Listen to Sander's Podcast on podomatic.com and LBpost.com and leave a comment.  I did and here it is:

Questions: 

Do operating expenses include rent & salaries? (ie. LBCTelevision learned PEG funds cannot be used for those costs). 

Define overhead costs.

Does Craig Watson have the TECHNICAL knowledge (specifically internet) in addition to art & cable access fields?

It is Robert Swayze's job to change the law re: live music in non-traditional venues?
What's the next step?

Comments:

Sander, I'd love to see a roving LBC stage at Art Receptions AND on street corners.

P. West says "Grow Art" .  Interesting visual ;) SPIN Cycle Exhibit was cool!

Good point Sander, the Arts Council can spend more time & energy attracting Grants and alternative funding.

The City now DOES have a marketing network online, the latest being Twitter and Ning.  This will feed the bloggers but QUALITY must be present for praise.

TIP OF THE DAY

NowGetSocial.com is a website BILconference used for PARTICIPANTS to decide on presentations.  LB  can use this interactive tool to decide public art pieces and placement, to assist with the Master Cultural Plan.

This was simultaneously released to EVfriends.com and LBweekly.com YOU may have read it before, in print!

Story: Resident Launches Business Specializing In Reuse Of Items If hoarding cash, cutting back and working harder aren't paying off enough in tough economic times, here's one more way to conserve resources. Creative reuse — that's the technique new business owner Lisa Hernandez is capitalizing on in downtown Long Beach. Her new shop, called the Long Beach Depot for Creative Reuse, repurposes all sorts of odds and ends and recently became part of the Long Beach 2nd Saturday Art Walk.

Click or read below below: http://www.gazettes.com/articles/2009/05/14/community_news/doc4a048268a88dc18065.. 2482.txt

Resident Launches Business Specializing In Reuse Of Items By Kelly Garrison Features Editor Published: Friday, May 8, 2009 12:03 PM PDT As seen on gazettes.com Long Beach's Favorite Community Newspaper

If hoarding cash, cutting back and working harder aren't paying off enough in tough economic times, here's one more way to conserve resources. Creative reuse — that's the technique new business owner Lisa Hernandez is capitalizing on in downtown Long Beach. Her new shop, called the Long Beach Depot for Creative Reuse, repurposes all sorts of odds and ends and recently became part of the Long Beach 2nd Saturday Art Walk. "I wanted to do something with my life that's different and that helps the community," she said. "I wanted to bring in the artists, the community, schools and businesses."

Items for resale include rubber stamps, broken eyeglasses, keys and jewelry scraps. Customers can both donate and purchase items or make selections from a "free exchange" area in the shop. Teachers, students, seniors, artists and environmentalists, Hernandez said, most often frequent the store. "It's all those things that didn't quite make it to Goodwill but that are too good to make it to the trash," she explained. "Its like a throwback from the old five and dime stores."

Hernandez established her store while between jobs after seeing a few similar warehouses marketing the same idea. Her career experience includes work in human resources, legal assistance and the military. She said she eventually would like her store to attain status as a nonprofit organization and to attract national attention. "My vision is to inspire people and to get others to open their own stores," Hernandez said.

"It fits into what's going on with the economy. If we had these in all of the communities, it would empower individuals who don't have jobs to have their own small business." There's a green side to her store, too. "If we reduce by reusing what we have, that makes more sense than recycling," Hernandez said. Inspiration came from her father, who she said took her to flea markets and taught her to improvise when resources were slim.

"My dad was a scrounger," Hernandez said. "He had a warehouse full of stuff when we were growing up, and he told us to use things we already have instead of spending money." While she's kept her business afloat largely by living off of donations from the community, she said her endeavor has proven challenging.

"Rent is the biggest cost," said Hernandez, who moved to Long Beach four years ago. "Bills are high because I've had to borrow. But I have faith it is going to work. It all comes back. I look at it as more of a service." Her 15-year-old daughter, Yoshino Jasso, serves as the resident artist at the shop. She has created commodities such as earrings from cork and pen tops.  "It's amazing — she goes a step further," Hernandez said. "She has some very popular items."

The Long Beach Depot for Creative ReUse is open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Saturday, at 320 Elm Ave., in the East Village Arts District.

Free creative reuse and hand sewing classes are available for youth ages 8 and older on Saturdays. For more information about the Depot for Creative Reuse, call 437-9999 or visit www.thelongbeachdepot.org.