Foo Conner

Foo Conner (born September 8, 1985) is an American activist, entrepreneur, and journalist. He is known for his work on Occupy Wall Street, Randyland, Social journalism, and as a YouTube personality.[3]

Foo Conner
Foo at Randyland in February 2019
Born
Andrew Conner

(1985-09-08) September 8, 1985
Charleston, West Virginia, U.S.
Occupations
  • Activist
  • Entrepreneur
  • Journalist
  • Humanitarian
  • YouTuber
Years active2001–present
Known forOccupy Wall Street, Randyland
Title
MovementOccupy
Parent
  • Glenn Conner (father)
YouTube information
Channel
Genres
Subscribers
  • 615,000 (G3AR - 'GreekGadgetGuru')
  • (as of October 13, 2022)
[1]
Total views
  • 63 Million (G3AR - 'GreekGadgetGuru')[2]
  • (as of October 13, 2022)
[1]
100,000 subscribers2014
Websitefoo.press

Personal life

Foo Conner was born in Charleston, West Virginia. He grew up on a small subsistence farm right outside of the city in Mink Shoals, West Virginia. His father was a photojournalist for United Press International and taught Foo the craft at an early age.[3]

Although he has been called Foo since childhood, Conner officially changed his name to Foo in 2018.[4] Foo squats an otherwise abandoned house to advocate for housing rights.[3][5] Touring bands often play there.[6] In February 2016, babies born in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania were gifted prints of Foo's artwork.[7] Conner is a Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Carnegie Mellon University since 2020.[8]

Career

Conner got his start producing free punk rock festivals at Skatopia.[9] The anti-authoritarian atmosphere of his events caught the attention of Rolling Stone.[10] Upon hearing the call to protest, he became a core organizer for Occupy Wall Street movement speaking out against Economic inequality.[11]

On the weekends he co-hosts the G3AR YouTube channel, where they build super hero gadgets and test them similar to the Mythbusters. The channel has amassed over 600,000 subscribers.[3][5]

In 2015, Conner became the co-director of Randyland, an outsider art museum promoting happiness.[12][13] Leaning on his skills as a photographer, he overhauled Randyland into a Selfie Museum. His curation was wildly applauded. The New York Times described it as, "an expression of joy and an extraordinary piece of public art."[14] Conner left the museum in February 2020.[15]

Occupy Wall Street

In 2011, Foo helped plan the Occupy movement online.[16] He would move to Zucotti Park in the fall. Though a leaderless movement, Conner would be recognized as a core organizer [17] and speak on behalf of the movement.[18] During his time at Occupy, Conner played rolls in the social media strategy and coordinate street protests.[11] Towards the end, Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Chris Hedges told Conner, "a real activist would get into the news". Conner would use his experiences and that advice to go on to found Jekko, a news website covering current events and technology news.[5]

Journalism

Foo is a prolific journalist covering upwards of five hundred events a year through social media.[3][19] Conner's society photography is reminiscent of late American photographer Bill Cunningham who took candid photos and traveled to events by bicycle.[20] The uniqueness of the style has led other society columns to occasionally mention if Conner attends an event.[21][22] In 2016, he was nominated for Blogger of the Year at Style Week Pittsburgh.[23] He is known for his gonzo journalism "activistartist-journalist" style.[24] His work aims for a neutral point of view. This applies to his technology commentary too, which he has been doing for over a decade.[25][26][27]

Awards

See also

References
  1. "About GreekGadgetGuru". YouTube.
  2. "G3AR - 'GreekGadgetGuru". Social Blade Analytics. Retrieved 13 October 2022.
  3. O'Neill, Brian (October 5, 2017). "Old journalist meets new journalist. Ain't that tweet?". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved February 25, 2019. Conner squats in an otherwise abandoned North Side house and bikes to about 600 events a year, shooting photos and writing for his website, Jekko
  4. Cullen, Lynn (August 15, 2018). Lynn Cullen Live with Foo Conner (Radio broadcast). Pittsburgh City Paper. Event occurs at 00:49. Retrieved February 25, 2019.
  5. Green, Ashlee (February 1, 2019). "The Tao of Foo: How this Northside entrepreneur Uses Tech to Build Community". The Northside Chronicle. Vol. 35, no. 2. Archived from the original on February 28, 2019. Retrieved February 25, 2019.
  6. Twyman, Hugh (6 April 2016). "Hughshows w/ Morgan Erina". Hughshows. Season 1. Episode 2. Event occurs at 19:30. PCTV 21. Retrieved February 14, 2019.
  7. Malak, Lisa; Allen, Shaina (Jul 21, 2016). "Start with Art". WFRV. Retrieved March 20, 2019.
  8. "April Foo's Day Proclamation". Allegheny County. 1 April 2022. Retrieved 13 October 2022. He has collected and preserved local culture;
  9. Trib Staff (January 17, 2015). "Silver Eye's Photo Exhibits Tell Strong Stories". Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Retrieved March 20, 2019. Foo Conner, former event organizer for Skatopia...
  10. Binelli, Mark (August 1, 2008). "Welcome to Skatopia: Eighty-Eight Acres of Anarchy in the USA". Rolling Stone. Retrieved February 25, 2019.
  11. Gerbaudo, Paolo (October 11, 2012). "Chapter 4: The Laborious Adding Up to the 99%". Tweets and the Streets: Social Media and Contemporary Activism. Pluto Press. p. 129. ISBN 978-0745332482. JSTOR j.ctt183pdzs.8. Foo Conner, one of the core organizers, managed to leave before police encircled the camp. After meeting up with others at the office space, Conner helped direct the dispersing crowd to a common re-gathering area.
  12. Bonk, Carley (June 29, 2018). "Randyland, an ever-changing art space with a familiar face". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved February 25, 2019.
  13. Hanz, Joyce (January 28, 2019). "After Randyland's Namesake Loses Partner, Friends Chip in with Crowdfunding". Tribune Review. Retrieved February 26, 2019.
  14. Peterson, Lucas (12 April 2017). "Built on Steel, Pittsburgh Now Thrives on Culture". The New York Times. Retrieved 13 October 2022. expression of joy and an extraordinary piece of public art.
  15. Eberson, Sharon Eberson (18 June 2019). "Randyland 'therapy museum' honored with Mayor's Public Art Award". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved 13 October 2022. Mr. Conner, the co-director of Randyland for the past four years, received the award
  16. Clozel, Lalita (July 4, 2012). "Occupy Movement Holds National Gathering in Philadelphia". The Daily Pennsylvanian. Retrieved February 25, 2019. Foo Conner, who helped plan the initial Occupy Wall Street movement on the internet.
  17. Bauernebel, Herbert (October 19, 2011). "Wall-Street-Rebell bläst zum Banken-Sturm". Bild (in German). Retrieved February 25, 2019. One of the leaders of the Occupy movement, the media consultant Foo Conner
  18. "Occupy Wall Street Protesters Return To Zuccotti Park After Thousands-Strong Times Square Turnout". New York, NY. Associated Press. October 15, 2011. Retrieved February 14, 2019.
  19. Baron, Jennifer (September 14, 2014). "NEXT Up: Foo Conner". NEXT Pittsburgh. Retrieved February 25, 2019.
  20. Watson, Aaron (October 9, 2017). "Foo Conner, New Media Pioneer of Pittsburgh". Going Deep with Aaron Watson. Archived from the original on February 26, 2019. Retrieved February 26, 2019.
  21. Trib Staff (September 20, 2014). "City's Plan for Strip Flummoxes Vendors". Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Retrieved March 20, 2019.
  22. PQ Staff (June 18, 2017). "Mattress Factory Celebrates 40th Anniversary". Pittsburgh Quarterly. Retrieved March 20, 2019.
  23. Bauknecht, Sara (August 20, 2016). "Style Week Pittsburgh heads Downtown for annual Style Awards". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Archived from the original on August 25, 2017. Retrieved March 20, 2019.
  24. Heilman, Jeff (August 7, 2018). "The Art and Soul of Pittsburgh". Passport. Retrieved February 25, 2019. Conner, an activistartist-journalist with punk-vagabond spirit
  25. 8. Lee, Jennifer (December 15, 2010). "Coming to Grips With Lugging an iPad". The New York Times. Retrieved February 25, 2019.
  26. Shah, Nidhi (May 14, 2016). "16 Experts Predict the Future of Virtual Reality". Arkenea. Retrieved February 26, 2019.
  27. Linder, Courtney (January 28, 2019). "Apple or Android? For Software Developers, it's Usually Both at Work, One at Heart". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved February 26, 2019.
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