Author: Monica Smith
Kickstarter Project: HOPE & FEAR – Egypt On The Tipping Point
Today ABCey is featuring an up-and-coming documentary called HOPE & FEAR – Egypt On The Tipping Point, a film that provides a rare glimpse into the lives of four young liberal-minded Egyptians as they struggle to reshape their nation. Egyptian born Sam Khedr, owner of an online music culture site Nitevibe, and Anjuli Bedi, Amnesty International organizer and journalist, joined forces during the Egyptian Revolution to produce this exciting and important film.
Khedr and Bedi are turning to the popular crowd-funding site Kickstarter to help them finish post-production on HOPE & FEAR – an epic 18-month journey that saw the crew beaten, tear-gassed, jailed, and hospitalized while filming in Cairo, Egypt.
The film follows Salman, Nada, Ammar, and Reham beyond the idealism and euphoria of the revolution. “Their story is one of aspiration and empowerment in the face of the fear and chaos that has dominated Egypt since the resignation of Hosni Mubarak” says Khedr. The goals of the revolution are far from achieved. This is, in fact, the most crucial and fragile period for Egypt and its people.
In order to make a different type of documentary, one which captures Cairo’s chaotic and vibrant energy, Khedr and Bedi pulled together a stellar team of industry pros which includes Oscar-nominated director and Chairman of the Monaco Film Festival, Georges Chamchoum, Iranian-American director & DP Lila Javan, famed American intellectual Dr. Cornel West, International best-selling author Reza Alsan, and Kais Menoufy the President of the American Egyptian Strategic Alliance.
Help Khedr and Bedi tell this universal story of aspiration and empowerment. Those interested in supporting the project should visit the Film’s Kickstarter Page and the HOPE & FEAR Facebook Page to learn more. Let us know what you think in the comments below or on Facebook & Twitter!
View Director’s Cut Trailer – HOPE & FEAR Long Trailer
HOPE & FEAR website – www.HOPEandFEARmovie.com
Startup Monday: Indiegogo
Startup Monday is ABCey’s weekly post that features some of the best and brightest companies in the Bay Area. They are often companies that we have our eye on or have worked with in the past that we would like to share with the friends and followers of ABCey Events.
If you’ve ever needed to do any sort of fundraising, you’re well aware that it can be a confusing, stressful mess to figure out how to market your campaign and properly represent your ideas and values. Luckily there’s Indiegogo, the newest and most simple way to raise money for whatever your heart desires!
Indiegogo helps you ease into the fundraising process by giving your campaign a voice, and a platform to tell people what you’re doing and how they can help. Creating a campaign on the site is extremely simple, and is completely free to start. What makes Indiegogo‘s fundraisers successful is the unique algorithm they use, called the “gogofactor”. The more you share, tweet, and encourage people to “like” your campaign, the more you boost your gogofactor.
If you want to know more about how it works, check out their website to browse through some current campaigns and see what the buzz is all about. If you don’t have an idea to fundraise for at the moment, you might find yourself feeling inspired after seeing what other people are doing!
Would you use Indiegogo to help fund your next campaign? Let us know in the comments below or on Facebook & Twitter!
Top 10 Tenting Trends
There are tons of ways to create the appropriate atmosphere for your event, and choosing a unique tent is the perfect way to do so. Here are ten different trends in tenting to consider when planning your next event!
1. Tents That Look Like Indoor Spaces
2. Fabric Tents
6. Pole Tents
7. Arcum Tents
9. Raj Tents
Which tent style would be the best fit for your next event? Tell us in the comments below or on Facebook & Twitter!
Startup Monday: BuzzFeed
Startup Monday is ABCey’s weekly post that features some of the best and brightest companies in the Bay Area. They are often companies that we have our eye on or have worked with in the past that we would like to share with the friends and followers of ABCey Events.
Web content is passed around quicker than the chicken pox in a kindergarten class. We all love to forward the funny stuff we find online, and you’ve probably received a link from BuzzFeed, a fast-growing site that provides millions of people with the most interesting and hilarious content that is being shared at a high rate.
BuzzFeed is a website that combines a technology platform for detecting viral content with an editorial selection process to provide a snapshot of “the viral web in realtime.” It is the leading social news organization, and will provide you with the latest links, pictures, and videos as they are rising to the top of trending lists. The site is rapidly growing and reaches more than 25 million visitors in one month!
Do you use BuzzFeed to share information? Tell us what your favorite social news site is in the comments below or on Facebook & Twitter!
ABCey’s Weekend Lineup 3.28.13 – 3.31.13
Is it just us, or did Easter seem to come very early this year? In any case, this beautiful week is looking like it will end with a few showers, but that’s no reason to stay home. Here are some fun events to attend if you’re stumped for ideas!
1. Game Developers Conference | Moscone Center | March 27-29 | The GDC attracts over 22,500 attendees, and is the primary forum where programmers, artists, producers, game designers, audio professionals, business decision-makers and others involved in the development of interactive games gather to exchange ideas and shape the future of the industry. The GDC is produced by the UBM Tech Game Network.
2. ZenU | Mission Bay Conference Center, UCSF | March 28 | A fun and engaging day to learn more about customer service best practices using Zendesk. The schedule includes training sessions to discover more about the power of Zendesk with other customers and support brainiacs.
3. Cooking Class: Best of Locanda | SF Cooking School | March 30 | Join Locanda’s Anthony Strong to prepare a Roman menu based of favorite dishes from the restaurant. In this hands-on class Anthony will show you how to perfect some of the restaurant’s best-known dishes, adapting the recipes for your own kitchen.
4. Easter Brunch | Foreign Cinema | March 31 | Brunch specialists Gayle Pirie and John Clarke will present a special three-course Easter prix fixe menu on Sunday with a range of choices that include warm brandade with Thai green chilies, baguette French toast with cardamom-blood orange butter and poached eggs with duck.
5. Union Street Easter Parade and Festival | Union Street ~ Gough to Fillmore | March 31 | The event is not your average Street Fair or formal Parade. It can best be described as wonderful, wacky, elegant and fabulous, with everything from roller-blading cows and creative self-propelled mini-floats to garden areas, sophisticated fashions and beautiful classic and art cars.
Which events will you attend? Let us know in the comments below or on Facebook & Twitter!
10 California Music Festivals Not To Be Missed
We are well on our way into the season of music festivals! It’s difficult to beat the combination of being with your friends and enjoying your favorite music. Some festivals aim to show appreciation for a specific genre for days at a time, while others pair music with wine, beer, and art for a truly well-rounded experience. As Californians, we are lucky to live in a state that hosts some of the best music festivals in the world! ABCey wouldn’t want you missing out on the fun, so check out this list of upcoming festivals in 2013 and be sure to mark your calendars!
1. Coachella 2013 | Indio | April 12-14/April 19-21 | Nicknamed the “Official Ambassador of Music Festivals”, Coachella is the ultimate kickoff to summer festival season. Multiple genres such as rock, indie, hip hop, and electronic music.
2. Desert Daze 2013 | Mecca | April 20 | Camping, art, and music! Encouraging of camping and carpooling, this festival is full of good vibes. Organized by a group of close friends and a growing collective of musicians and artists from LA and beyond.
3. Stagecoach 2013 | Indio | April 26-28 | California’s outdoor country music festival, seen as the “cousin” of Coachella. Various artists attend, both popular and relatively unknown, ranging from folk, mainstream country, bluegrass, roots rock, and alternative country.
4. BottleRock 2013| Napa | May 9-11 | Over 60 great bands on 3 Napa expo stages. Top wineries, the best of Napa food, microbrews, and today’s top comics. If those don’t appeal to you, the lineup certainly will. You can find something for everyone at this festival!
5. California Roots Music and Arts Festival | Monterey | May 24-26 | A three-day celebration held over Memorial Day weekend at the beautiful Monterey County Fairgrounds. You can expect the best in Reggae/Rock from around the world, delicious food and unique craft vendors, as well as a dynamic live art experience.
6. Sierra Nevada World Music Festival | Boonville | June 21-23 | A festival dedicated to uniting the world in celebration of the universal spirit of music. It offers food, crafts and art from places such as Indonesia, West Africa, Jamaica, Ethiopia and India. SNWMF is known for the positive, conscious, environmentally aware community it attracts.
7. High Sierra Music Festival | Quincy | July 4-7 | Celebrating its 20th festival this year, High Sierra has found itself to be a 10,000 person event with more than 50 performers on four day-time stages and in four late-night venues. The Plumas-Sierra County Fairgrounds in Quincy provide on-site infrastructure with opportunities to swim, bike, fish, golf and hike.
8. Outside Lands 2013 | SF | August 9-11 | A harmonious marriage of music, food, wine, beer and art, Outside Lands is a highly anticipated festival representing San Francisco’s vibrant cultural community. This green-conscious event directly benefits the San Franscisco Recreation & Park Department with a special annual donation.
9. Rock The Bells | San Bernadino, Aug 18-19 | Mountain View, August 25-26 | Featuring a line-up of high-profile world class hip-hop artists, this festival began in Southern California in 2004 and now makes its way to three different locations. Rock The Bells is the best collection of hip-hop artist performances that you’ll find.
10. Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival | SF | October 4-6 | A free and entirely noncommercial three-day festival, HSB is great for your family to enjoy. Originally only featuring bluegrass musicians, the musical scope has expanded and now attracts numbers almost as high as the entire population of San Francisco.
Tell us which music festivals you plan on attending in the comments below or on Facebook & Twitter!
Tech Tuesday: Drink Savvy
The number one rule that was firmly embedded into our minds as we entered college and the bar scene was to never leave your drink unattended and return to it later. We’re told that you never know what someone can put in it, and to be careful even if you don’t feel like your personal safety is threatened because there’s always the chance of getting a drink that might not have been “meant” for you. But luckily, now you can purchase Drink Savvy products that will tell you whether or not your drink has been tampered with!
Although it is not everyones favorite thought to contemplate if there’s a creeper nearby who may be waiting for their perfect opportunity to slip you something, it would at least make you feel better to know for sure whether or not your drink is safe. And just because you’re a guy doesn’t mean there’s nothing to worry about–males have been known to encounter a drugged drink by accident AND on purpose! Drink Savvy products change color when your drink has been tampered with, immediately letting you know that your drink should be thrown out. The Drink Savvy products include plastic cups, glass cups, and straws.
What a way to ensure safety to customers at a bar! Or, to let all of your event attendees know that they’re in a safe environment. What do you think of Drink Savvy? Let us know in the comments below or on Facebook & Twitter!
Startup Monday: Coursera
Coursera is a social entrepreneurship company that partners with the top universities in the world to offer free online courses for anyone to take. Their technology enables the best professors to teach tens or hundreds of thousands of students. It is their goal to provide widespread access to the world-class education that has so far been available only to a select few.
When you take one of their classes, you will watch lectures taught by world-class professors, learn at your own pace, test your knowledge, and reinforce concepts through interactive exercises. Everyone knows that time is valuable and that we all have many other commitments, so courses are designed to help you master new concepts quickly and effectively. Courses are offered in a variety of subjects, such as the Humanities, Medicine, Biology, Social Sciences, Mathematics, Business, Computer Science, and many others.
With an impossibly busy schedule being so common, we can see how it would be beneficial to use Coursera if you’re looking to build your resume or brush up on some concepts to improve your career. Would you use Coursera? Tell us why or why not in the comments below or on Facebook & Twitter!
Friday Fun: 10 Boozy Spring Fling Desserts
It’s officially time to start welcoming some warmer weather, and what better way to do so than with a Spring Fling party? No party is complete without indulging in snacks and beverages, so combine the two and provide your guests with some boozy desserts at your next event!
2. Apple Cake with Brown Sugar-Brandy Sauce
4. Frozen Strawberry Margarita Pie
7. Spicy Pineapple and Tequila Sorbet
9. Chocolate-Stout Upside-Down Pineapple Cake
Which recipes will you try? Let us know which are your favorites in the comments below or on Facebook & Twitter!
ABCey’s Weekend Lineup 3.21.13 – 3.24.13
Although it may not quite seem like it, Spring is officially here! With some of those April showers already upon us, you’ll need some versatile ideas for this weekend. ABCey has all sorts of things for you to do, both indoor and outdoor, to keep you entertained in this first weekend of Spring.
1. Taste Of The Nation | 3.21.13 | The Bently Reserve – SF | Join top San Francisco chefs, winemakers, brewers, and mixologists at one of the most highly anticipated events of the year, all while helping end childhood hunger. Each ticket purchased for this event supports Share Our Strength’s efforts to eliminate childhood hunger and supports local San Francisco beneficiaries Three Squares and Children of Shelters.
2. Compostmodern: Design + Sustainability Conference | 3.22.13 | Palace of Fine Arts – SF | Explore design’s role in creating a more resilient world over the course of two quick-moving, inspirational days with some of the world’s leading designers, entrepreneurs, scientists, architects and more. Compostmodern is an event for anyone interested in the cutting-edge of sustainability and design.
3. Stand-Up Show: Nick Offerman | 3.22.13 | Nob Hill Masonic Auditorium – SF | Parks & Recreation’s Nick Offerman, who plays the mustachioed Ron Swanson on the show, will be in San Francisco for one night to dole out truths about life, whiskey, and manliness amongst other things.
4. Saturday Stroll Art Walk | 3.23.13 | Oakland | Many of the galleries that participate in Oakland’s highly popular first Friday Art Murmur gallery walk are also open every Saturday afternoon. Known as the Saturday Stroll, this is a quieter and more focused time to view art and visit with gallery directors.
5. Brunch Pop-Up: Wine & Waffles | 3.24.13 | Biondivino Wine Boutique – SF | Chrissy’s Waffles is returning to Russian Hill’s Biondivino to pair waffles with prosecco cordials. The March Waffle Madness edition will feature a bacon waffle and the old-favorite chocolate malted waffle.
*BONUS EVENT* Signs & Symbols: The Art of Mad Dog Madigan and Michael Robinson featuring Space Cowboys’ DJs | 3.22.13 | A full night of Art and Music to benefit the Create Peace Project with Mad Dog designer of Burning Man’s entrance signs and Michael Robinson in their 1st San Francisco Art Show together.
Which events will you choose to attend to celebrate the arrival of Spring? Let us know in the comments below or on Facebook & Twitter!