Making friends at the pub crawl.

Creative Pub Crawl ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY – Life’s a Beach

YooHoo! The Creative Pub Crawl turns one year old this Friday, July 23 with Life’s a Beach. So slip on your beach clothes and enjoy some live music while you meet new people, network and vibrantify downtown. Here’s hte schedule:
6:00 Venti’s – Jewelia Owens
6:45 Copperjohn’s – Shy Seasons
7:30 Magoo’s – Foxtrot
8:15 Pete’s Place – Potatoe Famine
9:00 Brown’s Towne – Matthew Price Band
9:45 Jonathan’s – Bold Riley
10:30 Flipside – House DJ

Live music schedule subject to change.
RSVP here

Willamette Valley Wine Walk – Sparkling Wine edition at Rivers Condominiums
Friday, July 30
The format last month seemed to work well with visiting wineries at Coffee House Cafe Backspace, Blind Wine Tasting at a downtown residence and a relaxed walk to Allessandro’s and Bentley’s Grill.
Bring a bottle of your favorite bubbly for the blind wine tasting.

Friday July 30
6:00 Laurel Ridge Winery and Van Duzer Vineyards pour complimentary tastes at Coffee House Cafe
7:00 Sparkling Wine BLIND WINE TASTING and tours at Rivers Condominiums
9:00 Allessandro’s Ristorante
10:00 Bentley’s grill
11:00 Flipside!

RSVP here

Solarize Salem launch at Oregon State Capitol steps
12:00 pm, Monday, August 2
Salem Creative Network’s newest project, Solarize Salem, brings solar installation bulk pricing to Salem residents, businesses and institutions. Learn more about the project meet the selected contractors 12:00 pm, Monday, August 2.
Monday, August 2. A tour of the State Capitol solar installation will follow the presentation.

We are still looking for volunteers to help spread the word about solar energy to neighbors and businesses. Contact ross@solarizesalem.org or call 503-551-2818.

Until August, stay cool!

TONIGHT April 23
Creative Pub Crawl – Flower Children
Celebrate Earth Day in style by composting food and drink specials in 7 downtown venues.

Friday April 30
Willamette Valley Wine Walk - Life is a Cabernet
New venues! Blind wine tasting at Journey’s. Last month was a hoot so join the fun starting 6:00 pm at Grand Vines.

Wednesday, May 5
Member venue The Space is appealing their cease and desist noise violation order 4:00 pm at City Hall. We need you there to show support for our lobbying efforts on behalf of Salem nightlife advocates. After many discussions with the Mayor, City Councilors, Salem, Portland and Austin Noise Control officers, Advisory Boards and the like, we are getting a noise ordinance re-write. While the language of the new ordinance has yet to be initiated, we intend to insert allowances for louder music between the hours of 10 pm and midnight downtown.
Your presence is essential at Doug’s hearing to demonstrate support for a vibrant nightlife in Salem. Please attend! We will have an after-party at The Space.

Thursday, May 6
Salem Green Professionals Mahonia Vineyard tour 5-6 pm
jJ Travis Henry, LEED AP and Vice President of Wildwood, Inc., and Salem Green Professionals on May 6th for a tour of Mahonia Vineyards & Nursery and Wildwood’s AIA award-winning remodel of The Old Pringle Schoolhouse.

Solarize Salem
We are initiated the Solarize Salem project and need steering committee members. This effort will coordinate installation of solar panels in Salem residences in conjunction with Energy Trust of Oregon, Oregon Department of Energy and Solar Oregon. Our first steering committee meeting is Tuesday, April 27. Contact me for time, location.

That’s it for now, see you downtown.
Ross

I sat down with Mayor Taylor to discuss Salem Creative Network projects and determine a plan to work together with the city. Here’s a short summary:

Creative Pub Crawl
Mayor Taylor has heard great things about the Creative Pub Crawl and appreciates SCN’s efforts to bring people downtown. Business owner feedback is positive as is the absence of incidents involving police. This programming is turning into an institution and we’re starting to plan the July-December schedule.

Next Crawl:
Creative Pub Crawl – Flower Children April 23
6:00 pm Venti’s

Willamette Valley Wine Walk
This project seemed more appealing to Mayor Taylor and she commented that she and her husband would be willing to attend. It was requested that the list of wine locales be expanded to include Allessandro’s, which we are working on for April 30. The attraction of establishing downtown Salem as a wine destination was received well and it was requested that we work together with Go Downtown.

Noise ordinance
SCN member Doug Hoffman has be delivered a Cease and Desist order concerning noise made at The Space past 10 pm. He is appealing the decision at the May 5th city council meeting. We need you to be there.
The defense looks good because there is no noise code written for mixed-use overlay zoning, only commercial, industrial and residential. This may provide an opportunity to create the new ordinance and grant a stay for The Space to continue making noise between 10 and midnight Fri, Sat.
Mayor Taylor seemed open to the idea of Fri, Sat noise increases between 10 and midnight. She asked how other cities handle it and promised to initiate a staff report comparing noise ordinances of Portland and Eugene.
You can help by scheduling a meeting with your councilor about the issue and attending Doug’s hearing on Monday, May 5th at City Hall.

Solarize Salem
We are starting a new project, Solarize Salem, which connects residential homeowners to finance for solar panel installations. We are working with EcoTrust, the Oregon Department of Energy, Solar Oregon and others in the area to launch this effort in June. Mayor Taylor is very interested in this project due to her recent visit to Japan and discovering that Sanyo’s new parent, Panasonic, is targeting the solar panel market and has set a goal of the largest worldwide manufacturer of panels by 2012. Salem may be on the list for a facility.
Contact me if you’re interested in participating.

Salem Green Professionals
I explained the need of promoting sustainability and Mayor Taylor agreed that more should be done in this area. The next Salem green Professionals informal social is Thursday, May 6 at Wildwood Nursery. Stay tuned for details.

Salem City Repair
With the creation of the new Public Arts Commission, SCN sees an opportunity to continue Salem City Repair natural building projects through the approval process of the Commission. Murals, sculptures and natural building will be legalized through the approval process. Mayor Taylor created the commission back in 2007 and it has finally made it through council, just in time for Salem City Repair projects.

Overall the meeting was successful and we’ll do a follow up in May.
Please attend the meeting on Monday, April 6:00 pm at Brown’s Towne.
We are planning a mayoral debate and need your feedback. Thanks again for being a part of the Salem Creative Network – we’re making a difference.

Ross

The Salem Creative Network celebrates Mardi Gras tonight with a benefit for Haiti and 60 jazz musicians at the Grand Ballroom and Theatre. A $5 donation get you in and we have mask for sale ($2-$25) made by the Open Studio artist from f-stop visual arts center.

So tivo NCIS, American Idol and the Olympics; Salem is ALIVE tonight and re3veling in a shared community experience. Shake off the isolation and stroll through downtown with the merry musicians. Most pub crawl venues are throwing parties too. See you there!

6:00 Copperjohn’s
6:45 Brown’s Towne Lounge
7:30 Venti’s Cafe and Basement Bar
8:15 Pete’s Place
9:00 Magoo’s Sports Bar
9:45 Cokie’s Landing
10:30 FlipSide!

Next Crawl – MARDI GRAS! Friday Feb. 19

Salem Creative Network is officially a nonprofit! We filed the paper work last week with the State of Oregon, incorporating the Salem Creative Network as a 501 (c)(3) organization with the mission to provide creative solutions for social innovation.

It’s time to celebrate!

Join us tonight, Friday, January 15 on the monthly Willamette Valley Wine Walk. We’re visiting four venues and our first retail storefront – Tea Party Bookshop, where we’ll hold our first BLIND WINE TASTING.

Please bring a bottle of local red wine and a clean palate.
We will bag your wine, taste it and rank it on a scale from 1 to 10. The highest and lowest scoring wines will win a prize. There is no charge for the blind wine tasting.

6:00 pm Travel Salem’s Travel Cafe with Willamette Valley Vineyards
7:00 pm Tea Party Bookshop with BLIND WINE TASTING
8:00 pm Grand Vines with Local bubblies
9:00 pm Da Vinci Ristorante with House Special
10:00 Cafe Noir with House Special
11:00 FlipSide!

Creative Pub Crawl British Invasion Friday January 22

We have a great six months of pub crawls planned starting with next Friday’s British Invasion. We have changed the format slightly after evaluating the crawler’s feedback and asking the venues for a promotional commitment. There are now 7 venues participating in the pub crawl and we’ll have 45 minutes at each place. Here’s the schedule:

6:00 Copperjohn’s
6:45 Brown’s Towne Lounge
7:30 Venti’s Cafe and Basement
8:15 Pete’s Place
9:00 Magoo’s
9:45 Cokie’s Landing
10:30 FlipSide!

We will have an international theme for each month. February is Mardi Gras and March is Luck of the Irish. Venues are asking that you bring cash rather than plastic to keep things flowing smoothly. Please spread the word.

Downtown Stakeholders Summit

Salem Creative Network is officially a downtown Salem Stakeholder. We have been invited to the Downtown Stakeholder Summit sponsored by the City of Salem 5:30 Thursday, January 28 at the Salem Conference Center. Free refreshments will be provided. Please attend! We would like to influence the decisions being made about the immediate future of downtown Salem.

Due to our pressure during 2009, the City Council has prioritized incentives for nightlife and entertainment as their second highest goal for 2010. We are making an impact and your participation at the summit will increase the chances of our success in creating a downtown that everyone can enjoy.

Thanks again for all that you do to make Salem a better place. We have tons more creative ideas for Salem and will do our best to make them happen. Stay tuned for more updates.

Ross

The venue owners are ecstatic about the turnout and level of professionalism associated with the Network. Retailers will be included in programming beginning with the January Willamette Valley Wine Walk happening on Friday, January 15. And we have plans for including restaurants and non-alcoholic venues in events also. If you want to get in on the planning, attend one of our monthly meetings.

Willamette Valley Wine Walk 6:00 p.m. Friday, December 11 at Travel Salem 181 High St NE. We had a great turnout last month and lots of enthusiasm for a relaxed, sociable wine-related event in the heart of wine country. 30 people participated and thoroughly enjoyed the evening despite the obvious lack of men. It turned into girls night out and we decide to do more promotion to even out the ratio. We’ll see if that works on Friday. Please signup online or visit our Facebook event page.

Creative Pub Crawl

While the turnout was slightly less than the previous month (probably due to Snuggie stigma) the Creative Pub Crawl seems to be connecting hundreds of new relationships as anticipated. Based on the Facebook signups already, it looks like everyone is ready to get in the Christmas spirit on Friday, December 18,. The photo scavenger hunt was very popular and pushed a few boundaries with humorous results. We’ll do that again this month  for more prizes.

For those interested, the Network is meeting 4:00 p.m. Sunday, December 13 for a Misfit Toy Sweatshop event at f-stop visual arts center, 335 Grove St NE. We’ll be disassembling unwanted toys and creating more exciting toys for prizes along the Creative Pub Crawl route.

We’re meeting 5:30 tonight above Tea Party Bookshop with mayoral candidate Jordan Blake. He is an active member of the Network’s Salem City Repair project and is in on the planning of the Village Converge event planned for late spring. Jordan’s campaign is resonating with the progressive community in Salem and we’ll see how his views align with Salem Creative Network goals. Also at tonight’s meeting, we’ll be re-tooling the mission statemnet for the non-profit organization and discussing the mission statements for the proposed political action committee and business advocacy group. Please stop by if you have the time.

Thanks again for making the Salem Creative Network a reality and we look forward to more growth  in 2010.

Ross Swartzendruber

As Seen on TV - Snuggie Crawl

Big fun at the Snuggie Pub Crawl Friday November 20.
Art by Michael Adamson, trivia and bar specials at the ƒ/stop.
Live music and $5 nacho bar crawler special at Cafe Noir.

NEW SURPRISE VENUE! (You’ll never guess)

Anti-Cute Bizarre Bazaar at Coffee House Cafe

Geolocation games, so you can follow us through town.
Slip on your nighties and join us downtown.

Final Schedule
(Schedule subject to change)

5:00 Pre-crawl art show at ƒ/stop Fitzgerald’s, 335 Grove
6:00 Cafe Noir, 610 Marion St NE.
6:30 Mystery location
7:00 Copperjohn’s
7:30 The Brick
8:00 Venti’s Cafe
8:30 Brown’s Towne Lounge
9:00 Pete’s Place
9:30 Magoo’s
10:00 Cokie’s Landing
10:30 The Space
11:00 Flipside!

Here are a few photos from the October event.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=120792&id=580943106

Use your phone to connect with us online during the event.

Twitter:
@salempipeline

Shizzow:
pubcrawl

Iphone:
Beer Signal

Crawlers pack the bunker at Venti's.

Lots of activity happening downtown with the Salem Creative Network. The Pub Crawl continues to gain participants and the new Wine Walk turnout surprised even me. The monthly events and candidate forums are keeping us busy. Here’s a quick update.

Snuggie Pub Crawl this Friday, November 20

We’re stoked about his month’s theme – Snuggies and pajamas. With the chilly weather upon us, a cozy crawl with night clothes on seems to make a lot of sense. Of course, we’re trying a few new twists again.

First – due to popular demand – we’re throwing a 5:00 p.m. Pre-Crawl Art Show at ƒ/stop fitzgerald’s, 335 Grove St NE. Salem artist Michael Adamson is on exhibit at the f-stop and crawlers will be warmly welcomed with bar specials. The regular crawl will start 6:00 p.m. at Cafe Noir, 610 Marion St NE. Full schedule available soon.

Second – Social media and networking. We’ll be tracking our whereabouts on twitter (@salempipeline) Facebook (Salem, Oregon) Shizzow (pubcrawl) and Iphone (Beer Signal). If you join the crawl late, you can check those sites for the latest updates. Also, we’ll be trying a scavenger hunt throughout the night with prizes for the most bagged game.

Thanks again to the Creative Pub Crawl participants. We’re having a lot of fun and making a lot of people smile. See you Friday!

Willamette Valley Wine Walk redux

On Friday the 13th, the Salem creative Network tried something new, a wine walk through four downtown venues featuring Willamette Valley wines. 30 people arrived at Travel Salem for the beginning of a spontaneous, relaxed evening that was a hit with venue owners and participants alike. The next Walk is scheduled for Friday December 11.

Candidate forum

The Salem Creative Network met with candidates Chuck Bennett (Salem mayoral candidate) and Sheryl Dash (Ward 6 candidate) at the last meeting held Tuesday, November 3. They both spoke about the need for including younger residents in the decision-making process. We will meet with other candidates in the next few months

Councilor Bennett outlined upcoming city goals that would affect downtown specifically.

1. Downtown parking
The current mayor and council are testing the waters for metered parking on downtown streets and the privatization of the Chemeketa, Liberty and Marion Street Parkades in 2010. Most businesses are aghast at the idea and a flurry of email has slowed the privatization approach. It would be great to get feedback about where you would like to see this issue go.

2. Kiosks
Since they’ve been removed, many networkers have been trying to find a way to provide solutions for artists, musicians and free speech advocates to promote themselves downtown. After listening to our concerns, councilors Bennett and Tesler placed the kiosks on the list of 2010 council goals. They found little support from council and managed to keep them in the goals as part of the Town Square initiative, which should be taking shape in the next three months.

3. North Downtown
Did you know about the next high-end condo project planned for north downtown? A large, seven-story project is being planned for the riverfront north of Union Street bridge where the Keith Brown complex is. Based on the current vacancy rates and lack of open space, Bennett recommended extending Riverfront Park northward and creating an inviting entrance to downtown.
Also, the under-developed area around O’Brien Auto Group is being considered for urban renewal.
One surprise that came out of the last Urban Renewal District meeting was to use funds to support nightlife. Since it was a first for the District, no one really knew how to react. It will be interested to see where it goes.

Both Sheryl and Chuck promise to be excellent candidates for the May 18, 2010 election. We’ll be inviting more candidates to upcoming meetings. Please reply with your feedback.