Every month we are floored by the fun/inspiring/hilarious/surprising/moving applications that arrive via the complex set of tubes known as the interwebs.  At our last meeting we got to talking about how the text based format of the review process doesn’t do justice to some of the submissions we receive. Sometimes a tweak in how an idea is explained or the addition of a quirky twist to the project plan can take a really cool application and dial it up to completely freakin’ AWESOME. To add that missing Interactive/3D/IRL component to the funding process, we held the first ‘Office Hours’ session in December. A bunch of Boston trustees hung out with awesome, super creative, dynamic peeps interested in applying for a grant. We discussed ideas and gave tips on strengthening proposals. It went so well that we decided to make it a regular thing. HOW IT’LL WORK: About once a month (most likely on a Thursday), we’ll hold court in an embarrassingly nerdy/trendy establishment after work. Ideas will be exchanged. Brains will be stormed. Noms and beverages will be consumed. WHO’S INVITED? You!  Trustees, past grantees, applicants, and friends/community members. We’re keeping it broad ’cause wouldn’t it be cool if some of these crazy/brilliant ideas met, fell in love, and… read more →

Hello everyone! It’s official: the trustees of Awesome Foundation San Francisco are extremely proud this month to make an award to Erin Bregman of the Little Opera Company. Erin’s project is simple, but awesome. She works with children between 2nd and 5th grade at the West Portal Elementary School to write, produce, and perform complete operas. That’s singing and dancing. Since they come out of the collective minds of the kids that Erin works with, the topics of these operas are unbelievably intense: previous works have included operas about evil ponies on Mars, pirates, and Custer’s Last Stand (see video above). Naturally, we’re all about this, so AF-SF is helping to fund their upcoming production in March. We’ll post more details as they come together – but from what Erin tells us, the performance is set to include wild animals, magical moons, and spooky forests, so it pretty much is going to be awesome. Also: they’re looking for people to lend a hand! If you know of a small performance space that might be a good place for it – be sure to drop us a line at contact@awesomefoundation.org. Also, if you’re interested in donating to these efforts, the Little… read more →

In the interest of awesome we’ve teamed up with Pozible, Australia’s largest crowdfunding site to expand our reach to even more awesome projects. This newfound friendship is simple and stays true to our Awesome Foundation roots. Just like the Awesome Foundation, Pozible also supports awesome projects and ideas. Pozible founders, Rick Chen and Alan Crabbe saw a need for a public crowdfunding platform in Australia through their work with visual artists who were falling short when it came to vital start up costs. The pair wanted to create a site for creators and innovators to find early supporters for their projects, thus Pozible was born in May 2010 and has since help fund over 300 projects. Pozible gives creative individuals, groups and organizations the opportunity to raise funds through pre-selling tangible and intangible rewards by posting a project on Pozible.com.au. If you donate $15 you might get a copy of the creator’s eBook, but by donating $150 you might receive a home cooked meal at the author’s house. Each project has a funding goal and a time limit (from 1-90 days) set by the project creator; this goal must be met or exceeded to receive any contributions put towards the… read more →

Here at Awesome Boston, we get a lot of ideas every month. Not all of the ideas are awesome, but a lot of them are pretty close and could use just a pinch of awesome-factor to send them over the edge. That’s why we’re starting Awesome office hours. From 6-8 PM this Thursday, December 15th, several trustees from Awesome Boston will be at Voltage Cafe in Kendall Square to help you refine your idea from great to awesome. If this is successful, there’ll be many more. Don’t have an idea? Come talk to us until you have one, or just say hi! Make sure to follow us on Twitter (@awesomebos) for updates.

Mixing a love of Montreal with a healthy dose of community building, over 40 people gathered at Bar La Quincaillerie near Lafontaine Park to celebrate the first round of applicants to La Fondation Formidable.