Franke James, Co-founder

Franke James, Co-founder, The James Gang, is a creative innovator, artist and writer. Franke writes and draws about environmental issues at My Green Conscience. She is also the Editor/Founder of OfficePolitics.com, and the inventor of the Office-Politics® Game.

Latest News:

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!

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.

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…”

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…”

Treehugger.com 2008: Paradise Unpaved: Franke James’ Driveway 1 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

Franke is Green:

• 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 increasing 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 card 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 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 Unicefand 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. Caryl Stern, Chief Operating Officer, UNICEF used the Office-Politics® Game at an event and provided this feedback, “The presentation went really well! The audience (55 academics) loved the scenarios + had quite a bit to say. What a discussion we had! It was fabulous! We ran a half hour over and they asked to keep going! Thank you so much!”

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). 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 two Canadian Federal Elections in June 2004, and most recently in January 2006. The ‘Whack the PM‘ online game drew more than 33,000 visitors to the site. Roy MacGregor in The Globe and Mail reported:

“The most interesting “poll” to follow this seething country may, in fact, not even be a proper poll at all but a bit of a prank on the Web called Whack the PM. Run by a Toronto visual-arts group called the James Gang, the site has been tracking nothing but public anger — and has run uncannily close to the shifts in the more legitimate polls.”

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