GE Garages provides  a semi-permanent location that allows students, citizens, and community members to be educated, innovate, and create while gaining an understanding of current manufacturing processes. Visitors will learn about the invention and manufacturing process through guided work with industry experts, training on the high-tech prototyping equipment and guest speakers to provide inspiration for developing pride for manufacturing. GE Garages will also hold daily classes on Bringing your Product Idea to Life, Wireless Networked Projects, Computer Aided Design, and Arduinos. The partners in this project are some of the leaders in the new wave of personal manufacturing: Techshop, Inventables, Skillshare, Quirky, Make, Makerbot.

Speaking as an instructor of engineering design and prototyping, breaking down the barriers between the idea as a concept and the idea as a product is often the limiting factor for a successful student engineering project. With little to no room in the curricula to teach manufacturing skills we as instructors are constantly conceiving of ways to give our students hands-on prototyping experience out-of-class. We should be seeking opportunities for students (and the public) to learn prototyping and the design process outside-of-the-university. The GE Garages project is a perfect setting for this and a milestone in our culture’s renewed interest in the tactile interaction with objects and a romance with craftsmanship.

This opportunity is perfect for k-12 STEM groups, Boy/Girl Scouts, or crafty people. It’s also free and open to the public. GE Garages will be open from 12-6pm every day from April 23rd through May 3rd.

For more information, including directions, check the GE Garages page.

For the past month I’ve been working on something really special with a stupendous partner, Andrew Hyde. We paired up at SXSW discussing our hand-crafted business cards and came out of it with an idea for Record Monsters. Record Monsters are laser cut puzzles in vinyl records. You simply pop out the pieces and put together something like the Stegosaurus (above) or the Mosquito (on a 45). We also have Triceratops, a Butterfly, an Ant, and more dinosaurs than you can name. Sounds like fun, right?

We need your help making sure we can start providing Record Monsters to all the good little girls and boys. We’ve been running a fairly successful Kickstarter campaign so far. Thanks to Kickstarter for featuring us on their front page! At this point we only have 72 hours left and are still a stretch away from our $15,000 goal. This money will be used to purchase necessary equipment to make these puzzles and serve our first orders, you the good people of the internet and our family, and friends. Please visit our Kickstarter page and make a donation before the end of Friday.

The best part about this project has been working with Andrew. We first met at Startup Weekend Houston way back in the fall of 2007 before the Houston creative, technology, and music communities had gelled. I credit that 2007 Startup Weekend as laying the foundation for a whole mess of incredible and hardworking people to meet and form working relationships. Andrew receives special credit and gold stars as the founder of Startup Weekend; bringing it to Houston meant that we all got to know him.

The reception to the project has been stunning to say the least. Both Andrew and I underestimated people’s desires for re-imagining their music memories into tactile objects. So far, Record Monsters has been covered by Not Cool, Dude Craft, TrendHunter, Make, and Ponoko.

Keep watching over the next month or so, we will be adding new puzzles and new pictures.

Record Monsters Kickstarter Page

Record Monsters Site

Kurt Vonnegut

KTRU News Roils, Saddens Local Music Community

It’s filled with impassioned responses from Houston music aficionados and those who have in the past and continue to contribute to our patchwork quilt of an arts community.

I missed the deadline while still on vacation. But based on the temperature of responses I would like to offer my own comments regarding the sale.

No one will argue that this situation is an incredible tragedy for independent music in Houston, for college radio in the nation, for the creative community of Houston. Even more sad is that we have to acknowledge at this point that students and the community at large hold very little power in reversing the decision to sell KTRU. This was punctuated by Rice’s choice not to include any of the stakeholders in the sale of the station. This decision is being viewed by those both inside and out of the Rice community as a betrayal of trust from an institution that prides itself in taking into account student needs and input for the improvement of their education and the university itself. Viewed from the University’s standpoint though, this was a well thought-out business decision to finally capitalize on an underused resource, and to finalize the deal at a time when there were few people around to raise objections.

The history of KTRU is as a terrestrial station, something people listened to in their cars, at home, with friends; the future of KTRU as an online-only station is an ersatz one at best. The polarized public outcry, retelling of stories of how KTRU shaped lives and careers and passions is a celebration of those terrestrial memories and of the way KTRU has changed lives.

We are about to lose a valuable asset to the Houston creative community. But this outpouring of public support is something that should make people surrounding KTRU happy, knowing that they made a difference. Furthermore, instead of remaining reactionary we can quickly turn this situation into an opportunity to galvanize our musical community to build something better. Pirate radio stations, more avenues for the exposure of live music in Houston, more local music programming in non-traditional areas. The celebration of the things that KTRU gave us in our lives and our passions doesn’t need to end, merely re-focused towards something greater.

This is a polarizing situation, with both sides having firm ground to stand on regarding the sale. On one hand, an around the clock NPR and news station would be a valuable add for the Houston area. On the other hand, the loss of a nationally important radio station providing a home for independent and eclectic music would be a tragedy not only for the Houston community but for college and independent radio on the whole.

I will compose my own personal thoughts about this sale in the coming days as I work through unproductive feelings and towards unbiased reflection. For now what I can say is that KTRU has played a formative role in my musical education and I have grown richer as a music fan through my ten years of DJing at KTRU.

I will keep this post updated with as much relevant information as possible concerning the sale of the station as well as resources for people to read more or get involved.

ACTIVIST LOCATIONS
savektru.org
Facebook Group

ARTICLES

Updated 8/18, 6:00AM
Culture Map: The winners and losers in the KTRU college radio deal
Culture Map: Save KTRU? Rice alums react with anger & resignation: President says secrecy unavoidable in radio deal
Houston Chronicle: UH deal finding no fans at KTRU
Houston Press: KTRU Staff, Supporters Vent, Discuss Plans To Fight Station’s Sale
Houston Press: KTRU News Roils, Saddens Local Music Community
KUHF: UH Regents to Vote on Radio Station Purchase

Updated 8/17, 3:00PM
Houston Chronicle: UH board considers plan to buy Rice radio station
Houston Press 1st post: KTRU: Is U Of H About To Buy Rice Student Station?
Houston Press: KTRU: U Of H Regents Approve Purchase Of Rice Station
29-95: Sadness Alert: KTRU Sale Finalized

RICE PUBLIC MENTIONS
President Leebron’s letter to ALL-RICE (posted at end)
Rice University press release about the sale: UH to buy radio frequency and transmission facilities from Rice

CALLS TO ACTION
If the sale of KTRU to KUHF is something that you are unhappy with, here are some things that you can do to express your displeasure. I will add additional items as they develop.

1. Use your social networks to express your concern about there being a home for independent culture and music in Houston.
2. You could write emails to Rice University President David Leebron, Vice President for Administration Kevin Kirby, University of Houston Chancellor  Renu Khatur, and any other decision makers you have contacts with at either Rice University, University of Houston, or KUHF. As Rice is one of my current employers I will not publicly post these people’s emails but they can be easily obtained from rice.edu or uh.edu.
3. Attend a 7pm public meeting with all KTRU DJs tonight at Sammy’s on Rice University campus in the Rice Memorial Center. Map here. All public and press are invited for this event.

I am writing to let you know that we have reached a preliminary agreement with the University of Houston System to purchase Rice’s 50,000-watt radio frequency and broadcast tower for use by Houston’s local public broadcasting station, KUHF. Rice’s station, KTRU, will continue to operate a Web-based radio station at www.ktru.org.

We made the decision to sell the radio tower and frequency for several reasons. The economic downturn which began two years ago has forced Rice — and virtually all colleges and universities across the country — to make hard choices to prioritize spending and maximize the use of our resources. As we have implemented necessary budget cuts over the past two years, our goal has been to focus on our core missions of teaching and research and, to the extent possible, to avoid layoffs. We have constantly asked, and will continue to ask, how we can best apply our resources to achieve our aspirations.

The KTRU tower stood out as one of the university’s most underutilized resources. In an era when Internet radio is rapidly growing in popularity, it became apparent that the 50,000-watt radio station that broadcasts KTRU’s programming is a valuable but vastly underutilized resource that is not essential to providing our students the wide range of opportunities they need, including media opportunities.

A recent Arbitron report showed that KTRU’s audience was so small that it did not even register in the ratings. Most college radio stations around the country have less than 5,000 watts, and since the late ’90s a number of them have added the online format and moved to online only.

At the same time, KUHF, Houston’s National Public Radio station, was looking for a way to provide both 24-hour all-news and all-classical music programming. Houston is the only major city in the country that lacks these dual services. To fill that gap, the University of Houston System expressed an interest in purchasing Rice’s FM frequency and tower, and we eventually agreed on a price of $9.5 million.
The sale must be approved by the UH Board of Regents at its meeting today, and then by the Federal Communications Commission.

Some of the sale proceeds will go toward the cost of the new East Servery, which will be adjacent to Lovett and Will Rice residential colleges on the south campus. This will both provide one of the most desired improvements to the residential experience in the south colleges, as well as help us achieve the overall capital plan approved by our board of trustees. We also plan to form a committee including students to provide input on other uses of the proceeds, such as for scholarships, improvements to recreational facilities and enhancements to the online station and other student media facilities and programs.

KTRU will continue to serve its campus and external audience with student-managed programming via www.ktru.org. The Internet already brings KTRU to national and global listeners, and there are opportunities for that audience to grow. Will Robedee, the station’s first general manager, will continue in that role.

KUHF plans to use the additional frequency to broadcast 24-hour classical music and fine arts programming on 91.7 FM; 88.7 FM will become its all-news channel. KUHF will raise funds to pay for the acquisition.

We realize that some loyal fans of KTRU may lament these changes, but it is important to remember that KTRU is not going away. Fans can still find KTRU’s unique blend of music and programming online. Meanwhile, a greater number of students can benefit from the improvements in campus facilities and offerings made possible by the sale of the broadcast tower.

As much as I prefer to consult widely and involve all stakeholders in important decisions, this sale required months of complicated and, by necessity, confidential negotiations. My management team and I approached those discussions always with the best interests of our students, faculty and alumni and the future of our university as our highest priorities.

For more information about the KTRU plans, see the story and FAQs on rice.edu.
Thank you, as always, for your hard work and dedication.
Warm regards,
David W. Leebron
President, Rice University

The music business is changing. The way you as an artist craft your message and direct your career is now at your fingertips and fully in your control. While some might see this as an incredible opportunity, most see it as overwhelming and stifling to creativity and career enhancement. Questions such as “where do we start?” or “what should we be doing to get more ___ or promote our ___?” always seem to have answers but something’s missing, the actions don’t seem to tie together and build to something bigger.

Enter Goals and Strategy
You’ve all heard this before: What’s Your Goal? Well, you’re not hearing it enough and you’re also assuming it’s rhetorical. It’s not a rhetorical question. What’s Your Goal is the most important question you can ask yourself because the answer illuminates the answers to those other questions, like “where do we start?” or “what should we do to increase our promotion of…?” More than that, setting goals also lets others know where your resources and time is being spent and how they can support you. Music writers know whether you are serious about your music or whether it’s a bedroom project. Fans know that you want to get to the next level and need their financial support or just to give it a listen and enjoy it.

At this month’s Bandcampus, we’ll help you to figure out what exactly you are striving for with your music. Whether it’s fame, financial wealth, wide-spread recognition, or simply creative output, all of these goals have measureable steps associated with them. The session will begin with an overview of the difference between tools (like social media), goals (like financial security), and strategy (like a college radio campaign). Following the naming of parts we’ll dive into examples of each and how you can adopt specific parts for your own goals and strategy. We’ll highlight the difference between long and short term goals and how both of these are important for forming a strategy. We’ll showcase a couple strategies that leverage your exisiting properties and resources to vault you towards your long term goal.

Every attendee of this month’s Bandcampus will walk away with set goals for the coming year, a long-term goal and the beginning of a strategy for their musical career.

WHAT: Bandcampus: GOALS and STRATEGERY
WHEN: April 11th, 2-4pm  (Rescheduled for 4/18/10 b/c of Fiesta Movement party featuring Caroline Collective)
WHERE: Caroline Collective, 4820 Caroline Houston, TX
WHY: Set measurable goals for yourself and your band ]]> http://matthewwettergreen.com/2010/04/09/bandcampus-goals-and-strategery/feed/ 0 http://matthewwettergreen.com/2010/04/07/houstons-upcoming-ted-feast/ http://matthewwettergreen.com/2010/04/07/houstons-upcoming-ted-feast/#comments Wed, 07 Apr 2010 19:38:34 +0000 matthew http://matthewwettergreen.com/?p=1023 Anyone committed to a life-long education already knows that TED talks are just one component of a healthy, balanced, information diet. Virtually all subjects are covered with inspirational, ground-breaking research explored in a fascinating, motivating manner. The real benefit of these talks is the learning that happens when these talks are digested and discussed among colleagues, when they lead to further investigation into a particular topic, or when they spark an idea helping you to solve a current problem in your own work. Sadly, most cities are deprived of the opportunity for future discussion about these topics because watching TED talks remains mostly a solitary activity, leaving viewers with a less than full feeling in their mental bellies.

Announcing a 12 Course Mental Dinner: TEDxHouston

TED Organizers have recently recognized the wealth of innovation and groundbreaking work occurring everywhere on the planet. As a platform for local communities to highlight this innovation, TED has created local conferences, labeled TEDx conferences.The ‘x’denotes an independently organized TED event.

TEDx events have been held in many places around the nation and world but we haven’t had one in Houston yet. Houstonians rejoice! because the great, community-minded, educational-focused people at Culture Pilot are organizing this year’s TEDxHouston event, scheduled for June 12th, 2010. Culture Pilot has a great day planned and they’ve also assembled a crack team of organizers to help plan the day. It cannot be overstated how much I respect the members of Culture Pilot for their forward thinking and work as well as the honor of working alongside such a prodigiously experienced and talented organizing team. We’re all doing our best to make the event about Houston people and as community minded as possible while still providing a professional conference atmosphere full of opportunities to discuss and digest. It’s sure to be a full meal of innovative information, all happening in Houston on a daily basis.

Your Dinner Invitation: TEDxHouston has limited seating and the event is designed to have a diverse attendance. Therefore, the Organizers have released an application form to attend TEDxHouston. This application process is live now, visit the TEDxHouston site and fill out an application to attend.

Your Appetizer: Golan Levin

Tomorrow, April 8th, Houstonian’s have an incredible opportunity to whet their mental appetites in preparation for TEDxHouston. Artist, Engineer, TED Speaker, Golan Levin will be speaking at Rice University as part of the James Baker Hughes Lecture: Engineering and Humanities in the Arts.

Golan Levin’s work employs computers to create improvised soundscapes with dazzling corresponding visuals. He merges the borders between performance art and engineering, employing software engineering with an artist’s touch.

Your Call To Action: Seriously. Go to this talk:

Golan Levin (event link)
April 8th, 4-5pm
Keck Hall 100 (map)

Prep yourself by watching Dr. Levin’s 2009 TED Talk:

Also at Bandcampus: SXSW PREP we announced the winners of the community voted contest to select bands to play at the second annual Houston@SXSW party. Over 1000 votes were cast over a 72 hour period. We are all very impressed with the work that bands put into contacting their community to get the vote out. If these Houston bands are working that hard in other spheres we’re going to be hearing many more about them in the near future.

The bands that were selected, the bands that will be representing Houston at the Second Annual Houston@SXSW party will be:

Peekaboo Theory

Southern Backtones

Runaway Sun

Kenneth Scott

The Snake Charmers

Here’s the remainder of the recap in mostly bullet point form for your skimming pleasure:

Tips for Bands playing SXSW (contributed by everyone in attendance)

The first agenda item of the day was to discuss what you could get out of SXSW by playing or even just attending. The overarching tip that should be considered when planning anything is to Cut Through the Noise. Too many people are at SXSW and you need to think about ways in which you can connect with these people in a substantial way. That does not include overplaying, that does not include talking to everyone you meet. It does include thinking about effective ways to communicate your message. It does include novel ways of getting the word out.

• Biggest tip: Cut Through the Noise!
• Don’t overplay
• bring extra equipment
• Make a game plan
• Playing is half of the goal
• Networking needs a goal

Digital and Physical Preparation for bands

No matter what level a band is at, they should have a digital and physical toolbox that they can use at a moment’s notice to get discovered, sell merchandise or showcase their craft. At the Bandcampus session we reviewed the basics of a digital and physical toolbox that bands can set up easily. The components

• Digital Toolbox
  • Central band email address (gmail or unique band domain recommended)
  • Pictures posted online
  • Videos (Live, Produced) posted online
  • Unique Band Domain Name
  • Music posted online in several locations
  • Testimonials/Writeups from press posted visibly on online properties
  • Booking information
  • Short biography of the band
  • A Home Base that is not Myspace, Facebook or any other online property not owned by yourself
  • Digital Outposts at places like Myspace, Facebook, ReverbNation, Bandcamp.com, etc.
• Physical Toolbox
  • Music for sale
  • Merchandise for sale
  • Business Cards (Recommended by Marie Angell of The Snake Charmers)
  • Elevator Pitch (Worked on at a previous Bandcampus, demonstrated by Insert Name Here)

Helpers

Several experts were on hand to give bands a review of their online presence and physical marketing materials. These people donated their time and deserve thanks and also should be considered for the future if you are looking for copy, marketing materials, or general direction for a band’s career.

• Grace Rodriguez
• Natalie Osborn
• Jeremy Osborn
• Joe Stone
• Meghan Hendley

Bands in Attendance

• Nosaprise
• I-45
• Golden Cities
• Vocal Polluter
• Alkari
• Espantapajaros
• Live Lights
• Darwin’s Finches
• Wayside Drive
• Inner Lights
• Peekaboo Theory
• Snake Charmers
• Prairie Cadets
• Joe Stone
• Solanae
• Insert Name Here

The last 60 hours have been a fog of sleeping, coughing, delirium, speaking in tongues, and changing out of soaked clothes because I sweat the bed again. Gross. The flu quarantine should be lifted by Saturday and the locks taken off the apartment doors at that time.

My apologies to bands who were looking for voting information yesterday. We will now close nominations and open voting for bands to play at Houston@SXSW on March 15th, 2010. Voting is open as of now and will close on Sunday, February 28th at noon. Please pick three bands to play, one voting session per person, per IP, just in case you were already thinking of gaming the results.

Please send this poll along to any of your fans, the link is: http://micropoll.com/t/KDrkEZBCok

There are still many very good reasons to attend SXSW and there are even more unexplored ways to maximize your impact at the conference. The fact that the conference is so close to Houston makes it worth your while to attend even without a badge or wristband. Many industry professionals are in Austin during the week of music and the setting provides a good opportunity to contact and meet them to talk about your career. Label, booking and promotional companies also attend and fruitful research can be accomplished by sitting down with them for meetings. Additionally, with the rise of non-SXSW-sanctioned parties running virtually around the clock, the need to play a SXSW showcase is significantly less important than it was several years ago.

In personal communication with bands over the past couple years I’ve talked about how important it is to take control of your career and do game changing things to get noticed and build your audience. As a band working for itself, SXSW is the perfect staging grounds for this philosophy and the best way to accomplish this is to cut through the noise.

Don’ts:

• Don’t play 9 shows in 4 days; those last shows are going to be low on energy and probably not represent your band in the way you wish to portray yourselves.
• Don’t try and play the hottest party at SXSW; you probably don’t know what it is and if you did you’d already have representation working for you.
• Don’t expect to be discovered at SXSW and have everything handed to you from now on

Do’s:

• Look at what everyone else is doing and take a right turn from that
• Do play (at least) one show that will have the desired impact to get you noticed by any potential fans, not just that talent scout: a guerrilla show in the middle of the street, on the back of a flatbed truck while driving around, play your music blasting from a boombox while walking down the street, hang shirts of your band just out of reach on telephone poles near the convention
• Do your research beforehand to target the people you want to work with, write them beforehand, and get a committment to meet with them to talk
• Do attend Bandcampus: SXSW PREP at Caroline Collective on February 28th from 2-4pm to make plans to attack SXSW and get your digital and physical toolbox in order

That last part is key. This Sunday at Caroline Collective we will be holding the latest installment of Bandcampus, entitled SXSW PREP. Similar to last year, this will be a workshop pairing volunteers with musical artists working to get prepared for SXSW with the following goals:

1. Prepare press materials and basic online presence items for bands interested in attending SXSW.
Any band playing in Austin during SXSW needs to be prepared to promote themselves given the chance. Playing a show is just the start of that promotion. Artists need a press kit, songs hosted online, video posted online, booking and contact information somewhere as well as physical cds to sell to interested parties or to give to record labels or booking agents. Many bands are unprepared for this situation and are lacking many of these items. By providing musicians with creative experts bands can receive focused attention to generate or upload these items to a location on the internet that raises the artists’ visibility.

2. Announce the bands that will be playing at Houston@SXSW, a Houston focused party showcasing Houston musicians, filmmakers and technologists.
This year we will be holding the second Houston@SXSW party. Last year’s party, held at Gruv, sponsored by Kirtsy, Werkadoo, Schipul, AYNBrand, and Caroline Collective , was a locally focused party showcasing Houston talent in three areas: technology, film and music. The following artists showcased: Dave Wrangler, Western Civilization, Wayside Drive, Ben Wesley, Espantapajaros, Golden Cities, Liquid Kitchen, Tha Fucking Transmissions, American Sharks, Something Fierce, and Fat Tony / B L A C K I E.

This year’s party will again focus on the contributions of Houston’s creative professionals. Startups will present, films will be shown and musical artists will showcase. This year’s party will be held at Hudson’s (301 W. 5th), Monday, March 15th from 5pm-2am. Last year’s music was curated by myself selected from the bands who attended Bandcampus: SXSW PREP. This year’s showcasing bands will be selected by the community. That means you. And your community.

Pay attention because we are going to do this very quickly. Nominations are open as of now and will close on Thursday, February 25th at noon. If you are in a band, know a band or like a band, DO THIS NOW: nominate them in the comment section below.

Starting Thursday at noon, voting will open for all bands who were nominated. Voting details, site and rules will be given on Wednesday. Voting will close on Sunday, February 28th at noon. Bands who are selected to play the party will be announced at Sunday’s Bandcampus: SXSW PREP.

Sunday’s Bandcampus: SXSW PREP is for 1) Houston musicians attending SXSW as official selections, 2) Houston musicians interested in playing at the  Houston focused day party, 3) Bands looking to get their physical/online toolbox and online presence set up or checked by industry professionals, and 4) industry professionals looking to donate a couple hours to help bands generate/solidify these materials.

We need skilled graphic designers, web developers, copywriters, PR reps or any other creative professional which would be able to donate time and services for a couple hours to help bands prepare their online presence and press materials for SXSW.

WHAT: Bandcamp: SXSW PREP
WHEN: February 28th, 2-4pm
WHERE: Caroline Collective, 4820 Caroline Houston, TX
WHY: Prepare for SXSW, find out who’s playing Houston@SXSW; a free showcase of Houston creative professionals