Franke James, Co-founder
Franke James, Co-founder, The James Gang, is a creative innovator, artist and author. Franke writes and draws about environmental issues at My Green Conscience. Her new book, Bothered By My Green Conscience is being published in April, 2009. She is also the Editor/Founder of OfficePolitics.com, and the inventor of the Office-Politics ® Game.
Franke James in the News:
The Go-Giver blog: Dinner with a Stranger by co-author John David Mann
“‘We teach our kids not to talk to strangers. But some of our best conversations have been with strangers.’ So says The Stranger, in this charming pictorial-adventure-diary from Franke James, Toronto-based founder and editor of the blog Office-Politics®. Last August Franke wrote an extremely engaging and thoughtful piece about The Go-Giver (she even posted her own go-givers list of forty-five specific people). Franke just shared a remarkable story with us that seemed so go-giverish, we had to share it with you….” read more
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BlogTO: Dinner With a Stranger
“Imagine that a total stranger sends you an email inviting himself and a friend over to your place for dinner, in exchange for which he’d contribute $200 to charity. Would you say yes, prepare a meal and see what’s in store? That is exactly what local artist Franke James (of un-paving paradise fame) did, and now she’s trying to get the idea to spread. Franke’s latest visual essay chronicles the experience, from the initial email appearing in her inbox to its almost magical conclusion. And now, in the comments, we’ve already heard from The Stranger’s mom and the Yonge Street Mission - Franke’s charity of choice - and now Franke and The Stranger are sharing ideas of how to expand upon this concept as a larger-scale fundraiser. I had a little chat with Franke about what was on her mind hosting this dinner, and what’s on her mind now…” read more
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Franke James’ New Book: Bothered by My Green Conscience
“Bothered by My Green Conscience is the story of my true-life adventures in going green. It includes the story of us selling our only car (an SUV), winning approval from Toronto City Hall for the right to build a green driveway (and actually building it as a long weekend DIY project), rediscovering eccentric glamour in my own closet, understanding the real poop on social change, and also writing a visual letter to my future Grandkids in 2020 — and wondering how they will judge us. The collection of five visual essays is being published as a 160-page full color book by New Society Publishers in early April 2009.”
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Life in the Greener Lane: Dear Prime Minister
In her most recent blog [visual essay] she takes on the Prime Minister in a way that only Franke could. The essay, entitled Dear Prime Minister, “You say a pollution tax would wreak havoc on our economy”, touches on a number of major issues facing Canadians today. The essay by no means tells you who to vote for, but it will make you think! And that’s the point, especially during this election and especially in these hard times. Climate change is a reality, period! And as Franke notes in her essay, why are we being forced to choose between the economy and the environment? We tend to forget that without an environment we would not have an economy, as everything we consume and I mean everything comes from our environment. read more
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BlogTO: 12,000 Sitting Ducks Chronicles Propane Explosion
“Back in July we posted a story about a North York woman who had torn up her driveway and replaced it with a much more eco-friendly alternative. All the while she chronicled her adventures in a great photo essay called Paradise Unpaved. Well, now Franke James is at it again. But this time she has a photo essay of the recent propane explosion. It’s called 12,000 sitting ducks.” read more
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National Post: Kicking a keen sense of green to the curb
“Franke James likes doing the hard things first, which is why, when it came to reducing her carbon footprint, she skipped right past the programmable thermostat and coffee thermos business and headed straight for the real green challenge — selling her SUV and replacing the driveway with a garden…” See as newspaper pdf.
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BlogTO: Whack the PM Predicts Election Results
Whack the PM is a non-partisan and spectacularly satirical election website that lets you beat the crap out of the party leaders in an effort to predict the next Prime Minister of Canada. In this game where winning means you’ll lose, candidates are hoping to come out unscathed after participants answer hot topic questions by whacking a party leader on the head… Plus this will likely be the first - and last - time you see any of the candidates rubbing shoulders in a single hot tub… Whack the PM is the product of the artistically minded James Gang, including Franke James of green driveway fame. It’s also not entirely satire… You’ll have to excuse me now as I go back to whacking Mr. Harper. read more
CJOB.com [18.09.08] Luke EisBrenner interviewed Franke about Whack the PM, the election polling game no leader wants to win. Whack the PM puts the leaders of the five top parties in a simmering hot tub with tough questions about global warming, the economy, leadership, food safety, Afghanistan, minority governments and the kicker “All politicians are liars. Why should I trust you?”
This is the 3rd federal Election that Franke and her partner Bill James have done the online polling game and strategic voting tool. Can Whack the PM accurately predict Canada’s federal election results? So far its track record is 100%. Luke EisBrenner asked Franke to come back after the election to talk about the outcome!
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Poptech.org: The Real Poop on Franke James
“I was first introduced to Canadian visual artist Franke James’ work via a link from Max Gladwell, a site that explores social media and green living. Ms. James, who describes her visual essays as “a freewheeling mix of illustrations, photographs and hand-drawn text,” sits squarely at the intersection of these two spaces…”
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BlogTO.com: Toronto Resident Tears Up Driveway to Plant Paradise
“Local artist and eco-minded citizen Franke James decided to do the hard thing first and replace her interlocking brick front yard (parking lot) with plants and an eco driveway (paradise). What she didn’t expect was a North York demand for concrete, asphalt or interlocking driveways. But, with persistence, she made one of the city’s greenest front yards a reality…”
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Treehugger.com 2008: Paradise Unpaved: Franke James’ Driveway One Year Later
” A year ago we recounted how artist Franke James gave up her SUV and then decided to rip up her driveway, except the law said that every house had to have a driveway paved with concrete, asphalt or brick. Even porous pavers like turfstone were illegal. Franke took her case (and a printout of TreeHugger) to City Hall and won; now she tells her story in her wonderful mix of humour, drawing and photography…”
Treehugger.com 2007: Franke James on Global Warming in Canada
Treehugger.com 2007 : Selling the SUV: Do the Hardest Things First
Treehugger.com 2007: Don’t Rip Up Your Driveway in North York
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Franke is Green:
- 2009 Dinner with a Stranger
- 2008 Dear Prime Minister…
- 2008 12000 Sitting Ducks
- 2008 Paradise Unpaved
- 2008 The Real Poop on Social Change
- 2008 Green Eccentric Glamour
- 2007 My Future Grandkids 2020
- 2007 MySUV and Me Say Goodbye
- 2007 A Green Winter: Will Global Warming be Good for Canada?
Franke has won recognition for her environmental visual essays. The essays have been featured in the Toronto Star, the Ottawa Citizen, Treehugger, Worldchanging, and in numerous blogs. In 2008, A Green Winter was published in an anthology of readings for Canadian university students entitled Perspectives on Contemporary Issues, including authors Stephen Lewis, Ken Dryden, David Suzuki, Margaret Atwood and others. Co-edited by Kim Blank and Stephen Eaton Hume, University of Victoria. (Thomson Publishing, 2008). For the Green Living Show in April 2007, Franke reinterpreted A Green Winter as an animated movie, with music composed by David Gray, Big World Songs. It was shown on-stage between Al Gore and Robert Kennedy Jrs. appearances.
Franke is Inventive:
Franke is the inventor of an ethical dilemma-based game: Office-Politics, the game everyone plays. The game launched in 2004 and is now in its fourth printing. The dilemmas are based on letters submitted to the Office-Politics.com web site from 2002 to 2007. It has found a special niche in the training market, and won positive reviews from organizations as diverse as Unicef and the US Army. Feedback from players has been excellent and demonstrates that it can be a useful tool in bringing office politics problems into the open. The game is useful for team building, enhancing communication, exercising ethical muscles, raising awareness, and understanding culture and fit.
Franke’s fascination with psychology is reflected in the online games and quizzes which she has co-created with James Gang co-founder Bill James. They include The Room [Umbra], The Love Quiz, The Looking Glass, Office-Politics [Online Contest], Whack the Mayor, and Whack the PM (2004, 2006, 2008). Their joint work has been featured on AOL, USA Today, Yahoo, iVillage.com as well as in many publications, including Rockport Publishing’s “The Best Work from the Web.”
The James Gang’s satirical humour grabbed headlines during the three Canadian Federal Elections in 2008, 2006, and 2004. The Whack the PM online game drew more than 33,000 visitors to the site. The Toronto Star, National Post, CBC Radio, CTV News, Global TV News, CH TV News, CKOM Saskatoon, 610 CKV, QR77 Calgary Today, London Free Press, the McLuhan Foundation blog plus numerous online sources, also covered the ‘whacky’ story.
More about Franke James and The James Gang
Editorial and Advertising clients have included Resolute Funds Limited, Roots Canada, Umbra, iVillage, Sony Music Canada, MICA Management Resources (Tom Peters, Stephen Covey), Dr. Edward de Bono, Dr. Marty Seldman, Upper Canada College, Stella Artois, Monster, TELUS, Algorithmics, Changepoint, Moveable Type and the Ontario Government among others.
Franke has presented at events and conferences including the McMichael Gallery, the Ontario Science Centre, Sheridan College, CUTC, NMBA, Flashforward San Francisco, Flashforward New York, and the World Animation Celebration, Hollywood and has acted as a Judge for the Flashforward Film Festival and Marketing Magazine’s Digital Awards.
In March 2003, Franke organized and led a Trade Mission to Los Angeles for the Ontario Media Development Corporation. The mission delivered high level networking opportunities for Canadian new media producers to meet with key American executives at major entertainment studios, content aggregators and game companies. The blockbuster list included Universal, the WB Network, Warner Bros, Sega, Disney Online, Film Roman, Yahoo!, Google, Lions Gate, Morrison & Foerster LLP, Creative Artists Agency, William Morris, ICM and Mondo Media.
Contact Franke:
- Email: franke@jamesgang.com
- Phone: 416-256-9166