This file was automatically generated by VIMEO

1 00:00:02.600 --> 00:00:06.300 Hello, welcome to today's webinar before

2 00:00:05.300 --> 00:00:09.300 we get started. I'm going to launch a

3 00:00:08.300 --> 00:00:11.400 poll to see who we

4 00:00:11.400 --> 00:00:14.700 have in the room. And while

5 00:00:14.700 --> 00:00:17.800 we do that I'll introduce myself. I am

6 00:00:17.800 --> 00:00:21.300 Anna. I am a community manager

7 00:00:20.300 --> 00:00:24.000 here at next door and I

8 00:00:23.400 --> 00:00:26.500 am currently tuning in from Oakland, California.

9 00:00:26.500 --> 00:00:29.600 And let's see

10 00:00:29.600 --> 00:00:32.400 who we have in the room before I introduce our

11 00:00:32.400 --> 00:00:35.900 wonderful guest we have

12 00:00:35.900 --> 00:00:38.900 oh 50% Northeast and

13 00:00:38.900 --> 00:00:41.600 50% from the West. Oh now

14 00:00:41.600 --> 00:00:43.800 we have a little bit more from the Midwest and

15 00:00:45.100 --> 00:00:48.400 We have leads Community reviewers and

16 00:00:48.400 --> 00:00:53.600 welcomeers. Welcome everybody 63%

17 00:00:51.600 --> 00:00:56.000 leads 13%

18 00:00:54.400 --> 00:00:57.800 Community reviewers. Oh

19 00:00:57.800 --> 00:01:01.300 more welcomers hopping up to 50% awesome.

20 00:01:00.300 --> 00:01:04.400 So so great. I'm

21 00:01:03.400 --> 00:01:06.100 gonna end the poll now. Thank you

22 00:01:06.100 --> 00:01:09.800 so much for tuning in and thank

23 00:01:09.800 --> 00:01:12.500 you for your flexibility. I know this was scheduled for last week.

24 00:01:12.500 --> 00:01:16.500 And so I really appreciate you all being here today. So

25 00:01:15.500 --> 00:01:19.200 I'm exceptionally excited about today.

26 00:01:18.200 --> 00:01:21.800 We're gonna be talking about community

27 00:01:21.800 --> 00:01:24.200 building which is something that is near and dear to

28 00:01:24.200 --> 00:01:27.500 my heart and a pillar of the efforts that you all as our

29 00:01:27.500 --> 00:01:30.700 leads Community reviewers and welcomeers are engaged

30 00:01:30.700 --> 00:01:33.400 in and feel free to drop any questions

31 00:01:33.400 --> 00:01:36.700 you have in the chat and we'll try to get to them in

32 00:01:36.700 --> 00:01:39.400 the last 10 to 15 minutes or leave them throughout

33 00:01:39.400 --> 00:01:42.900 the interview and today

34 00:01:42.900 --> 00:01:43.800 I have

35 00:01:45.100 --> 00:01:48.100 Wonderful guest Charlize joining us. Hi Charlize

36 00:01:49.700 --> 00:01:53.800 doing doing well. Thanks so much for being here Charlize

37 00:01:52.800 --> 00:01:55.400 runs the town experience that

38 00:01:55.400 --> 00:01:59.400 and we'll get more into what that is. And why

39 00:01:58.400 --> 00:02:02.300 don't we just dive in? Can you

40 00:02:02.300 --> 00:02:05.500 start by telling us a little bit about yourself and your

41 00:02:05.500 --> 00:02:06.700 current neighborhood?

42 00:02:09.900 --> 00:02:13.500 And founder of the Town experience currently residing

43 00:02:12.500 --> 00:02:15.100 in Ivy Hill Neighborhood of

44 00:02:15.100 --> 00:02:19.500 Oakland, California. I've been living in Oakland almost

45 00:02:18.500 --> 00:02:21.300 10 years. This is gonna be I moved

46 00:02:21.300 --> 00:02:24.600 here in 2013. I'm a bay

47 00:02:24.600 --> 00:02:27.200 area in Born and Raised religion in the

48 00:02:27.200 --> 00:02:31.900 South Bay. Whoever you're right. That's another story South

49 00:02:30.900 --> 00:02:33.800 Bay San Jose and then

50 00:02:33.800 --> 00:02:36.200 relocated here 10 years

51 00:02:36.200 --> 00:02:36.300 ago.

52 00:02:38.300 --> 00:02:41.700 Not looking back though. I love I've always loved Oaken Oakland. It

53 00:02:41.700 --> 00:02:44.400 was my second home before I moved here. And now it's my first place

54 00:02:44.400 --> 00:02:47.400 of residence and at heart.

55 00:02:47.400 --> 00:02:50.400 I'm an oaklander Mmm Yeah at

56 00:02:50.400 --> 00:02:53.200 heart you're in Oakland. And yeah, you've been here for a long time and have made

57 00:02:53.200 --> 00:02:56.000 quite a big impact in Oakland. Um,

58 00:02:56.600 --> 00:02:57.900 maybe can you talk a little bit about

59 00:02:59.200 --> 00:03:03.000 from moving to Oakland your journey of creating the

60 00:03:02.200 --> 00:03:05.400 town experience and maybe start by saying what what

61 00:03:05.400 --> 00:03:08.500 is the town experience? So our listeners can kind

62 00:03:08.500 --> 00:03:10.000 of get a sense of the context.

63 00:03:10.800 --> 00:03:13.700 So the town experience in itself is a

64 00:03:13.700 --> 00:03:16.300 destination marketing platform on the

65 00:03:16.300 --> 00:03:19.600 Highlight our vibrant city of Oakland and all the cool experiences.

66 00:03:19.600 --> 00:03:22.500 You should be able to have in the town as I

67 00:03:22.500 --> 00:03:25.600 like to tell people Oakland is a location but the

68 00:03:25.600 --> 00:03:28.300 town is the experience that you do away from here.

69 00:03:28.300 --> 00:03:31.600 So if you visit Oakland and you didn't really get the town experience,

70 00:03:31.600 --> 00:03:34.600 it's like you've never really did you didn't really immerse

71 00:03:34.600 --> 00:03:35.700 in the city as I like to say.

72 00:03:36.200 --> 00:03:39.500 So our platform is dedicated to the uplifting

73 00:03:39.500 --> 00:03:43.100 local businesses highlighting weekly events

74 00:03:42.100 --> 00:03:45.900 and community events volunteer opportunities in

75 00:03:45.900 --> 00:03:49.500 any engagement that keeps the culture connected between

76 00:03:48.500 --> 00:03:51.400 visitors and locals who

77 00:03:51.400 --> 00:03:54.700 are trying to tap into their city. Um,

78 00:03:54.700 --> 00:03:57.700 as a destination marketing organization, there's levels

79 00:03:57.700 --> 00:04:00.600 to that. It's about connecting tourism as well

80 00:04:00.600 --> 00:04:03.300 as localizing your community. So there's a

81 00:04:03.300 --> 00:04:07.500 lot of community building localizing mobilizing. We are

82 00:04:06.500 --> 00:04:09.000 in a lot of rooms from the

83 00:04:09.600 --> 00:04:13.200 cities down to the Community Builders in each neighborhood. Just

84 00:04:12.200 --> 00:04:15.700 during that we're connecting the

85 00:04:15.700 --> 00:04:18.300 partnership networks in the room and the

86 00:04:18.300 --> 00:04:21.800 key strategist that are helping move this city forward and ensuring

87 00:04:21.800 --> 00:04:24.100 that we are keeping the community at the

88 00:04:24.100 --> 00:04:27.600 base of our priorities and there's no

89 00:04:27.600 --> 00:04:30.400 secret of the the way the influx

90 00:04:30.400 --> 00:04:33.300 of real estate and technology has shifted and

91 00:04:33.300 --> 00:04:36.100 impact the city a lot of gentrification.

92 00:04:36.200 --> 00:04:39.300 A lot of local people have been misdisplaced and

93 00:04:39.300 --> 00:04:42.700 we have a huge homeless issue here. So our

94 00:04:42.700 --> 00:04:45.500 strategies as the town experience and as

95 00:04:45.500 --> 00:04:48.500 our purpose is to help out the move for but yet

96 00:04:48.500 --> 00:04:51.800 be able to preserve the community and can you

97 00:04:51.800 --> 00:04:54.200 know create a new ecosystem that we can all drive them?

98 00:04:55.700 --> 00:04:58.800 That's incredible and there's so

99 00:04:58.800 --> 00:04:59.800 much packed in there.

100 00:05:01.700 --> 00:05:03.800 I'm curious how you're

101 00:05:05.300 --> 00:05:09.600 like your neighborhood experiences kind of shape your

102 00:05:09.600 --> 00:05:12.200 professional work with the ton experience.

103 00:05:12.900 --> 00:05:15.000 Just I would say it just

104 00:05:15.300 --> 00:05:18.800 my awareness even living in the Bay Area on my life made that made

105 00:05:18.800 --> 00:05:21.500 the mate was part of that and then move

106 00:05:21.500 --> 00:05:24.500 Oakland even though Oakland was a familiar City me

107 00:05:24.500 --> 00:05:27.700 is the difference from visiting versus being in a

108 00:05:27.700 --> 00:05:30.200 city and living there 24 hours and really just being able to

109 00:05:30.200 --> 00:05:33.200 see the disconnects and see the

110 00:05:33.200 --> 00:05:36.600 opportunities. I feel like it's the same as when you vacation go somewhere

111 00:05:36.600 --> 00:05:39.500 else. You see so many plethora of opportunities in

112 00:05:39.500 --> 00:05:42.200 the cities that usually the local I overlooks because yeah

113 00:05:42.200 --> 00:05:45.500 certain way so when I

114 00:05:45.500 --> 00:05:46.500 came into Oakland,

115 00:05:47.300 --> 00:05:50.200 I was still working in entertainment Tech. I've always been in

116 00:05:50.200 --> 00:05:50.600 project management.

117 00:05:51.600 --> 00:05:54.400 And events, but I was working more than entertainment

118 00:05:54.400 --> 00:05:57.500 field doing live shows concerts clubs and I

119 00:05:57.500 --> 00:06:00.300 was working in Tech during the day as a project

120 00:06:00.300 --> 00:06:03.600 manager, but slowly the social contagion of

121 00:06:03.600 --> 00:06:06.600 Oakland started to hit my heart. I was I felt

122 00:06:06.600 --> 00:06:09.200 like I was only one doing like entertainment around my circle

123 00:06:09.200 --> 00:06:12.200 people are Educators Community Building activists. I'm

124 00:06:12.200 --> 00:06:15.100 like, I I realized I was just not that topped into

125 00:06:15.100 --> 00:06:18.600 my own culture. But again Oakland is this it

126 00:06:18.600 --> 00:06:21.300 has a contagious field that makes you want to

127 00:06:21.300 --> 00:06:23.200 be part of that you like

128 00:06:23.300 --> 00:06:26.600 Start to see where the city if you

129 00:06:26.600 --> 00:06:29.400 love the city. You see the good end about it. And yeah.

130 00:06:32.800 --> 00:06:33.200 shift

131 00:06:35.300 --> 00:06:38.400 Careers, so I made an industry through even

132 00:06:38.400 --> 00:06:41.300 though I'm still doing events coincidentally. I started doing more

133 00:06:41.300 --> 00:06:43.800 cool community events and you off.

134 00:06:46.900 --> 00:06:50.100 ERS in the need to who the Council councilmans of

135 00:06:49.100 --> 00:06:52.700 the different districts and the Community Builders and really

136 00:06:52.700 --> 00:06:55.900 just increasing my network. So the town

137 00:06:55.900 --> 00:06:58.300 experience was influenced not only by the

138 00:06:58.300 --> 00:07:01.900 relationships I was building out of that but what really like kicked

139 00:07:01.900 --> 00:07:05.400 it off and brided into fruition was 2019

140 00:07:04.400 --> 00:07:07.600 when the announcement of Afro Tech

141 00:07:07.600 --> 00:07:10.800 conference was coming to Oakland. I have been Tech

142 00:07:10.800 --> 00:07:13.300 before I have participated as a staff member

143 00:07:13.300 --> 00:07:16.800 and I always said if they ever moved into Oakland from

144 00:07:16.800 --> 00:07:19.400 San Francisco, it would be a totally

145 00:07:19.400 --> 00:07:22.500 different this place, you know, San Francisco's Dynamics, but

146 00:07:22.500 --> 00:07:25.600 Oakland is just more aligned to the demographics

147 00:07:25.600 --> 00:07:28.500 and bringing black comp black Tech

148 00:07:28.500 --> 00:07:31.800 conference to the Bay Area. And with that diversity

149 00:07:31.800 --> 00:07:34.300 inclusion means in Oakland. I thought that was just the

150 00:07:34.300 --> 00:07:37.700 perfect community and cultural connection to me. So I was

151 00:07:37.700 --> 00:07:40.500 inspired by that idea. The town experience was not

152 00:07:40.500 --> 00:07:43.600 a name yet. It was just a plan to how do

153 00:07:43.600 --> 00:07:46.700 we create a Oakland Hospitality program for

154 00:07:46.900 --> 00:07:49.600 Influx of 10th out expected 10,000 attendees

155 00:07:49.600 --> 00:07:52.300 that come. Oh, wow, like and give

156 00:07:52.300 --> 00:07:55.200 them a real town experience in the way where you go to Super Bowl

157 00:07:55.200 --> 00:07:56.600 or go to All Star weekend.

158 00:07:58.700 --> 00:08:01.100 In San Francisco, they're only really

159 00:08:01.100 --> 00:08:04.600 bringing in an average to the actually events about 20,000 people

160 00:08:04.600 --> 00:08:07.000 but you're bringing in over 100,000 people

161 00:08:07.100 --> 00:08:10.400 to a city which means they're there for the experience and they're they're just

162 00:08:10.400 --> 00:08:14.200 for the actual event. So taking from that those

163 00:08:13.200 --> 00:08:16.600 models the town experience strategy

164 00:08:16.600 --> 00:08:19.200 was built it was built to be as destination marketing plan.

165 00:08:19.200 --> 00:08:23.600 Can you hear me now? Is it better the

166 00:08:22.600 --> 00:08:25.600 idea was just to be a destination marketing

167 00:08:25.600 --> 00:08:28.300 plan for one weekend, but when it caught

168 00:08:28.300 --> 00:08:32.300 the eyes of some people on the city and the tourism, they told

169 00:08:31.300 --> 00:08:34.300 me that this is something I should consider building

170 00:08:34.300 --> 00:08:37.400 out as a long-term opportunity for Oakland. And this was

171 00:08:37.400 --> 00:08:40.300 something that was missing in there in their marketing. So

172 00:08:40.300 --> 00:08:41.400 that was

173 00:08:42.900 --> 00:08:45.300 How the town experiences built the name was

174 00:08:45.300 --> 00:08:48.900 actually just a name on a focus group board when we had our first brainstorm. I

175 00:08:48.900 --> 00:08:51.200 just you know you write something like I have

176 00:08:51.200 --> 00:08:54.700 a little ring to it. Yeah that was just for to do

177 00:08:54.700 --> 00:08:57.500 a word play a planning board. And when

178 00:08:57.500 --> 00:09:00.400 I put the planning board on the on the on the

179 00:09:00.400 --> 00:09:03.300 easel, yeah like oh, that's the name right

180 00:09:03.300 --> 00:09:06.500 there. That's the name we should use and I like, okay. Well then

181 00:09:06.500 --> 00:09:10.000 let's just check that off the list and call the town experience. But that's

182 00:09:09.300 --> 00:09:13.000 really it was just an organic idea to welcome

183 00:09:12.300 --> 00:09:15.100 in the visitors and be able to

184 00:09:15.100 --> 00:09:18.300 give them a real town experience and from that the business was

185 00:09:18.300 --> 00:09:20.100 born six months later.

186 00:09:21.100 --> 00:09:24.200 Pandemic came but I guess that was also timing is

187 00:09:24.200 --> 00:09:27.600 everything I felt like ended being the perfect time to start a business is I

188 00:09:27.600 --> 00:09:30.600 started it with understanding the worst case scenarios that

189 00:09:30.600 --> 00:09:33.100 can happen in the business. So I was able

190 00:09:33.100 --> 00:09:36.100 to Pivot forward and plan accordingly as you know,

191 00:09:36.100 --> 00:09:39.400 I see business. Yeah. Yeah. Wow, it's

192 00:09:39.400 --> 00:09:42.300 incredible how organically it grew and how much

193 00:09:42.300 --> 00:09:45.700 you know, how flexible you've been and kind

194 00:09:45.700 --> 00:09:48.900 of meeting the moment and when I

195 00:09:48.900 --> 00:09:51.300 think about community and you know, Oakland and

196 00:09:51.300 --> 00:09:54.000 the town experience, there's there's so much and it's such like

197 00:09:54.200 --> 00:09:57.100 a large container. How do you focus and how do

198 00:09:57.100 --> 00:10:00.900 you decide what events to put on and kind of are there guiding principles

199 00:10:00.900 --> 00:10:03.600 that you kind of follow as you

200 00:10:03.600 --> 00:10:07.600 build out the business guiding principles?

201 00:10:07.800 --> 00:10:10.100 Definitely think is a big component of

202 00:10:10.100 --> 00:10:13.500 it because there's a lot of things that can come across our

203 00:10:13.500 --> 00:10:16.700 plate that sound great, but I'm really a person

204 00:10:16.700 --> 00:10:20.000 that has to analyze how Purpose Driven it is. And what

205 00:10:19.100 --> 00:10:22.700 is the value of you know dedicating our

206 00:10:22.700 --> 00:10:25.600 time to this to make the most impact because

207 00:10:25.600 --> 00:10:28.600 if it's not hitting those key points, then it's

208 00:10:28.600 --> 00:10:32.100 not I feel like it does a disservice to ourselves and

209 00:10:31.100 --> 00:10:34.500 the Oakland especially, you

210 00:10:34.500 --> 00:10:37.900 know, the city already has I feel like is has a

211 00:10:37.900 --> 00:10:40.100 little trauma behind it's the way

212 00:10:40.100 --> 00:10:43.300 it's been misrepresented. So to me especially being

213 00:10:43.300 --> 00:10:46.900 someone who's not originally from Oakland. I have a greater responsibility

214 00:10:46.900 --> 00:10:49.300 to represent it. Um, but again,

215 00:10:49.300 --> 00:10:52.500 also there's also the case of bandwidth, you know, I can't take everything

216 00:10:52.500 --> 00:10:55.300 on so I try to limit my support where

217 00:10:55.300 --> 00:10:58.500 I can within the means but I also feel like there's so

218 00:10:58.500 --> 00:11:01.400 much work to be done in the city and there's so many opportunities and

219 00:11:01.400 --> 00:11:06.000 that is the beautiful part of why we have a network is

220 00:11:04.100 --> 00:11:07.300 so that we can share the work and

221 00:11:07.300 --> 00:11:07.600 share the

222 00:11:08.100 --> 00:11:11.100 So if I can't do it or if it's something that just really

223 00:11:11.100 --> 00:11:14.200 isn't in my means to do there's I feel like there's always someone I can

224 00:11:14.200 --> 00:11:17.800 pass off this information or refer to or recommend. So,

225 00:11:17.800 --> 00:11:20.400 you know, it's also about that partnership building being

226 00:11:20.400 --> 00:11:23.400 able yeah really be able to aggregate teams and

227 00:11:23.400 --> 00:11:27.100 rally troops when needed and that

228 00:11:26.100 --> 00:11:29.400 that part of the network really is like the key

229 00:11:29.400 --> 00:11:32.100 component of how we build that so that we know what to take on

230 00:11:32.100 --> 00:11:35.400 and not take on. Yeah, sometimes it's just getting feedback from

231 00:11:35.400 --> 00:11:38.400 your community members like hey, this idea came across and you're gonna

232 00:11:38.400 --> 00:11:41.700 say this is greater. We don't really like this idea, you know even

233 00:11:41.700 --> 00:11:44.200 having network you can fall back on for feedback. So that

234 00:11:44.200 --> 00:11:47.500 also helps determine our best placements and

235 00:11:47.500 --> 00:11:50.500 positions with events and programs that we make in

236 00:11:50.500 --> 00:11:55.200 the city. Yeah, that's great. And I imagine

237 00:11:54.200 --> 00:11:57.900 like, you know myself I love community

238 00:11:57.900 --> 00:12:00.900 and Community organizing and I'm sure several folks

239 00:12:00.900 --> 00:12:03.600 who are tuning in here are Community Builders,

240 00:12:03.600 --> 00:12:06.100 especially since they're part of our neighborhood teams program

241 00:12:06.100 --> 00:12:07.800 and you kind of mention

242 00:12:08.100 --> 00:12:12.100 Some some nuggets about how to

243 00:12:12.100 --> 00:12:15.500 go about this and like what to think about when building

244 00:12:15.500 --> 00:12:18.300 these experiences and some things

245 00:12:18.300 --> 00:12:21.400 I've heard are, you know being able to get feedback from people, you know

246 00:12:21.400 --> 00:12:24.400 being able to fall in Partnerships and

247 00:12:24.400 --> 00:12:27.300 like really the collaborative aspect of it and I'm

248 00:12:27.300 --> 00:12:30.800 curious for all of our listeners and for

249 00:12:30.800 --> 00:12:33.400 me too. Like what what would you suggest?

250 00:12:35.700 --> 00:12:38.600 To keep in mind for building Community

251 00:12:38.600 --> 00:12:41.300 if I if I have you know a desire to

252 00:12:41.300 --> 00:12:44.500 do that. I really want to go out and like bring my community together and

253 00:12:44.500 --> 00:12:47.400 you know, maybe there's somebody across the country who's watching right

254 00:12:47.400 --> 00:12:50.300 now and is inspired by you. How do

255 00:12:50.300 --> 00:12:52.200 you start and like, what do you keep in mind?

256 00:12:53.300 --> 00:12:56.300 to do something like this, or maybe not at

257 00:12:56.300 --> 00:12:56.900 this scale, but

258 00:12:58.400 --> 00:13:01.200 some sort of community Gathering or event

259 00:13:02.300 --> 00:13:04.100 Um, well two points one.

260 00:13:05.500 --> 00:13:08.400 And not easy so you're gonna have to try a few times before

261 00:13:08.400 --> 00:13:12.000 you get right. I've definitely over the years have tried

262 00:13:11.100 --> 00:13:14.500 to rally the troops for several different purposes and

263 00:13:14.500 --> 00:13:17.300 one reason or another either fell off or lost interest

264 00:13:17.300 --> 00:13:20.600 or just didn't work and you can get discouraged by those but

265 00:13:20.600 --> 00:13:23.200 there's always something there's always more to be done.

266 00:13:23.200 --> 00:13:27.100 So don't let the first two tries discourage you

267 00:13:26.100 --> 00:13:29.600 not everybody that starts on the team will end

268 00:13:29.600 --> 00:13:32.300 with the be the in team and that's also important

269 00:13:32.300 --> 00:13:35.400 I come from being a project manager background. So

270 00:13:35.400 --> 00:13:38.400 I'm always coordinating cross-functional teams if I

271 00:13:38.400 --> 00:13:39.000 use technically

272 00:13:39.800 --> 00:13:42.800 I'm sorry, but so it

273 00:13:42.800 --> 00:13:45.600 already has a priority understand onboarding process

274 00:13:45.600 --> 00:13:48.500 how to create flows and that's just being

275 00:13:48.500 --> 00:13:51.100 in the project manager and and that who know

276 00:13:51.100 --> 00:13:54.700 that would be a god-given talent that led over to this but I say

277 00:13:54.700 --> 00:13:57.300 starts with that and I'll see you have to

278 00:13:57.300 --> 00:14:00.200 be comfortable with being the first initiate conversations. You

279 00:14:00.200 --> 00:14:03.000 have to be. I'm an extrovert when it comes

280 00:14:03.200 --> 00:14:06.300 to networking. I like to I will see an event

281 00:14:06.300 --> 00:14:09.000 coming to town that's like on the news and I'm like,

282 00:14:09.600 --> 00:14:12.200 I'm going to find out who's running it and the organizers I

283 00:14:12.400 --> 00:14:15.000 Nice is to make an introduction. I if there's someone I want to

284 00:14:15.300 --> 00:14:18.100 meet I am I'll investigate find out who I

285 00:14:18.100 --> 00:14:21.400 need to talk to whether gatekeeper to make an introduction or make a

286 00:14:21.400 --> 00:14:24.200 just cold introduction to them myself and I'm a

287 00:14:24.200 --> 00:14:27.500 lot of times I I do luck out. I think there's just an

288 00:14:27.500 --> 00:14:30.400 organic nature to making any and we

289 00:14:30.400 --> 00:14:33.900 still I think if that's just part of the Bay Area just organic Human

290 00:14:33.900 --> 00:14:36.500 Experience that no matter how good Tech Health

291 00:14:36.500 --> 00:14:39.500 Advanced Tech is we still Thrive off

292 00:14:39.500 --> 00:14:42.300 of human experience and because so many people don't just Reach Out

293 00:14:42.300 --> 00:14:46.200 And Touch someone as you like to say and call you anymore. I

294 00:14:45.200 --> 00:14:48.000 find people are more receptive. You know,

295 00:14:48.100 --> 00:14:51.200 it is usually just can we see how we can

296 00:14:51.200 --> 00:14:54.500 champion each and I usually just start with a quick intro. How

297 00:14:54.500 --> 00:14:57.000 do we champion each other's efforts, you know,

298 00:14:57.300 --> 00:15:00.300 yeah as a project manager the idea is not to duplicate but

299 00:15:00.300 --> 00:15:03.600 to be able to merge efforts. So I typically I'm

300 00:15:03.600 --> 00:15:06.000 like, hey, what do you got going on your field? What are you

301 00:15:06.200 --> 00:15:09.400 know, we want to know we got going on and see if there's a way, you know,

302 00:15:09.400 --> 00:15:11.700 we can forecast ways we can partner.

303 00:15:12.400 --> 00:15:15.400 Making introductions to people because I'm definitely and if

304 00:15:15.400 --> 00:15:18.200 you know, it's funny. I've always been a social life, but I now see how all these

305 00:15:18.200 --> 00:15:21.200 things come together but always I've always been a person like to

306 00:15:21.200 --> 00:15:24.400 introduce people about you. It's like I know somebody you need to meet that's

307 00:15:24.400 --> 00:15:27.500 just kind of how my brain always works. So that's a

308 00:15:27.500 --> 00:15:30.100 key thing. I do. I'm if I would say

309 00:15:30.100 --> 00:15:33.500 three or four times a week we're doing I'm just doing intro calls to make sure people know

310 00:15:33.500 --> 00:15:36.800 the next person in the next organization. Yeah.

311 00:15:36.800 --> 00:15:39.700 That was something I also saw as a niche Niche

312 00:15:39.700 --> 00:15:42.100 that needed to be feel in Oakland is so many

313 00:15:42.100 --> 00:15:45.400 separate and divided organizations that are literally like

314 00:15:45.400 --> 00:15:49.100 a mile away from each other or yeah, and I'm

315 00:15:48.100 --> 00:15:49.700 like, I don't understand.

316 00:15:49.900 --> 00:15:52.000 Because I know all of you guys and I've only been here for years,

317 00:15:52.600 --> 00:15:55.300 but if you're all your life and don't know each other so I like

318 00:15:55.300 --> 00:15:58.200 there isn't that's also an effort. I like to make is making sure

319 00:15:58.200 --> 00:16:01.100 people are connected. If I'm On One

320 00:16:01.100 --> 00:16:04.100 Call with a work group on one side of town and they're talking about we're gonna do this

321 00:16:04.100 --> 00:16:07.400 event. And then I hear similar idea on this side of town like yeah, I

322 00:16:07.400 --> 00:16:10.100 need to connect and talk. Yeah. Yeah, I need to

323 00:16:11.700 --> 00:16:14.500 Do it but that's that's me always keeping

324 00:16:14.500 --> 00:16:17.200 my ear to the streets and like a pulse on

325 00:16:17.200 --> 00:16:20.700 my community is how I'm able to find the

326 00:16:20.700 --> 00:16:23.400 value when we need to be done and start those cold call initiations

327 00:16:23.400 --> 00:16:26.200 to rally the troops together and figure out where do

328 00:16:26.200 --> 00:16:29.200 we start if we can start if it's not feasible then at least

329 00:16:29.200 --> 00:16:32.300 we can put that aside and figure out something else

330 00:16:32.300 --> 00:16:36.200 that makes more sense. Yeah. Yeah. There's so

331 00:16:35.200 --> 00:16:39.800 many good nuggets in there one

332 00:16:38.800 --> 00:16:41.200 that one sentence. I

333 00:16:41.200 --> 00:16:44.800 love that you said was like don't duplicate but merge efforts and

334 00:16:44.800 --> 00:16:47.100 I just think that can be kind of

335 00:16:47.100 --> 00:16:50.600 carried into so many different experiences and projects and

336 00:16:50.600 --> 00:16:53.300 something that like, I'm gonna be taking away from

337 00:16:53.300 --> 00:16:56.200 this conversation is like how do I not duplicate but

338 00:16:56.200 --> 00:16:59.500 like merge and collaborate and work with people because that's that's

339 00:16:59.500 --> 00:17:02.500 where it's at and you know, there might be people doing similar

340 00:17:02.500 --> 00:17:05.200 things and how do you grow together and create something bigger?

341 00:17:05.800 --> 00:17:08.100 Yeah, and sometimes it may be they don't want

342 00:17:08.100 --> 00:17:09.900 to you can't yeah, you don't.

343 00:17:12.500 --> 00:17:13.600 Know some people have defin.

344 00:17:17.800 --> 00:17:20.100 Itely, like I shall call and there's a communication line that's been open.

345 00:17:20.100 --> 00:17:24.100 And that usually just that in itself is a lot. Yeah, and

346 00:17:23.100 --> 00:17:26.100 then sometimes you find out they were desperately looking for

347 00:17:26.100 --> 00:17:29.300 somebody like yeah, we do need help and yeah, we could

348 00:17:29.300 --> 00:17:32.100 use that so it's even if there's like you don't have

349 00:17:32.100 --> 00:17:35.700 an exact idea what you want to do it a person yet. Yeah, just like

350 00:17:35.700 --> 00:17:38.100 how can we figure out how to support and start,

351 00:17:38.100 --> 00:17:41.000 you know supporting each other more right and that is

352 00:17:41.400 --> 00:17:44.300 self is a project. Yeah starting again communication plan

353 00:17:44.300 --> 00:17:47.100 is short and sweet. Just how do we

354 00:17:47.100 --> 00:17:50.300 even if it's just when I started the town experience

355 00:17:50.300 --> 00:17:54.400 in through the pandemic we had we'll do

356 00:17:54.400 --> 00:17:57.200 in the pandemic. We got we start having them weekly but we started

357 00:17:57.200 --> 00:18:00.400 off having monthly meetings with the

358 00:18:00.400 --> 00:18:03.200 community and typically was like a happy hour somewhere where

359 00:18:03.200 --> 00:18:06.300 we can sit down and like what is everybody got going on so we can

360 00:18:06.300 --> 00:18:09.300 what do you need help on and where are you being challenged? And

361 00:18:09.300 --> 00:18:12.300 typically there's somebody right in the room is like yeah, that's like back

362 00:18:12.300 --> 00:18:15.400 back my hand. I can help you with that. That was the intent

363 00:18:15.400 --> 00:18:17.500 of having those to ensure that we're not staying in.

364 00:18:17.700 --> 00:18:20.200 Little cabin in our little spaces and our little

365 00:18:20.200 --> 00:18:23.300 boxes, but because sometimes when you get a room, you

366 00:18:23.300 --> 00:18:26.200 just throw ideas out there. You're like, I'm frustrated. I'm ready give up this whole

367 00:18:26.200 --> 00:18:29.600 Community, even I'm done with the community. And so and then interventions will

368 00:18:29.600 --> 00:18:32.400 start. Oh when we got into the pandemic

369 00:18:32.400 --> 00:18:35.500 there was a lot of Community Driven efforts

370 00:18:35.500 --> 00:18:38.600 going on and it was just so many spins. We started having weekly calls

371 00:18:38.600 --> 00:18:41.400 like what is going on on your side and your

372 00:18:41.400 --> 00:18:44.900 site let's merge efforts and that's how we started really getting

373 00:18:44.900 --> 00:18:47.200 the economic support recovery teams off

374 00:18:47.200 --> 00:18:50.100 the ground how we started being able to go and figure out where we need

375 00:18:50.100 --> 00:18:54.000 to do garbage pickups volunteer work it all

376 00:18:53.100 --> 00:18:56.600 started with just having a community town like as

377 00:18:56.600 --> 00:19:00.200 we call like a community Town Hall each month. Yeah. Yeah.

378 00:19:01.200 --> 00:19:05.600 What what's been the most challenging part

379 00:19:04.600 --> 00:19:06.400 of this for you?

380 00:19:07.200 --> 00:19:10.300 I'm sure there's been a lot of ups and downs as you're

381 00:19:10.300 --> 00:19:11.100 you've grown.

382 00:19:11.800 --> 00:19:14.400 And I wouldn't say anything in normal

383 00:19:14.400 --> 00:19:17.000 Egos and budgets. Yeah.

384 00:19:19.500 --> 00:19:22.100 It was money. Yeah, we can change the world. Yeah, it's

385 00:19:25.200 --> 00:19:28.400 definitely shifted the dollars in the community support that just

386 00:19:28.400 --> 00:19:32.400 came out of thin air between Tech and all these large franchises that

387 00:19:31.400 --> 00:19:34.400 were just like throwing the guild at us.

388 00:19:34.400 --> 00:19:37.200 They've definitely started to dry up and we've had to go back to being a

389 00:19:37.200 --> 00:19:41.300 little more resourceful. I think there was also I

390 00:19:40.300 --> 00:19:43.200 saw last year when we were kind of getting ready

391 00:19:43.200 --> 00:19:46.900 to come outside a lot of the prioritizing

392 00:19:47.900 --> 00:19:50.800 He started to lower, you know, you know,

393 00:19:50.800 --> 00:19:53.300 I felt like people weren't as aggressively trying to figure out

394 00:19:53.300 --> 00:19:56.300 the next strategy. It was like well we're going back out. So we've done

395 00:19:56.300 --> 00:19:59.400 our work. Yeah, that could be discouraging in a way because you're

396 00:19:59.400 --> 00:20:02.400 trying to left like we didn't create a strategy. We don't have what's our

397 00:20:02.400 --> 00:20:05.100 game plan? Like we didn't we put a blank Band-Aid on the

398 00:20:05.100 --> 00:20:08.800 situation. But how do we shift this for long-term impact and

399 00:20:08.800 --> 00:20:11.300 that was like for two seconds

400 00:20:11.300 --> 00:20:14.200 kind of a frustration me and then I started like no this is where the

401 00:20:14.200 --> 00:20:17.100 follow-up happens. This is really stay on

402 00:20:17.100 --> 00:20:20.700 top of people. The follow-up I think is gonna be the most challenging part because

403 00:20:20.700 --> 00:20:23.200 you were gonna have to be want to follow up.

404 00:20:23.200 --> 00:20:26.300 It's yeah not depend on everybody to always follow

405 00:20:26.300 --> 00:20:29.900 up with you or wait for that call back you everybody's band

406 00:20:29.900 --> 00:20:33.000 with this tax. Everybody's working on a honey million activities

407 00:20:32.400 --> 00:20:35.700 at once. So I think that was my

408 00:20:35.700 --> 00:20:38.200 biggest challenge but also ends up being my biggest strength because I'm

409 00:20:38.200 --> 00:20:41.500 definitely a person like I might forget I get

410 00:20:41.500 --> 00:20:44.200 I get add but I will Circle back like

411 00:20:44.200 --> 00:20:47.000 hey if I talk to this person in a while, I'm always trying to maintain

412 00:20:47.800 --> 00:20:50.900 Keeping the relationships going. Yeah, and

413 00:20:50.900 --> 00:20:53.500 if there was something that we left off that we was

414 00:20:53.500 --> 00:20:56.300 the plan like can we Circle back he talking about it's just

415 00:20:56.300 --> 00:20:59.400 keeping on if you keep it in people's brains. They will

416 00:20:59.400 --> 00:21:02.800 start to make you a priority to get things done. Yeah, and

417 00:21:02.800 --> 00:21:05.200 I think that's where I thrive in

418 00:21:05.200 --> 00:21:08.000 this is always I'm like, okay, what's the next thing? What's the next

419 00:21:08.100 --> 00:21:11.600 thing? Okay, we did that but we got to do better next time. So yeah. Yeah

420 00:21:11.600 --> 00:21:14.800 and then again it always come back. There's no lack of opportunity to

421 00:21:14.800 --> 00:21:17.500 do things in Oakland. So yeah Visionary I

422 00:21:17.500 --> 00:21:20.100 am one of those people I'm like, I'm always find a way to follow up

423 00:21:20.100 --> 00:21:23.600 with people. Yeah. Yeah. That's a great. I love

424 00:21:23.600 --> 00:21:26.600 I love how you turn the challenge and to a

425 00:21:26.600 --> 00:21:29.500 strength and like following up is so important to like

426 00:21:29.500 --> 00:21:31.500 keep those keep that Network alive.

427 00:21:32.600 --> 00:21:35.700 It's a little babysitting but it's okay. Yeah, yeah,

428 00:21:35.700 --> 00:21:37.800 definitely eventually.

429 00:21:38.900 --> 00:21:41.300 Get and the right people become more dependent.

430 00:21:42.000 --> 00:21:42.300 I'm

431 00:21:44.400 --> 00:21:47.300 your dream team I go like I have my starting five. I

432 00:21:47.300 --> 00:21:50.900 usually when I have idea. I know who to go to Yeah by

433 00:21:50.900 --> 00:21:53.200 community members, like I like that I got an idea

434 00:21:53.200 --> 00:21:56.300 and they're like, what do you want to do anything you bring me? Let us

435 00:21:56.300 --> 00:21:59.500 figure out how to support it. I love that dream team. Yeah, that's

436 00:21:59.500 --> 00:22:03.700 and that's the importance of the social capital. I think monetarily. Yes,

437 00:22:03.700 --> 00:22:06.100 you want to be able to set yourself up to be able to take

438 00:22:06.100 --> 00:22:10.200 care of yourself, especially living in Bay Area, you know expensive living

439 00:22:10.200 --> 00:22:13.200 here. So you can't afford to do too much free work for

440 00:22:13.200 --> 00:22:16.400 people but there's also the momentum of

441 00:22:16.400 --> 00:22:19.400 the Social Capital you build through dedicating your

442 00:22:19.400 --> 00:22:22.300 time to certain things even if there was no monetary about, you

443 00:22:22.300 --> 00:22:25.100 know, most of the moves I feel like I've been

444 00:22:25.100 --> 00:22:28.300 able to make and impact has been through the social capital that I

445 00:22:28.300 --> 00:22:32.300 build over the years. Yeah and direct industry connections

446 00:22:31.300 --> 00:22:34.500 and just over time the hustle

447 00:22:34.500 --> 00:22:37.500 has brought me. I think the timing of even when the town experience started

448 00:22:37.500 --> 00:22:40.300 the reason it was able to move because I had already built a

449 00:22:40.300 --> 00:22:43.400 social capital through different other companies and just

450 00:22:43.400 --> 00:22:44.200 being the

451 00:22:44.300 --> 00:22:46.800 Uber and Shaker for so many years. Yeah. Yeah.

452 00:22:47.700 --> 00:22:50.100 Speaking of social capital and connecting with

453 00:22:50.100 --> 00:22:51.600 people. I'm curious, you know.

454 00:22:53.100 --> 00:22:56.500 Where you're on next door, and I'm curious how you've used next

455 00:22:56.500 --> 00:22:59.700 door to kind of elevate the town experience

456 00:22:59.700 --> 00:23:03.600 and build that those connections. You

457 00:23:02.600 --> 00:23:05.500 know, I think it's a great platform for

458 00:23:05.500 --> 00:23:06.900 what I do specifically.

459 00:23:07.700 --> 00:23:08.200 the idea

460 00:23:08.700 --> 00:23:09.200 Is he you know?

461 00:23:09.700 --> 00:23:12.500 Twitch your local community and I'm finding

462 00:23:12.500 --> 00:23:15.200 that, you know, we'd like to start I

463 00:23:15.200 --> 00:23:18.400 like the town experiences the Storyteller. We like to post content

464 00:23:18.400 --> 00:23:21.300 highlight just things to do and it's in

465 00:23:21.300 --> 00:23:24.100 the town as well as just think positive things about the town because

466 00:23:24.100 --> 00:23:27.500 I feel like we media definitely is

467 00:23:27.500 --> 00:23:30.700 with weaponized Oakland and you I

468 00:23:30.700 --> 00:23:33.500 mean, it's constant and even our next door. I I do

469 00:23:33.500 --> 00:23:36.000 see just timelines is break-ins. It's you know,

470 00:23:36.600 --> 00:23:40.000 homeless issues is banned cars. I mean we know and this

471 00:23:39.200 --> 00:23:42.500 is not to say that it doesn't it doesn't matter it does

472 00:23:42.500 --> 00:23:45.700 matter but if that's all you're seeing on your timeline, it

473 00:23:45.700 --> 00:23:48.400 almost becomes like it conditions you, you know

474 00:23:48.400 --> 00:23:51.400 a little depressing. So I've started to utilize

475 00:23:51.400 --> 00:23:54.500 that platform as a way to post more positive messages

476 00:23:54.500 --> 00:23:57.300 about oh and put that on the you know

477 00:23:57.300 --> 00:24:00.900 and change the algorithms as I like to do like you can change it

478 00:24:00.900 --> 00:24:03.200 algorithms a little bit on and I find I get

479 00:24:03.200 --> 00:24:06.200 a lot of appreciation and good feedback and put a

480 00:24:06.200 --> 00:24:09.000 post where I'm just looking for stuff. Like I saw this like cool

481 00:24:09.700 --> 00:24:12.100 Hi, where is this place at and people are very

482 00:24:12.100 --> 00:24:15.300 like. Oh that's in this neighborhood. I love the interaction you

483 00:24:15.300 --> 00:24:18.100 get from the community there. Yeah, and it's interesting

484 00:24:18.100 --> 00:24:18.700 that it's

485 00:24:19.200 --> 00:24:22.800 In a you're using an app, which is technology, but

486 00:24:22.800 --> 00:24:25.100 I was like, this is what it I feel like it felt like

487 00:24:25.100 --> 00:24:28.800 before we have technology how you can your neighbors. No,

488 00:24:28.800 --> 00:24:31.400 when I grew up without technology. I live I grew

489 00:24:31.400 --> 00:24:35.100 up in neighborhoods where everybody in your name and your business that could

490 00:24:34.100 --> 00:24:35.700 be good or bad you.

491 00:24:37.700 --> 00:24:40.400 But it was a say you people knew they

492 00:24:40.400 --> 00:24:43.300 knew that I you if someone came a missing someone could

493 00:24:43.300 --> 00:24:46.600 say I lost some on this street or this street. So I feel there is

494 00:24:46.600 --> 00:24:49.000 still beneath the you know,

495 00:24:49.400 --> 00:24:52.400 they you know, you know when she get below you could

496 00:24:52.400 --> 00:24:55.400 filter through the algorithms and yeah all the the bad

497 00:24:55.400 --> 00:24:58.300 stuff that's being posted on a constant basis. I do think there's a

498 00:24:58.300 --> 00:25:01.900 great means of being able to connect to your local community. And like

499 00:25:01.900 --> 00:25:04.400 I said, we're called the town experience. So that is not

500 00:25:04.400 --> 00:25:07.400 only something that we want to use to attract

501 00:25:07.400 --> 00:25:10.400 visitors here to Oakland to immerse, but also

502 00:25:10.400 --> 00:25:13.400 ensure that as locals are also

503 00:25:13.400 --> 00:25:16.100 being local tourists in our town, you know, yeah in our own

504 00:25:16.100 --> 00:25:19.400 cities we get comfortable and you know, even Insurance you usually

505 00:25:19.400 --> 00:25:22.700 stay within a five mile radius of your home. There's so

506 00:25:22.700 --> 00:25:25.400 much to see and do in Oakland and I think sometimes

507 00:25:25.400 --> 00:25:28.400 even locals get aren't even familiar with

508 00:25:28.400 --> 00:25:31.900 what they getting outside their neighborhoods. So yeah, this

509 00:25:31.900 --> 00:25:34.200 is a great means of me able to connect

510 00:25:34.200 --> 00:25:37.600 deeper dive and also find out ways to improve

511 00:25:37.600 --> 00:25:40.500 Town experience is that we have the neighborhood needs

512 00:25:40.500 --> 00:25:43.600 and ideas that they share. Yeah. Yeah.

513 00:25:43.600 --> 00:25:47.000 Well as somebody who lives in Oakland, I appreciate what

514 00:25:46.300 --> 00:25:49.200 you're doing and I always

515 00:25:49.200 --> 00:25:52.400 loved you know scrolling on next door and seeing fun events that

516 00:25:52.400 --> 00:25:55.100 are happening and cool hikes and

517 00:25:55.100 --> 00:25:58.600 music and just like that vibrancy that

518 00:25:58.600 --> 00:25:59.900 is open and labor.

519 00:26:04.400 --> 00:26:07.100 Neighbor in the now I like that if you're in the

520 00:26:07.100 --> 00:26:10.500 know and I think that's something I'm kind of another thing. I'm

521 00:26:10.500 --> 00:26:13.200 out of many things. I'm taking away from chatting with you

522 00:26:13.200 --> 00:26:16.200 is you know, I love seeing that and so

523 00:26:16.200 --> 00:26:19.200 just motivating myself also to post more about

524 00:26:19.200 --> 00:26:22.400 just the stuff. I love about my city

525 00:26:22.400 --> 00:26:25.500 and celebrating the small businesses here and

526 00:26:25.500 --> 00:26:28.300 just the beautiful weather that we're

527 00:26:28.300 --> 00:26:31.800 having today and you know, just that that celebration I

528 00:26:31.800 --> 00:26:34.500 think beget celebration and so I just appreciate that

529 00:26:34.500 --> 00:26:39.000 about the town experience and I'm

530 00:26:37.300 --> 00:26:40.600 curious if you if you

531 00:26:40.600 --> 00:26:42.600 have like one kind of like

532 00:26:43.400 --> 00:26:47.600 Parting wisdom or suggestion for

533 00:26:47.600 --> 00:26:50.300 our our neighborhood team members who are

534 00:26:50.300 --> 00:26:53.000 tuning in like how of you know,

535 00:26:53.300 --> 00:26:56.200 you're such a community Builder and I think I see that you make people

536 00:26:56.200 --> 00:26:59.900 feel really welcome. And I think that's part of kind of what we're

537 00:26:59.900 --> 00:27:02.600 here to do is we want, you know,

538 00:27:02.600 --> 00:27:05.200 are the neighborhoods to feel really welcoming and

539 00:27:05.200 --> 00:27:09.100 kind and I'm curious what how

540 00:27:08.100 --> 00:27:11.200 what advice you

541 00:27:11.200 --> 00:27:14.300 would give to make a neighborhood welcoming and kind

542 00:27:14.300 --> 00:27:16.600 whether it's on the app or not on the app.

543 00:27:17.800 --> 00:27:20.500 And you know, there's the old saying Love by neighbor.

544 00:27:20.500 --> 00:27:23.300 So I think it starts with you know, if you have new

545 00:27:23.300 --> 00:27:26.300 neighbors in your neighborhood, you know, there was a time when people come over

546 00:27:26.300 --> 00:27:29.200 introduce yourselves to the neighborhood. I still try to do

547 00:27:29.200 --> 00:27:32.400 that even in my own apartment building. I've noticed neighbors move

548 00:27:32.400 --> 00:27:35.500 in and they have their head down as they're moving and I'm like hi. I'm so so

549 00:27:35.500 --> 00:27:38.700 I live across the hall, you know putting mail

550 00:27:38.700 --> 00:27:42.300 on their door. It's just little things you can do to build reciprocity cleaning

551 00:27:41.300 --> 00:27:44.300 up and you don't if you know getting together

552 00:27:44.300 --> 00:27:47.500 with your your neighbors whether you I feel like whether you

553 00:27:47.500 --> 00:27:50.500 rent our own your neighborhood your neighborhood and should be

554 00:27:50.500 --> 00:27:53.200 taking care of as your home. So going out with your neighbors

555 00:27:53.200 --> 00:27:56.200 just find it, you know, maybe one Saturday month and cleaning up your

556 00:27:56.200 --> 00:27:59.800 block that's community building in itself or even

557 00:27:59.800 --> 00:28:02.300 doing stuff with your neighbors like having barbecues on

558 00:28:02.300 --> 00:28:06.300 your blocks. I don't know neighborhood still do block parties. But yeah in

559 00:28:05.300 --> 00:28:08.400 Oakland that's still a thing that happens. They have

560 00:28:08.400 --> 00:28:11.200 open nights or town nights. They do once

561 00:28:11.200 --> 00:28:14.400 a year. It's like this National neighborhood nights. I think

562 00:28:14.400 --> 00:28:17.500 they do them in every city. That's definitely a fun activity to

563 00:28:17.700 --> 00:28:20.100 Rally your neighbors for in my

564 00:28:20.100 --> 00:28:23.500 neighborhood people have Community Gardens that they put in little small

565 00:28:23.500 --> 00:28:27.200 Lots. They're just occupying the space and nobody cares. There

566 00:28:26.200 --> 00:28:29.300 was a pumpkin patch in my neighborhood and an apartment

567 00:28:29.300 --> 00:28:32.200 building. I was like you guys really creative with like 10 feet

568 00:28:32.200 --> 00:28:35.300 of land, you know, like people are very being very resourceful in

569 00:28:35.300 --> 00:28:38.200 our neighborhoods, you know. Yeah rummage so I mean yard sale

570 00:28:38.200 --> 00:28:41.700 Percy, I love going to neighborhood yard sales. So yes neighborhood yard

571 00:28:41.700 --> 00:28:45.600 sale that's always a great way to get to know your community, but I

572 00:28:44.600 --> 00:28:47.100 would say there's a plethora things you can

573 00:28:47.100 --> 00:28:50.200 do just even starting. Like I said a community only needs three to five

574 00:28:50.200 --> 00:28:53.100 people will be to start, you know have to start with

575 00:28:53.100 --> 00:28:55.300 your whole lot. But if they're two or three people

576 00:28:55.300 --> 00:28:58.700 With your neighborhood that are supportive of the ideas of

577 00:28:58.700 --> 00:29:01.500 hey, let's just go out and clean up garbage around the streets or sweep

578 00:29:01.500 --> 00:29:05.200 out for pain over the graffiti like those volunteer

579 00:29:04.200 --> 00:29:07.400 opportunities in Oakland are always our biggest hits

580 00:29:07.400 --> 00:29:10.300 like yeah people just want is cleaning

581 00:29:10.300 --> 00:29:13.100 a therapy as I like to say and hmm to me

582 00:29:13.100 --> 00:29:17.200 and we did some huge cleanups during the protest

583 00:29:16.200 --> 00:29:20.100 during the George Floyd situation in

584 00:29:19.100 --> 00:29:22.200 the Civil armrest, but for a lot of people who are

585 00:29:22.200 --> 00:29:25.200 like, I'm not a marcher. I'm not out to vandalize that's but I

586 00:29:25.200 --> 00:29:28.100 want to do something really active protest for this

587 00:29:28.100 --> 00:29:31.200 that was taking back their communities and it was

588 00:29:31.200 --> 00:29:34.200 funny because then people were like, okay, I went back to another next week. I

589 00:29:34.200 --> 00:29:37.400 went out and I just start cleaning up my own neighborhood or so. I think

590 00:29:37.400 --> 00:29:40.300 you can do little things at that that and you be surprised

591 00:29:40.300 --> 00:29:43.300 cleaning will cause a contagion people see clean and they come over and

592 00:29:43.300 --> 00:29:46.100 want to help it was yeah, we had homeless people who are just watching

593 00:29:46.100 --> 00:29:49.400 us in cameras. They can we help and we had on

594 00:29:49.400 --> 00:29:52.800 one block. We were doing a whole park like clean up because they're

595 00:29:52.800 --> 00:29:53.800 about to paint the streets and

596 00:29:55.300 --> 00:29:58.800 A drug dealers came over and asked could they help paint? That was

597 00:29:58.800 --> 00:30:01.400 like you never know. You never know what kind

598 00:30:01.400 --> 00:30:04.900 of impact or influence you can make so starting wrong?

599 00:30:04.900 --> 00:30:07.300 Yeah. Yeah definitely started with just something small is just

600 00:30:07.300 --> 00:30:10.400 do a community clean up just rally a

601 00:30:10.400 --> 00:30:13.400 couple friends to start making a change. Yeah. I love

602 00:30:13.400 --> 00:30:16.500 that start small beautiful. I think

603 00:30:16.500 --> 00:30:19.300 bigger I feel inspired and how can we find

604 00:30:19.300 --> 00:30:23.200 Charlize your the town experience just

605 00:30:22.200 --> 00:30:25.700 to continue to follow along and feel inspired

606 00:30:25.700 --> 00:30:28.100 by what y'all are doing. Yeah, I would love for

607 00:30:28.100 --> 00:30:31.100 you guys to stay connected. If you're not from Oakland. Definitely. I want

608 00:30:31.100 --> 00:30:34.400 you to visit Oakland soon. And if you decide to do that, the town experience is

609 00:30:34.400 --> 00:30:37.400 your guide to all the good experiences in the

610 00:30:37.400 --> 00:30:40.700 town. It's not just like yourself THC the

611 00:30:40.700 --> 00:30:43.600 town experience on all platforms is the town experience

612 00:30:43.600 --> 00:30:46.900 the town experience. Awesome. Well, thank

613 00:30:46.900 --> 00:30:50.000 you so much. We'll be posting this recording

614 00:30:49.300 --> 00:30:53.000 in the forums for folks to rewatch or

615 00:30:52.500 --> 00:30:55.100 people who didn't get to tune in.

616 00:30:55.200 --> 00:30:58.300 Fantasy, and I just really appreciate you taking the time to

617 00:30:58.300 --> 00:31:01.200 chat. I had a lovely time and just feel really excited to go out

618 00:31:01.200 --> 00:31:03.500 and connect with my community. So, thank you.

619 00:31:07.100 --> 00:31:10.000 I'm great takeaways for the rest of the community with me. Thank you.

620 00:31:10.800 --> 00:31:12.500 Bye. All right.