LBC ViewPoint
Dear Honorable Mayor Beverly O'Neill,
I am one of the creators of a local Arts web site called
LongBeachCulture.org. We empower visual artists, musicians, bands,
writers, and actors to promote themselves, their works, and their events to
a focused, interested, on-line community. Additionally, we provide these
services for free, and we've done this with no public funding. In a way,
we're doing something not unlike the PCA's Cultural Inventory, but our
information is on-line, completely searchable, updated automatically, and
driven by cutting edge technology, making the process quite simple for even
the most inexperienced Internet neophyte.
We did not create this site to get rich.... In fact, despite having more
than 150 Artist Members and more than 300 Members, having features and
articles in the Press Telegram, the Long Beach Business Journal, and The
Grunion Gazette, we've yet to earn any money from our venture. Why? Because
that was not our goal. Our goal was to bring together the vast, rich,
cultural resources that abound in Long Beach.
To this end, I personally have contacted Robb Hankins at the PCA several
times, offering to help them, at no charge, to automate their Cultural
Inventory, update their web site, or anything else that they thought would
be meaningful for them. My offer was summarily refused. I've submitted a
formal request to be included in their monthly Artist Opportunities
newsletter, with no results. I've requested that they add a link to us
from their Links page, again with no results. I'm really quite confused,
considering that the PCA's job is to promote and assist local artists and
cultural activities.
If you can shed any light on this, please do. I live and work in Long
Beach, and want to feel that my City Government is funding organizations
that, while crying out for more funding, fully utilize the resources made
available to them. I'm beginning to suspect that may not be the case with
the PCA.
Please feel free to contact me by phone, e-mail, or mail. All my contact
information is provided below.
Thank you for your time and attention,
Respectfully,
Sander R. Wolff, Chief Executive Officer
LongBeachCulture.org
Please click here to post your opinions on the LBC Chat-Boards
|
