Sponsors of Awesome:
Columbia Tower Club
Awesome Seattle
Ventures
See last event's projects
We want to fill downtown Burien with unique and interesting spaces for building community. We’ve been working for years to clean up the alley behind Burien Press and turn it in to a space to host art and community events. Now we want to convert a previously wasted space behind our coffee shop into a beautiful and welcoming space that bumps up against the alley.
We would love to work with people who want to make Burien more awesome by creating a new garden space, a new venue and want to support the arts and the revitalization of wasted spaces in our community.
"Hey, would you like a sandwich?" "Sure." "I've also got some bananas, would you like one?"
Donating money or non-perishables to a food shelter is great, but for a more direct experience of contributing to someone in need, try making a bunch of sandwiches up at home, load up your backpack with them and some fruit, and then go bike around downtown, offering up food to folks directly.
This project is to get a team together to do this at whatever awesome scale you can manage. Be of service, have some conversations, make some days just a little brighter.
Join Ventures to empower 20 families to move off of public assistance and increase their income above the federal poverty line (above $24,250/year for a family of 4) in the next 18 months.
Ventures programs are proven to help entrepreneurs with limited resources and unlimited potential improve their lives through small business ownership. With $60,000, we can equip 20 additional entrepreneurs with the training, tools and resources they require to build their businesses and change their lives. The game during Awesome Fest is to get a small team in action towards this goal with some serious strides to report at the follow up event.
Inspired photography to make some good happen in the world. In this project an Awesome Fest team sets up an area in a public park for the afternoon and works with a pro photographer to photograph people with their pets. For a small donation ($10-$20), people can have professional photos taken of their pets, which they can then download off of a website. Donations benefit an animal shelter in the Seattle Metro area.
The project calls for some inspired assistants to hustle for the event day of and some publicity to have this make as much happiness for park goers and good for an animal shelter happen as possible. Bonus points for talent able to rally media coverage.
RecipeForPeaceNow is an organization taking on an audaciously large goal: to positively change our world by teaching of mediation principles and strategies.
This project is to engage a broad audience in this line of thinking by creating a montage video of varied people answering (or even wrestling with!) a simple question: What does civil discourse mean to you?
A team will need video production chops to pull this off as a compelling end result, and will need to engage a wide cross section of individuals to participate in being filmed.
A Princeton study found that, in our government, the opinions of 90% of Americans have essentially no impact at all--only monied interests do.
This project is to spread awareness of the US's corruption problem, because awareness alone goes a long way towards causing people to speak up and engage. This video illustrates the issue as do, others like it.
How might you show off these and get the conversation started? Playing on a loop in a public area with high foot traffic? A school assembly about democracy in America? Get it featured on a popular local show? With the right connections, a team could have a big impact.
Hold an Iron Chef party that breaks even or better.
Get like a dozen folks together, organize 'em into two teams of cooks, and have 'em do a cook-off centered around a mystery ingredient of the MC's choice. Hustle and promote to sell tickets for folks to participate (including a few extra for judges) and cover the cost of ingredients and the space to do it in.
Know some one in the restaurant business who could hook you up with space on an off day? Even better!
Making Burien more beautiful on wall at a time. We will find building owners in Downtown Burien that have large blank outdoor walls, and will design and paint two new murals. The city of Burien has an Art Alley that has grown into a beautiful collaboration artists, like this. Part of the project will be getting paint and brushes donated for the project, approving designs, and getting the murals complete with artists and volunteers. You don't have to be an artist to be involved, but if you have an artistic background that is a plus!
To collect 100 reusable artificial limbs for 100 amputees for the Sierra Leone Disability Soccer Team. The teams are made up not only of amputees but also polio soccer players. Your Generosity Will Change A Life!
Asylum is a film by a Seattle native which looks at the connection between mental illness and domestic violence. It has a compelling trailer (see it here and needs to raise about $16,000 to film.
The project is to get this local film closer to fruition: organize an event to feature one of the mini documentaries that was created through the pitch video, and get the word out to organizations & businesses within the King Co. area as a means to promote the event.
Awesome Projects
We're putting together a project grab bag.
We're all of us talented and motivated folks, but coming up with an enticing 3-week project with a group of strangers in just an hour or two might still be a tall order. So there'll be a grab bag of projects for teams to choose from/be inspired by in case creating one from scratch isn't immediately obvious.
What kind of projects? Try a few of these sample ideas on for size:
Burien Press Urban Garden
Champion: Matthew Wendland
We want to fill downtown Burien with unique and interesting spaces for building community. We’ve been working for years to clean up the alley behind Burien Press and turn it in to a space to host art and community events. Now we want to convert a previously wasted space behind our coffee shop into a beautiful and welcoming space that bumps up against the alley.We would love to work with people who want to make Burien more awesome by creating a new garden space, a new venue and want to support the arts and the revitalization of wasted spaces in our community.
Guerilla Style Homeless Food Drive
"Hey, would you like a sandwich?" "Sure." "I've also got some bananas, would you like one?"Donating money or non-perishables to a food shelter is great, but for a more direct experience of contributing to someone in need, try making a bunch of sandwiches up at home, load up your backpack with them and some fruit, and then go bike around downtown, offering up food to folks directly.
This project is to get a team together to do this at whatever awesome scale you can manage. Be of service, have some conversations, make some days just a little brighter.
Building Businesses and Changing Lives
Champion: Anjali Englund
Join Ventures to empower 20 families to move off of public assistance and increase their income above the federal poverty line (above $24,250/year for a family of 4) in the next 18 months.Ventures programs are proven to help entrepreneurs with limited resources and unlimited potential improve their lives through small business ownership. With $60,000, we can equip 20 additional entrepreneurs with the training, tools and resources they require to build their businesses and change their lives. The game during Awesome Fest is to get a small team in action towards this goal with some serious strides to report at the follow up event.
Pups in the Park
Inspired photography to make some good happen in the world. In this project an Awesome Fest team sets up an area in a public park for the afternoon and works with a pro photographer to photograph people with their pets. For a small donation ($10-$20), people can have professional photos taken of their pets, which they can then download off of a website. Donations benefit an animal shelter in the Seattle Metro area.The project calls for some inspired assistants to hustle for the event day of and some publicity to have this make as much happiness for park goers and good for an animal shelter happen as possible. Bonus points for talent able to rally media coverage.
Defining Civil Discourse
Champion: Sue Beller
RecipeForPeaceNow is an organization taking on an audaciously large goal: to positively change our world by teaching of mediation principles and strategies.This project is to engage a broad audience in this line of thinking by creating a montage video of varied people answering (or even wrestling with!) a simple question: What does civil discourse mean to you?
A team will need video production chops to pull this off as a compelling end result, and will need to engage a wide cross section of individuals to participate in being filmed.
Corruption is Legal in America
A Princeton study found that, in our government, the opinions of 90% of Americans have essentially no impact at all--only monied interests do.This project is to spread awareness of the US's corruption problem, because awareness alone goes a long way towards causing people to speak up and engage. This video illustrates the issue as do, others like it.
How might you show off these and get the conversation started? Playing on a loop in a public area with high foot traffic? A school assembly about democracy in America? Get it featured on a popular local show? With the right connections, a team could have a big impact.
Iron Chef Mini Business
Hold an Iron Chef party that breaks even or better.Get like a dozen folks together, organize 'em into two teams of cooks, and have 'em do a cook-off centered around a mystery ingredient of the MC's choice. Hustle and promote to sell tickets for folks to participate (including a few extra for judges) and cover the cost of ingredients and the space to do it in.
Know some one in the restaurant business who could hook you up with space on an off day? Even better!
Tiny House Village
Champion: Mercedes Elizalde
Mural Competition
Champion: Eliav Cohen
Making Burien more beautiful on wall at a time. We will find building owners in Downtown Burien that have large blank outdoor walls, and will design and paint two new murals. The city of Burien has an Art Alley that has grown into a beautiful collaboration artists, like this. Part of the project will be getting paint and brushes donated for the project, approving designs, and getting the murals complete with artists and volunteers. You don't have to be an artist to be involved, but if you have an artistic background that is a plus!Limbs for Sierra Leone
Champion: Richard Toms
To collect 100 reusable artificial limbs for 100 amputees for the Sierra Leone Disability Soccer Team. The teams are made up not only of amputees but also polio soccer players. Your Generosity Will Change A Life!Asylum Short Film
Champion: Melinda Raebyne
Asylum is a film by a Seattle native which looks at the connection between mental illness and domestic violence. It has a compelling trailer (see it here and needs to raise about $16,000 to film.The project is to get this local film closer to fruition: organize an event to feature one of the mini documentaries that was created through the pitch video, and get the word out to organizations & businesses within the King Co. area as a means to promote the event.
Let the Awesome work for you?
Communities and organizations of Seattle: here's your chance to get a team of talented folks creating something sexy to forward your cause. If you'd like to have a project that you create featured and available for a Being Awesome is Awesome Fest team to take on, you'll need to provide the following:
- A project champion who will be there at Being Awesome is Awesome Fest to pitch the project and work with the team that takes up your cause.
- A blurb about the project that succinctly lays out the nature of it, the kinds talent that would be useful, and the tangible results to be produced.
- A few high-res photos and/or images to visually display and/or convey the project. (Actually optional, but might totally help your cause!)
If you're interested in being featured in the Being Awesome is Awesome Fest Project Grab Bag, please submit the following: