We have lots of sponsorship levels available. Become a part of the BEST family-friendly Halloween event and support the Chamber in making this our best year ever!

Download our Sponsorship Packet. Find out what we did in 2012 and what we have planned for 2013. Contact Michelle for more information.

Through June 1st, 2013

Ltd. Art Gallery

307 E Pike

With Special Guest Curator, Bonnie Burton.

A new Art Show dedicated to the love of all those slimy squiggly things! From Cthulhu and Krakens to the lovable octopus, and everything in between, this art show promises to fill your obsession with all things tentacle! Once again we called upon author and pop culture extraordinaire Bonnie Burton to curate, bringing together over 40 of her favorite artists to one show.

Featuring the art of: Jessicka Addams, Paul Ainsworth, Kari-Lise Alexander, Greg Aronowitz, Mike Bell, Barry Blankenship, Craig Church, Daisy Church, Candice Ciesla, justJENN designs, Gerald de Dios, Joshua Ellingson, Michael Fleming, The Pumpkin Geek, James Gilleard, Nathan Hamill, Blain Hefner, Claire Hummel, Aaron Jasinski, Ward Jenkins, Jim Koch, Christina Lank, Nan Lawson, Adam Levermore, Cecy Meade, Eliot Mechanism, Melissa Monosmith, Tomi Monstre, Jen Oaks, Michael O’Driscoll, Damon O’Keefe, Plinio Marcos Pinto, Chet Phillips, Reid Psaltis, Mark Sarmel, Clay Sisk, Todd Spence, Meghan Stratman, Super Ugly, Bruce White

Ltd. Art Gallery is a premier gallery destination for contemporary and pop fine art that specializes in showcasing the talents of top modern artists who draw inspiration from the many icons of pop culture.

From Michelle Hippler, Membership and Program Manager

Help us get to know your organization better!

With the Chamber's migration to the new database, we have the ability to add an infinite number of representatives from your business or organization. Below is a short video (1:28 minutes) showing the dashboard where you can make these changes. It is important for you to decide who the Primary contact with the Chamber should be. This person should be in charge of your account with us. It's been our experience that the marketing or promotions person is a great contact, as they are thinking more actively on how to get the most from your membership. 

Video: Updating Your Chamber Contact Info and Adding Key Employees

If you have a general email address you want to use for the website, that is entered under the Organization Info tab on the yellow menu bar. To add contact info for employees/reps, go to the Account tab on the blue menu bar and select employees/reps.

Each new employee/rep you add can be given permission levels, so the primary contact can control what database info employees can access and change. Each employee can be given their own login and password (and anyone can change their password once they are logged into the system and find their Personal Information page under the Employee/Rep tab).

Many members also have a separate billing contact and there is a checkbox to identify that person once you start entering their contact info in the Employees/Rep area. 

Please contact Michelle Hippler if you have any issues getting your contact info updated. 

Thursday May 30

5:30 PM to 7:30 PM

Lost Lake Cafe & Lounge

1505 10th Ave

The Capitol Hill Chamber of Commerce is hosting a networking event for the Capitol Hill film community on Thursday, May 30th at the newly opened 24-hour diner, Lost Lake Cafe + Lounge. The event is open to our members and film-related non-members and meant to nurture connections between the Chamber and professionals on the Hill (and a few who reside elsewhere). Chamber members and film industry professionals are FREE. Other guests pay $10. Registration is required. Please bring your ticket for a fast check-in.

Sponsor this event! Contact Michelle for details.

FEATURED GUESTS

James Keblas, Director, Office of Film + Music

Chris Swenson, Film + Special Events Program Manager, Office of Film + Music

Amy Lillard, Executive Director, Washington Filmworks

Lyall Bush, Executive Director, Northwest Film Forum

Dave Hanagan, Studio Director, Northwest Film Forum

Jason Plourde, Executive Director, 3 Dollar Bill Cinema

Steve Bradford, Production Faculty, Seattle Film Institue

Steve Manning, World Famous Inc.

Jean Cronin, Lead Producer, Reel Grrls Productions

and more…

In January, the Pike/Pine corridor was named a Top 12 ArtPlace in America. An ArtPlace is a community that successfully combines the arts, artists, and venues for creativity and expression with independent businesses, restaurants, and a walkable lifestyle to make vibrant neighborhoods. The Capitol Hill neighborhood ranked highly not only against local Seattle neighborhoods but also nationally, showing a combination of factors that place it in the top twelve in the country.

Increasingly film-related companies are calling this vibrant area of Capitol Hill home for all of the above reasons. The Capitol Hill Chamber of Commerce works hard to protect the quality and character of the Hill that has made it so attractive to the creative class by bringing together all the divergent voices of our members to help shape the future. Whether this is through advocacy around development (keeping Auto Row facades and adding affordable housing units) or promoting indie business owners or simply getting Hill leaders together for a cocktail, the Chamber's mission is as unique as the people who call the Hill home. Come find out why we're "not your daddy's chamber."

Wednesday, May 15

7:00pm – 10:00pm

Richard Hugo House

1634 11th Ave

In Jill McCorkle’s new book, Life After Life, about the triumphs and challenges of the residents and staff of a retirement home, a mélange of characters, from Sadie Randolph, who has taught every child in town and believes we are all eight years old in our hearts, to Joanna, the hospice volunteer who discovers that her path to a good life lies with helping folks achieve good deaths, cope with the hereafter in tender and humorous ways. 

To create a novel about the intersection of life and death, the characters must be built sturdy enough to breathe fresh air into the most common of literary abstractions. Tonight, McCorkle presents a talk on the art of character development and how to create characters that are so relatable they could be your best friend—or your worst enemy.  

Following the presentation, Tom Schabarum, author of The Palisades, moderates a Q&A with Jill. The event is free, and the bar will be open. 

Fri, May 10-12

Stimson Auditorium

Yoni Ki Baat A South Asian Women’s Focus

7–9 pm Tasveer presents Yoni Ki Baat—a South Asian adaptation of the Vagina Monologues. Part of the Aaina Festival of South Asian women’s performance, film, and art; Yoni Ki Baat features poignant and bittersweet monologues by strong

South Asian women. SAM members: $15.00; nonmembers: $20.00. Yoni Ki Baat tickets are sold exclusively through SAM. Tickets for Aaina Festival films are sold separately at the door.

Capitol Hill Housing invites you to our

8TH ANNUAL COMMUNITY FORUM

June 11, 2013

Broadway Performance Hall | 1625 Broadway | Seattle, WA 98122

With our moderator, Executive Director of the Capitol Hill Chamber of Commerce Michael Wells and confirmed panelists:

Sally Clark, Seattle City Council Member

Stephen O’Connor, Director of the University of Washington Runstad Center for Real Estate Studies

Elizabeth Dunn, Principal of Dunn + Hobbes, LLC

More panelists to be announced.

Demand is increasing for dense, walkable neighborhoods located near transit and jobs. On Capitol Hill, this demand has resulted in over 30 proposed developments with more than 2,500 units of housing and more than 250,000 square feet of commercial space. As demand for our neighborhood increases, how do we preserve affordability and economic and social diversity in the years to come?

Join Capitol Hill Housing for a lively panel discussion on the benefits and challenges of new development and policies to promote affordability.

5:00 PM: Doors open

5:30 PM: Presentation and panel discussion

7:00 PM: Reception with refreshments

This event is free but space is limited.  Please register today. Event produced by the Capitol Hill Housing Foundation.

A Seattle Beer Week Event on Monday May 13th from 9pm to Late

Beer or cocktail? It’s a serious question and a hard one at that! In honor of Seattle Beer Week we say NO to decisions and YES to beer cocktails! Our friends at Sun Liquor and Ninkasi Brewing will boldly join forces to help us fight the war on decisions, now the question is no longer beer vs. booze but which beer cocktail is your favorite!

Here is a sneak peak at a few of the beer cocktails you can expect to see on May 13th at Smith:

From Marley up at Smith…

Pimienta Primavera:

Reposado tequila

Black pepper grenadine

Amaro Braulio

Ninkasi Spring Reign Ale

From Erik at Sun Liquor…

The Sutton Club:

Gun Club Gin

Fortified Ninkasi Spring Reign Ale

Punt e Mes

The Sterling Buck:

Sun Liquor UNXLD Vodka

House made ginger syrup

Lemon

Ninkasi Sterling Pilsner

Smith will also be having a beer dinner from 7 to 9pm but seating is very limited so email Tallulah@lindashq.com to RSVP.

Big thanks to Sun Liquor Bar & Distillery, makers of organic spirits & craft cocktails, and our friends at Ninkasi Brewing for helping us make this awesome event happen!

ABOUT: SMITH has often been called 15th avenue’s dirty little secret for our great draughts, delicious poutine, classic cocktails and one of the best burgers in town. Our kitchen prides itself on seasonal menus, sustainable practices and sourcing as much local and organic product as possible. From the taxidermy, to the booths, to the back bar, SMITH is almost entirely made of used, salvaged, repurposed or recycled materials. SMITH is located at 332 15th Ave E. We are open from 4pm until 2 am Monday-Friday and from 10am to 2am on the weekends.

Friday May 10th 

5:00 to 7:00

816 East Pike St – Seattle 98122

Drop by tonight any time between 5 and 7 pm and discover 4 French wines for your summer BBQs. The wines will be paired with a traditional Merguez sandwich, with Uli’s merguez, crispy baguette and harissa.

Cover fee $10 – For this event a pre-booking is necessary and can be done online. A 10% discount will be offered on the wines to be tasted that day. Must be 21 to participate. 

See more classes here.

We know that buying from locally owned businesses makes for a stronger economy and more vibrant city. But do your customers believe it too?

Join new Chamber member Seattle Good Business Network on June 5th as their partner Hemispheres Research presents the results of a major, exclusive survey examining the perceptions and attitudes of Seattle-area residents when it comes to spending money with local, independent businesses.

WHAT SEATTLE REALLY THINKS ABOUT LOCAL

Date: June 5, 2013

Time: 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm

Location: The HUB Seattle, 220 2nd Ave S., Seattle, WA

Ticket cost: $10 for Seattle Good Business Network members; $25 general admission (not a member? consider joining!)

BUY TICKETS

Sunday, May 12 

7:15 p.m.   

Northwest Film Forum

1515 12th Ave, Seattle

Translations: Seattle Transgender Film Festival, Lambert House, Seattle Jewish Film Festival and Jewish Family Service presents:

Melting Away (2011)

When Assaf's parents discover women's clothing under the teen's mattress, they kick him out of the house. Four years later, with Assaf's father dying from cancer, his mother hires a private detective to find Assaf. The investigator instead finds Anna (Chen Yanni, nominated for an Israeli Oscar), a Tel Aviv cabaret singer, who seems uninterested in a reunion but later contrives a plan to secretly visit her family. 

Winner of the Audience Choice Award for Best Feature at the 2013 Seattle and Boston Jewish film festivals, this groundbreaking drama explores the depths of family ties and the meaning of forgiveness.

Tickets. RSVP to Leonid Orlov, (206) 861-8784, familylife@jfsseattle.org or on Facebook for your chance to win a FREE book!   

It’s that time of year again to stretch the donations given to the nonprofits of our community through the annual Seattle Foundation’s GiveBig Day. In an effort to encourage Capitol Hill community members to support the good folks who support the work of the Chamber AND the larger community, we ask that you consider giving to our CHCC members on the big day: Next Wednesday, May 15 from midnight to midnight, all donations given through the Seattle Foundation’s website will be “stretched” with matching funds.

Below are the CHCC members participating in the event with the GiveBig links.

The Seattle Foundation’s GiveBIG is a one-day, online charitable giving event to inspire people to give generously to nonprofit organizations who make our region a healthier and more vital place to live.

All funds raised during Give Big will support our Capital Campaign for our new building going up at 401 E Pike.

Donate HERE.

Donate HERE.

With your support this year we will be able to assist the Asia Pacific Cultural Center in the design of their vision for a new cultural center serving as an interactive cultural crossroads between local and international communities through art, culture, education, and business.

Donate HERE.

Donate HERE.

Donations go the Cathedral Foundation. Donate HERE.

Washington Bus. Donate HERE.

Donate HERE.

Donate HERE.

Here are three BIG reasons why you should give to the Neighborhood Farmers Markets on May 15:

• Your donation is a vote for Farmers Markets- ensuring that all of our Neighborhood Farmers Markets stay healthy and provide a place for farmers to have direct sales and city folk to meet the farmers who grow their food.

• An anonymous donor has offered a challenge grant to match the first 100 donors who give $50.

• Your gift will help ALL Seattleites access healthy food from local farmers through our Fresh Bucks program.

Donate HERE.

Donate HERE.

Chamber member Hunters Capital employee Erin Espinosa was awarded the Governor’s Volunteer Service Award on April 25th at the Executive Mansion along with 43 other Washingtonians.

From the program:

Erin Espinosa has been volunteering with Seattle Works for four years and quickly stepped up as a leader soon after her first interaction! Currently, Erin is a dedicated captain of her Team Works team, which includes recruiting volunteers, coordinating logistics with the project host and planning fun outings for her team to interact with one another. She encourages her team and works alongside them sharing her infectious positive attitude and showing the volunteers they are a part of something bigger. Erin’s teams looks up to her, because she isn’t just the epitome of a great Team Captain – she is also a great leader. Erin takes initiative with many things, such as giving feedback to Seattle Works staff about events, activities and serving on the Seattle Works Day committee, helping to plan the largest day of service engaging over 1,000 volunteers for one day. Her thoughtful advice and generous support are unmatchable!

Congratulations Erin!

Chamber member Seattle Central Community College has launched a new scholarship program that gives students who maintain good grades and have financials needs to go to school for free. The Seattle Times wrote a lovely article about the program here. 

Register Now for Clean Sweep!

Saturday, June 1

10:00 to 12:00

The Capitol Hill Chamber of Commerce’s annual Clean Sweep is set for Saturday, June 1.  Beginning at 10AM with breakfast & coffee provided by Starbucks and ending at noon with lunch provided by a local pizza place, community volunteers are encouraged to come out and join in on this yearly spring cleaning of the Hill.  We’ll all meet up at the Cal Anderson Park Shelter house. This year we’ll be cleaning from 15th and Melrose, between Pike and Pine and on Broadway from Roy Street to Union.  Last year we had 200 volunteers, this year we expect even more!  Register Now!

We’re teaming up with Egan Orion of PrideFest Seattle to recruit volunteers.  He’s proclaimed June 1 a “Gay Day of Service" and has partnered with a few non-profits to make volunteer opportunities available to them – ours being the primary event.  Seattle PrideFest’s Gay Day of Service, on June 1, is a service day bringing together hundreds of volunteers who want to give a little of their own time to make their community better!  It’s the perfect start to Pride month on Capitol Hill.  

This year the Clean Sweep t-shirts for all volunteers will be in various rainbow colors w/ the slogan “I Do!  Volunteer” on them  - a nod to this year’s marriage equality vote.  But our volunteers will be from all over the neighborhood – we always have a mix of residents, families with kids (kids love this event).  We’ll also be adding a food drive element to benefit the food bank at Jewish Family Services.

Clean Sweep is an event put on through the Capitol Hill Chamber of Commerce Clean & Safe Committee.   

Clean Sweep Sponsors are:

Sound Transit

Broadway BIA

Capitol Hill Block Party

Home Street Bank

The Lobby 

Seattle Central Community College Foundation

Starbucks

Hunters Capital

Starbucks 

Pagliacci’s Pizza 

Capitol Hill Seattle 

Sunday, May 5, 2013

12:30 to 2:00 pm

Saint Mark’s Cathedral 

Saint Mark's Episcopal Cathedral Eco-Justice Ministry and Sustainability Committee is pleased to announce that on Sunday, May 5, 2013, from 12:30-2pm, representatives from the EPA and Department of Ecology will present a briefing regarding the proposed cleanup plan to address contamination in the Lower Duwamish Waterway [LDW].   Following the briefing, EPA and Ecology reps will engage in discussion and respond to questions regarding the Superfund Site. This event is free and open to the public. It will take place at Saint Mark’s Cathedral (1245 10th Ave E, Capitol Hill, in Bloedel Hall on the west side of campus).

This briefing coincides with the Liturgical calendars’ Rogation Sunday – a holy day in which we ask God’s mercy for Creation. At 10:10am there will be a procession around the grounds of Saint Mark’s to remember our connection with the earth and acknowledge the progress we have made in sustainability efforts as part of the GreenFaith certification process. As part of these efforts and in standing with Saint Mark’s long devotion to earth-care, congregants have been engaging in a series of discussions and interactions with the Duwamish River and Tribe over the last year. Representatives from EPA and Ecology are very interested in discussing their proposal with faith communities.  

Other links related to the briefing:

EPA Lower Duwamish Waterway: 

http://yosemite.epa.gov/r10/cleanup.nsf/sites/lduwamish 

www.epa.gov/region10/duwamish.html 

Ecology Lower Duwamish Waterway: 

www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/tcp/sites/lower_duwamish/lower_duwamish_hp.html 

Duwamish River Cleanup Coalition: www.duwamishcleanup.org

Telephone:      206-954-0218

Saint Mark’s Episcopal Cathedral

Located on Capitol Hill in Seattle, we are a community of faith–people of God, who seek to proclaim boldly by word and action the reconciling Gospel of Jesus Christ. We believe that the light and love of God are at the very heart of all things. This light and love are fully manifested for Christians in the life of Jesus of Nazareth and we believe they are also revealed in all of the great faith traditions. We commit to living into this sacred light and sharing it freely with all. Our community is known for its extensive outreach to the homeless and powerless and we provide a Commons where issues of justice and faith are explored. Saint Mark’s is also the home of great music, and every Sunday evening for over 50 years the ancient service of Compline has been sung.  More at www.saintmarks.org. 

Sunday, May 5th

Early Doors at 3 PM

No Cover

Nothing celebrates the defeat of the French at the Battle of Puebla like a St. Germain Margarita – served on draft!  Join us at Tommy Gun this Sunday for our Second Annual Cinco de Mayo celebration, which includes $7 St. Germain Margaritas, buckets of ice cold Tecate, homemade posole, Pacifico on draft, and of course, chips and salsa.  We’ve got Andrew behind the bar and the full menu is available as well.  Early open at 3 PM and the party goes all night!  Reservations for large groups accepted – just drop a line to info@tommygunseattle.com or call 206.323.4866

It's The Twilight Zone: Live! At Theater Schmeater

Preview: May 16

Opening Night: May 17

8:00PM

1500 Summit Ave.

The Twilight Zone: Live! returns to the comfy confines of Theater Schmeater, presenting three classic episodes from the iconic television series promises to pluck at heartstrings, bemuse with dry irony, and terrify by innocence.

This year's lineup includes three memorable Rod Serling scripts, starting with “I Shot an Arrow into the Air” (first broadcast on June 15th 1960) Eager to open the boundaries of the final frontier, the fledgling Space Age promised discovery and danger as man took his first hesitant steps into the universe.  An elegant reminder that perception and reality often only meet in the Twilight Zone, this first season episode serves as a reminder that even in space, Man can not escape his nature. (Photo: from Hansel and Gretel, 2012) 

The Twilight Zones: Live! will have a Pay What You Can preview on Thursday May 16th  at 8:00PM. Opening night is May 17th , and the production runs on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 8:00PM through June 15th. General admission tickets purchased on-line in advance for all shows are $18.00 or $15.00 for students and seniors. General admission tickets purchased at the box office are $23.00 or $18.00 for students and seniors.  

Advance tickets are available online at or by phone at 1-800-838-3006. Thursdays are Pay-What-You-Can at the door for same day, available unreserved tickets. Box office opens at 7:00 p.m. on day of show.

Theater Schmeater is located at 1500 Summit Ave., between Pike and Pine on Capitol Hill in Seattle in the Basement of the newly restored Grenus Building.  For more information about The Twilight Zone: Live! or any other Theater Schmeater event, please go to http://www.schmeater.org or call 206-324-5801.

We at the Chamber are frustrated by what happened on Capitol Hill on the night of May 1st and we are actively working with the Seattle Police Department, the East Precinct, the City Council and the Mayor’s office to discuss the strategy of pushing the protesters back up to Capitol Hill.  We’ll be discussing better communications and outreach for future events to make sure that the vandalism toward the Capitol Hill community that occurred on the Hill is as well monitored as last night’s events in the Downtown retail district.  The safety and maintenance of the Capitol Hill community is of paramount importance to the Capitol Hill Chamber of Commerce.  We’ll be having a full accounting of last night’s events with all appropriate public agencies and we’ll be reporting the results of those discussions back you, our community.     

We’d like to ask you to show a little love to the affected Capitol Hill businesses that suffered damage.  Drop by Bill’s Off Broadway for a slice, drop by Sun Liquor for a craft cocktail, stop in to Walgreen’s and by some bubblegum and Hot Pockets!  Let’s help our neighbors put a little cash in the till and help replace some windows!

Here at the Chamber, we're already planning for Hilloween 2013. Last year we blew our goal of 700 attendees out of the water and this year we're planning an even bigger and better event. We'll be covering up the Cal Anderson Park Sunbowl Meadow with circus tents, adding another kiddie rock band (Recess Monkey had so much fun they're coming back), more carnival games AND a Dog + Human costume parade. Save the Date: Saturday, October 26. As always, the event ends with hordes of trick-or-treaters descending on Broadway.

If you'd like to sponsor this family-friendly community event, email Michelle Hippler for this year's Sponsor Pack. We've got lots of options for you to get tied in, plus we have a more aggressive media outreach plan that will help us to build the the Hill the THE place to come for Halloween. 

Photo Credit: Dean Forbes

Red Wall Art Installation: Is That All There Is? by Tim Marsden

Want to know what’s gonna’ go up when the Red Wall comes down?

May 20

5:30pm Social hour

6pm-8pm Presentations and Discussion

Broadway Performance Hall (corner of Broadway and Pine)

The Capitol Hill Champion (a partnership of the Capitol Hill Chamber of Commerce and the Capitol Hill Community Counsel that focuses on the Sound Transit site on Broadway) invites you to be involved in the Next Steps! Find out what they are and how you can participate in the next Community Catch-up and Conversation.

Refreshments and Kids table will be provided. Share the event on the Facebook page!

Questions and sign-up for list-serv: mel@caphillchamber.org

Velocity presents SCUBA

April 26-28  

8PM

Velocity’s SCUBA 2013 features performances by three nationally emerging talents in contemporary dance: Seattle’s own Shannon Stewart collaborating with filmmaker Adam Sekuler and joined by Philadelphia’s “laugh-out-loud funny and completely engaging” Green Chair Dance Group. New in 2013, SCUBA is also commissioning a world premiere by Seattle favorite the “riveting, mysterious and startling” Maureen Whiting Dance Company, with a 20-foot tree, a cast of 14 and original music by Seattle composers Bukake, Dave Abramson and Seattle Times “13 for ‘13” composer Eyvind Kang.

Get your tickets here.

"Home run for Seattle." — thINKingDance

Sunday, May 5

10am – 2pm 

Volunteer Park 

The Volunteer Park Trust is throwing a gardening party to clean up areas surrounding the reservoir. PLUS doughnuts, coffee and socializing! Gather at the Black Sun sculpture across from the Seattle Asian Art Museum.

Please bring friends and kids. Gloves and tools will be provided, or bring your own. No gardening experience necessary. This gathering is a wonderful way to meet neighbors, help our lovely park and learn more about the exciting new Volunteer Park Trust. 

Saturday, May 11, 2013 

10 am – 3 pm 

1400 East Galer Street

Join the Friends of the Conservatory for the Spring Plant Sale on the large grassy field across from the Conservatory. The FOC Plant Sale specializes in tropicals, orchids, succulents and other treasures for the home. 

This popular event is one of the area’s only plant sales dedicated to indoor plants, although you never know what exotic finds might be offered. Plants grown and cultivated in the Conservatory production houses are often made available. Experts will be on hand to field plant care questions. 

It’s a great time for all! Come early for the best selection! Plenty of free parking available! 

Email foc@volunteerparkconservatory.org to volunteer!

The 8th Anniversary for Groundbreaking Festival Provides Provocative Mix of Films, Themes and Live Programs

Translations: The Seattle Transgender Film Festival returns May 9-12 with a provocative program of films, discussions and live experiences navigating themes of transgender family, relationships and sexuality.  Translations, produced by Seattle nonprofit Three Dollar Bill Cinema, is one of only a handful of transgender film festivals in the world.

“Film is a powerful medium,” says Sam Berliner, Translations Festival Director.  “Translations offers the opportunity to recognize ourselves on screen, which is an unbelievably affirming experience.  We want everyone to see themselves in the movies.”  Sam is a new addition to the festival staff, but his connection to Translations goes back to 2011 when his film, GENDERBUSTERS, won the short film Audience Award.

Friends, family and allies will enjoy the family-themed programs. People can also explore the sexier side of the festival with the free panel discussion, TALKING DIRTY or by catching one of the seductive films navigating bodies and relationships. Everyone is encouraged to mix and mingle after each night’s programming. 

Opening Night – LIVE “Gender Failure” (May 9, Harvard Exit Theatre, 7:15 p.m.)

“Gender Failure” is a live multimedia performance of original music, video and spoken word by trans artists Ivan Coyote and Rae Spoon, featuring animation by Seattle’s own Clyde Peterson.  “Gender Failure” explores and exposes the prolific pair’s failed attempts at fitting into the gender binary.  Equal parts hilarious and heartbreaking, Coyote brings her razor-sharp timing and powerful narrative to the piece, while Spoon adds an ethereal voice and poetic turns of phrase to the dynamic duo’s now seven-year old partnership. 

Closing Night — MELTING AWAY (May 12, Northwest Film Forum, 7:15 p.m.)

MELTING AWAY explores the depths of family ties and the meaning of forgiveness.  When Assaf’s parents discover women’s clothing under the teen’s mattress, they kick him out of the house.  Four years later, with Assaf’s father dying, his mother hires a private detective to find Assaf. Instead, the investigator finds Anna (Chen Yanni, nominated for an Israeli Oscar), a Tel Aviv cabaret singer who seems uninterested in a reunion but later contrives a secret plan to visit her family. Winner of the Audience Choice Award for Best Feature at the 2013 Boston Jewish Film Festival and the 2013 Seattle Jewish Film Festival.

Other Highlights:

IT GETS BETTER (May 10, Northwest Film Forum, 7 p.m.)  Transgender filmmaker Tanwarin Sukkhapisit creates an authentic and moving film with three intertwined story lines that grow increasingly tighter as the drama progresses.  Gorgeous scenery, spectacular performances and entertaining club routines compliment the message behind the stark realities of relationships, family and seeking acceptance: it does get better.  

TURNING (May 11, Northwest Film Forum, 2 p.m.), is a sensual and moving exploration of femininity and the basic desire of belonging.  The experimental documentary is an examination of the critically acclaimed European touring collaboration of musician Antony Hegerty, of the renowned band Antony and the Johnsons, and videographer Charles Atlas, featuring 13 remarkable women, most of whom are transgender or queer. 

For complete capsule listings, tickets and a schedule of all films featured, visit www.threedollarbillcinema.org.

Tommy Gun

1703 E Olive

Special birthday wishes to Chamber member Tommy Gun for two glorious years on the Hill. Stop by and raise a glass to them and check out their Weekly Happenings to find the best time to go. Whiskey Wednesdays or Flight Club anyone? 

OPENING RECEPTION:

Thursday, May 9th

5 to 10pm (for Capitol Hill BLITZ Art Walk)

Exhibit runs thru June 8th

Frame Central and Cloud Gallery

901 East Pike (Pike & Broadway)

206 720 2054

Chamber member Frame Central's Cloud Gallery (located on the 2nd floor of the Broadway and Pike store) celebrates  it's 1st Year with a special art exhibit in time for the May Blitz art walk on May 9th. 

The exhibit honors THUNDERCLOUD and features works by local artists:

-Thundercloud

-Owen Connell

-Jameson Hubbard

-Elizabeth Beronich Sheets

-Javier S. Ortega

Music by DJ KOBALT and special guest musicians. 

Chamber member Capitol Hill Block Party has released their schedule for three days of nonstop music starting July 26. Friday features well-known acts including Girl Talk, STRFKR, Dillon Francis, Chromatics, Danny Brown, and Telekinesis. On Saturday catch Pickwick, Purity Ring, A Trak, and Star Slinger. Sunday's lineup includes The Flaming Lips, Frightened Rabbit, Cults, and Hey Marseilles. The full lineup, prices, and schedule is listed on The Capitol Hill Block Party webpage.

The annual Mayor's Arts Awards recognize the accomplishments of artists, arts, and cultural organizations and community members committed to enriching their communities through the arts. This year there will be five awards presented in newly created categories: Future Focus, Artistic City, Venture Culturalist, Arts as the How, and Raising the Bar. With last year's more than 500 nominations, Mayor McGinn speaks to the arts as "an area of great strength and achievement for Seattle." The deadline for nominations is 5 p.m., May 15. Find the application here.

Earth Day Kinky Crafts

Sunday, April 21, 1pm, free mini-workshop, $5 materials fee for DIY Floggers

Babeland is celebrating Earth Day with a SMACK! 

http://kinkycraftsflogger.eventbrite.com/#

Raising Kids without Sexual Shame

Sunday, April 28, 10 am-12 pm, $10 per person

Imagine a world without sexual shame. 

http://sexpositiveparenting.eventbrite.com/

Top 20 Tips to Blow Her Mind

Sunday, April 28, 7:30-8:30 pm $20

It’s our 20th Anniversary and we’ve learned a thing or two over the years. 

http://top20forher.eventbrite.com

NW Film Forum Workshops

http://nwfilmforum.org/live/page/workshops

Richard Hugo House

http://hugohouse.org/classes/hugo-classes

Photo Center NW Workshops 

http://pcnw.org/education/workshops/

Paris Eastside Classes

http://www.pariseastside.com/classes.html

Century Ballroom

http://www.centuryballroom.com/home/classes

Velocity Dance Center

http://velocitydancecenter.org/trainingresearc/schedule/

Chamber members wanting to include their class listings here can contact Michelle.

It opened as Seattle High School in 1902 – Seattle’s first high school. Over the next hundred years it came to be known as Washington High School, Broadway High School, Edison Technical School and finally Seattle Central Community College.  This Seattle icon.  is now the Broadway Performance Hall at Broadway and Pine.  Today it stands as a reminder of how Broadway Avenue/Capitol Hill developed as one of Seattle’s most diverse and vibrant communities.

Over its first five decades Broadway High School educated thousands of students with its final class graduating in 1946.  Its illustrious history and impact on Capitol Hill will now be recorded thanks to a $10,000 donation from the Broadway High School Alumni Association and a grant from Seattle’s Department of Neighborhoods.  Led by Jeff Watts (pictured below), Broadway High School Archivist, the video project has already had its first planning meeting.  Project completion is slated for fall 2013 according to Watts.

 “As Seattle’s first high school it has so many historical and wonderful stories that need to be captured and shared,” said Watts who has been caretaker of the BHS Archives Room, which contains documents and memorabilia from the last 100 years. He added that the Alumni Association members immediately adopted the project as a must-do given the rapid decrease of its members.  

According to Watts  the responses to his presentations to community and institutional leaders have been equally as positive and overwhelming.  In fact, reported Watts, there was expressed hope that the project could be expanded to include Broadway Avenue and Capitol Hill and eventually, the development of a Capitol Hill Historical Society.

“It all depends on funding,” said Watts, but he quickly noted that the project makes sense. There will be content selection challenges as Capitol Hill has many different parts and a rich history. 

There will be a project launch reception on Wednesday, May 22nd, from 3:30 to 5:30 pm at the Broadway Performance Hall.  Invitations will be sent out soon.  Please call 206 934-3203 if you would like to attend.

Noon to 3 pm

1818 E Mercer, Suite 200

Come join us for a little celebration, some education, and leave with an expression of our gratitude for sharing some of your Saturday with us!

Congrats to Cap Hill Chamber members Linda Derschang (Oddfellows, Smith, Bait Shop, Linda's Tavern) and Justin Carder (Capitol Hill Seattle Blog) were named as really influential people in Seattle by Seattle Met Magazine. Read the online version here.

Bullitt Center

1501 E. Madison

Monday, April 22

11:00 Ribbon Cutting

12 – 5 Building Tours

The greenest building on Capitol Hill (yes, we're claiming it) is also the greenest building in the world and they're opening their doors on April 22 (yes, that's Earth Day) for all of us to check it out. The Bullitt Center is an ambitious project built by the Bullitt Foundation in accordance with the Living Building Challenge. Go and welcome them to the hood.

From their website:

To be certified as a Living Building, a structure is required to be self-sufficient for energy and water for at least 12 continuous months and to meet rigorous standards for green materials and for the quality of its indoor environment. 

 

The Living Building Challenge requires a project to meet 20 specific imperatives within seven performance areas (or “Petals”). Find out more here.

Students signed “topping off” beam for gym ceiling

Chamber member The Northwest School announced the “topping off” beam for its new $15 million multi-purpose facility at 401 East Pike arrived and has been autographed by students. On Friday, April 12, 2013, students visited the site to sign the structural steel beam before it is installed.

“This is not only an exciting milestone for our project but a chance for our students to add their personal mark to the building,” says Head of School Mike McGill. “It’s the special moment when our building truly becomes a permanent part of our campus and community.”

Construction workers from Exxel Pacific, the project’s general contractor, had the beam delivered to Crawford Street and provided a pile of Sharpies for both faculty and students. After it is installed, the beam will be exposed in the gymnasium ceiling and students and sports fans will be able to see the student signatures.

The 31,000 square foot facility is slated to open in January 2014. It will house a full court gymnasium, two-tiered cafeteria, 175-seat black box theater classroom, a roof-top sports field with overhead netting and a sky lab. In keeping with the Northwest School’s educational philosophy of environmental sustainability, the building will have solar hot water, a digital dashboard that will monitor the facility’s energy and water consumption and indoor air quality in real time, and landscaping with native Pacific Northwest trees and plants.

This will be the first new facility in The Northwest School’s 32-year history. It is designed by Mithun, a national leader in sustainable design, based in Seattle and San Francisco. Currently serving as project manager is Dana Warren of Warren Company, a Seattle business specializing in construction management.

The Northwest School is an independent, co-educational, day and boarding, college preparatory school, serving 480 students in grades 6-12. Founded in 1980 and located in the historic Summit School building on Summit Avenue, The Northwest School is celebrating 32 years of excellence in education, with focus on college preparatory academics, environmental studies, and a multi-disciplinary curriculum of humanities, arts and sciences. For more information, visit www.northwestschool.org.

Chamber member Capitol Hill Presbyterian Church is offering family friendly theatrical event. The Mild Mild West is a hilarious play by Cristie Kearny for ages 5-100. Set in 1870 San Francisco, The Mild Mild West is a rollicking farce following two Secret Service Agents (the handsome and capable James West and the brilliant master of disguise, Artemus Gordon) on their mission to keep President Ulysses S. Grant from the clutches of dastardly (yet, decidedly dimwitted) villains. 

Dessert show: Friday, May 3 @7pm & Saturday, May 4, 7pm

$20 adults, $10 children 12 & under

Matinee (no dessert): Saturday, May 4, 1:00pm

$15 adults, $5 children 12 & under

Contact CHP to reserve (206)285-2282 or info@Capitol Hill Pres.org or Brownpapertickets.com Proceeds benefit the Bless the Neighborhood ministry at Capitol Hill Presbyterian Church

Rodrigo Valenzuela: "(in)habit"  

(Show runs through May 5th)

Blindfold Gallery Hours: Wed-Fri (1pm to 7pm); Sat-Sun (1pm to 5pm) 

Excerpt from Artist's Statement:

"My work exists within the ambiguous zone between documentary and fiction; between the purely pictorial  and the cinematic. The concepts and imagery in my video and photography are inspired by my own life experience, particularly those moments and events that implicate and contextualize broader themes of estrangement, isolation, and loneliness." 

At the end of March, the Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) of Seattle/King County, Chamber member CleanScapes and Seattle Public Utilities officially launched the 2013 Golden Dumpster Awards competition.  These awards provide commercial properties in Seattle with an opportunity to be recognized for achieving significant solid waste reduction, increasing and encouraging recycling and composting in their building, and providing educational opportunities for their tenants.  

The Golden Dumpster Awards, now in their second year, promote and reward best practices among commercial property managers and highlights the importance of resource conservation.  Commercial properties in Seattle who are also members of BOMA can apply for the 2013 Golden Dumpster Awards.  In order to be eligible, the building must consist of a minimum 50% office space and have a minimum 50% occupancy during the competition period of April 1, 2012 to April 2013.  

“Environmental sustainability and resource stewardship are best accomplished in our live-work community through partnership and teamwork,” said Rod Kauffman, President of BOMA.  “BOMA is pleased to work in cooperation with Seattle Public Utilities and CleanScapes to conduct this friendly competition that recognizes effort and achievement in reducing the solid waste stream associated with businesses and building operations.”

Properties will be judged based on responses to an online survey relating to waste diversion, education and purchasing.  Winners will be announced in three categories: small (under 200,000 square feet); medium (200,001 square feet to 500,000 square feet); and large (over 500,000 square feet).

“The Golden Dumpster Awards are a wonderful way to create recognition for companies who are saving money and creating an environmentally-friendly workplace through recycling and composting.” said Tom Gannon, Seattle Public Utilities program manager.  

Interested property management companies have until August 1st to submit their application for this award.  Applications and additional information can be found by visiting www.cleanscapes.com/seattle.  

“CleanScapes is proud to partner with BOMA and Seattle Public Utilities to recognize and encourage commercial properties to preserve our natural resources,” said CleanScapes President and founder, Chris Martin.  “Commercial properties in Seattle deserve acknowledgement for their efforts and we are pleased the Golden Dumpster Awards have provided an opportunity to show our support for businesses who are committed to waste diversion.” 

The Golden Dumpster competition is sponsored by BOMA Seattle/King County, CleanScapes and Seattle Public Utilities as a way to promote and reward best practices for reducing solid waste management costs and conserving natural resources.  

EVENT ALERT 

Rock ‘n’ Roll Seattle Marathon is coming back to our city on June 22!. As part of our partnership with Visit Seattle we get contact info of the event planners and can pass them on to our Chamber members–yet another great benefit of joining the Chamber.

A beautiful looped course that starts and finishes at Seattle Center, means 20,000 participants will need a place to eat, drink, shop and relax.  Rock 'n' Roll Seattle's Stay & Play program gives you an opportunity to get in front of this audience early. Stay & Play is a program of discounts and special offers provided to Rock 'n' Roll Seattle Marathon participants. 

Don’t miss this great chance to showcase your business to these visitors! Contact Michelle via email: michelle@caphillchamber.org.

How the Cooperative Education/Internship Program Can Meet Your Business Needs

At Seattle Central Community College, we know that your business is special. You provide an important line of products or services and you require employees who understand your way of doing business. You look for people who are knowledgeable in their fields, able to solve on-the-job problems, and can adapt to your operations.

Though our program, you have access to qualified, motivated students who possess a wide range of skills and are available to meet your temporary or long-term employment needs. Students work part-time in businesses, government agencies, and nonprofit organizations and attend class on a part-time or full-time basis. This educational approach combines academic coursework with supervised career-related experience and provides students with an opportunity to explore or clarify career choices and acquire career related experience; improve existing skills, or learn new skills applicable to future employment; and earn college credit.

By participating in the Co-op Program, your organization can:

•     Reduce recruitment and training costs by evaluating prospective employees.
•     Participate in and influence the educational process.
•     Develop a partnership with Seattle Central, an institution pledged to serve Seattle.

Selection of Student Employees

Employers who wish to participate in the program are encouraged to submit a job or internship description. Positions are posted immediately and, if applicable, routed to appropriate faculty, and/or e-mailed to student listservs. Interested students will contact you directly. You interview and select the student(s) best suited for your organization. There is no obligation to retain students who do not meet your standards of employment.

Students typically work 10-25 hours per week and earn 2-5 credits per quarter for jobs, or paid/unpaid internships. Internships are generally 8-12 weeks in length. Students in college transfer or technical programs can participate in the program.

Additional Details

We encourage organizations to consider offering compensation to the student(s). This may help to attract quality candidates. Additionally, many students work part-time and often give up, or reduce their hours, to take an internship, so receiving some form of compensation is appreciated. If you are unable to offer a wage (or stipend), consider helping the student with internship-related expenses such as tuition fees, transportation costs, etc.

Contact Info

James P Hunter

Workforce Business Liaison

Student Support Programs

Seattle Central Community College

Direct: 206-934-3839

Seattle Parks and Recreation is looking for the individuals, groups, or organizations who best demonstrate their ability to provide culturally relevant, safe, and reliable programs to the community through the Summer Art in the Park Program.

This program is designed to offer elements of academic alignment to help reduce the learning loss that can occur in the summer when school is out; build self esteem; promote cross-cultural experiences; build ongoing participation; welcome drop ins; and support the Mayor’s Youth and Families Initiative. 

Parks has a budget of $8,400 for each park for the season.  

The Summer Art in the Park Program takes place at the following Parks and Recreation locations: Othello Playground, Lakeridge Playground, Judkins Park, and Maple Wood Playfield. The program’s focus is to provide fun, innovative, curriculum based visual and performing arts that will have a positive impact on the children, families, early childhood education facilities, and community centers of Seattle.  

The 2013 Summer Art in the Park Request for Proposals (RFP) is available online at http://www.seattle.gov/parks/partnerships/rfp.htm. 

The deadline for Parks to receive the RFP is Friday, May 10, 2013.

Parks hosts free workshop for potential providers

For more information, please call Daisy Catague at 206-615-0303 or email her at daisy.catague@seattle.gov. 

BOTANICAL EXOTICA – A Monumental Collection of the Rare and Beautiful

Volunteer Park Conservatory is pleased to host an exclusive exhibition of fine-art glass works by Seattle native artist Jason Gamrath. 

The three-part series, titled “BOTANICAL EXOTICA – A Monumental Collection of the Rare and Beautiful” will span the course of 6 months, and will launched with an opening gala on April 11. 

Gamrath, a graduate of the Pilchuck Glass School has designed a breathtaking series of titanic orchids, cacti and carnivorous specimens recreated faithfully in glass and inspired by the collection at Volunteer Park Conservatory. Visitors will marvel at the incredible detail of three-foot orchid blossoms and venus flytraps which could easily ensnare a small pet. Some pieces tower up to twelve feet on steel stems, providing an opportunity for visitors to experience flora from an insect’s perspective. 

“Small plants, although miniscule in comparison to our human sized way of existing, are overwhelmingly perplexing when held inches away from one's face. The vast majority of people will seldom grasp this seemingly secret perception of existence. When I increase the scale of these life forms to be larger than a person, they can be observed with this perspective from across a room due to the overwhelming physical presence they command. The purpose of creating this series on a macro scale is to bring to light the beauty that exists within the micro scale of nature.” – Artist’s Statement, Jason Gamrath

On April 13, the penultimate day of The Moisture Festival come experience Continuous Moisture – A Varietè Downpour  - five back-to-back varieté shows, starting at Noon and running past Midnight.

In the early 1900s, because of popular demand, theatre owners developed a paradigm of continuous vaudeville performances often lasting up to 12 hours, featuring a little something for every taste.  In honor of the festival's 10th year, it is only proper to give a nod to these early purveyors of variety entertainment.  Buy a "Continuous Moisture – A Varietè Downpour " pass to attend all five shows and you will receive preferred seating, a souvenir keepsake and eternal bragging rights.  You may want to bring your pajamas and slippers for the late show!  Can you handle it? 

Get tickets here. 

Aviatrix Photo by Michelle Bates

The first Business Technical Assistance luncheon was held on March 13 at the One World Dining conference room. Resource Venture and CleanScapes were on hand to provide excellent data, case studies and achievable ideas on how to save money by conserving resources and changing habits.

Click on the images below to get .pdf documents of the presentations.

We've invested in a new database to streamline our efforts in managing our membership and we're pleased to announce the new Member Directory is now live on the website. There are still a few kinks, but if you are a member and have NOT received emails asking you to proof your directory listing, please email Michelle Hippler at michelle@caphillchamber.org.

Chamber members now get their own profile page with a brief About description and map of their location, along with links to their website and social media accounts. The directory is easily shareable and search engine optimized, so it's important that members add keywords to their profile (you get up to 8 keywords) to make the listing more searchable. Below is an example of what a new profile profile looks like. 

Couldn't make it to our fabulously fun State of the Hill event in February? Never mind that you missed all the great food and drinks (free cocktails from Oola anyone?) here's the gist of what you missed in one easy document. Find out what we accomplished in 2012 and what's on our agenda for 2013. Click on the image to download the .pdf file.

Retrofit Home

1103 E Pike

April 25

5:00 – 6:30pm

FREE for Members

$10 for non-members

RSVP here 

This month's networking mixer is fittingly being hosted by Retrofit Home to help launch the new Pike/Pine Retail Map. The Chamber will provide wine from Chamber members Vino Verite and Poco Wine + Spirits and snacks (TBD). Bring your social self and any materials you want to share with fellow members.

The Pike/Pine retail map was made possible through money provided by the Capitol Hill Block Party. Two boxes of maps have already been distributed (in less than a month!) to visitors to the Convention Center downtown. We've dropped off two more boxes there and will soon be distributing maps directly to the hotel concierges. We'll have plenty at the mixer if you'd like to take some to have at your place of business.  

We recently heard a representative from a neighboring chamber relate how a gift shop owner told her that if everyone in their neighborhood bought just one card once a year, the owner would remain financially stable.

As a business community, we on the Hill know how important it is to shop locally. To encourage our members to do business with other Chamber members, we're adding more Member to Member Discounts to our benefits of membership. Look for them here on the news blog until we get the new website up and running (we're shooting for summer and making the appropriate sacrifices to the fickle web design gods…). If you'd like to add a discount for members only, contact Michelle Hippler.

Current Member Only Discounts:

To celebrate spring new Chamber member The Capitol Hill Times is having a 2-for1  Digital Ad Sale. This is a crazy affordable way to advertise your business, service or product to over 10,000 online readers each week. Sign up for two months of digital advertising (prices depend on size of ad) and get 50% off the total amount. Want a below-fold banner ad (300x250pi)  for two months? Pay only $100 instead of twice that amount! Contact Kris Parfitt at advertising@capitolhilltimes.com for details. 

 $900 off Invisalign from Capitol Hill's Orthodontist, Keith B. Wong, DDS, MS

For CHCC members and their families! $900 off Invisalign treatment provided by Keith B. Wong, DDS, MS  Specialist in Orthodontics, Capitol Hill's Orthodontist.  Initial examination and consultation is complementary.  Diagnostic records (low-dose digital radiography, 3-D stereolithographic virtual models, digital photographs, and cephalometric analyses), and one set of retainers included in treatment fee.  Offer good for CHCC members and their families, 4/2/13 through 5/30/13, for patients that have not already begun treatment.

Join Zipcar through the Chamber and Save

Need an extra hand (or wheel) when running errands during your lunch break or zipping to the mountains on a weekend? Look no further. The Capitol Hill Chamber of Commerce has created an account for their members to join Zipcar at a discounted annual membership rate! Join the Chamber’s account to drive any of Seattle’s 300+ Zipcars for only $25 annual membership, paying no application fee ($60 savings). If you have any questions or concerns, or you are currently a Zipcar member and would like to be added to this account, give us a ring in the local office at 206.682.0107 x221 (M-F 8:30am-5:30pm) or at 1.866.4ZIPCAR available 24/7. Or, please send us an email at wdewey@zipcar.com.

Ghost Gallery

504 E Denny Way

10% off Handmade Jewelry or Miniature Art

A great introduction to our wide range of quality, artistic offerings. Members receive 10% off all non-sale jewelry and miniature art on view in the gallery! We support over 35 local and regional jewelry designers and artists on rotation, providing you with the best to choose from. We're proud to be a part of the CHCC!

The Friends of the Conservatory has announced the hiring of Anthonio Pettit as their new Executive Director.

From the desk of President Rudi Opderbeck: 

 

Anthonio brings a diverse collection of skills and background to the position. For the past decade he worked in the high tech industry as an engineer, project manager. Most recently, Anthonio managed several hundred consultants on-assignment at Microsoft and T-Mobile. Prior to moving to Seattle, Anthonio studied broadcast journalism at Western Washington University and worked for several years as a new media editor in the publishing industry. He is a 2011 graduate of the Out in Front Leadership Program and a 2013 Leadership Tomorrow nominee.

Anthonio is no stranger to the Conservatory; he has served on the FOC Board of Directors since 2005, and, served as Recording Secretary and, since 2009 has been Board President.

Anthonio has gained a thorough understanding of the issues and needs surrounding the Conservatory throughout his involvement with the FOC, and is pleased to have this opportunity to steer the organization forward by strengthening ties to the community and furthering awareness and stewardship.

It's that time of year again when the garden fresh comes back to Cap Hill for all us urbanites lacking the will or green thumb needed to grow our own. The Broadway Farmers Market starts April 21 and takes place every Sunday, 11 am – 3 pm,  and this year it plans to stay open year round. 

Gaining a reputation as a incubator for new businesses (they helped launch Kedai Makan and Juice Box in just the past year) come and taste the new market favorites in the line up this year.

On opening day, the farmers’ tables will be piled high with spring greens, beautiful bouquets, edible plant starts for your garden, asparagus, sheep, cow, and goat cheeses, fresh eggs, wild-caught salmon, pastured meats, Rachel’s Ginger Beer, baked goods, delicious prepared foods, and much more. 

New Vendors This Year Include:

• Cascade Pies – Berry, Apple, Sweet Potato, Salted Caramel, Pecan, Vegan options

• d:floured- a Seattle gluten free bakery –  cookies, tarts, bars and artisan loaves of bread

• Early Bird Eggs – brown and blue eggs from the Snoqualmie Valley

• Klickitat Canyon Winery – Syrah, Chardonnay, Lemberger, Merlot, Pinot Gris

• Oh Yeah Farms with ginger, hops, steel cut oats, quinoa and more

• Orale Chamo – Authentic Venezuelan food;  Pollo Tinga, Carne Mechada, Mushroom Mole , Alambre Nopalero

• San Juan Island Sea Salt –solar evaporated sea salt from Griffin Bay, Friday Harbor, WA.

• Six Strawberries –  fruit flavored ice-pops, fruit sorbets, and creamsicles made with coconut milk

• Sno-Valley Mushrooms – cultivated mushrooms; shitake, oyster, lion’s mane

• Steel Wheel Farm- with herbs, row crops and melons

• Sweet and Savory – hand crafted tarts, biscuits, scones, crackers – inspired by seasonal farmers market ingredients

• Youngquist Farm- berries from the Skagit Valley

Farmers convene, as usual, at the corner of Broadway Ave E & E Pine – outdoors on the SCCC campus.   The Market accepts SNAP, as well as WIC and Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Coupons. 

The Broadway Farmers Market is operated by the Neighborhood Farmers Markets, a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting and strengthening Washington's small family farms.  More information at www.seattlefarmersmarkets.org. Like them on Facebook.

Be sure to thank all our new 2013 Chamber members for investing in Capitol Hill and helping us do the work of building a great community!

Ghost Gallery, 504 E. Denny

Belroy Apartments, 703 Bellevue  Ave. E

Broadway High School Alumni Association,  1701 Broadway, BE 4180

Kris McCreary, Insurance Advisor, 3238 E Madison 

SelfStorage.com

RD House Real Estate & Property Management Inc.

No Parking on Pike 1102 E Pike St.

ZPizza 1620 Broadway Ave., Unit 100F

Love is Not Lost

Capitol Hill Times

Essence Wine

Jonathan Rose Companies, 1402 Third Ave. #525

Quinn's Pub, 1001 E Pike

Ewing & Clark 2110 Western Ave.

Oola Distillery,1314 E Union

Car2Go Seattle

Michael Darr (Resident)

Genworth Financial Insurance, 8216 19th Ave. NE

Gregory Heller (Resident)

Paris Eastside ,816 E Pike

Rival Fitness

510 E Pine

March 28

5:00 – 6:30 PM

This month's member networking event is being hosted by Rival Fitness. Come enjoy food, drink and conversation at the latest conditioning club on the Hill. Whether you are a health-related biz or not, these mixers are an opportunity to meet other neighborhood owners and managers and to find out more of what is going on in the Chamber and on the Hill. Join us! Please RSVP to give the host a good indication of how much food and drink to provide. These are Member Only events, but we welcome business owners who want to come and get a look and feel of the Chamber. 

Capitol Hill business women are getting all sorts of headlines lately…

Nerdwallet named Seattle the #2 city (out of 10) for entrepreneurial women, and they specifically call out our very own CHEW as a reason. 

CHEW founder and president, Laura Culberg co-owner of Sweatbox Yoga Studios, and Capitol Hill Chamber board member and CHEW member Dani Cone, owner of Fuel Coffee and High 5 Pie, will be honored guests at this month's City Business Casual event. Put on every month by the Office of Economic Development, the theme this month is, fortuitously, Women Entrepreneurs. City Biz Casual is this Thursday, March 14th from 5 – 7 PM at The Renaissance Hotel. 

And speaking of Dani Cone, if you missed the wonderful article on her and her empire in the Seattle Times Pacific NW Magazine, check it out here. 

Sustainable Capitol Hill March Meeting

Monday, March 18

Electric Tea Garden

1402 E Pike

6:30 pm Potluck Book Swap Social

Meetup Group is here.

From the organizer:

Time for a little fun! Let’s get together, swap books and make friends. We’ll have an acoustic jam session, too, so bring your instruments and your dancing shoes! (And don't worry if you don't have any books to swap, all are welcome to attend.)

We'll meet at 6:30pm for potluck and book swap. Hope to see you there!

PS, if you'd like to join the planning meeting, we will be meeting for about 30 min after the event. Please feel free to stay and give us your input!

Transition to Parenthood: A workshop for LGBTQ couples & individuals

Thursday: April 18, 2013

7:00 – 9:00 p.m.

Held at JFS, 1601 16th Avenue, Seattle

$15/person, $25/couple;

scholarships are available.

Advance registration is required, as space is limited.

The arrival of a new family member can be both exciting and stressful. What are some ways to balance joys and responsibilities of the parenting journey? Psychotherapist and Certified Gottman Educator, Larry Nicholas, MA will offer insight into LGBTQ parenthood and strategies for coping and staying connected.

Contact Leonid Orlov, (206) 861-8784 or familylife@jfsseattle.org

Download the Transition to Parenthood PDF Flier

Photo Credit: Broadway Farmers Market

Well, we already know it, but Seattle Magazine has named Capitol Hill a top neighborhood in the city. According to a note we got from Chris Curtis, Director of the Neighborhood Farmers Market Alliance:

 

The March issue of SEATTLE MAGAZINE devotes the whole issue to the best neighborhoods and what makes a neighborhood a launching pad for happiness.  They think it’s a combination of several criteria -  views, walkability, open space, good transit connections, cultural hub (theatre, good bookstore within a mile), dog park…AND A FARMERS MARKET!

 …..  There are only 2 neighborhoods in the region that got all 7; Capitol Hill and Edmonds.  Meeting the criteria also added to real estate and home values.

 Here’s a link:  http://www.seattlemag.com/article/15-best-neighborhoods-seattle

 Here’s to happy neighborhoods,

Chris

Chris Curtis, Director

Neighborhood Farmers Market Alliance

www.seattlefarmersmarkets.org

The good people at Chamber member First Covenant Church have not forgotten the people who were affected by the devastating tsunami in Japan in 2011. Below are all the detais:

Artwork Credit: artist Richard Olmsted @ Frame Central, 901 E Pike

The listing for this month's Blitz Art Walk (Thursday, March 14) is now posted on the Blitz website. The majority of the businesses/organizations listed are Capitol Hill Chamber member and inclusion in the art walk comes with membership. Go out and support them. They're a main reason we were named one of America's ArtPlaces this year!

Want to be included next month? Here are the details. For organizations that are not Chamber members, it's only $25 to get listed.

Due Dates for the April 11th Arts Walk

Monday, March 24th: info due for inclusion in the press release

Monday, April 1: info due for inclusion on printed map and online listings

Monday, April 1: Monthly payment due (applies to non-Chamber members only): pay here

Show/Event Information You Provide 

 Send an email to this address (CapitolHillArtsWalk@gmail.com). Please have your venue name and month for the subject line of the email and include the following information:  

 - Artist/performer name(s), or event name 
 - Medium
 - Brief description of show/event 
 - Additional info (later hours, refreshments, music, special pricing, etc.)
 - Attach an image 

From Chamber member Century Ballroom and Oddfellows Cafe + Bar:

Join us at Oddfellows Café + Bar Today (March 11th). Together We Can Help Keep Century Ballroom Open!

On Monday, March 11th Oddfellows Café + Bar will donate 5% of our sales from the entire day to Century Ballroom’s “Opportunity to Dance” Relief Fund.

It may sound like something out of Footloose, but the “Opportunity to Dance” tax has put the future of Century Ballroom at risk. With the threat of this looming,

Century Ballroom has been altering their programming and adjusting prices all the while negotiating with the State. Unfortunately, their efforts have fallen far short of raising the required funds.

After hearing about Century Ballroom’s situation, the crew over at Oddfellows Café + Bar knew we had to help our neighbor in need! Join us all day on Monday March 11th, and know your sandwich, cocktail, cookie, etc. is going to a good cause (other than your belly!). For more information about Century Ballroom’s situation, and what you can do to help, check out their website or their facebook page.

About Century Ballroom: Century Ballroom was founded in 1997 to promote social dancing of all kinds. Housed on the 2nd floor of a 1908 Odd Fellows temple, Century Ballroom is made up of up three elegant venues ranging from 1500-2500sf all with sprung wood floors. Their belief is that dancing should be fun. In their classes they try to provide all the tools dancers need to find the magic communication that can be found in partner dancing. In the end dance and music are common languages that we all speak and can share with one another. They hope that you’ll come check out the beautiful Century Ballroom (or one of their alternate spaces East and West Halls) and experience what they’re all about.

Photo Credit: www.facebook.com/stunningseattle

Stunning Seattle is a large scale mural event produced by Seattle’s Dept. of Neighborhoods, Urban Artworks and Graffiti Defense Coalition. Stunning Seattle is poised to be a major art event and is currently sponsored by The City of Seattle, Yelp.com and The Stranger Newspaper. Beginning summer of 2013, Stunning Seattle will produce four gigantic, high quality, world class street art inspired murals in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Seattle. See their past work here. 

Our Call to artists has already reached over 56,000 individuals in its first two days, on Facebook alone.

Don't miss this great opportunity to align your business with a community event that is gaining massive attention. This is the perfect chance to show the world that your business is dedicated to supporting the arts. Our corporate giving details can be found here. 

Tell us about your organization:  Mayor’s Arts Award and Genius Award winner Velocity Dance Center is Seattle’s forward-thinking laboratory and essential incubator for dance and emerging ideas. With artist-driven, community-centered programs, Velocity is instrumental in making Seattle a destination city for world-class dance with one of the most active dance communities in the nation.

With artist-led classes and workshops every day, performances every week, ongoing humanities programs that activate thoughtful conversations, as well as weekly community events from social dances to family-style dinners, Velocity is a portal for those new to dance and an important community resource. Home to hundreds of independent dance artists and renowned for producing innovative, cutting-edge work, Velocity is Seattle’s only dedicated contemporary dance venue where groundbreaking work, disciplined practice and community participation coexist. 

Why did you choose to locate your business in Capitol Hill?

Since its formation, Velocity has been located in the heart of Capitol Hill—more than 17 years. In 2010, we relocated from the Oddfellows building to our new home in the 12th Ave Arts Corridor, and it was important to Velocity to remain on Capitol Hill. As our Executive/Artistic Director recently shared at the ArtPlace America Press Conference: “many of the people we serve can walk or ride their bicycles to our theater and studios, and it’s all interwoven with wonderful, creative small businesses. We thrive together.. . .  What’s really extraordinary about Capitol Hill is that we are actually fostering artists as the innovators and entrepreneurs that they are. You don’t have to get dressed up to experience the arts on Capitol Hill. Audiences interact with the arts in this neighborhood.”

Do you live on Capitol Hill too?

The majority of the Velocity staff, Board, teachers and artists reside on Capitol Hill. Many of our dance artists and teachers choose to live on Capitol Hill to be near Velocity. 

Why did you join the Chamber?

Velocity is joining the Chamber to establish one more way to deepen our connection to our neighbors and continue to strengthen the powerful network that supports Capitol Hill as an economically vital, livable community.

Tell us one thing about your business that most people don't know:

Anyone can rent Velocity’s gorgeous studios and theater for their rehearsals, performances or community events. Velocity is so much more than just a dance studio that teaches contemporary dance: you can take class 365 days a year—from Bottom Heavy Funk to Ballet to Odissi Classical Indian Dance or West African. You can see a world-class performance, participate in a free Speakeasy community conversation, submit to our online journal STANCE, or social dance every Tuesday night.

Do you have a favorite neighbor business on Capitol Hill?

Team Diva Real Estate and Century Ballroom are significant partners with Velocity. Team Diva sponsored our annual holiday party, regularly attends our events and performances, and donates 10% of any Velocity-affiliated commission to our general fund. Century Ballroom provides essential studio space for our international summer intensives and seasonal programming. We also love Cafe Argento! They’re like a second home to us.

Capitol Hill was chosen as one of four Seattle neighborhoods that will be featured in short films being made in April in association with SIFF’s Fly Filmmaking program. Exterior and interior locations are needed for the film that will be shot starting April 9. If you or someone you know has a location that fits the below descriptions, please contact Sarah Crowe, the film’s producer, via the contact info below. Please be prepared to host the crew for at least 1.5 days and possibly up to three (April 9^th through the 11^th). The film will be presented as part of the Fly Films program at SIFF 2013 (May 16 – June 9).

Wednesday, March 13

11:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

Seattle Central Community College

Broadway Edison Building (Private banquet room next to the One World Dining restaurant)

1701 Broadway Ave. E.

Seattle, WA 98144

The Capitol Hill Chamber of Commerce and Sound Transit provide an opportunity to address the needs of retail businesses and restaurants during construction of the Capitol Hill light rail station. In 2013, Capitol Hill business owners are invited to programs on a variety of educational and engaging topics while enjoying a gourmet lunch provided by Seattle Central Community College’s award-winning Seattle Culinary Academy. 

This year we tackling the Bottom Line with four programs that are all about maintaining or improving yours.

Next week on Wednesday March 13, we'll kick the series off with People, Planet, Profits: How Going Green Can Help Your Bottom Line. Join representatives from Resource Venture and CleanScapes to learn how to reduce waste and utility costs. 

Please RSVP by March 11. The program is limited to 25 participants and preference is given to brick and mortar establishments. Please attend if you are registered. 

Looking ahead….

Register ahead of time with these links!

June 5: YourCapitolHill.com ReDesign

October 2: Dare to Prepare

November 13: Retailing in the New Reality

Download flyer FLYR_LetsDoLunch_2013Events.

2013 Calendar

Remember that inclusion in the Blitz ArtWalk comes with your membership in the chamber. The Blitz website is currently being redesigned and will be viewable on mobile devices. This means you'll have all the Blitz info you can fit in your pocket. 

Deadline for inclusion in the February Blitz is today. Here are the details: 

State of the Hill is almost upon us. Showcase food and drink sponsors serving up Cap Hill creations include:

Poppy, Cure, Marination Station, Zpizza, Wandering Goose, Oddfellows, Neumos, Poco, Oola Distillery, Vino Verite, and Quinn's.

Tickets ($25 for members, $40 for non-members) include all the food you would want and more and 2 wine/beer tickets. Cocktails can be purchased for $8, beer and wine for $5. Get them now!

Choro Loco, a local vintage Brazilian Jazz band will provide ambiance. The State of the Hill program starts at 6:00PM and the Spirit Award will be presented to Kay Rood after.

Want to see why the CHCC membership chose Kay Rood as the 2013 Spirit Award recipient? 

She had a significant role in turning this….

Into this….

Please join the Rival team for an evening of cocktails, mocktails, and nibbles.  It's our way to celebrate the hard work and dedication of the folks that helped it all come together, as well as marking a great first month at Rival Fitness! 

Because it wouldn't be a Rival party if we didn't give you a chance to show your stuff, just a little, we'll have a prize wheel! Spin the wheel, beat the challenge, and win a prize. Participation is purely optional! 

WHEN: 

Saturday, February 9th 7:00-10:00pm

WHERE: 

Rival Fitness, of course!  510 E. Pine Street

WHO:

You – and a friend or two!*   

ATTIRE: 

Casual   

(feel free to wear athletic attire if you're up to showing off your monkey bar or rowing talents!)

Please email us to RSVP so that we're prepared with plenty of food and beverage.

We look forward to celebrating with you!  

*All non-members will be eligible to receive a free one-week Rival experience.

We are setting the mixer calendar for the rest year. In February we head over to Unicorn (1118 E Pike) to enjoy all it's funky goodness. Mark your calendars or RSVP and get it pushed onto your digital calendar. It's February 28 from 5:00 to 6:30. 

On March 28, we're going to new Chamber member Rival Fitness (510 E Pine). 

Would you like to host a mixer? Email Michelle Hippler.  Dates that still need a venue are:

April 25

May 30

June 27

August 29

September 26

November 21

Chamber member The Moisture Festival is thrilled to be entering their second year on Capitol Hill and they need the help of local businesses to keep their non-profit festival going, bringing thousands of people together for a month of awe and laughter. It really is a great way to get your business out in front of our 13,000+ patrons, while getting a tax write-off for supporting a 501(c)3 that enriches Capitol Hill and our city as a whole.

Options for cash sponsorship of the 2013 Moisture Festival start at just $500 with great public exposure and tax-deduction possibilities. If you’re interested, you can learn more about the festival here and more about cash sponsorship here (scroll down and find the link their sponsorship brochure) or see the PDF. If you have questions or want to set up a sponsorship, you can call Moisture Festival Director of Development Jeremy Johnsen at (206) 297-1405 or email him at jeremy@moisturefestival.org.

Moisture Festival is proud of its grassroots upbringing, from a circus tent in Fremont to the largest, longest-running comedy/varietè festival in the world, and none of it would’ve been possible without their growing community of sponsors. Adding your business to that community goes a long way to support an organization that brings a real benefit to Seattle by bringing thousands together for affordable live entertainment, creating gigs for hundreds of performers (musicians, aerialists, comedians, et al.) and cementing Seattle’s status as a center for varietè performance.

Whether or not you’re interested in sponsorship, I urge you to learn more about Moisture Festival and come see one of the 50 shows in the 2013 festival!

The Pike-Pine retail maps are hot off the press and ready for distribution to hotel concierges, the Convention Center, Pike Place Market Info booth, and any place of business that would like to have them for their customers. The maps were made possible through the support and partnership of the Capitol Hill Block Party. 

The Capitol Hill Chamber of Commerce has joined Visit Seattle (formerly known as Seattle Convention and Visitor's Bureau). What this means for our member businesses is targeted exposure to convention goers (half a million strong last year) and tourists (over 9 million last year). And lots of love like this No Umbrella blog post.  The membership team at Visit Seattle will be pushing our neighborhood as a great place to go while also sending travel writers our way. And not only will the chamber have an open channel to push our press releases about our members, we'll also be able to create itineraries for visitors that highlight our members. Stay tuned. This is gonna be good! Our Pike-Pine retail maps will also be handed out at the Convention Center and the Pike Place Market Info booth. 

Chamber member Capitol Hill Housing will break ground on the 12th Ave Arts building going up at 12th and Pine on February 21 at 12:30pm @

Velocity Dance Center 

1621 12th Avenue   

• Illustrious speakers including Mayor Mike McGinn

• Pizza from Via Tribunali's mobile wood-fired oven

• Coffee from Caffe Vita

The building will house 88 affordable units along with community meeting space, performing arts space and local retail.  

The capital campaign to raise money for this lasting gift to the community is also in swing. Donate or get involved in the project here.

On January 20, the New York Times travel section called out the Pike-Pine corridor in their slideshow "Seattle's New Showrooms." Specifically mentioning the preservation of Auto Row buildings, the short blurb calls Pike-Pine "the epicenter of the popular Capitol Hill neighborhood, claiming some of the best restaurants, nightclubs and vinyl record stores in the city." Yeah. We'll take the love. Half of the six businesses named are Chamber members: Neumos, NuBe Green and SugarPill.

Chamber member Velocity Dance Center was the place to celebrate Capitol Hill's Pike/Pine corridor being named one of twelve top ArtPlaces in America. On January 25th Mayor McQuinn accepted the certificate from representatives of ArtPlace, a collaboration of leading national and regional foundations, banks, and federal agencies committed to accelerating “creative placemaking”. An ArtPlace is a community that successfully combines the arts, artists, and venues for creativity and expression with independent businesses, restaurants, and a walkable lifestyle to make vibrant neighborhoods. The Capitol Hill neighborhood ranked highly not only against local Seattle neighborhoods but also nationally, showing a combination of factors that place it in the top twelve in the country.

ArtPlace’s selection of the top twelve neighborhoods was based on a set of six indicators identified by Impresa Inc., a Portland-based consulting firm specializing in the study of metropolitan economies. Four indicators measure ingredients of vibrancy: the number of retail and service businesses; the percentage of independent businesses; the neighborhood’s Walk Score; and the percentage of workers in creative occupations living in the neighborhood. Two arts-related indicators were also used: the number of arts-related non-profits and the number of arts-related businesses.  Finally, neighborhood scores were normalized for family income so that neighborhoods with the highest concentration of income did not skew the results.

The other neighborhoods ranking among the Top Twelve ArtPlaces for 2013 (in alphabetical order, not ranked) are:

Brooklyn, NY / The intersection of Downtown, Fort Greene, Gowanus, Park Slope and Prospect Heights

Dallas, TX  / The Dallas Arts District, with parts of Deep Ellum and Exposition Park

Los Angeles, CA / Central Hollywood

Miami Beach, FL / South Beach

Milwaukee, WI / East Town and a portion of the Lower East Side

New York, NY / Manhattan Valley

Oakland, CA / Downtown, including Chinatown, Old Oakland, and Jack London Square

Philadelphia, PA / Old City

Portland, OR / The Pearl District and a portion of Downtown

San Francisco, CA / The Mission District

Washington, DC / The intersection of Adams Morgan, U Street, and Dupont Circle

 The Chamber's first Cops Talk Shop had East Precinct officers, thirty to forty business owners, homeless youth and media in attendance at Seattle Central Community College (SCCC) on January 15. In short, a good cross section of the Capitol Hill population. The consensus of the evening was that we are all part of the community and need to work together to make it safe for everyone. Learning what resources are available to business owners to keep their property and employees safe (and clean) via the SPD was the intent of the evening.

The program was organized by the Chamber's Clean and Safe committee. KOMO News covered the program here. One often misunderstood point came up in this clip. SPD encourages everyone to call 911 when there is trouble, even if the incident and those involved are likely to be gone once the police arrive. This helps SPD track "hot spots" and gives good data about what the needs of community are. If you have further questions about business safety, contact Officer Casey Sundin.

Thanks to SCCC for providing the room and videotaping entire program. Thanks to Starbucks for providing coffee and doughnuts.  

Videotaping of the program was done by SCCC students: Jenna Poole-camera operator, Colleen Zickler-sound and editing, and Sydney Farrer-sound and editing.

Watch video: Cops Talk Shop.

The Capitol Hill Chamber of Commerce is pleased to announce longtime community Kay Rood as the 2013 Spirit Award recipient. 

The Spirit award is presented to a Capitol Hill community member who has done outstanding work to benefit the Capitol Hill neighborhood.

 Kay Rood founded Groundswell Off Broadway as an organization to bring the current Cal Anderson Park to fruition from its former lackluster state. Kay wondered why eleven acres of parkland in the heart of Capitol Hill’s densest neighborhood were so neglected that they resembled a dusty prison yard. Her relationships with her neighbors, her artistic and community vision, and her tenacity over more than a dozen years of work revived a landmark Olmstead Park to honor the legacy of Cal Anderson. Cal was the first openly gay legislator in Washington, our widely beloved State Representative and State Senator who died of complications from AIDS in 1995. 

Once the Park was restored she created the Cal Anderson Park Alliance to steward the Park. Overall, Groundswell put in twelve years and worked with three different city mayors and their administrations to advocate, raise funds, lobby, plan and help transform the park from an open reservoir surrounded by chain link fence and an dusty running track into the gathering place we have today. Kay and Groundswell elevated the discussion around undergrounding the reservoir into a re-conception of the original Olmstead Plan for the park, construction of a new Shelter House, and adding a magnificent water feature by noted sculptor Douglas Hollis.

Kay began her Seattle framing business in 1979 in an East Pike Street storefront between a tattoo parlor and a garage. Eight years later she moved into a 1902 house five blocks away at 922 East Denny Way in the heart of Capitol Hill, realizing her “zero-commute” dream of working and living in the same building. She cultivated her home, shop and garden there for twenty-one years until she was displaced to West Seattle by construction for the Capitol Hill light rail station.

Central Physical Therapy & Fitness MLK Day Event

January 21, 2013, 1:15pm-2:30pm

1820 12^th Ave, Ste 101

You’re invited to an Introduction to Self Defense Seminar taught by leading Seattle Self Defense Instructor, Joanne Factor of Strategic Living, LLC.  Click here for details.

All proceeds will benefit Girls on the Run Puget Sound, a non-profit organization that uses active running games to teach healthy lifestyle lessons in an after-school program for 3^rd through 5^th grade girls throughout Puget Sound. 

Suggested donation is $10-$30, with all donations matched by Central PT up to $500.  Space is limited.  Pre-registration is required.  Contact Deb at 860-3746 or deb@centralphysicaltherapy.com. Download flyer: chccMLK Day 2013 R (2)

FREE Tax Prep Help for Broadway and Cap Hill Residents

February 2013

Monday and Tuesdays from 8am – 12pm

Broadway Ellison Room 1102A

SCCC and the United Way of King County are offering free, quality tax prep and electronic filing for quick refunds. This is a free service for households making less than $51,000. Sorry, no business taxes, rental income or sale of property or stock.

For more info contact James P Hunter, 206-934-3839, james.hunter@seattlecolleges.edu.

Construction and Teachable Moments at Northwest School

Construction on Northwest School's new facility to house a Gymnasium, Dining Room, Theatre, and rooftop Sports Field is well underway and teachers are digging deep to find teachable moments. 

In December thirty-eight eighth graders in Herb Bergamini’s earth science class visited the site at 401 East Pike, gathered soil samples, and posed construction questions to Exxel Site Superintendent Nick Amaya.

New member Paris Eastside (816 E Pike) hasn't been on the Hill long, but already has a heavy class schedule for both adults and kids. Learn to cook French cuisine at home or how to make spectacular food and wine pairings. Check them out here.

Schedule of Events @ Elliiott Bay

A full month of readings, book signings, book clubs and other literary events are up at Elliott Bay Book Company. 

February 7, 2013

5:00 – 7:00 PM

The Summit on E. Pike (420 E Pike)

$25 for Members

$40 for Non-members

 REGISTER NOW!

Tickets are now on sale for the 2013 State of the Hill event! Get them now and secure your spot for this evening of celebration. We'll be giving an overview of where the Hill stands now, what our accomplishments were in 2012 and where we're going in 2013. Two drinks (wine or beer) are included in the cost of tickets.

We'll also be handing out the illustrious Spirit Award to a Cap Hill community member who has worked tirelessly to improve our quality of life here. 

Showcasing the great food and drink of our members, you'll be able to sample some of the best Cap Hill cuisine, wine, beer and spirits that gets the Hill mentioned in all the Best Of lists across the country.

Showcase sponsors (so far!):  Neumos, Quinn's, Oola Distillery, Vino Verite, Poppy, Cure, Poco, ZPizza, , Marination Station, Oddfellow's Cafe +Bar and Wandering Goose with more to come…

Special thanks to our Presenting Sponsor(s):

 REGISTER NOW!

WHEN: January 23, 2013 6:00 – 7:00 pm

WHERE: Melrose Market Studios (www.melrosemarketstudios.com)

1532 Minor Avenue Seattle, WA 98101

In anticipation of the City of Seattle’s upcoming URM policy, please join a

presentation by Michael Wright, PE, SE, and John Feit, PPUNC chair, as we

explore the challenges presented by URM (Un-Reinforced Masonry) buildings,

what building owners can do to mitigate potential risks, and what benefits

owners and tenants alike can expect in seismically upgraded structures,

including:

• What currently triggers a seismic upgrade

• Structural and non-structural elements at risk

• URM upgrade strategies and benefits

• Steps in a seismic uprgrade

• City process and approvals

RSVP: john@schemataworkshop.com by January 16, refreshments provided

Flyer for this event: chcc_URM Flyer

Full Agenda: chcc_URM Agenda

Sponsored by:

Capitol Hill Housing has just closed financing on the 12th Avenue Arts development. This is a monumental occasion for Capitol Hill Housing and the Capitol Hill community! 

According to Chris Persons, CEO: 

This project will bring 88 affordable homes, 15,000 square feet of office and meeting space, two theaters, great retail and parking for the police department. It will meet neighborhood priorities and continue revitalizing what will soon become a transit rich area.

We have raised over $4 million from the community in our first ever capital campaign toward a total project budget of $47 million and will begin preparing the site for construction this month. 

It's been a long journey. Capitol Hill Housing has spent 14 years moving this project toward development. Early discussions between the community and the City were held in 1998. We were told no, then maybe, then yes, then no again.  We've faced obstacles but never gave up. Building vibrant and engaged communities means that sometimes you have to stick with it against the odds.

We still have funds to raise, and it will be about 18 months before we cut the ribbon and open the doors at 12th Avenue Arts. But we want to celebrate this milestone and say thanks to the hundreds of dedicated people who have put in countless hours to move us closer to a great community success. 

Macklemore's "Thrift Shop" video has been mapped by Curbed. Two out of the six shops are in Capitol Hill and chamber member Unicorn gets a spot in the vid for its famously quirky decor (come and see it for yourself at the February 28 mixer). The former Capitol Hill rapper's song has gone platinum. Here's the story and the video.

Friends of Eater Pick 2012's Best Dining Neighborhood and it's all about Capitol Hill. Running the gamut from chamber members Poppy and Dick's, foodies from across the city recognize we've got the best mix of eateries up here on the Hill. Check out the full story here.

As is the tradition at Eater, our closeout of the year is a survey of friends, industry types, bloggers, and readers. We've already covered Best Standbys,Top Newcomers, and 2012 in a Word. Now it's time for Best Dining Neighborhood.

 

Friends of the Conservatory, generous donors, modest entrance fee all help

Despite fears reported this past March, the City is committed to keeping the 100-year old Volunteer Park Conservatory, the crown jewel of Seattle’s Olmsted park system, open. 

The operating budget Mayor Mike McGinn and Parks and Recreation proposed, and the City Council recently approved, includes a $4 per person entrance fee to support maintenance and education programs, and the capital budget includes $2.3 million of the $3.1 million needed for critical structural repairs. To ensure the Conservatory’s success into the future, both the restoration project and day-to-day operations need help from community members.

To date, individual donors have contributed just over half of the $750,000 still needed for the restoration fund. Generous donations to the Friends of the Conservatory and ongoing volunteer labor will help keep the entry fee affordable for all visitors. As of early November, more than 100,000 people had visited the Conservatory this year, about two-thirds of them from outside Seattle.

The Conservatory is listed on the National Register of Historic Places; it is also a City landmark and one of the few remaining original Victorian public glass houses in the country. It houses an outstanding tropical plant collection that is 100 years in the making, it hosts classes and day camps for school-age children, and it provides space for art classes, events and public gatherings. The Conservatory shelters more than a tropical plant collection. As a warm, quiet, beautiful refuge, it shelters our souls.

To learn about upcoming holiday events and to make a tax-deductible donation, please go to www.VolunteerParkConservatory.org . Members of the public can make contributions to the restoration fund by contacting the Seattle Parks Foundation: http://seattleparksfoundation.org.

ArtPlace just announced that Capitol Hill's Pike/Pine Corridor is one of America's Top 2013 ArtPlaces. 

According to their website:

Art is inspiring and motivating. But it is also a powerful catalyst for change within communities, invigorating neighborhoods, supporting local businesses, and creating vibrant places. America’s Top Twelve ArtPlaces is a new annual ArtPlace initiative recognizing neighborhoods in the largest 44 metropolitan areas in the country where the arts are central to creating places where people—residents and visitors—want to be.

Today, ArtPlace announced America’s Top Twelve ArtPlaces, communities that have most successfully combine art, artists and venues for creativity and expression with independent businesses, retail shops and restaurants, and a walkable lifestyle to make vibrant neighborhoods. Download the full report to learn more.

America’s Top 12 ArtPlaces for 2013 are:

Brooklyn, NY / The intersection of Downtown, Fort Greene, Gowanus, Park Slope and Prospect Heights

Dallas, TX / The Dallas Arts District, with parts of Deep Ellum and Exposition Park

Los Angeles, CA / Central Hollywood

Miami Beach, FL / South Beach

Milwaukee, WI / East Town and a portion of the Lower East Side

New York, NY / Manhattan Valley

Oakland, CA / Downtown, including Chinatown, Old Oakland and Jack London Square

Philadelphia, PA / Old City

Portland, OR / The Pearl District and a portion of Downtown

San Francisco, CA / The Mission District

Seattle, WA / The Pike-Pine Corridor

Washington, DC / The intersection of Adams Morgan, U Street, and Dupont Circle

 

ArtPlace is a collaboration of 13 leading national and regional foundations, eight federal agencies including the National Endowment for the Arts, and six of the nation’s largest banks to accelerate creative placemaking across the U.S.

Tuesday, January 15th 2013

5:00 to 7:00PM

Seattle Central Community College

room 1110 (near South Plaza entrance)

Join the Capitol Hill Chamber of Commerce and the Seattle Police Department for a panel discussion and Q & A of the concerns that come with running your business in an urban environment, including panhandlers outside your door, trespassers, 86’ing troublemakers, shoplifters and employee safety concerns. We’ll also explain the new Trespass Warning and Enforcement Program and have forms for you to sign up on the spot. Bring your questions and enjoy coffee and donuts on us.

Agenda

5:00 pm      Meet and greet the new East Precinct Commander, Captain Ron Wilson and his second in Command, Lieutenant Matthew Allen.

5:30 pm      Officer Christopher Brownlee, East Precinct Community Police Team, will discuss shoplifters, panhandlers, and employee safety concerns.

6:00 pm      Officer Dan Nelson, East Precinct Crisis Intervention Team, will discuss how you and your employees can deal with the mentally ill in a way that prevents escalation.

6:30 pm      Officer Casey Sundin, East Precinct Community Police Team, will explain Seattle’s new Trespass Warning and Enforcement Program—who qualifies, who doesn’t—and he will have         authorization forms at the event for you to officially complete (note these have to be signed in the presence of an officer).

The Lyric (215 10th Ave E)

January 31 from 5:00 to 7:00

We're heading over to the brand new Pillar Properties building, The Lyric, for our January networking mixer. Join us for food and drink and find out about this newest kid on Broadway/10th Ave E. It's green built, luxurious and comes with Seattle City certified affordable housing units and a certifiably awesome view of the Needle and Sound. Please RSVP below!

We've partnered with the Seattle Good Business Network, the good people behind the Gift Local (and Think Local) campaigns. We still have campaign materials – postcards and posters – to help you get the word out to your customers about shopping local for the holiday. Contact Michelle at the CHCC office about how to pick up the materials.

If you'd like to get more involved in the campaign, contact Seattle Good Business Network at gift-local@seattlenetwork.org.

Capitol Hill is going into hyper-holiday mode and so we’re listing some of our member events worth checking out. Click on the titles below for more info. If you have events you’d like to include in our newsletter (publishes first week of the month), contact Michelle.

Velocity is Burning

A kooky-queer cabaret to celebrate the season

DEC 6 / 8-11PM

Velocity (1621 12th Ave)

TICKETS $15 online / $20 at the door

Velocity Dance Center has been a CHCC member since 2007.

Fleet Feet Sports Holiday Events

Seattle premiere of The Mountain Runners, an award-winning documentary that focuses on the first adventure race ever to take place, up at Mt. Baker no less.

This event is also a fundraiser for our partner organization, Seattle Running Club.

December 6 & 7 @ 8pm

All the details, can be found here.

Second Annual Reindeer Run

December 13 @ 6:00pm

3 mile run walk where folks are encouraged to dress in holiday costumer.  This is part of our monthly pub run series and will end up at 95 Slide where we’ll giveaway prizes.  We are also collecting toys during the run as part of the Toy n’ Joy drive.  All of the details, can be found here.

You can load up on food at our mixer and then go run it off!

Holiday Gift Guide

For the athlete in your life, Fleet Feet staff have created a holiday gift guide for you here.

Fleet Feet Sports has been a CHCC member since 2012.

Holiday in Volunteer Park

Thursday, December 13, 6pm – 8pm

Volunteer Park, 1247 15th Avenue E

Please join the community in a celebration of lights and music. Luminarias and choirs will light the path between the Volunteer Park Water Tower and the Conservatory. The Conservatory will be open until 8pm and SAAM will remain open until 9pm.

Hot drinks and cookies will be provided by the Volunteer Park Trust. In partnership with Seattle Asian Art Museum, The Volunteer Park Conservatory, Seattle Parks and Recreation and the Seattle Parks Foundation.

Light The Night: A GLBTQ Hanukkah

December 11, 2012

6:00pm – 8:00pm

The Lobby Bar – 916 East Pike Street

Celebrate the miracle of Hanukkah as we honor community leaders who have been influential in our local fight for equality, and helped ensure the passage of R-74. Candle Lighting. Latkes. Drinks. Music. Dreidels. Free.

Jewish Family Service has been a CHCC member since 2007 and is one of the co-sponsors of this great annual program.

Moisture Festival’s Year-End Fundraiser

Help keep the variety arts alive in Seattle! Your donation keeps ticket prices affordable and continues the tradition of education and charitable giving to other nonprofits. Moisture Festival begins in March and they’ll be celebrating their 10th Anniversary.

They’re also have a Moisture-style New Year’s Eve bash. Save $10 on each adult ticket if purchased by December 25th. A great show, with free champaign toast at midnight and hors d’oeuvre included. Lots of surprises, disco balls and our famous coffee filter hat contest plus much much more.

Moisture Festival is a 2012 new CHCC member.

Cupcake Royale Holiday Treats

It’s a wonderful life at Cupcake Royale! This holiday season, the café and bakeshop can help you with your holiday needs. From cupcakes, coffee, ice cream and more, call or order online and they will deliver to your door.  Surprise your co-workers with a special treat.  Won’t Santa think you are the best house on the block with cupcakes under the tree? How about a gift card for your stylist who ensures that your hair always looks just right? Even better, how about an ice cream cart for your holiday party – deck the hall with scoops for all! The list goes on-and-on…and we know you’ve all been nice this year, right?

Cupcake Royale has seasonal cupcakes, available from November through the end of December, include: Eggnog, Gingerbread, Peppermint Bark, Pumpkin Maple, Boozy Rumball, Strawberry Champagne (available for a limited time from December 26 through December 31), and Holiday Assortments.

Cupcake Royale has been a CHCC member since 2009.

Executive Director Michael Wells and Peter Jabin of Gay City Health Celebrating their Grant Wins

On Monday, December 3, Michael Wells was at City Hall to accept a Small and Simple grant from the City's Neighborhood Matching Fund on behalf of the Blitz Arts Walk. 

This competitive neighborhood grant will provide $15,265 to fund a new and improved Blitz website and a handy smart phone app that will allow users to find current venues while they are out and about on the walk. It will also provide readily identifiable signage for the venues and fund a volunteer outreach and cultivation program. 

Other Capitol Hill organizations that received grants are:

• Gay City Health Project for a Gay City Community Auditorium
• Stunning Seattle for a Seattle Beautification Mural Project
• Friends of Federal and Republican Open spaces for Broadway Hill Park Construction Document

Be sure to congratulate those who are working so hard to improve our Hill. And thanks to the City and Department of Neighborhoods for supporting us.

Need an extra hand (or wheel) when running errands during your lunch break or zipping to the mountains on a weekend? Look no further. The Capitol Hill Chamber of Commerce has recently created an account for their members to join Zipcar at a discounted annual membership rate!

Join the Chamber’s account to drive any of Seattle’s 300+ Zipcars for only $25 annual membership, paying no application fee ($60 savings). And, get $10 driving credit (about an hour’s worth of free driving) using the promo code SEACAPHILL10 on your application by February 28, 2013.

Zipcar membership gives you self-service access to cars in 15+ major cities in the US, CAN, UK, and Spain. With hybrids, sedans, pickups and vans available by the hour or the day, car-sharing with Zipcar can address all of your urban mobility needs.

Hope to see you on the road soon.

Your friends at Zipcar

If you have any questions or concerns, or you are currently a Zipcar member and would like to be added to this account, give us a ring in the local office at 206.682.0107 x221 (M-F 8:30am-5:30pm) or at 1.866.4ZIPCAR available 24/7. Or, please send us an email at wdewey@zipcar.com.

Making History

Washington United has closed up shop, but not before writing us to let tell us how their awesome campaign was truly historic:

Not only did Washington become the first state (tied with Maine and Maryland) to defend the freedom to marry at the ballot box, but we changed the game of fundraising in Washington state. 

Here are some of the highlights of what we were able to accomplish, from the finance world:

28,000 donors — the most number of donors for a referendum in Washington State History!

$12.3 million raised

217 house parties — a record for campaigns in Washington State

The Capitol Hill Chamber would like to thank all those who contributed to the campaign at the October Mixer (and everywhere else).

Get Married at City Hall!

On December 6th, same-sex couples in Washington State will be able to apply for and legally receive a marriage license for the first time in state history. On Dec. 9th, after the required 3-day waiting period, couples who received their licenses on the 6th and RSVPd in advance will be able to have their wedding ceremonies. Seattle City Hall will be opened to welcome those who would like to get married in the grand lobby that day, along with their family and friends. Local judges have volunteered to officiate the weddings, and artists are working to create beautiful displays in front of which couples can take their vows. Community members will be celebrating on City Hall Plaza – please join us to help make this moment extra special for the couples who are getting married. Get all the details here. 

Don’t Forget the Pre- or Post-nup

Same-sex couples can learn from a looooong history of marriages gone wrong, and chamber member and Capitol Hill attorney Lisa Schuchman is here to help.

She is celebrating MARRIAGE and the passage of R74 by offering a discount on pre-nuptial and post-marital agreements!  For the first 74 days of 2013 (through March 15), she will deduct 74 + 74 ($148.00)  from your final bill.  Call or email soon to schedule an appointment. 206-325-2801

The Capitol Hill Chamber's Clean and Safe Committee has organized the Cops Talk Shops event we'll be putting on January 15. Stay tuned for event and registration information. 

This Business Safety Seminar with the Seattle PD will cover concerns that come with running your business in an urban environment, including pan handlers outside your doors, trespassers, 86’ing problem customers, shop lifters and employee safety concerns. Meet the new East Precinct Commander and  be sure to pick up the new no trespassing form for your business. 

State of the Hill 2013

Spirit Award

Thursday February 7

5:00 to 7:00 pm

Join us in early February for a special member social to recap our 2012 accomplishments and hear our plans for 2013. We'll also be handing out the 2013 Spirit Award to a Cap Hill person who embodies the spirit of the hill through their good works.

This will be a members and invite only event. Get it on your calendar–it's going to be a great one!

Sponsors:

Want to sponsor these event? Contact Michelle for details. 

The Cops Talk Shops and State of the Hill logos were in-kind services donated to us by Rene Neri of Advisory Board.

The Capitol Hill Chamber worked hard to get the City to consider extending the First Hill Streetcar further up to Roy St. and we're very happy to say they are doing just that and they want you to hear all about it.

On the same night as our Holiday Mixer, they will host a community open house. Here's the fact sheet. Info on the extension and the open house from their press release:

The City of Seattle has secured funding to plan and design the First Hill Streetcar Line’s Broadway Extension. This project would extend the line into Broadway’s retail core.

The Open House will give you an opportunity to view preliminary concepts of the extended route, meet the project’s designers and planners, and provide comments.

The open house will be held Thursday, December 13, 4:00 – 6:00 p.m., in the Silver Cloud Hotel’s Broadway Room.  The Silver Cloud Hotel is located at 1100 Broadway between East Madison Street and East Union Street. The location is transit accessible, and on- and off-street parking is available nearby. There is also limited free parking at the Silver Cloud Hotel.

December 13

5:30 PM

Pre-reception for Non-profits and Artists will be at the CHCC Holiday Mixer (4:30 PM)

Each holiday season, the Capitol Hill Chamber of Commerce, working in conjunction with the Sound Transit Art program (STArt), selects 5 Capitol Hill non-profits to honor with a lit star to be hung on the Red Wall (the construction site of the new Sound Transit Capitol Hill station).  A local artist is matched up with the non-profit and they create a beautiful star that will be lit at the ceremony on December 13.  The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, from the Abbey of St. Joan, will be on hand to perform a blessing. A reception for the nonprofits and artists will be held before the lighting ceremony at the CHCC Holiday Mixer. 

The 2012 nonprofits honored (and their artists) are:

Capitol Hill Housing  (Dan Hawkins)

Three Dollar Bill Cinema (Monika Proffit)

Velocity Dance Center  (Ezra Dickinson)

Washington Bus (Susan Brown)

Friends of Olmstead Parks (Jeanie Lewis)

The 2012 stars will join the stars from previous year’s and will light up the dark days of winter until the end of the winter season.  In the past we have honored Ingersoll Gender Center, Reelgrrls,  Youth Care, Peace from the Streets for Kids from the Streets, the Cal Anderson Park Alliance, the Volunteer Park Conservatory, Rosehedge/Multifaith Works,  the Northwest Farmers Market Association, Gay City and  Entre Hermanos.

Fall Food Drive 2012!

Join one of our Capitol Hill Chiropractic Centers in donating food to Northwest Harvest Food Bank this Thanksgiving.  Dr. Mychal Beebe and the team at Health First Chiropractic need your help!   Their goals are to donate 1,500 lbs. of food and 10,000 dollars in services.  

You can help by calling in the office Nov 12-21, as a new patient you get all the initial services by bringing in just two bags of non-perishable groceries.  Health history, spinal exam, AND any needed x-rays.  Yes this is real value-because hunger, especially now in our city is a real problem…

Data from the Communities Count report early release in February 2012, section titled “Adequate Food in King County”:

20% of King County children are food insecure. That means 1 in 5 King County kids are at risk of going hungry

13% of King County residents, or 249,260 people are food insecure

This is a local business making change in our community with multiple positive outcomes!  If you have ever wondered if chiropractic care might help you… This is how you can find out, AND at the same time combat hunger in Seattle.   Stop living in pain, and start to help the people that you walk by every day.  Call 206-327-9328 and make an appointment with Kristin.

Health First Chiropractic Seattle

1818 E. Mercer St. 

On Election Day, 2012 I was as anxious as a cat on a hot tin roof.  I hoped to be dancing in the streets of Capitol Hill later that night and not drowning my sorrows at one of our fine watering holes but the day itself was torture.  After the initial election results showing Referendum 74 winning, the streets of Capitol Hill became the dance party that I had hoped for, and it was great to see so many friends and neighbors celebrating the victory of equality. There are still ballots to be counted, certainly, but the mood today on Capitol Hill is ebullient.

(Photo credit of Chamber Board Member Don Blakeney with umbrella: Erika Schultz/The Seattle Times)

I’m proud to say that The Capitol Hill Chamber of Commerce is one of the many business organizations in Washington to endorse Referendum 74, the referendum to approve marriage equality.  We made that endorsement early in the electoral process, even before Washington United for Marriage, the organization doing the difficult ground work to pass R74, reached out to us.  We are a part of a coalition that includes over 500 businesses and organizations who have worked together to defend civil marriage for loving, committed same-sex couples.  We believe marriage and family are about love and commitment, working together, bettering the community, raising children, and growing old together. We believe in a Washington that supports strong families and values freedom and equality. And we believe that marriage matters.

An endorsement from the Capitol Hill Chamber of Commerce is not something that this organization takes lightly.  We have a thorough process for bringing issues to the Board of Directors and the membership.  We have endorsed only three ballot initiatives since 2007, when the Chamber first incorporated, and two of those were marriage equality related (the other was transit oriented).  We do not endorse candidates for office.  We recognize that our membership is made up of a diverse population and that endorsement is a serious matter.  We rarely make endorsements, so that when we do endorse a ballot measure we know that our voice carries gravitas and weight. 

Certainly the businesses of Capitol Hill have a significant personal investment in the passage of R74 but this issue travels far beyond our beloved neighborhood.  And we are not the only state engaged in this fight for civil rights today.  If R74 passes –and I believe that it will – we send a clear message to our government at the national level Washington supports marriage equality.   And there will be dancing in the streets of Capitol Hill.  

Sincerely,

Michael Wells

Executive Director

Capitol Hill Chamber of Commerce

If you haven't seen them already, CHS Blog has great video and photo coverage of the historic night: here.

Cupcake Royal wants us all to eat cake! It is a time for love and celebration. Join Cupcake Royale in Capitol Hill for a slice of the World's Biggest Rainbow Cake in the shape of Washington State!

This is truly a cause for celebration and what better way to celebrate marriage equality than with the world's largest gorgeous rainbow cake! Owner and Founder Jody Hall of Cupcake Royale would like to invite all in to the Capitol Hill bakeshop, 1111 East Pike Street, on Friday, November 9, 2012 at 3pm* to enjoy a slice of cake, on the house, to commemorate this historic moment!

Hall, a lesbian business owner with 100 employees, provides healthcare to her staff, and is in a committed loving relationship with her long-time partner Kelly Ring, and the proud mother of a 3 year old son. 

Hall has helped to raise $17,500 over the past 2 years in support of awareness around gay issues. Her business is a model for supporting the communities that sustain her company. Cupcake Royale donates more than 50,000 cupcakes a year to local non-profits in efforts to help raise money for causes that better our community—from kids to arts to raising awareness on political issues like health care and marriage equality.

What: Let Us Eat Cake – free slices rainbow cake!

Where: Cupcake Royale – Capitol Hill – 1111 E Pike Street

When: Friday, November 9 from 3 pm until the cake is gone!

Who: Everyone!

Gaybies (baby rainbow cupcakes) as well as ObamaCakes will continue to be available at all Cupcake Royale cafes until Sunday, November 11.

We already know we have great Chamber members up here on the Hill, but check out who is getting accolades in the larger community:

Chamber Board Member Ellen Forney was awarded the 2012 Genius Award in Literature by The Stranger for her graphic memoir called Marbles: Mania, Depression, Michelangelo, and Me, which was published this month.

She'll be reading at the Seattle Public Library this weekend: Saturday, Nov. 10, Seattle Public Library, Central Branch, 7:00pm, Microsoft Auditorium

Last night the Washington Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals honored two Chamber members for their outstanding philanthropic work:

Outstanding Philanthropic Organization: Greater Seattle Business Association

Outstanding Philanthropic Small Company: Girlie Press

Blitz Capitol Hill Arts Walk is an open house style event held at many locations on the second Thursday of every month in Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood, 5pm – 8pm and later. Events include visual arts, musical performances, food and beverage specials, and more. Pick up a printed map at a participating venue and explore Capitol Hill. Art is everywhere!

Get a quick look at this month's venues here.

Here's a few select showings at Chamber Member venues:

Considering the Oyster: Paintings by Rachel Maxi 

@ Sugar Pill (900 E. Pine St.)

November 8th through December 10th 

Opening Reception Thursday, November 8th, 5:00 to 8:00 PM, (Capitol Hill Second Thursday Art Walk)

Terry Johnson, black and white photography of the great Pacific Northwest and beyond

@ Poco Wine Room (1408 E Pine St)

Carina Wayman's work can be seen as reflections on the quest for freedom and identity, teetering between youth and responsibility and expressing the relationship between real and mythical. Open till 2am.

@ The Pine Box (1600 Melrose Ave)

The Friends of the Conservatory (FOC) and Seattle Parks Foundation (SPF) have joined forces with the Seattle Department of Parks and Recreation to fast-track the restoration of the Volunteer Park Conservatory. SPF will lead the private fundraising portion of the project. This news comes at an opportune time as the Conservatory, one of the city’s most beloved historic landmarks, commemorates its centennial this year. We think of it as a BIG birthday present!

The Friends of the Conservatory have worked tirelessly to plan and bring attention to this important project. The commitment and dedication have galvanized the Conservatory’s broad base of admirers to donate early funds to the campaign. 

Today, after several phases of repair and renovation spanning almost two decades, only one phase remains: the $3.05 million restoration of the East Wing and East Greenhouse, which will be critical to the Conservatory’s long-term structural and financial sustainability. Read the full article here.

The Capitol Hill Chamber of Commerce and Babeland, are organizing the Shop The Hill sale listing this year. There is still time to get your business listed online. Last year’s event had almost 80 participating businesses and was very well received by customers! We will be putting together a listing of all business on Capitol Hill offering deals or sales the weekend after Thanksgiving (Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and that Sunday), Friday, November 23rd-Sunday, November 25th. There will be posters promoting shopping on the Hill that weekend and a printed listing of all sales, specials and deals and online listings on www.capitolhillseattle.com as well. 

The sale weekend is the weekend after Thanksgiving (Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and that Sunday), Friday, November 23rd-Sunday, November 25th.

November 12th is the deadline to get in your listing information online. It is FREE to participate and be listed. Contact Audrey McManus  at Babeland (206-328-2914) with questions, to confirm your participation or with your listing details.  

You can participate for all three days or just for specific days. Your sale can be limited to shoppers presenting the sale listings as a coupon of sorts, or it can be for anyone shopping during the days you participate. It is up to you! Just let us know what you want to do.  

Comments from businesses that participated last year: 

Thank you for all the effort! It was a success and I am so glad I dug out all my Sale items! -Mishu

Thank you so much for all you are doing. Le Frock had a great sales weekend.

First off, thank you for all your effort. I really appreciate the opportunity to be involved in a local promotion. – Happy Endings Urban Mercantile 

What kind of specials have other businesses offered?

Free gift with purchase!  

Check out our sale section!

Save 10% off your purchase!  

Save 25% off 1 item!  

Buy 1 item Get 1 free! 

Set the deal that works for you.

The Seattle Chamber wants to hear about your business. Please fill out this year's Job Sector Survey.The Job Sector Survey (JSS) is an annual, one-of-a kind tool that provides a comprehensive, on-the-ground assessment of conditions, challenges, needs and opportunities for regional employers of all types and sizes.

JSS is a cooperative project led by economic development organizations in King, Kitsap, Pierce, and Snohomish counties. Through this survey we hope to gain insights that will help create prosperity for all businesses and a job-growing economy.

JSS represents a unique and valuable opportunity to bring the voice of business to all regional stakeholders. Last year, the survey received nearly

1,700 responses in 15 industry sectors, providing a wealth of information that we were able to share with elected officials, policymakers, education leaders, economic development organizations and the general public. The results were reported in major news outlets and personally shared with regional policymakers at all levels of government- from city and county councils to the Washington State Legislature and the U.S. Senate. We want you to be a part of our next JSS report.

Over the past two years, the Job Sector Survey has revealed:

*           Business aspirations by county, city, employment sector and size

*           Details about skills needed by specific types of employers

*           Insights into prominent trading partners and goods

*           Examples of obstacles to success by type and size of business

 Please help spread the word to other employers-a robust survey response benefits us all. The survey will close on December 1. If you have questions,  contact George Allen at (206) 389-7268.

If you were out near Cal Anderson Park on Sunday October 28 you saw the hordes of Happy Hilloweeners. Last year we had 300 kids in costumes show up. This year we expected 600 to 1000 and we’re thrilled to announce that we topped our top prediction.

The place was just packed with the sweetest little trick-or-treaters and their parents/guardians/grandparents/significant others. The kids played games, listened to spooky stories, ate cupcakes and pizza, watched a shadow play, and rocked out to Recess Monkey. They even got to say hello to Mr. and Mrs. Santa Claus and their little white dog Trixie.

We could not have pulled off such a great event without the help of our sponsors. So if you have a chance, be sure to thank them for their awesome support of Capitol Hill.

The Grill on Broadway (314 Broadway Ave East) will host the Chamber's November Member Mixer on Thursday, November 15 from 5:30 to 7:00 PM. Bring your business cards and come network with other Chamber members. 

Save the Date! Our special holiday December Mixer will be held in the Broadway Building's lobby (just outside our Chamber office) on December 13 from 5:30 to 7:00 PM. We'll also introduce all the new members who joined in 2012. If your business would like to help sponsor the event, contact Members and Programs Manager, Michelle Hippler @  michelle@caphillchamber.org.

In January, Member Mixers will return to every last Thursday schedule. Michelle is currently scheduling the 2013 Mixers. If you'd like to host or sponsor (or both!) email Michelle.

Safe Communities meeting (East Precinct)

Thursday, November 8th

Miller Community Center

330 19th Ave E

7-9:00 pm

You are invited to participate in to the Safe Communities meeting this Thursday, November 8th for residents of the City's East Precinct.

Safe Communities is a partnership between the Mayor's Office and the Seattle Police Department (SPD) to implement the community outreach component of SPD's 20/20 initiative (#19). It's modeled on the Youth and Families Initiative, which brought together more than 3,000 people in over 130 community meetings in 2010 and led to the enhanced Families and Education Levy and a refocusing of the way we use City resources to support youth and families in Seattle.

Safe Communities will follow a similar path, bringing residents, police officers and City departments together for small-group conversations about what we need to do to improve safety. Those priorities will then guide the actions the City, SPD, and the neighborhoods will take together to protect public safety.

This won't be a town hall–just like the Youth and Families Initiative meetings, you'll have facilitated conversations in small groups, and each small group will choose its own top priorities.

You can download a flier here. The community center is located on the 8, 12, and 43 bus routes; for full transit directions, go to metro.kingcounty.gov.

The Only in Seattle Capitol Hill deadline for participation has been extended to October 15. If you'd like to offer a coupon or deal to Hilloween visitors you've still got a chance. The Office of Economic Development will be promoting to their city-wide lists. This is a great opportunity to get wider exposure for your business.

What you need to do to participate:

Please provide the following information to Theresa Barreras at OED by Wednesday, October 10th:

- Your Name + Contact Information

- Name of Business

- Discount you will offer on Oct 28th

- Gift Card or Donation for Promotional Giveaway

- Hours of Operation

- Business Address

Feel free to contact Theresa with any questions: 206-684-4505, theresa.barreras@seattle.gov.

Help us promote Capitol Hill!

Michael continues to tweet on Twitter (1022 followers right now) but Michelle is starting to build the Chamber's Facebook page. Look for an official LinkedIn presence in the future!

Monday, October 15

5:30 to 7:00 PM

Rumba

1112 Pike St.

This Month's Mixer is a fundraiser for Washington United for Marriage and everyone is invited!

Join the Capitol Hill Chamber of Commerce October 15 for the social mixer of the year and a chance to support Washington United for Marriage's fight for R74. As a Chamber we officially support R74 because we believe marriage equality is right for the community, the state, and the world. Come and mix it up with fellow Chamber members and residents in the Hill's newest hot spot: Rumba.

State Senator Ed Murray, longtime advocate and gay rights hero, will be on hand. A suggested donation of $50 will go to support Washington United and the all important work that they do to  support equal rights for all.  

Appetizers will be provided by the Chamber and Urban Animal, a new veterinarian clinic opening later this month on Capitol Hill. This is your chance to check out some of the menu items for FREE!   Enjoy the scrumptious Rumba Guacomole (Avocado, mango, plantain chips), Ceviche de la Costa  (Tilapia, tomato, cilantro, red onion, citrus marinade, corn chips) and three kinds of salsas: Cilantro Tomatillo (Mild), Chile de Arbol & Guajillo with Cotija (Medium), Grilled Pineapple (Spicy).

$6 daiquiri’s and $3.50 empanadas (de Chorizo, de Pollo, de Vegetales) will be offered all night long! 

Co-sponsor Urban Animal will open later this month by Dr. Cherri Trusheim and her wife Taya.  A new kind of veterinarian practice, Urban Animal will offer walk-in appointments and compassionate and sensible animal care to help pet owners make informed decisions with a range of choices to fit their budget.

Paid for by Washington United for Marriage. PO Box 21022, Seattle WA 98111.

November 8

7:00 to 9:00 pm 

Miller Community Center

330 19th Avenue East

The Seattle Police Department (SPD) invites all Capitol Hill community members to participate in a community conversation to learn about your safety concerns and thoughts about public safety.  This conversation is being hosted by the East Precinct.

Modeled on the Youth and Families Initiative, Safe Communities will follow a similar path, bringing residents, police officers and City departments together in living rooms, cafes, barber shops and community centers across Seattle to tell the City and SPD about specific things their communities need to improve safety, and determine which priorities should come first. Those priorities will then guide the actions the City, SPD, and the neighborhoods will take together to protect public safety.  This process seeks to address chronic neighborhood issues, concerns that will require coordinated involvement of diverse voices in the city (SPD, Parks, SDOT, Neighborhood groups, schools, etc.) working together to understand, address, and resolve situations that impact public safety.

East Precinct will be holding a series of community conversations to learn about the concerns of you and your neighbors.  Here’s how you can become involved.

You can attend either a large group conversation or a small group conversation. Either one is an opportunity for neighborhood residents to meet with each other and members of the East Precinct and focus together on concerns in your neighborhoods.  

Our large group conversation will be taking place on November 8, 2012 from 7:00 to 9:00 pm at the Miller Community Center.  The Miller Community Center is located at 330 19th Avenue East, Seattle, WA, 98112.  The phone number is (206) 684-4753. 

You can sign up by going to http://www.seattle.gov/safe or contacting A/Lt. Randy Yamanaka at Randall.Yamanaka@seattle.gov

Sunday, October 7, 2012

At 8:00 am, 9:00 am and 11:00 am services

Saint Mark’s Episcopal Cathedral, 1245 Tenth Avenue East, Seattle 98102

All animals and their people are welcome

On Saint Francis Sunday, October 7, at all three services, the pews of Saint Mark’s Cathedral will be filled with humans and their animal friends: dogs, cats, guinea pigs, birds, lizards, snakes, bugs, even fish in their bowls! After each service, individual blessings will be offered for each animal and its family. Photos of pets who would not find coming to church a carefree experience or of pets who have died can also be brought for a blessing. All are welcome to join in this happy celebration of the beauty of all creation and the loving bond between people and our animal companions.  

We are pleased to announce Michelle Hippler as our new Membership and Programs Manager. Michelle has a background in higher education and has been a marketing consultant with a focus on sustainability for non-profits and small businesses in Montana, Oregon and Washington for the last 7 years.

She built an integrated marketing program from the ground floor for the International Society of Sustainability Professionals and has helped numerous organizations with branding, marketing communications, and membership recruitment and retention.  

Most recently she’s been running Belltown Local, an online newsletter that promotes the neighborhood businesses through story. She’s bringing the concept in-house to the Chamber and will be working to add rich content about Capitol Hill businesses and community events to YourCapitolHill.com, while also freshening up the CHCC messaging.

Michelle will focus on increasing membership and creating and coordinating programs for CHCC to help strengthen the value of member benefits. You can contact her at michelle@caphillchamber.org or call her the Chamber office: 206-328-6646. 

If you or your business has submitted a member application in the last two months, rest assured Michelle will be getting the confirmation letters ASAP! The Chamber has been without administrative help since the end of July and we're still playing catch up. 

In case you haven't heard, Capitol Hill was recently named the 8th Hippest Hipster Neighborhood in America. While the Capitol HIll Chamber of Commerce believes the methodology used to create the list was flawed (they used a startup company that's only been around for a year and doesn't have much of a presence in Seattle?), we'll take the attention. But rest assured that we will be contacting Forbes in the coming months with a thorough list of reasons why we are actually #1, along with a slew of reasons why the Pearl District should be bumped off the list altogether. See the article and slideshow here.

Festival Kicks Off October 11 with STRUCK BY LIGHTNING

“Come Out and Play” as the Seattle Lesbian and Gay Film Festival (SLGFF) arrives October 11-21 for its 17th run.   This year’s SLGFF features an impressive array of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) film, video and programming from around the world, with powerful and timely documentaries, major motion picture premieres with big-name stars, and cutting-edge works from local and emerging talent.  Packed with parties and special events, SLGFF has something for everyone.  The festival is produced by Seattle’s Three Dollar Bill Cinema.

"The festival opens this year on National Coming Out Day," says Three Dollar Bill Cinema's Lead Programmer, Keith Bacon, "and there's no better way to come out and celebrate our LGBTQ community here and around the world."

Festival venues include the Cinerama, Northwest Film Forum, the Egyptian Theatre, AMC Pacific Place and Central Cinema.

Opening Night Film: STRUCK BY LIGHTNING (Thursday, October 11, 7:30 p.m., Cinerama).

For complete information on the entire festival go to the official website.

New Art Walk Venues!

Balagan at Erickson Theatre

Electric Tea Garden

studio kitty

Volunteer Park Conservatory

Art Walk Shuttle from Zip Car

Zipcar has started a free shuttle service for art walkers during Blitz.  The pickup / drop off locations will be marked on the Blitz print map each month. September's locations were at Seattle Asian Art Museum, at 11th and E Pike, and at E Melrose and E Pine.  We're super excited about this donated service and are looking forward to taking advantage of it — particularly in the wetter, darker months.

Get Involved with Blitz

Is your business interested in sponsoring the Capitol Hill Art Walk? We have a variety of sponsorship options available. We also welcome cash donations from businesses and individuals. Donations and Sponsorships are tax deductible through the non-profit Capitol Hill Chamber of Commerce.  Email us or call the Chamber office for more information.

Get Social with Blitz

Blitz is on Foursquare, Facebook,and Twitter (During the week of art walk , tweets of short previews of Capitol Hill art walk shows/events. Want to get tweeted by  @BlitzArts? Be sure to send us your show/event description as described above. Give us something to twitter about!)

Have something to tell us? We'd love to hear from you. You can reach us via this email at CapitolHillArtsWalk@gmail.com any time. Your input, suggestions, and feedback are always welcome.

Blitz artwalk Due Dates  for the November 8th Arts Walk

Monday, October 22nd: Info due for inclusion in the press release

Monday, October 29th: Monthly payment due (applies to non-Chamber members only):  pay here

Monday, October 29th: Info due for inclusion on printed map, online listings

Hilloween – a modern Halloween carnival on Capitol Hill

Sunday, October 28, 2012

Noon to 6 p.m.

Cal Anderson Park

Trick or treating expected to start at 3:30 on Broadway 

Hilloween is a free, community focused carnival that’s fun for kids and adults of all ages. Festivities include activities such as music, arts, story time, carnival games and face painting; top-notch entertainment from notable artists Recess Monkey and Jenny and her Ukulele; a marching band led costume parade (3 p.m.), and trick-or-treating at neighborhood businesses. Kids in costume and with a parent can enjoy a slice afterwards at Pagliacchi Pizza.

“This festival is a great way to bring the Capitol Hill community together,” said Michael Wells, Executive Director of the Capitol Hill Chamber of Commerce. “We are excited to have the opportunity to offer a fun and free event the whole family can enjoy.”

Hilloween is the third annual Capitol Hill Halloween carnival, and is presented by the Capitol Hill Chamber of Commerce and Sound Transit, along with other generous local sponsors. 

Broadway businesses are proud to work together to offer a festive and safe environment for kids to trick-or-treat and families to engage.

"There's nothing better than seeing kids' smiling faces at our storefront," says Steven Landry of LAB5 Fitness, "the afternoon is perfect for meeting neighbors, connecting with clients, and supporting the Capitol Hill community as a whole."

For a schedule of events and more information visit:

www.yourcapitolhill.com/hilloween

http://www.facebook.com/Hilloween

www.pintrest.com/hilloween

You are invited! Capitol Hill Block Party will be hosting a post block party community meeting THIS Wednesday Oct. 3rd for any one who would like to attend.  It will be an open discussion for community members to voice any concerns, requests, things they were pleased with, etc, from the Capitol Hill Block Party held July 20th -22nd.  Feel free to invite anyone you see necessary. Everyone is welcome.

Help Us Make This a GREAT event!

Calling all Chamber volunteers! We need your help with Hilloween – a modern Halloween carnival on Capitol Hill set for Sunday, October 28, 2012 from noon-6 p.m. at Cal Anderson Park.

If you are interested in helping behind the scenes we need support with set up and tear down, manning the games and basically jumping in to make the day a success. Help us transform Cal Anderson Park into the place to be for Halloween festivities – featuring creative carnival games, face painters, stilt walkers, a bouncy shoe slide and tasty local treats!

Volunteer slots are available in two shifts: 10:30 to 2:30 and 2:30 to 6:30. If you want to give back to the community in a fun, festive way please contact the Capitol Hill Chamber of Commerce for more details at michelle@caphillchamber.org. Michael says you MUST be in costume!

There is lot's of fun in store for everybody of all ages! We’re cooking up an original performance by Sgt. Rigsby and his Amazing Silhouettes in addition to a rocking performance by the catchy and contagious Recess Monkey kid's band! Don't miss out on all the Hilloween festivities! For more information and a complete schedule of events: Find us on Facebook or www.yourcapitolhill.com/hilloween.

The Woman’s Century Club is a 120-year-old social club for women, founded in Seattle in 1891 by suffragist Carrie Chapman Catt, and we welcome new members! Join us for one of our free monthly gatherings in the parlor of the Harvard Exit Theatre at noon on the third Friday of each month. These events are free and open to the public:

Friday, April 20th, noon

A joint event with Historic Seattle on the history of the Club

An average of ten times a week Elliot Bay Book Company at 1521 10th Ave at 10th and Pine on Capitol Hill presents contemporary authors in anintimate yet casual settings in their book lined reading room. These events are generally free to the public, or with nominal charge. Tickets for designated events are available two weeks in advance on a first come, first served basis. Questions and signings often follow these readings.

For more information:

http://www.elliottbaybook.com/node/events/current

The Office of Economic Development (OED) is launched the 2011 Only in Seattle marketing campaign, which is a celebration of Seattle’s locally-owned “hidden gem” retail shops and restaurants that help shape Seattle’s unique neighborhoods, and inspires people to discover and explore new neighborhoods and businesses that make up Seattle's diverse retail community.

This second year of the campaign is focused around eight new neighborhoods: Belltown, Capitol Hill, Chinatown/International District, Madison Valley, South Lake Union, Phinney/Greenwood, Queen Anne, and the University District. A new neighborhood, along with a diverse array of businesses, will be featured each week on www.onlyinseattle.org