RAHUL MENDIRATTA, 2006 FRESHI INDIA FILM CAMPER, HEADS TO USA

In 2006, Freshi went to India to conduct our first international Film Camp. One of the teens attending the camp was Rahul Mendiratta (seen below at the camp - he's the boy with his hand raised). We're excited to announce that Rahul will be visiting America soon at part of the Global Youth Leadership Council, "a unique leadership development program that brings together outstanding young people from around the world to build critical leadership skills in a global context. "

"GYLC offers students the opportunity to learn from and exchange ideas with some of the world's top business leaders, policy officials, lobbyists, journalists, diplomats and academics in the challenging and dynamic environments of Washington, D.C. and New York City; or Beijing, Hangzhou and Shanghai."

In addition to visiting New York and Washington D.C., Rahul will also be spending time in California. We look forward to seeing him again, and wish him well with this incredible opportunity!

Rahul Mendiratta, center, during the 2006 Freshi Program in India.

SOME FINAL THOUGHTS ON VLOGGING

Vlogging is a form of communication - it's a chance not only to be heard, but to get to know other like-minded people around the world. With a little bit of planning, a good sense of humor, and the ability to be yourself - the vlogging experience can expand your universe. At the same time, protect your privacy and your independence with a vengeance. While most people in the vlogging world are great, some are only out for trouble. In that way, it's just like the real world.

Recently, a popular young vlogger found his home address posted on a public site by a mean-spirited viewer a continent away, who offered the information to other vloggers worldwide via Twitter. How did he track down the vlogger's personal information? The vlogger made two mistakes. First, he freely offered his full name on his YouTube channel and various websites. Second, he maintained a website with public registration. If you establish a website, you must provide a contact address to complete the registration. Most people use their actual home address, but it's possible, through your internet provider, to register your website through a service that protects your private information - including your address. This vlogger didn't take that step, and as a result, the viewer could have put him at risk for stalking by anyone who might have come across the information. Fortunately, the information was quickly taken down - but it doesn't' take much imagination to understand how it all could have gone wrong.

If you decide to vlog - have fun, protect your privacy like you're a celebrity, and - most importantly - let us know!

VLOG EVERY DAY APRIL: VLOGBROTHERS!

No salute to vlogging would be complete with the most famous Vloggers of all time, VLOGBROTHERS! Here's a recent post on Google/YouTube's new auto-captioning feature, which is supposed to take the voice in your video and convert it to text captions. It doesn't work so well:

VLOG EVERY DAY APRIL: WAFFLESAM

Today's "Vlog Every Day April" highlight comes from WaffleSam, a 15 year-old vlogger in England. Make sure to check out his YouTube channel.

VEDA - VLOG EVERY DAY APRIL

April is Vlog Every Day April (VEDA) - an annual challenge vloggers take on to do as it says - create a vlog every single day of the month. We'll celebrate VEDA this week by featuring vlog-related videos - some on how to vlog, others by some of the creative teen vloggers on YouTube.

Enjoy! And START VLOGGING!

Here's the first, by Youtuber "NickSpov," with his guide to vlogging: