Green Long Beach! Festival Update 04.22.09

Hi GreenLB! friends,

I've got tons of fun festival updates for you (down below) but first I wanted to wish you a Happy Earth Day! Will you celebrate with us and help promote the Green Long Beach! Festival by changing your Facebook profile pic for the next several days to a GreenLB! logo or image? You can use one of the promo logo images in the FB event photo gallery or at the festival web site's promo page here:

http://www.greenlb.org/PromoStuff.html

Would you also please post the GreenLB! web site to your profile and ask your social networks to pass it on? www.greenLB.org

Huge thanks!

With limited resources it's amazing to see what we can produce and accomplish - both in our world and in an event.

The GreenLB! Team has been working on festival planning for only two months now and we're rapidly approaching our celebrations together on May 9th. I can tell you that it's been fun to see plans coming together in such a short period of time as we all draw on each others strengths, experience, and relationships to contribute to making the festival a success! We are literally simply working with what we've got so we invite as much support, resources and participation from everyone as possible!

This really is a local organic event as we are seeing local artists, organizations, businesses, residents and people who care about seeing a green Long Beach all pulling together to start an ongoing collaboration of green groups. We hope this will catalyze a conversation about working together to Green Long Beach!

I wanted to give you some quick updates:

* We have an exciting main stage entertainment line up with band and musician confirmations so far from:

+ Jack Maness
+ The Reactives
+ Kristi Jo
+ Trevor Green
+ Love Wings and the Deep Seed of Desire featuring Drew Brooks
+ Mulch
+ Llama Lipstick
+ Down & Dirty Dub
+ Miranda Rondeau
+ Big Moke & the Contract Killers
+ The Wandering Of
+ ...and a couple more that we're trying to secure confirmations from!

* We're planning a really fun festival finale with fire dancers Sirena Serpentina and a drum circle.

* We've got local artists teaming together to design an amazing creative landscape for the East Village.

* There will be lots of fun activities and workshops including:

+ GreenLB! Festival T-shirts on sale - get 'em cheaper by bringing your own T-shirt and we'll screen print it right on
+ Adult yoga in the morning at the Art Park
+ Speaker Daren Butler from Ecological Designs
+ Kids activities in the afternoon at the Art Park
+ Recycled crafts workshops
+ The 1st & Elm Organic Community Garden will be open
+ A Live Art Mural
+ Lots of local artists featuring their work
+ Henna artists
+ Workshops on organic foods and on urban herbalism
+ A fun "green march" is in the works
+ Fun street performers including A Delicate Balance of Sound, Wild Wood Border Morris, and hoop troupe Mademoiselles Monsoon
+ ...and TONS more!

* We've also got vendors and booths for you to check out. We've got room for night booths so check out the web site if your organization still needs to get in on all the fun!

There's SO MUCH more that's in the works. I'll try to keep you updated periodically so that you can help pass the word along about how much fun the festival is gonna be. We've been gradually updating the web site and I'm hoping to add pages for all the main stage bands and musicians, media, vendors and booths, activities, and other stuff. Stay tuned!

We need all the volunteers we can get so if you're available or if you know peeps, please let us know!

Remember to switch your profile pic to a GreenLB! image. ;)

Let's generate more buzz!

Thanks so much friends!

Eric Leocadio
GLB! Communications
www.greenLB.org

The Green Team

The Logistics Team for the Green Long Beach! Festival has been working like crazy every single week several days per week. Some of us have been working 30+ hours each week on top of our normal day jobs! But it's been fun working together and we're really excited about all of the community support and team volunteers.

Check out who's on the festival Green Team here.

Green Long Beach! Festival Update 04.09.09

Hi Friends in our Local Green Communities!

We are exactly one month away from our Green Long Beach! Festival in the East Village Arts District on May 9th! The festival planning team is plugging away working out details for a successful event and we are all very excited about the incredible response and interest that there is both locally and from out of state. The festival theme of "Down to Earth" really describes our local Long Beach community - we are neighborhoods connecting with each other, helping each other, and encouraging each other towards making sustainable choices. This is not only Long Beach's first "green" festival, but this is "our community's" festival. And it will be a fun time too!

We've done so much in a short period of time and we are in our last month's stretch before the festival. The team wanted to thank you so much for your support and willingness to be part of our broader green community. We hope that further connections with other green groups, businesses, and individuals will bear much fruit for you!

If you have submitted your participation forms for vendors, booths, performances, volunteering, or workshops, we will be sending you a confirmation packet and will contact you soon to work out details. If you have yet to submit your participation forms, you can get the forms here: http://www.greenlb.org/about.html

Festival Reminders:

+ Bring your own reusable tote bag to the festival.

+ Bring your own T-shirt to the festival to have the festival logo printed right on for just $5! Keep an eye out for pre-festival opportunities to get your early-bird festival T-shirt.

+ Ride the bus to the festival or ride your bike.

+ Bring your own water bottle or jug, straw, utensils or chop sticks to the festival.

+ If you'll be passing out materials at the festival, think green and creative - use multi-purpose type advertising like t-shirts or buttons or write on someone's shirt or tote bag or some other fun way to tell others about your group or business. Let's try to minimize paper flyers! Or at least, let's use recycled paper!

Here are ways that you can stay connected with us:

+ Check out our Web Site: http://www.greenlb.org/

+ RSVP on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=159300590108

+ Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/greenLB


Here are ways that you can help out:

+ Pass word along to your family, friends and social networks about the festival. Here's a Social Media Release that you can use: http://www.gocatalyst.org/page/Social+Media+Release%3A+Green+Long+Beach+Festival

+ Volunteer for set up and clean up crews, assist with various errands, and more. Go here for more on volunteering: http://www.greenlb.org/page05.html

+ Artists join the Creative Landscape Team to help design a street, alley, the art park, or the main stage. Contact Ryan Blanc at ryan.blanc@GoCatalyst.org.

+ Join the Marketing Team to help get the word out to the local community. We'll be meeting every Monday and Wednesday at 7pm at the new coffee house Sipology on Broadway and Linden. Contact Ryan Blanc at ryan.blanc@GoCatalyst.org.

+ Support the festival by becoming a Sponsor! You can offer financial support or have your organization offer an endorsement. Go here for more on sponsoring: http://www.greenlb.org/about.html


Thanks everyone! Let's stay connected and let's get "down to earth"!

Eric Leocadio
Green Long Beach! Festival Communications Director

GreenLB! Festival Media Advisory - April 2009

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Green Long Beach! Festival Brings Locals Out to Get “Down to Earth”

Hosted By 2nd Saturday Art Walk, East Village Farmers Market, Catalyst Community, DeAvy Art Gallery, T’s Space, East Village Arts District, Inc., and Long Beach Depot for Creative Reuse

LONG BEACH – Working together to inspire the Long Beach community to see “green”, local organizations come together to host the Green Long Beach! festival to show the local community the kind of resources we have right in our own neighborhoods. Local green groups are pooling together for collaboration, celebration and education on Saturday, May 9, 2009 for an all day festival in the East Village Arts District. Teams of local artists will design the creative landscape of streets, alleys and the East Village Art Park featuring a common theme of getting “Down to Earth.”

“This event is intended to unite the many aspects of the green community that we have in Long Beach,” said Elliot Gonzales, festival organizer. “We want to create awareness that we are one people on one planet. When we work together we can create positive change.”

The Green Long Beach! festival will feature a main stage with live entertainment along with a wide array of visual and performing artists, activities, music, booths and vendors, farmer’s market, and informational workshops. Organizers estimate attendance of approximately 3,000 people. Get “Down to Earth” by bringing your own reusable tote bag to the festival and your own t-shirt to have the festival logo printed right on. Pre-festival events are scheduled for early t-shirt printing and art displays. For more information and to volunteer, go to www.greenLB.org.

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Catalyst on Facebook and Twitter

We've got a new social media presence on the Web!

Be sure to check us out on Facebook and join the group here:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=62739636851

Are you on Twitter? Follow us at: http://twitter.com/gocatalyst

Happy 3rd Birthday Catalyst!

So three years ago today, April 1, 2006, I incorporated Catalyst Long Beach in the state of California. Woooo hooooo!

At the time, it was an interesting season of my life. I was transitioning out of Kingdom Causes, the first non-profit I co-founded in 2002 and during that same time I was concurrently imagining broader things - things that eventually led to birthing a new organization that would hopefully continue bringing people together, much like KC is doing within faith-centered circles.

It's been a fun and crazy three years. I had to get a day job to pay the bills since my only previous income had been coming from KC (when I was with them). I'm still at that day job until Catalyst can get sufficient funding so outside of the work hours, I've been building relationships with folks in the evenings...getting to know people, hearing their passions, and sharing hearts and vision for what could be.

The vision for Catalyst Community is to see every area and region inspired with a greater sense of community, collaboration, and citizenship through meaningful relationships.

So in a nutshell, we catalyze collaborative communities to build relationships, establish partnerships, inspire growth, and encourage contribution.

"connect and affect"

Big thanks to Ryan Blanc and Dario Calderon who have been a huge part of shaping the direction that we are now going with Catalyst. Since 2008 they've been Board members and an awesome team. We could sure use the help!

Would you consider joining the Catalyst Team?
http://www.gocatalyst.org/page/CATALYST+TEAM

Thanks friends and Happy Birthday us!