news

the pillar program, partnering business professionals with schools

| heather parlato

i just met with the LA area chamber‘s pillar program, connecting business professionals with schools to enrich and enhance student learning. i have been paired with huntington park high school, which has a business & technical arts division, a well-stocked mac lab, and a few levels of graphic and web design classes.

as a sole-proprietor, i’m excited to put together talking points about what students can expect from an education and career in design, how to get the right experience for the job you want, how to start a design business, how to move through the industry with savvy, and answer any other questions they might have. i’m also hoping to pair them up with larger studios and print shops they can tour, job shadow, and line them up with school-approved internship opportunities. nobody ever came to my high school to talk about graphic design [and if they had, i’d have been in french class and missed the talk entirely], so if kids are actually interested enough to take 3 levels of design before college, i’m happy to help empower them to follow it through to a healthy, happy career.

if you’re in LA and you’re not a member of the LA chamber but still want to participate, note that the pillar program is not limited to chamber members. there are all kinds of opportunities to get involved and help educate, mentor or provide internships for students. contact pillar directly to participate!

gretchen parlato “in a dream” releases today!

| heather parlato

gretchen parlato in a dream gretchen parlato in the studio

the big day is here! my sister’s album in a dream releases today. and with it, a good amount of exciting press:

gretchen parlato on the 411 blog
gretchen parlato, with others, on the international review of music
in a dream review from billboard magazine
review of “butterfly” from in a dream on jazz.com

buy the album online now at gretchenparlato.com!!

creative freelancer conference: august 26-28, 2009

| heather parlato

i just signed up for the creative freelancer conference in san diego, august 26-28, presented by HOW and marketing mentor. i’ve been following marketing mentor for the last couple years and have found their advice for designers & creative professionals extremely valuable. also, while i love a good design conference, having an event that specifically focuses on running a creative business is perfect for people like me, and something other design events can only address peripherally.

aside from all the valuable info, i am looking forward to connecting with some of my favorite colleagues, hearing them present their topics of expertise, and meeting a lot of other indie pros. also of note, there are more networking events than are listed on the conference web site, including breakfast roundtables and networking happy hours you can sign up for once you register [i’m hoping to connect with my kernspiracy contingent at the welcome happy hour]. the early-bird deadline has been extended, and there are opportunities for all kinds of savings if you’re interested in going. and if you do sign up, let’s meet up & hang out!

shameless sister promotion

| heather parlato

gretchen parlato

my sister-client / client-sister got song of the day on npr today!

john murph puts it perfectly as he writes: “The magic in Parlato’s version has a lot to do with what she doesn’t do. Notably, she doesn’t oversell the words with flashy vocalese, nor does she instill the original with a smug, knowing wink. Instead, she relies on the conviction of her artistry — and on the song’s inherent beauty.”

marketing mentor, peleg top

| heather parlato

i just finished a saturday workshop with marketing mentor’s peleg top and couldn’t recommend it more highly. i’ll let his linked bio speak for itself, but the experience of the workshop was energizing and empowering in a roundtable format of various design colleagues. it was a great day to talk about how we run our firms, how we deal with various client challenges, and what works best for each of our businesses and why.

if you’re a creative professional looking to connect with colleagues and get the best business and marketing advice for our industry, check out the marketing mentor site, read the marketing mix blog [where my mixer co-hostess with the mostest, colleen wainwright the communicatrix can frequently be read, among many others], sign up for his biz bits newsletter, and look for any workshops and mastermind groups he does in the future.

darryl holter: cd release

| heather parlato

darryl holter cd cover

a quick plug for my client, darryl holter, and his recent self-titled CD release of country, rock & blues original compositions, available on cdbaby.com. [please note, i did not design the CD packaging shown here, i did the design of his recent book my father and i: a minnesota memoir.

we went to his show at the hotel cafe last night and it was fantastic. darryl has an excellent line-up of musicians in his band that filled the room with tight arrangements of pedal steel and keyboards layered with blues & acoustic guitar. until his next gig, listen online at darrylholter.com [site designed by the infinitely talented 2-worlds interactive].

marketing mix shout-out

| heather parlato

marketing mix bug
i have a guest blog post published on the marketing mix blog all about marketing through a slowing economy. i’m a big fan of marketing mentor and it’s an honor to write something for their site. all small creative businesses should check out their amazing resources!

fallen fruit’s fruit tree giveaway at machine project

| heather parlato

spot for planting public fruit tree baby necta zee tree accessible from sidewalk
[before & after]

from the machine project site:
Fallen Fruit has been given about 90 trees from Treepeople’s Fruit Tree Giveaway program. These are nursery-sized trees which are intended for underserved communities. We’re giving them to you to plant in or over public space, or on the boundary of private property so the tree will be shared by others in your community.

jason, my mom and i participated, signing certificates of commitment to care for our trees. i got a miniature necta zee nectarine tree, which has a great new home in a south-facing, sidewalk-adjacent patch on our property, which is a neighborhood access point for elysian park. the spot hasn’t ever been formally planted, so i did have to remove some of the indigenous interlopers and cut back some of the jade plant, but i was excited to get to use some of my compost to loam up the sandy soil. i’ll also be putting in some wild marigolds and nasturtiums to attract bees for pollination.

my mom got a plum tree, which she planted at the perimeter of her yard for passers-by, and jason got a gala apple tree, which we put in an undisclosed-as-yet location in elysian park. hopefully it will grow to be a nice hiking stop for those who find it [when it grows maturity it will be visible from a nearby walking path].

gretchen parlato in jazzit magazine

| heather parlato

just a quick shout-out to my sister [& client], gretchen parlato who just got a fantastic multi-page article in the november/december 2007 issue of italian jazz publication, jazzit. excellent press!