3/11/2010
3/11/2010
I find it amazing how often we are unable to see GOD’S overall plan. Last week a client, that we can call Mr. C., was extremely unruly and verbally combatant. Because of his behavior Mr. C was asked to leave the facility at which point he became even more hostile and attempted to attack a fellow client. Mr. C was escorted outside whereupon he began making threats and beating on the inner door window breaking the upper glass. 911 was called and Mr. C was arrested.
While shopping for groceries several days later, I turned a corner and found myself face to face with Mr. C. I was startled and did not know what to expect. To my delight, Mr. C extended his hand in a show of friendship and was apologetic for his behavior. Mr. C said he did not remember the incident and only knows what he was told at the police station. Mr. C went on to say how good Open Door Mission has been to him and how sorry he was about the whole situation.
Is not this where our LORD and SAVIOR wants to meet us? Not proud and righteous but remorseful with a repentant heart, recognizing that only through his grace can we be received. Mr. C and I took the time and the GOSPEL was delivered right there in the cookie aisle.
Jesse Powell
Veterans Coordinator
3/11/2010
Our guest for Episode 7 of PrairieCast is Shane Reiser, a Des Moines-based startup enthusiast who facilitated this past weekend's Startup Weekend Des Moines event. Shane shared stories of the four companies that emerged from the event, discussed the panel of experts who judged the event, and previewed future Startup Weekend events.
PrairieCast evolves again this week as we take a TWIT.tv round table-style approach to the Week in Review segment. Silicon Prairie News' own Danny Schreiber joined us as our first round table guest to discuss content highlights from the Des Moines City Edition of Silicon Prairie News over last week. Danny also shared the SPN Tip of the Week, an in-depth look at features of the new site.
PrairieCast can be streamed or downloaded from PrairieCast.com or by subscription in iTunes or RSS.
PrairieCast is recorded weekly at the 48Web Studios in Des Moines and is a co-production of Silicon Prairie News and 48Web.
3/11/2010
Hi all -just a few minutes here to post before we head off for dinner. It has been a very long, but very energizing day in your nation's capital.
I tried to Twitter as much as possible today as I heard various interesting things during sessions. You can see those random thoughts by following @omahabikes on Twitter.
The day started out great with remarks from Earl Blumenauer. As somebody mentioned, "I might not be from Oregon, but as a cyclist, Blumenauer is my Congressman." He gets it, and he is one the key people leading the charge for many things near and dear to cyclists' hearts: complete streets, transportation, safe routes to school. The governor of Delaware spoke of campaigning on his bike and joining in Bike to Work day. It was also good to hear about the work being done by the Federal Transit Administration to make improvements that will help create a more multi-modal transportation system.
Google also made a big announcement today about their new bike mapping system: www.maps.google.com/biking. I've seen this blogged, tweeted, retweeted and emailed all over the place today, and I hope that means that many of you have already checked it out!
There were two reoccurring themes today: Livability and Sustainability. The Obama administration using these two themes as the lens through which they view policy, and they both fit perfectly with cycling.
The luncheon was a proud moment for the Nebraska Delegation. Andy Clarke, Executive Director of the League of American Bicyclists, announced the Bike Friendly Business awards. He said he wasn't going to take the time to mention every business by name, but he did want to recognize 3 distinct "clusters" of designees ... Omaha being one of those. He was very kind in his comments about Omaha and the work we are all doing, and I believe we were the city with the most awards given. When we had our photo taken with Andy, we told him to expect many more to come, at which point, we were challenged to beat out Milwaukee as the city with the most awards. It's ON.
It was great to connect with my Safe Routes to School colleagues today, and there are a couple of bills regarding this great program that we will be highlighting on our trip to the Hill tomorrow. The SRTS panel also included two 11 year old brothers who discussed their experience with biking to school. Advocates in action!
The day wrapped up with a strategy session of the Nebraska Delegation. We are ready to hit the offices of Lee Terry, Mike Johanns and Ben Nelson tomorrow. We are disappointed that we do not yet see any of their names as sponsors of any of the bills that we will be discussing with them tomorrow; hopefully we can convey the message that multi-modal transportation is good for health, economic development, safety and the environment.
So, off to dinner now. Let me close with a little name dropping. :) We've met and/or rubbed elbows with some really cool people, including John Burke (CEO of Trek Bicycles), and Gary Fisher (yes, THAT Gary Fisher - the one with his name on the mtb in your garage). We've also had a chance to reconnect with old friends from Bikes Belong, Trek, Safe Routes to School, and many others. Oh, and obviously Jonathan Maus, the "voice" behind the Bike Portland blog and twitter that we follow closely...as evidenced by our photo showing up in his blog coverage!
I'm sure Matt will also have a full report (and may have already beat me to it).
Pictures to upload soon and more updates and tweets tomorrow as we make our way around Capitol Hill!
3/11/2010
Since opening its doors July 27, 2007, Film Streams has built a reputation as a well-respected art-house movie theater in the Midwest. Photo courtesy of Tom Kessler, via Flickr.
"I had budgeted initially for 500 members," Film Streams founder Rachel Jacobson recollected. "I never imagined that we'd have 2,000. I mean, that really just shows how great Omaha is about supporting this kind of thing."
The "thing" Rachel's referring to is a nonprofit art-house movie theater located in Omaha's North Downtown District. In the summer of 2007, with the help of family and friends, the business idea that was once a dream of Rachel's officially opened it's doors.
Actually, I think calling it a dream might be an understatement. When I interviewed Rachel a couple weeks ago to hear about her experience starting and running Film Streams, she referred to the idea as an "epiphany."
"I just had this epiphany that I would start this art-house movie theater," Rachel said.
She was a senior in college at the time, but it wasn't until a few years later that the ball began to roll. She was living in New York City and a friend of her's from Omaha, Robb Nansel of Saddle Creek Records, was in town for a Cursive show. The two met up and caught up about Omaha – Robb telling Rachel that he was looking for space for a concert venue, office, and warehouse, and Rachel telling Robb that she was wanting to return to Omaha to open up a theater that would show foreign and independent films.
"You're going to be the one that's going to do that," Rachel distinctly remembers Robb telling her that day. As things would have it, Nansel ended up having a big role in making that happen. When he was encouraged by the City of Omaha to develop his concert venue and office space in the North Downtown District, he was also given the responsibility of choosing his neighbors. Needless to say, Rachel received a call. Construction of Film Streams began in the summer of 2006. Before the Saddle Creek Complex was built, there wasn't too much in the area. Photo by Film Streams via Flickr.
"I can't imagine better timing for this whole thing," Rachel said about the fact that they opened their doors around the same time as Slowdown, Nansel's concert venue. "What Saddle Creek has done for the cultural community here is absolutely incredible. It's not just the label, it's the artists and it's just all these people working together [and supporting each other]."
A recent photo of the Saddle Creek Records Complex at night. The entrance for Slowdown (far left by parked car) is just a couple hundred feet from Film Streams (on corner). Photo courtesy of Tom Kessler, via Flickr.
Today, Rachel works on daily basis with her own staff of three full-time co-workers as well as a number of dedicated part-time employees, union projectionists, volunteers, advisory board members, and members of her board of directors. Amongst the latter group is the well-known Omaha-native Alexander Payne, whom Rachel calls "one of the most important directors working in Hollywood right now."
"[Alexander]'s seriously one of the founders of the organization," Rachel said. "I mean, he's not on the board just in name." She described him as very hands-on and a huge part of making the endeavor succeed. "We're really lucky to have someone like him that has such a huge heart for this community still."
As a nonprofit, Film Streams relies heavily on the community for support – fundraising dollars make up for 50% of its annual budget. But even with the responsibility and stress of raising those dollars, it's evident that Rachel puts the film showings first. "Our bottom line is our mission," Rachel said, "to enhance the cultural environment of the Omaha-Council Bluffs area through the presentation and discussion of film as an art form."
This mission came through more than once in my interview with Rachel, from our discussion about Film Streams' programming to its community partners, but most notable was its presence in her recollection of her epiphany to open the theater. "[A]t the time, I really thought it would just be about picking films and showing them to people and sharing this great art, and, you know, there's obviously a lot more to it than that," she said with a chuckle. "But that's still the heart and soul of this job and it's really fun."
I'm certain she's having fun.
Photo of Film Streams lobby above courtesy of Tom Kessler, via Flickr.
View my abridged interview (link to full interview below) to hear more of the story behind Film Streams, learn about this year's "local filmmaker initiative," and find out what makes Film Streams unique compared with other theaters in the country (hint: film reels).
To view my full interview with Rachel, visit: siliconprairienews.com/videos/interview-with-rachel-jacobson-full. Hear her tell more of the story behind Film Streams, her thoughts on what Omaha could do to improve the arts, the importance of Alexander Payne and Kurt Anderson to Film Streams, and Rachel's favorite actor, director, movie, and theater (outside of Film Streams, of course).
And if you're interested in Rachel's story, I encourage you to read these articles:
