Among those who presented at the 2012 BALLE conference a few days ago, in Grand Rapids, was performance artist Rha Goddess, who shared a number of pieces from her “Opportunity Now!” series. Here’s the piece that she began with, in which she takes on the character of a recently paroled individual looking for a job. […]
I had the opportunity yesterday, at the BALLE conference, to hear ice cream magnate Ben Cohen, of Ben and Jerry’s fame, talking about the point of intersection where the local business movement, Occupy Wall Street and the campaign to “get the money out of politics” converge. Here’s video of his presentation, during which he unveils […]
I spent the day in Grand Rapids, participating in a workshop on new models that are evolving for local businesses to raise capital from lenders, investors and donors, at the 10th annual conference of the Business Alliance for Living Local Economies (BALLE). What follow are my rough notes, for those of you who care about […]
This afternoon, the trustees of the local micro-philonthropic group, A2Awesome, handed over $1,000 in cash to the founders of the Bona Sera Supper Club, in order to help them open a cafe in Ypsilanti’s historic Kresge Building. Following is a brief interview with Bad Fairy and Wonder Woman, the anonymous women behind Bona Sera, in […]
