After roughly a year of persistence, a display window has been installed as an improvement to the façade of 125 E. 47 street in midtown manhattan.
It is a victory!
With the brilliant efforts and determination, this window brings new life and value to our community. If there was a blockage it has been cleaned up and opened. A stronger sense of pride has been renewed to the block.
It did not take very long for sculptor James Knowles to put his mark on the window, with tetrahedrons reaching out from the building.
Where the full coat of black paint it is a new space. I want to thank everyone who made it happen specifically my mother Sue2 for her help in making sure things happened.
I thank you all for making this happen and I will celebrate into the weekend!
What do you think should go in the space? At this point I’m open for suggestions. Leading the list is at taxidermy mountain goat. Another question is, what should we call the space? Again, I am open for suggestions.
A conversation that I had with Nick Hifrin about the letter “i” has inspired me on a tangent. Nick, a New York artist who has been collaborating with our own Marlo Brown, was explaining to me about his creative organizational tactics with the letter “I” to represent a symbol of a connector. He has been extracting “i”s from newspapers and using them to represent a point of connection as he builds larger systems for his music and art performances. He understands the principals of connections by building systems.
I love the logic and representation of the letter “i” as it stands out in the Roger Smith Hotel letters. As i look to connect systems and simulate the Roger Smith Hotel as a connectors network, “i” really like the metaphor.
Lets start building some connections.
If you fancy yourself a connector post a response letting me know how you connect your networks to the world.
Making further “Connections”, I am hosting an Art competition here @RShotel. I am awarding $100 to the most artistic “i” connector image that is submitted to me here on this blog. Anyone who submits will receive a $100 Rogersreward, and be part of the connector “i” series at the Roger Smith Hotel.
Simply take a picture of your “i” and send it to me in a tweet with the hashtag #makingconnections with @pancity & @rshotel. Also be sure to post a link here on the blog to be included.
Let the world know you are a connector.
Thanks for reading! Please comment, share and engage.
The last organic instrument I tried playing was a ukulele. When I say organic, I mean, non-amplified, non-electric, non-digital. In Costa Rica that dream was shattered, along with the Ukulele, in a strange shamanic ritual involving some green tree frogs and lots of Cuba Libres. Wait, maybe I should start from the beginning here. This piece is perhaps about my oldest, unrealized passion: creating music and sound. Yes, all those that know me well, know not that, really, truly, I want to be a musician. In middle school I tried the viola. That stint lasted about two weeks, in which time my parents declared me talentless and thus, I lost my motivation to try and live out my dream.
Yes, as is almost always the case, it was all my parents fault. Had this happened a few years later, perhaps I would have rebelled, just for the sheer pleasure of rebelling against my beloved family, and subsequently, society at large. But, that didn’t happen and I was forced, for years, to live in denial, in repression, in the shadows of my unrealized dreams. However, all that was about to change in the month of April of 2011.
This is the place, the space, loyal reader, where I shall reveal the most formal, all encompassing, intrinsic truth about all of the 6.8 billion inhabitants of this world. I hope you are ready to confront yourself because here it is – EVERYONE WANTS TO BE A ROCK STAR! Everyone! Even your toothless grandma, your gay uncle, and that terrorist next door, Osama Bin Laden. Especially your Gay Uncle. Everything you do in life is just a compensation because you are not a Rock Star. Trust me. I meditate for 12 minutes a day. I’m giving you the facts. Here is how I confronted my own self deception and how you can too.
All those bongos, ukuleles, flutes, pianos, and such just weren’t for me. They required formal musical training and time, which I had squandered because my parents didn’t believe in me. From high school on I wanted to be a DJ. I envied those that could mix music live, that could scratch, and make mixtapes. But all that equipment was pricey and my parents just laughed at me. I tried to make them believe by making mixtapes using an old dual cassette tape JVC boom box, but that just added more resentment towards me. No immigrant son of theirs was going to do something so preposterous.
Later when I had a chance to practice on some decks, I discovered how hard it was and realized that I had squandered the time it takes to become a DJ. Such is life, huh bub?
my parents, or should I say, dream crushers.
No, if I was to make music it had to be with something I could understand, something cerebral and self-organizing, something with it’s own computing power. Flash forward to present day. I had heard of these things called,”apps” and as luck would have it I inherited a machine called the, “Ipad” that utilized these apps to run all sorts of tasks.
Searching through the musical apps, I came across The Electribe by Korg. For only $9.99 I could have a digital version of The Korg Electribe R released in 1999 as a dedicated electronic drum machine. What does it do I wondered? As I manipulated the Ipad’s touch screen, I discovered in no time this explanation which magically entered my mind: the sound is generated by digital signal processor circuits but can be manipulated in realtime (analog modeling synthesizer principle). No shit. Needless to say, in one fell swoop I had entered the music making arena. For the first time ever, I felt confident that time was relative and that dreams do come true for little manboys who dare to dream.
The model of a Popup has been happening at the Roger Smith Hotel for years. The general idea is the use of spaces to create marketable opportunities. What I look to do, is paint a picture of the Popup history @RShotel, reflect on its potential and provide a vision for the future.
In February 2004 the Roger Smith Gallery transformed into “The Lab Gallery”, later renamed “The Lab Gallery for Installation & Performance Art.” Under the direction and management of Matt Semler, the space was conceptualized as a performance and installation art space to be used as a laboratory for the creative process. A fishbowl style space reaching in to the intersection with the art.
Every month or so the space shifts installations, influencing the energy on the block. Sometimes controversial, often strange and usually thought provoking, the corner space as a popup art installation has been pondered and defended for years.
Two doors down from The Lab we transformed an old jewelry store into a marketable retail space. I intersected with Melissa Gonzalez who was looking to create a television pilot called Homemade BFFs and explored the potential of opening up a popup shop with her. The idea was to rent the space to designers or brands, with the objective of creating unique video and Social Media marketing campaigns.
My goal was to empower someone to help fill the space and share in its growth and development. Melissa accepted the challenge. Our first pop up installation in September 2009, was a Model casting / street runway show with Dolita Paris.
The RS Popup Shop, at the entrance of the hotel has been filled with designers, brands and artists since it conception. The calendar for 2011 is filling up fast. If you are interested in participating in the program please contact myself or Melissa.
The concept seems simple enough to be replicated. It almost seems contagious in its model. Ideas like a popup restaurant, popup wine or whiskey bar begin to inspire chatter.
The best thing about a popup model in a hotel is that there are many opportunities for people to get involved. Businesses, marketers, artists, musicians, authors, sponsors, charities and the like will be allowed access to the Popup experiences that we have been building.
At this point, as I look to the future business of the Roger Smith Hotel I am encouraged by the momentum and enthusiasm supporting the popup concept. I am also confident in the events team at the hotel and believe in the people and services.
So with that I hope you will reach out with your business needs. It is a perfect time to become part of the Roger Smith Culture. A “Pop” culture based out of a Hotel.
I look forward to continuing the dialog and growing the symbiotic network.
Stay tuned to our next popup event! Be part of our next popup event!
Thanks for reading.
I am John Knowles, the Director of Innovation @RShotel.
We haven’t done a Follow Friday in a while and I feel it is time to re-introduce the notion to our audience.
My top 3 people to follow from SXSW are as follows.
1. “Dog Bless You!”, Charlie Annenberg
Our first five minutes in the convention center in Austin, John Birdsong and I collided into Charlie Annenberg, who was immediately on point with a plan of action to help in the Japan Earthquake relief.
A message from Charlie Annenberg, founder of explore.org and Dog Bless You:
“The mission of explore.org is to champion the self less acts of others, to create a portal into the soul of humanity and to inspire life long learning. The most important thing for me is to create a portal into the soul. What is the easiest way to do this? Through dogs – they see our soul like no other. That is why as we build dog bless you, I believe that its mission should be to “champion the selfless acts of animals.”
Please feel free to share your stories about how your dog uplifts the human spirit.
2. David Meerman Scott connected us to an network of interesting minds and influences. Of these we engaged with Renee Alexander of Unisef, Tim Washer of Cisco, John Jantsch of Ducktape Marketing and Aliza Sherman from the Social Media capital of the world, Toke Alaska to name a few. Both Tim and David were “In search of the outrageous” in Austin TX.
3. Paula Moore and Massive CIA
The transitional days between the Interactive and the Music is when all the magic happens at SXSW. As people were leaving after a week of the Interactive and Film portion, the music festival was just getting underway. Arriving into the city there is an energy of excitement. Being the last day in Austin, I left John and Adam to get some emails done at the Driskle hotel. I went strait to the second floor back patio where a couple of hip entertainment executives we setting up meetings and interviews. I politely asked if I could share the space and soon sat down next to them and began to tell them about the interactions between Roger Smith and Ben Franklin. #Rogersrewards.
Paula Moore turned to me and asked if I wanted to go out with her and her business partner Ralf Cavallaro… What else could I say. Not knowing at the time that I was hanging out with one of the Top Talent Scouts in the music industry, Paula introduced me to an amazing network. The connections made that night, have helped drive and inspire a new wave of professional and personal relationships. Founder of Massive Creative Intelligence Agency, Paula is a trip. Powerful and important, as she is a professional connector.
Through Paula I me Rev. David Ciancio of Yeah! Management who runs the the Social Media Rewards programs for Thrilllist. Rev’s energy and drive is going to bring wild excitement to the Pop up Marketing madness that is going around. I look forward to working with him in the future.
The common thread that connects Charlie, David and Paula is the fact that they are natural connectors. Great people of course with amazing sense of people in the room. Always interesting to follow.
Till next week.
If you like my list please RT #FF Dog Bless You and Charlie Annenberg, @DMScott, @Paula_Moore, @MassiveCIA SXSW 2011 @RShotel Follow Friday Pick!
Please leave a comment and connect with us to be part of our @RShotel culture.
This blog post is about James Burbank Knowles. I start with the give and take of brotherly advice!
James while caught in the middle, is the center of attention.
It is good to know that Brooks, Jack and Jimbo are the role models for the next generation. The saga will continue. The new ones coming are in good hands.
And with that, I give my life to the spiritual guidance of another Jimbo. My respect for the name continues to grow in my heart. I look to Jimbo for guidance, and what do I find?
Ben Franklin and a whole lot of Wooly Buggers. I see a happy man! I believe there is hope and success in his visions! I gladly introduce myself as “The Son of Ben Franklin.”
With spiritual guidance, golf lessons in life, respect for your bother and the responsibility of the next generation, I would say that James Knowles has been the biggest influencer in my life! I am proud to share a same last name!
I celebrate his life in the present, past and future. With Love and Respect, I dedicate this blog post to my Grandfather who passed earlier this week. He was a sweet, and peaceful man who loved his wife and family. May he rest in peace.
The Roger Smith Hotel is taking its creative and innovative brand to the next level with the launch of The Roger Smith Shorts, a series of six short films shot in the hotel by emerging filmmakers. The short narratives are directed by Aleks Degtyarev, Abianne Prince, John Birdsong, John Knowles, and Melissa Gonzales. The mid-town Manhattan boutique hotel is partnering with high quality video platform The FreeStyle Life in order to connect with consumers through traditional, social and mobile media. John Knowles, Director of Innovation at the Roger Smith Hotel, explains, “The quality of the viewers experience with relevant contextual marketing The FreeStyle Life provides a unique opportunity for us at the Roger Smith Hotel to further our community engagement.” The films’ online release kicks off in conjunction with the hotel’s new rewards program Roger’s Rewards.
The initiative is one that looks to give back to those who participate in the conversation. Each individual who comments on or reviews any of the six short films will receive $100 worth of Roger’s Rewards, which can be applied to a two night minimum stay in a Roger Smith Suite. Terms and conditions apply.
The FreeStyle life provides a great compliment to the creative culture that is Roger Smith,” Knowles comments. “A platform that combines contextual marketing with groundbreaking documentaries, thought provoking films, and music videos by world-renowned artists, The FreeStyle Life is building a niche in the high end web video market. ?CEO of The FreeStyle Life, Tommy Swanhaus, comments, “The use of film as a medium of connection through story telling along side the Roger Smith Hotel back drop makes the series a unique fit to The Free Life brand.” The Roger Smith Shorts films can be watched and voted on via The FreeStyle Life’s Tribe page (http://thefreestylelife.com/tribe.html). The Roger Smith Shorts are Check Mate, The End, Shoe Fits, Hair Ball, Mother Teressa’s Hiatus, and the Counterpane Fairy. Enjoy the Roger Smith Shorts and be sure to share, comment and engage.
It was raining hard. My camera was getting soaked. The end of March in NYC was not proving to be a fair weathered affair. It mattered not, since Steinunn Thórarinsdóttir, was installing her new sculptures at Dag Hammarskjöld Plaza. There was something both attractive an repelling about these ambiguous figures standing, sitting, and kneeling, through out the square that leads to the United Nations building. Whatever it was, their presence was real, and as the installation continued for the next several days, their presence was acknowledge by everyone who entered that square.
What I can tell you for certain is that, Steinunn, is a great woman, a great person, always present, something that is reflected very much in her art… and if you had been wondering what art is, these last few years, then this installation titled, “Borders” is for you.
“The New York City Department of Parks & Recreation is pleased to announce the exhibition BORDERS by Steinunn Thórarinsdóttir in Dag Hammarskjöld Plaza from March 24 through September 30, 2011. The installation features twenty-six androgynous, life-size sculptures, thirteen aluminum and thirteen cast iron, which extend throughout the park from First to Second Avenue on East 47th Street. BORDERS will be the park’s largest exhibition to date and the first exhibition to incorporate the entire park.
“Dag Hammarskjold Plaza is the gateway to the United Nations and a hub of international activity that serves thousands of people and hosts hundreds of political events each year,” said Parks & Recreation Commissioner Adrian Benepe. “The new public art installation, BORDERS, will connect many diverse constituencies to new artistic experiences. It will foster conversation and provide a significant backdrop for daily events at this public space.”
When Zarah a.k.a VJ Lady Firefly, told me that she was devising a project that involved beaming media into space, my mind ran amok. So many possibilities and so little time. Then again, time may only be an invented concept. Nothing is real, everything is permitted…
“On April 15, 16, and 17, a series of sonic, visual, and kinetic performances will be created into virtual time capsules for broadcast to outer space. It is one of the few space broadcasts created by artists from all walks of life, without affiliations to government, military, or educational institutions. Designed to be received by extraterrestrial life,Time Capsules to Space is an artistic and sociological collection of human interpretations regarding life on Earth as the Earth itself continues on a path of accelerating and irreversible change. What would people “send off” to space given the opportunity?
Transmission #1 takes place at Here in New York City. Each night calls for a select group of artists, aka Astronauts, to celebrate a different time of earth through their performances. The 1st night celebrates the Past, the 2nd night the Present, the 3rd night the Future. From audiovisual jams, to stick fighting demonstrations, to dance performances, each artist is asked to create a specific piece for the specific purposes of the broadcast. Audiences have the opportunity to participate by leaving written messages through the website as well as leaving video messages immediately after the show.”
After much soul searching, Laugh Years Light Trax, became the undertaking that Nick Shifrin, Lucinda Lin, and myself, FreakCast, decided upon.
We are looking to stimulate and record human laughter, both with video and audio devices. Then, during the live performance, to both condense and amplify these recordings via the use of audio and video processing.
Using the live mix of audio and video, Lulu, will be reinterpreting the live mix with a dance-tickle-theatre performance. She will be clad in her own hand designed plastic bag macramé costume echoing the Heyoka traditions.
Laughter for more reasons than can be listed here seems to be the most obvious form of democratic, healing, “absolute” communication that exists beyond even our own species. There is almost nothing negative that can be derived from laughter and that is the message we would like to send.
The major question is, if this is a universal vessel of communication on earth between the human species and beyond, will extraterrestrial-unidentified
life forms understand what we regard as “fundamental” communication?
A marketing nugget is a trueism about best practice in marketing. It is a bit of information encouraged to be shared and contemplated by the masses. While at South by South West 2011, we @RShotel, asked top marketing minds to share their valuable insight in to the world of digital and offline marketing.
