Mind Soup

Online Collaborative celebrates its 3 rd year anniversary with the support of Converse’s global ‘Get Loud’ movement as they take to the streets of the city Beirut, November 2013 - Online Collaborative, the student initiative bringing together online influencers in Lebanon, celebrated its 3 rd year anniversary in style, taking part in Converse’s global ‘Get Loud’ Movement.  The movement took over the country’s digital platform, through the hype created on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. Through a series of events in Beirut, a number of the Lebanese youth were brought together and engaged in activities including street art, walking photo booths, and a rocking party until dawn.  Young uprising talents took to the streets of Hamra where they expressed themselves and got loud with their street art. Spectators around the area got excited and contributed to the drawings while the music rocked in the background. Meanwhile, sneakers got even louder in other areas of ...

M Gourmet and Online Collaborative hosted a sushi tweet-up on October 21, 2013. During the tweet-up, invited tweeps got to mingle of over 60 members of the Lebanese Online Community and experience the different sushi selections at MGourmet in addition to the specialty dessert wraps made with Nutella and fruits. M Gourmet lights up the streets of Ashrafieh with its innovative sushi, pop vibes and upbeat mood. At M Gourmet, you are invited to taste innovative Japanese food overseen by the master chefs of Buddha Bar. Whether you are coming to have a meal with loved ones, or a Martini at the bar, everything about the place is bound to glam up your experience. Spread among three stories, the eclectic decor is highlighted by dim neon lights, frequent nods to pop art and playful notes (think hopscotch on the floors or snakes and ladders on the wall), making it a place that does not take itself too seriously.

Inspirational People from the Lebanese Online Community In an attempt to promote inspiring stories about people from the Lebanese Online Community, we, at Cloud961, have decided to dedicate a monthly column to interview an inspiring figure that has left a mark in the Lebanese online sphere. For your suggestions for this column, feel free to email me on mhijazi@cloud961.com . This month’s inspirational member of the Lebanese Online Community is Rawad Habib, one of the few Lebanese Youtubers. He moved to Paris at 17 years old, alone, to study Medicine, and it was the "tournant" as the French put it, the turning point, that led him to ignite the fires of creativity within and begin snapping photos with his first own phone, took part of Lancôme's facial product as one of their faces in minimal coverage ads, partied with international designers and photographers and danced with Rihanna in Palais M one night. There, Rawad renounced to the planned safe life for him, and...

I was honored to be interviewed on Future TV's English News last week. Check out the video below where I talk about the state of social media in the Arab World , the Lebanese online community, the Social Media Awards and University for Seniors . I'm also very humbled to have been called The Social Media Consultant of Lebanon. Thank you Youmna for the superb interview! For more information about what I do, you can connect  with me on Linkedin. 

In celebration of launching its new burger, Crepaway, in partnership with Online Collaborative and Cloud 961, invited a few bloggers and tweeps to try the Hole Good Burger at their newly designed Beirut City Centre branch on Wendesday September 25, 2013. The topic of the night was online dating, as part of Crepaway’s hashtag campaign. Attendees got to discuss their experience with online dating from meeting people online to long distance relationships. Each attendee als o got a Crepaway Eco Cup and a ticket to enter a draw to win 2 tickets to attend Rihanna’s concert in Abu Dhabi this month. The night ended in delightful desserts and it was ALL GOOD!