Is SXSW Coming to San Jose?

South by Southwest (SXSW) is an epic-sized event located in Austin that is part music festival and part tech conference. To give you and idea of scale, last year 300,000 people attended and it generated $190 million for the city of Austin. This is one of the largest events in the US. For some perspective, the largest show in Las Vegas is CES, it takes up millions and millions of square feet of event space, every hotel is booked and you can barely walk in the streets... it attracts about 150,000 people.

Well, I have some good news. It looks like Dan Pulcrano, the CEO of Metro Newspapers, wants to recreate something similar to SXSW in Downtown San Jose! Given his background with the San Jose Jazz Festival and Music in the Park, he might just be the person to pull it off. The new event is called Creative Convergence Silicon Valley (C2SV) and it is scheduled for September 26-29 this year at the newly remodeled San Jose Convention Center.

While it's not quite up to the scale on SXSW, it will be one heck of a start. Dan and the rest of the organizers are trying to book over 100 musical acts across 20 different venues! There will also be all sorts of tech events and exhibits, as well as keynote speeches from tech luminaries.

Given the timing of C2SV, there is also a chance that this could coincide with ZER01 in future years. How awesome would that be? See the tentative schedule below and the festival website over here.

Source: SVBJ (Requires Subscription)

Schedule

The 2013 C2SV schedule is shaping up very nicely, and we’ll have additions to add and announcements to make.

In the meantime, here are some highlights to calendar.

Thursday, September 26, 2013

C2SV Opening Party
First Night of Music

Friday, September 27, 2013

Keynote Speakers
Conference Sessions
Music at 20+ Venues
Expo at Convention Center

Saturday, September 28, 2013

Keynote Speakers
Conference Sessions
Music at 20+ Venues

Sunday, September 29, 2013

Final day
Closing Party

SWSW in Austin, Texas

C2SV Mockup

Cukui Collaboration with 49ers' QB Kaepernick

Last week you saw the photo of what the San Pedro Square Market looked like when the 49ers hosted their 2013 Draft Bash there, but there are other connections being made to San Jose as well. Cukui is a really cool clothing store in Japantown that embodies San Jose street art and culture. They approached 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick to see if he would be interested in a clothing line inspired by his tattoos. Kaepernick agreed and the new shirts shot up Cukui's business by 200-300%, with most of that being new customers. They are also one of the few pieces of 49ers gear designed and printed right here in San Jose.

To check out Cukui's online store, just click this link. You can also visit their retail location at 229 Jackson Street.

Source: SVBJ

Saturday Stats: #7... Worst Traffic in the US

Okay, so this week's stat is not exactly the most uplifting. With a thriving economy comes some additional traffic, but there is a bright side. This stat can help make the case for bettering our public transit system and it could actually be worse. There are six major cities with worse traffic, including NY, LA, and San Francisco:

Top 10 Worst Cities for Traffic in America, along with total annual hours wasted in traffic:

1. Los Angeles (59 hours)
2. Honolulu (50 hours)
3. San Francisco (49 hours)
4. Austin (38 hours)
5. New York (50 hours)
6. Bridgeport (39 hours)
7. San Jose (31 hours)
8. Seattle (35 hours)
9. Washington, D.C. (41 hours)
10. Boston (31 hours)

Also, San Jose and Austin were the only two cities that saw traffic increase last year (6% and 3% respectively), every other city had a slight drop in congestion. I don't think it is a coincidence that these are also the two cities whose economies performed extremely well in 2012. I'm hoping BART, highway improvements, and building housing closer to jobs (and vice versa) will help us get out of the top 10 for this stat.

Source: SVBJ, INRIX

Gordon Biersch 25th Anniversary “Big Bands, Brews & BBQ” Event

Just in case you haven’t yet heard, Gordon Biersch is celebrating their 25th anniversary year by hosting a “Big Bands, Brews & BBQ” event tomorrow, Sat, May 18 from 2-7 p.m. at their brewing and bottling facility at 357 East Taylor Street (not to be confused with the Gordon Biersch brewery restaurant in downtown San Jose).

I wrote an article about this event in this week’s Metro issue, which includes several quotes from Dan Gordon himself. Dan shared some other things as well. First, he talked enthusiastically about the trio of groups scheduled to perform at the anniversary bash, including:

• The San Jose Jazz Festival All Star Big Band featuring drummer Tommy Igoe and vocalist Kenny Washington at 2:30. Dan added, “Kenny is simply amazing and a regular performer at New York City’s Lincoln Center.”
• Pacific Mambo Orchestra – a 19-piece band led by pianist Christian Tumalan and trumpeter Steffen Kuehn at 4. Dan added, “They have to be one of the top five salsa groups out there."
• Carlos Reyes and his Super Group featuring Santana vocalist Tony Lindsay at 6. Dan shared, “Carlos is a virtuoso and plays Paraguayan harp and electric violin.”

Dan also talked about the risks taken in opening the brewery restaurant in downtown San Jose, back during some tough economic times; for instance, the brewpub at the location Gordon Biersch was taking over lasted just three months. Fortunately, Gordon Biersch has lasted much longer and has continued to call San Jose their home.

For ticket information for the 25th anniversary bash, click here.

Sake San Jose 2013

Japantown is going to host the 8th Annual Sake San Jose event on May 23rd, which benefits the Yu-Ai Kai Community Senior Service. If you want to sample a variety of sakes while checking out over 20 Japantown venues and listening to San Jose Taiko, now is the time to get your early bird tickets before the discount expires! More event info below:

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WHEN:	May 23, 2013 Registration – 4:30PM Opening Ceremony – 5:00PM Sake Tasting - 5:30PM-8:30PM
WHERE:	Japantown San Jose On Jackson Street Between 3rd and 7th Streets
TICKETS:	Early Bird – $40 until May 19, 2013 General Admission – $50 after May 19. 2013

Yu-Ai Kai’s 8th Annual Sake San Jose event will be held on Thursday, May 23, 2013 from 5:30 PM to 8:30 PM. Join the hundreds of sake tasters as they embark upon the streets of historic Japantown San Jose (on Jackson Street, between 3rd and 7th Streets) for one of the most anticipated fundraisers of the year.

This year’s opening ceremony will again feature a lively performance by the San Jose Taiko group followed by our guests of honor in a ceremonial sake cask breaking (Kagami-wari) and a toast of Kampai! More than 20 Japantown businesses will host a pouring station, where Yu-Ai Kai volunteers will offer samples of sake made both in Japan and the U.S.

Early Bird tickets are $40 when purchased by May 19th; $50 after May 19. There is also a VIP ticket for $60 which includes admission, a Horitaka design Year of the Snake T-shirt, and express check-in line at Registration.

New this year will be celebrities participating at various pouring stations. So don’t be surprised if you see a familiar face.

Registration opens at 4:30 PM with Opening Ceremony beginning at 5:00 PM.

Ticket holders must be 21 years of age and must have valid photo identification.

No refunds or exchanges.

Sake San Jose is a fundraiser benefiting Yu-Ai Kai Community Senior Service

Zoll Medical is Moving from Sunnyvale to San Jose

Zoll Medical is one of the market leaders in medical products and software solutions that help emergency respondents save lives. They have about 225 employees right now and occupy 54,000 SQFT in Sunnyvale. They will be investing substantially in San Jose, as they are not just upgrading to 124,500 SQFT in the Northeastern part of the city (2000 Ringwood Drive), but they are purchasing the entire building instead of just leasing it. That means they are likely going to stay in San Jose for quite some time, and will be bringing some new jobs as icing on the cake.

Source: SVBJ

May 2013 Downtown Dimension Highlights

Here are my notes from the latest edition of Downtown Dimension:

• Music in the Park returns July 19th for a single show headlined by Grammy Award-winner Ozomatli. The show will be happening on a Friday at St. James Park, and there will be an admission fee ($10-15 for those over 12 years old)
• Neighbors are asking VTA to drop plans to put a light rail bypass track in the St. James Park area.
• More details on the Centerra high-rise are leaking out. The 21-story 347-unit apartment building across from the San Pedro Square Market will be made out of brick and limestone. The 7,000 SQFT of retail facing the SPSM will be sub-divisible into 1,000 SQFT shops and the space is expected to be occupied by businesses that will complement the market. The builders are hoping to raze structures on the site in the next 60 days and start construction this summer. The building should be ready by 2015.
• Groundworks survey results came back for 2013 and showed positive gains in stakeholder's perceptions of Downtown cleanliness, clean teams, beautification projects, and tree maintenance plans. There were drops in the survey for satisfaction with improved safety, overall image, and overall condition. [Josh: That should change when new safety measures are put in place by Groundwerx].
• Ike's Place is opening a new sandwich shop at the northeast corner of Second and Santa Clara Streets!
• Pauly's Famous Franks N Fries is open at 312 S. Third St., serving over 50 different hot dog combinations.
• Amir Mediterranean Cuisine is now open at the former Morocco's site at 86 N. Market.
• Chandler Pratt & Partners wants to build a mixed-use project at 785 and 795 The Alameda, between the new Whole Foods and Arena Hotel. This would include 98 residential units sitting on top of retail.
• The 7.7 mile section of the Guadalupe River Trail from 880 to Alviso is now fully paved.
• SubZERO will be taking place along SoFA on June 7th.

To read the full newsletter, click here!

Cisco Sells 57 Acres for New Office Complex

Cisco is parting with a 57 acre site that could house quite a large office development. In fact, it is already zoned for 650,000 SQFT of office or R&D space. Trammel Crow Co. is the purchaser and will either build this out as a speculative project or sell off pieces of the land to companies that are ready to build and have specific requirements in mind.

The parcel is right at the border of Alviso and is very near the @First retail and hotel project anchored by Target and Fresh & Easy. Thousands of new apartments are also under construction right now in the general area. Unfortunately this is one part of North First not serviced by Lightrail, so transit here is not going to be great. I think it would be pretty neat if they could run something like a street car from the nearest station to @First, the new office developments, and the Alviso marina area.

Source: SVBJ