Oakland Digital (ODALC) encourages local commerce and technological advancements with civic responsibilities by developing the skills of the underserved in the growing Internet & mobile marketplace.

Oakland Digital has earned the respect and admiration of many leaders in educational and civic affairs for its high degree of community involvement.

Through Inspiration Awards 2011, Oakland Digital recognizes and honors prominent local Bay Area pioneers who have made substantial contributions to the community at large through their innovation and dedication in their chosen fields of:

1) business, 2) artistic creativity, and 3) technology.

HONOREES:

MC Hammer: Known primarily for his music career some years ago, MC Hammer is the driving force behind DanceJam – a dance-centric social media site. We are honoring MC Hammer for his inspiring work in the community but also his business-centric re-invention.

Goapele: A current Billboard 200 artist from Oakland, we’re honoring Goapele for artistic contribution to the community and the inspiration she provides through her music.

Alex Bernstein: Former NFL player, and Co-Founder of NorthSocial, Alex is being honored for his technological contribution to the community.

MISTRESS OF CEREMONIES:

Barbara Rodgers: Seven time Emmy award winner and Bay Area broadcasting legend.

WHEN:

Thursday, December 1st, 2011 from 6pm – 9pm

WHERE:

Preservation Park (Nile Hall)

668 13th St. Oakland, CA

PAYMENT OPTIONS:

1. Credit Card through Eventbrite or phone, (510) 435-2945

2. PayPal sent to PayPal Email ID ”donate@odalc.org”

3. Check made payable to ”Oakland Digital” sent to:

Oakland Digital (ODALC)
1224 Harrison Street
Oakland, CA 94612

OTHER SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES:

Please contact Shaun Tai at (510) 435-2945 or shaun@odalc.org.

Your generous contribution is tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law. Oakland Digital is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization.

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About Oakland Digital (ODALC – Oakland Digital Arts & Literacy Center):

Oakland Digital is a 3-year old, volunteer-run, 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization with the mission to educate, inspire and empower low-income communities to participate in the digital economy. We do this through our quarterly programs, as well as through other opportunities we’re able to provide throughout the year. For more,  Watch >> a short interview of our Executive Director, Shaun Tai, as seen on CNN Headlines News and see below for specific information on our programs.

Small Business Symposium (Q1):

This year Oakland Digital held their first annual Social Media for Small Business Symposium with great success. A wildly successful event – the first of its kind held at City of Oakland’s City Hall, Council Chambers - SMfSB introduced the importance of digital marketing tools available to the small business community at little to no cost. Corporate support included Yahoo! Small Business, Constant Contact, YP.com, GetSatisfaction, and Social Data Lab. Read more >>

Inspire Oakland (Q2):

Inspire Oakland is a 6-week community-driven, design program for aspiring graphic artists and designers. It provides underserved students and young artists with an opportunity to produce work for their portfolios; to have their work judged by industry professionals; and to have their work displayed prominently in their community. Through generous support from the AT&T and CBS Outdoor, Inspire Oakland students push themselves to design billboard artwork answering the question, “What about Oakland inspires you?” The top 4 designs are featured on both static and digital billboards from East Oakland to Berkeley. For pictures and more information, Read more >> or Watch >>

Digital Equity (Q3):

Oakland Digital’s Digital Equity for Small Businesses program addresses a community-wide need for low-cost, accessible education in today’s online business tools. From social media, online directories, recommendation sites, email, mobile, and more – the Digital Equity program is a platform for the underserved small business community to connect with, and be taught by, industry experts.  Read more >>

Inspiration Awards (Q4):

The Inspiration Awards ceremony is Oakland Digital’s annual fundraising event. We strive to honor members of the business, technology and artistic community whom have contributed to the community with their work. In 2010 we honored Joe Kennedy (CEO at Pandora); Donald Tamaki (Partner at Minami Tamaki LLP); and Andreas Weigend (Former Chief Scientist at Amazon.com). Sponsors have included Whole Foods Market and Cisco Systems.  Read more >>

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Oakland Digital’s Board of Directors and Volunteer Staff look forward to seeing you on December 1st, 2011, 6-9pm at Preservation Park!

Oakland Digital (ODALC) presents:
“Social Media for Small Business”
an Online Marketing Symposium

When used properly, social media can be a great tool to help your small business reach untapped, potential customers and stay connected to current ones. But there are a few things you’ll need to know to help you get the most out of social media as well as your online presence in its entirety. “Social Media for Small Business” will help break social media down into easy-to-understand pieces, so you can make sense of and make use of this powerful resource in a way that grows your business.

You’ll receive information and educational demos full of ideas and tips you can start using right away to build your online brand using social media. This is a historic technology event you won’t want to miss!

Who Should Attend? Small business owners, non-profits, entrepreneurs, realtors, consultants, associations, social & community activists, neighborhood leaders, churches, and chambers of commerce (any organization that wants individual social media consultation).

Keynote speakers include:

• Social Data Revolution, Andreas Weigend, Ph.D.
• GetSatisfaction, Wendy Lea

Presentations and Educational Demos from:

• City of Oakland, Mayor Jean Quan [A New Oakland]
• Oakland Digital, Shaun Tai [Overview of Social Media]
• Constant Contact, Kelly Flint [Social Media & Email Marketing]
• YP.com, Stephen Perez [Online & Mobile Advertising]
• InOak, Patrick Hurley [Collaboration and Community]
• The B on Broadway, Zach Seal [Free Downtown Shuttle]

SPACE IS LIMITED. REGISTER EARLY!
www.oaklandsocialmedia.com

It was a night of culmination for Oakland Digital Arts & Literacy Center (ODALC). After more than a year of striving to establish itself in a time of economic downturn, the local technology nonprofit succeeded in hosting its first annual Inspiration Awards, which celebrated the City of Oakland and honored three influential people for their significant contributions to the community:

Andreas Weigend (former Chief Scientist of Amazon.com and world-renowned data expert),

Joe Kennedy (CEO of Pandora Radio), and

Donald Tamaki (known for successfully reopening the landmark Supreme Court cases of Fred Korematsu, Gordon Hirabayashi and Minoru Yasui).

Held in Oakland’s historic Preservation Park, the event sold out to approximately 130 guests: some came representing prominent tech companies (Cisco Systems, Pandora Radio, Intel, Hewlett-Packard, Amazon.com); others came from reputed financial institutions (Cathay Pacific Bank, Morgan Stanley); others still came from Oakland’s rich assortment of local businesses and organizations (Uptown Body and Fender, Rosewood House, Gente Bella Salon Spa, OneCalifornia, It’s a Grind Coffee House).

ODALC made a point of thanking its key partners at the event, namely East Bay Asian Local Development Corporation and Oakland Unwrapped. Executive Director Shaun Tai also announced plans to work closely with the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programs of Cisco Systems. In addition to celebrating the Oakland community and all its assets, the event and its honorees looked to the city’s future, impressing the urgency of ODALC’s mission to make computer education more accessible to underserved communities.

“ODALC is teaching people to embrace, not fear technology,” said Norman Weekes, Strategic Advisor at ODALC. “To be a user of technology and not one of the used. To be a producer and not a consumer. To take your life experience and combine it with the infinite possibilities technology offers and to better yourself, your business and maybe even society.”

As ODALC celebrated a year of hard-earned accomplishment and looked ahead to 2011, so did Oakland’s recent Mayor-Elect Jean Quan. Within thirty minutes of announcing her victory at Oakland City Hall, Quan made her way to Preservation Park in support of ODALC and Inspiration Awards 2010.

“I’m particularly honored to be here because [ODALC] has had this vision of inspiring Oakland and looking at Oakland in new way,” said Quan. “[ODALC] is part of the new Oakland, the next generation. Let’s support them!” [see video below]

When she takes office on January 3rd, 2011, Quan will be the first Asian American woman mayor of a major U.S. city. ODALC considers her an invaluable ally in the effort to promote greater prosperity for Oakland and the Bay Area. After a year of struggle and hardship, Oakland hopefully awaits a new era of leadership and social change. Inspiration Awards 2010 exceeded its original scope and served as a platform for that change.

For 2011, ODALC plans to recruit more board members and raise $80,000 to support its program “Digital Equity for Local Commerce,” which helps struggling small business owners in Oakland compete with the rest of the market via online advertising. If Wednesday night was any indication, the Oakland community has the passion and the drive to make ODALC’s vision a reality.

[CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD PRESS RELEASE, .PDF FORMAT]

Craig Alexander Newmark (Internet entrepreneur best known for being the founder of the San Francisco-based website Craigslist) and Andreas Weigend meet and have a fascinating discussion covering Craigslist, Wikipedia and the Social Data Revolution!

OAKLAND, California (February 09, 2010) – The Oakland Digital Arts & Literacy Center (ODALC) is teaming up with Whole Foods Market and the City of Oakland to hold a contest that calls upon local artists to design a billboard poster conveying what it is about Oakland that inspires them. The top ten designs submitted to the “Inspire Oakland” billboard contest will be featured in three of the city’s most prominent art galleries, while one lucky artist will have his or her design displayed on a commercial billboard.

“The purpose of this contest is twofold,” said Shaun Tai, Executive Director of the ODALC. “First off, we want to direct fresh, young talent in Oakland towards graphic design and information technologies … these are lucrative fields that will create jobs and reenergize our city’s economy. Secondly, we want to promote a positive image of Oakland that counters negative stereotypes sometimes associated with the city. By giving a highly-visible, public platform to the talent and optimism of our young people, we can instill a sense of pride and hope in the Oakland community.”

The Oakland Digital Arts & Literacy Center is a newly formed nonprofit organization founded with the purpose of training, mentoring, and inspiring Oakland’s underemployed youth to achieve higher career goals. In this increasingly digital economy, business-computing skills are more essential than ever to finding work, yet many young people in Oakland don’t have the resources to develop these skills. ODALC seeks to address this problem by offering free access to computer training courses, keynote speakers from Silicon Valley, professional network referrals, business consultations, and one-on-one career counseling.

The “Inspire Oakland” billboard contest marks the Oakland Digital Arts & Literacy Center’s first major public event. Founded on July 31st, 2009, ODALC has been forced to operate on limited resources in the short time they’ve been active. Yet even with limited funding, ODALC is able to help individuals in one-on-one sessions by appointment. One such individual, ElTyna McCree, owner and operator of “Underground Treasures” on Webster Street, had been unable to promote her business effectively due to posttraumatic stress suffered from a violent hate crime. With the help of ODALC, McCree learned the importance of online tools and is now using Yelp.com to successfully promote her business online.

“All we’re asking is for people to believe and give us the chance to prove that our organization can fill a real gap here in Oakland,” said Tai. “If you believe as we do, that Oakland can prosper into a 21st Century city for the rest of America to emulate, then volunteer, spread the word, and donate to the ODALC.” He added with chuckle, “And participate in our billboard contest!”

Entries for the “Inspire Oakland” billboard contest are being accepted from now until March 21st, 2010. How to enter and official rules: http://www.odalc.org/contest/inspire.pdf

Contact: Jesse Elias, jesse@odalc.org, (510) 435-2945