The Color Run Dream Tour comes to San Jose, Saturday May 27

SAN JOSE (April 26, 2017) – The Color Run®, the largest 5k event series in the world, will bring its 2017 tour theme, The Color Run Dream Tour, Presented by Lay’s®, to Arena Green East—Guadalupe River Park onSaturday, May 27, kicking off at 8:00 a.m. The Color Run Dream Tour will create a world where anything is possible, unicorns are real and foam clouds make everything better. The 2017 theme will make Color Runners’ dreams a lot more colorful with unforgettable music, color throws and an all new Lay’s® Poppables™ Foam Zone and Dream Wall. The San Jose run will benefit the American Diabetes Association’s Step Out: San Jose, an inspiring event to support all people living with diabetes.

“We want The Color Run to bring happiness and health to people’s lives, and even be the motivator that kicks off Color Runners’ healthy lifestyles. We are excited to come to San Jose and give Color Runners the opportunity to step into a dream with us and enjoy a 5k that inspires people to get out and be active with their friends and families, all while having a blast!” said Louis Wills, The Color Run’s event director. “Our participants will experience an all new Lay’s Poppables Foam Zone and Dream Wall, fresh photo opps, giant unicorns, tons of color and even more music across the whole course on our Dream Tour.”

As participants enter the magical course, they experience the classic Color Zones and the brand new Lay’s Poppables Foam Zone, where they’re surrounded by dreamy colored foam or “clouds” as they run through the most colorful dream of all. The Dream Tour is filled with even more vibrant music across the whole course, radiant new colors, giant unicorns and the Dream Wall—a new addition to the course where runners spray paint their dreams on the wall to be seen by all. After crossing the Finish Line, Color Runners enjoy the Finish Festival, where they party with the Runicorn, dance, find unique photo opportunities and join in on massive color throws every couple of minutes.

Each Color Runner receives a custom race kit, including a limited-edition Dream Tour race shirt, a Unicorn Finisher’s Medal, embroidered headband, fun temporary tattoos and a color-in runner’s bib—to inspire participants to decorate and color their runner’s bib. An option to upgrade race kits to receive additional gear is also available with the deluxe registration package. Participants can color it up with more accessories, clothing and fun dream inspired items at The Color Run store.

Event:                 The Color Run Dream Tour, Presented by Lay’s in San Jose

Date:                   Saturday, May 27

Time:                   8:00 a.m.

Location:            Arena green East—Guadalupe River Park

     340 West Saint John Street

     San Jose, CA 95110

Tickets:               Team | $34.99

                             Individual | $39.99

     *Prices to increase closer to event

The Color Run announces a new partnership with Lay’s®, who will be the 2017 presenting sponsor for the 5k paint races in North America. Lay’s is delighted to add even more vibrancy to The Color Run through flavorful and fun experiences that will uplift participants throughout the day, including experiential activation and free product samples. To learn more about Lay’s®, you can visit www.facebook.com/lays.

The Dream Tour marks the sixth anniversary of The Color Run. The tour will be making stops all around the globe and is anticipated to visit more than 27 countries worldwide in 2017. Registration for The Color Run Dream Tour, Presented by Lay’s in San Jose is open until the start of the run. To register or for more information about The Color Run Dream Tour, Presented by Lay’s®, visit, www.thecolorrun.com/locations/san-jose. Join the #Happiest5K and the #DreamInColors journey on social media by following The Color Run on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

About The Color Run®

The Color Run is the largest event series in the world and the first of its kind. Founded in 2012, the number one goal of The Color Run is to produce the ‘Happiest 5k on the Planet’ giving participants an unforgettable experience. With no winners or official times, The Color Run celebrates healthiness, happiness, and individuality, helping participants achieve their fitness goals by providing a fun, un-intimidating running environment. To learn more about The Color Run, visit The Color Run Website. #Happiest5k #DreamInColors

The Color Run is a product of Bigsley™ Event House, a leading creator of experiential events including: The Color Run Night®, Pumpkin Nights, Dam Train Race, Electric Run® and Soul Pose™.

Loving Day 2017 - June 10th, 11-3pm in SoFA

One of San Jose's biggest strengths it its diversity. In fact, we are statistically the most diverse metro in the United States. It gives us a unique culture with a better perspective of challenges around the globe as well as the wonderful opportunity to access traditions different than the ones we grew up with. The more diverse we are, the stronger our culture and society will be.

Loving Day is a celebration of the landmark Supreme Court decision that legalized interracial marriage in the US. Shockingly, this happened only 50 years ago with the case Loving v. Virginia.

San Jose's first event in honor of Loving Day will take place on June 10th at Parque de los Pobladores from 11am-3pm. There will be music, dancing, arts and crafts, a food truck, and plenty of good times. For more info, head over to the San Jose Loving Day Facebook page.

San Jose Funding Roundup

Several San Jose companies have announced new funding rounds in the past couple months. This typically means more jobs, which also benefits our local economy, as well as exciting new product launches. Below are the beneficiaries of our venture capital ecosystem.

Outset Medical - Medical devices startup that created a portable kidney dialysis machine. They just raised $76.5 million in a Series C round. Outset is headquartered at 1830 Bering Drive near the airport.

Visier - Business intelligence startup that makes workforce analytics software for HR departments. Visier raised a $45 million Series D round and is located at 650-550 S. Winchester Boulevard.

CNEX Labs - They build solid-state storage controllers and software for the next generation of data centers. They just raised a new round of $13.2 million and the funding round was led by Microsoft Ventures. CNEX is located at 2880 Stevens Creek Boulevard.

Chowbotics - They make a robot named Sally that can make over 1,000 different types of salads. Chowbotics is a brand new company that raised a $5 million Series A round and have pilot robots at Mama Mia in Campbell and Galvanize's coworking space in San Francisco.

Bonus: Western Digital did not receive a new funding round--they don't need it with $13 billion of annual revenue--but they did officially move their headquarters from Southern California to San Jose (Great Oaks area off of North First Streed).


Sources: SVBJ, SVBJ, SVBJ, SVBJ, and SVBJ

Mendocino Farms is coming to Santana Row

A super hot LA sandwich chain is opening one of their first Northern Californian locations at Santana Row. Mendocino Farms has 4.5 stars on Yelp with hundreds of reviews for almost every single one of their locations. They are a premium fast-casual restaurant with food sourced from local farms. They also serve wine and craft beers.

The 2,822 SQFT Santana Row location will be located between CineArts and the Splunk office building next to it. It will also feature a large outdoor patio and kid's corner. Mendochino Farms is scheduled to open this Fall, and I can't wait to try it out.

SAN JOSE, CA - MAY 09, 2017

Opening in fall 2017, the Los Angeles-based artisanal sandwich and salad shop committed to sourcing seasonal ingredients from local California farmers is slated to open a 2,822 sf restaurant at Santana Row, nestled between CineArts Theatre and Santana Row’s newest office tenant, Splunk.

The Santana Row "Mendo," as fans affectionately call it, is designed by local architecture firm KDA and will have a modern, wine country-inspired vibe. The premium fast-casual restaurant will feature the "kid-friendliest" kids' corner and offer a full lineup of wines and craft beers on tap. It will also feature a spacious outdoor patio, an ideal sunny spot to catch up with friends and co-workers while indulging in truly irresistible sandwiches, salads and soups from the chef-driven menu.

Mendocino Farms, founded in 2005 by husband and wife team Mario Del Pero & Ellen Chen, is redefining the neighborhood sandwich shop by elevating it to a fine dining experience with premium, locally sourced ingredients. Keeping true to its mission, Mendocino Farms’ food will be sourced from farms and artisans local to Northern California. Rather than just selling sandwiches, Mendocino Farms "sells happy," creating true neighborhood gathering places for locals to come together over compelling and thoughtful food that supports the local food economy. Mendocino Farms Santana Row will be a space filled with health and warmth for adults and kids alike, a perfect addition to this popular community destination.

About Santana Row 
Offering 1.7 million square feet of retail, office, hotel and residential, Santana Row is located in San Jose, California; the hub for high-tech innovation and development. Featuring 615 luxury rental homes, 219 privately owned condos, 376,000 square feet of office space, over 50 shops, 30 restaurants, a boutique hotel and a movie theatre. Santana Row is a property of http://www.federalrealty.com (NYSE:FRT), headquartered in Rockville, Maryland. For more information, please visit http://www.santanarow.com.

About Federal Realty 
Federal Realty is a recognized leader in the ownership, operation and redevelopment of high-quality retail based properties located primarily in major coastal markets from Washington, D.C. to Boston as well as San Francisco and Los Angeles. Founded in 1962, our mission is to deliver long term, sustainable growth through investing in densely populated, affluent communities where retail demand exceeds supply. Our expertise includes creating urban, mixed-use neighborhoods like Santana Row in San Jose, California, Pike & Rose in North Bethesda, Maryland and Assembly Row in Somerville, Massachusetts. These unique and vibrant environments that combine shopping, dining, living and working provide a destination experience valued by their respective communities. Federal Realty's 98 properties include over 2,800 tenants, in approximately 23 million square feet, and over 1,800 residential units.

Federal Realty has paid quarterly dividends to its shareholders continuously since its founding in 1962, and has increased its dividend rate for 49 consecutive years, the longest record in the REIT industry. Federal Realty shares are traded on the NYSE under the symbol FRT. For additional information about Federal Realty and its properties, visit http://www.FederalRealty.com.

Students bring street life to Fountain Alley

SJSU students are working on "functional street life" pieces to make Downtown San Jose's historic Fountain Alley district a more interesting place. They are doing an event today around lunch time to showcase scale models of potential street life activators. Examples include unique seating, planters, hanging gardens, birdhouses, mobile solar hubs, lighting, mini-parks, and stages. 

The initiative should help make Fountain Alley more of a destination than it is today. The fact that this project is being worked on by local students with a connection to the city is the icing on the cake.

For more info check out the full press release below. Better yet, if you are free for lunch (12:30pm) and are in the area, swing by Fountain Alley today (between First and Second streets just south of Santa Clara Street).

Prototype project sets example for future social square

SAN JOSE – San Jose State University industrial design students showed today how Fountain Alley could look in the near future, creating life-size models that would transform the alley from avoidable place into a lively, vibrant, walkable and memorable public space.

“We are trying to bring an interest back to Fountain Alley that was lost,” said Kenneth Gordon, student, “while connecting Fountain Alley to the community in a way that makes them feel most comfortable.”

Working in partnership with San Jose Downtown Association, student teams created prototypes for seating, planters, hanging gardens, birdhouses, mobile solar hubs and lighting, mini-parks and stages in the alley, a part of a National Register Historic District.

The Design for All class gathered community input over the past five months to provide inspiration for their projects.  They used Local Color across from the alley on South First Street as a staging studio to build out their ideas.  The culmination of the semester was the display of urban-design creations for three hours on Monday.

One large structure supported wind chimes. Another model shaped to resemble a giant flower doubled as a streetlight and had a large leaf for seating.  One group working on seating has created a large canopy of swings.

“In terms of solving the problems, we consider the human senses and aesthetic, and modernizing that aesthetic,” said Shafik Huffman, a student working on the bird houses and wind chimes group.

Added Alex McFadden, another SJSU student:   “We are creating community, not just bringing in the community.”

SJSU’s CommUniverCity program, which seeks opportunities to engage the local community, reached out to SJDA Street Life Manager Jason Su to offer its students’ information-gathering and creative design services, and to offer fresh perspective on Fountain Alley, said Dayana Salazar, CommUniverCity executive director.  Industrial Design Professor Leslie Speer took the academic lead and Master of Urban Planning student Nicole Guzman served as project coordinator.  Su assembled downtown residents and artists to gather ideas and arranged the work space for students.

“The Fountain Alley project exemplifies the power of collaboration,” Speer said.  “The generous donation of time and creative thinking by the local community has made this project as much of a success as the student work.”

Other recent efforts resulting in a swell of positive momentum for Fountain Alley include a beautification and cleanup project by the San Jose Sharks Foundation in April and a temporary pop-up art gallery sponsored by Knight Foundation and 8-80 Cities.

“We greatly appreciate the many bright SJSU students who offered their creativity, energy and imagination to illustrate the future possibilities for Fountain Alley as a vibrant and active public space,” said Mayor Sam Liccardo.  “This project provides a great example of our community coming together to tackle challenges and create a common vision for the future.”

The District Attorney’s Community Prosecution Unit helped with designs for the renovated space.  The Office’s participation in this event is part of an ongoing partnership with SJDA and other community groups to prevent crime along Fountain Alley and improve the public safety of all residents and visitors of downtown San Jose. 

 “Someday soon only a few people will remember that Fountain Alley was a place to pass by,” said Santa Clara District Attorney Jeff Rosen.  “Now, instead of crime, we have creativity.  Instead of graffiti, we have art.  Instead of a place to do drugs, there is a place for a child to swing.  With some fresh paint, elbow grease and cooperation, we are making downtown San Jose a better place to live, work and visit.”

The DA’s Office also supported the “Phylum of the Free” mural that overlooks the alley, which represents the first dramatic improvement on the alley, created in 2015.

Rosen will join SJDA President Stan Vuckovich, and SJSU Provost Andy Feinstein in a brief ceremony Monday to acknowledge the student efforts.

###

About SJDA: SJDA, a non-profit membership-based organization founded in 1986, represents business and property owners and works to enhance downtown’s vitality and livability.

About CommUniverCity:  CommUniverCity is San José State University’s flagship community engagement initiative in collaboration with central San José neighborhoods and the City of San José. Each year CommUniverCity engages over 1,200 SJSU students and 8,000 residents in projects that advance community-driven goals while strengthening the community’s capacity to bring about vibrant, healthy and engaged neighborhoods.

Village Oaks Yogurtland Hosts Fundraiser for Avon39 Walk To End Breast Cancer

Appropriately timed for Mother's Day, a South San Jose Yogurtland is participating in the Walk to End Breast Cancer. Their participation runs from tomorrow to June 15th and they are hoping to raise more than $1,000 for the cause. You can visit this location at 5638 Cottle Road.

(SAN JOSE, CA) May 8, 2017— From May 15 – June 15, San Jose yogurt lovers can treat themselves to the flavors they love and give back to a worthy cause.  For the second year, the Village Oaks Yogurtland, located at 5638 Cottle Road in San Jose, is collecting donations in a month long fundraiser for the Avon39 Walk to End Breast Cancer.

After guests finish creating their yogurt masterpieces, they can also choose to donate to the Avon39 Walk to End Breast Cancer at check out. Those who donate will be asked to write their names on a pink ribbon, which will be put on display until the completion of the fundraiser.

"Breast cancer hits close to home for many, even me. I'm proud to support the Avon39 Walk because it has helped women like my childhood friend," said Jen Borbert, storeowner of the Village Oaks Yogurtland. "The support we received last year was overwhelming. This year, I know our Yogurtland family can make an even greater impact on this worthy cause."

Last year, the Village Oaks Yogurtland raised nearly $1,000 for the Avon39 Walk to End Breast Cancer thanks to the gracious donations of its visitors. With the help and support of its yogurt lovers, the Village Oaks location hopes to raise more this year.

About Yogurtland
Yogurtland’s flavorologists are continually seeking craveable flavors that keep fans loving their experience. Yogurtland owns its own dairy and by controlling the frozen yogurt making process, the company can deliver the highest quality flavors, setting new standards for millions of fans.

All of Yogurtland’s flavors meet the National Yogurt Association Criteria for “live and active culture frozen yogurt” and are produced in a kosher-certified facility. Yogurtland features non-fat and low-fat yogurt flavors as well as non-dairy and no sugar added choices while using milk that does not contain antibiotics or added hormones. Fruit flavors are fortified with Vitamin C for an extra boost.

Presently Yogurtland has more than 320 locations across the U.S., Australia, Guam, Singapore, Thailand, Venezuela and Dubai. Flavors are always subject to creative change and popular demand. For more information, visit http://www.yogurt-land.com or http://www.facebook.com/yogurtland.

First San Jose Pancakes & Booze Art Show

Art, Pancakes, and Booze. Those are the three main ingredients in SoFA's newest event. Over 50 artists will be displaying their work along with live body painting and music. It all goes down at Forager, 420 South First Street on May 20th.

This event is 21+ only and admission is $5-10. That includes unlimited pancakes and good times. For tickets head over here. For more info, the full press release is below.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

San Jose -- Batter sizzles, beer foams, and bare flesh is slathered in paint as gawkers look on. Indie musicians and DJs thunder sound waves off the canvas-lined, graffiti-strewn walls. Revelers stuff their faces with endless pancakes.

What is this, some type of hipster themed IHOP? A Lady Gaga video? Banksy’s mom’s basement? Nah, it’s the Pancakes & Booze Art Show – the hottest pop-up traveling art event in all the land.

This is no stuffy wine-and-cheese, someone-gag-me-with-a-cocktail-napkin gallery. It’s an innovative reimagining of the art show concept, as DIY art movement mayhem. Up-and-coming artists strut and sell their stuff in a free verse, electric funhouse of mayhem.

You know you want to come, right? Hit me up so we can talk about ways to convince your editor to pay you to visit the show and maybe relax that no-alcohol-on-the-job policy. Hell, even bring your boss along If you like.

WHAT: Pancakes & Booze Art Show: Over 50 emerging artists showcasing their hottest work in a Warhol-style, anything-goes, massive warehouse environment--live music, body painting, multimedia displays, and FREE pancakes! The show originated in 2009 in Los Angeles and since has popped up more than 200 times in 30 cities around the world. Each show draws as many as 1000 guests throughout the night.

WHEN: May 20th 8:00p - 2:00a

WHERE: 420 S. First Street San Jose, CA 95172

ABOUT TOM: Tom Kirlin, 38, left his movie career as a Hollywood cameraman to start Pancakes & Booze in 2009. Born in Tucson, Ariz., he’s a travel fiend who has visited over forty countries across every continent but Antarctica. At 6-foot-6, he’s a hell of a ringer in pick-up basketball games. Bug him at info@pancakesandbooze.com

The Pancakes & Booze Art Show

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www.PancakesAndBooze.com

The San Jose Blog's 8th Anniversary!

Where does the time go, has it really been 8 years already? I feel like San Jose has really turned the corner and is getting a lot more love than it did when this blog was first started. There is still a long way to go and plenty of challenges to contend with, but the city is moving in the right direction.

You might have noticed the posting frequency has gone down over the last year or so. Unfortunately some priorities had to be shifted around and I have a lot less time than I used to. My goal is still to do at least three posts a week, but I would be thrilled if any out there wants to contribute as well. We get tons of offers to cover restaurant openings, events, and concerts (usually with free passes). Most of those posts never get written because there just aren't enough hours in the day. If you are interested in stepping up to the podium, just drop me a line.

Now for a bit of nostalgia. Below is our very first post: