Skip to main content

Technology and Carnival

It is Carnival Monday here in Trinidad. Disappointed that the doubles shop was not open this morning. Carnival is on my mind. Technology is on my mind. Trinidad is on my mind. How do we use technology to make carnival better? Some persons think carnival is a waste of money. I think we all have indulgences so we should not be pointing fingers. My indulgence is ordering food and spending time on social media. I am not going to dictate others entertainment choices. That being said I do think that carnival should be made profitable for the country and technology can help.

Firstly we need to use social media, apps, websites, live streaming and other tech to market and sell carnival to the rest of the world. We should be educating partners in carnival on available tech. We can have competitions to crowd source ideas. We should be studying carnival to determine the pain points and problems. We should involve our local content creators and influencers. Develop case studies that others can learn from.

Event management and logistics software can be used. Patrons should be getting the best experience and value for money. Using tech in carnival is an opportunity for local developers, techies and startups. I would like to hear what the Ministry of Digital Transformation and the Developers hub has to say. We are seeing more and more use of eticketing and ecommerce that is convenient and efficient. Emoney is an emerging element that will make it easy to do business and make purchases during carnival.

We need to measure the profitability of carnival. We need to have key performance indicators. We have to track income and expenses. We as a country have to treat carnival as a business. Tech, innovation, process engineering and transformation are key elements of big business. The National Carnival Commission needs a Chief Technology Officer.

I did a Google search for "technology carnival trinidad" and want to share some finds that stood out to me as examples. First find was an MIT thesis called improving design through computation and digital technology. I am sure there is more research out there. Let's make use of these. In 2017 loop news wrote about a new platform that seeks to increase sales for Carnival stakeholders. They talked about a complete management solution for carnival bands. It seems that the startup is no longer around. Found out that they rebranded after COVID and are now playmas.app. We need to study these attempts to see what went wrong and what we can learn. My last find was this useful podcast by Jelan Cumberbatch - 10 Technological Tools To Use In A Busy Trinidad Carnival Season.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Below the surface

This is a chapter from my eleventh book called Quotation Marks Sparks . __________ "You can't stop the waves, but you can learn to surf." - Jon Kabat-Zinn __________ I was looking at quotes that hit hard and this quote stood out to me. It seems mundane and obvious and often repeated. Life is about how we respond to the inevitable. It is not what happens to us but how we respond. I had to ask myself to dig deeper and look below the surface. Then I saw that when we surf we really become the waves. We become friends with the waves. The waves and us are the same. Further, the waves are created by us and in our heads. We can control the waves because who can surf all the time? Sometimes we just have to come to shore and build sand castles on shore. I asked my friend Gemini for feedback and he said that I was right, the Jon Kabat-Zinn quote initially seems like a simple call for resilience, but my deeper dive reveals profound layers. The idea that we can move beyond merely rea...

Rain

This is a chapter from my latest book called (G)rains (o)f san(d)s. Learn more about the book here . Thank you God for the rain. It has just started raining here. I can hear the pitter patter on the roof. I can see the dimmed light through the window. The greenery in the yard is enjoying every chance of rain. The days have been extra hot this year. They say we are experiencing a super el nino in Trinidad. Given this every bit of rainfall feels special. Water is life. Without water there can be no life as we know it. Rain is part of the water cycle. Rain falling is like therapy. A calm state comes over my body. My mind relaxes. I appreciate my home and my shelter to keep me dry and safe. The rain is mentioned as a sign from God in the Quran and how it gives life to a lifeless land. The rain complements the sunshine as part of nature's balance. Sometimes we have to endure storms and floods and even droughts but there are lessons in these events. Community spirit is heightened and our...

Nur al-Quran

It is 1037am and I have decided to write. I have been listening to the Quran more and more. I have also been trying to learn Arabic casually through social media. I am nearing the end of my second reading of the English Quran. The Quran is the word of God and God also tells us to follow the sunnah and life of the prophet (pbuh). The Quran is a miracle. The more I interact with the Quran, the more complete I feel. It gives my clarity. I have a purpose. I have goals. I have things I should be doing. Islam is a way of life and it builds character. Sometimes I listen to the Quran to forget about this world. This world is not my home. My home is in the hereafter and God willing in heaven. The more I draw closer to the Quran, the more beauty I see and hear and feel. Same goes to God. Same goes for the life of the prophet (pbuh). Same for Islam. If these are all the things I have in this world, I am happy. Reminds me of one of the duas I say daily. I am content with Allah as my Lord, Islam as...