Thinkbiggersanjose is Expanding Content!

Mark from Thinkbiggersanjose--my favorite San Jose blog besides this one--has recently moved to One South Market in the heart of Downtown San Jose. He and his wife are coming from a traditional house with a back yard, and he's going to chronicle his transition from suburban living to full on urban-ness in San Jose. You can read his first post over here.

While we are talking about Thinkbiggersanjose, Mark also has a new post welcoming the "Awesome Foundation." This is a grassroots foundation that funds one awesome project a month (examples he gives are a 40 person hammock or creating an outdoor courtyard learning space for kids). Check out his post over here. To submit ideas and learn more about the San Jose Chapter of the Awesome Foundation, head here.

Xactly Hoping to Raise $75M in IPO

Xactly--located in Downtown San Jose--has filed for an IPO with the New York Stock Exchange (ticker: XTLY). This would make it the second Downtown tech company to IPO this year. Apigee was the first and Intacct could be next in line later this year.

Xactly provides software and services that helps companies manage compensation for their sales teams. It's a hot market and they have been growing very quickly. Their revenue has grown 68% to $61 million over the last three years.

After the IPO comes to fruition, that will bring a lot more dollars into the local economy as most of their employees live in the South Bay. Hopefully some will decide to move Downtown and help keep the amazing momentum going!

Source: SVBJ

June 2015 Downtown Dimension Highlights

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

• Property owners, business owners, and residents are generally satisfied with Downtown conditions based on the annual PBID survey:
• 76% see an improvement in cleanliness year-over-year
• 45% see an improvement in safety year-over-year
• 70% see an improvement in image year-over-year
• 89% are satisfied with overall condition of Downtown
• 93% approve of Groundwerx clean teams
• 77% approve of Groundwerx ambassadors
• 92% approve of beautification projects
• 71% approve of tree maintenance
• 3 Shows at Music in the Park! Advance tickets are $10 at http://www.musicintheparksj.com
• June 18th - Freshlyground (Afro-pop), Sister Carol (Reggae), DJ Robert Rankin
• July 17th - P'al Bailador, Julio Bravo y su Orquesta Salsador (Salsa)
• August 28th - Grammy Award winners Los Lonely Boys (rock 'n' roll), J.C. Smith Band
• Dine Downtown is returning for a 7th Year from June 19-28. Three course meals start at $20/person at dozens of Downtown San Jose Restaurants. For the first time, several eateries (including Curry Pundits, The Fountain, Take One Pizza, and Tengu Sushi) will have lunch specials.
• The BIG Lunch is a new program starting 11:30am on June 24th where you can grab lunch from a nearby restaurant, head to Paseo de San Antonio, and have a communal lunch break with fellow Downtowners. There will be music, drawings for prizes, and many restaurants will have to-go lunch specials.
• San Jose and the NHL have agreed to extend their contract, meaning the Sharks are guaranteed to continue playing at SAP until at least 2025. The Barracuda will also start playing in SAP this Ocrober (Sharks affiliate from the American Hockey League).
• A city advisory committee recommended SJSU manage the former Rep Theater. SJSU is asking for an initial five-year contract and if all goes through the Theater could be back in operation by the Fall.
• Team San Jose is getting $5.7 Million to rehabilitate the Convention Center, Center for Performing Arts, California Theatre, City National Civic, and Montgomery Theatre.
• The Children's Discovery Museum is getting $350,000 for a new sculptural fence to allow for more exhibit space.
• Creative Marketing Concepts (a SF firm) opened a South Bay location at 15 N. Market St. with an on-site studio.
• St. James park is getting a full calendar of events this summer:
• Mon, Wed, and Fri from noon to 1pm starting Jun 29 - Yoga, games, soccer, and food trucks
• Tues from 6:30-8pm starting Jun 29 - Informal music, poetry, and spoken word nights. Some nights will have food trucks.
• Thur from 6:30-8pm starting June 25 - Signature performance series with professional musicians.
• Sat afternoons, Jun 27, Jul 25, Aug 22, and Sep 19 - Drum circle and dancers
• The City of San Jose will also dedicate an events coordinator to St. James Park for year-round programs. 

To read the full newsletter, click here!

The Knight Foundation Awards 13 Grants to Improve Downtown San Jose!

The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation announced a total of $620,000 in grants to projects that will make Downtown San Jose a more interesting, fun, and safe place. 13 different projects received funding, and a lot of the recipients should be familiar to readers of this blog. Reading through the grants, I think we all have a lot to look forward to Downtown! Here are the winners:

• Wreck Studios received $10,000 to creating “The Exhibition District,” a project to convert 40,000 square feet of vacant wall space downtown into an outdoor art gallery.
• San Jose Parks Foundation received $75,000 to expanding its “Summer in St. James Park” series of movie nights, concerts, exercise classes and other public events.
• Moveable Feast received $19,200 in support for a monthly pop-up dinner series in city neighborhoods where diverse city leaders will discuss and act in support of the future of San Jose.
• City ID, a New York- and London-based urban planning and design firm, will use a $129,927 grant to develop a “way-finding” strategy including signage and other ideas that would help visitors find the city’s Downtown amenities.
• Content Magazine/Silicon Valley Creates. The magazine received $75,000 to pursue ways to engage the community in city life and develop a sustainable business model.
• CreaTV received $11,250 to expand its “We are San Jose” storytelling campaign that collects video stories of city residents.
• Destination: Home, a project of the Health Trust to find solutions to the county’s homeless problem, received $75,000 for a feasibility study and fiscal plan to identify pathways for housing and employment for the homes.
• Downtown Streets Inc., a nonprofit that provides work opportunities for the homeless, received $25,000 to create a mobile coffee cart in St. James Park that would employ some of the homeless who congregate there.
• Greenbelt Alliance, a nonprofit that protects open spaces in the Bay Area, received $75,000 to help create “urban villages” composed of mixed-use, walkable neighborhoods with housing options across income levels.
• Housing Trust Silicon Valley received $75,000 to establish more affordable and equitable housing policies through educational, community problem-solving and research activities and partnership building.
• Joint Venture Silicon Valley Network/Valley Transportation Authority received $15,000 for “Hack My Ride 2.0,” a three-month online app design challenge open to anyone in the world and focused on transforming mobility in Silicon Valley.
• Metro Newspaper Silicon Valley received $10,000 to pay for a monthly full-page ad promoting SoFa.
• San Jose Public Library received $25,000 to reimagine underused spaces through the “Pop-Up Mobile Makerspaces” project with Okada Design.

Source: SVBJ

Playful People Productions Presents: Disney’s The Aristocats KIDS

What's a cat to do? In Disney's The Aristocats KIDS, Madame's jealous butler Edgar cat-naps Duchess and her Aristokittens and abandons them in the Parisian countryside. Luckily, Thomas O'Malley and his rag-tag bunch of alley cats come to their rescue! This fun musical, based on the Disney film, features many of your favorite characters from Thomas O’Malley the Alley cat to Amelia and Abigail the bold Geese Sisters

This feline adventure is sure to get you tapping your feet to its upbeat, jazzy beat with a score that includes the Disney favorites "The Aristocats," "Scales and Arpeggios" and "Ev'rybody Wants to Be a Cat.”

Our shows often sell out prior to the show weekend. Be sure to buy your tickets early, you won’t want to miss out on this fantastic production.

All Shows at the Historic Hoover Theatre, 1635 Park Ave  San Jose, CA 95126

Show Times:
Friday, June 19th - 1:00 and 7:00pm
Saturday, June 20th - 11:00am, 2:00pm, 4pm  and 7:00pm
Sunday, June 21st - 11:00am, 2:00pm and 5:00pm

Tickets available at www.playfulpeople.net
$12 attendees 12 and up, $8 children 11 and under,  and $6 Children’s floor seating

Tickets at the door (30 minutes prior to curtain)
$15 attendees 12 and up, $10 children 11 and under, and $6 Children’s floor seating

For questions: barb@galiotto.com

Founded in 2010, Playful People Production’s mission is to provide a quality, caring environment where children, teens and their families can have positive theater experiences. We strive to involve all family members in the many aspects of on stage and backstage theater in a safe and fun environment and offer participation in theatrical productions, classes, summer stock and camps for ages 3-93.

Playful People Productions is run by a mother-daughter team, Barbara Galiotto and Katie D’ Arcey, who between them have approximately 50 years of experience in the musical theater world. Both are Positive Discipline trained and worked as early Childhood Educators as well as in the theater.

Saturday Stats: San Jose Metro Tops Nation For Job Opportunities

According to a new annual survey by Glassdoor, the San Jose Metro came in #1 in the country for job opportunities! San Jose has a total of 51,439 job openings and a median base salary of $99,000.  The best part is that wasn't the only job related statistic we scored high in. We ranked #2 when it comes to job satisfaction.

After aggregating all of the metrics, our overall job ranking was #7 out of the largest 50 metros in the US. We were brought down by having the 5th lowest cost of living in the survey. My question is which are the metros with a higher cost of living? I'm surprised we weren't at the very bottom of the list.

While the cost of living is high, the sheer number of opportunities, high salaries, amazing weather, and great people more than make up for it.

Source: Glassdoor, SiliconBeat

The SubZERO Festival Kicks off Tonight!!!

One of the best Arts Festivals in the Bay Area kicks off tonight and continues all the way to tomorrow night in Downtown San Jose's SoFA District. Below is the description straight from the SubZERO website:

Focused on emerging and present subcultures thriving in our region, SubZERO is a DIY, artistically bent, hi/lo-techno mashup where street meets geek. Come downtown on June 5th & 6th to San Jose's SoFA District from 6pm 'til midnight for an inspired evening of arts & culture. In addition to the South FIRST FRIDAYS monthly art walk you'll find outdoor stages of entertainment plus artists, performers & musicians celebrating the indie creative spirit!

Even that might be underselling it. There are hundreds of art exhibits and live performances spanning multiple blocks, all of them free. Three different stages will be playing live music. 13 Food Trucks will keep you nourished and a beer garden focusing on local craft beers will help your brain absorb all of that art and culture.

Hope to see you guys there! To see the full list of galleries, artists, vendors, musicians, food trucks, and craft brewers head over to the SubZERO website! 

San Pedro Square Market 2nd Annual Wine Pour

The San Pedro Square Market is hosting its 2nd Annual Wine Pour in late June, featuring a both large selection of unique wines and SJ MADE vendors. Pre-sale tickets are available right now! Scroll down for all of the details.

Please Join us for San Pedro Square Market's 2nd Annual Market Wine Pour on June 27th, 2015 featuring Summer Popups by SJMADE!

Sample different wines while strolling through booths filled with unique creations made by San Jose artists. We will be closing down St. John street in order to provide a large selection of unique wines and vendors. Event is free to all ages.

If you are interested in sampling our wines, tasting tickets are $40 pre-sale and include a souvenir glass, $10 gift card to be used at participating San Pedro Square Market restaurants, and 5 drink tickets for 3-oz pours of your favorite wines. Additional drink tickets will be available for purchase at the event. Tickets will be $50 day of event if we don't sellout first, so get your tickets early!

Wine Tasting begins at 1pm, check-in starting at 12pm. Come early and stay late to enjoy the SJMADE Vendor Faire from 12pm-7pm.

We hope to see you there!

BUY TICKETS HERE

Confirmed Wines:

Jaume Serra Cristalino Brut

Condes de Albarei Albarino

Pata Negra Verdejo

Pata Negra Rioja

Conde de Valdemar Riojo

Belle Ambiance Chardonnay

Belle Ambiance Cabernet Sauvignon

Massimo Sauvignon Blanc

Irony Pinot Noir

Handcraft Petite Sirah

Buena Vista Chardonnay

Buena Vista Cabernet

Buena Vista Merlot

Buena Vista Zinfandel

Buena Vista Pinot Noir

Clos Lachance Chardonnay

Clos Lachance Sauvignon Blanc

Clos Lachance Cabernet

Clos Lachance Zinfandel

Clos Lachance Meritage