[Imc-outreach] UBA meeting

[Zachary C. Miller]

I attended the UBA meeting today and there were a lot of folks there
who didn't know we existed who were enthusiastic about our mission and
about our presense in UBA. 

I gave a brief talk about what we do and what our situation with the
shows is and our quest for space both temporary and permanent. 

I met a real estate developer who seemed honestly interested in our
mission (though when he heard we had a capital campaign he may have
just gone into ultra suave schmooze mode). I gave him a tour of our
space and my contact info. He'll contact us if he knows of any good
temporary space we can use for June shows.

I learned that UBA has a coop advertising program whereby as business
donor members (I assume that is our membership level) we are eligible
to have 5% (up to $100) of any advertising costs in mass media
(newspapers, billboards, television) reimbursed by the UBA. 

I got all the forms for how to get banners hung on the light posts for
special events. Banners cost about $100 per banner to make and about
$20-$35 per banner to hang, not sure how long they hang.

There's also a parade of homes thing coming up where local businesses
can put their products in a bunch of for sale homes which will be
viewed by thousands of people. It'd be awesome if we could put some of
our stuf in there. Newspapers, maybe some beehive collective posters
(we've certainly got enough), along with business cards and
brochures. This is a great outreach opportunity.

I gave everyone there both our new brochures wrapped in this cover
letter (some text stolen from my speech and other text added):

Dear Urbana Business Ally,

The IMC's performance venue is a vital part of the downtown Urbana
economic ecology. The IMC brings hundreds of people each week into
downtown Urbana to produce media, view art, meet with other community
members, and to hear a wide range of diverse music. Folks who visit
downtown Urbana to come to the IMC may also do business at a variety
of downtown Urbana businesses.

The IMC performance space hosts music concerts from local and touring
musicians from many different genres from folk to rock to jazz to
experimental. The IMC performance space is a safe and educational
space for kids who are not old enough to go to bars to spend their
weekend evenings. The IMC is truly utilized by people of all ages,
from 7 to 70.

Last Thursday, the IMC performance space was shut down by Urbana city
officials for code violations. After a frustrating initial
communications breakdown, the IMC is now engaged in productive dialog
with the City on how it can understand and resolve the issues. 

The community commitment to the IMC has been repeatedly shown through
our well attended shows, our highly successful ongoing fundraising
efforts, and finally through the outpouring of emails that I have
receieved from people offering to pitch in to help get the IMC up to
code and back in action.

While in the short term we may be forced to cancel some performances
and relocate other performances to alternate venues, the only long
term solution to the current situation that will truly serve the
citizens of Urbana in the way that the IMC has for the last year is to
have an IMC venue space in downtown Urbana. 

To this end we are kicking our capital campaign into high gear. We may
not be able to reopen our performance space in our current location
but we hope within the next 12 months to buy a building of our own
that we can ensure has all the proper permits and is up to
code. Buying a building is no small task but the IMC and it's huge
number of volunteers has never feared taking on large tasks. Our goal
is to raise $100,000 by December and we have already raised over
$30,000 towards that goal in just a few short months.

If your business can help the IMC to succeed in any way we would
greatly appreciate it. If you've already been helping us by accepting
our promotional materials to put in your window we are very thankful
for that! Other ways you may be able to help include making a tax
deductible donation to our capital campaign, making a donation of
temporary space for us to use for our shows until we have a building
of our own, or making an in-kind donation of goods or services. The
economy being such as it is, if these kinds of support are not
possible for your business at this time, we appreciate even the
smallest but most valuable kinds of support such as kind words about
us to your friends and patrons.

Thank you. We look forward to continuing to be a valuable part of
downtown Urbana for years to come.

Zachary C. Miller
IMC Volunteer
zach at ucimc.org
217-367-4678





-- 
Zachary C. Miller - @= - http://wolfgang.groogroo.com/
IMSA 1995 - UIUC 2000 - Just Another Leftist Muppet - Ya Basta!
 Social Justice, Community, Nonviolence, Decentralization, Feminism,
 Sustainability, Responsibility, Diversity, Democracy, Ecology