Apples N Honey, So Sweet
What a tremendous success Apples N Honey, Santa Barbara edition was. Total for the night I think we had around 500 people show up for the event. The turnout was exceptional. The best part about it however wasn't the volume of people but the quality of the experience. I haven't heard one negative thing about the night, and certainly from my experience I couldn't imagine any complaints. I mean, I was working the door, taking money, and I still had a great time. The vibe was just really positive and uplifting. It was meant to be a celebration, and people were certainly celebrating. All in all, it was a great kick-off to the series of international celebrations to be held in the next two weeks. Next celebration, Moscow!
Logan
A n H Santa Barbara -Just WOW!!!
Last night's Apples 'n Honey 5766 Santa Barbara celebration was simply amazing.
We hit maximum capacity well before midnight, with over 400 people packed in Q's. People swarmed the pool halls, the second floor, and of course, the dance floor, with everybody shaking it up, Jewish New Years style. Everything ran smoothly, drinks were poured, and the wine botas were a huge, if dirty, success. Jordan thought tried pouring appletinis into people's mouth from the second floor, and liquid was everywhere, but everyone smiled in delight!
It was a great festive occassion, and my only disappointment is that I won't be able to attend the other celebrations, in South America and Russia! :( All in all, the hard work of our program directors brought a huge wave of happiness and enjoyment to multitudes of young, Jewish people, and an opportunity like that is a feat in and of itself.
-Aaron and the FF staff
Apples N Honey Tonight at Q's
Tonight marks the first party the Forest Foundation will be sponsoring around the world. Apples N Honey, our international celebrations celebrating the Jewish new year, kicks off tonight at Q's Sushi A-Go-Go in Santa Barbara. Joanna Katz, Hannah Laiken, and others have been working hard to publicize the event and make it a no holds barred blow-out, and tonight we'll be able to see the fruits of their labor. All the pieces are in place, and judging from the response I've heard around town, this should be one hell of a party. After tonight, there will be Apples N Honey celebrations in countries such as Russia, Ukraine, Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay. If you're in the Santa Barbara area tonight, and in the mood to get festive, I encourage you to come out to Q's. You won't be disappointed.
Logan
Meeting
Tonight we had our first group meetings. Yes, tonight was my FIRST meeting ever with the group, and it ran pretty smoothly. I feel like I missed a couple of points I wanted to make, but overall it wasnt a breakdown of social order, so that's a win right there!
Meetings are meant to be a forum for ppl to share ideas, work out problems, issues, and seek advice from others in the group. Today was mainly focused on introductions, updates, and beginning points but the Foundation has got tons of stuff planned TOMORROW NIGHT for apples n honey, and many other events in October...
It's starting.
Aaron
Jewlicious
Aaron Small's done a real nice job for the foundation after his first couple of weeks. Just yesterday, we learned that his press release for our Apples N Honey new year celebrations spawned an article on jewlicious.com. For those who haven't seen it, I recommend you go to the site and check it out. It's important to for us to generate press for large events such as this, and a site like jewlicious, which generates thousands of hits a day, is a big benefit to the event and the foundation. So cheers to Aaron.
Logan
first week
Our general meetings start next week, for all the PDs out there.
Currently I'm working on the agenda, curriculum, hiring trainers...It's been a tough week so far, and I'm strangely starting to like it. :) The phone calls, the emails, the meetings. Sometimes it feels beaucratic but I love that feeling when things finally come together, decisions are made, and things get done.
-Aaron
General Meeting
Today we had a our weekly update meeting with all of our full time staff. Everyone's pretty busy right now with the school year in Santa Barbara picking up, so it was good to hear what's going on in each person's area. Naturally, after our first full year last year, we've changed some things and now we'll be in the process of seeing how those changes work out. We've started the year on firm ground, however, and we'll see where we head.
Logan
Retreat
The retreat was a blast!
Enough cannot be said about the food, people, energy, campfires, banana boats, prisonball, elbow tag, role playing games, artwork, programs, banana boats, smores, creativity, enthusiasm, and excitement that ran during the entire 3 days of the Foundation's 2005 Retreat.
The retreat was a great way to pump everybody up and get pysched for the programs and opportunities of this upcoming year. I look forward to seeing some results!!!
-Aaron
Back from Retreat
Our foundation retreat ended yesterday at El Capitan Canyon and it seems as if the foundation is now running at full speed. We had full attendance from all of our Program Directors attending UCSB and SBCC, and the retreat served as a great launching pad to kick off their programs. In addition to the various logistical aspects that were discussed, we held various programs on how the students could maximize the results from their time with the foundation. I enjoyed seeing those who had been gone for the summer, and I genuinely feel that the energy that we ended the last school year with is being carried over to this year. Everyone had a great time at the retreat, and I look forward to the student planned retreat in a few months.
Logan
Schmooze Room
This past Tuesday was the last of the Forest Foundation's planning of the programming for the Schmooze Room. Although Jordan will still be involved with the program from time to time, the foundation is no longer officially involved. As Jordan told me, the foundation was able to accomplish it's mission by bring dynamic programming to the Schmooze Room over an extended period of time, and now it's just a natural progression to move on to other things. We're proud of the job Jordan's done with the Schmooze Room, and of course he'll now continue his phenomenal work in other areas.
Logan
Program Planning
Planning programming is one of the upsides of working for the foundation, but although it's fun, it is by no means easy. We take our programming very seriously, and thusly we give any proposed program a lot of scrutiny prior to putting it into effect. Today, for example, we were discussing some team building exercises to use at our retreat this weekend, and walked through each exercise. We encountered a few programs that we felt may be a little too dull or complex, and had to work our way around to the issues in these programs that made them so. Eventually we arrived at the best programming possible, but it was still a laborious task. A task, however, we take on zealously.
Logan
Upcoming Retreat
This weekend we'll be finally getting into the real swing of things as we hold a 48 hour retreat for everyone involved with the foundation at El Capitan Canyon. At the retreat we'll be focusing on team building and setting goals for the commencing school year. The retreat, which will be from Sunday to Tuesday, should include faces old and new. I look forward to seeing old friends and forging new friendships as we forge our way into the new school year. Welcome back students.
Logan
New projects
I've decided to take on my own project. I'd the feel of running my own program, even though I'm still working full-time. I think it'll help me connect back to the students and even more meaning in my work.
I called the US Chaplain service and left a message, requesting info about Jewish chaplains in the US Army. I want to send Hannukah cards and mini care packages to US soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan...
And so the story begins!
-Aaron
mah program..
I've planned my one hour time slot.
It involves a lot of storytelling. What's better than that? I've always been amazed by the power of the master storyteller...Back in high school, we had this rabbi/storyteller who just hypnotized a room of 300 students, juniors and seniors included. I don't remember that many details, except that he jumped around from idea to idea seamlessly, like a silent ninja.
A story, an idea...So much of what the foundation does is create stories, bringing ideas out of thin air to life. And both need necessary set-up, timespans, conclusions, resolutions. It's about creativity and an imagination!
-Aaron
The Search is on!
So the book is awesome.
Frankl's main argument through logotherapy is that meaning is the primary motivation for living-without meaning, our lives are meaningless, directionless, NOTHING.
I've been doing some thinking, and will continue to do so, to find meaning in every action I take. Meaning changes every day, as is different for every person.
It's up to you to find it.
-Aaron
The lovely cell phone providers
I'm trying to write something inspiring, or wise, but nothing is coming to me today. :(
T-Mobile decided to cut me out of service this morning, which was a nice wake up call, but thankfully everything got straightened out a few hours ago, so I'm back, cell jammed in ear drum, talking talking talking.
The retreat is coming up on the 18th, and I'm pretty psyched about spending time in a natural setting, with everyone. I'm running a program at night, for an hour, and looking for ideas. One hour, at 8:30.
Too late for a water fight?
-Aaron
Back to Labor
So everyone's back in the office and the Foundation is back in business.
We're hard at work planning the retreat, catching up, and prepping for the new year. And it's comforting to see that New Orleans is not becoming the next Atlantis.
Currently I'm reading Frankl's Man's Search for Meaning, and find it very, very meaningful. In the preface he writes that he discovers patients' reasons for living, by asking the suicidal, "Why do you not commit suicide?" I prefer to ask "What can't you live without?" but in some respects, they're two of the same, just worded a bit differently.
-Aaron
Who's to Blame?
In the wake of Hurricane Katrina and the state of the city formerly known as New Orleans, the natural question that arises is who to blame for the disaster. I don't doubt that as we watch the various news media report about the handling of the disaster, we'll hear no shortage of anchors surmise that it is inappropriate to inject politics into the discussion amid such massive human loss and suffering. Furthermore, I would suspect our federal government leaders to posit that, in a time like this, the "patriotic" thing to do is offer support to those in need rather than criticize those who lead. Certainly, it is important to help those who need it, but to not question the leadership of the country in such a situation, to quote Theodore Roosevelt, "is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public." So I let's not accept the federal government still speaking in the future tense, that "supplies and troops are on their way," five days
after the initial disaster, or vague generalities offered by the president that "people are working hard" to control the situation. After all, we put our protection in the hands of the government every time we go to the ballot booth, so in light of recent events, it is only fair that we ask who's to blame for failing to protect the people of New Orleans. We don't have to look far to figure it out.
Online Newsletter
I'm trying to put together an online newsletter that we can send out on a bi-weekly basis, and it's turning out to be a tougher task than I anticipated. It involves a lot of computer speak that I'm not familiar with, and I have to deal with computer code in order to set the graphics correctly. I have a hard enough time with microsoft word, so mastering computer code is no small step for me. However, I am happy to be learning this kind of thing as it can only help me in the future. Soon enough I'll have it all figured out, and everyone can look forward to receiving our new online newsletter.
Logan
