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The Future of Green Gurus

November 11th, 2008

So it’s been about a year since I filed my corporation Green Gurus, LLC.

Not nearly as much has happened as I had hoped and thought would happen in that time. I sold a few green domain names, did a HD TV consultation for Marion Van Peebles Green House show, started up a solar powered server, and a few other interesting things, but it never got going the way I dreamed it would. This has been due to major considerations (or distractions):

1. Working half the year or more with The Do LaB
2. Preparing for my first baby (which has proven to be way more complicated than I’d ever planned on)

It’s been tough to get the team focused on anything together as they’ve all had their hands in a million other projects too. So much so that at this moment, instead of trying to grow it, I’ve decided to explore the possibility of an outright sale of the company. Hopefully these guys can lend me a hand and help make it happen. If not, I’ll be stuck paying $800 corporate tax every year until I pay off the current and past due taxes. It’s really a bit of a catch 22 and a damn shame.

I just really hope I can find a way to work all this out. And fast!

Update: I’ve posted in more professional detail as to my plans with this over on GG’s blog.

Calling All Code Warriors, Designers, SysAdmins, & Web Gurus

March 7th, 2008

From my Green Gurus consulting company’s blog today:

Green Gurus is on the prowl for some new tech-driven team members.

Our team is comprised of a wide-range of talents from sustainable energy systems designers, feature film miniature and mechanical engineers, sustainable architects, Second Life programmers, and a host of other skills. Our projects range from multi-thousand person events, to on-air consulting, to feature films, to eCommerce, to manufacturing, and much, much more.

We’re well connected and very active in the Los Angeles underground modern tribal scene (cliche yes, but it fits the part), utilizing a vast range of science, technologies and metaphysics.

Here are our current task priorities:

1. Our site: GreenGurus.net

We’ve got to nail down a site design fitting of our name and team’s skills. We’ll have a much better conversion rate in closing new clients if we get this locked down.

2. Our keyword domains

We’ve got around 500 domains, most of them green-themed: We’re looking into monetizing a bunch, selling some and building out others.

3. Green eCommerce platform

One of our other companies, Distinctivefabric.com has an extensive, proprietary code base that we’re looking to overhaul into a green eCommerce platform and then license and/or sell.

4. Solar powered web hosting

We’re working towards our own solar powered data center chain, but until we’ve raised the money to put that together, we’ll be running on a dedicated server through AISO.net, configuration with them happening right now, should be up and running within the next week.

If any of these projects appeal to you and you think you’d like to explore a potential partnership with us to help manifest any of these items, then please let us know. We’re only able to pay through profit-sharing, performance-based pay and/or sweat equity right now. Assuming we get our site up to snuff, we can really start creating some exciting and meaningful compensation opportunities.

We continue to receive steadily increasing inquiries, have got some great natural page ranking on Google, especially under “green consulting” search terms, our team member’s individual projects and companies continue to complement our own here, and much more.

You are adept in any of these programs/languages/CMS:

PHP, MySQL, Python, Perl, Ruby, RoR, Ajax, Java/JavaScript, XML/XHTML, Drupal/Joomla/etc., WordPress (including installs), Apache/Debian, Photoshop/The Gimp, Illustrator, Quark, InDesign, AutoCad, Maya, Flash, ActionScripting, API interfacing, version control systems, Unix, ProTools, Logic, Ableton Live, and any other language or science you’re competent with in producing results.

You have experience from school and/or on-the-job training, can provide live and close to or fully completed projects online, have a working/proficient understanding of iterative, agile and atomic coding techniques/philosophies, and are otherwise a bad-ass online.

Preferably: you work in open source, off a Mac or Linux box, but have some working understanding of PC to get around should the need arise; live within the US, ideally w/in CA > Los Angeles…if not, possibilities still exist. Telecommunicating okay.

Please submit any relative content, links, resumes, or other media format…just be creative, inventive, entrepreneurial, and socially/eco-conscious in your approach to contacting us.

A Life Out of Time

January 16th, 2008

It’s simply amazing how quickly the flow of time passes by. The days continue to slip by in 2’s and 3’s…

Most of this past weekend was spent focused on my girlfriend’s birthday. We went out to dinner this past Friday night at a romantic little spot called Tagine, in Beverly Hills (ouch - see my Yelp review); then back out again to The Edison with all her friends and sister for a more lively celebration on Saturday night.

Tristan’s 27th bday

I spent a few chunks of time here and there throughout both Saturday and Sunday working on various web tasks: profile updating, blogging, networking, etc. I even finally activated some temporary hosting for the Sugar Shack, scrolled through all the latest WordPress themes and finally settled on one, followed by some theme tweaking, then finally the first post.

Sunday was a mix-bag of activities: usual morning web stuff (post on these oh-so very fascinating boring details coming soon) and it was back to Sugar for miscellaneous, routine acts (cat feeding and roomie relations), followed by a bit of lunch over Harry Potter 5, then our weekly meeting.

Monday was just a sheer wall of work from start to finish, as was today. Though today was especially fun (productively speaking) because I finished up the installation of a proper blog for The Do LaB’s Green Team (of which I play a part in), under the new moniker, the Greenlight.

And oh yes: Yesterday evening I was officially sworn in for my seat on the Mid-City Neighborhood Council (MINC); it was a little over a 2 hour affair and a nice change from recent weeks intense pace of entrepreneurial endeavors.

Looking forward to wrapping up the pending sale of one of my previous ventures and moving on with greater focus and passion in other areas of my life.

Stay tuned for more on this as time and legalities permit.

(oops, almost forgot: Finally got my last final grade from my fall semester at SMC: straight A’s…a most pleasant suprise!)

Santa Monica Eco Gift Expo Review

December 17th, 2007

I stopped by yesterday for a few hours at the now annual Eco Gift Expo in Santa Monica, CA.

And to my surprise, I actually enjoyed it: the intimacy that such a small venue lends itself to, the easy and local commute (carpooled with my significant other), the laid-back atmosophere and other factors contributed to an enjoyable afternoon. I felt the Eco Gift Expo was more in line with its advertised values too, whereas the Green Festival seems to have become or simply is, trying to sell itself as something more than it really is, in my opinion (see my previous mention about this regarding the SF Green Fest).

I think the future of sustainable products is better suited for this more modest-sized event for both the consumers benefit and the environments, since smaller venues means fewer people and cars, less emissions, etc.

If local grown foods and locally made products are some of the key components in changing our current energy habits and subsequent emissions, then shouldn’t events not adopt a similar principle too? I think so and can envision a time of interconnected, regional events throughout the country (if not world).

Anyway, to sum up my thoughts on this particular event…there was a modest but busy and interested crowd both shopping (it was afterall a gift-themed event ;) ) and researching green tips, trends and such. There was a fairly decent mix of interests represented including books, music, photography, art - though the most amazing piece (shown below) on display wasn’t for sale:

Chakra Mandala pic

- lots of clothing, fabric (including some really nice bamboo towels), jewelry, food, tea’s and other drinks, some great innovative ideas making use of recycled bike and tire tubes (as well as billboard materials) by Green Guru Gear, and much more; trash, recycling and compostable items all appeared to be well managed.

I’m sure this event will continue to grow in size but I hope for the sake of my argument above, that they find some way to moderate their growth. Perhaps a spin-off from this event focusing on another aspect of the green wave or maybe even repeating this one several more times a year?

Biomimicry Research Led to This YouTube Video

November 26th, 2007

Worth taking the time to watch if you’re interested in biotechnology, biomimicry, sustainable design, etc:

SF Green Festival, Old Friends and Products

November 13th, 2007

I spent this past weekend in SF for Co-op America’s annual Green Festival.

Green Festival Screenshot

I drove up with The Do LaB twins (Josh and Jesse) and Shena (Do LaB/Green Gurus/etc.) Friday afternoon in a Honda Civic Hybrid (from LAX to downtown SF on one tank…nice!), met up with some old Orangekid friends for some drinks and a long night of wide-ranging talks.

The next day we hit the Green Fest at about 12-pm, where we met up with an even older friend Brent Hurley, a fellow Twin Valley graduate. I also ran into an old friend from LA, Onyay, who had performed the day before with the Shakti Tribe, which I was sorry to have missed. Most of the day was then spent nearly fighting through the ample crowd for numerous free samples of holistic goodness in all shapes, sizes and colors; examined nearly each and every vendor for the latest, innovative Green…stuff.

And boy was there stuff, so much productization in fact, that we were literally stumbling over it all to get from booth to booth; what a disappointment. Not only had the event not evolved from last year’s nicely balanced collection of (yes) products (they’re still a hook-line-and-sink for many), new technologies, services, and speakers to this year’s onslaught of nearly pure products. It was really quite sickening, at least to me.

From an event that claims to be the world’s leading expo in sustainability, I really expected some measure of progression, anything to keep things fresh and innovative, not inundated with the same ol’ recipe for innovative disaster waste known the world over.

That all being said, it’s still a great time for those curious about all the fuss and in need of alternative resources.

LIB 2007 Poster

Just like Burning Man, the Green Festival has seemingly reached a pinnacle or threshold for that genuine raw creative inspiration I admire in innovative, truly ground-breaking events such as The Do LaB’s own Lightning In A Bottle, an alternative event growing in mass appeal that combines both the latter two events prized distinctions: radical self-expression and sustainability, respectively.

Anyway, the event was worth attending at least to see first-hand, just how much the Green wave has spread in the last year alone. In terms of sheer publicity for this movement, Co-op America is doing a fine job at getting the word out.

Now just leave the festival magic for the real festivals. ;)