Downtown Oakland Association/Lake Merritt-Uptown District Association Joint (D.I.S.I.

) District Identity and Streetscape Improvement Committee June 29th, 2010 1:00 pm 388 19th Street, CBD Office Present: Andrea Kirkpatrick, Chris Curtis, Ke Norman, Laurie Cooperman Rosen, CJ Hirschfield Samee Roberts, Deborah Acosta, Nicole Neditch, Margo Dunlap Marco Li Mandri, Steve Snider, Andrew Jones, Tim Gallen, Andrew Neilly, Victoria Decker Minutes
Introductions: Carmen and Andrea Approval of Minutes, May 19th, 2010

Guests: Staff:

No minutes were presented for review.

Finalized minutes will be emailed to the committee for review and approval.

Funding request presentation by Samee Roberts/Art and Soul 2010

Samee explained that even with 5K donations from the Uptown Apartments and Bank of America, Art and Soul still has a 50K budget shortfall. Samee announced that while Tower of Power, Keisha Cole, The Pointer Sisters and other acts are out, En Vogue, MC Hammer and Toni Tony Tone are on board. She is looking for 5K from each district and proposed a mixer at Art and Soul for our membership. A possible CBD area within the festival with wine, food and complimentary tickets was discussed as a way to brand the district and get contact information from

Laurie moved and Chris seconded the motion to fund Art & Soul in the amount of $10,000. There was a unanimous affirmative vote by all present with Carmen Santisteban emailing in her approval.

388 19th Street Oakland, California 94612 DOA Phone 510.238.1122 LMUDA Phone 510.452.4530 Fax 510.452.4529 mail@downtownoakland.org www.downtownoakland.org mail@lakemerritt-uptown.org www.lakemerritt-uptown.org

Event Updates: a) WOBO/Oaklavia b) Fashion Friday Window Fashion Displays Recap and Review c) Old Oakland TNL Series d) Update on First Friday URL e) Next Special Event Task Force Meeting (TBD)/Midtown Oaks Art District Web redesign and launch

business/property owners in the districts. Andrew explained that the overall sentiment was that WOBO was a great event despite the fact that marketing efforts were stifled by budget limitations. He felt that it was a good move for the CBDs to get behind it. The SF Chronicle did a very positive story about the event the next day. Steve expressed that WOBO is a positive community group and feels that we should encourage that culture. Debbie Acosta mentioned that Elie Khoury of The Marriott was unaware of the event and that had he known he could have been of assistance, Samee proposed resuming a regular Permit Approval Committee with whatever entities have a stake in an event and to bring the program back to include the CBDs. Samee also recommended getting the CBDs and OMLF (Oakland Merchant Leadership Forum) together to build a database of contacts/businesses. Steve described the fashion displays in and around the Fox and 18th and Telegraph as last minute, but successful. Although it will be difficult with no budget it is something we would like to see happen again. Skylier undertakes this project to market her business, but may need funding to attract other designers going forward, Steve suggested that this project stay on the table when considering next years special events budget. Steve explained that TNL needs promotional support. The concerts take place every first and third Sunday through

First Website Task Force Meeting Early July

District branding update for trashcan placards and banners: Andrew Jones

October and we need to generate a buzz. Steve expressed the need to start planning for the next special events task force meeting and while meetings will happen internally, we need to set a date for a more formal meeting. Andrea asked that this item stay on the agenda for the next DISI meeting. Nicole Neditch announced that the Midoakarts.com website has gone live and also announced the launch of the Oakland First Fridays website. The Mid Oak Arts site, she explained, is straightforward and dynamic so it can grow to include more galleries. Nicole gave the committee a demo and explained how a user can sign up to participate. She also demonstrated how the news and events link is a blog that is set up to give access to all gallery owners and doesnt need to be managed or updated. In reference to the Fashion Fridays window installations and possible consideration of CBD funding, Nicole expressed her opinion that it may be best to focus attention and funding on one large arts event instead of small, disparate events. Steve announced the launch of our two brand new websites and asked committee members to take the time to review. The proposed dates for the Website task Force are July 7th and 8th. Staff was asked to check the dates with Gallen and Neilly and to notify Laurie and Nicole. Andrew updated the committee on his efforts to obtain the minor encroachment permit bundle for the trashcan placards and

Gallen Neilly PR Update

banners. The permit applications have been submitted and all of the insurance certificates are in order. He expects very shortly to get the permits from the City. He explained that the permits do not impact the meter poles and medians. Samee offered her assistance with the banner design. Andrew and Tim feel like they have hit their stride. They have decided on putting out formal media releases on anything that is happening in the district in a regular monthly release. They have worked hard to develop relationships with some of the areas key reporters. A magazine for corporate relocations is doing a story on Oakland. Another story is the appeal of cheap space in Oakland and how it is attracting young SF chefs to try business here. Tim feels that this is the stuff that businesses want to know about. We want to build ourselves up as a national case story of success. Tim met with Stephanie Geter of Good News in Oakland and is feeding stuff to her and plans to start putting that stuff on our website. We need to figure out a way to get more mileage out of the positive stories. Tim emphasized the need to concentrate staff efforts on building the business contact database. The compilation of a fact sheet detailing the sales tax revenue and employment number within the districts is also something we should focus on (get from HDL). Tim also recommended we get to work on our mid-year report.

Update from Youth Radio on video projects

As trade for annual assessment we are receiving 10K in trade for video production services. We should have something in the next few weeks. The videos will focus on the ambassadors, the Annual Breakfast and interview with business owners. The cab situation on 13th is still an issue. Marco suggested contacting City Parking Enforcement (Noel Pinto). Andrew has been in contact with Arturo Sanchez and he is looking into it. Chris Curtis proposed bringing in Sudhish Mohindroo of SZFM Design Studio for a consultation. Mr. Mohindroo has walked 13th with Chris and may be able to help develop a vision for the area. Moving forward we should discuss hiring him for 2-3 hours at $200/hr. to help us decide what direction we want to go. Staff should coordinate a follow up meeting of the 13th Street Task Force (Chris, Aliza, Ke, Fred Karren, Marco and Beverly). Samee announced a delay of the shuttle launch due to a funder injecting some very last minute and significant changes. Apparently an additional stop was added and things got complicated. AC Transit needs time to adapt to the changes so we are now looking at a launch in the last week of July. Samee emphasized that the delay was solely a funder issue. Debbie Acosta gave the committee an update on the July 15th InOak mixer to be held on July 15th at Levende East. She explained that the target

13th Street Task Force Update

Other

group was digital media companies and innovative technologies and that participant will include Skytide and Pandora. North is working on developing a website that will launch in the next week or so. InOak also has a presence on Facebook. Patrick Hurley from Skytide connected Steve and Debbie with Trace Williams of Comcast. Comcast has offered to underwrite $1,000 for the first event and the CBDs are providing $350 in sponsorship from each district. Next Meeting Next meeting date and timeTBD

Minutes taken by Victoria Decker, Staff