Last Fall, I went on the Polk County Housing Trust Fund’s (PCHTF) bus tour through Des Moines’ Urban Core and it completely opened my eyes to the housing challenges of our community. Even though I live in Pleasant Hill (aka, The Upper East Side), what happens in Des Moines’ Urban Core affects all of us that live nearby.
The Polk County Housing Trust Fund organizes three bus tours per year and they’re different every time. April 2013’s bus tour took place during Affordable Housing Week and was sponsored by DART. PCHTF and DART’s mission is to help educate community leaders about the relationship between quality public transit and affordable housing.
We looked at affordable housing options along DART’s new Route 60, which is likely to become the metro’s first Bus Rapid Transit line.
DART considers addresses within ¾ mile of a route to have “bus service”. A significant portion of the community’s affordable housing inventory is within this area (sadly, my home does not have bus service).
A topic that has come up on both of the bus tours I’ve been a part of us gentrification. While it’s great that a significant portion of the community’s affordable housing inventory is within bus service range, it’s a warning for affordable housing advocates who know that improved public transit access means rising rents and property values which may push existing renters and home owners out of their neighborhoods.
If you want to learn more about your community, I highly recommend participating in one of these bus tours. Their next tour is on July 19th at 9am. Just email Carol Duncan to register. It’s FREE!
Last year, my sister-in-law and I decided to rent a party bus to take us to five different sushi restaurants in Des Moines. It was a small group of us since we wanted to know everyone on the bus and keep it to just friends. It turned out to be a GREAT time!
This year, I’ve brought the event under my business in order to build out the digital marketing collateral and give this event some street cred. The website and Facebook Fan page have grown over the last several months as has the e-newsletter…
The most recent DSM Sushi Roll was yesterday and it couldn’t have gone better, as far as I’m concerned. We started at Appare at 11:30am, ate our sushi at noon and by 12:45pm, we were all loaded with our drinks and coolers on the bubble gum pink party bus. We visited Sakura Sushi, Wasabi Tao, Wasabi Chi and Waterfront. We came back to Appare for dessert and a final cocktail to end the afternoon.
The GREAT part was that the event sold out, there were a few digital mentions and a mention in Juice Magazine…and I didn’t spend one dollar on advertising…I haven’t decided if I’m going to do this annually, semi-annually (or monthly, as some of yesterday’s participants would have me do). We’ll see.
Enjoy some of the photos from yesterday’s event and like the Facebook Fan Page or sign up for the e-newsletter to learn about the next event.
Wikipedia defines a Free Agent in business as
someone who works independently for oneself, rather than for a single employer. These include self-employed workers, independent contractors and temporary workers, who altogether represent about 22 percent of the U.S. labor force. The term free agent is believed to have been coined by Daniel H. Pink, author of a 1997 cover story in Fast Company titled “Free Agent Nation.
What I like about being a Free Agent:
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Business professionals tend to think that a travel day is a time suck and that they can’t get anything done by virtue of being trapped at an airport waiting for planes (for example). The most they can do is stay in touch with their office via their mobile device. I challenge that notion.
Yesterday was a travel day for me. During the 2 hours I spent sitting at Washington, D.C.’s Dulles International Airport, I wrote my weekly blog post, put the final touches on a workshop presentation for tonight and wrote and scheduled my twice-per-month e-newsletter.
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What’s a #tweetup?
When I talk about what I do as the “Get It Done Girl”, Twitter usually comes up as the most intriguing topic. There’s a certain etiquette involved; there’s some new vocabulary. What makes Twitter even MORE social is what’s called a #tweetup. A tweetup is an in-person gathering organized via Twitter, often spontaneous. Most often, companies use them for things like hosting launch parties, connecting with customers and introducing like-minded followers to each other.
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Anyone and everyone is invited to attend (for free) dsm Magazine‘s amazing events. I find out about their events via their Facebook Fan Page.
dsm is published quarterly, with a fifth edition, The Men’s Book and The Women’s Book, published in the fall. The magazine’s monthly e-newsletters include Giving City, Savor and dsmArts. In the fall of 2012, the magazine group will launch a new magazine, called ia, that will showcase the best of the state of Iowa.
dsm’s popular events, attended by the metro area’s influentials, include unveiling parties; Sages Over 70; and The List party.
Their next event is their dsm List Event / 10th Anniversary Party at The Venue (216 Court Ave.) from 5-7pm on March 26th:
The 10th-anniversary event also will double as our biennial “List” party, where we’ll reveal the connections among people who’ve been on “The List” for the past two years. Each issue, “The List” consists of the names of metro residents who share something in common, such as a physical characteristic, possession, passion, talent or personality trait.
No need to RSVP, just show up and be ready to network. I’ll be there if you’ll be looking for a friendly face!
