I think I’m in love with this Mission-based bike currently on Craigslist. It’s my size! College colors! And has the older shifters I miss from my old Bianchi. (It’s not even the jet lag or lack of two wheeled eye candy in the Midwest–this one really caught my eye.)
Saroj Yadav, Shaherose Charania and I had the chance to visit Hunch and Flickr co-founder Caterina Fake at her beautiful home recently to talk about motivation, mentorship and innovation as part of the Women 2.0 In Conversation interview series. Beyond discussing community vitality, one of my favorite parts of the interview is her relflection that hungry creative people can be capable of creating more with their first company than their second (or, in other words, “six gruby people eating ramen in Canada” might be more likely to implement a good idea than seasoned veretans with lots of attention being paid to them). And you–what’s your main take away?
I think it’s great when two complimentary people/places/ideas you admire come together, and it’s even better when sustainability-minded businesses make it past their first year (especially in a recession). In writing about the Filmore St. Clary Sage Organics’ anniversary party tonight, I was glad to learn that talented local yoga instructor Wendy Yalom is doing a bit of modeling for the boutique. The fit is a good one: Clary Sage is one of the best area spots for Prairie Underground and Pangea Organics goods, and Yalom’s classes at the Valencia St. Yoga Tree are similarly colorful and energetic. If that’s not enough to get you in the door this evening, maybe 30% off all apparel, libations and cocktails until 8 PM will. You can RSVP at info@clarysageorganics.com.
I was impressed with the first Wanderlust Festival last weekend–the Squaw Valley venue was spacious and scenic, the yoga classes were well planned, and the concerts ran like clockwork (I can’t think of the last time I thought that about a show with artists the caliber of Sharon Jones and Girl Talk).
Co-founders and couple Jeff Krasno and Schuyler Grant said that last year they started looking into ways to combine holistic programming with performers they’d actually like to hear (“It’s not just chanting like lots of yoga festivals, but it’s not Slayer either,” Grant explained). In this brief overview about the motivation behind the festival, entertainment exec Krasno describes the yoga retreats he used to attend with Grant, the founder of New York’s Kula Yoga Project, and what he wanted to do to round them out:
After a snowmobile trip to explore potential stage locations the top of the mountain in February, the couple sought out instructor partners from John Friend to Shiva Rae and put a decent amount of their own money into the festival. The turnout didn’t seem to be what it could have been given the current economy, but the fact that local food and yoga are both growing in spite of the recession should be promising for the regional and European-based festivals that Krasno and Grant said they’d like to host. And the fact that nearly half of the 1,500 yoga pass participants donated money to the purchase of carbon offsets when purchasing their tickets demonstrates that there’s a passionate (and pocketbook-ready) audience for their idea.
Krasno described it as “wanting to show that yoga is appreciated by young people living active lives and trying cultivate some sense of spirituality between emails.” Reason enough for me.
After months of location selection and setup, I’m most excited for tonight’s opening of the community and co-working space The HUB at Berkeley’s David Brower Center. The LEED certified space will include lectures, screenings, and innovation labs as part of the global social action-oriented HUB network. The Bay Area launch is set to include a panel on media and capital with Matt Flannery of Kiva.org, Steve Newcomb of Virgance, and Ben Rattray of Change.org. Should be a great kickoff to this fall’s second Social Capital Markets conference (SOCAP09).
I’m a big fan of the SF Film Society’s innovative (and sometimes off-the-wall) programming, and Thursday’s documentary RiP: A Remix Manifesto with a live set by VJs Eclectic Method should be top notch. Mash-up programming seems appropriate for the topic of copyright issues in our digital days. The film features sample maestro Gregg Gillis (Girl Talk, who I’m excited to see at Wanderlust this weekend) and Creative Commons founder Lawrence Lessig (whose “Remix” book was a good recent read and my favorite of his work). The best part? The activist creator of the film, Brett Gaylor, has made his raw footage available to all for remix.
Shinyoung Park, founder of mobile teen social network Funji, speaks in the most recent In Conversation interview with Women 2.0 about choosing the right founding team members and managing development of her third startup. Shinyoung talked with series producer Jazmin Hupp about living in South Korea for 30 years before moving to the United States and shared her advice for first generation Americans.
If you’ve got thoughts on a can’t miss woman for the series, we’d love to hear it. (emily[at]women2[dot]org would be the place to do that.) We spoke with Flickr founder Caterina Fake last week about her latest endeavor, the decision making engine Hunch, and our ears are open to other conversations you’d like to hear.
SoCap Conference producer and pal Amy Benziger pointed (un)classes out to me when we talked about excuses for combining yoga and biking, and I’m most grateful. The community-powered learning community was created as Rahmin Sarabi’s experiment to see what his friends could teach each other in the name of co-education following a visit to the TED alternative BIL Unconference.
In highlighting the skills that smart folks are willing to share, the site provides a good set of “what to do on a free Saturday afternoon” solutions with the classes’ informal nature and wide range of content. Peer instructors have raised their hands everywhere from SF to Richmond, and the Cloudspace-powered community offers everything from the very practical (Intro to Ruby on Rails and Salesforce) to the fantastic (cheesemaking and Sarabi’s own Bouldering 101). Talk about the joy of learning.
Partially reposted from Josh Spear.
I’ve written about the Treasure Island Music Festival for the past two years and haven’t yet made it to the shows halfway across the Bay Bridge, but this year’s lineup may give me reason to between The Flaming Lips, MGMT, Beirut, and Brazilian Girls (October weather permitting).
Willo O’Brien of the tee and design company WilloToons just sent a reminder about this weekend’s Renegrade Craft Fair at Fort Mason Center. The apparel, art, and other items you wish you could handcraft are among the best I’ve seen (and SF has more than its share of similarly-themed events). I walked out of last year’s fair with two figure paintings I love and a bit less cash, but if the SF Symphony playing in Dolores Park for free doesn’t keep me, I’ll be back for more.
