Whoop Ass when you need it!

We have made leaps and bounds with the Expo planning in the last couple of weeks. The printing is finally in, so now it's just a matter of getting it out. Our goal is to hit every venue, festival, and event where independent artists and culture makers convene. This weekend will be Zine Fest, the SF Street Food Festival, and the Rock Make Street Festival. If you're going to one of these event or something similar, let us know, and we'll give you a stack of postcards to distribute. We have 3000 cards and 250 posters, 20 of which are going into the interior of MUNI buses today!  We asked that the signs go in busses that go to or around Golden Gate Park and the Mission, so keep a look out! One of the truly great things about doing events in San Francisco is the accessibility to public transit. We are definitely big fans.

And speaking of public transit, we narrowly averted catastrophe with the impending BART strike. This year the Expo expands to two days and two beautiful locations. The Expo Symposium for Independent Arts, our new event that includes DIY Workshops and Panel Discussions specifically for arts and culture workers, will be on Friday, September 25th at the David Brower Center in Berkeley, literally just steps away from Berkeley BART. We are very happy to have this location. The Brower Center, is one of the most advanced green buildings in the Bay Area, and it's quite an amazing space. It has a 180 seat theatre, a gallery, outdoor terrace, break out rooms and a top notch staff.

At first we fretted some about moving the DIY workshops and panel discussions out of San Francisco, but in the end, we felt the proximity to BART would help conquer the transportation barrier that is driving and parking. Depending on where you board, it's only about a 25-35 minute ride from SF, not much different than taking a MUNI across town. Plus, this new location will help the Expo expand and be recognized as an all-encompassing grass roots connection fair for independent expression projects throughout the Bay Area. We're pretty stoked about the locale, and trust that you will be too, once you see it. You can register online for the Symposium, and we recommend registering early, because space is limited.

Which brings us to another quick reminder. WE WANT YOUR PROJECT /ORG/ GROUP TO REPRESENT AT THE EXPO! Table registrations are ongoing! You can register for an exhibiting table for as little as $25. Yup that's right, $25, to get your project /group /org exposed to up to 5000 interested people in Golden Gate Park. Act Now! Operators are standing by...er...uh...Eventbrite is standing by. Also do us a favor and tell other folks about this by using the share button on the top and bottom of this page.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, we, and by we I mean GLAM team member Jessica Brown, are working out additional details like port-a-potties, bike parking, yes there will be bike parking so peddle in if you can, and the numerous and multiple bureaucratic requirements that go with an event like this. For this part of the planning, I can't say enough about Jessica. She's always cheerful, and exceedingly patient with these types of dilemmas, but also keeps a can of whoop ass close at hand just in case. I haven't actually seen her wield the whoop ass yet, but she does this thing with her voice that you know invokes cringing on the other end of the phone. Who ever it is she's talking to, knows the can is there too. Jessica is truly the master of making it work.

So much to do, so much to tell you about, but I'll end it here for now. Watch for the next behind the scene's update when we will tell you about how Cristina Ibarra is totally rockin' the Four Corners Mural Project. You will be amazed!