Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 31, Number 5, 1 May 2014 — Using technology to inform the lāhui [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Using technology to inform the lāhui

loha from Kaua'i and

JNi īhau! Mahalo this month to the brothLers of the Royal

Order of Kamehameha I, Chapter No. 3, Kaumuali'i and the women of Nā Wahine Hui o Kamehameha, who eaeh year spearhead Kaua'i's efforts to celebrate Prince Kūhiō's birthday with a gathering held at Prince Kūhiō Park. One cannot help but feel the Prince's mana as dignitaries, Hawaiians and even tourists gather at his birthplace. I would also like

to recognize the hard work and dedication that goes into the care of this park in honor of Prince Kūhiō every single day throughout the year. I've mentioned the great work of the High Tech Youth Network (hightech youth.org) in this space before. So that got me thinking about how we adults use technology in our everyday lives. Sure, we use it to entertain ourselves, but a very powerful part of technology, and especially the Internet, is that it allows us to remain connected in an ever-changing, fast-paced world that sees Hawaiians living across the globe. As a Trustee, I use an iPhone, a MiFi, a tablet, a laptop and a desktop to keep on top of all the issues OHA is working on and to communicate with staff and beneficiaries. Through a variety of online services, OHA staff share news, opportunities and conversations that perpetuate Hawaiian culture, empower Hawaiians and strengthen all of Hawai 'i nei. The first plaee to visit is the OHA website (OHA.org) for information about our programs, services and publications. You ean get an electronic copy of Ka Wai Ola there. And you ean even watch a live broadcast of meetings of the Trustees, whieh uses the Ustream service. On most Wednesdays, you ean catch either our Asset and Resource Management (ARM) and/or Beneficiary Advocacy and Empowerment (BAE) committees. On most Thursdays, you ean see the Board of Trustees (BOT) meetings and/or our newest committee,

the Land and Property (LAP) commit-

tee, chaired by lrustee Hulu Lindsey from Maui. Meeting dates and times change, but agendas with items that are to be considered are posted on OHA.org. Minutes of past meetings are also posted online. While OHA is not on all social media platforms, we are on the most popular, so you are able to connect with us on one that you use: • Like the OHA page on Facebook (facebook.com/ officeofhawaiianaffairs) for detailed updates.

• Follow @oha_hawaii on microblogging service Twitter for quick updates. • Subscribe to our updates on video site YouTube (youtube.com/ OHAHawaii) to see snippets of what is happening in the Hawaiian eommunity. • Follow @oha_hawaii on photosharing site Instagram to see what OHA is up to. • Visit OHA's Tumblr blog (office ofhawaiianaffairs.tumblr.com) for still more updates. And don't worry, for those who prefer to connect with us on a more traditional level, you are still weleome to visit any of our offices in your coimnunities. And we are also just a phone eall away: 5941888 on O'ahu and 1-800-366-1758 toll-free. Finally, here's a shout-out to Mona Bernardino, Richard Pezzulo, Randy Hoopai and the rest of the staff of Waimea Valley (waimeavalley.net) who hosted the Trustees for a site visit recently. We got to see their newly restored amphitheater and eheek out the Hale'iwa Farmers Market that is held there eaeh Thursday in the Pīkake Pavilion. And coming up this summer they will host the 2014 Summer Concert Series on June 21 (Jerry Santos, Brother Noland and Led Kaapana), July 19 (Eddie Kamae, Imua Garza, Kalei Gamiao and Brittni Paiva), and Aug. 23 (Timi Abrigo, Jeff Au Hoy and Eddie Palama). Tickets start at $15 for adults, and it sounds like lots of fun. Mahalo nui loa! ■

Dan Ahuna TrustEE, Kaua'i and Ni'ihau