Want to make social media work for your business?  The Berkeley Chamber of Commerce is continuing its series of workshops this summer on social media and what it can do to help generate more interest in your business.  The third of five workshops is entitled “How to Effectively Market Your Business Against Larger Competitors Using Social Media.”  This workshop will focus on how to develop effective messaging and proven social media techniques that will deliver the greatest return for your marketing dollar.  The workshop takes place on Thursday, August 19th, from 8 AM-10 AM.  For more information and to register, check out the Chamber’s website.

Not only did OneCalifornia Bank win a Best of the East Bay Award, but so did some of our Oakland Unwrapped members!  Congratulations to our fellow Best of the East Bay Winners on Oakland Unwrapped! 

Oakland Museum of CA: Best Face Lift

Oaklandish: Best Locally Made Kids’ Products; Reader’s Poll: Best Locally Made Products; Reader’s Poll: Best Men’s Clothing; Reader’s Poll: Best T-Shirts

Pendragon Books: Reader’s Poll: Best Book Store

Pro Arts Gallery: Reader’s Poll: Best Arts Organization

Yoshi’s Jazz Club: Most Balanced Kid’s Meal

Check out these and other winners at the Best of the East Bay Party on August 6th in Jack London Square!

Oakland Grown–a local non-profit organization whose mission is to support and celebrate Oakland’s local, independent businesses and artists–wants you to come out, meet the artists and business owners, and learn more about their movement!  They are holding a mixer on Thursday, July 15th at ERA Art Bar and Lounge in the up-and-coming Uptown District of Oakland.  Come meet the Oakland Grown crew and mingle with other folks who love and support Oakland and independent businesses and artists.  There will be a cash bar, music, and special guests.  Check out details on the Facebook event page.

It’s that time of year again–time to vote for the Best of the East Bay!  The East Bay Express’s big summer issue and flagship event recognizes readers and editors favorites in Alameda and Contra Costa Counties.

This year’s theme is “Home Grown,” which recognizes things grown right here in our own backyard.  In this twenty-first century world of globalization and mass production, Home Grown asks the readers and editors to be thoughtful citizens and loyal localists when making their nominations for the Best of the East Bay.

Voting is taking place online at http://www.eastbayexpress.com/ballot until July 4th, so vote early and make your voice heard!

And mark your calendars now for Friday August 6th, the date for the Best of the East Bay Party.  This year’s party will be at Jack London Square waterfront from 5-11PM.  The event is free and open for all ages, and features multiple bands, a kid’s zone, and a Blues Pavilion, paying tribute to the blues history of Russeel City in Hayward and 7th Street in Oakland.  For more details and ongoing updates, please visit www.EastBayExpress.com/BOEBParty

On Friday, May 14th, Oaklanders celebrated the people and businesses that make the city great at OneCalifornia Foundation’s 4th Annual Oakland Indie Awards.  Hosted in partnership with the East Bay Express, the annual awards program is a celebration of all things Oakland and an opportunity to highlight the positive social and environmental impact of Oakland’s independent businesses and artists. The program was kicked off by keynote speaker Michael Kieschnick, Co-Founder, President and CEO of CREDO Mobile / Working Assets. 

The 2010 Indie Award Winners Are:

Neighborhood Dynamo: Uptown Body and Fender, a woman-owned body shop that focuses on the emotional well-being of its customers and hosts community events and fundraisers free to local non-profits at its stunning body shop in Oakland’s Uptown district.

Newbie: Snap Judgment, the new Oakland-based NPR program and multi-media company that offers a new voice in storytelling, showcasing Oakland’s diversity and telling stories that “drop listeners into another person’s skin”.

Youth Empowerment: Oaklandish, the extremely popular design and screen-printing company that celebrates all-things Oakland through its apparel and supports the city’s youth through innovation award grants.

Pillar: Peerless Coffee, the 86-year-old family-owned specialty coffee company that provides specialty blends to some of the Bay Area’s most esteemed restaurants, offers scholarships to Berkeley students, helps develop the communities that grow their coffee, and was one of the first businesses to be certified green by the Alameda County Green Business program.

Innovator: Natural Home Cleaning Professionals, the eco-friendly co-op that provides healthy worker-owner cleaning employment opportunities for immigrant women in Oakland and the Bay Area.

Ripple Effect: BayVAN and Compound Gallery, the arts organizations that founded the nationally-recognized Plaid Friday, the independent business’ answer to Black Friday that encourages people to do their holiday shopping at local indie businesses.

Greenie: Ryan Duke, an independent industrial designer that creatively re-uses reclaimed materials to build essential products to improve lives including refugees in the U.S. and individuals in developing countries.

Oakland Soul: Joyce Gordon Gallery, the downtown-Oakland based commercial fine art gallery that seeks to open doors and share the perspectives of the Bay Area’s diverse artist population, as well as those of international artists.

Please visit http://www.oaklandindieawards.com/ for more information about the winners and for pictures!

In addition to seeing the winners being announced and awarded, party guests sampled food, wine, chocolate and beer from as many as 30 food producers and restaurants, explored a selection of locally-made items from over 50 artists and retailers, and thanks to the generosity of DJ Mama L, listened to music from Oakland musicians, past and present. 

Thank you to everyone that came out to celebrate with us and we’ll see you at the 5th Annual next year!!

There are so many different and unique stores on Oakland Unwrapped that sometimes it’s hard to know where to start browsing for gifts!  To give you an idea of the great products that are on Oakland Unwrapped, and to get you in the browsing mood, may we suggest some of our favorite Oakland Unwrapped items:

Courier Bag from Haiku–A Courier Bag with Flair

We love this bag because it has lots of space, lots of pockets, and a cozy sleeve to secure a laptop. It doesn’t look like every other messenger bag out there - it’s got a little feminine flair (while still durable and super functional).  They have purses wallets and other bags, too. From Oakland-based Haiku Bags .

Cards from Volta Press–U N I R O-S-M

Adorable letter press cards to affectionately send a someone special a smile! We love Volta Press for their creative, one of a kind cards, stationary, and invitations. They also have fun items for Dads and Grads!

Crunchy Foods Biscotti di Suzy–Cranberry Almond Biscotti

These biscotti, while still nice and crunchy, are fresher than anything you’ll find in the stores, and come in many yummy flavors.  Cranberry Almond has a nice vanilla cookie flavor without being overly sweet, with pairs nicely with tart cranberries and crunch almonds.  Perfect for your tea, crumbled over ice cream, or right out of the box!

L’Amyx Tea Bar–Organic English Breakfast

If you’re going to have your biscotti, you have to have your tea-and English Breakfast isn’t just for breakfast anymore!  L’Amyx makes the best cup of English Breakfast I have ever had, hands-down.  Enjoy a steaming cup in the morning or afternoon, or brew it and pour it over ice for refreshing homemade iced tea.

Find these and other fun items at Oakland Unwrapped!

The new Beehive Market, celebrating all that is green and local, is opening in Berkeley on June 12th.  Think of it as an expanded farmer’s market, featurning food and product vendors, live music, and more.  They will be open every Saturday from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. on San Pablo Avenue at Virginia Street in West Berkeley.  To find out more about the event, or to find out how to get involved as a vendor or sponsor, visit their website.

Last December, Ariana Huffington and a few friends around the dinner table came up with a way for We the People to take back our economy:  Move our Money.  They decided to start a campaign to encourage people to move their money out of the “too big to fail” banks, and into community banks and credit unions that are investing in our local neighborhoods and creating real economic activity.

They launched a website, created a video based on It’s A Wonderful Life, and provided social media and other tools to spread the word. In 6 months, the campaign has spread like wildfire, with articles in The Economist, the Nation, the New York Times, and CBS Monday Morning,  as well as membership in Facebook (36,000 fans), Ning, and Twitter,  and endorsements from Russell Simmons to members of congress. Community organizations such as Democracy for America and local independent business groups are mobilizing around the campaign, cities and states have moved their money. One recent survey indicates that 1 in 10 Americans have moved their money in protest of the big banks.

Research from The New Rules Project indicates this is a good idea. (more…)

There are ways to avoid the mall this holiday season, support local stores and artists, and still buy gifts for everyone no your list.  Oakland Unwrapped, in collaboration with Jack London Square, ProArts, adn Oakland Grown, is putting on a “mall-ternative” shopping event, Holiday Buy Night, on Thursday and Friday, December 10th and 11th, from 5 to 10 PM.  From pet lovers to food lovers, fashionistas to athletes, women, men, children, and everyone in between, Holiday Buy Night promises to have something for everyone on your list.

If you need a shopping break, be sure to check out the music and live entertainment going on throughout the evening.  Have the young ones check out the kids section for games, arts and crafts, and a movie.  And if you get hungry or thirsty, be sure to check out the “food court” at the event.  Restaurants from Jack London Square will be selling food, including Kincaids, Cocina Poblana, Ben and Jerry’s, and others.  Awaken Cafe will provide coffee and hot chocolate and Numi and L’Amyx will provide hot tea to keep you warm and alert while shopping.  There will also be a beer and wine bar, featuring the East Bay Express’ holiday lager!  This is one shopping event you won’t want to miss this December!

Save the date!  Add this event to your Outlook Calendar here.

Interested in volunteering?  See below:

In the world of gift giving, a growing trend is to give a gift certificate instead of an item.  Be it a gift certificate to a restaurant or coffee shop, a bookstore or clothing store, gift certificates allow the recipient to buy what they want or to spend some time out with a friend or loved one of their choice.

This holiday season, if you are thinking about getting a gift certificate from a business in the East Bay, the first place you should check out is the new East Bay Express eDeals online store.  The East Bay Express launched their eDeals store last month, featuring gift certificates from independent businesses that have been donated to the weekly paper.  To spread the wealth, the East Bay Express has started selling some of these popular gift cards and certificates at their new online store at 25 to 50% off regular prices.  Gift certificates are available for all sorts of businesses, including clothing stores, spas and body product shops, tickets for local holiday events, sporting equipment stores, local restaurants and eateries, and more! 

This is a great way to support the East Bay Express (a weekly, FREE newspaper) and get diverse gift certificates for family and friends at a discounted rate!  New gift certificates are added all the time, so keep checking out the East Bay Express eDeals website for more.

To find this store and other Oakland-based stores online, shop at oaklandunwrapped.org.