Finale...for now

I've been going sort of bananas posting about Activated Spaces here. I'd like to deviate but I've been pretty absorbed which has been great for me but may be a wee much for the blog. So for the finale (for now) of my coverage on the pop-up shop project I have this to share:

DOWNTOWN DAYTON POP-UP SHOPS TO HOST OPEN HOUSES FRIDAY, DEC. 2 [TODAY!!]

Mayor Gary Leitzell will help raise money for Activated Spaces during event, part of the First Friday Scavenger Hunt.

City of Dayton Mayor Gary Leitzell will help raise funds for Activated Spaces’ Pop-Up Project by having his nails painted at 8 p.m. Friday, Dec. 2, at Beaute Box, 116 W. Fifth St.

The more money that’s raised prior to the event, the crazier the color will be. Click here to donate online via PayPal.

Proceeds from the fundraiser will help future local business owners get a head start in their entrepreneurial experience through the Pop-Up Project, which supports incoming tenants offset the costs associated with launching their downtown business. Beaute Box is one of three downtown businesses that opened Friday, Nov. 25, as part of the pilot Pop-Up Project. All three of the new businesses will host open houses starting at 4 p.m. in conjunction with the Dec. 2 First Friday. The businesses are: Peace on Fifth, 519 E. Fifth St., sells fair trade, slave-free and eco-friendly merchandise; Beaute Box, 116 W. Fifth St., is a day spa providing nail care, waxing, eyelash extensions and makeup services; Comfort and Joy (open until 5 p.m. on Friday), 521-523 E. Fifth St., features baked goods, scented candles, crocheted items and other holiday gifts created by a collaboration of artists and crafters.

The open houses are some of the stops in the updayton First Friday Scavenger Hunt. Clue sheets will be available in First Friday Passports; click here for a list of participating locations or download clue sheets at updayton.com. Five stops are included on the Scavenger Hunt: Everyone who visits all five will be entered into a drawing for prizes at the Scavenger Hunt After Party, held from 8:30 to 10:30 p.m. at 110 W. Fifth St. (next to Beaute Box). Everyone who visits at least three stops and takes a picture of themselves with the item mentioned in the clue will be able to attend the party, which will feature Yuengling, wine, snacks, a live DJ and a photo booth.

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You can't go wrong ending with a party, amirite!?

Activated Spaces' Pop-Up Shops are OPEN!

You are probably getting sick of seeing this same ol' same logo. Well today you are in luck! I have a new logo to show you that I, Bethany of i love SoOh, got to design for our Activated Spaces' Pop-Up Shop project! I'm so excited that I got to do this because graphic design is a hobby of mine I really enjoy. So without further blah blah, the logo and marketing material I designed:

The logo

 

The Poster:

The Palm Cards (front):

The Palm Cards (back):

I don't know if you all noticed but I even got to put a credit line in the lower right hand corner of the poster and palm card! I did that in hopes that I could do more work like this. So this is my unofficial announcement that I will be taking freelance work. As I said this is unofficial so I don't have many details other than email me about a project and I'll get back with you but in a couple weeks I will post a detailed list of services I can offer. Working on this project definitely reignited passions I've had but haven't had much of a chance to work on professionally. In particular; working for a non-profit to promote locally owned businesses through design and marketing. So if you have a project that needs graphics and/or a marketing plan that falls into that area, please be sure to email me. And even if your project isn't related to that area, email me anyway! Keep an eye out for more details on my freelance services.

Enough about me though, let's talk about these shops. Here is what you need to know:

All Activated Spaces pop-up retailers will be open for Grande Illumination festivities on Friday, November 25. Beaute Box will be open 3-7 p.m. and feature a grand opening celebration with refreshments. Comfort and Joy will open their doors from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and PEACE on Fifth will celebrate what it is calling “Fair Trade Friday.”

• Comfort and Joy, 521-523 E. Fifth St., features baked goods, poetry, books and crocheted items created by a collaboration of artists and crafters. Music for sale includes jazz, gospel and the sounds of the season. 937-524-6222

• Peace on 5th, 519 E. Fifth St., a satellite of the Dayton International Peace Museum’s store, will sell fair trade, slave-free and eco-friendly merchandise. Every item for sale has a story, perfect for holiday gift-giving. 937-227-3223

• Beaute Box, 116 W. Fifth St., is a day spa and salon that will provide nail care, waxing, eyelash extensions and makeup services with a personal, pampering touch. 937-903-3165

From 4 to 8 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 2, the three retailers will host open houses in conjunction with the updayton Scavenger Hunt that’s part of downtown’s free monthly art hop, First Friday. Details about the open house will be announced soon.

Have you already checked out the shops today? Tell me what you think. If you have any questions let me know in the comments or go to http://www.activatedspaces.org to learn more.

More Activated Spaces Love

Check out these gorgeous photos (Carly Short ftw!) of one of the spaces for the Pop Up Pilot. Before and After photos of the space inside to come soon!

 

Can you get anymore classic than a downtown Brownstone?

Activated Spaces: Spread the Word!

As Some of may already know, I'm volunteering with Activated Spaces. It is a volunteer-led group that is all about bringing new life to vacant spaces in downtown Dayton. It's a really awesome group of talented people who are dedicating their time (for free!) to boost the downtown area. I'm really excited and happy to be a part of the team and I have some very exciting news:

• GRAPHIC DESIGN: I'm designing the logo and promotional material!!! I'm honored and super flattered that they would trust me to design the look of the Pop Up Pilot phase. I'll start posting previews soon!
• TWITTER: I'm helping with the Activated Spaces twitter. And naturally whenever twitter is mentioned a plea for followers is inevitable so...PLEASE FOLLOW @ActivatedSpaces. It will come in handy to follow because we will be updating about our progress and tweeting about giveaways relating to the project.
• INTERIOR DESIGN: We have a wonderful team of interior designers who will be working on the spaces. Sadly, I'm a knucklehead and don't have their website but I can tell you it is a team made up of professional designers who have years of experience as well as design students. One of which has had experience working on window displays at Anthropologie. A couple volunteers (myself included!) are going to help them get their vision realized by doing some good old fashioned grunt work...floral arrangements, arranging vignettes, pillow fluffing...I kid, I kid I'm sure we will also move furniture etc. We intend to have "making of" the spaces with some time-lapse videos which will be posted on facebook, twitter and here! We are also in the process of finding furniture stores, thrift stores and/or consignment stores that will rent/donate items to the spaces. If you know of anyone please share!.
• FACEBOOK: We are planning on having a very neat contest to get more likes on our facebook. Soooo, like/friend us at Facebook to stay tuned! The very talented Ms. Carly Short will be the one posting at facebook. Check out her amazing photography here.
• MORE TO COME!

So in short, I'm pumped! I've met some really great people through this and everyone is working hard to bring this awesome project to downtown. And if you have ideas on how we can spread the word I would love to hear them and if you are interested in helping our group go here

Activated Spaces: Pop-up Project Opprtunity!

Some of you may know that I'm volunteering with Activated Spaces a group that is all about giving new life to currently vacant downtown (Dayton) storefronts. It's been really fun getting involved with Downtown and we just finished our first phase. If you haven't voted for the People's Choice Award for our first phase you should, today is the last day!

Now we are in our second phase and our project is called the Pop-up Project. I'm not going to take any liberties with language so here is a blurb straight from the website:

Are you interested in opening a retail storefront in downtown Dayton? If so, we want to hear from you. The Activated Spaces Pop-Up Project, a component of the Greater Dayton Downtown Plan, is currently seeking proposals from prospective pop-up retail tenants. The minimal lease length for your retail shop will be three months. Spaces will have varying lease rates, but will be leased below market value.

We are also looking for prospective retail tenants to participate in the pilot Pop-Up Project. The pilot project will accept a one month leasing option to accommodate a retail tenant for the holiday season. Pilot program participants will also receive special discounts and support from Activated Spaces as part of involvement in the pilot.

If you are interested you should definitely apply here. If not, you can still help us out by spreading the word. If you have an industrious friend, family member or acquaintance who runs an online business or does craft shows, send this to them! As always, I love to hear your thoughts, so please share your thoughts on this project.

News: Getting Involved - Activated Spaces

 





Activated Spaces Committee

I went to my first Activated Spaces Committee meeting today and for some reason I thought that volunteering meant doing grunt work by helping the artists put up their exhibits. But in actuality I volunteered to be on the panning board! I wouldn't have minded doing physical labor but helping with the planning and awareness efforts of the campaign is going to be very rewarding. Today, I had a chance to preview all the artist submissions. The work that I saw looked great and I'm excited to see it come to fruition in the store windows.

Small World, Small World

The people at the meeting were all so welcoming and friendly. It was great to meet other people who care so much about the Downtown Dayton area. I did meet one person in particular that I was pseudo familiar with...she was the person who lived in our place before us! AND we are friends with two of her friends which we met through a park clean up and live not too far away in our neighborhood. Here's basically how the convo went...

Her: Where do you live?
Me: I live...
Her: Oh I used to live there too
Me: Oh, which street?
Her: So-and-so street
Me: Umm, did you live at...?
Her: Whoa, yes! Do YOU know...
Me: So-and-So!?
Her: Yes! She's been saying I should meet you guys
Me: She has said the same thing to me too!
end scene

Now that's some cutting edge drama there. So we are planning an elaborate (not that elaborate) scheme to meet up and surprise the people we mutually know. Sure that sounds a little cheesy but there's only a few times in your life you can plan some schmaltzy TV-like scenario, amirite? Anyhow, I also had the chance to meet John who is on the board of the Focus Photo Club. I'm not sure why I never thought of joining a photo club to motivate me to learn how to take better photos but I guess that's what meeting new people will get you. It was a bit of an epiphany for me and I look forward to joining the club!

In short...

I haven't been a volunteer/club type since school. And I haven't been involved because I honestly never thought about it. When you are at school there's so much easy access to clubs, events and socializing that all you do is step out your dorm room and talk with people about what is going on. I think that easy access made me lazy and not think of seeking out clubs and organizations. Stumbling upon the Activated Spaces volunteer page has opened up a whole new persepctive of getting involved. So hopefully this little post will inspire you all to get out there in your own communities to meet new people, meet some pseudo familiar people and even pick up a few skills. Love to hear more volunteer/club inspiration, so please share any clubs or volunteering you are involved with or wish to get involved with.