Download the PDF here soup night at the miners foundry nevada city

There is something really cool happening in Nevada County.  Its call Nevada County Solopreneurs,  We have a Google Group going and I think you should join if the description below fits your fancy.

Freelancers, consultants, “solopreneurs”, and small business owners of all kinds in Nevada County. If you’re not a solopreneur, but you’re interested in what we’re doing, you’re welcome to join in too. The mailing list will contain information on future meetings, presentations, and events.

I’m tired of paying Verizon $1 every time I need directory assistance.  My sister passed me a link and phone number for Google’s Free Service.

Try calling 1-800-466-4411

Or going to www.google.com/goog411

In 1994, Congress transformed the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday into a national day of community service to celebrate through our actions a man who lived his life in service to others. As a tribute to that legacy and the needs of our nation, Sierra Business Council supports the request of the President-elect and Vice President-elect to help organize community members to join in this effort and to engage Americans in service to local organizations that need assistance now more than ever.

This national day of service will fall on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, January 19, 2009 and, unlike past calls to service, Sierra Business Council is asking members of the Sierra Nevada to join in this day, and to consider a longer commitment of service.  Find an organization or a cause that speaks to you in your town or neighborhood and make an ongoing commitment to support this organization by donating your time, energy, and ideas to make the Sierra Nevada a better place for all of us to live.

Never has it been more important to come together in shared purpose to tackle the common challenges we face. Local non-profits and community groups are a unique and much needed thread in the fabric of our communities. Supporting these groups keeps our communities strong and healthy. Please sign up to volunteer today.

Some interesting organizational ideas being planned in California include: Recreational Trail improvements, community clean-ups, helping the elderly at a retirement home, volunteering at an animal shelter, blood drives, food drives & soup kitchen volunteering, Americorps events, “share your garden” – fresh produce donations to homeless centers, ride share coordinating, etc.

McCamant & Durrett Lecture: Designing and Living a Green Life

Originally published on Yubanet.com

Published on Jan 12, 2009 – 12:05:08 PM

By: Pamela Biery, Velocity7.com

NEVADA CITY Calif. Jan. 12, 2009 – How do you get your electric bill down to zero? Nationally acclaimed and locally based architect Charles Durrett will share this and other tricks of sustainable design, at a slide presentation Wed, Feb 18, 7:00 pm at the Nevada City Veteran’s Hall, 415 North Pine Street. Durrett’s firm was recognized last year by the National Association of Homebuilders for energy efficiency, for its Nevada City Cohousing development.

Durrett, age 53, is best known for his work relating sustainability to sociability. He argues that highly sociable neighborhoods are also more environmentally sustainable and he has authored two popular audience books interpreting Danish neighborhood patterns. He and his wife and partner, Kathryn McCamant introduced the “cohousing” model to the United States, a cross between eco-village and custom neighborhood.

According to Durrett, when it comes to carbon footprint, solar panels are nice but are really just the finishing touch, after lifestyle and building design. “Half of the country’s energy is used for heating, cooling, and lighting buildings, and much of it is unnecessary.” He says that his own home’s electric bill for all of 2008 was a negative $83.34, and he has only a single kilowatt of solar electric generation.

Durrett will also discuss ways to live green beyond saving energy. He will show examples of social neighborhoods that embody a green lifestyle, as well as projects which reduce toxicity, reduce lumber in framing, use recycled and reclaimed building materials, retain water on-site and effectively steward the land.

Admission is $5.00. To reserve a place or for more information, call Nisanda at 530-478-1970, or email info@cohousingpartners.com.

WHO: Charles Durrett – architect & author
WHAT: Designing and Living a Green Life
WHEN: Wednesday, Feb. 18, 7:00 pm
WHERE: Nevada City Veterans’ Hall 415 No. Pine St.
FEE: $5.00
For further event information, contact: Nisanda, 530-478-1970

Charles Durrett is the winner of the 2001 United Nations Human Habitat award, among others. McCamant & Durrett also designed the LEED certified Unitarian Universalist Church of Fresno, California, the first LEED building in California’s South Central Valley.

The Simply Shiny blog featured an interview with Sadie about Lollishops yesterday, as part of their series on the best online artisan venues.

This is just an example of the great exposure Sadie has been skillfully drawing to her online marketplace (Lollishops) and its participants through her savvy use of social networking and blogs.

Check out the interview here.

Its cool how doing the right thing pays off.  By joining the ranks of the Sacramento Sustainable Business group we accomplished a great deal.  First off, we reduced the amount of water, chemicals, electricity, and gas we use here at the V7 office.  We also increased our recycling and imporved systems to save even more  and use even less.

Secondary benefits include free business directory listings, such as the Sacramento Business Journal , and multiple mentions in the local newspaper.  We joined the Sacramento Sustainable Business group over a year ago, and still today we are reaping the benefits.  The Roseville Press Tribune just published our name in a recent article. This helps bring us up in search engines and helps reach our target audience.

So the lesson learned?  Do the right thing.

During the last several weeks I’ve found my brain is brimming over with all sorts of catchphrases that have apparently been stored in the darker recesses of my consciousness just waiting for a reason to step out of the shadows….and with the market bouncing up and down like a basketball, theses homilies are creeping into the light of day…you know the ones, like ‘when the going gets tough, the tough get going’ or ‘less is more’….the kind of stuff that older relations chose to repeat when they were trying to make some point that you didn’t want to hear.

But here’s the deal, these phrases have been coming to mind when I think of what businesses can do to get more value out of their existing marketing budgets. The answer I come up with for doing more with less is consistently the same: use more PR. That’s right, public relations is the secret value that the printers and publishers don’t tell you about. I can think of nothing that delivers as much per view value for dollars invested as well written public relations. Not only does PR reach specific audiences, but it does so in a way which has higher credibility than brochures or paid advertising.

So if you find yourself thinking as I have been, of doing more with less, think of PR and have a cuppa joe with me to discuss.

Lollishops, in beta and soon to go live, is a big part of our time and focus this pre-Thanksgiving week at Velocity7—and we’re excited that it’s turning out so well. What’s so great about Lollishops? Besides its conceptual mastermind, frou-frou artist and social networking whiz Sadie Lou (check out her blog too)?

What’s exciting is that we’ve built, from scratch, a functional, expandable portal for individual artists to sell their own work online. Incorporating PayPal, we found a mechanism for e-commerce transactions to take place. Then we built a system where individuals can develop and promote their own brand entirely within the Lollishops framework—building community and generating buzz in the process. And with Sadie’s expert social networking skills already proven, Lollishops is sure to be a hit.

Lollishops is in beta now. Stay tuned for the launch. Happy Thanksgiving!