Blogging blah

Blogging...you're heart's either in it or not. I'm not a writer. I try to keep up on the blog with what's going on but I am too busy and excited just from dealing with the reality of it all. Writing about it is a chore.

A tremendous amount of things have happened. You're probably going to have to wait for the videos to get released to find out.

Running Free

Things are continuing to shift forward. We signed a long term deal with Joe Redner (the owner of the Roosevelt) right at the time Creative Loafing called us to schedule a photoshoot for the "Green 100" edition which comes out next week:

Bryan spoke to the reporter compiling the "Green 100" list and apparently there are more than 10 people/companies on the list of nominees that are associated with one of our projects.

Cool!

I also just finished the conceptual proposal for the 26 unit development in Sarasota to be build out of shipping containers. The package can be downloaded here:

http://www.mediafire.com/?xdzmmymjzyh

Next items on the list are:

1. Get the place ready for Fire Marshall inspection of the Roosevelt as we are getting constant booking inquiries, not to mention our own events.
2. Do a formal business plan for the Campus TV to raise capital.
3. Finish watching the video footage for the first 5 pilot episodes; I'm about 65% of the way through on that. Web design is done & all copy is written.

Speaking of events; Steve / Tek-Nique Entertainment is hosting State of the Art v.2 at the Roosevelt April 25th. Check out this write in the Tampa Bay Times:

TBT article on State of the Art

Overdrive

The schematics for the roof have been completed by our USF Master's (Architecture) candidate Craig Trover. Chris West from http://www.wdgsilicones.com/ is flying down from ohio to spend 2 whole days with us, getting up on our roof and setting up the installation of 3 different companies' products. These companies are CPI (http://www.cpifoam.com/) for interior (soybased) insulation, WDG for the silicone overlay for the roof and a skylight company to be announced later. The value of the average sponsorship of each company is about $ 5,000; double that including the installation they are providing.

This represents a 900% increase in sponsorship value since our first in kind contribution (about $ 500 worth of concrete from Tarmac). This is a very encouraging feeling especially since the website is not even up. The roof on the Roosevelt also represented the biggest problem to fix so this is huge. Our owner (Joe Redner) is pretty happy at this point and our relationship has now been completely solidified on this deal.

Speaking of the website; that dream is finally coming to fruition. Still going through a ton of footage; next editing session is this Thursday 9 April. We will also have Creative Loafing (local press) coming down so be watching for some interesting coverage there next week.

The collaborative on the Zenloft affordable housing development is coming together quite nicely. This will be a 26 unit community build out of shipping containers in sarasota FL. We are looking at finalizing the business arrangements between all the players this week; goal is to present the owner with a proposal for the project this Friday.

Finish line in sight

I feel like a slacker somewhat with these sporadic updates on the blog; I know successful blogs are supposed to get updated daily... Truth is maintaining all the social media aspects of this venture - even at this early stage - is like another full time job. As everyone knows; this entire effort is being put together without any financial backing. In every aspect this is really a blessing. If you're launching a concept that says (a) you can do anything & (b) the conventional way of doing things is so broken that a complete overhaul is necessary, then this is perfect. We're launching several real estate development projects in a time that most people will concede is the worst in 100 years for the real estate industry.

perfect.

The Roosevelt has been transformed with the application of the waterbased stain; it is starting to look like a real venue now.

We also secured two more sponsors for the next phase of the Roosevelt buildout - the construction of the green roof:

www.cpifoam.com

www.wdgsilicones.com

We did meet with Mr. Vengroff (see previous blog) at the earthship site and it was certainly an intersting & productive meeting. Suffice it to say we are doing due diligence on a project right now - details to be released in the near future. Affordable shipping container residential & commercial construction.

Bryan also just received a call from Michael Reynolds - the original earthship builder - about building a second one in Florida. That means we are dealing with the two pioneers on the ground up construction methods we are working on - Mr. Reynolds on earthships & David Cross on shipping container construction. The business models of all our efforts are unfolding.

Oh yeah - and the Campus TV destination site template is finished. I'm writing the copy for it now. Sunday I'll be spending all day looking at video footage from the past 5 months with the video editor to put together the first 5 episodes. The idea is to have the first 5 episodes summarize everything that has taken place so far & by the 6th one the show will continue in real time.

The Campus TV is finally about to launch.

Transformation coming up!

We spend Sunday prepping the concrete floor getting it ready for the stain to be applied Wednesday. This will transform the place for a construction zone to kick ass venue space. Got some very cool impromptu artistry on tape that will make for a great commercial down the road. Pix of that to be posted in the next 24.

Just secured another sponsor this morning as well : One Call Construction. They will be helping us with anything electrical on the project and first off provide all required paperwork to TECO for our account to be opened up - another milestone forward. The owners of this company also have a registred non profit Hurricane Boxing.

The synergy here is already obvious - we will host a fundraiser for the boxing gym; a wonderful facility which the Velez family funds mostly out of their own pockets. The facility has provided structure to at risk youth in the neighborhood for years. It also fits in perfectly with our Budokan concept : a martial arts school which teaches multiple styles without politics. Kids will be required to do 15-20 hours of supervised community service in exchange for instruction. Business synergy abound here as well; there are already a couple of projects where we may be able to work together with this company. For example we may get an 8,000 concrete sealer job out of this & One Call is very interested in learning how to 'green out' their 5 licensed businesses. Will Velez - the owner - will meet Bryan on Wednesday.

Another interesting development : one of the students on the earthship site led us to this news article : Vengroff article. What we have in common here is the realization that these economic times call for a different way of thinking & doing things. so I contacted Mr. Vengroff & send him our latest marketing package. At the very least we can ensure the operational expenses of the real estate he plans to build are as cost efficient as possible.

Looks like we'll be meeting him on the earthship site next week.

Every step we take

The new concrete stain is getting delivered in the morning. It was going to cost $ 150 to UPS the product from Georgia for Saturday delivery...but a rep from the factory just happens to be driving down to take his kids to Busch Gardens. Stars lining up. Just spoke with this guy on the phone & he's 100% excited. That kind of enthousiasm is very contageous and encouraging.

Already another potential synergy is surfacing - they apparently are also working a stucco finish for metal surfaces. It is currently being tested on...a shipping container! We have been working on several affordable shipping container house designs with several architects in our network. There are also several deals in that line of business under discussion that will be catalyzed by the Roosevelt deal. Shipping container construction we are aiming to begin in the summer.

Shelby McIntyre, the producer of the Redner documentary, has hooked us up with a friend of his that is in the process of downloading all our existing footage (still). Finger Monkey Productions is on board!! It amounts to the equivalent of almost 30 CD's of material. We mapped out a release schedule for the first 5 episodes yesterday. The idea is to release these 5 and have the show pick up in real time by the 6th.

The next level of construction will be focusing on the roof.as we are finalizing everything on the soy based insulation. Looks like the tech specs that Bryan has for the way he wants to install it will work according to the factory guys. It is usually put inside of walls or celings. Bryan wants to put it on top of the roof as a basis for the green roof. This will have to be co-ordinated with a whole host of other activities like getting architectural elevations, structural engineering analysis, cutting skylight openings and renting a crane - just to name a few. This adds a level of complication as all these will have to be sponsored & synchronized accordingly. So far, every contribution has been a "one at a time" type of application.

Those are sponsorships to be persued next week.

Critical Mass

We just secured our biggest sponsor yet - Tampa Electric Company. This is a huge boost in terms of credibility & publicity. TECO has gotten quite alot of backlash from the 25% rate hike (which has since been rolled back as fuel costs have lowered). We will be working together with the utility & their net metering program as we plan to sell power back into the grid:

TECO.

We also secured a green (water based) acid stain company for that finish on our concrete floor we just can't wait to do...

SIMSTAIN.

A sponsorship agreement with a soy based insulation company is all but finalized & is expected to be announced this week coming up. We will be using this product on top of the roof as insulation & basis for our green (food producing) roof.

Lastly, we attended the world premiere of "Strip Club King - the Joe Redner story" last night @ Channelside. Joe has been a most gracious landlord / sponsor in this deal. For those that aren't aware; he is the owner of the Roosevelt building in Ybor. He told us he loves the weekly updates we send him & we love him for giving us the shot to begin with.

Premiere Pix.