The Open Media Foundation
April News from the Open Media Foundation

April 2011
In this Issue
Upcoming Classes/Events
First Friday at DOM
A Personal Invitation from our Executive Director
OMF a Proud Sponsor of TEDxMileHigh
Spotlight of the Month: Dan Landes & WaterCourse Foods
Youth Production Group
Video Spotlight
Recently we produced a new video for the Colorado Channel website.  This video explains how you can track a bill from its introduction, to its potential passage into law using the Colorado General Assembly Website at www.leg.state.co.us. Please check it out! 
Upcoming Classes/Events

DOM Help Desk Hours

Thursdays 4:30-6pm

First Friday @ DOM
April 1, Friday, 8-10pm

Your Voice. Your Media
April 6, Wednesday, 5:30-6:30pm

Intro to Studio Production Workshop
April 9, Saturday, 11am-6pm

Final Cut Pro Workshop
April 13 & 14, Wednesday & Thursday, 6-9pm

Field Production Workshop
April 16, Saturday, 11am-5:30pm

Your Voice. Your Media
April 20, Wednesday, 5:30-6:30pm

Producer Orientation
April 20, Wednesday, 6:45-8pm 

Intro to Studio Production Workshop
April 27 & 28, Wednesday & Thursday, 6-9pm

Untitled #36 at the Denver Art Museum
April 29, Friday, 6-10pm
First Friday at Denver Open Media

 

On the first Friday of most months, DOM hosts a free  community event that spotlights local performance groups, musical acts, and nonprofit organizations. These events are broadcast live on Comcast channel 57 and re-broadcast on channels 56, 57 and 219. They are also available online.   

Next Event: Friday, April 1st 8-10pm Live Show

10pm-1am After Party 

Doors open at 7:30pm


This month we will be partnering with Prax(us), a Denver-based nonprofit dedicated to ending human trafficking. Prax(us) focuses on youth in domestic human trafficking situations. It is the lack of access to survival resources combined with market demands and ageism that makes homeless youth so vulnerable to exploitation.

 

A study conducted by the Metro Denver Homeless Initiative in 2009 shows that there are 1,135 homeless youth in the Denver Metro Area on any given night. According to national data, 10-30% of homeless youth are exploited in the sex industry, and 1 in 3 teens will be recruited by a pimp within 48 hours of leaving home and becoming homeless.

 

Open Media Foundation is proud to collaborate with Prax(us) to raise the visibility of their important work in our community. This event will feature burlesque performances, music from Hideous Men, and an after party with local DJs.  Hideous Men is self-proclaimed 'dance music for weirdos' based in Denver, CO and consists of Ryan McRyhew and Kristi Schaefer.
 

A Personal Invitation from our Executive Director

 

A few times each year, we host a private reception for donors who have supported OMF over the past year, reviewing recent efforts, and getting a sneak-peek at some upcoming projects. This month's reception is taking place just before our First Friday event at 6:30pm this Friday, April 1st.

 

If you've given to OMF in the past year, I hope you will join us. If you haven't, I hope you'll take this opportunity to make a contribution and attend the event. Over hors d'oeuvres and drinks, we'll hear from some of the youth who just completed our year-long young-parent internship program, offered in partnership with Denver Human Services. We'll review rough cuts of recent video projects for nonprofit partners, and we'll get a sneak-peek at the upcoming  TEDx Mile High event, of which OMF is a proud sponsor and media partner.  

 

At the end of the reception we will have a drawing where our donors will have an opportunity to leave with a pair of VIP tickets to the TEDx event, valued at $200.  Following the reception, you'll be invited to stay for our live First Friday television broadcast in Studio A (see above.) 

OMF a Proud Sponsor of TEDxMileHigh

Exceptional Event Brings the Region's Most Powerful Thought Leaders to Downtown Denver

 

TEDxMileHigh's inaugural event in downtown Denver, designed to engage both speakers and attendees in a small group environment, will begin at 3pm on April 7, 2011 at the magnificent Ellie Caulkins Opera House. With 20 of the state's most riveting maverick thinkers, TEDxMileHigh presenters include the likes of Patagonia, Inc.'s CEO; Lance Armstrong's trainer; the former Commander of NORAD and US Northern Command; the Co-Founder of the new revolutionary COMMON brand and other leading maverick thinkers & doers, big risk takers, big-time athletes, entrepreneurs & innovators, activists for the environment, and humanitarians giving the "talk of their lives." 

 
Due to limited venue space, tickets are expected to sell out. Tickets are on sale through Saturday, April 2, 2011. To purchase tickets, please go to www.tedxmilehigh.eventbrite.com.

 

TEDxMileHigh is an independently produced event operated under license from TED, and brings together the region's most diverse group of visionaries, thought leaders and innovators to educate, inspire and spark change.  

Spotlight of the Month: Dan Landes & WaterCourse Foods
For this month's Spotlight of the Month, we talked to Dan Landes of WaterCourse Foods.  As one of our very first station underwriters, Dan is an ongoing supporter of the Open Media Foundation, as well as many other nonprofits in town.   


Please describe the mission behind your organization/restaurants.

I would like to answer this in a four prong approach: motto, mission, vision and approach.

Our motto is a line from a Langston Hughes poem.  What we want is: To dig and be dug in return.   

 

Our mission as a business, at its most fundamental, is to bring in more money than we spend. This is not meant to sound glib.  Making a dollar in the restaurant business is not easy, spending them is.  We have to make excellent decisions every day in order to accomplish our mission.  

 

Our vision is to create environments that provide people an escape from the stresses of life.  Be it a meal among friends at WaterCourse, a beer at City, O' City or reading in a hammock at Osa Mariposa, we want people to feel safe and enjoy.  

 

Our approach is to be aware of our inevitable impact on our environment and mitigate it by making choices that represent the most efficient use of limited resources.  


Over the past couple of years we have seen a lot of growth/changes for your company/restaurants.  Could you please tell us about them?  

Since WaterCourse Foods opened in 1998 there has been continual growth for our businesses.  We decide to grow when our current facility cannot supply the demand or we recognize a demand that needs more supply (i.e. Business 101).  Growing a business is delicate and should only be done when needed.   Growth is change and as a species we have a hard time accepting change, despite it's inevitability.   Adapting to change is built into the WaterCourse management philosophy.  Our philosophy is adopted from Taoism.   Taoist philosophy uses water as a central metaphor for understanding life.  As a business we try to emulate a river: ever adaptable, always moving, following the path of least resistance around obstacles.  This WaterCourse philosophy of adaptability has allowed us as a business to recognize needs and take advantage of opportunities.

  

Your company is well-known for its generosity in the community.  Could you please share some of the ways that your company has given back to your community?  

Through our Nonprofit Mondays at Watercourse we are proud to give regularly to local and national nonprofits. On most Mondays we host a nonprofit that receives proceeds from the day's sales.  In 2010, we donated over $17,000 to nonprofits through Nonprofit Mondays and we intend to give a lot more in 2011.  A nonprofit can earn a sizable donation simply by having people show up and eat yummy food.  From a marketing angle, WaterCourse is being introduced to potentially thousands of new customers.  Also, we are associated with something they care about.  It's a huge win/win.  It would be great if more businesses adopted this model.  It works.

 

Please share how you first got involved with OMF?  

I got involved in Open Media Foundation after I watched a video that was produced by my friend Ravi Zupa, which explained how OMF worked, what its vision is and the positive influence it could have on our society.  I was really attracted to the idea of putting the power of the media in the hands of the people and recognized that OMF had created a strong foundation from which to accomplish their vision.   

 

Why did you feel underwriting on DOM was a good fit? 

We choose to underwrite DOM because we want our name associated with next level ideas.  Ideas that are sustainable, economically and socially.  OMF is built on a foundation that will be relevant in the next 50 years.  By underwriting DOM, WaterCourse Foods and City, O' City supports something we believe in.  We also receive the benefit of giving our shared clients reason to believe in us.  Another win/win.

 

Please describe your ideal future for the community here in Denver. 

My ideal Denver is a city that is recognized and respected internationally for producing some of the greatest thinkers and artists of our time.  My ideal Denver supports its artists to produce and sell art.  I would love it if art galleries in cities like Milan, Berlin, or Mexico City are all clamoring to get Denver artists to show in their galleries.  My ideal Denver has more multi-cultural events.  There are so many great communities in this city that need to get to know each other better and work together. 

Denver Open Media's Youth Production Group: Open Media Generation

Do you know a student who dreams of being on TV?  How about working behind the scenes?  If so, they should join Denver Open Media's FREE Youth Production Group!

The Youth Group meets weekly!  Anyone between the ages of 12-19 c
an plan to stop by any Wednesday from 3:30-6pm to join the fun...and did we mention it is free?

Participants will learn field, studio and editing techniques.  Students will learn how to produce youth-related content and will help solicit new youth-related programs.  Please check out our website for more information or email ann@openmediafoundation.org

Also, we are always looking for food donations to help keep our youth fed and alert during trainings/productions.  Please let us know if you have
suggestions or information about youth group sponsorships.

Open Media Generation