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Upstate Alliance for the Creative Economy

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Marketing Coordinator Needed at CDTA

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The Capital District Transportation Authority is seeking a Marketing Coordinator to execute
company initiatives focused in digital and social media, along with traditional outreach activities.
The successful candidate will coordinate the design of CDTA’s collateral material including
corporate identity, branding and multimedia interfaces; create graphics for social media
campaigns using appropriate tool sets (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter among others), mobile
applications, blogs and widgets.

This position will work with many types of media; experience with video, photo and audio
editing, graphic design, or general marketing is required. An understanding of SEO strategy, similar to that used by companies like Victorious, is advantageous. Excellent writing and communication
skills are also required. Duties include but are not limited to:

  • Coordinate design and implementation of company assets – includes traditional elements
    (posters, flyers, advertisements) along with digital banner ads, social and rich media content.
  • Support advertising campaigns including social, email, and traditional mechanisms.
  • Create and maintain dynamic HTML and PHP code-based landing pages and micro sites.
  • Serve as Website quality control monitor, make updates, verify HTML and ensure that all
    links stay active on web sites and microsites.
  • Perform quality control tests to improve the architecture of the site.
  • Create and maintain information-capturing web forms and databases.
  • Assist in design, creation and execution of mobile applications.
  • Assist in copywriting, editing and support stakeholder outreach.
    Requirements:
  • Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and/or Graphic Design or related fields preferred
  • 2-4 years online marketing and graphic design experience
  • Pro?ciency in web-based applications: Content Management Software (CMS) environment
  • Adobe Creative Suite, HTML, CSS, RSS, JavaScript, Microsoft Office, and PHP
  • Ability to work under pressure, team-oriented and have a positive attitude
  • Capable of using all web media possibilities: Flash animation, Java applications, streaming
    and downloadable video and image files, streaming and downloadable audio, etc.
  • Be familiar with the business applications of social media platforms including; Facebook,
    Twitter, Instagram, SnapChat, YouTube, Pinterest, Google+.

Creative Beginnings: Rachelle “Chelle” Pean of Chelle Marie Wellness

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ACE Digital Manager Ashleigh Kinsey spoke to Rachelle “Chelle” Pean about how she got started in her Holistic Health career.

Rachelle “Chelle” Pean grew up in Schenectady. Her father is from Haiti, and her mother from Maine. Chelle attended SUNY Purchase and got her degree in Psychology before completing her Masters in Social Work at CUNY Hunter in Harlem. She worked in hospitals in the Bronx before returning to the Capital Region to practice. After working at a hospital in Troy, Chelle began to build her business in January of 2018, and started running her practice full-time in August 2018. When asked why she decided to go into business for herself, she said, “I wanted to integrate mind-body healing techniques into talk therapy, but with the demands of working in a bigger system I didn’t have the time or energy to give my clients that experience as much as I wanted to. The demands of working in a large system were also crushing my creativity and I saw it only getting worse if I stayed.” Chelle’s business is all about holistic health. Integrating mind, body, and spiritual healing through talk therapy, yoga, and other mindful practices. Many of her clients have past childhood trauma and Chelle helps them stay present and thrive when past traumas resurface.

Although this was a career Chelle wanted and studied for, it still had some unexpected results that she never imagined. After speaking at an Intergenerational Trauma and Healing Workshop at SUNY New Paltz, Chelle says, “I never really enjoyed talking in groups, but found that if it is something I love, and something I care about, speaking in public is something I’m good at.”

Chelle’s days now consist of teaching yoga classes around the Capital Region, seeing patients, and speaking at workshops about holistic health. When asked what advice she would give to others pursuing a similar path, Chelle says, “Just start. People feel like they have to know everything to share their perspective, but if you share what you care about with your unique perspective, that’s enough [to get started]. That’s valuable. Don’t be afraid to put yourself out there.”

One of her favorite things about living and working in the Capital Region is that it’s easy to collaborate with others. “There’s so much going on in NYC, it’s tough to connect sometimes. Having a smaller network, you know who’s putting on what event, and [connections] feel more personal. Also, you can tell pretty quickly when you are making a difference.”

Although there are many advantages to living in the Capital Region, there is one thing that Chelle thinks could use some improvement. “Inclusion is always an issue. POC’s create their own enclaves, but this area would benefit if there were easy-to-get resources.” Many times

POC’s end up making spaces for themselves instead of trying to fit a particular mold. Chelle recalled an experience at a job where she had a “seat at the table” but still felt disconnected. “It was like the policies were not created for me, and although I’ve had a ‘seat at the table’, it was not effective.”

Chelle says that if there was a true opportunity to facilitate changes in policies within organizations to promote inclusion, she would love to be a part, but for now, it would be a better use of her energy for good if she focused on “building her own table” with policies and procedures that were more inclusive in nature.

Chelle teaches a donation-based yoga class every Thursday at the African American Cultural Center, 135 South Pearl St, Albany NY. She also teaches Sundays at 12pm at Yoga Bliss on the Boulevard, 140 Erie Blvd, Schenectady, NY. Chelle also does workshops. For more information visit chellemariewellness.com.

Creative Economy Mixer at Bull Moose Club: Photo Highlights

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We were one of the first in the region to see Bull Moose Club in Albany at our #CreativeEconomyMixer for November. Bull Moose Club is a hyper-charged coworking space where the creatives, thinkers, leaders and communicators shaping New York State can work and connect with other changemakers. Amazing food was provided by Albany Chefs Food and Wine Festival’s Signature Chefs Michelle Hines Abram Thibeault of Chef MHAT Brian Molino, a Corporate Chef with Mazzone Hospitality, and Yono of Yono’s  and dp Brasserie in Albany.
Entertainment for the night was by Troy Foundry Theatre. Troy Foundry Theatre is a professional not-for-profit theatre company based in Troy, NY. They explore the social issues of today by collaborating with a variety of artists from multiple disciplines to produce and perform new work and reinterpreted classics through the means of new writing, devising and immersive performances in unique and non-traditional performance spaces in and around Troy, NY.

Special thanks to our event sponsors The Renaissance Hotel,, Community Loan Fund,  MVP Health Care, and our event host Bull Moose Club, and our promotional partners, Albany Ad Club and Discover Albany. Produced in partnership with 2440 Design Studio and WMHT.

Local Lands, Local Art: Creating a Sense of Place

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[cs_content][cs_section parallax=”false” style=”margin: 0px;padding: 45px 0px;”][cs_row inner_container=”true” marginless_columns=”false” style=”margin: 0px auto;padding: 0px;”][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/1″ style=”padding: 0px;”][x_image type=”none” src=”https://upstatecreative.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Art-in-Nature-maidenhair-fern-at-the-Normanskill-West-Preserve.-Photo-by-Mohawk-Hudson-Land-Conservancy.jpg” alt=”” link=”false” href=”#” title=”” target=”” info=”none” info_place=”top” info_trigger=”hover” info_content=””][/cs_column][/cs_row][/cs_section][cs_section parallax=”false” style=”margin: 0px;padding: 45px 0px;”][cs_row inner_container=”true” marginless_columns=”false” style=”margin: 0px auto;padding: 0px;”][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/1″ style=”padding: 0px;”][cs_text]At the Mohawk Hudson Land Conservancy, we’ve been talking a lot about art.

The connections between creativity and conservation run deep. The Mohawk Hudson Land Conservancy (MHLC) was founded in 1992 to protect the natural, scenic, agricultural, and cultural landscapes of the Mohawk and Hudson river valleys. We protect natural resources, working farmlands, air and water quality, and climate-resilient landscapes. Yet there are other benefits, less tangible but equally significant, which these spaces provide: and these benefits connect us with the creative communities in our service area.

These forests, fields, mountains, and rivers are not only ecologically and economically valuable; they are beautiful, and there is value in that beauty. From the vistas of the towering Helderberg Escarpment south of Albany to the rolling farmlands of Montgomery County, these undeveloped lands inspire reflection, creativity, and a palpable connection to the natural world.

Tens of thousands of visitors enjoy 2,000 acres and over 36 miles of trails at our 18 public nature preserves every year. We continue to find that these visitors receive a creative boost from their time outside. A walk in the woods, an afternoon sitting by a stream, a morning trail run… these are experiences to be shared, cherished, and protected. Without the natural world made available to the public, the constant thrum of development in our region will continue to take away our opportunities to experience, draw inspiration from, and find solace in nature.

As MHLC provides natural experiences for our community, many of our partners provide artistic, cultural, and musical experiences. Last June, we collaborated with the brass musicians of the Albany Symphony for an al fresco Celebration of Music and Nature in Rensselaerville. Our plein air painting classes led by art educators have been a powerful opportunity for local painters to find inspiration from the sights and sounds of our preserves. Our Family Wilderness Crafts workshops with Ondatra Adventures encourage young people to use their hands, engaging with the natural world and with their own creative spirit.

Our volunteer Art on the Rail Trail (ART) committee has been an incredibly successful creative endeavor. This dedicated group of neighbors began fundraising and installing public pieces of art along the Albany County Helderberg-Hudson Rail Trail in 2017. Vibrant pieces by local artists Andrea Hersh and John DeMarco have been installed, and the committee is already seeking proposals for a third mural. This volunteer committee encourages local artists to connect their art to the landscape, encouraging a community sense of ownership and pride for the Rail Trail.

These connections between local landscapes and the local creative economy continue to develop and deepen. Earlier this year, at MHLC’s 2018 Annual Awards Dinner, guest speaker Elizabeth Sobol, President and CEO of the Saratoga Performing Arts Center, spoke of the ties between conservation and the arts, and encouraged the audience to work together to cherish, preserve, and protect beauty in all of its forms. Ms. Sobol declared, “It is at that moment of shared beauty – birdsong, sunset, Mahler, Bach – that we are most utterly – and most fully – human. This, ladies and gentlemen, is what we are here to preserve and protect.”

Our staff and Board of Directors are continuing to follow these moments of shared beauty, these connections between nature and art, as we strive to foster a deep connection between residents of the Capital Region and nature. By creating outdoor experiences, and by encouraging a creative engagement with our local landscape, we can create a sense of place. This sense of connection to the farmlands, the river valleys, the hill tops, and the forests of the Capital Region will help us love, cherish, and protect the open spaces of our home.

Join the Mohawk Hudson Land Conservancy, Upstate Alliance for the Creative Economy, Indian Ladder Farms Cidery and Brewery, and other community partners for a Creative Economy Mixer on September 5. Indian Ladder Farms was protected by the Mohawk Hudson Land Conservancy through a conservation easement in 2003.

We’ll enjoy tours and tastings of their amazing cider and beer and learn more about the creative collaborations and networks that make our rural regions work and connect us with our natural world.

Guest post by Daron Blake, Communications and Outreach Coordinator for the Mohawk Hudson Land Conservancy
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Four Questions with Laura Ten Eyck, Indian Ladder Farms

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[cs_content][cs_section parallax=”false” style=”margin: 0px;padding: 45px 0px;”][cs_row inner_container=”true” marginless_columns=”false” style=”margin: 0px auto;padding: 0px;”][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/1″ style=”padding: 0px;”][x_image type=”none” src=”https://upstatecreative.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/IMG_5553.jpg” alt=”” link=”false” href=”#” title=”” target=”” info=”none” info_place=”top” info_trigger=”hover” info_content=””][cs_text]In 1916, Peter Ten Eyck opened Indian Ladder Farms in Altamont as a dairy farm. Fast forward 102 years, and this local institution has a retail store, bakery, cafe, brewery, event space, orchard and educational areas where local students learn about agriculture. On the vast 325-acre spread there are also wetlands, woodlands, seven residential buildings and seasonal fields where customers can pick their own blueberries, apples, raspberries and pumpkins.

ACE met with Laura Ten Eyck, the 4th-generation Vice President of Indian Ladder Farms, ahead of the September 5th Mixer on their property. Laura returned to the family business after a career in journalism, and used her writing experience to co-author a book titled The Hop Grower’s Handbook. Laura’s husband Dietrich Gehring runs the Indian Ladder Farmstead Cidery and Brewery LLC along with partner Stuart Morris. Dietrich has a background in photography editing for publications and calendars, but turned an interest in home-brewing into the Brewery two years ago.

Location: 342 Altamont Rd, Altamont NY
Employees: Between 10-100+, depending on season
In business since: 1916

What hurdles and successes do you see after 102 years in business?

Success is to stay sustainable during the transition from my father’s generation to me and my brother, and to pass the business on to the next generation if they are interested. This is a community resource; we can’t just walk away from it. We all live here. We placed a Conservation Easement on the farmland to restrict development; by selling our development rights we reinvested in the farm to protect the future.

We face the same struggles as all agricultural businesses. The weather has been made more intense with climate change, which has brought new pest species and severe weather that is problematic. Ultimately, keeping on top of pests like termites is tougher than it has ever been before. That being said, fortunately, there are plenty of pest control experts in our area to keep unwanted insects under control. Correspondingly, if you would like to learn more about how to tackle termites and other common pests, you can find a wide range of useful information on websites like: https://www.pestcontrolexperts.com/termite-control/. A hot March causes an early bloom, then a typical April overnight in the 20s brings a killing frost – that has increased in recent years. Also, the labor market is tight and finding seasonal workers for minimum wage level work is a real challenge: we do over 50% of our business in 8 weeks in September/October. Hiring and training people for that short a period is difficult.

Is there still room for growth?

You have to be careful not to grow too fast, and we want things to remain authentic. We don’t do anything artificial. We are in the process of renovating a building as a production brewery and it will include increased event space. Currently, we can’t host weddings in the fall because the space is used for apple cider. Once this structure is complete we can move the apple cider donut production to a larger space since they are so popular. The Brewery and Cider LLC opened in 2016 and should continue to grow. We may do a book about hemp production; we have a lot of plans moving forward to expand the business. We’ve looked at getting something like this promotional custom embroidery merchandise that is specifically for Breweries.

Is there an opportunity for creatives in Farming?

The skillset of the creative mind is a necessity for a business like this. There has to be new and innovative ways to solve problems, and the creative mind is a huge benefit in a business where you have the ability to actually act upon those ideas and not just be a cog in a corporation’s machine. Others hit a roadblock and may not be able to get around it. Innovation has always been a key aspect of farming, whether it be improving crop productions by using creative agricultural design, similar to the designs Impact Engineering, or thinking outside the box to expand the farm into the wedding industry, for example. Other ways of increasing crop production might also include using good-quality farming equipment. For instance, in the agricultural sector, a tractor is useful for digging irrigation canals, harvesting, fertilizing, and so on. Even if a part of a tractor is damaged, it can be replaced by its new parts, which could be bought at reputable web-shops like Costex Tractor Parts (or similar others) and make it work efficiently again.

We have a large number of creatives here: our cider presser and assistant farm manager are both talented musicians, our Farm Manager does carvings and has a great visual eye. The seasonality works for a lot of creatives, where they have winters free for other pursuits.

What should ACE members expect to see when visiting Indian Ladder Farms for the September 5th mixer?

There will be music in the Beer Garden (Zan & the Winter Folk), a tour of the brewery and of course refreshments. The farm is open, so they can see the hop garden and animals. We want everything to remain real and authentic here; this is a working farm and people really enjoy seeing it in action.
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