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For Immediate Release: Press Contact:
March 28, 2013 Lynn Meza
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415.507.1623
ANNOUNCING “PEARL BIDS”
SILENT AUCTION MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE
Schools, Churches, Clubs and Hundreds of Non-Profit
Charity Events Can Benefit From This New App
Pearl Bids puts the flexibility, ease and power of a tailor-made, user-friendly database and management system into the hands of non-profits for a one-time fee of $19.95. http://www.pearlbids.com
After working on civi CRM for 4 years and raing over $200,000 for the Marin School of Enviromental Leadership -not in a small part thanks to civi CRM, we are going to attend the conference. If your non-profit want to raise funds, sell tickets, but most importently , keep track of their donor base, please call us (415 507 1623 !
Oakgrounds Inc. releases Pearl Bids Silent Auction Manager for MAC OSX today. After 10 years of fundrasing, it occured to us that the application we wrote to track Silent Auction Donations and print out bidsheets, could be usefull to other people as well. Now everybody can use our application and raise money for their schools, libraries, non-profits or other causes. http://www.pearlbids.com
The School of Environmental Leadership wanted to establish a system for raising funds and tracking donations. We recommended the use of open source CIVI CRM integration in the website. This allows theSEL to raise $11,343 the first year, to roughly $130,000 over the first three years of this new organization's life.
Oakgrounds releases a self-assessment website within the Home Performance Resource Center (www.hprcenter.org). These free online career resources enable job seekers to assess which career pathways might be right for them. The Career Resources section provides an innovative set of online tools that are designed to help job seekers in the Bay Area learn more about the industry. If they are eligible, they qualify for subsidized training through community college courses funded by the Department of Labor.
The resources include video profiles of home performance contractors, and key information about the labor market including specific job profiles. In addition, and most importantly, it includes a free self-assessment tool that provides instant results about users’ preferences and skills as well as how these align with specific home performance careers. The self-assessment asks users about their preferences and skills in five areas: physical aptitude, social and technical problem solving, basic construction knowledge, sales skills, and work environment preferences.
This tool enables participants to assess their fit within the Home Performance Industry and then helps them match their skills with key skills needed for the home performance industry. Results can be viewed online or mailed to a user. For job seekers in the Bay Area, these innovative resources are bringing job seekers together with workforce investment board recruiters who are offering subsidized training at Ohlone College, Skyline College and Canada College. This website was the result of a direct collaboration between Strategic Energy Innovation, Gyst Media and Oakgrounds Inc.
"People think they are in the same building." says Ward Bouwman, owner of Oakgrounds. The Oakgrounds client doesn't have cable nor DSL internet access and their buildings are too far apart for a direct internet connection. By beaming the internet in from two miles away to all buildings, and by configuring the local area network, employees at one building can access the server, print documents, or chat with anyone else as if they where sitting at the desk next. Hardware was provided by Web Perception.
All high school students at Terra Linda now have access to a suite of Autodesk software thanks to the Marin School of Environmental Leadership. MarinSEL was able to secure a TL-wide software license donation for Maya, Revet, Auto-CAD, and Inventor. These 4 Software packages by Autodesk support creative thinking and design. The software will be taught as part of the project-based learning approach at MarinSEL in order to support designs around water, food, transportation and energy. We look forward to seeing how the students use creativity in their community service based learning projects. Thank you Autodesk!
Introducing Maya Animation for Teens
"Teens will get their first experience working with Maya", says Nat Hunter, Principal at Sixit and former Disney modeler and animator. Maya is a 3D modeling program by Autodesk and is widely used by film and game companies in the Bay Area. Usually taught to college students, these Maya courses are geared toward the capabilities and levels of middle and high school students. "I hope this class will open opportunities for some kids to enter interesting internships next summer", says Nat Hunter.
For more info on Maya Classes, see our classes page: (click here)
Oakgrounds completes a successful Scratch summer camp. Scratch, an award winning computer animation program for kids by MIT, was taught this summer. With the help of Brian, 13, and Danny, 9 (scratch enthusiasts and class assistants), Lynn Meza and Ben Weiner keep the kids engaged with programming, animation, as well as outdoor activities. "We love the scratch camps," parents stated, "our kids are able to get so much more creative with the computer."
The program will continue to be taught as after-school programs in the Dixie School District Elementary Schools as well as again as a Summer Camp at Marinwood Community Center.
For more info. on Scratch Classes: see our Classes Page (click here)