Jimmy Dillon is a San Francisco-based guitarist, singer/songwriter, teacher, and playwright. Growing up listening to everything from early Beatles and Stones to Howlin’ Wolf, he has since toured and recorded extensively, backing up great artists (John Lee Hooker, Clarence Clemons, and Bruce Springsteen) as well as forming his own bands (The Edge and The Jimmy Dillon Band). In 1999 he wrote Ascension of the Blues, a musical history of the Blues (from Blues to Bop, Ragtime to Rap, and a whole lotta’ Rock n’ Roll) and has been performing/producing since then. He is most proud of creating Blue Star Music Camps where he and other touring musicians pass on their years of performing experience by teaching kids Rock & Roll.
Bruce Burtch is a nationally-recognized cause marketing catalyst. He helps for-profit and nonprofit organizations develop win-win partnerships which maximize their strategic marketing and fund development. Clients have included the American Red Cross, San Francisco Examiner, U.S. Olympic Committee, Marriott Corporation, AT&T, Special Olympics, and the March of Dimes. He designed and directed the most successful cause marketing program on emergency preparedness in the country through a partnership between the Pacific Gas and Electric Company and the American Red Cross, resulting in 1,000,000 people being trained in emergency preparedness. A driven entrepreneur, Bruce has founded three companies, two nonprofit organizations, has published four books, is an award-wining photographer, and has published two songs. While still an undergraduate, Bruce conceived and co-founded the nation’s only degree-granting college based on the Oxford-Cambridge tutorial system – the nationally-acclaimed Honors Tutorial College at Ohio University. He is a driven community leader who has served on numerous nonprofit Boards, served as President of the San Francisco Special Olympics, has received several Certificates of Honor from Bay Area mayors’ offices, and personal letters of commendation from President Bill Clinton and Senator Dianne Feinstein. In 1993, Bruce was awarded the Distinguished Leadership Award, presented by the National Association of Community Leadership for spearheading the building of the Tenderloin After-School Program in San Francisco’s most crime ridden neighborhood.
Don Santa is the owner and founder of Woodlands Market in Kentfield (California). Since he purchased what was then a small wine and liquor shop in 1986, Santa has built the Market into a nationally-known store which emphasizes local and sustainable products. A hallmark of Santa’s approach to business is most clearly demonstrated in his approach to advertising: he does none. Instead he directs the funds that grocery stories typically devote to advertising to community nonprofit organizations and local schools. In the more than two decades since he opened Woodlands Market, the store has contributed more than $2.3 million.
Scott von Eschen spent his early youth in suburbs of Minneapolis and Chicago. His family’s move to Spain when he was eight years old sparked a lifelong love of international adventure and travel. Scott is a graduate of Dartmouth College where he majored in Geology, leading him to a two year stint as a geologist for a small oil company in Amarillo, TX. Scott returned to Dartmouth for his MBA and then embarked on a 9 year investment banking odyssey in New York, Tokyo and San Francisco where he specialized in mergers and acquisitions. In 1993, Scott acquired majority ownership in Adventures Cross-Country and became President/CEO.
The San Francisco Bay Area social dance scene wouldn’t be the same without the influence of Cynthia Glinka. Dance coach, choreographer and entertainer, Cynthia brings expertise, skill and enthusiasm for social dance to all ages and a variety of events.
Her success with pre-teens is unmatched through her Manners in Motion series. Cynthia is founder and creative director of RejuveDance, promoting social dance as a path to physical, mental and emotional health and wellness. Her various dance programs for all ages have been featured at social and corporate affairs locally and abroad and through private and group lessons. Glinka prepares wedding couples for their “first dance.”
Cynthia has served as choreographer for several Hollywood films, has appeared in national television commercials, documentaries and theatrical productions.
This episode showcases some of the passionate “Makers” who were at Maker Faire 2009:
Dale Dougherty is the editor and publisher of MAKE, and general manager of the Maker Media division of O’Reilly Media, Inc. He is also the founder of Maker Faire.
Michael Shiloh is an engineer, hobbyist, researcher, artist, and educator. Michael creates by himself and collaborates with children and students of all ages and with other electro-mechanical artists, including San Francisco-based Survival Research Labs. Michael works with foam core, concrete, computers, hot glue, steel, Linux, electronics, pneumatics, hydraulics, remote controls, and broken glass. Michael has taught workshops and classes at museums, schools, trade shows, and universities.
Laura Allen is a Bay Area educator and greywater activist. She has a BA in Environmental Science from UC Berkeley, and a teaching credential and masters in education from the New College of California. She is a co-founder of The Greywater Guerrillas and co-editor of Dam Nation: Dispatches from the Water Underground. She has been designing and installing greywater systems for the past ten years.
Tom Igoe teaches courses in physical computing and networking, exploring ways to allow digital technologies to sense and respond to a wider range of human physical expression. Coming from a background in theatre, his work has centered on physical interaction related to live performance and public space. His current research focuses on ecologically sustainable practices in technology development. He co-authored the book “Physical Computing: Sensing and Controlling the Physical World with Computers“.
People have often described Jessica Hobbs as someone trying to lead a compulsively artistic life, which is more or less true. She started off her adventure in a small Sierra Foothill town and eventually meandered her way to the San Francisco Bay Area. Along the way Jess has worn many hats; running and creating community art programs, counseling teenagers, curating, exhibiting, designing, photographing and organizing. She is an MFA graduate from the San Francisco Art Institute. She believes collaboration is key in community and art. This idea formally began with her collaborative performance work at UCSC and has continued to be a core element in her life. Her ability to organize and collaborate has lead her to her current passion combing art and alternative energy at the ALL Power Labs, an incubator for open source power experiments. This passion is the driving force behind the creation of the Escape From Berkeley (by any non-petroleum means necessary) alternative fuels road rally in October, 2009.
Dan Goldwater was trained as an electrical engineer but has always been drawn to the artistic possibilities of his craft. Dan was a scientist at the MIT Media Lab when he built his first art bike, a bike which inspired some of MonkeyLectric’s current work. More recently Dan was a founder of technology development firm Squid Labs and DIY community site Instructables.com. Dan’s work has been featured in Nature and in the Smithsonian.
Alex Andon‘s fascination with marine animals was sparked on a sail through the British Virgin Islands, while free-diving through underwater tunnels in coral reefs. He went on to work for the Sea Turtle Protection Society of Greece, camping on beaches in Crete to protect nests and hatchlings. Alex accumulated extensive experience in setting up aquariums for his own research projects at Duke and the University of Delaware. He founded Jellyfish Art on a platform of cutting-edge jellyfish breeding techniques that have been developed over the past decade. Alex has a B.S. from Duke in Biology and Environmental Science.
Over the last 10 years, Dan Chan has performed over 2000 shows for public and private events around the world. His unique combination of skills featuring: magic, rapid costume changes, juggling, acrobatics, pick pocketing, and dog tricks has garnered multiple performances in Japan, Sun Valley Idaho, Baltimore, Portland, North Carolina, Phoenix, Portland, and most recently the World Famous Magic Castle in Hollywood California. Dan is a graduate of UC Riverside, the San Francisco Circus Center and the Chavez Course in Magic. In 2007, Dan was awarded the title San Jose Magician of the Year.
Andrea Carla Michaels is a namer, a crossword constructor, and an-all-around word enthusiast. A former stand-up comic, Dating Game chaperone, and a motorhome winner on “Wheel of Fortune”. Andrea currently resides in San Francisco and awaits her next adventure.
When identical twin brothers, Logan and Noah Miller‘s homeless father died alone in a jail cell, they vowed that their film, Touching Home, would be made as a dedication to their love for him. Either You’re In Or You’re In the Way is the amazing story of how–without a dime to their names nor a single meaningful contact in Hollywood–they managed to write, produce, act, and direct a feature film in under a year starring four-time Academy Award-nominated actor Ed Harris and a cast and crew with 11 Academy Awards and 26 nominations.
If you’re interested in improving your website, here’s an introduction to why/how you gather data (analytics) to improve your site’s effectiveness. It’s ideal if your website has at least one order a day online and you have some patience to gather the data.
