Recent from our blog - Music Monday

This div tag will be automatically destroyed if the if Flash player requirements are met

laArtLab

Tomic Blog  |  1 August 2009 @ 2:57 pm Posted by admin

A few days ago I had the opportunity to attend an event hosted by the LAartlab.  To give you a lil bit of info about this organization, the LAartlab is an all volunteer project helping teens and young adults engage in the various facets of the Los Angeles art scene and California’s creative economy by providing hands-on opportunities to help design, produce and host free events!

So I decided to jump in my car and make the half hour drive which turned into over an hour with the LA traffic and all to this event being held at the National Center for the Preservation of Democracy.  I even resisted the urge to grab a few tacos from the famous Kogi Truck which happened to be parked outside. (The Kogi truck has become a Southern California staple. It travels from city to city and the only way to find their current location is through their Twitter feeds.)  It was a packed house and many people were turned away at the door.  As I looked for a seat, I bumped into an old friend of mine, Ryan (Strada Collective)

On this particular day, LAartlab invited Rick Klotz (Freshjive), Bobby Hundreds (The Hundreds), and Lanie (Hellz-Bellz) to provide the audience with a discussion on how “to start a brand, develop it, keep it sharp, and maintain its creative integrity.”  These LA based entrepreneurs shared inspiring stories about how they built their companies from humble beginnings with little funding, going through all the trials and tribulations, to the success the have achieved today.  I would say the main attribute of each speaker was the persistence, passion, and the “never quit” attitude which enabled them to succeed.

As a member of TOMIC, I can relate to each one of these individuals.  We do not have the budget or manpower of the big players in the market.  What we do have is a team of passionate, driven individuals ready to put 200% of their efforts into making TOMIC a success.  We are not just selling a product, but selling a lifestyle brand which happens to take form as an energy shot.

J-M-C

.

subscribe to this post  |  post a trackback  |  permalink

One Response to “laArtLab”

  1. Mario Davila says:
    August 9, 2009 at 1:11 pm

    Hello J-M-C – hope you’re having a chill weekend. I wanted to thank you for blogging our Street Wear Design event with Freshjive, Hellz Bellz and The Hundreds! All the designers were super cool to work with and we’re so thankful that they agreed to participate – we owe a special thanks to Rick for all of his behind the scenes support!

    As you noted, the event reached capacity and we regret we had to turn people away – we really tried to get everyone in but even after we brought out the folding chairs some still ended up sitting on the floor – thanks to Akaider, all three presentations can be seen on You Tube!

    One of the main reasons we put on these events is that, now more than ever, there’s a real lack of access to California’s creative economy by LA’s youth – with virtually no visual or performing art classes being offered in our public schools, students often never get a chance to discover their creative talents or develop them into careers they actually enjoy. LAartlab is a self funded, by our pockets, independent project designed to get more young people actively involved in the arts and demonstrate that you don’t always need a pile of money to do something positive. All of our events are co produced and hosted by teens and free to the public – thank you so much for helping us get the word out about Designers Raising Havoc – hope you enjoyed the Kogi!!

    Best – Mario!
    LAartlab
    Project Coordinator

Leave a Reply