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The National Children's Alliance (or NCA) is a Washington, D.C.-based network of almost 1,000 Children's Advocacy Centers (or CACs) across the United States. These centers offer crucial services to children affected by abuse, providing them with a safe space to share their stories and access a diverse team of professionals, from health practitioners to law enforcement. CACs have trained nearly 1.6 million people in child abuse prevention, and last year alone, CACs served over 380,000 children. But with this year's $600,000 cut to the Victims of Crime Act funding, CACs now face dire challenges.In this episode, you'll hear my conversation with Teresa Huizar, CEO of the NCA, to discuss what these cuts mean for CACs and the vulnerable children who rely on them. We explore how these centers operate, the impact of the funding loss, and various child abuse-related topics. Teresa's insights emphasize why advocacy and support for these centers have never been more urgent.Photos related to today's episode can be viewed on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sufferthelittlechildrenpod Cover photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash.You can also follow the podcast on:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sufferthelittlechildrenpodTwitter: https://www.twitter.com/STLCpodTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@STLCpodMy Linktree is available here: https://linktr.ee/stlcpod Visit the podcast's web page at https://www.sufferthelittlechildrenpod.com. By supporting me on Patreon, you'll also access rewards, including a shout-out by name on the podcast and exclusive rewards. Visit www.patreon.com/STLCpod. You can also support the podcast on www.Ko-Fi.com/STLCpod. Join my Supporters' Club: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/suffer-the-little-children--4232884/support This podcast is researched, written, hosted, edited, and produced by Laine.Music for this episode is licensed from https://audiojungle.net. Subscribe to Suffer the Little Children:Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/suffer-the-little-children/id1499010711Google Podcasts: https://playmusic.app.goo.gl/?ibi=com.google.PlayMusic&isi=691797987&ius=googleplaymusic&apn=com.google.android.music&link=https://play.google.com/music/m/I5mx3lacxpdkhssmk2n22csf32u?t%3DSuffer_the_Little_Children%26pcampaignid%3DMKT-na-all-co-pr-mu-pod-16Spreaker: https://www.spreaker.com/show/suffer-the-little-children Pandora: https://www.pandora.com/podcast/suffer-the-little-children/PC:61848?part=PC:61848&corr=podcast_organic_external_site&TID=Brand:POC:PC61848:podcast_organic_external_siteSpotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0w98Tpd3710BZ0u036T1KEiHeartRadio: https://iheart.com/podcast/77891101/ ...or on your favorite podcast listening platform.
Judge David O. Carter tells Veteran Affairs to add temporary units to the West LA campus before the end of the year. Disgraced politician José Huizar starts his prison sentence. Nereida Moreno says Latino voters are being targeted with fake news. Plus, more. Support The L.A. Report by donating at LAist.com/join and by visiting https://laist.com. Support the show: https://laist.com
In today's true crime story of Love and Murder, we delve into the case of Elias Huizar, a former police officer and school resource officer whose life spiraled into a nightmare of violence and tragedy. This case is filled with shocking twists and turns that will leave you with whiplash.Elias Huizar, once a trusted figure in law enforcement, found his life unraveling after allegations of inappropriate relationships and violent behavior surfaced. Despite multiple investigations, no charges were initially filed. However, the situation took a dark turn when Elias's tumultuous relationship with his ex-wife, Amber Rodriguez, and his teenage girlfriend, Angelica Santos, reached a deadly climax.On April 22, 2024, Elias shot and killed Amber outside her workplace, an elementary school, in front of their son and other children. He then fled with their one-year-old son, leading to a high-speed chase with law enforcement. The pursuit ended tragically when Elias took his own life, leaving behind three orphaned children and a trail of devastation.This episode explores the disturbing details of Elias's life, from his early career to the violent end. We examine the investigations that failed to stop him and the heartbreaking impact on his family. Join us as we navigate this rollercoaster of a case and share your thoughts on who is to blame for this tragic outcome.Poll: Do you think the police department, or the school district could have done more to prevent this tragedy? Share your thoughts in the comments below.Sources:https://nypost.com/2024/04/23/us-news/armed-ex-cop-accused-of-killing-his-ex-wife-girlfriend-is-on-the-run-after-being-due-in-court-for-rape/https://keprtv.com/news/local/a-timeline-of-events-following-the-tragic-william-wiley-shootinghttps://nypost.com/2024/04/24/us-news/elias-huizar-killed-self-during-police-chase-after-double-murder/https://www.fox13seattle.com/news/who-is-elias-huizarhttps://www.fox13seattle.com/news/amber-alert-wa-orhttps://www.opb.org/article/2024/04/25/ex-yakima-cop-elias-huizar-was-investigated-for-relationship-with-minors/https://www.yakimaherald.com/news/local/crime_and_courts/documents-show-ex-ypd-officer-elias-huizar-was-investigated-in-yakima/article_06f2fb20-09a5-11ef-b41e-5711b6226aaa.htmlDon't forget to share this in text with your friends and on Reddit************************************************************************************************Support these businesses; support LaM:BJs - Save $35 on a yearly membership with my link: www.murderandlove.com/BJsSimpliSafe Security System - Save 50% your security system plus a free camera with my link: www.murderandlove.com/simplisafe50✨✨For a commercial-free episode, pictures, and more head to our exclusive group at www.patreon.com/loveandmurder✨✨Podcast Promo: Darkcast Network (www.darkcastnetwork.com)*************************************************************************************************
La Orquesta Nacional de Jazz de México es uno de los pilares actuales del jazz mexicano y su director, Manuel Huizar nos visita para hablar de este proyecto y el viaje por hacer el homenaje a Juan García Esquivel además de Jazz & Flow otro proyecto alejado de la tradición del género pero muy interesante.
In this episode, our host & plastic surgery consultant Mavi Rodriguez is joined by Lauren Huizar. Lauren is a social media director specializing in the plastic surgery industry. Together, they discuss the intricacies of the plastic surgery world and its portrayal on social media platforms.Questions addressed in this episode:1. What are the challenges plastic surgeons face on social media?2. How can social media users be more mindful about consuming content related to plastic surgery, body positivity, and the appearance of celebrities and influencers?3. Lauren´s personal plastic surgery experience: facial sculpting, jawline and cheekbone contouring, buccal fat removal, facial fat transfer, breast augmentation, EZ gel, and BBL.4. How do manipulated images and videos on social media impact people's expectations of cosmetic surgery?5. How can you identify fake before & after photos?Tune in to get an insider's perspective on the world of plastic surgery and social media, and remember to "do your research" before making any decisions!Support the Show.Do you want help planning your surgery? Book a discovery call with Mavi Rodriguez. Join our online community! Visit our website www.bigbuttsnolies.com Plastic Surgery Podcast (@bigbuttsnoliespodcast) • Instagram photos and videosWatch the episodes on YouTube
This week, I'm talking with James Huizar. We discuss his career journey through visual art, non-profits, and startups. James, an accomplished visual artist, recently participated in Flat Stock 92 at South by Southwest this year. Listen as we discuss his background in studio art from the University of Texas at Austin, his professional growth through various roles, including stints at the Mexicarte Museum here in Austin and the Douseum in San Antonio, TX, and his pivot to working at a startup. We talk about the differences between workplace cultures, explore his personal challenges and learning experiences, examine the evolution of his art, and discuss how he successfully balances his passion projects with his other professional obligations. To view James' portfolio, visit his website at www.jameshuizar.com and follow him on Instagram @jameshuizar. Startup Anthology now has merch! Check out our t-shirts, hoodies, and trucker hats in the merch section of our website. (https://startupanthology.com/merch)
From the highlights and challenges in 2023 to what to expect in 2024 and beyond, Gavin discusses CalAIM with guests Michel Huizar, Branch Chief, DHCS Managed Care Quality and Monitoring Division, and Dora Barilla, Co-Founder, HC² Strategies.
ICYMI: Later, with Mo'Kelly Presents – Thoughts on the jury's decision to sentence disgraced former LA City Councilman José Huizar to 13 years in federal prison AND nude, deepfakes of Taylor Swift going viral on X…PLUS – A preview of Director, Producer, Screenwriter, Actor and Comic Book Icon Kevin Smith & Radio Personality-Comedian, Ralph Garman's “Hollywood Babble-On” show at Flappers - on KFI AM 640 – Live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app
Former LA Councilman José Huizar was sentenced to 13 years in prison for racketeering and tax evasion. The University of California suspends a proposal to allow undocumented students to get campus jobs. Big storms are forecasted for SoCal next week. Plus, more. Support The L.A. Report by donating at LAist.com/join and by visiting https://laist.com. Support the show: https://laist.com
There's something special about building a career around doing what we love and sharing gifts that come naturally to us, which is why you'll love this week's episode with gender fluid fashion creator Bad Burro by José Huizar. Tune in for tips to overcome challenges when finding your voice and expressing it at the loudest volume possible. It's amazing how taking charge in channeling productivity will make a positive impact across communities! Want to be featured on the pod? https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScGSAuXcPkCkdx3qoWiG1trcQYzksClzVes4u7YXcR2td9ALg/viewform Want to send a voice message? https://www.speakpipe.com/DamselsintheDMs Want to pitch a guest or topic? https://www.damselsinthedms.com/contact.html
Antonio is a friend of mine and frequent conversation partner. He discusses his own theological journey and asks me some tough questions. We mention @PaulVanderKlay , Aaron Renn, Bethel McGrew, @ParkersPensees , Soren Kierkegaard, Jordan Peterson, Bret Weinstein, Bart Ehrman, Tripp Parker, @JamesTaborVideos , Brandon Duke, Paula Fredriksen, William Lane Craig, Dale Tuggy, Beau Branson, Joshua Sijuwade, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus of Lyon, and many more.
POTH – Just like everything else in our current economy, homeowners here will be paying more for certain fees. Following the Aug. 21 Poth City Council meeting, City Secretary Rose Huizar said solid waste disposal contractor Republic Services requested a 5-percent increase on residential garbage services, which councilmen Steve Wiatrek, Ronald Weimer, Stephanie Sefcik, and Lex Poth approved. That increase will be passed on directly to residents. Therefore, the current monthly rate of .25 will inch upward to .21. Also going up is the cost of building permits. Huizar said the permit for residential construction will increase from to...Article Link
Power in Transition Peter Huizar Minister @LWCC
On today's program: Kevin McCarthy, U.S. Representative for the 23rd District of California and House Minority Leader, shares the latest on the continued negotiations over government funding and reacts to the GOP House Intelligence Committee report
Long Beach Real Estate Broker, Juan Huizar, shares the inspirational story of his journey from Mexico to the U.S. and how hard work and determination played a vital role in overcoming the challenges he and his family faced.
Principal Los Angeles City Planner and author Ken Bernstein joins the podcast to talk about all things historic preservation. Who decides what is historic? How does the desire for historic preservation get balanced with the need for new development, particularly housing? Ken also talks about some memorable historic preservation battles, discusses the differences between historic preservation laws in Los Angeles compared to other big cities, and also chats about his new book "Preserving Los Angeles: How Historic Places Can Transform America's Cities." Ken is donating the proceeds from Preserving Los Angeles to support three organizations that are dedicated to enhancing representation and inclusion in historic preservation: * Latinos in Heritage Conservation* Asian and Pacific Islander Americans in Historic Preservation (APIAHiP)* The African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund of the National Trust for Historic Preservation
Los Angeles Magazine political writer Jon Regardie rejoins the Oy Vey L.A. podcast to discuss the "golden age" in Los Angeles (our current situation)...unfortunately, not the good type of golden age. Racism, corruption, and our municipal elections are the topics we discuss with Jon, as we try to make sense of things that simply don't. Take a listen!
This morning: Calls for councilmember resignations, Huizar brother pleads guilty, fentanyl seizures, and more. This program is made possible in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people. Support the show: https://laist.com
Búnkeros, el día de hoy tuvimos la oportunidad de conversar con Mayra Huizar, terapeuta y conferencista. Charla en la que abordamos el tema de las constelaciones familiares y de qué manera nos afectan en nuestras relaciones actuales. ¡Acompáñenos!
A high-level aide to former Los Angeles City Councilman Jose Huizar gave jurors a vivid look at the pay-to-play schemes allegedly pursued by his boss, describing paper bags filled with bribe money and demands for concert tickets and other gifts.George Esparza, appearing Friday in the first of three trials dealing with the Huizar case, told jurors that he took part in two “money drops” in 2017, picking up cash from a developer's go-between and then delivering the money to the councilman in liquor boxes — all while taking copious notes on his own criminal activities.LIKE & SUBSCRIBE for new videos everyday. https://bit.ly/3KBUDSK
Simchah (Sim' Kuh) Huizar has spent the last 20 years in the health, wellness, and fitness profession. She is the Founder of Breath of Life Yoga Therapy, based in West Tennessee, where she teaches several types of alignment based yoga, Clubbell yoga (yoga & strength training combined) and yoga therapy to students of all ages and from all walks of life. She herself is a stroke survivor, and lives with HHT. She is a Certified Yoga Therapist with the International Association of Yoga Therapists and registered with Yoga Alliance as an E-RYT (experienced registered yoga teacher with over 1000 hours of experience.)n other capacities, she formally served as a board member for the Chamber of Commerce, as well as currently for Stonehouse Ministries International, and has a varied background with experience in corporate sales, as well as managing the herbal department of a local health food store. This wealth of experience is something special she offers in her practice. She brings every aspect of who she is to the table, often modifying classes to suit her students needs, and taking an interest in their personal lives; in order to bring them whole (mind-body-spirit) health and personal reconciliation in all facets of their lives. In addition to teaching group classes, and workshops, Simchah also takes on private clients, as an advisor or life coach. Many of these clients are in high-responsibility, high-stress positions of authority, and need a confidential sounding board. Other times, she aids clients in pursuing relational unity with coworkers, friends, or family members, and offers aid in conflict resolution. The thread of unity stringing through it all is her outlook and perspective: obstacles and challenges are all a part of life. She then teaches her students to be resilient and encourages them in their specific need, until they arrive at that place of inner peace. When they leave, they leave feeling empowered to ask deeper questions and find the solutions to improve their personal development and growth.On a more personal note, Simchah is the wife to Francisco, a mother of 5 and bonus mother to 4 amazing adult children. She also has 12 grandchildren. She has lived in Christian Community for over 20 years. This is the foundation of all that she shares. It is her experience in learning about the Body of Christ and how it works in daily reality that has prompted her fascination with the whole individual person- body, soul and spirit.Mini E Book: 5 Stepping Stones to Eliminate Stress https://bit.ly/3vHPaVEShort Progressive Muscle Relaxation audio link: bit.ly/shortrelaxPromo code: onestarfishpodcastListeners will get the audio for free when they enter the promo code.Follow on IG: https://www.instagram.com/simyoga64/Please follow and tag me at:https://www.instagram.com/realangelabradford/You can subscribe to my YouTube Channel herehttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDU9L55higX03TQgq1IT_qQFeel free to leave a review on all major platforms to help get the word out and change more lives!
ENTREVISTAS NACIONES MMA 6: Alejandro Gavidia, Fabian Miranda, Chino Valenzuela, Laura Huizar by Rodrigo Del Campo
Our special guest Jon Regardie joins the Oy Vey L.A. podcast to talk about all aspects of the upcoming primary election for mayor of the City of L.A.; the City Council race for Council District 5; and Jon also opines on the Huizar criminal matter, the status of Eric Garcetti's pending appointment to be Ambassador to India, and the fiasco of CD 10 in which an indicted council member has been temporarily replaced by a former councilman, the appointment of which is now embroiled in a lawsuit. Jon Regardie is a veteran Los Angeles journalist who has contributed news, politics, business and entertainment stories to dozens of print and online publications. He regularly writes for Los Angeles magazine, and is the former editor of the Los Angeles Downtown News. He has received numerous journalism awards and frequently discusses political and other matters on local radio and TV stations. He lives in Highland Park with his wife and two children. Jon can be reached at jregardie@gmail.com, and can also be found on twitter: @JonRegardie A compendium of Jon's work at Los Angeles Magazine can be found at : https://www.lamag.com/author/jon-regardie/
Esperamos que esta enseñanza sea de bendicion para ti y los tuyos. No olvides compartir este mensaje. Si quieres saber mas sobre nosotros, o asistir a una reunión en vivo, contactanos. Déjanos tus comentarios y síguenos en nuestras redes sociales instagram y facebook.
Juan is a licensed California Real Estate Broker that has acquired his Certified Commercial Investment Member (CCIM) designation. CCIM's are recognized experts in brokerage, valuation, and investment analysis. Juan specializes in selling multifamily apartment units as well as residential properties. He prides himself on locating value-added properties that maximize the client's investment yields. Juan is a detail-oriented entrepreneur.Today he handles everything from finding, funding, designing, managing, and selling investment properties. His diverse experience in commercial and multifamily real estate allows him to develop and navigate a wide range of projects.In our conversation, we discussed:The four Plex and its 30-year financingThe misconception on Cash FlowBiggest frustration on capital gains tax deferralPotential changes in the tax codeConnect with Juan Huizar:https://www.expertcresecrets.com/episode59Love the show? Subscribe, rate, review, and share!Here's How »Join the Expert CRE Community today:expertCREsecrets.comeXpert CRE Secrets FacebookeXpert CRE Secrets Youtube
“The thing that I would say to anybody listening, is that you are doing great. It's a hard time to be in the veterinary field. You know, I know so many people are overwhelmed and just remember that you know, that what you are doing is enough and that if you need help, to reach out to somebody and that you are definitely not alone in the struggle right now.”Our guest today is Dr. Yvette Huizar. Dr. Huizar joins us to continue our discussion on diversity, inclusion and belonging in veterinary medicine. She shares why it was so important to create the Latinx Veterinary Medical Association and how she did this through veterinary school and continues to work on it during her internship. We learned so much and are incredibly honored to share this conversation with you. Remember we want to hear from you! Please be sure to subscribe to our feed on Apple Podcasts and leave us a ratings and review. You can also contact us at MVLPodcast@avma.org You can also follow us on Social Media @AVMAVets #MyVetLife #MVLPodcast
Mariah talks to the Boyle Heights residents who watched as FBI agents raided Huizar's home and offices. Three months into the pandemic, he's arrested and pleads not guilty. The residents of CD14 are left in limbo. We look at what the FBI investigation reveals about Los Angeles's housing and homelessness crisis. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Huizar's carelessness starts to catch up with him. After more than a dozen all-expenses paid trips to Vegas with plenty of perks, Huizar gets played by one of his own. A businessman turned FBI informant gives Huizar an envelope with $15,000 in cash, and then tells the Feds all about it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Huizar's downfall started with a sexual harassment lawsuit. He didn't have the hundreds of thousands of dollars to settle the suit on his own... so the Feds say he relied on a new friend. A developer who had plans to build a 77-story hotel in downtown LA. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Juan is a licensed California Real Estate Broker that has acquired his Certified Commercial Investment Member (CCIM) designation. CCIM's are recognized experts in brokerage, valuation, and investment analysis. Juan specializes in selling multifamily apartment units as well as residential properties. He prides himself on locating value-added properties that maximize the client's investment yields. Juan is a detail-oriented entrepreneur.Today he handles everything from finding, funding, designing, managing, and selling investment properties. His diverse experience in commercial and multifamily real estate allows him to develop and navigate a wide range of projects.In our conversation, we discussed:The four Plex and its 30-year financingThe misconception on Cash FlowBiggest frustration on capital gains tax deferralPotential changes in the tax codeConnect with Juan Huizar:https://capitalgainstaxsolutions.com/from-working-the-fields-to-working-the-deals-with-juan-huizar/Love the show? Subscribe, rate, review, and share!Here's How »Join the Capital Gains Tax Solutions Community today:capitalgainstaxsolutions.comCapital Gains Tax Solutions FacebookCapital Gains Tax Solutions Twitter
In this 3rd episode of the Ministry Central Leadership Podcast, we are joined by Amado & Amber Huizar. The two work under the leadership of Pastor & UPCI SoCal District Superintendent, Art Hodges, as the Executive Pastors of South Bay Pentecostal Church in Chula Vista, Ca.In this episode we discuss the challenges that have arisen from this season of pandemics and political upheaval. You will be blessed by this interview as you listen to the struggles many in parts of the country have endured during this time.
Gentrification comes in waves. Over years, a piece of downtown LA transformed from Skid Row, to a bastion for young artists, to a hipster neighborhood with some of the highest rents in the city. By 2018, Huizar was allegedly collecting bribes from developers planning a luxury high rise just a couple blocks from where some of his constituents were getting evicted. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Meet illustrator, printmaker, and toy designer, James Huizar.This creative problem solver's multidisciplinary art is rich with community and culture. We explore how his foundational experiences at Mexic-Arte Museum led him to co-found the Puro Chingón Collective, building skills to balance a full-time career with his own artwork.This episode's transcript and references are available on our website.Even More James Huizar:Website | Facebook | Instagram | Portfolio | ShopIn this episode, we talk to illustrator, printmaker, and toy designer, James Huizar (01:07). We hear about his art education (03:41) and transition from college to the professional art world (06:22). We learn about his work during that transition at Austin's Mexic-Arte Museum, and his co-founding of the Puro Chingón Collective (12:15), which helped organize events like interactive Latinx film screenings (15:29). Building community (32:09) and the resulting support systems (33:20) are central to his story. His current work (17:18) brings him to San Antonio, the DoSeum (19:35), and making zines (23:11).James also shares his thoughts around art accessibility (13:13), COVID (18:27), and gender discrimination in art (44:20). He touches on his understanding of work ethic (30:14) and the importance of income diversification for artists (34:37). As usual, we discuss underrepresented identities in art (49:16) and the balance between commercial success and a capitalist system (37:25)(41:57).Host, Producer, Audio/Video Editor | Carina HiscockCo-Producer | Hailey WangPartner | Unfiltered SAMusic | WishReclaiming Representation | InstagramReclaiming Representation | Support UsThanks for Listening!If you want to support the show and help us grow:-Leave us a review on iTunes.-Share the podcast with your art-loving friends.-Make a monthly contribution (with perks!) through Patreon.-Recommend yourself or another artist as a guest.
No man is an island. Huizar couldn't have pulled off the alleged corruption scheme without help. Host Mariah Castañeda tells the story of how Huizar allegedly built the criminal enterprise the FBI would eventually arrest him for. It all started when downtown was reassigned to his district. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jose Huizar grew up in Boyle Heights – a working-class Latinx neighborhood in L.A. Eventually, he became their councilperson. And, for the most part, people trusted Huizar... until the day the FBI raided his home and offices, looking for evidence of corruption. The Feds would go on to say that Huizar led a criminal enterprise based in city hall. He stands accused of taking bribes from luxury developers as his constituents were displaced from their homes. This season of Smoke Screen is a collaboration with grassroots media organization L.A. TACO. In this 9-part investigative series, journalist and host Mariah Castañeda investigates how Huizar got the power to do what he did, and how the community that raised him paid the price.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Alvin Parra worked for Huizar when he first got elected. He saw early warning signs that Huizar wasn't the man of the people he made himself out to be. Parra tried to warn people about what he saw behind closed doors, but most of them weren't ready to listen. He ends up doing something drastic to try to expose Huizar. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
While Black Family - We will continue our 4 part series featuring guests from small-town Mississippi next week. In the meantime, please enjoy a preview from an amazing podcast we think you will enjoy. Introducing Smoke Screen: The Sellout! Jose Huizar grew up in Boyle Heights – a working-class Latinx neighborhood in L.A. Eventually, he became their councilperson. He ran on promises of solidarity and community. And, for the most part, people trusted Huizar... until the day the FBI raided his home and offices, looking for evidence of corruption. The Feds would go on to say that Huizar led a criminal enterprise based in city hall. He stands accused of taking bribes from luxury developers as his constituents were displaced from their homes. This season of Smoke Screen is a collaboration with grassroots media organization L.A. TACO. In this 9-part investigative series, journalist and host Mariah Castañeda investigates how Huizar got the power to do what he did, and how the community that raised him paid the price. Smoke Screen: The Sellout is available now wherever you get your podcasts. New episodes drop every Tuesday. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jose Huizar grew up in Boyle Heights – a working-class Latinx neighborhood in L.A. Eventually, he became their councilperson. And, for the most part, people trusted Huizar... until the day the FBI raided his home and offices, looking for evidence of corruption. The Feds would go on to say that Huizar led a criminal enterprise based in city hall. He stands accused of taking bribes from luxury developers as his constituents were displaced from their homes. This season of Smoke Screen is a collaboration with grassroots media organization L.A. TACO. In this 9-part investigative series, journalist and host Mariah Castañeda investigates how Huizar got the power to do what he did, and how the community that raised him paid the price. Listen to the first two episodes now. New episodes drop every Tuesday. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jose Huizar grew up in Boyle Heights – a working-class Latinx neighborhood in L.A. Eventually, he became their councilperson. He ran on promises of solidarity and community. And, for the most part, people trusted Huizar... until the day the FBI raided his home and offices, looking for evidence of corruption. The Feds would go on to say that Huizar led a criminal enterprise based in city hall. He stands accused of taking bribes from luxury developers as his constituents were displaced from their homes. This season of Smoke Screen is a collaboration with grassroots media organization L.A. TACO. In this 9-part investigative series, journalist and host Mariah Castañeda investigates how Huizar got the power to do what he did, and how the community that raised him paid the price. Smoke Screen: The Sellout is available now wherever you get your podcasts. New episodes drop every Tuesday. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
A militant organization called Defend Boyle Heights protests encroaching gentrification, by any means necessary. We dig into two origin stories: how Huizar emigrated at the age of 4 and ended up at Berkeley and Princeton, and how Boyle Heights has had a history of resistance and displacement. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Elmendorf police have felony warrants out on two criminal suspects. Oswaldo Morales, 44, is wanted for aggravated sexual assault of a child, a second-degree felony. According to the warrant affidavit, Morales sexually assaulted a 13-year-old girl more than 19 times. Morales, from San Antonio, is described as 5 feet tall, weighing 251 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes. Adrian Huizar, 36, is wanted for trafficking of persons, a first-degree felony, and delivery of a controlled substance to a minor, a second-degree felony. According to the arrest affidavit, Huizar befriended a 14-year-old runaway girl, whom he kept at an...Article Link
Jose Huizar grew up in Boyle Heights – a working-class Latinx neighborhood in L.A. Eventually, he became their councilperson. And, for the most part, people trusted Huizar... until the day the FBI raided his home and offices, looking for evidence of corruption. The Feds would go on to say that Huizar led a criminal enterprise based in city hall. He stands accused of taking bribes from luxury developers as his constituents were displaced from their homes. This season of Smoke Screen is a collaboration with grassroots media organization L.A. TACO. In this 9-part investigative series, journalist and host Mariah Castañeda investigates how Huizar got the power to do what he did, and how the community that raised him paid the price. "The Sellout" drops October 26th. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
In this episode, we sit down with Juan Huizar. Juan's family is originally from Mexico, they made the move to the Central Valley of California when Juan was 4. Juan grew up with hard-working role models from his parents and began learning the benefits of that hard work at age 9 when he started picking garlic in the fields. He worked hard in school, got involved in wrestling, and carried on the family dream of education as he went off to college and graduated with a degree. Juan is now the President of Sage Real Estate out of Long Beach, is married, and has 2 daughters. This is a great story of a family's pursuit of the American Dream, don't miss it. Thank you to Facedown records and My Epic for the use of their song "Hail" in the show!https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dz2RZThURTUJuan's webinar he created for the listeners of this podcast that are interested in investing in real estate. https://www.sageregroup.com/buying-your-first-multifamily-property-or-apartment-building-a-guide-for-new-real-estate-investors/Watch this!https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGuxvGcXl5Q&t=31Buy us a coffee!https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGuxvGcXl5Q&t=31Buy a shirt!https://thefireyoucarry.threadless.com/Buy coffee from Fire Dept. Coffee and support us by using thefireyoucarry at checkout!https://www.firedeptcoffee.com/
Nacho Huizar es un creativo, ilustrador, gran diseñador gráfico y de gran corazón. Esta plática sale de lo más profundo del corazón de Nacho y su servidor. Contamos un poco la historia que hay detrás del cuento del cual soy autor, titulado "Al regreso del León" y que por fin esta saliendo a la venta. Nacho Huizar es el ilustrador del libro, y en el proceso de poder llevarlo a cabo, aterrizar e proyecto y sacarlo en plataformas de venta, fue toda una aventura que no imaginábamos estábamos pasando cada uno en lo individual. Definitivamente Dios mueve las piezas de ajedrez de una forma que no podemos imaginar. Gracias por ver esta gran conversación y te invito a que te suscribas al canal. Sigue a Nacho Huizar en Instagram https://www.instagram.com/soynachohuizar/ Behance https://www.behance.net/huizar Sigue a Carlos en Instagram https://www.instagram.com/soycarlosgz... Facebook https://www.facebook.com/SoyCarlosGar... Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/1KfvzoF...
Alguna vez Arturo Huizar tuvo que ver con las artes marciales y el coro de una iglesia. Mario Montaño, vocalista de Calvaria, nos revela esta parte de la historia del maestro Huizar y otros detalles del cover de El Loco. SUSCRÍBETE A LUMBRE ROCKWEB: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLx95SmP5J-T8R7sD4RH7mw?spfreload=5 Nuestra página: https://lumbrerockweb.wordpress.com/ TODOS NUESTROS VIDEOS: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLG2-vLtUdLqdN4Wt_flENd-O7hYvjVAk1 TODOS LOS EPISODIOS DEL PODCAST MAESE DEL METAL: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLG2-vLtUdLqcTLlmOW_to-hd15Yk038jr SERIE ROCKWEB MASTERS: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLG2-vLtUdLqeY3kYANCGbuX8h1TL9Ol0j SERIE RESONANCIA: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLG2-vLtUdLqd95imbV2DeHUVl5tTeKS48 SERIE FLASHBACK!: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLG2-vLtUdLqer7DdIs_9kiM0cWb5lCZNr ROCK + METAL INTERNACIONAL EN EL PODCAST MAESE DEL METAL: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLG2-vLtUdLqczWKbb0-yH1j33qfAajz1K MÚSICA DE ENTRADA Y SALIDA: Summon the Rawk Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ #HeavyMetalMexicano #ArturoHuizar #ResonanciaLumbreRockWeb
El episodio de hoy es diferente, no hay entrevista, al menos no cómo hasta ahora lo habíamos hecho. Voy a hablar de uno de los vocalistas más importantes de la escena metalera de México, y me atrevería a decir que, tal vez de todos los países en los que hablamos español; me refiero a Arturo Huízar quien, en días recientes, el veinticinco de abril, para ser más precisos, cumplió un año de haber fallecido. También quiero decirles a quienes esperen un episodio tipo documental, repleto de datos sobre la carrera de Arturo Huízar que no será así. Más que todo, es una colección de piezas que he reunido de aquí y de allá para mantener viva la memoria de tan emblemático vocalista. Puede que algunas las conozcan, y otras no, como sea, espero que sea interesante y entretenido. SUSCRÍBETE A LUMBRE ROCKWEB: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLx95SmP5J-T8R7sD4RH7mw?spfreload=5 Nuestra página: https://lumbrerockweb.wordpress.com/ Video de Por Piedad (2013): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urrz1TLPxT4 TODOS NUESTROS VIDEOS: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLG2-vLtUdLqdN4Wt_flENd-O7hYvjVAk1 TODOS LOS EPISODIOS DEL PODCAST MAESE DEL METAL: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLG2-vLtUdLqcTLlmOW_to-hd15Yk038jr SERIE ROCKWEB MASTERS: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLG2-vLtUdLqeY3kYANCGbuX8h1TL9Ol0j SERIE RESONANCIA: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLG2-vLtUdLqd95imbV2DeHUVl5tTeKS48 SERIE FLASHBACK!: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLG2-vLtUdLqer7DdIs_9kiM0cWb5lCZNr ROCK + METAL INTERNACIONAL EN EL PODCAST MAESE DEL METAL: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLG2-vLtUdLqczWKbb0-yH1j33qfAajz1K MÚSICA DE ENTRADA Y SALIDA: Summon the Rawk Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ #HeavyMetalMexicano #ArturoHuizar #PodcastMaeseDelMetal #LumbreRockWeb
On Season 2 Episode 3, Valerie Huizar joined the show. She is an assistant coach at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. She is a San Antonio native and we have a great conversation about her journey, the importance of containing the momentum of the Women's NCAA tourney and promoting the women's game, and much much more!!!
It rained! COVID hospitalizations and tests are falling, but CA's vaccine rollout is now the worst in the country. What are the ethics of vaccine chasing? And is there actually a new strain? New FEMA guidelines open a path for Project Twomkey. Mitch Englander is about to be sentenced, and the developments Huizar greased get approved in PLUM. Finally, Culver City Vice Mayor and State Senate candidate DANIEL WAYNE LEE joins to talk about Culver City's unique role as a laboratory for equitable housing policy in the 2020 election.Articles referenced in this episode:https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-01-23/controversial-el-monte-church-rocked-by-ied-attack-fbi-sayshttps://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-01-23/standby-lines-backdoor-vaccine-accesshttps://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2021-01-23/councilman-mitchell-englander-corruption-prison
En esta ocasión les traemos la charla que tuvo Karen Cerna parte del team de Disruptivo con Sofía Huizar, Directora Global de Comunicación de Pro Mujer. Acompañanos en esta sesión para hablar y conocer más sobre cómo comunicar con perspectiva de género. Estuvo muy interesante te invitamos a oírla. Emprendimiento social, innovación, startups y negocios. En este enlace puedes acceder a los beneficios de Doppler: bit.ly/dopplerdisruptivo descubre cómo podemos utilizar la perspectiva de género al comunicarnos y ser más incluyentes.
There are three main objections to investing in the California real estate market: there is a barrier to entry, the cap rates are too low, and the properties are too expensive. On today’s show, listeners will hear real estate broker Juan Huizar convincingly refute each of these popular claims, showing that this market not only has a promising future but is performing surprisingly well despite the recession. The show starts with our guest sharing his story of coming to the US with his family at a young age and how his parents instilled in him the values of perseverance and a strong work ethic. After being told that an accounting degree was the ticket to a prosperous financial future, Juan obtained this degree intending to become a CPA, but his path crossed with someone who introduced him to real estate investing and who led him to ultimately switch directions after graduation. We change gears to speak about the notoriety of the Southern California market, and Juan unpacks each of the common concerns and explains why none of them should deter an investor. This is not, after all, a get-rich-quick game but rather one that guarantees success if you stick it out for long enough. Juan offers advice for dealing with states like California that are not friendly to landlords, and he talks about the possibility of still landing cash flow deals in the area and where he believes the market is moving in the next three to five years. Listen in to also hear about his biggest-ever mistakes and his surefire formula for deciding whether to buy a property or not. Key Points From This Episode:Learn about Juan’s background as an immigrant and the values his parents instilled in him. Obtaining a degree and accounting yet turning down the big firms. Juan talks about the person who introduced him to real estate and became his mentor. A summary of how the California real estate market is currently performing. Why you should not focus on the purchase price but on the payment/rent you are getting. Unpacking (and debunking) the perceived challenges of California real estate investing. The problem with looking only at the cap rate when deciding to invest or not.This is not a get-rich-quick strategy but a get rich guaranteed—if you give it enough time. Advice for overcoming the challenges related to investing in a landlord-unfriendly state. Tenants who are waiting in line to move in and other benefits of investing in SoCal. Juan on whether you can still get cash flow or only appreciation in California markets. A prediction of where the California market is headed in the next three to five years. Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:Juan Huizar on LinkedInSage Real Estate Wayne Patton Wayne Patton NumberRich Dad Poor DadCalifornia State University, Long BeachAsset Management Virtual SummitPassive Income through Multifamily Real Estate group on FacebookKyle Mitchell on FacebookGary LipskyAPT Capital Group
Today's show features highlights from our Freedom Sunday event, focusing on the essential, God-ordained service of the church. Our guests include: John MacArthur, Senior Pastor of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California; Amado Huizar,
Message preached by Evangelist Amado Huizar on Sunday, July 26, 2020.
ICYMI: The Mo'Kelly Show Presents – The record surge of US Coronavirus cases; Los Angeles Councilman Jose Huizar's bribery scheme and the chink in Facebook's policy armor…PLUS - Ron Jeremy's sexual assault charges AND All the major blockbuster movies that have been delayed due to the coronavirus on the iHeartradio App
Tonight on @ConwayShow Mark Thompson joins us for THOMPSON TUESDAY! Kris Ankarlo calls in to discuss Jose Huizar facing federal racketeering charges. Tim doesn't think Mark seems like a lotto scratcher guy. Michelle Kube is the Lotto Captain at KFI. Tim tells a great story about being high on his own supply. Mark tells a story of his friend winning 50k on a scratcher and his girlfriend wanting half. The FBI determined that the Bubba Wallace “incident” wasn't a hate crime. Lowe's is having some pretty great deals on Miracle grow and mulch. Tim tells the origin story of his famous “Ding Dong” catchphrase and talks other track slang such as “Giddy Up to a YoYo”. The amount of stress that comes with fraud must be brutal. There was a Shooting at a CVS in Venice. Tim doesn't like when people lick their fingers while counting money. Did you know Tim lives in Burbank? He loves the small town feel. Mark is very impatient when it comes to traffic whereas Tim is very Zen about it. Huizar cashed in thousands of dollars at various casinos. Have you heard people setting off fireworks at all hours of the night? Tim gives his insider tip of how to revive soggy chips. Did you know the Microwave was accidently invented in 1945? Do you know your average screen time on your phone? Mark's record was 13 hours in one day. Lastly we take listeners calls promoting small business. Tonight's businesses included: markstrickland.com, modernpuppies.com, Burt Badger on youtube and bellthecatfilms.com
Longtime Los Angeles City Councilman Jose Huizar was arrested by the FBI this morning, as coronavirus cases climb the state continues to reopen.
Today the FBI arrested LA City Councilman Jose Huizar. Huizar chaired the powerful Planning and Land Use Committee. In a press conference today, U.S. Attorney Nick Hanna announced an indictment accusing the councilman of running a pay-to-play scheme, in which he took big bribes from developers to make sure their projects got favorable treatment during the city approval process. Federal prosecutors have been circling the councilman ever since the feds raided his offices two years ago.
Especiales Asfalto presenta programa especial al gran Arturo Hernández Huizar. Conducen el Jinete y Paco Memo. Distopía Radio.
Leah Huizar is a poet originally from Southern California. Leah’s collection Inland Empire juxtaposes personal history with California history, excavating different layers of colonialism and centering Mexican-American women. In our conversation, we talked about what it means to own or be of a place, the stories behind California history, and what parts of history we carry forward to the next generation. Then in the second segment, we discussed the value of creative endurance. (Conversation recorded May 14, 2020.) Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | RadioPublic | Stitcher | Spotify | TuneIn | RSS Support: Support our Patreon | Review on Apple Podcasts | Review on Podchaser Share: Tweet this episode | Share to Facebook Connect: Newsletter | Email | Facebook | Twitter | Tumblr Show Notes: Leah Huizar Leah Huizar - Inland Empire LitHub - You can order today from these black-owned independent bookstores Las sergas de Esplandián Calafia Keep the Channel Open - Episode 87: David Bowles David Bowles - Feathered Serpent, Dark Heart of Sky Luis Alberto Urrea - The House of Broken Angels Ross Gay - Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude Transcript Episode Credits Editing/Mixing: Mike Sakasegawa Music: Podington Bear Transcription: Shea Aguinaldo
huizar, nos escucharemos en el infiernooooo.
Michael speaks with Sandra Simchah Huizar about the COVID-19 environment and her techniques for Crushing Your Fear.My name is Sandra “Simchah” (Sim’kuh) Huizar, and I am the owner of Breath of Life Yoga and a Yoga Coach. I have been practicing and teaching yoga for over a decade.I am a 500-hour Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT) and Certified Yoga Therapist (CYT) with Yoga Alliance. I have also earned my 200 E-RYT. I am actively registered with the International Association of Yoga Therapists. My legal name is Sandra, but all of my friends call me Simchah, and I invite you to do the same.Primarily I am a disciple of Christ in community with several other families, wife of an amazing husband (pictured, with me, above), retired homeschooling mother of 5, grandmother of 7. My passion for yoga was birthed when I was teaching Stress Relief classes in 2007 and working as an aromatherapist. The more I integrated the yoga poses into our routine, the more our students blossomed. I watched bodies become free, and anxiety subside—in each student and myself. I still remember the day I was doing a forward fold with my stiff hamstrings, just breathing and getting quiet, and suddenly everything CLICKED; without any pushing on my part, my hamstrings released all their tension and I was able to reach the floor. The thrill of eliminating the tension in my muscles sparked the deep desire to offer this physical freedom to others.It has been through time that I have found joy experiencing this same freedom in mind and heart as well. I have found that through consistent practice, prayer, and meditation that I have been able to emerge more genuine in my speech and actions. I no longer fear what the world thinks I should be (for the most part :)). I have a heightened sense of peace, purpose, and joy. Yoga, especially private yoga therapy, is an excellent way to provide you with tools to live a more authentic life.Check out Sandra at https://breathoflifeyoga.org/About the Crushing Your Fear PodcastBioMichael is an Entrepreneur who has started multiple revenue generating companies both in the US and Europe. He currently hosts two Podcasts (Crushing Your Fear and Craft Beer Storm) and has learned to conquer Fear through leaving the past behind, learning from it and adopting Gratitude and a Positive outlook for the future. On his Crushing Your Fear Podcast, Michael explains "We live in a Society of Fear. Everywhere we turn, fear is there. Most people we know are affected by fear in one form or another. We ourselves are consumed by fear - we cant move forward - we wont take chances - we "fear' what others may "think" of us - and on and on and on. Enough! There is another way. We explore different areas in society, flush out the manipulation and empower you to overcome fear. Our guests are experts and give you the insight and tools needed to identify and conquer fear. So join us and Crush Your Fear..."Michael BearaHostCrushing Your Fear Podcastmichael@crushingyourfear.comInstagram: @crushingyourfearFacebook: @crushingyourfearTwitter: @crushingfearTik Tok: @crushingyourfearSubscribe to our Podcast!iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/crushing-your-fear/id1465751659Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/craft-beer-storm/crushing-your-fear
On this episode, I connect with my straight ally best friend and sister, Zea Huizar, as we get deep on our friendship, the different struggles we have to face with our sexuality, and how to be the best friend and ally to the LGBTQ community. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
Invitada especial: Elena G. Huizar Elena G. Huizar es la Supervisora de Alcance Comunitario de la oficina de protección al consumidor de la Oficina del Procurador General del Estado de Washington. El trabajo de Elena la lleva por todo el estado de Washington, para informar a las comunidades LEP (dominio limitado del inglés) sobre sus derechos como consumidores y sus derechos y responsabilidades como dueños de negocios en el estado de Washington. Nació y creció en el este del estado de Washington y se mudó al área de Seattle a finales de 2014 con sus dos hijas. Elena ha estado con la Oficina del Procurador General por más de 11 años. 1. Quién es nuestro Procurador General y qué es lo que hace la Oficina del Procurador del estado? 2. Cuanto tiempo tienes trabajando en la División de Protección al Consumidor y qué es lo que haces? 3. Explícame cómo funciona el Centro de Recursos al Consumidor? Hay asistencia en español? 4. Porqué debemos contactar al centro de llamadas acerca de lo que está pasando con el virus corona? 5. Y por último, cómo podemos contactar a la Oficina del Procurador General? --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/entre-hermanos/support
Emma Cecilia Huizar is a sustainability expert, a global sustainability leader, a world traveler, a dancer, and a very special member of my family. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/themrteacherman/support
-Elena G. Huizar.Supervisora de Alcance Comunitario trabaja por la oficina del Procurador General del Estado en la División de Protección al Consumidor. Temas "Los Mejores Consejos para evitar estafas en las vacaciones" y "Las violaciones de datos" -Maru Mora Villalpando. Directora de Latino Advocacy. -Profesor Rodrigo Renteria Valencia. Nombrado para la Comisión de Asuntos Hispanos. -
We talk to Coach Huizar about Finding out what you are made of, Agreeing to disagree, having good Human Code, and how sometimes we need to just "Suck it Up" and move forward.
Alissa, Scott and Hayes talk about snow, Thanksgiving traffic, emergency shelters, Herb Wesson stepping down as Council President, the percent of City Council votes that are unanimous, Wesson's latest campaign ad, a cancelled bus shelter contract, a new wrinkle in the Huizar saga, and that vacancy rate report.
Elena G. Huizar. Supervisora de alcance comunitario de la oficina del procurador del estado, en la División de protección al consumidor.. -Monserrat Jauregui. Coordinadora de alcance comunitario de la oficina del procurador del estado. -Danny Anguilera. De Labores he Industrias.para la atención de la comunidad hispana.
-Elena G. Huizar. Supervisora de Alcance Comunitario,trabaja por la oficina del Procurador del Estado en la División de Protección al Consumidor. -Monserrat Jauregui. Coordinadora de Alcance Comunitario de la División de Protección al Consumidor de la Oficina del Procurador General del estado de Washington.
Elena G. Huizar. Supervisora de Alcance Comunitario.Trabaja por la eficacia del Procurador del Estado en la Direccion de Proteccion al Consumidor.
Manuel Huizar tuvo una chance de estar con nosotros y grabar este episodio. No te pierdas esta charla interesantísima de música, fusión y Jazz. Sigue nuestros contenidos a través del podcast en: Spotify, Apple Podcast, TuneIn Radio y Anchor Encuéntranos cómo FID Podcast.
Scott and Hayes talk about the end of the celebrity burglar reign of terror, LASD's racially-charged traffic stop campaign, and a little trouble for two different City Councilmembers. Then Alissa and Hayes travel to UCLA to interview State Senator SCOTT WIENER about his many plans for getting LA and the rest of California to build more housing.
First United Pentecostal Church's service Round Robin series, August 2018. This is the second of the series where three lady ministers (Sis. Gina Huizar, Sis. Kristin Hildebrand, and Sis. Waynette Norris) ministered Wednesday evening, August 8th, 2018.
Interview with Executive Director of Aspiration Tech which helps nonprofits use technologyTRANSCRIPTSpeaker 1:You're listening to k a Alex Berkeley 90.7 FM, university of California listener supported radio. And this is method to the madness coming at you from the Public Affairs Department here at Calyx celebrating the innovative spirit of the bay area. I'm your host aliene czar. And today we have Alan Gunn joining us, the executive director of aspiration tech. What's up? Got Her. How you doing? I am well thank you. Thanks for coming to the studio today. Um, and um, uh, Alan is the a r u founder. I am not, you know the founder, but you're the the the leader. I am [00:00:30] aspiration tech. So, um, the first question I always ask the leader of an organization like aspiration tech is, give me the problem statement. What are you trying to solve? Speaker 2:Uh, there are a lot of people working to make positive change in this world. Uh, there's a lot of technology in the world that we know today and the people making positive change in the world rarely are able to make effective use of technology. There's a range of reasons for that from they don't prioritize it to, they get taken advantage of. And I have a somewhat embarrassingly [00:01:00] specific, uh, preoccupation with really focusing on what we call preventive tech care, helping those who are working for social justice to use technology in sustainable ways that supports their mission as opposed to detracting from it. Speaker 1:Yeah. Well that's very concise. Thank you. It's interesting cause I have a little bit experience of this and it's, it's this huge gap between the Social Justice Entrepreneur, I like to call them, who have this really incredible vision and passion. But when you get down to the nuts and bolts of the execution, there's a big gap. [00:01:30] Absolutely. And so how many, um, or tell me first of all, how did aspiration tech come come about? How did this organization get created? Speaker 2:Aspiration was founded in 2001 our founding board chair, Jonathan Pizer, and I'm Melissa Pale Thorpe, was the founding director. They realized that there were not appropriate market dynamics to get the need of nonprofit software created. And so aspiration was initially founded with the idea of actually creating the missing software applications for the U S nonprofit sector. And then, uh, the vision [00:02:00] became more global. Uh, the, the organization sort of realized that as a tiny us NGO, they weren't about to go writing enterprise software. And so, uh, I came in a few years later and sort of reshaped the mission around sort of a different approach to building that same technology capacity. Speaker 1:Okay. And, um, so tell us a little bit about, uh, your client base today. Like how does, how does it work? Have someone come and get services from aspiration tech? Speaker 2:Oh, the simple answer is they ask. Um, we work, uh, with a very broad and diverse [00:02:30] set of stakeholders. We do about half our work in the U S and about the rest, uh, outside the u s around the world. Uh, and we work, as I describe it across the so-called, uh, nonprofit technology supply chain. Grassroots NGOs call us up all the time. One of our most subversive offerings is a free proposal review service. So if a tech vendor has written you a document saying they'll charge you x dollars for deliverable Y, we'll take a look at it and we'll tell you if we think it's a fair deal, we'll look for the hidden intellectual property [00:03:00] clauses and Gotchas and lock-ins. The sad story I tell a lot, because it's true, there's a Bay area nonprofit that we've worked with that uh, the director was leaving and signed a five year, 5,000 a month web hosting contract. Speaker 2:And if you know anything about web hosting, that's a bit high. 500 x exactly. And so, yeah, that's $300,000 down the drain just because they didn't have somebody look at that proposal and didn't put a, an opt out into the contract. And so yeah, I mean, so does [00:03:30] this kind of stuff happen a lot? It does. One of the things that's been most disturbing, I started as an accidental nonprofit techie. I was a silicon valley guy back in the 90s and when I first saw the web, I was like, this could be big. And so I started thinking about how all my Greenpeace housemates and all my other tree hug and friends might use the web. I specialized in criminally ugly websites in the nineties I could build those by hand at volume. We all, we all do that. I look back and I'm proud of my flushing animations and other poorly, poorly conceived design judgments. Speaker 2:But I'm, [00:04:00] as I've come to sort of make it a full time job. The thing that has really struck me as most unfortunate is that every level of the market, there's predators. We maintain what we call a clueless vendors list of all of the people that actually misrepresent their services have hidden lock-ins or otherwise exploit the knowledge differential when they're trying to deal into this market. Wow. It's mind blowing that someone would be so cynical to be, you know, be a Predator on nonprofits. But I guess that there's a, [00:04:30] there's someone for every kind of angle out there. There is. So let me ask you about, um, you see so many different, um, business models and, and uh, nonprofits. What is the biggest gap that you see in the tech stack of all these people coming to you needing help? The great unsolved problem of the nonprofit universe, and this is global, is the a supporter database. Speaker 2:Uh, I point out that there's several hundred of these out there and all of them, pardon my French suck. They are just um, brittle. [00:05:00] Uh, some of them are extremely uh, shortsighted in what they let you do. Their extensibility is limited, but most of them simply don't do what nonprofits want to do. And there is this ongoing tension in nonprofit technology about do you bend to fit the tool or do you keep looking until you find a tool that fits the way you do what you do? So that's one great unsolved problem. I think now you're talking about like, um, a CRM type thing for, for donations. Something as simple as a constituent relationship [00:05:30] management system. It is astoundingly difficult for grassroots nonprofits to find inappropriate one a, the most powerful ones out there are sold by some of the most predatory vendors. I can't say enough non-positive things about Blackbaud, which is a company that deliberately locks nonprofits in, charges them hundreds of thousands of dollars a year and just exploits the fact that nonprofits need fundraising and CRM tools. Wow. And is that their primary focuses on nonprofits. Wow. So, um, when you Speaker 1:come in and you're looking at like someone asked for [00:06:00] your help, what's the process for, uh, kind of the assessment of what [inaudible] Speaker 2:they need? It's a good question. It's very dialogue based and we, our belief is, uh, technology is tragically almost all the time seen as a tech problem. And our belief is that it's always a people problem. And my background between Silicon Valley and what I do at aspiration, I worked for a great organization called the Ruckus Society and got a lot of exposure both there and living in a Greenpeace house. Two principles of community organizing. And so what we work with people to do [00:06:30] is to treat their technology challenges as community organizing opportunities. And by that I mean treats your users as your community members, arguably your marginalized community members. And so much as they don't tend to really get any voice in the technology they use. They tend to get told what tools they're gonna use and it tends to be the wrong tools for what they're trying to get done. Speaker 2:So we work with whoever is what we lovingly call the accidental tech lead or accidental tech decision maker to really get them into an engagement stance and a dialogue process where they actually talk [00:07:00] to the people that need the tools they're trying to identify and treat it as an organizational development growth opportunity rather than just a go to Walmart and get a new thing shopping spree. And that turns out to be a fairly effective model to teach them to fish. Is that tired? Uh, phrase goes, it's really fun to get people into a stance of believing they can actually do their own tech planning. Speaker 1:Interesting. Well, we're talking to Alan Gunn, he's the executive director of aspiration tech, a San Francisco based nonprofit that's focused on helping solve tell tech challenges for nonprofits [00:07:30] in the bay area and beyond. And um, that sounds like a pretty, um, people intensive engagement process. So tell me a little bit about the aspiration tech organization. Like who, who is it besides you? Speaker 2:It is seven of us. We're based in San Francisco at 16th and mission street. We run a happy little workspace called The San Francisco nonprofit tech center and have some great housemates. They're with us. Freedom of the press foundation, open whisper systems, upwell, Ruckus Society, peer to Peer University. [00:08:00] So it's a real fun nonprofit tech space. And uh, we work on a range of things. We've got folks that work on so-called human rights technology, helping people to think about digital security, others who work on capacity building across the state of California. Uh, it's easy to get volunteer tech support here in San Francisco. In fact, too easy, far too many people over deliver overly complex technology solutions. Uh, but our passion is the central valley in the rural parts of the state. So we do as much work as we can in Fresno, Sacramento and, and [00:08:30] down highway five. Basically. We've done a number of events at Coachella and places where you don't normally see a real density of tech folks. We're trying there to really help build local tech skills and really tried to build a statewide network of people that share tech, uh, in ways that we think are sustainable. Speaker 1:So, um, as you go through that, you know, you've written this amazing man has fit manifesto online that I think is really great. I want to ask you some questions about it. And one of the things that you just mentioned is taking concept of applying technology to scale organizations and make them more [00:09:00] powerful, um, to places that maybe this isn't something that they're used to. Um, so you have one in your manifest. So you talk about, um, the language for the end user, which, you know, in my experience is so critical. So tell me a little bit about that part of your ethos here of how do you, how do you engage in a way that's not scary to the executive director of WHO's focused on social justice issues and not the latest Tech Gizmo? Speaker 2:Great question. Um, our analysis, uh, we, we refer to it as, as what we call language [00:09:30] justice. And the idea is that if you look at power and class and privilege dynamics with regard to how technology plays out in this sector, technologists are uniquely privileged class and part of their privilege lies in the fact that they use this specialized language that marginalizes virtually everyone else. They'll drop some jargon, use an acronym, and they do it with a disdain that sort of conveys a don't bother asked me about this, you'd never understand it. Sort of a Hubris and so we work with organizations and activists and we say claim, claim your power, [00:10:00] claim your language power and describe what you think you need technologically in your language. Don't feel like you need to say http. Don't feel like you need to say database, but really try to focus on the strategic things you're trying to get done and the outcomes that you're trying to achieve. Speaker 2:One of the myths of technology, this is both in the nonprofit world and the broader world. A lot of people think that tech knows what you want and knows what you need and can do what you need. I'll go out the refrigerator and the microwave and the sad truth [00:10:30] about software and nonprofit technology in particular, it doesn't. And so we try to get people not to assume the tech will magically deliver a solution, but instead to get them to think strategically about the outcomes they're trying to achieve, the strategy that they'll use to get to those outcomes. And then last, the role of technology in those outcomes. We keep all of the dialogue and the vocabulary of the end user, but put it in formats where that same vocabulary makes sense to the techies. We've got sort of a universal format for describing what tech should do that is designed [00:11:00] both to be readily usable by those writing or delivering solutions, but also fully understandable by those little actually have to use them. Speaker 1:Well, it sounds like your engagement process is pretty well defined that you've, you really thought about it. You guys have been doing this for over a decade, it sounds like. So tell me a little bit about how that works. So if someone says I need help and they come to you and you're going to start talking to them in a language is not tech, but how far do you guys go? Do you guys actually implement the technology or do you just a consulting company or what are you guys, Speaker 2:we don't, we lovingly call ourselves pre procurement. Uh, but we'll stay with you all the way through. And [00:11:30] so what we try to do there, there is the other pathology I've seen over the years. People who do social change work are passionate, shockingly about social change. And so when, when you're talking to them about technology and explaining that it's going to take some time, they get fidgety in the big sense of fidgety. They're not happy with that. And when you say, Hey, if you want to do this right, it's an organizational commitment. It requires focus, they go nuts. And so we have a one step, a time model. We try to get them to focus on who will use the technology and then how they'll use it. And to the community organizing [00:12:00] paradigm. We actually get them to get some of their users actively involved in the process. We run live events where we actually get users to react to technology plans and beat them up in a loving way. And so the idea is to really walk folks through the actual visualization of what the tools will do before they pay the money before they get locked in. Speaker 1:So you guys are really generating the, the architecture and requirements of what the organization is gonna spend its money on to go implement. But then you guys step back, someone else is going to go actually [00:12:30] implement it, but you're there as a consultant throughout. Speaker 2:Exactly. At that point, if I can use a boxing metaphor, we then become the trainer in your corner. You're out there, Mano a Mano with somebody that you've got to contract with to make your website or your database or your other application. Uh, there's a certain game theory to dealing with technology vendors and so we basically coach around that. A good example would be, uh, when you're putting out a request for proposal, many earnest nonprofits will actually put the new number of their full budget. They'll say, we only have $30,000 [00:13:00] to do this. Our first coaching advice is don't say 30,000, save a little bit, come in a little bit lower. If you put out a proposal request for 30 K, they'll all come back at 29, nine 99. And so we tried to teach people to sort of keep some gas in the tank and then once projects get going, show them how to track progress and hold vendors accountable. Most vendors disappear into a void and say, oh, it'll be ready at some point. We try really hard to get early engagement around the deliverables so that [00:13:30] the nonprofits know they're getting what they want and they correct errors earlier in the process. Speaker 1:And Are you advocating for a certain type of, um, development methodology like agile, like in a rapid iterative process? Speaker 2:We describe a lot of what we do is grassroots agile. Um, we, we use that term only when it's appropriate to use it. But the concept in the agile software methodology of iterating and pivoting those words drive me crazy, but they're useful words. Uh, and so we try to get people to do minimum viable versions of things. I often described nonprofits, [00:14:00] they have a technology procurement ethic that parallels what people who live far, far out in the country do when it shopping time. They go into the city and they pack that vehicle is full of stuff as they can so they don't have to go back to the city anytime soon. And that doesn't work with tech procurement. If you do the, I want my website with every bell and whistle now you get what we call bloatware. You get technology that doesn't do what you want and it's hard to drive because it's big and it's complicated. So we try to focus on minimalism. Uh, when in doubt, leave [00:14:30] it out. And just a general sense of what we lovingly call subsistence technology because our belief is in the long haul, the less technology you're moving forward, if it meets your basic needs, that's a more strategic footprint than technology. That quote unquote does everything and costs you huge switching pain and legacy costs as you go to evolve with all these technologies are guaranteed to evolve. Speaker 1:When in doubt, leave it out. I love that one cause I use that because that is an awesome one. All right, so we're, we're speaking with Alan Gunn, the executive director of aspiration [00:15:00] tech here on KLX Berkeley 90.7 FM. This is a method to the madness and I'm your host, Ali and Huizar. Another part of your manifesto that I really loved is, um, and it's something that I think is so important, yet people just miss it, which is the fact that it's not about the software is not about the hardware. It's about the data that, tell me about your kind of, you know, the importance you put on the data and, and why is it so important for nonprofits? Speaker 2:Um, at the end of the day, all technology exists to manage information [00:15:30] in some sense, whether that is your digital music player or your radio or whatever. And one of the tragedies, and I think we point this out in that manifesto, software and hardware have cost associated with them. They are budget line items and most nonprofit budgets data rarely does your list of supporters, your list of, um, data samples from an environmental super fund site. No one really assigns a value to that. And so first order problem is that nonprofits think straight to dollars. And if it doesn't [00:16:00] have a number associated with it, they tend to undervalue it. The thing that has become much more of an issue since we wrote that manifesto is that with the proliferation of data acquisition capabilities, mobile data acquisition and crowd sourcing and cloud x, Y, z non nonprofits are now amassing data sets that actually put the people whose data is amassed at risk. Speaker 2:And you know, we see that in so many ways, there are sort of urban legends that are at least part true. Uh, you know, examples that people that [00:16:30] do, um, heat maps, in other words, they do a Google map of places where hate crimes have occurred. The problem with that is that then gives the haters a pretty good clue on where they can go do hateful things. And so there really is a need to do what is often referred to as responsible data practices. We work with a great organization called the engine room that's moving forward a responsible data program. And the idea is to teach nonprofits that with large data sets comes large responsibility and again, when in doubt leave it out. And so as you're collecting data, uh, [00:17:00] there are many times when you want to be circumspect about how that data could be used against you or others in the future. Speaker 2:One other example I use, uh, we worked with groups in the Central Valley that support undocumented folks, uh, in immigration advocacy work. Uh, we are quite sad when we discovered that they keep those folks contact info in Google spreadsheets and you're like, wow, that's just one Faeza or government subpoena away from getting some people deport it or worse. And so we try to make people aware that just because the tool is easy or just cause it's real nice [00:17:30] to see it all in those rows and columns. Uh, you'll want to think about what you're collecting and you'd just as importantly want to think about where you're storing it. Speaker 1:Yeah. I mean it's such a, it's such a huge problem and it's relatively new to humanity cause we never had this much access to information exactly. But this week apple made their big announcement with their new products and one of them is I think health kit where there are research kit where they're, they've created a framework for um, uh, hospitals do research. You can download an app and they can monitor stuff that you're doing, but there's this huge, [00:18:00] you know, HIPAA issues with that as, you know, be putting all this health information on apple servers and they can do whatever they want with it. It's really a fascinating time to be an understanding kind of the privacy laws around data. Yup. Um, now as you look at all of the different, um, you know, engagements that you're doing, um, what are some of the biggest, uh, kind of, you know, um, transformational or disruptive technology trends that you're seeing and nonprofits that are really starting to, you know, you know, we're [00:18:30] talking about some of the negative side with some of the positive things. The technology is so amazing in terms of its rapid advancement. What are you seeing that wasn't around 10 years ago that is really changed, transforming how effective nonprofits and social entrepreneurs can be? Speaker 2:That's a good question. Uh, I tend because we are technology minimalists, I tend to do less compellingly on questions like this. Uh, I'm old school in the sense that I think what really is a magical truth is that publishing a really effective website is now a well-defined process. I thank [00:19:00] the universe that a thing called wordpress came along and I thank the universe that when you outgrow wordpress, there's a thing called Drupal. And those two software packages really do help. The vast majority of grassroots and mid nonprofits publish extremely professional, powerful websites they have control of. I think you can overstate the ways in which mobile is changing the game. I think mobile, when you look at great organizations, you know Copwatch here in Berkeley that's now able to use mobile devices to hold police accountable. I think that's really exciting, but I think you know [00:19:30] whenever people ask me about exciting developments in tech, I I feel like the buzz kill do the glass half empty guy because mobile is a great example. Speaker 2:The power of what mobile can do. If you look@anorganizationlikewitness.org the human rights organization based in New York, they worked with another nonprofit called the Guardian project to put together some incredible human rights documentations, tools and I've been attack and other groups from Palo Alto has also contributed some incredible software. But the problem is that when you're using those phones, you are giving them in [00:20:00] a tremendous amount of data. Anytime you're connected by an actual mobile signal. And so just as you are documenting and collecting, you are almost always putting yourself at risk. Certainly being surveilled and so we try to teach people, as trite as it sounds, there ain't no magic technology bullets. And with every technology opportunity you must model the present and future costs. So to your question, mobile technology is exciting. I'm grateful as someone focusing increasingly on the so-called human rights technology space. Speaker 2:I think digital [00:20:30] security tools have turned a corner, and I think that there really is now a set of tools that really changed the game in terms of what human rights activists can do to be safe wherever they are. You'll never be fully safe. But when you look at where the tor browser has come to and the fact that you can browse online, when you look at what the Guardian software can do on mobile phones, certainly on Android, and when you look at what open whisper systems has done with their red phone and signal apps, which let you have genuine encrypted voice calls on your iPhone and android [00:21:00] devices. To me that's the most exciting thing because I think at the end of the day it's less about the sexy bell or the sexy whistle. It's more about the tools that really help you continue to be effective at scale. Speaker 2:And I'm a bit of a cynic. I think we're in an interesting honeymoon period in the sense that I think right now we see technology as this wonderful, compelling thing. We live in silicon valley and butterflies fly out of, you know, SD ram cards. But I think in the future we really need to model for a fairly dark world where those tools are actually used to surveil us. They're locked down. People have to connect [00:21:30] to the Internet with a global unique numeric identifier. And so I think it's really critical as we use these tools to focus on those that give us longterm agency and longterm autonomy, the people's tools and to that extent, open source and free software. I believe that depending on Google and apple and Microsoft is death unto itself as overstated as that might sound to some people, those corporations have one thing they got to do well and that's make money for shareholders and God bless them or goddess bless them, they do damn well at that particular pursuit here and now. Speaker 2:But [00:22:00] I think it's critical to understand that when the nonprofits get the freebies from Google or the freebies from Microsoft and one of these days, apple apparently is going to give some freebies to um, those are lock-in tricks. Those are surveillance hooks, those are addictions to unhealthy fatty technology. Foods then in the long run are going to kill the movement. And so we practice a, as an preach, if I may a certain rather strident voice around the fact that we need to be consuming open tools, free software technology controlled by the people, for the people, and making that our priority. [00:22:30] So instead of the shiny air or the newer or the more compelling, let us use the open and the free and the stable and maintain control of our longterm technology destiny. Speaker 1:Well, it's a really a powerful, um, image that you're portraying there. And, um, I almost see like a dystopian future novel coming from you at some point in time. Like you, you've got the vision. We've got to, if only more about it. Only Cory Doctorow hadn't already written it. All right. So, um, we're talking to Alan Gunn. He's an executive director of aspiration tech [00:23:00] here on KLX Berkeley 90.7 FM. And uh, we're talking about is a nonprofit that helps other nonprofits use tech for good. And, um, so let's talk a little bit about, um, some stories. So, um, you're in a consultative capacity. You probably see all sorts of transformations from the time you come in to the time you leave working with a organization. So can you tell us a little bit about a couple of, you know, you know, transformations that you really love that are really encapsulate [00:23:30] the kind of mission of aspiration tech? Speaker 2:I'd be glad to. Um, a story I tell a lot just because they're wonderful people that we adore and we're grateful we get to work with them. There's a wonderful organization in Fresno called Barrios Unidos and they work with young mothers to help balance, ah, workforce development and being able to stay employed with childcare, which is a tough double to pull when you're in your teen or early 20 years. And we first started working with them, goodness, about five years ago, our program director, misty Abila, uh, was [00:24:00] the lead on that. And the idea when we got there, they were really just trying to figure out technology basics and they bought into what we were selling in terms of the process that we advocate. The idea that you, you don't count on the tools, you count on your own ability to drive the tools and you count on the tools changing and trying to design processes that sustain your messaging, your engagement and your information management. And they now come to our events and train other nonprofits and everything they do and they've innovated in ways we could have never imagined. And so Yasmin and all [00:24:30] the folks at Barrios Unidos are an ongoing inspiration to us because they're doing the work that inspires us. They're actually making the world a better place and working with them to figure out appropriate tech is sort of really in a, in a nutshell, what aspiration exists to do Speaker 1:to what kind of innovations have they done. Speaker 2:They're using social media to reach people. They're using mobile phones and clever ways to, it's, you know, I think to a silicon valley ear, it's not that innovative, but I think when you're working with zero technology dollars, just the fact that they're sustaining some very compelling online communications [00:25:00] and really mobilizing people using technology to participate in, to be part of what they do, that to us is a big win. Speaker 1:Yeah. And that was a, the one of the, one of the questions I want to ask and follow up to kind of the biggest disruptors in the nonprofit space was social media, just because the democratization of the ability to access so many people I would think would be a great driver of fundraising capabilities for nonprofits. We've seen all sorts of crowdsourcing and stuff like that. Um, and so that's, you got to see that as a positive, right? I mean, in terms of new [00:25:30] developments or what's your take on that? Speaker 2:Um, it's a tough question. I think social media is an astoundingly powerful infrastructure and I, you know, we certainly advise people to play in those fields, but I think it really depends on a lot of variables. One thing that the fundraising professionals, uh, of which I do not, uh, myself identify as one. Uh, the fundraising professionals will tell you, social media is not actually a really good fundraising mechanism. We certainly talked people down from there. I'm going to make this video and it's going to go [00:26:00] viral. Delusions on a regular basis. Um, if there's anything everyone that we work with agrees on what goes viral cannot be predicted. Uh, you know, and even upworthy, bless their souls, work overtime to drive the stuff that they drive viral. So I, you know, I think on a lot of levels it's important to really think about social media, like all of their technologies in the context of what it is or is not appropriate for a cautionary tale. Speaker 2:I'm sorry, I keep coming back to the buzzkill side of your questions. Look at what happened with the Arab spring. A incredible use of Twitter and social media [00:26:30] to mobilize, to put people into Hater Square, to actually let the people's voice be heard. And then as soon as there was a government turnover, uh, they went back to those Twitter logs and they took those people and they put them in jail. Uh, and a close friend and ally of ours, ally still actually in jail, just got sentenced to a number of years in jail in no small part because of its online a writing. And so I think social media, it's a critical tool and it's a place, you know, one of things we say to people, meet people where your audiences are. A lot of people on Facebook, a lot of people on Twitter, but we encourage people [00:27:00] to really strike a healthy balance because Facebook is a great example of an incredibly powerful tool that will double back to bite you. Speaker 2:There's a cautionary tale from a couple of years ago, uh, Facebook, uh, was, uh, I'm trying to think what year this was. I believe it was pre IPO target. The CEO of target was funding hate legislation in Minnesota, anti gay marriage stuff in Minnesota. And some earnest Facebook users set up a boycott target page, which Facebook instantly froze. It got 75,000 likes in one day. Facebook froze it because, [00:27:30] oops, target is a major advertiser on Facebook and you know, their whole patronizing language was that they wanted to maintain the civility of Facebook. You're like, dude, I can show you a lot of Facebook real estate where that is not being enforced, but a point being a, you know, there's that, that old phrase about, you know, whether or not it's going to work to, you know, use the master's tool to dismantle the master's house. I think we're really playing an unleveraged game to depend on Facebook and corporate social media to bring about change because at the point that we start to bring revolution to bear, they'll close our account. [00:28:00] And I think we need to be humble to the fact that the end of the day, social media is a revolution. It is an evolution. It is a powerful infrastructure, but we must distrust it as much as we leverage it because it's going to be taken away at the point that we use it effectively against power and against the corporations that control it. Especially the advertising corporations that generate the CR prices, the generate the dividends that make the 1% do what they do so wonderfully well. Speaker 1:Yeah. And all these companies, Twitter, Facebook, they're all, you know, publicly traded companies now at the holding of their own shareholders [00:28:30] and they're in the rat race of quarterly reports and all that stuff. So well said. So I wanted that close by. Um, you know, you've, you've stated a powerful case for, uh, you know, a, a manifesto that you have online of how to apply, you know, learnings to nonprofit world, which was probably quite a few people listening who that resonates with. So how can they get involved if someone wants to help aspiration tech's mission, how would you suggest they help? Speaker 2:That's a great question. Uh, we do a lot of trainings [00:29:00] at our tech center. We welcome to come by their free trainings. We love to mentor mentors. You know, we, we don't presume to be the smartest men or in the room, but our belief is that, uh, as we teach others that they can go teach others how to do this stuff and what we consider to be sustainable ways. We as a set of movements and a movement supported by a set of techies with certain value orientations around social justice as opposed to whizzbang shiny. Um, we welcome folks that want to sort of grow in that mentoring role, that teacher role [00:29:30] and that tech support role. Because doing that well is really hard. And I say that as somebody who's been doing it for about 20 years. Um, we're available whether you're in California, on the other side of the world, uh, at aspiration tech. Speaker 2:Dot. There's lots of ways to contact us. We can't always help, but we'll always try to find you someone who can, uh, for those that are more techie oriented. Our annual conference in Oakland, it's in November every year. The last full week before Thanksgiving, a the nonprofit software developers summit is a time where so-called open techies, people that are committed to making open [00:30:00] and free software and other technology come together to meet with one another. But at the end of the day, the answer to your question is, if you think we can help, call us up and we'll do our best to see if we, uh, can prove you're right. Speaker 1:Right on. Well, I appreciate you coming in today, gunner and we, you've been listening to Alan Gunn, the executive director of aspiration tech, a San Francisco based nonprofit, really focused on helping other nonprofits utilize technology for good. You can check them out@aspirationtech.org and you, and this has been method to the madness on KALX Berkeley 90.7 FM. Thanks for listening. [00:30:30] Have a great Friday. Everybody. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
Interview with Krazy George, possibly the first professional cheerleader who began appearing at Oakland Atheletic's games in the 1980s.TRANSCRIPTSpeaker 1:[inaudible] [inaudible] Speaker 2:you're listening to KALX Berkeley 90.7 FM, university of California and listener supported radio. And this is method to the madness coming at you from the Public Affairs Department here at Calex dedicated to celebrating the innovative spirit of the bay area. I'm your host, Allen Huizar. And today we are honored. Speaker 3:I have [00:00:30] crazy George with us. Hey, crazy. George was out. You said my name. I like that last stop. Let's talk. Let's talk. So we have crazy Georgians studio. Crazy. George is famous for a lot of things, but the number one thing I think you're famous for is being the world's first and longest tenured and only full time cheerleader is, I like your title. You gave it. It's perfect. Yes, right. Summed it up perfectly. I am the only person probably in the world that makes [00:01:00] his job, makes his living cheering for teams, getting people to cheer for the team. That's what I do. And they'd pay me enough to make living. Nice. So let's talk about how you get started as a professional cheerleader. You were a sent, you went to San Jose State, is that right? That's right. Mighty San Jose state test. So what, what started to draw you to cheering? Speaker 3:Like was it something that you had always done or was it in college? How did you get started now? I was pretty quiet person but my best friend don bogged and brought a drum and a bugle to a [00:01:30] football game and I couldn't play the bugle cause that takes talent. So I started playing the drum and started pounding on it and all the students at San Jose state started following me and him. And by the end of the football season, I was just sitting in the stands. Everybody was following me. So the cheerleaders asked me to go out. So I went out and they elected me cheerleader the next year and I was a pathetic cheerleader cause I couldn't remember the routines and the words at the same time, I was really bad. So I went off on my [00:02:00] own. I started doing my own little thing with my drum, not everybody following me. Speaker 3:And over the years I just started branching out to pro teams. They loved it. They started hiring me and in 1975 after teaching for four years, I quit teaching. I had to quit those four kids. I was warping their minds. Yeah, you'd probably, screaming on a field is a little bit more of a appropriate place for you and that's right. Well, I want to ask about a lot of things, but you said that the cheerleaders, you couldn't remember [00:02:30] their kind of traditional attorney, you're like a disruptor. You're not like a normal chiller. You call yourself a cheerleader, but you weren't doing the cheerleading routines. How did they take that when you went off on your own? Well, that was the good part. I'm, since I couldn't really fit in with a squad, it was better I worked by myself or off to the side where I could get all the students and the alumni involved in the game. Speaker 3:And so that's how he sort of honed my style. And then from then, then on I was invited to go do an Oakland seals game for [00:03:00] the NHL years ago and I did one game for, for the fun of it. I was invited by a hockey team, a baseball team, went up with them and I got the whole crowd screaming. Nobody knew me. And at the end of the game, um, everybody was, was talking about me. And the next day in the paper, it was a big article on me. Nice. And one of the players said, if he comes back, I'd give him a ticket. So I called him up, he gave me a ticket. I went to another game producer and I was a regular at the Oakland Seals, [00:03:30] hockey games, Oakland seals. Where did they play? They played there in the coliseum where the warriors play a, it was great. Speaker 3:So you, um, so you were at San Jose state where you kind of found this passion. It sounds like you went, you diverted for a teaching for a little while. What were you teaching? I dumb murdered. Where were you teaching? I was teaching very little. Those poor sleep problems. The subject matter I taught wood shop, metal shop and electronics. Oh, okay. I see what shops make sense. So, um, you, uh, [00:04:00] you came back at San Jose state, you did a little Oakland schools, but wasn't it like the big place you got discovered was that the earthquakes? Is that, yes, that was, that was the first pro team I ever worked for except the open seals, which weren't paying me. They weren't paying you. So you got, when you got to check out the earthquakes. Yes. I went in there and they actually called me up and they said, would you like to open up the season for us and be with us for some of the Games? Speaker 3:And I said, well, sure, I'd love it. And in essence he said, well, how much do you want to get paid? And I said, well, how about 35 bucks a game? [00:04:30] And yes, they gave me 35 bucks a negation asked for more. Well, I did. After about three days, I'm realizing maybe I should ask for more. This crowd reaction was the greatest crowd reaction you could ever see in your life. It just revolutionized soccer up until that point. That was nobody growing over 7,000 people. A game for professional soccer. That game first game 16,000 and they were mayhem there. The fans became fanatics and like [00:05:00] one, well it's not quarters in there, but before the first half everybody was going nuts and I was on full time with that team. Who was, what year was that? 1974 first year. The quakes that I started, I'm still with the earthquakes and I'm opening up their new stadium on the 22nd of March. Wow. Did you say 1974 74 that is for those guys to the math. That's 40 plus years I scares. Yes. Yeah. That's amazing. So your first professional gig of 35 bucks a game. [00:05:30] It was for the earthquakes and then I think I read somewhere that Lamar Hunt. Yeah. [inaudible] Speaker 3:Kansas City chiefs know this is the NFL. The big boys, big boys. He saw you whip this crowd into a frenzy. I see that he saw me doing this earthquake game. The first game. He couldn't believe the reaction that it was his league there. Earthquakes were part of his league. This was not the mls. This is an old league. Right. What the name of that [inaudible] I think what a memory guy. [00:06:00] Yeah, it's amazing. So he saw me there and somehow over the next year he said, I would really like to see George at a football game at Kansas City. And the manager were arranged it and I went in and this was a greatest. And now I'm actually with a really glamorous team. The Kansas City chiefs. Yeah, I'd go in unannounced. Unknown. Nobody knew me. Arrowhead was, it was arrow. It was, wow. It was 60,000 people, 60 70,000 people. Speaker 3:[00:06:30] I went in before the first quarter. I started working the crowd. By the first quarter I had shares going anywhere. By the first half I had back and forth. Kansas City. Oh No. Casey Gay. See back and forth across the stadium. They couldn't believe it. The whole game. They stayed off. Seven 60,000 people stayed and they lost 45 to nothing and wow. And they still stayed in Lamar? I couldn't believe it. He said, when we have a game like this, nobody's here [00:07:00] at the end of the game. And they stayed. I want you full time. Wow. So you got hired full time, full time for the whole season for them. Wow. So you had a $35 per game and in the soccer, what would you be? Well now it went up to 500 a day. Wow. That was good. And that's pretty sweet. Yes. So you're starting to see, you're like, wow, I can, is this the first time when you're like, I could do this for a living? Speaker 3:Well, it started off a little earlier than that. When the [inaudible], the St Louis Blues called me back in like 1972 [00:07:30] and offered me a full time contract. This guy was like a renaissance guy. He owned the blues. He saw me at the, at the Oakland Seals Games. He thought it was so great. He wanted to hire me, he wanted me to quit teaching, come there, and he was going to pay me 12,000 bucks to do the 40 home games. I was making 9,000 a year full time. [inaudible] Lau. I couldn't believe it. So he made the offer, but it had to be in, can it only would it go [00:08:00] out and the offer would be effective if the Oakland seals folded? They were folding my, they were kept there for two more years. And both years you made the offer? Third Year came around, I was ready to go. I was ready to quit teaching and he got ill. Speaker 3:And you stopped working with the, uh, St Louis Blues. So I lost out of that, but it gave me the idea that somebody might pay me that much. So how'd you get to the first kind of, did you ever get a gig where it was like a whole season? Like after the Kansas [00:08:30] City? That was, was that for the chiefs? Did you do the whole, and the Kansas Cassidy, she's already the same time. The Colorado Rockies ice hockey hired me. The BC lions, Canadian football hired me. And that was all in 1975 76. So I was making enough money. I could quit teaching. Nice. So we're talking to crazy George who is the world's only full time professional cheerleader here on [inaudible] at professional male model. I like to think of myself like that. I'm sorry, I forgot that part. Okay. This is a method to the medicine. Speaker 3:KLX Berkeley 90.7 [00:09:00] FM. I'm your host deleon Huizar and so George, you got this crazy idea that you could do this for a living. Now I have a question. First of all, you've talked a lot about different sports. Is there a different tactics that you use in different sports? Actually not really. I act like a fe and wants to react. That's why I'm successful when I go into a game. Well maybe it wasn't that 45 and nothing Kansas City chiefs game that I've did [00:09:30] first, but I do the as many fan cheers as the fans want and I react like a fan wants to. I just stand up. The secret is I stand up, I turn around, I look at the feds, they look down and say, Hey, must be our leader. Cause I'm looking at them and said in the field, well you also have a loud drum that helps. Speaker 3:Well, I don't want to admit it, but 90% of my success is my drum. Don't give away all the secrets right here is the secret. Actually, without the drum getting people's [00:10:00] attention, I would have never been affected. That's my, my secret. I hit that drum. Everybody looks down at me. I wait for the action to die down so I can make them do what I want to do. They understand what I want to do. I get totally attention. I wait for the moment when the cheer should be done. I do that. Your everybody reacts. How do you get, I get like 99% reaction from the fans. So, um, you, you say that the, it's really, it sounds like it's like, um, you're locked into kind of like a vibe with [00:10:30] the fans. It's like it doesn't matter what the sport is, you're kind of playing back for them. Speaker 3:What they want to do. Right. And every sport is pretty similar except for the basketball. It's a tough sport for me to work because the action never stops. It's just up and down up there and they score like every 20 seconds. So with every 20 seconds, if I had to do a cheer, I would die at the end of the game. So basketball's a little tough for me to work. But all the other sports, they are just great. There's a lot of stoppage of the action, [00:11:00] you know, the, in the huddles, whatever they're doing, baseball, they're warming up. It's just great. So I can get in the cheers I need to get in. So what about um, the cheers themselves or is it more, are you like a like, um, you know, a improvisational master of just coming to you or do you come and prepare? Speaker 3:Like you have some cheers you're going to do no matter what? No matter what, I never practice. I never think about it. That was great. From the time I started that first game at San Jose State [00:11:30] with my drum and that my partner handed me. It was just a natural sense, I think. I don't know why I had it. I'm a fan, I guess, of sports, but you know, I just knew when to cheer, when not to cheer, what type of chairs, and I just made 'em up, never think about him. I'm watching the game. I'm thinking about the game. I'm looking at the action. I go, what type of shirt do we need here? And it just comes to me. I do the, it's always the right chair. It's always appropriate, never off colored. I've never done it off cover cheering my life. And, and [00:12:00] another secret why I'm successful is most of these other people that have come along and that in the later years, they get to these outlandish outfits. Speaker 3:They look like they're from Mars sometimes. Well, people don't want to cheer from a guy from Mars. They want to cheer. For me, a human know who that guy, he looks human and not, well maybe not quite human, but close. So they go, oh Geez, George is one of us. And He, they see me sweating. They, they see I'm working harder than the players, man. I get comments from the [00:12:30] fans the third quarter they'll go, George, you're working harder than the players. You're sweating. I sweat so much during the game. So I do see like the Jean shorts seem to be the signature look for you. Is that, is that like a, it had a signature is my signature and I had my Levi shorts on for the last 50 years. I think cheering, always wear the same old raggedy cutoff shorts. Yup. Nice. Okay. Speaker 3:So, um, let's talk about, you know, this [00:13:00] show's about innovation and of course being the first full time mail filtering cheerleader in the world is innovation enough, but you also created maybe the signature crowd move. Now I know it's a linear contention. We don't have to go there, but I'm going to accredit it to you. You, yes, I have it accredited by s, what is it called? New York Times credited me when they credited the paper of record is accredited. Crazy George the way ESPN. ESPN. So the wave [00:13:30] you invented, the way that I invented, the way I gotta die, the way my boat I invented at the Oakland A's, New York Yankee playoff game, October 15th, 1981. When Billy Martin was the manager, I literally bought the building longer. So you were there as a playoff game. People were excited. A's Yankees. Now, how'd you, how'd you come up with this idea of coordinating these like 50,000 people in the stadium? Speaker 3:There was 47,000 fans [00:14:00] and unfortunately for the other places that I actually was doing a pre wave, I was doing waves at other places. Fine. Fortunately there were smaller practice with national TV. There wasn't a lot of witnesses, so I don't, I really could take credit even earlier than that. But the Oakland A's game, I have it on video three separate times. Billy Martin was here, but Joe Garagiola was the Nancy announcer who's famous announcer and he, uh, he had testifies that was the first and best [00:14:30] wave he's at, he's ever, ever saw. So that's why I say that's the day I invented. But it took a process of about four years starting with a three section shear of San Jose state. Okay. Each section of the student body would stand up and just sell San Jose state. And from that idea, as as the years went by as a professional cheerleader, I had a lot of opportunity to do these three section chairs at different places, changing the name. Speaker 3:And finally I got to the Colorado Rockies [00:15:00] and I had to go Rockies, go chair three sections and it was looking good and a section over there wanting to get involved a little. So I tried to do go Rockies, go Rockies four sections and the first section wanted to do it and it kept going a little bit. And from there I said, well it's too complicated going, go Rockies go. So I just say stand up and yell, go. Yeah. So back then I was thinking of it more like the goat share, but they just go, go in. And when I started that and went all the way around the [00:15:30] Colorado Rockies arena, and so that really was about as close as to a wavy she'd get. Unfortunately. And it was, they loved it. But the Colorado Rockies only drew about 5,000 people in a 15,000 seat arena. Speaker 3:So it was very few opportunities to do it in. It was never televised. I never had it on video. So that's the idea of where it started. But the color from there I came, I brought it back and started to Oakland. That's the day I invented. [00:16:00] So at the A's game, um, how hard was it to communicate to the fans? Cause you now everybody knows how to do away. That's right. How did, how did you like telepathically tell 47,000 people to stand up at the right times? A lot of coordination involved in a wave. Yes. See, I know the power of booing. Okay. So I went to three sections and got them organized and by then I'd already been doing the wave at high school rallies. What was continuous, they didn't have, they didn't have aisles, so I had to just [00:16:30] do it continuously. So I knew what I wanted. Speaker 3:So I went to these three second, I said, well you guys stand up. And as they, as it comes around the next day, I want you to stand up. Then I went to the next section. I was screaming and yelling and then I went back to them and said, they understand what you're going to do. You stand up. Then you guys stand up. Then you guys, while I'm yelling so loud at him and I'm preparing this and this all started like in the fourth inning, but I hadn't started yet, but I told him what I wanted, but then I said, when we start this people down there, [00:17:00] we'll not know what they're supposed to do or even see it coming so when it dies and it will die, boom. And so they are already, and I waited for a break of the action and you had to wait for a foul ball or something to give a couple of, you know, 30 40 seconds of break. Speaker 3:So it came and I don't know what the break of action was, but I got the three sessions going, I they started, it would've been since I was yelling so loud at these three to get them organized. I'd say the next four or five could hear me and they sort of got [00:17:30] the idea what they wanted to do. So I started, went about seven, eight sections and died right out. And I had my three or four sections blue and it was a great bu I started a second time. This time it went all the way around. I started way out in the left field and I started it. It came around and went all the way to behind home plate and died again. Now everybody booed and this was a great book. Now everybody in the state have figured out, [00:18:00] oh, we see what he wants. Speaker 3:Started the third time. And it just started rolling and all three decks did it. It was marvelous. They kept coming around with all the way to the outfield all the way back, gets back to upstanding. Everybody in the three sections stands up in unison and applauds. And I'm going, no, you don't get some times to this. It's supposed to gave going. So I started the fourth time, all three deck scape and when it came by, my section [00:18:30] was like a locomotive. I mean it just ripped on by kept long going, went around about seven, eight times. Cloud Whitten nuts. Joe Garagiola was up there and the booth going crazy. Get that on video, that thing. And they didn't know how to film with all the cameraman. The first couple of shots you see the wave all you see as a couple of people, the far right of the screen sort of sitting down. Speaker 3:Everybody else is just sitting cause they're behind it. But they finally got a good shot of it. Nice. [00:19:00] So we're the, we're talking to crazy George here on Kale expert cleans method to the madness. I'm murals telling Huizar and he's telling us about how he invented the wave as the first glorious appearance of the wave on this planet. And now it's pretty much all. Everybody does it everywhere. Oh, everywhere. Everything. Everywhere is the world and the world calls it the Mexican wave. What? Yes, the whole world. It's not the crazy wave. And I have a Seattle trying to claim it, but they did it two weeks. They don't. I finally have them shutting up most of the time, but it's hard to take on [00:19:30] the world. But it went down to the World Cup in an 86 a Mexico had it and they'd already seen the wave up here. Speaker 3:They took it down and they were doing it. All the venues in Mexico for the World Cup game, the whole world saw it. Now the whole world calls it the Mexican wave. So in the A's game, what did the players do as a playoff game? Was like a really high pressure game and all of a sudden the crowd goes nuts. Been for nothing on the field today. Did, was there any comments afterwards? Oh, I mean, the fans loved it. I mean, I, I think I've had 50,000 [00:20:00] fans come at me. Say they were there when it was only 47,000 week. Oh, I was there George. And we saw it. It was the greatest thing. Cool. Well, um, that's like your probably your signature cheer. Like [inaudible]. Everybody knows it, but it's not my signature cheer for when I know I've had the fans in my hand and I know I've succeeded. Speaker 3:That's my back and forth cheer across the stadium with I do KC if it's Kansas City and [00:20:30] I the first, the first Houston oil game I ever did, but Adams hired me because he saw how great I was in Kansas City and he said, George, he says, how long is it going to take you to get Houston Oilers back and forth the game? How many games? And I said, I'll do it the first game. No. And then he says, he says, well, I'm going to get a microphone for you so you can tell everybody. I said, I don't use a microphone. How's it asked you? Have you used a bullhorn or anything? No, not until the last couple of years. [00:21:00] I use a Mike some of the time up till like five years. I never used a microphone. Just your disappear, my voice. But then I says, he said, oh, the advertise you. Speaker 3:I want to advertise. Everybody knows you're here. And I said, no, I don't need advertising. I'll come in unknown. I don't want any microphone. Why? What, how? What do you think about it that way? What? Well, you don't want any help. What does it more way? No, it's, it's, maybe I'm a coward because I don't want the burden of everybody expecting something from me and [00:21:30] I just go in and they really, they don't know who I am. They're just sitting there and all at once, or is this crazy guy in this thing? There's a crazy psi in the next session and an hour later I've hit 40 sections and everybody's going, who is this guy? And they're not thinking about following me yet. Maybe for the first 2040 minutes I'm getting each little section cheering, but every, every section I do, I get a chair. The next section I get allowed to cheer. Speaker 3:Next session allowed a chair next to the point where I can now tie in four or five [00:22:00] sections to a really loud share for the third of the place. And I keep getting work in every section everywhere. So I'm up close and personal. I'm threatening their lives and then it gets to the point, I tell one side, I'm going to the other side and I'm going to yell, Kay, what do you think you're supposed to say? And I, and about 20 minutes later on the other side of the Sam setting up, we're yellingK , but of course not that many people on the c sides ready to go. But once I do, theK is [00:22:30] so loud and then like pointed the other side, I'm waiting, it doesn't come back very loud. The boom comes here and they all boom. When the next one I do k when I point to that, see it's twice as loud as the k and they go nuts over. Speaker 3:But once it starts, it just adds energy to each side. They want to outdo each other's competition in the stands and then I know the team is going to bring me back. All right. So that's, that's the victory you've got. Um, [00:23:00] the wave is the signature thing, but it's really the call and response when you feel like you really oh yeah. Once I rated that back and forth share across the state, they've never, nobody's ever, ever even saw something like that ever. I mean, and now they're seeing this huge, massive response from all the fans and the owner of the team usually comes up after the game says, Oh, want to hire you? Well, let me ask you about, that's like the height. What about like as a professional cheerleader, you've probably had some lows. Like what was, can you give us a story of [00:23:30] you tried something you thought it was like the greatest idea ever? Speaker 3:I know. Just like you couldn't get them to do it and nope. Nope. Never happened. Really. I, I've had one out of hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of games I've done, uh, over a teams, well over a hundred teams, but some of the teams I've done 50, 60 times. So I don't know what that multiplies out to, but I have been lots of games. I just never added them up. But I did add up. I've appeared in front of 25 million [00:24:00] fans in front of them. Wow. Out on TV. So it's been a bit more TV. I mean, you've been to playoff games and lots of people have seen you. Right? Wait, I lost track. What was I answering? A quick question. Was I answering well, you said I stumped you. I asked you, have you ever flopped to say, oh well I did have one bad experience and w I still want to kill the group. Speaker 3:It was a, I don't know what the team was. It was a football team and they're bringing me in. I'm going in the same way. I always go in on announce unknown, no microphone. [00:24:30] And some PR guy comes up to me before the game says, you know what, we get George, we've got a big ad campaign going and we're gonna have 12 lookalikes like you carry in drums and then we're going to give them a ward. Who's the, who's the best crazy George. So they got 12 guys looking like me running around and nobody's ever, ever saw me work to start with. I've never been there and I could have killed this guy. Bad idea. It was a terrible idea. And I at the end of the game, [00:25:00] the only solace I have is a, say they awarded some guy, you know, the prize for being the best crazy George look like. Speaker 3:And I had like 10 people standing by me when they awarded. They said, Whoa, crazy George, you're better than them. Why didn't you, you should have got the award. They were pathetic. They were great and I wasn't great. That was so much distraction. That was me. A failure. You're, you know, you're an artist. You can't, they shouldn't be trying to mess with your process. But that was one game out of thousands I've done. Okay, well let me ask a [00:25:30] different question. What's the most dangerous cheer you done? I was looking at some videos of you like balancing and like have you, seems like you're pushing the envelope a little bit. Is there any anyone that's a dangerous thing that got dangerous was my entrances. I made a lot of entrances when I got with the San Jose earthquakes. Um, I started doing, uh, working with Dick Berg, the general manager. Speaker 3:He says, well, want you to bring the ball in the first game? Our opening game in 74 so he had me come, coming in, the ambulance hitting in the back and the whole, the whole crowd [00:26:00] went dead silent years. This ambulance coming in, pulls up in front of the player's bench. They think some player, it died. It's the first day and they didn't know what was going on. They pull a Gurney out, I'm under the blanket. I pull it off and they go nuts. And that's how the game started. Then I had to topic, yeah, every game on a helicopter. One day it's a copter was fun and I'd belt the buckle, but I'd stand on the outside rail. But it was like us standing out you that I came in and Ferrari's. I came in, I came in with a lie and now this is why it gets [00:26:30] absurd. Speaker 3:I came in with a full grown for 150 pound lion and the trainer we get to, we'd get the center field that trainer trips a lion attacks him. No, this, she has life long friends. There are earthquakes. No, no. This was in Dallas, that Dallas Tornado, and now underneath the line he is bleeding. He's getting mauled. I'm 10 feet from an old in my drum and I, when I was with the lion trainer, he told me, never, ever hit your drum around [00:27:00] the lion. I said, good advice. Well, now he's underneath me, underneath the lion and out from underneath that line, I hear the stupidest comment I ever heard. He yells, damn off me. He can't be talking to me. I thought, and I look around the only other guy on the field, and then he had the gall to say it again, get him off me. Speaker 3:Well, what could I do? I took my drum and I went and the lion stopped eating him to try to eat you. This spun right [00:27:30] around and looked at me. I did not like this, but I had to do psych. I don't know if I had to do it, but I hit it when it took like four or five seconds. And by the end the other lion trainer that was off the saw what was happening and by the time that all happened he had already come to the seat and grabbed the other line and helped the guy off and he had to go to the hospital cause he was bleeding well. So you're also, we'll add that to the resume line line trainer nine Tamer. I was a very good line train for four seconds. All right, so [00:28:00] we're talking to crazy George here on KLX Berkeley. Speaker 3:You've got a couple more minutes. So we talked about the earthquakes. So it's coming full circle. You're starting the New Year of Christening the new stadium, right? What's going on with a lot of things going? Yes. I'm Chris sitting in the new stadium on March 22nd that's their first game at home. We're going to christen that. I'm going to be the Grand Marshall of the Rose White and blue parade in San Jose with 35,000 people on the 4th of July. Nice. Yeah, they asked me to be the Grand Marshall. [00:28:30] I'm an, I'm practicing my queen wave and I've been doing corporate meetings. I've been, and my gut, my book, God, you got to talk about my book. So how did this book come about? Oh, my book, my book is called Crazy George. Still crazy after all these cheers and all the fans, just Kevin asking me to write it. And then I did have a controversy with the Seattle about the wave and I wanted to document that in the book. Speaker 3:So I documented that. And then also from writing the book, I found [00:29:00] out I was a huge factor in the 12th man factor for the Santos, for the NFL Seahawks ball for the Seahawks. So I had that strand. But yeah, I, I've loved the book. I took it. I, in fact, I don't know if I'm prejudice, but I think it's maybe the greatest sports book ever written. It could be. It's likely excellent cover. I have it in my hands here. And thankfully, you know, you've cheered for a lot of teens, but you kept it real with the A's or that's who you're representing on the cover. So thank you. [inaudible] [00:29:30] because I invented their wave there and a lot of the articles are about the wave where a lot of book is about the waivers. And so I thought that was very appropriate. I had the greatest time with the A's, the Haas family. Speaker 3:Kepi just treated me great. It was fabulous. So it's called crazy George, the inventor of the wave still crazy after all these cheers. Can you find it on Amazon or something like that? That's on Amazon and it's on a kindle and it's on my website. Crazy. george.com and if you don't look at my website, I'll slash your tires. Yeah. [00:30:00] So there you have a threat from one and only crazy George. It starts with a k. That's how you spell a z. Y. That's right. She's never been a teacher. Yeah. Well you're a shop teacher, so, right. So crazy. george.com yes, that's my website. And then it just like it in the book. I have a lot of pictures on it. Yeah. And lots of pictures. There's videos, there's some really great stuff up there. And so I really wanna thank you for coming in today. Speaker 3:Crazy. George was great to meet you and hear the stories about your 40 plus years of being [00:30:30] the world's only full time professional cheerleader. I like that they got myself professional male model and professional [inaudible] and nominee from people's sexiest man alive, self nominated. And um, that's all the time we have for today. Um, and it's going to be the 35th anniversary. Actually, just a mention of the wave being created this next summer. You can go to the ace and love to go to the ace 35th anniversary. So Mr. Wolf, if you're here, [00:31:00] if you're listening to this, let's get on that. Get Crazy George out to the Colosseum and you are listening to methods of madness on KALX Berkeley 90.7 FM. Thanks again for coming in and crazy Jordan. Everybody have a great Friday. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
Interview with Cal student Ben Einstein about his venture VapeSecret, which is an e-cig company that is focused on helping smokers quit smokingTRANSCRIPTSpeaker 1:Okay. Speaker 2:[inaudible] Speaker 3:you're listening to Kale expert, clear 90.7 FM. This is the method to the madness coming at you from the Public Affairs Department here at Calex, dedicated [00:00:30] to the innovative spirit of the bay area. I'm your host aliene Huizar. And today we have the founders of vape secret with us. We have Shawn Linehan. Hey Sean. How's it going? Good, how are you? Good. And Ben Einstein. Yeah. What's going on? What's up man? And then we got Dave, you lead. Thank you for having us. Hey, thanks for coming on the show. And this is really exciting cause we have three entrepreneurs with us who are actually cal students. That's right, right? Yeah. Okay. So two of your seniors and Davey, you are a junior. The Junior. Okay. [00:01:00] This is very exciting. And um, we reversed the first question we usually ask on this show is your, you've created something out of thin air. It's came from your brain, right? So give me, why don't we start with you, Ben. Give us the problem statement. Why did you, what is, what is the problem that you're trying to solve? Speaker 1:Hi Ma, I'm actually glad you asked me that because, uh, I think the problem that we had was mine. Um, Sean and I were actually working on a different project, [00:01:30] um, and we're working on the 11th floor of a building and every 20 minutes he would leave to go smoke. And it's really hard to develop any software if you're a coder is leaving every 20 minutes. Um, and so I said, why don't you try e-cigs and he said I did and they all suck. And I said, okay, let's make a good one. And 44 days later we did. What was the project you guys were working on? Yes, so we were [00:02:00] still working on, on that project as well. We're kind of doing two simultaneous things. It's crazy, but it actually is managing to work. Um, the other project is einstein.com which is an intelligent product recommendation Speaker 3:software. It's a mobile app that we're working on and is also making significant progress. Okay, great. So maybe we'll get to that later on in the day of the program. So, um, so you wanted to make an e cigarette cause you saw your friend Ben not be able to Sean not be able to [00:02:30] work for more than 30 minutes in a row, although a lot of coders have the same problem. Speaker 1:Yeah. Um, it was also the scent, um, the owner that, you know, smokers have, we're working in a small space and that was obviously, uh, not pleasant for everyone else. Um, but most of the Burton Lee's my friend, I didn't want him to die. So a good friend. Yeah. Smoking smoking's really bad. My grandfather died from smoking. I've always been pretty against it. And so I didn't really know much about the e-cig business. Sean [00:03:00] did a little bit of research and tried a couple, a couple of products and didn't like them. And so we figured out what the problems were with the existing product on the market. And what are those problems? Um, the most popular electronic cigarette is called blue. Uh, it's a little cigarette looking device, um, lights up blue at the end and it's very small and it doesn't produce a lot of vapor and smokers required a large amounts of smoke or in our case [00:03:30] vapor in order to be satisfied. Speaker 1:So it's not satisfactory. Um, it's also limited in that it's small in size, which means the battery's small, which means that you can't use it all day straight. Um, and we wanted to create a product that, first of all, it delivered the experience of smoking, uh, while simultaneously being able to do that all day while simultaneously being able to be affordable to people like us college students. Um, [00:04:00] and so we looked around and there were similar products that we wanted to create on the market, but there were being marketed for over 60 bucks. And that's out of the price range of most college students. And it's definitely out of the price range of putting entrepreneurs who are going broke. So, um, on here slash students, some students who are, who are on a student budget and spending all their extra money on trying to build, build the company. So, um, it came down to quality, um, [00:04:30] and affordability and, um, you know, we, we were hoping, we were luckily able to, uh, go through the entire product development, um, stage in, in just, uh, 40 days. And, uh, we were proud to have developed a pretty good product. Speaker 3:So what I want to get to your product development, we wanna tell that story. Um, but first tell me a little bit more about, it seems like from someone who's not really into this industry, that the e-cig market and in vape [00:05:00] market has exploded over the last few years or kind of they're everywhere, where you didn't used to see them very often. Tell us a little bit about the, the kind of macro backdrop again of the industry that you guys are trying to disrupt. Speaker 4:Yeah. So the industry has been around for a good number of years. Five to six years was actually invented by a dentist and in Asia, which is interesting, but you know, it, it, it's one of those products that sounds too good to be true. [00:05:30] You know, you get all of the benefits of smoking without any of the, the bad things. Right. And so for the past couple of years, um, you know, people were using them, they were being sold online, but there was so much pessimism about the product because nobody had ever really done any studies on them. Uh, so, you know, more, more and more research was done on the products. Uh, basically we find that although they're not perfectly safe, they are so Speaker 3:much safer [00:06:00] than traditional cigarettes, but they started to gain mass appeal. Um, and you couple that with companies like blue, who we, we don't really like, and they don't think they're that good of a product, but them having a lot of money in their bank accounts has, has really fueled the distribution of e-cigs. So you're 100% right in saying that they've totally exploded recently. Um, you know, it's interesting though because the products that have exploded are, are not the best products on the market. They're just the companies that have the most [00:06:30] money to have a blue, which is, you know, funded ridiculously. And then you have the other guys which are actually owned by big tobacco trying to keep people smoking. And I think they caught the realization that these products weren't going to go away and people were going to use them and people did want them and they joined the bandwagon. Speaker 3:So you're talking, you're listening to Shawn Linea and one of the founders of vape secret and all three founders are here helping us to learn more about the [00:07:00] product that they've come to market and they're also cal students to seniors and juniors. This is very exciting to have some cal local entrepreneurs on the program. So you guys are telling the story about, and this program by the way, as method to the madness on KALX Berkeley 90.7 FM. And so you were telling us about, you guys were building this software program, einstein.com and um, and Ben, you realize that Shawn was going [00:07:30] out and smoking every 30 minutes. Like, Hey, let's do another project to building a e-cig. And I would assume this is my belief. But you were not at e-cig expert when you came up with the idea. Is that right? I'm not at all. Speaker 1:I, uh, I, I was not an expert at then, but I can pretty confidently say that I'm an expert. Now. Tell me Speaker 3:about like when you, you had the idea, and I'm always interested in this kind of, this spark of innovation, like the thunderbolts hits, you're like, Whoa, [00:08:00] that's an idea. I know nothing about it, but it's an awesome idea as to take us from that moment to how you 44 days later, whatever it was, had a product. Speaker 1:So, uh, so first of all, Sean and I are not, uh, engineers in the sense that we don't, we're, we're primarily business guys. Um, we're primarily nerds and second, secondly, we're primarily business guys. And, um, the electronic cigarette idea kind of came about, um, for, for two reasons. First [00:08:30] of all, obviously it was practical because, you know, I didn't want John to smoke cigarettes anymore. But also, um, starting a company with no profitability in forecast is very difficult. Um, especially if you don't have much money. And so we saw this as an opportunity to solve a problem that we had and we assumed that other people had, but also to make money, um, so that be able to find that through our lives so that we can actually work on einstein.com. Um, [00:09:00] electronic cigarette industry is huge. And what we noticed is that aside from there not being a good product for this specific type of, of, of use case that we envisioned, it was also very complicated. Speaker 1:Many people didn't know about this. Um, it's almost as if, you know, you take an alien and introduced an iPhone too. I mean, you wouldn't really understand how to use it or how to, how to get, how to, how to get the value out of it. And a lot of electronic cigarette e-tailers are websites, um, had many, many products and it's very, [00:09:30] very confusing and overwhelming for someone to go through that and figure out what to use. So we saw our space as being the simplest electronic cigarette you can buy in that it literally takes 30 seconds to go through our entire website and fully customize an electronic cigarette. You get to choose from 20 different flavors. It's all done in a very, um, user friendly and beginner focused, uh, way so that people [00:10:00] who know nothing about electronic cigarettes can successfully purchase from us quickly, easily, and with confidence because we explain everything in such simple terms. Speaker 1:And so we sell one product, we have one unit, it's available in six different color combinations. Um, we literally walk you through the process. We tell you exactly what you're getting wide good, what's good about it. Um, and we're really focusing on the people that have been thinking about it. I've [00:10:30] heard about it, but haven't really pulled the trigger on getting electronic cigarettes. And we kind of want to be that first step, that stepping stone, taking them away from smoking these dangerous cancer causing traditional cigarettes and moving them on to this new, this new type of, of electronics of electronic cigarette so that they can get all the benefits of smoking without dying young or through the business car talking. I get that you are a good business guy. He's just giving [00:11:00] me exactly the problem and what you're trying to do to make it easy to solve. Speaker 1:But it take us a little, a little detour here and talk about the engineering side of it. So you guys have, you wanted to build an actual product that like does some stuff right? That creates more of a vapor and is cheaper. And so how did you go about the manufacturing process of coming up with the actual product? Um, so from a, from an engineering perspective, the electronic cigarette [00:11:30] consists of three components. First of all, as a power source, which is a battery, uh, second of all is what's called an atomizer, which actually, uh, takes the vapor, takes the liquid and vaporizes it. And the third component is the liquid that you're actually uprising. What we did is we did a huge amount of research into various manufacturers of these components. Um, we did a huge amount of testing on these products. I would get prototypes, give them to Sean, he'd smoked [00:12:00] them for a couple of days, tell me what was wrong with them. Speaker 1:And we work with suppliers all around the world who made this stuff to put together the unit that we have today, which is basically a collection of components from a bunch of different places. And the way we selected each part was first of all, for again for quality, which is our core. And second of all, for affordability, we wanted a product that was sub $30. Um, and so the, for example, our [00:12:30] liquids, um, they're made with food grade, all food grade materials. Um, our flavorings come from Italy. They're, they're food based flavorings. Um, again, we're trying to move away from the general idea of electronic cigarettes as being dangerous and trying to attach some sort of, of tangible, um, healthfulness though as much as we can in this type of product. So that we can actually say that we've [00:13:00] done our, our, our, our, our, our best effort in terms of trying to make this product as good for you as possible. Speaker 1:So, um, you know, the, the battery we selected was, was selected with, with people like Shawn in mind, people that smoke all day, they need a product that lasts all day. A battery can't die because that's my biggest fear. That's our biggest fear is that someone's battery dies and then they go to seven 11 to buy another pack of cigarettes are real vision is helping people quit. And we've done that very successfully. [00:13:30] And the way we do that is by, by creating a product that lasts all day, it's got a USB charger in the bottom so you can literally plug it into your, your phone charger or your laptop and use it while it's charging, which is a very unique feature. Um, our atomizer is some, one of the simplest on the market. And most importantly in terms of, in terms of, of, of, of our, our consciousness towards the environment is [00:14:00] everything about our product is rechargeable and we fill up. So unlike most of the products on the market where you buy a product and then you have to keep on buying the refills and cartridges and all sorts of new components, which you then throw out. Our product is fully rechargeable and we fillable. So not only is it more affordable for the customer, but in our opinion it's also better for the environment. Um, so yeah, that's basically the, the, the focus that went into the engineering side of what we were doing. Speaker 3:Okay, thanks. [00:14:30] You were listening to Ben Einstein, one of the founders of vape secret, a new company formed here on the UC Berkeley campus dedicated to helping people soft smoking by creating a affordable high quality e cigarette. Um, and I have the founders with me here, Sean Linehan, Ben ice, the name Davey Lee. Um, so 44 days. That's a quick time. So how did you get, it sounded like you had to test some different components and stuff. So how, [00:15:00] how did you get the capital to, go ahead. I'm Shawn you and tell me about how, how did that process work? How were you, how many atomizers did you have to buy before you found the right way? Speaker 4:Yeah, so it's, it's, it's actually really interesting. So we didn't take sort of the bottom up approach to engineering our product. Like you might imagine some companies do. We didn't go into cad and, and mock up all of these individual components that we then have to tool ourselves. We recognize that we [00:15:30] only really had a couple thousand dollars of our personal savings left and we needed to make due on that limited bandwidth. So what we did is exactly what Ben was saying was like, we, we went to factories with premade components and figured out how can we put them all together. Right? Um, so the, the capital constraint was pretty significant. We, we took some of the money from our other company, which we also completely self-funded just from our savings accounts, um, and bought [00:16:00] dozens of dozens of these atomizer components and just kept testing them and when they wouldn't work, uh, and some, some of them just outright didn't work, which is ridiculous. Speaker 4:You know, you're getting samples from companies that were trying to become our main suppliers for these components and they chest were broken, um, and cross them off full list. Yeah, exactly. Those guys we don't even have to worry about, even if their first sample doesn't work, you know, it's just not worth that. Um, so, you know, Ben Ben took the efforts in terms of [00:16:30] getting all of the different sample products and the, the engineering components of it. Um, and he did all of these different pieces simultaneously. So it wasn't like, okay, now we've got to find the perfect this, finished that and then find the perfect that and finish that. No, he, he sourced batteries and clear misers and liquids and atomizers and all of these different pieces concurrently so that we could, you know, test all the different configurations. Um, and you're right, 44 days was, it was a sprint. Speaker 4:So, you know, we had [00:17:00] this other company that we didn't want to ignore for too long. So Ben, while he was doing that, I then went with Davey to work on the website. I don't, we're primarily an ecommerce driven product. We don't sell in stores, we sell exclusively through our website. And so Davie and I worked on trying to perfect a beautiful design for our site, making it sleek, making it intuitive, making it the type of experience that I would feel comfortable having my mom on. [00:17:30] Right. And funny story, she actually did, did quit using our product, which I'm really proud of for my mom, my stepbrother, my brother and my stepdad and my best friend all quit using my product [inaudible] and myself. Quit, quit using it. So you know, that that was the aesthetic that we set out to do. And you know, luckily between Davey and I and Ben's input as well on the design, we were able to make something that, that we're really proud of. Um, Speaker 3:that, that's amazing. Congratulations. I mean, your [00:18:00] return on investment right there is huge. If you have your whole family quit complete smoking cigarettes and you have to, I mean when you say quit, I mean you still smoke, you smoked a e-cigarette. Right? And I've, I've been interested in this. I've seen like people and I was in an airport last week and it's like guys smoking and E-cigarette in the airport. And I was wondering like, what's the, um, there's no actually no second hand smoke issues or bathe second hand vapor issues [00:18:30] with an e-cigarette. Speaker 4:No. So, uh, at least according to the most recent studies, and I'd cite the name if I can think of it off the top of my head, but, uh, basically the, the deal is the only detrimental piece of the second hand vapor is exposure to nicotine. Now to your average healthy adult, non infant adult, like, you know, anybody 10 and up, um, and 80 and down, this has absolutely no problem. Or like, if you're pregnant or you're an infant, [00:19:00] I still would not recommend, you know, having vapor blown directly in your face. It's just, there's no proof that it's very bad for you, but you know, nicotine is in a high enough quantity, not good for you. Um, but for your average person, I mean this, this really has very little health health side effects. The, the vapor itself is comprised of a, of a thing called propylene glycol. It sounds scary, but honestly it's one of the most heavily researched [00:19:30] just components, um, over the past eight years. And it's found to be completely safe. It's in inhalers, it's in food. I mean, it's literally in a significant portion of the products we use on a day to day basis. Um, and that's what makes it visible, the vapor visible, um, and it's safe. So, Speaker 3:so when, when smoking is bad for you, it's not necessarily the nicotine that Speaker 4:creates a lung cancer. It's the smoke, certainly not the, the, the deadliness [00:20:00] of, of cigarettes is significantly, significantly not associated with the nicotine. Nicotine is a chemical is bad for you in high doses, like very high doses, but in the dose, that level that you're using cigarettes, it's not the component that's hurting you. The component that hurting you is the smoke itself, right? Like you're literally burning plants. There's thousands of other chemicals added to cigarettes and that's what kills you. Yeah. Speaker 3:Okay. [00:20:30] Very interesting. So we're talking to Shawn Lenahan, then Einstein and Dave, you either the founders of vape secret. It is a e-cigarette company founded here on the UC Berkeley campus. They're all students here at cal and have launched this new enterprise. When did you guys launch? Speaker 1:We launched a late July, late July, July. We, uh, we, we actually launched a website and a, it's funny, we actually got, um, interviewing by cvs in [00:21:00] San Francisco, um, on television and that was kind of the jumpstart for our business. And um, the, the core for what we're doing is not you selling your product today. We put you on a regimen where we wean you off of nicotine completely, which is kind of backwards. Our business professor theta sort of this, Speaker 4:yeah. Basically we, we aim to lose our customers over time. And the way we do that is [00:21:30] we, Speaker 1:you start you off at at a certain nicotine content and we slow you month to month. We send you new liquids every month that lower at, at increasingly lower nicotine contents. Shaun started off at 18 milligrams, I think. Yup. Um, and he, and now he's, what are you smoking now? Speaker 4:Three. And it's funny because for the first two months I actually was at the 18, um, for a longer period of time than I should have been. Cause I didn't want to, we were running out of inventory. Right. We had a very little capital. So we kept having to [00:22:00] continue to buy small quantities, smaller quantities, bigger quantities at a time. Um, so I was using the 18 cause we had a lot of that and I didn't wanna use the inventory that we were going to sell to our customers to help them quit. So, you know, somebody, somebody that we would, that we would have as a customer starting today would quit much faster than the 10 months that it's taken me. They would quit over a period from lot of nicotine to no nicotine, three to four months, just for frame of reference, 18 milligrams. Speaker 4:So you said, yeah. [00:22:30] What does that equate to? Like how many packs a day is that? It's about, uh, between like three quarters of a pack to a pack a day. Um, it's depending on how often you actually use the device. It works for somebody who's up, even up to two packs a day. It's really the strongest, uh, levels that we recommend using. And how does the, so the, it's almost a years of a service. It's not just a product. Correct. Cause you're sending people the lick, the smokeable liquid, if that's the right term. So a Cho, what are the economics [00:23:00] on our liquid versus packs of cigarettes? Yeah. So one, one liquid, which we sell for $5 is equal to about three packs of cigarettes in terms of time spent using it. Um, so one, one liquid lasts an average person. I'm a little bit under two, a little bit more than a week, which is about the same that somebody would have about three packs of cigarettes. Um, unless they're very heavy smokers. But with the vape it's about a week with the one bottle. So we're [00:23:30] literally saving lots of money. Right. I mean I was a smoker for 15 years, but that was years ago when I quit cause I'm an old guy. So what was the, uh, what are the packs of cigarettes go forward today? The ones hours I was, were Speaker 1:about $7 on the average in Berkeley. Wow. So just right there just to save money, you should, you should buy vape secrets, right, man, we actually have a calculator on our homepage where we can tell you exactly how much you'll save this year. [00:24:00] Uh, if you switch, if you switched to electronic cigarettes. Nice. Um, okay, so you guys started in July, so you've been around for about three quarters now and you, you're showing your whole family as quit basically. It's not a like, yeah, you're on the road to quitting. Tell us some more, like how many have you sold? How many stories do you have of people quitting? Um, we, we try to keep in touch with all our customers. Some people it's easier. Some people it's harder. We actually have discovered [00:24:30] that we appeal more to older people because of the simplicity of the site. Speaker 1:Um, because of the simplicity of the product. And older people are generally not as, uh, into communication, especially the email and things like that. Um, so there's been a little bit difficult for us to, to keep track of those numbers. Exactly. Um, we've taught, we've helped dozens of people quit and we've sold hundreds of units. Um, so, um, the business is growing and our only constraint right now is [00:25:00] really, um, is just, you know, getting the word out there. Um, getting, getting people to learn about it and word of mouth has proven to be our strongest marketer. Uh, we hope maybe this, this presentation might help us also a little bit. Um, but the, the important thing for us is that we want to be able to maintain this experience, this personalized experience, um, without getting that diluted by, by getting [00:25:30] too many customers too quickly. Speaker 1:And so, you know, every package we s we ship out is hand packed by us. There's, you know, we, we hand write a note to every customer and we try to develop a really strong personal connection and relationship with them because smoking is an emotional thing. It's a very personal experience. And we're, you know, who are a bunch of kids that come into someone's life who's been smoking for 30 years and tell them, hey, we can help you quit. Um, it's, it's a very bold statement for us to make and it's something we don't take lightly [00:26:00] and we try as hard as we can to make that experience as pleasant and as professional as possible. So it's only, you guys have two businesses, but you're also seniors. A cow. What majors do you guys have? A, I'm a business major. We've mastered the art of, of being good students while simultaneously, uh, trying to be good entrepreneurs. So you are your business as well then? I know I'm not a business major, I'm just the business guy. Um, I [00:26:30] uh, I made development studies major. Um, I learned about developing economies and things like that. Um, but I read a lot about business and uh, Shawn teaches me everything that's important to know that he learns in Oz. You Speaker 3:guys are, uh, it's April. So graduation is staring you in the face and you have two businesses. Yeah. Is that the plan, you guys are going to go full force after May. Speaker 4:That's, that's the plan. Yeah. And we're not, not gonna [00:27:00] not gonna hesitate, you know, actually can't wait to graduate so we can really sit down and focus. Right? Like focused is the biggest issue. Um, with school you, you have varying schedules all the time. You have different wake up days every day, right? Sometimes you have class at eight, 10, 1112 and we're, we're ready to be able to, to truly dominate. Speaker 3:Yeah. So did tell me about the path to domination you felt like your, and we're speaking with the founders of vapes, secret hearing methods [00:27:30] of the Madison on KLX Berkeley 90.7 FM, Ben Einstein, Sean Lennon and David Lee. These guys who started this business while trying to graduate from cal, they're about to do that. So I want to know now you're going to graduate. The shackles are off. You can drink from the capitalist Downton as much as you want. So what, what's the difference? How are you going to get from where you are today to selling thousands of these helmets? How big a market did you save? This was Ben Speaker 4:big, is it? [00:28:00] So last year it was a one point $3 billion industry and it's projected to hit 15 billion over the next 10 years. Speaker 3:Okay. So if you can get half, half of a percent, you're doing well, how are you going to get there? Speaker 1:Um, we were really working on trying to get our, um, our supply chain in place so that we can actually, uh, produce these products in, in really high quantities. Um, right now we're kind of doing small dots [00:28:30] runs, which keeps our costs higher than they should be or merged. Immersions are still fairly healthy. Um, but we can always do better in that sense. Um, but again, it's in test. This is, um, this is something that we started out of necessity and we realized that this was an opportunity to really help people quit smoking. And so we're actually passionate about it. We really care about this. And you know, anyone we meet who smokes weed, you try and convince them to quit, not just so [00:29:00] we can get a customer, but also cause we, we think smoking's bad. Shawn is in better shape than he's ever been. Speaker 1:He, he doesn't get tired running up and down stairs anymore. Um, not that programmers do that much, but he actually goes to the gym more than any of us do. Um, but you know, for us the, the important thing was, um, you know, what did Winston Churchill said, don't let your school and getting in the way of your education. Um, we, we've learned more in the past year working together than we probably have [00:29:30] in all four years of college. And so at this point, um, where we're going to go, just in terms of the time commitment. Also for me, I'm putting myself through school. So, um, you know, the financial and the financial responsibilities of paying for college, um, have been, have been, uh, pretty serious on my family and you know, the opportunity to be finally be able to work full time, um, on what we're trying to do. Um, the ability to dedicate not only all [00:30:00] of our physical time, but our mental capabilities. I mean, if we're studying for a test until three in the morning and then we try to come into work the next morning, we're not 100%, whereas if we don't have tests anymore, we can actually dedicate our entire, you know, she be you in our brains to, um, to building new businesses Speaker 3:and thanks to you guys for coming on today and telling your story about how you sorted vape secret. We'll have to have you on another time to talk about Einstein. Um, but you've been listening to the band, Einstein, Sean Lenahan [00:30:30] and David lead of the founders of vapes secret. They're a seniors here on campus about to graduate and go full force into this, um, e-cigarette company that I've created. Um, and to learn more that you guys can go to vape secret.com right. That's the URL to check out. Speaker 1:That's correct. And actually there's a, a special cow promotion for Berkeley students. Uh, if you place an order, you put into words, go bears into the coupon code and you'll get 10, 10% off of your [00:31:00] sale. Speaker 3:Alright, we got a plug in at the aunt's, a nice word fan. And uh, thanks for coming on guys. You've been listening to KLX Berkeley's method to the madness. Have a great Friday. Everybody. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
An historic look at the rise and fall of the country’s greatest moving picture theater district.
Quienes pensaron que nunca volverían a escuchar algo nuevo de Luzbel, ¡se equivocaron! Sin duda, esta charla que mantuve con ****** inicia con la grabación inédita del tercer vocalista, Juan Bolaños, quien hace de las notas un encanto infernal al traernos por primera vez “El castillo del dolor” con música de Raúl Greñas. El segundo bloque de la entrevista, es un Déjà vu al reinterpretar “Tiempo Fugaz”. Un audio imperante y soberbio. Propio de los grandes del Heavy Metal. Dos canciones para convertirse entre las grandes de Luzbel jamás publicada. Referente a la entrevista, puedo decir que es un evangelio perdido que exorciza la historia. Quita algunos demonios que habitaban en ella. Es un ritual que vuelve atraer a los ángeles oscuros a nuestra mente y, al igual que Lázaro, se levantaran entre los muertos. Es un reto al Dios creador quien los erigió como antagonistas de su aburrida existencia. Después de esto, Juan Bolaños, Raúl Greñas y demás profetas de Baphomet nos envolverán con su as de oscuridad y al castigo celestial irá quien tiene que ir: El que violó los 10 mandamientos. La música que acompaña esta charla no es menos importante, muchas de ésta fue grabada por bandas que reinterpretaron a Luzbel. Otra es propia de ensayos de Luzbel que nunca salieron a la luz. Lo que convierte a este programa en un archivo de colección.
Discussed startup process of LocalMind, a social/mobile/local company that moved from Montreal to San Francisco a week before the interviewTRANSCRIPTSpeaker 1:Okay. Okay. Okay. Speaker 2:So low about, that's the hot new buzzword in the bay and it refers to the social, local mobile apps that have exploded onto the scene due to the birth of aeration of smartphones over the last few years. Today on method to the madness, we interviewed Lenny Richie, whiskey, founder and CEO of local mind and upstart in a solo most space stay with us. Speaker 3:[00:00:30] So I start, uh, let's see. Seven months ago I started a company called local mind. And the basic idea of local mind is people are sharing their location all the time, all over the world. Right now there's millions of people checking in on foursquare, on Facebook, on call, all across the world. I heard a stat, there's 3 million chickens a day [00:01:00] on, on foursquare, and people are checking in and the value of that check in is pretty low. Still. Your friends know where you are, you get good, they get notified, you get [inaudible], you get badges, you get some points. And it's really not that much value out of all this effort that we're putting in as we're going out. And so I basically realized there's a lot more that we could do with this data and we don't really have to ask anyone to do anything more to give us that data. Speaker 3:And so the basic idea of local mine is let's connect someone that's interested in knowing what's at a [00:01:30] location with someone that's actually at that location in real time. And we do that by using the data that people are already sharing, like checking in at foursquare or checking in on Google or Facebook and when you check in, if for your user of local mine, you become available at that location to be sent a question by someone that's interested in knowing what's happening at that location. And the use cases for things like for a local line for a to like local mine is I'm going out, should I, we get in my car and drive 20 minutes and park and then go to this [00:02:00] bar that ends up being full or closed or not fun or they don't have a drink that I like or not kid friendly and I'm bringing my family. Speaker 3:And so local wine aims to solve that problem. Of removing any reason to be disappointed about a place that you're thinking about going to and on a broader scale gives you this kind of, the way I look at it as creating kind of this hive mind of humanity that you can connect everyone to everyone else in real time on demand to get information and to kind of get a little piece of advice [00:02:30] from someone that's knowledgeable about either location or a topic and then disconnect kind of this little on demand warm hole into other people's worlds with their permission obviously. And then you disconnect, then you go on your way. And so that's a local mine is all about. And so in that, in building the company and in exploring the space, I've learned a lot about the social world. There's kind of this social low como acronym. Speaker 3:People are using social location and mobile and so we're right in that space. And so yeah. [00:03:00] Okay. And in that space there's a ton of players. Right. Um, and is it really been, it's been the technology that's really gotten to the point where it's exploded or why is it exploding the way it is right now? The wave I've been thinking about it is there's 10 trends that I've noticed that have converged at this moment in time. And it's kind of random that they've all happened. They've been a long time coming, a lot of them, but the fact that they've all, the fact that [00:03:30] they've all converged, the way I look at, it's kind of this big crushing wave of all these little waves have been coming our way and all of a sudden these 10 things are, are collapsing in each other. And I'm trying to remember what the 10 are, but number one is, um, is the privilege proliferation of mobile phones and smartphones. Speaker 3:Everyone's got these smart phones that are in our pockets with us all the time and they can do amazing things. Um, so that's one. And corollary to that two is always on location data. We always have data. We're connected to [00:04:00] the web. We can do stuff, not just on our phone, but kind of this little portal into the cloud that the phone gives us access to. Then there's things like gps as part of these phones. There's things like, um, sharing our location, which I talked about or sharing a location much more. There's the cloud in cloud computing, which makes it a lot easier to start companies and to do, to try things. That's the way I look at is the cloud makes it really easy to try a new idea, not spent a lot of money on it. See what happens. It doesn't work out. Speaker 3:[00:04:30] Start over, not mortgage your house on it or not spend $1 million. And so the more times people try an idea, the more likely they're going to be hitting on something that's actually successful, failing fast as the, as the Buzzword, um, other trends or things like venue databases, there's all this free information about all the places that exist in the world when they're open, where the addresses are, pictures of them, um, information about checking date and things like that. Um, that's [00:05:00] kind of the basic idea of the trends that have been seen and all that is in the other one. The other important one actually is a, the social graph. The fact that there's a quantifiable social graph that we can all plug into and use. Facebook's created that Twitter has got that Foursquare's getting that now. And so we don't have to learn who your friends are. Speaker 3:We can feed off of existing social platforms. And so these turn 10 trends, I dunno if I listed all 10. Um, we've kind of allowed us to do amazing things and being in the startup world, on [00:05:30] the one hand, it's a lot easier to start something really, really interesting because you don't have to do a lot of these things yourself. On the other hand, there's a lot more competition because everybody else can do these things too. And so you have to work really hard to differentiate and to move beyond that kind of pre chasm world. Speaker 4:You're listening to k a LX Berkeley 90.7 FM streaming on the worldwide web@kalxdotberkeley.edu. This is method to the madness, a 30 minute show about the innovative of the bay area. Speaker 5:I'm your host aliene Huizar [00:06:00] and today we're interviewing lady Richard Ski CEO of local mind. Speaker 3:And the precursor to local mine was this app that I wrote. So for squares API came out about two years ago in 2009 I think. And that was the first major new platform that came out after Twitter and Facebook. And those were extremely successful in creating an ecosystem around their data and around the rapists. And so I knew something big was going to happen with Foursquare's data as the first time that we had access to location data. And [00:06:30] yeah, location data was really the thing that was really interesting to me. And so there's this quote that the McClure Dave McClory uses the best companies and easiest companies to help succeed are ones that get you either paid to get you made or get you laid. And so I focused on the last part. How do I get users late? Because that's lot, that's easier to market to people. Speaker 3:And so what I did is I built this app called assisted serendipity that uses sports score data to notify you when the male to female ratio tips in your favor [00:07:00] at any bar or any restaurant or anything that you're wanting to watch. Let's say you pick 10 places in. As soon as there's more girls than guys, more guys than girls, you get alerted and it's still running. It's out there. You can use it still uses foursquare data. And while I was building that, I kind of realized there's a lot more we can do with this data, not just how many girls and guys that are, but what if I want to know other stuff about what's happening there? Why can I contact one of those girls or one of those guys and find out number one, is this true? Are there a lot of girls? There are a number. [00:07:30] So that's the basic idea. But what about if I want to know, is it, is it fun? Is there room to sit? Is there beer that I like? And so Mike came out of that. Speaker 5:Okay, cool. So, um, do you have any quantifiable statistics about the number of people who've gotten laid? It's just a serendipity, your metrics guy, right? Speaker 3:It's hard to track. The only thing I'd been able to track is at the bottom of the notification, you get an a have an ad that says if you'd like the service to buy me a beer [00:08:00] and people donate $3. And so I've had like five people donate $3. Oh Nice. So maybe something's happened there. Speaker 5:That's something there. All right. So, um, you know, one question I have is about these, these mobile apps, the social, mobile, local stuff, there's so many of them coming out and there's a really important, um, launch strategy that has to be in place, I think, you know, because the key is to get to a tipping point, you know, especially if something like your app where, [00:08:30] and I was playing around with and I'm looking on a map and there's a few people in Berkeley, there's a few minds that pop up. And so that's good to see. Yeah, it was an empty, but you know, worldwide people can use this app anywhere. Right. So how do you, how do you plan to get that kind of adoption that you need for such an app? Yeah. Speaker 3:Yeah. And if I, if I had the, the answer to that I would, I would, I would be very rich. It's a hard problem to solve and every, like you said, everybody's trying to tackle that and there's been a, a few successes. Instagram somehow figured it out and they're not so much location but they did something right for square. [00:09:00] It took them a while to get through there, but they figured it out. And so there's a models you can follow. Yelp kind of did that and they built a very kind of location specific service that IX exploded. And so we're, we're honestly in the center of that kind of storm is solving that problem. The, there's a few typical things you do. Number one, connect and tap your social graph as much as possible. Get everyone to tell their friends about it as much as possible. Speaker 3:The key is to create critical mass, as you said, in a specific region [00:09:30] up to now. We've been very organic across the world. Tell your friends, see what happens kind of thing. Not focused on any specific area. The next big phase for us, and actually just two days ago, we hired a head of community development who is number one job is acquire users and retain users. And the strategy is specifically focused on the bay area and get critical mass in the city because number one, it's easiest to do to get critical mass in people like new things, um, especially social, mobile location type stuff. [00:10:00] And um, and two of them were here and so it makes sense to launch here. We actually tried initially to launch in Montreal, which is where we launched the company, which is unusual, but, but that's where we launched in it. It worked out really well. Unfortunately there's not enough for square attraction there. People use it, but it's not as kind of regular day of life as it is here. And so our big push right now is let's get on the ground, start doing meetups, start doing happy hours, let's get local press, let's get people that are kind of influencers interested in local [00:10:30] mind and talking about it. Um, so that's really the big strategy in right now. Speaker 5:Okay. And um, tell me a little bit about, you went through a, um, an incubator process in Montreal ride this shows about innovation. And so that's very much, you know, when are not within our realm of interest is how do, how did that experience go down for you about getting into it and going through it? Speaker 3:Okay. Well first I'll say that if you're starting a company, I would 100% recommend finding some sort of incubator to be involved [00:11:00] in because especially if it's your first company, it's like a startup on training wheels or a startup with a rocket engine strapped to the back. It accelerates everything that you would organically do by tenfold. And there is no reason not to do it. You give up equity and you have to listen to people all day to give you and giving you advice. But it's so worth it. It's, it's unbelievable. Unfortunately, there's kind of this incubator bubble happening now where there's hundreds and hundreds of incubators out there and you can't trust them all to do a good job. There's the common ones, y Combinator, [00:11:30] techstars and guys like that. But um, so I just wanted to kind of say that up front, the way that we got involved with them, it was very serendipitous. Speaker 3:I was up in Montreal for a conference conference called bit north, but I'm going to again a month from now, which is a very small intimate conference, 50 people in Montreal in a cabin for a weekend. And everyone that comes there has to do a talk, five minutes talk. And the Tedx talk that I ended up doing came from that. So there's a lot of serendipity involved. And so the guys that were launching this incubator happened to be at the conference [00:12:00] and they knew about me from assistant serendipity actually and from web metrics, the company I worked for. And so we just started talking and we kind of went to lunch after the conference was over and local mine came out of that. We're sitting around and talking about all this data that's out there, location data and foursquare and assisted serendipity and what else could we do with that? Speaker 3:And local mine came out of that. And so the fact that the idea was kind of this mutual idea across a bunch of people and can we can incubator, I had to move up there to do it and I don't regret that for a second as is the best [00:12:30] experience of my life. Um, but that's how I got involved with them as, you know, it was almost too easy. I didn't have to go and pitch a hundred incubators or anything like that. I just met these guys and then picked up my life, left my job and moved up to Montreal. Yeah. And the, the um, simpleness of the is really, I think, really exciting. Um, so how many ideas did you kick around before you got to that one? That was, that was the only one that made sense. So, yeah. You know, that's, I'm kind of in the mode of my life or I don't want to think about any other ideas. Speaker 3:[00:13:00] Every, every kind of new idea. Urban new app. I look at it second, we take something from here, from the kernel into local mine. How do we make local money more useful? And so I'm trying not to avoid any sort of new ideas. The incubators themselves have a lot of good ideas and so if you're not sure of a company, you want to start finding incubator, I'm sure they have some ideas that they've heard that other people have abandoned or that they've kind of come up with as they hear other people's ideas. Okay. So you go through the incubator process and um, do they provide seed funding for you? Yeah, and I think [00:13:30] most of them do that. This one provided a more easy funding than most, but they take a more, the bigger chunk of equity and that's their model. And their model is very unusual. Speaker 3:It's a year long program up to a year. You don't have to stay there for year. You work in their office space. They're there every day across the desk, meet with you a few times a week. Um, it's a very lean startup oriented, you know, kind of that whole, that whole methodology. So it's very, the funding is based on these milestones and trenches of lean startup philosophy. First you get, [00:14:00] so it's a 50, you get $50,000 for this incubator, you get $10,000 up front, you get another 20 when you've made your MVP and then you get another 20 when you gotten product market fit. And so you have to kind of convince them that you've got those things and yeah, they're there every, every day giving you advice and telling you how, how slow you're working terribly. Your ideas are, that's interesting. So it would almost seem to be somewhat of an advantage to be outside of the bay areas bubble in that kind of [00:14:30] scenario because you're gonna get more attention. Speaker 3:That's, that's exactly how it worked out for us. Nothing I planned and we're kind of actually caught in this little, um, I dunno, story around people leaving Canada companies. Why are they leaving Canada? And so it's kind of an interesting kind of circle of stories around us right now. But, um, um, yeah, the uh, what was your question again? I'm sorry. Say maybe it's an advantage was already statement. Yeah. Well I guess that [00:15:00] my question would be is why did you move to California? Yeah. Well, so let me address that real quick is I totally, we found that to be very true as launching outside of the bay area. Not that I know, but it would have been like to go to start from scratch at launch year, but it ended up being really, really helpful for us is in a Montreal for example, as soon as there's an interesting idea or something people like and See a vision for it, they completely supported and love it and do everything they can to help you, which isn't gonna happen here because there's so many other people doing the same kind of thing. Speaker 3:And so you kind of raise [00:15:30] rise right to the top if you have anything worthwhile. And so that helped us tremendously. We had a lot of great attention and press, made some amazing friends and contacts there and now we kind of are riding that wave into the valley here. Hopefully it works out. Um, yeah, so launching here would be much more difficult. There's a lot more competition and especially in Montreal where they're creating through really, really focused on creating an ecosystem there. There's a lot of support, there's money, there's advisors, there's office space, there's a lot of, there's a lot of talented people there. So they worked out really well for us. But [00:16:00] then what we're seeing here, yeah, so that's, that's, that's the story we, we keep running into, you know, the way we look at it as you need a reason not to move here. Speaker 3:This is the center of gravity for our world, especially mobile, social location type stuff. You're at a disadvantage not being here, not being able to go get a coffee with an investor and a partner or employees they might want hire. And so the entire time we had, we were looking for reasons not to move here. We're like going to New York and if there was a good, a strong investor out [00:16:30] there that really wanted us to move there, we would've moved there too. But it was really the default for us. And really the decision was between the valley or or the city. And we decided in the city Speaker 4:you are listening to k a LX Berkeley 90.7 FM streaming on the worldwide web@kalxdotberkeley.edu. This is method to the madness of 30 minutes show about the innovative spirit of the bay area. I'm your host Ali Nasar and today we're interviewing lady Richard Ski, CEO of local mind. [00:17:00] Tell me a little bit about, you talked about the social graph, um, you're not going to accessing it. Um, so is it a big abstract data set or are there visualizations that you can use to really understand it better or how does that work? Speaker 3:The simple way to look at it is you ask Facebook, who are this guy's friends who are Lenny's friends? And it just gives you this big list of all my friends on Facebook and their Facebook ids. [00:17:30] Other services like foursquare gives you all their names and their email addresses and their phone numbers if they haven't been foursquare and where they've checked in. And so that's kind of the data you're playing with. And with that you can figure out number one, who of your friends are also members of the service. You can figure out when you sign up for the service, how many of your friends are already members. So we could show you here's who was already a member and maybe you should think about signing up, kind of the social proof idea. That's the first layer. And then you could figure out who's your friend, who's a friend of a friend. Speaker 3:And so [00:18:00] I sign up and I can see who else is on the system that's across. So let me give a concrete example. When you open up, look in mind and you sign into a local mine, you're not only see every other user that's a member of local mine. You also see all your friends that are on foursquare that aren't necessarily users because foursquare gives us access to that data. They tell us where your friends have checked in, even if they're not members of local mine. And so that allows you to send questions to friends of yours that aren't necessarily users, [00:18:30] if they provide their phone number, if they provide force with their phone number. And so that's a very concrete use of the social graph data that without that you sign up and we just know eighth Lenny, great. Now what do we do with your social graph data? We can send an email to your friends, hey, your friend signed up, you should join or allow you to invite your friends, things like that. Um, and then you know, there's Twitter too, which has a tremendous amount of social graph data. Speaker 5:So what's the um, security policies for accessing those graphs? Can anybody do it? Speaker 3:You as a user, [00:19:00] you authenticate. So you sign in and you say local Wayne is asking for permission to access this data with foursquare, sorry, with Facebook is very granular. There's trying to remember how many permissions there are. There's like 20 or 30 permissions that you asked for and so when you [inaudible], you've probably seen you sign up for an app and you say like login before scoring. It gives you a list of things that they're going to have access to and so you read through that and you're like, all right, sure. And it's an all or nothing kind of situation. You can say, look, I'm mind can only get access to these things because we require [00:19:30] all that data that we asked for it. It's all or nothing kind of kind of thing. And different services have different permission levels, Twitter and foursquare, all or nothing. Speaker 3:There's no real granularity. It's everything or nothing forced Facebook gives you very granular permission metrics, which honestly, I don't think anyone really understands. Probably from the user's perspective, they just see a big list and then I see a big allow button and I think most people just click allow, which is, it's a tough position for Facebook to be because they, you know, they're like, yeah, we're asking you what's the problem? [00:20:00] Because if you get this off down the road, you've approved it. What are you going to do? Yeah, it's like the iTunes terms of service that no one reads. Yeah, exactly. Speaker 5:Okay. Um, another thing I wanted to ask you about was, um, you're obviously about solving a big data problem, right? Right. Huge amounts of data that you're trying to do. Analytics, awning, and to extract some kind of knowledge, right? Location aware knowledge. So how do you go about [00:20:30] architecting the system to do that? Did you, you mentioned cloud computing platforms. Who using someone like that or did you have to hire architects to build you up Speaker 3:for database or? So my general philosophy with starting any sort of project is do as little as possible upfront because you have no idea where it's actually going to go. Don't waste your time architecting it over, architecting it early because you may end up realizing this isn't exactly what I wanted to build. And you spend six months building this amazing architecture, amazing data, data store [00:21:00] that you're not, not gonna end up using. And so my philosophy has always been do the bare minimum actually released something, see how people like it and iterate on that. And so we're still in that mode of let's just keep iterating and evolving from a very simple design until we've got this product market fit, which is kind of this tangential concept. What is bragging market fit? You know, it's when your users are signing up like crazy, maybe no one really knows what that means. Speaker 3:But anyway, um, [00:21:30] so we are built on the cloud where all Google app engine, which is a platform as a service, I think that's very clearly the future of software development. It's the natural evolution of assembly language to c type code to Java c plus plus to Ruby Python to platform as a service where instead of dealing with tiny registers and memory memory buckets and when you're doing assembly now you're not even dealing with servers. You just write code, [00:22:00] you say put something on a database call URL and you upload it into the cloud and it manages scalability for you, manages performance and manages servers going down over heating power being cut out. And from the perspective of an entrepreneur or a programmer, anytime you spend on something that's not a core competency is a waste of time because everybody's doing that and it's not going to differentiate you unless you're infrastructure company or you figured out a way to make it really cheap like Google, Facebook, they've kind of got to the point [00:22:30] where they have to worry about that stuff because it's a differentiator for them. Speaker 3:No one's going to be able to scale up to Google's level because they've done so much innovation on that. So I'm all about platform as a service. If I couldn't use Google app engine and I would do something like Amazon or Rackspace and I would never think about using my own hardware unless there's a really, really kind of monetary justification for that and there's not just money. It's also the opportunity cost of operations dealing with servers, waking up in the middle of the night, Google app engine. I love it as [00:23:00] it pretty much been universally adopted by this wave of entrepreneurs. Is there anybody who's like old school, I'm going to build it myself. I would say it's been almost exclusively cloud-based now and it's really, are you gonna go with Amazon or are you going to go with Rackspace or you're going to go with Google app engine and then there's, there's Heroku, which is a very popular too sure. Speaker 3:But there's still definitely a shift. There's still a kind of a divide between the regular cloud like Amazon and on the platform as a service. And I think platforms and service clouds are still very [00:23:30] early, but I'm a huge fan. I would 100% recommend using them. Okay. So one thing, an interesting quote I read from Richard Scoville last week was about, um, he's getting tired of checking out all these new apps that come out and people talking about all the users they have. Right. So you said that the real metric isn't how many users do you have? It's your attrition rate. That's what he wants to talk to people about. So how do you make it sticky? Yeah, yeah. I call it retention, engagement and retention. And I totally [00:24:00] agree. It's, it's kind of tricky. It's, as a company, we're always focused on user acquisition. And retention and you always have to figure out which one's more important. Speaker 3:When we talk to investors, they seem to be really fixated on users. How many users do you have? You know, if you say have 20,000 users, that's one thing. If you have 200,000 they're excited. If you have 2 million, they're really excited. Even if 1% of them, I wouldn't say if it's that bad, like say 5% are retained, if only 5% are actually active, it's fine for them in [00:24:30] a lot of cases, which is sad because that's not really a product if no one's sticking around. And so we as a company have to decide what's more important and where do we put our resources, because you can always only focus on a couple of things. And so yeah, so retention, that's, that's the product market fit is people are coming back to your product. They're just signed up. They actually find it useful and keep coming back. Speaker 3:And especially on the iPhone platform, like you said, there's a thousand apps coming out every day and there's only so many apps you can fit on your iPhone. It's front [00:25:00] page or first few pages. And so it's a battle for that kind of territory warfare on the iPhone. And there's a lot of tricks that you can use and you have to balance tricks between, between tricks and actual value in the product. And so some tricks, something I've been noticing is there's kind of this tragedy of the common situation around email. It's been there for a while where you want to bug your users as much as possible, as much as possible to remind them that you exist. And so email was the kind of the original version of that. And now push notifications [00:25:30] are becoming that people want to, apps want to notify as much as possible to be like, oh yeah, I exist. Speaker 3:And so, so that's a, so that's a tricky uses. Every time a user of yours joins, you notify all their friends, hey, this user's joined. So they remember, Oh yeah, local mind exists or whatever app exists. And Oh, people are joining. That's awesome. They're doing really well. So that's a trick. People use emailing users every week with some interesting information. Um, so those are tricks. Then there's actual value, you know, just make an app useful. Like [00:26:00] Facebook. People come back to it five times a day. The value is I want to know what's going on in my world, which is a really important need that we all have. And so, but that's a hard problem to solve until you get everybody on it. That's that critical mass problem, right? You're not going to know what's going on until everybody's on it. Um, so in the end, the answer to your question is to make a product that has actually useful to people. Speaker 4:Yeah, this is the mighty 90.7 FM k a l x Berkeley. You're listening to method to the madness [00:26:30] at 30 minute show about the innovative spirit of the bay area. I'm your host Aliene Huizar and today we've been speaking with CEO Lenny Richard, ski of local mind. Speaker 3:So let's talk about local mines use. So Speaker 5:tell us some stories about, you know, some anecdotes about people have used it in cool ways. [inaudible] Speaker 3:sure. So one, there's a few stories that I, that I like to tell the one is someone was sending a question to a concert venue. I think it was a girl talk [00:27:00] concert, I think it was actually in San Francisco and they wanted to know if it was, if there's a long line to get in and they wanted to kind of buy ticketed foods, not too crowded and they got an answer back where the guy said that's not so crowded, just getting rolling but I have an extra ticket and if you want to come by I'll give it to you. And they ended up meeting and got the ticket. So that's a great story. You know, that's, that's local. Mine is built on this theory that people have intrinsic desire to help people and they're intrinsically helpful and they enjoy helping. And [00:27:30] not to say people are intrinsically good, but that people like helping other people. Speaker 3:And so that's a great example of that. You know, you got nothing out of it. He met some guy and gave him a free ticket. Another example is when the tsunami hit Japan a few months ago, we saw a bunch of questions being sent to people in Japan about how are things going? Is there anything thing we can do to help you as the water reached the certain point. And what's interesting about local mind is he opened up the app and you see this map of the world and you can zoom [00:28:00] around and you zoom in to Japan and you see markers lit up in Japan, all over Japan. And you kind of realize I can contact some guy in Japan just from random guy, you know, either I want to go to Japan and I'll ask a real question. Or You just talking to some guy in Japan. Speaker 3:How else do you contact someone in Japan? There's no, yeah, in Japan, guy@japan.com and so look at my, allows you to do that. And so we saw people doing that, clicking on markers, reading it on the news, and then clicking markers and sending questions with what can we do to help what's happening? So that was a [00:28:30] great story and it was great to see that kind of thing. There was um, after some big lawn died, we saw people sending questions to downtown New York asking like, how's the party? And kids pay my respect. So that was really cool. And Ground Zero. Um, yeah those are some of the interesting stories. Speaker 5:Cool. So what about um, does my, you know, always ask this question to every entrepreneur I talked to you five years from now. What does it look like? Speaker 3:The Vision, I always come back to you with local mine is this kind of ammunition [00:29:00] to the service where you can see and you can know what's happening anywhere in the world in real time right now. Right now it's through other people. You ask a person a question, they give you an answer and you can see through kind of their eyes metaphorically. I think in the future we're not going to have to rely on people for that type of information. I think we're going to have a lot of interesting API APIs and sensors that are already integrated around the world that we can tap through API APIs. We can figure out how crowded is a place, have noisy as a place, how much parking is left. [00:29:30] Um, how many seats are left at a restaurant without actually having to ask anyone. We're just going to have the data available and local mine is built on this premise that there's all this stuff that people are doing that together creates this amazing products. Speaker 3:We're sitting on top of four square go all of Facebook. We use simple Jia, we use urban airship, we use, you know, we're sitting in apples, the apples marketplace, all these things that connect, that save us time. We don't have to worry about them and we can iterate and innovate a lot more quickly. [00:30:00] And so I see the same thing happening with the world tomorrow. Riley talks about sensors in the world in this kind of Internet of things where the world becomes more connected to the digital world and once real world sensors are are in place, we can do amazing things with them. Like the kind of what I'm describing, we're local mind is going, so the nerds will rule or I think everyone will will benefit to, I don't see it just being the nerds, but you have to be able to access the API to really see what you're saying. Well, it's nice as we're building this on [00:30:30] top of all that stuff so you don't have to worry about it as leisure. Ask a question or find whatever you want to know, but yeah, in spite of that, the nerds will rule. We're all over that. We're the new rock stars, right? We're changing people's lives. Speaker 4:You can check out local mind@localmind.com or check out their app in the iTunes app store for iPhones. Just go to iTunes and type local mind. This has been method to the madness. You can check us out@methodtothemadness.org have a great Friday. Everybody. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
Discussed USGS modeling technologies that show what a major earthquake on the Hayward fault would look like, and BART’s award winning Earthquake Safety Program.TRANSCRIPTSpeaker 1:Okay. Speaker 2:Okay. Okay. [inaudible] Speaker 1:you're listening to method to the madness. 30 minutes show about the innovative spirit of the bay area. I'm your host [00:00:30] aliene Huizar and innovation is usually born from trying to solve some kind of problem. And one of the biggest problems we have facing us in the bay area is earthquakes. We've got the San Andreas fault, we've got the Hayward fault going right underneath the East Bay hills, directly at her memorial stadium here on the beautiful UC Berkeley campus. And I started to wonder what kind of innovative techniques and technologies do we have in the bay area to deal with this imminent problem [00:01:00] of a huge catastrophic earthquake. So I have two interviews for you today. One is with Brad, a guard a geophysicist from the U S G s that's created some really interesting, incredible 3d models that you can see on our website@wwwdotmethodtothemadness.org that simulate a large event on the Hayward fault. And then we speak with John McPartland from the Bart Board of directors who tells [00:01:30] us about Bart's plans to keep the bay area running. And in particular keep the Transbay tube operational in the event of an earthquake. Speaker 2:Stay with us. Speaker 3:[inaudible]. Speaker 4:[00:02:00] Okay. So let's start off by just saying, uh, your name and your Kinda rank name, number type thing. Brad a garden. Uh, I'm a research geophysicist at the u s gs in Menlo Park. Okay. And do you wanna just give me a little bit about your background? Uh, so my background is in earthquake [00:02:30] modeling. I'm concentrating on the dynamics of rupture, how faults actually slipped and earthquakes as well as the ground motions that are produced by the seismic waves radiated from the rupture. Okay. So, um, would you mind giving us a little bit of history on kind of the, that you're part of the modeling kind of where it's come from in the past and where we are right now. So, uh, people have been modeling earthquakes [00:03:00] in a variety of methods for several decades. Um, and with the advent of, uh, modern computers in sort of the eighties and nineties, um, the ability to be able to capture more sophisticated effects in earthquake, uh, ground motions is increased significantly. Speaker 4:Um, and within the past couple of decades with super computers. Now we can do things in 3d that we could only do in 2d, uh, before. And so now we can do [00:03:30] a large, uh, uh, simulations of earthquakes for the damaging earthquakes, the ones who really care about, so magnitude seven and above, um, earthquakes. And we can capture their 3d effects. So we can, we actually create a model of the earth of volume and propagate the, uh, the rupture through the earth and then compute all the seismic waves radiated out through the three d structure. So, [00:04:00] um, as the geology varies from place to place and as a function of depth into the earth, we can capture those effects. Um, and it really takes advantage of several decades worth of work in terms of actually determining what those properties are based on mapping, uh, remote sensing, um, as well as seismic studies of probing the earth using both passive and active, uh, source experiments. So in some cases we can just sit there and monitor, you know, the waves from [00:04:30] small earthquakes that have been generated and in for what the geologic structure is. But then there's also been specific studies of creating a ref reflection and refraction lines like those used in the oil industry across various sections of the bay area. And all that information gets assembled into our three d model, which then we can use in these 3d computer simulations. Speaker 5:Okay, great. Well, let's talk about the model that this is really what caught my attention. I was doing some research for this story and [00:05:00] these are really incredible models that you've built and right where Calyx I think is right there. So, uh, we, I'd like to understand this a little bit first for the listeners. So, um, how did you go about, um, just coming up with the idea for doing these models? Speaker 4:Um, well, we really, I mean we've been doing sort of three d models for about 10 years or more. Um, and I've been doing models for about that long. It really started way back in graduate school for me and, uh, cal tech, is that right? Yes, I went to cal tech and, [00:05:30] um, that, that was in the mid nineties and that's when really the, the super computers became powerful enough that we could actually start to do these three d models with a realistic variations of the material properties. Um, and s uh, leading up to that, um, the centennial, the 1906 earthquake and we made a big push to, in the bay area to be able to improve our three d structure to be able to do simulations of events on the San Andreas fault. And so after we did [00:06:00] a 1906 like events on the San Andreas fault, the next logical step was to do them for the Hayward fault because it is sort of the other big major player, a fault in the San Francisco Bay area. Speaker 4:Okay. So when you decide, let's do, um, you know, let's do a three d model of the Hayward fault, how do you begin something like that? So we began by spending a couple months of the modelers, um, myself as well as other people who we collaborated to do the modeling, [00:06:30] the three d modeling of the ground motions. Uh, we sat down with the geologists as well as the people who dig turned to the cross, the fault, the Paleo seismologists and sort of other geophysicists within the USDS and some of our external collaborators at Lawrence Livermore and Berkeley. And we developed sort of our, what our scenarios were as suite of scenarios there, where we would have main two large events, the main tune, like 6.8 to 7.1 [00:07:00] for the Hayward fault, incorporating, uh, the known history of earthquakes on the faults, um, how much slip we would expect in those events and the length of rupture. Speaker 4:Um, and this is a, that's where we really looked at sort of past events is where as well as, you know, what is the latest information about how, say the Hayward fault may connect to the writer's creek fault under San Pablo Bay and would they go together? Um, and if they went together, you know, would it generally be, [00:07:30] uh, would the eruption need to start sort of underneath the bay or would it be able to make sort of a jump from one fault to the other? And we eliminated the possibility that, uh, in terms of considering the most likely scenario of it, having actually jumped across to actually starting, uh, under San Pablo Bay if it did rupture both of them. Um, but generally we believe that the two faults in most cases are going to operate independently. They may have events relatively close in time [00:08:00] because the stress is on, one will, uh, are when they're relieved in large event will actually increase the stresses on the other because they basically like end to end. Um, but in most cases we would expect them to actually rupture in separate earthquake. Speaker 1:This is method to the madness. A 30 minute show about the innovative spirit of the bay area. I'm your host Eileen Huizar, and I'm speaking with Brad, a guard a geophysicist with the u s g s in Menlo Park who's telling me about a model. He's made a three d model [00:08:30] that simulates a 6.8 earthquake on the Hayward fault. Can you take me through this with a lotto? We're looking at as the right now, the 6.8 with a [inaudible], Speaker 4:um, center in Berkeley. Uh, we're actually, well, they were actually looking at the ground shaking in Berkeley, but the rupture in this case starts down there. Fremont. Okay. And so we're watching the color showing the intensity of the shaking. And so this light is what we call the p wave. Um, and it's coming through and that's where you'd just be able to start [00:09:00] to feel a little bit of shaking. And then now we're about 17 seconds into the rupture and then we get the strong s wave. And that's where the intensity of shaking increases significantly. Um, and that's where you would sort of a, a person would have the sensation of rather than relatively balanced shaking, uh, in the case of a large event like this, this close to the rupture. Um, and when we look at our three d view, we see, um, some important f effects. Speaker 4:If you look along the fault, the intensity of shaking [00:09:30] is higher. And then as you go away from the fault, the intensity of shaking is generally decreasing. But then there's areas like the Livermore area where we have a basin that extends the strong shaking away from the fault. And then along the Hayward fault, we actually, uh, have, uh, less rigid material on the east side of the fault. And so the intensity of shaking is slightly higher there than it is on the west side. Um, these 3d simulations, we don't have the very thin bay mud, which sits right [00:10:00] along the edge of the bay. And so, uh, when you include those effects, then these intensity, the shaking in these models would actually increase a little more. Um, so that would tend to slightly even out the shaking on the east and West sides of the fault. Speaker 4:But in general, uh, with the softer sediments, um, and this is due to the fact that the areas east of the Hayward fault between the sort of the foothills all the way into the great valley is an area that's been highly be formed over tens of thousands to a hundred of thousands of years. And that's sort [00:10:30] of broken up the rock and made it a less rigid. Whereas underneath the San Francisco Bay, um, once you get rid of that very thin, shallow sediment that's quite soft, then you get into much more competent rock quicker than you do east of the heroin form. So does that mean, so on the Hayward fault where it's more broken down, it's less, uh, the impact would be less because it's more flexible or all the more flexible means that a, it acts a little bit more like Jello. And so it [00:11:00] tends to, uh, you can think of it as being a softer material that, uh, is allowed to move around by being sort of more flexible. Speaker 4:It tends to move more when the same amplitude wave, uh, enters that medium. When it, when that amplitude wave enters a medium, if it goes into a softer medium, actually grows and amplitude, if it goes into a more rigid medium and actually decreases in amplitude. So, uh, that, uh, less rigid material means that it's going actually gonna amplify the shaking. [00:11:30] Um, and so, you know, if you are to be your sort of, your most desirable location is on bedrock, which is very hard. Uh, it means you're gonna sort of move maybe with sort of higher frequencies rather than sort of, uh, but you're going to move less than if you're on a, uh, a less rigid material. Gotcha. Okay. So a, the Speaker 5:Hayward fall, it looks, it's going right along the foothills. It looks like it goes right into the Berkeley campus. Speaker 4:So it goes right underneath [00:12:00] Berkeley stadium come up along, uh, the base of the foothills and then runs into San Pablo Bay at point Purnell. Um, and then running down, it runs down along the base of the hills from Hayward down into Fremont. Um, and then it sort of Peters out in some respects at the surface, but then at depth it continues and, uh, migrates over towards more, even with the Calaveras [00:12:30] fault, um, things at the southern end, um, uh, sort of just east of San Jose, it becomes quite complicated. The surface, there's a lot of secondary faults in between the Hayward fault in the car. The Calaveras fault. Speaker 5:Yeah. I follow one of those earthquake bots on Twitter and there seems like there's always a little something going on down under San Jose, a little bit south of Santa. There's a lot of different things down there, right? Speaker 4:Yeah. So there's a, there's sections of the Calaveras fault that have a lot of [00:13:00] small earthquakes and the Calaveras fault also is, has, uh, once you go farther south down, your Morgan Hill tends to have more, what we call creep in that the stress is being relieved almost continuously by just slow motion the fault. And so it's not as prone to larger earthquakes. And that's also true for sections of the Hayward fault near the surface where you tend to have a creep going on. So there's some sections, uh, in Fremont, um, [00:13:30] up through Hayward and then some sections near Berkeley where, uh, you have offset curves, offset walls, um, and, but these are primarily limited to just the very shallow, most, uh, about a mile to two miles of the, of the ground. And underneath it's locked. And we know from historical records that, uh, in 1868, there was a very large earthquake magnitude about 6.8 November on the hero Fox. Speaker 4:So it's, even though [00:14:00] it has these unique features of slowly creeping up the surface, it's still capable of a large earthquake. And that was the last major earthquake on there, you Hayward fall, right? Yes. And, uh, 1860 was the last one. We know, sort of a definitive deep, um, and Mark Twain wrote about it and roughing it, and we did. So there's a, there's several like witness descriptions. Um, and before that, then it, uh, the previous event to that was somewhere around 150 years, but we don't have [00:14:30] historical accounts. Um, so we don't know the precise date. And so our uncertainty start to grow. Um, in terms of precisely when the last few events have happened. Um, but we do have a record of 12 events over the last, uh, 2000 years for the Hayward fault, um, in Fremont, um, and there approximately 150 years or something like that, about 150 years are ranging from anywhere from about 130 years to 107 years. And we're now [00:15:00] 141 years since right in the sweet spot, right? Somewhere near the middle of the time we expect a Hayward fault event. Speaker 1:You are listening to k a l ex Berkeley. This is method to the madness at 30 minutes show about the innovative spirit of the bay area. I'm your host selling his arm. And we've been talking to Brad, a guard from the u s gs and Menlo Park, who's created some cutting-edge models on what the major earthquake that's about to happen on the Hayward fault will look like. Now we turned [00:15:30] our attention to preparation so we know this earthquake imminent. How are we doing on getting ready for it and searching around. I found that Bart actually has received an innovation award in 2010 from the Northern California chapter of the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute for its efforts and its earthquake safety program to protect the system in case of a catastrophic event on the Hayward fault. So I reached out to bart to learn more about the retrofit project that began in 2004. Speaker 6:[00:16:00] Hi, my name is John McPartland. I am art director, but I'm also the vice president of the Bart Board of directors. And I'm also on the Seismic Safety Commission for the state of California. The original retrofit was designed simply to have portions of the system survive and other portions of the system to be able to be operational. [00:16:30] There is a magnitude in cost of about four times in order to be able to improve from survivability to operability. And the reason is you have to have much stronger base structures in the pillars and the list goes on and on and on. The biggest risk of the entire system was the Transbay tube. Uh, and that has since that that was the [00:17:00] first target for our retrofit. And it turns out that not only were we able to stabilize the, the weakest length, which was the, the juncture of on the Transbay tube as you transitioned into the peninsula itself. Speaker 6:Um, but in addition to that, the bay was a lot more stable than we thought it was when we saved a great deal of money. Second issue along those lines is that because [00:17:30] of the recession, a lot of the contracts that have been coming in, um, are coming in, continue to come in at 20 to 25% below the estimate estimated bid. And the rationale behind that is that a lot of these construction companies aren't trying to make a real profit. They're just trying to make payroll. And so we've saved money there between the combination of those two things with the amount of money that we have saved, what we are doing now is we are [00:18:00] increasing the amount of operability sections so that for instance, the on Transbay or the Oakland y, which is the Oakland underground area, basically exits going in the direction of East Oakland, right at about, um, fifth hour, then east seventh. Speaker 6:And from that point on, as soon as it goes, Ariel goes [00:18:30] above grade, it has a survivability quotient and the original design. Now we have enough money to be able to retrofit that for an operability all the way out to the coliseum station. It hasn't been done yet, but we have the money. It's on the books as plant, we're going to do it. That's very interesting. So a combination of factors has made the original bond money go further? Yes. Yup. Um, how do you determine [00:19:00] in terms of priority levels for survivability reasons, operational operability, um, there's a big system. How do you determine which ones is there? Is there a ranking that bar has in terms of what parts are more important than other parts? Yes, and the ranking basically is now, here's where we end up going beyond just servicing the local community. And what we're looking at now is, um, how [00:19:30] we can end up serving as a better component for partner with regional disaster planning. Speaker 6:For instance, if we ended up comparing the now understand that the Oakland Coliseum, which is not designed as a refuge of any kind in the event of a, uh, major earthquake, but let's use a comparison of the coliseum and the Superdome. Now, the Superdome [00:20:00] was refuge of last resort. There was somewhere between 60 and a hundred thousand people in there that had no hope and no way out if we had correction when we have this catastrophic earthquake that is going to for a short period of time. But, uh, it depends on short, his relative term depends on whether you're in the middle of it or not. Well, there's going to be a two days or two weeks, there's going to be a complete collapse [00:20:30] of the infrastructure. Can't use the freeways, rebel in the streets on no water, no communications, no electricity and no way out unless you want to walk. Speaker 6:Now realize that if you had those populations that were gravitating towards the Oakland College, Sam, now all of a sudden the calcium is empty because with we've got electricity and we've got rail, we're moving people a thousand at a time and we're taking them [00:21:00] to outlying areas either on the line that goes to Livermore or online. That ends up going to Richmond or to Concord or to San Francisco because there's five ways into the East Bay and that means there's five ways and there's five ways out we can end up taking refugees out. We can end up bringing a row a week and end up bringing resources in. If I could give you a visualization of what I personally experienced [00:21:30] during the Loma Prieta earthquake, I was the staging officer for a as battalion chief and the Oakland Fire Department as a staging officer for all the apparatus during the Cypress collapse and the initially we had, within four hours we had apparatus fire apparatus that was stacked up four blocks deep and a half a block wide down the side streets. Speaker 6:It was total [00:22:00] gridlock and Cruz were standing there waiting to go to work and we put them to work and we tried to do all the rescue. But over the next two and a half days, the only way that we could end up changing crews was to have a pathway to bring a bus in and have crews simply exchange with one another and take our first cruise in and tired crews out. And we did that for three, four days. We did that until [00:22:30] the Saturday when Buck Helms was found and visualize that same kind of quagmire or gridlock or collapse of infrastructure and in a village and inability to get people out and resources in and take it from Fremont. And then certainly not for the entire things, but in patches from Fremont all the way to Richmond. How the hell are you going to end up doing that? How are you going to get the, the injured out and get the, the, uh, the resources in? If we've [00:23:00] got bart running, we can do that. Speaker 1:This is KLX Berkeley. You're listening to method to the madness. A 30 minute show about the innovative spirit of the bay area. I'm Eileen Huizar and we're talking to Vice President John McPartland of the Bart Board of directors. Bart recently, one in innovation in exemplary practice in earthquake risk reduction reward from the northern California chapter of the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute. And I was asking vice-president McPartland about this award and the retrofit that's going on on Bard right now. And specifically I want him to [00:23:30] know about the Transbay tube. What would happen in the event of a huge earthquake and what would happen to the people underneath the bay. Speaker 6:First of all, the, the two danger areas and the transplant to trust me to have is three and a half miles long. And you ended up having about 57, I think 58 sections. Don't quote me on that, that are 330 feet long. And each one of those sections then was put into place, uh, [00:24:00] welded and put into a trench that was dug in the bottom of the bait. And then they turned around and we ended up, uh, putting balanced on top of it. The big fear that we had was that the bottom of the bay was potentially unstable in the event of an earthquake and we would have to on build a better structure to hold it in place. [00:24:30] The Loma Prieta earthquake caused a lateral shift at the, on the peninsula side and the two flux points that, uh, were critical were at the Oakland vent structure and at the San Francisco event structure and at the San Francisco event structure, um, there had been a lateral shift that, uh, move the alignment or the tolerance to a very [00:25:00] short distance within, uh, inches. Speaker 6:That's maximum tolerance for additional lateral shift. That was our first target. Um, not only did we end up fixing that first, I actually went down there and watched them do the, the last piece of work that put it into operation and basically retrofitted that particular section. Additionally, we have found that there has been no lateral shift at all on the Oakland side because [00:25:30] uh, basically we're pretty stable on the Oakland side. The Hayward fault is a long ways away, number one. And number two, it's a continuum of merit. The term that they ended up using in geology is a, uh, Merritt sand. So the consistency of the soil that actually goes to that portion where we ended up having the vent structure is continuous. And so we haven't had any movement there at all. Then the third section, like I said, was that [00:26:00] we didn't have to do any on retrofit at all during for the entire length of the tube because it's in a solid silt and a lot of balanced on top of, and that's not going anywhere. Speaker 6:If I had to be anywhere in the bart system personally and I worked in the safety department and did a lot of training and the translate to, if I had to be on anywhere when a major earthquake hits, I would probably [00:26:30] prefer, I would prefer to be in the Transbay tube. And the reason is that if you're in the underground, then uh, your train can't derail, it'll slam one side and slam the other, but it's not hell yes, it candy real, but, uh, it's not going to end up, uh, doing nearly as much damage. And I have full confidence in the system, being a watertight and be providing enough power for us to be able to get out of there [00:27:00] salsa nights that we've got a lower gallery that we can end up walking through all, although it, it is a long walk. Speaker 1:So there you have it. You can put those co underwater and the Transbay tube fears to rest courtesy of vice-president McPartland and [inaudible]. But we should all have a healthy dose of fear because this earthquake is going to happen. And I asked the question too, Brad Hagar, the geophysicists from the u s g s about what he tells [00:27:30] people to do in preparation for earthquake. Speaker 4:Taking it out of the science world, you're an expert in this is what you've dedicated your life to studying. Um, so what advice do you give to normal people? And they ask you if you're at a party and someone's like, what should I do for an earthquake? What do you say? Um, well the key is to be prepared to have food and water on hand and have a plan of how you're going to contact family members. Then if you can't contact them, do you have a sort of an understanding [00:28:00] of how are you going to handle rel relatives, children that may be dependent upon you because it may be difficult, for example, particularly difficult to get across the bay a if there's a large event because of bridges may be out, maybe even if the bridges survive, then, uh, along the edges there may be some extensive liquefaction that causes difficulties in disruption of actually getting onto the bridge. Speaker 4:Um, and our water supplies, [00:28:30] uh, especially for Hayward events, most of our water, um, comes across the Hayward and either in one form or another through pipelines. Um, as well as, uh, our power. A lot of our power comes across the Hayward fault. Um, much of those left lifelines have been retrofitted. Um, but then the distributions, the secondary distribution systems, a lot of those are still quite vulnerable, um, to disruption in earthquakes. So having enough water and food on hand. Um, uh, up to a [00:29:00] recently people were saying the 72 hours, and now it's, uh, ideally it's a week, um, because, and it's not so much that you wouldn't be able to get any water after 72 hours, but it's gonna be a lot more convenient if you have it on hand and don't have to, you know, perhaps hike a couple of miles or you go to, uh, a centralized distribution point where, uh, quantities may be very limited. Speaker 1:This has been method to the madness on KALX Berkeley. I'm your host Ali in his r and I'd like to thank our guest today, [00:29:30] Brad Agar from the u s gs and John McParland from Bart, both of whom showed us that the innovative spirit of the bay area is alive and well in dealing with the problem of the imminent on the Hayward fault. Speaker 3:You can learn more about this story@ourwebsiteatmethodtothemadness.org. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
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