose career in political involvement encompasses the major U.S. social movements of the last seven decades. Boggs, still advocating and educating today at age 97, came to prominence in the 1940s and ’50s, when she developed a political partnership with black Marxists. She continued her activism in the civil rights and Black Power movements in Detroit with her husband, the late James Boggs.

She is the subject of a documentary, “American Revolutionary: The Evolution of Grace Lee Boggs,” which will make its world premiere June 16 at the 19th Los Angeles Film Festival.

The Voice Award is given to a recipient who leads by example to give voice to Asian Americans and help others find their voices. Gil Asakawahas worked as a writer, editor and online authority for some 30 years, including stints at alternative weekly newspaper Westwordin Denver, where he was the longtime music editor, and at daily newspapers and news websites. He is currently manager of student media at the University of Colorado’s School of Journalism and Mass Communications.

Asakawa blogs about Asian American culture at Nikkeiview and is the author of “Being Japanese American.” Long active in Denver’s Asian American community, he has filled leadership roles with the Japanese American Citizens League and AAJA.

About AAJA-LA

The mission of the Asian American Journalists Association is to provide a means of association and support among Asian American and Pacific Islander journalists; provide encouragement, information, advice and scholarship assistance to AAPI students who aspire to professional journalism careers; provide to the AAPI community an awareness of new media and an understanding of how to gain fair access; and research and point out when news media organizations stray from accuracy and fairness in coverage of AAPIs. The Los Angeles Chapter, established in 1981, is the organization’s founding chapter. http://aaja-la.org

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