FOLLOW me on my popular Twitter feed. Just click this photo! @hbbtruth - David - Common sense on #Politics #PublicPolicy #Sports #PopCulture in USA, Great Britain, Sweden and France, via my life in #Texas #Memphis #Miami #IU #Chicago #DC #FL 🛫🌍📺📽️🏈. Photo is of Elvis and Joan Blackman in 'Blue Hawaii'

Beautiful Stockholm at night, looking west towards Gamla Stan
Showing posts with label Aventura (FL). Show all posts
Showing posts with label Aventura (FL). Show all posts

Saturday, November 12, 2016

Thoughts re #Entrepreneurs #Startups #Disrupt and ideas in South Florida and elsewhere: Bailey Roubos of Drone Hub Media and Rachel Zietz of Gladiator Lacrosse; online marketing of luxury real estate in Miami and South Florida

Thoughts re #Entrepreneurs #Startups #Disrupt and ideas in South Florida and elsewhere: Bailey Roubos of Drone Hub Media and Rachel Zietz of Gladiator Lacrosse; online marketing of luxury real estate in Miami and South Florida




For those of you who have asked since I tweeted my curious tweets of October 24th, above, no, I can't yet reveal the identity of the very successful New Jersey entrepreneur with interests on both U.S. coasts who recently visited Hollywood, and who spent many hours over several days asking me LOTS of pointed questions about the current Hollywood, Aventura and Hallandale Beach scene.
That includes questions about what I really thought about the local business environment, its general direction and any stories I'd heard about the amount of govt. red tape around here.

 As you might imagine, given what I have seen and shared with you here on the blog over the past nine years, and in many cases, tried to forget because it was so awful, I had to stifle the urge to laugh, since what he wanted was useful information and quality context.

 In this case, that even took the form of several personal tours of the area from State Road 441 to State Road A1A and everything in between, usually once a day, pointing out what was good, what was bad what was that rare great, and why that was necessarily the case.

 That also necessarily meant my pointing out the area's economic, transportation and Quality of Life problems that local politicians and bureaucrats have largely failed to solve or rectify, no matter what economic development consultants they hire to write a report and give some possible solutions.

 FYI: I highly recommend Chocolada, especially for breakfast!
I'd honestly forgotten how great it was finish off a terrific breakfast by dunking delicious cookies in coffee that tasted just right! Scrumptious!
Chocolada Bakery & Cafe, 1923 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood Florida (954) 920-6400 

http://www.hollywoodchocolada.com/
Last week, via my growing Twitter feed, @hbbtruth, https://twitter.com/hbbtruth 
I wrote that I'd been spending some quality time conversing with a fascinating forward-thinking entrepreneur who was from Ontario -with some Hoosier roots- whose firm aims high, goes even higher!
Yes, coincidentally, just in time for "the season," the annual invasion into southeastern Broward County of tens of thousands of Canadians, 99% from Quebec and Ontario, who find our South Florida sand, surf and sunshine hard to resist at this time of the year.

 Well, that entrepreneur of whom I spoke is Bailey Roubos, co-founder of Drone Hub Media, a full service media company specializing in Aerial Cinematography, who was in Miami for what I can only describe as some fascinating projects, some of which I should be able to discuss with you in greater detail in the future.
Including the one that made my jaw drop upon hearing about it.






An early coup for Bailey and #DroneHub, mentioned in this Toronto Star story last year,
concerned a beautiful Luxury Cottage in Muskoka, Ontario, an amazing property on Lake Joseph that seemed almost tailor-made to have his company wow people around the world with the amazing views of the intangible qualities the property and area had to offer. 
To me, it looks like luxury AND peace of mind meets serene location. 
I'm ready to visit!


 Dan Cooper Group - Luxury Muskoka Cottage. Uploaded June 29, 2015

 Toronto Star
The high-flying new world of real estate. Some realtors take to the skies with drones to showcase special homes and woo buyers.
By SUSAN PIGG, Business Reporter
Wednesday, September 23, 2015
https://www.thestar.com/business/2015/09/23/the-high-flying-new-world-of-real-estate.html

Now for most of us in chaotic, traffic-gridlocked South Florida, that amazing property on an Ontario lake seems like a slice-of-heaven. But as Bailey explained to me, and as the record shows in the video they did below, marketing luxury real estate to someone who'd live in and is attracted to the lifestyle of Miami requires a different kind of vibe than someone who wants to live on a lake in Ontario. 
And trust me, Bailey knows all about what helps his clients sell luxury in a very competitive Miami real estate market, where he who hesitates... loses.

Miami's Finest in Luxury - Julian Johnston - Million Dollar Listing. 
Uploaded December 22, 2015. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LF_20ichV7I















Bailey Roubos, co-founder, Drone Hub, a full service media company specializing in Aerial Cinematography. @BRoubos, https://twitter.com/broubos

Canada (905) 246 - 8203
USA (605) 789 - 1383
Mailing Address: 6466 Brock Street, Niagara Falls, Ontario Canada, L2J 1W2
Talking to someone as friendly, curious and genuinely creative as Bailey Roubos, who thinks so much outside-of-the-box, you can't help but notice that when you listen to him speak about his work/ideas, #tech #innovation, no matter how well-informed you think you are, you'll find yourself soon absorbing information and insight from him like a waterfall.
But I like that, since I'm the same way about subjects I'm passionate about.

My biggest regret of many conversations this week with him is that I didn't think to video-record it as the ideas flowed! 
I could have kicked myself for not having done so.
Next time I talk to him, trust me, I'll be sure to have cameras rolling so I can share his many ideas & insight with you here.

Some of you reading this in Florida know from personal conversations we've had and many more of you elsewhere via emails, that I've been planning for quite some time to start using my YouTube Channel in more creative and productive ways, and, to be MUCH more pro-active about using it on matters involving technology and innovation.

Maybe the most important lesson of my meeting Bailey Roubos is... #JustDoIt!
In the future, my plan is to interview and video-record interesting people I know and meet who are doing interesting things, whether in South Florida or elsewhere on my travels, for people to enjoy via my YouTube Channel and here on the blog.

 -----

 Emon Reiser's recent article about the just-completed deal between South Florida teenager Rachel Zietz's Gladiator Lacrosse company and DICK's Sporting Goods caught  my eye, and not just because the latter is one of my favorite retailers, or because I love watching high-quality lacrosse. 
(Or because DICK's is now located in nearby Aventura.)

 Somewhere in storage, I still have some DVDs in a box of recent NCAA Men's and Women's Lacrosse title matches, as well as of matches involving the Florida Gators and Northwestern Wildcats Women's Lacrosse teams. Over the past dozen years, I've become a big fan of what head coach Kelly Amonte Hiller has done with Northwestern's dynamic program after watching lots of Wildcat games on The Big Ten Channel over the years. 
(And I used to live in beautiful Evanston, home of NU, as well as in next-door Wilmette.)

 Plus, for years I always watched the ACC Championship for both Men and Women on TV and taped the matches for my three nieces in suburban Maryland.
All three nieces played (or are playing) both Youth League as well as high school field hockey and lacrosse at a high level in the best and most-competitive state for it, Maryland.
The youngest one of them actually played for the varsity as a freshman and scored a goal in the 2016 Maryland State Girls Lacrosse championship, which her team won.
A team called the... Gladiators. 
Yes, the Glenelg Gladiators.

South Florida Business Journal
Teen CEO seals deal with Dick's Sporting Goods
Emon Reiser, Digital Producer - South Florida Business Journal
Nov 1, 2016, 5:00pm EDT
http://www.bizjournals.com/bizwomen/news/latest-news/2016/11/teen-ceo-seals-deal-with-dicks-sporting-goods.html

Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Saturday, September 26, 2015

The Tri-Rail Coastal commuter train in South Florida offers a dynamic opportunity to change and IMPROVE old ways of thinking and living. So why is Tri-Rail doing such a poor job of letting the public know what's REALLY going on? I ask Hollywood's City Manger that very question, since the cities of Hollywood, Hallandale Beach and Aventura are ideally positioned to benefit economically more quickly than any other cities on the commuter line

The Tri-Rail Coastal commuter train in South Florida offers a dynamic opportunity to change and IMPROVE old ways of thinking and living. So why is Tri-Rail doing such a poor job of letting the public know what's REALLY going on? I ask Hollywood's City Manger that very question, since the cities of Hollywood, Hallandale Beach and Aventura are ideally positioned to benefit economically more quickly than any other cities on the commuter line

Below is a slightly-expanded version of an email about the Tri-Rail Coastal commuter train that I sent on September 18th to the Hollywood City Manager, Dr. Wazir Ishmael. 
It follows a previous letter that was sent to him and dozens of other people in South Florida about the same subject. I've deleted some email addresses below for obvious reasons.



An Open Letter to Mayor Carlos Gimenez: A World­Class Community Must Have Open Data Governance http://miamiopendata.org/docs/open-data-letter.pdf

Dr. Ishmael: 

Just a note to let you know I'll  be writing you next week with respect to how/when Hollywood might adopt some of the sort of innovative thinking described above in the tweet from Miami Open Data to Miami-Dade Mayor Gimenez.

Thanks also for your quick response to my recent email re the Tri-Rail Coastal, below.

As a result of my years taking the El train into downtown Chicago everyday from my home across the street from the Bahá'í Temple in suburban Wilmette, three blocks from the end of the EL line at the Linden CTA station, https://goo.gl/maps/84tDQ  https://goo.gl/maps/jGZHz 

and years later, from my upscale neighborhood in Arlington into Washington, DC via METRO 
everyday from the Ballston station next to the National Science Foundation HQ, 


I became over time, without realizing it at the time, a strong advocate of well-planned and sensible 
public transit. And have only gotten more personally involved in the subject once I was in DC. and then down here.

But I get VERY frustrated at what I perceive to be the snail-like pace I and other observers see from Tri-Rail these days, and the even slower public engagement approach taken by them to share what's actually happening with respect to tangible milestones with the public and the business community.

Just as is true in parts of Hallandale Beach along the FEC Corridor, it's absurd to imagine that there's an entire army of people chomping at the bit to invest in some business or property development along N. 21 Avenue and Adams BEFORE some definite word comes from Tri-Rail as to when an actual station will be near there, and making sure that everyone knows what's what.

And yet Tri-Rail now pretends that everyone in the community is psyched, and that Tri-Rail can just keep doing what they're doing.
Whatever that actually is...

 Dr. Ishmael, based on my conversations with people who keep their eyes open, everyone is, most assuredly, NOT psyched NOR convinced that Tri-Rail is doing everything they can to best effectively communicate the truth/facts to the public, whatever that is.

Seriously, they were so slow to get going on Social Media that they could NOT even get the Twitter name they wanted because other people beat them to the punch.
That damning fact is one I have shared in emails with lots of people as well as on my blog and in a few tweets.
It's indicative of many things about their counter-intuitive approach.

Most people who come to know me at least reasonably well come to appreciate that just because I'm pro-transit, doesn't mean that I will support or make excuses for truly half-assed plans, efforts or results of the sort that the public too frequently sees from transit groups and agencies down here.

I refer you to this pertinent May 6, 2013 blog post of mine:

More Transit Policy Woes in South Florida: With stealthy and self-sabotaging friends like All Aboard Florida and SFRTA/Tri-Rail, pro-transit advocates in South Florida don't need any more enemies; 'All Aboard Florida' fails to schedule a single public scoping meeting in Broward County this Spring despite Fort Lauderdale being a proposed station, while SFRTA chief refuses to answer a simple question -Will Hallandale Beach have a station under the proposed Coastal line plan?; Just because you're pro-transit doesn't mean you have to ignore displays of transit incompetency or mismanagement when you see it!


To me, in short, Tri-Rail's sitting on their hands far too much.
That is, when they aren't prematurely patting themselves on the back for being the proverbial engine bringing dynamic economic changes to the under-developed and under-utilized FEC Corridor area
Something that has YET to actually happen.

Meanwhile, in Miami, as you can see below, looks like some developers are pricing out people whom I suspect would look perfect in Hollywood, Hallandale Beach or Aventura taking the Tri-Rail Coastal to work, whether that's in downtown Miami or downtown Fort lauderdale - or neither.
But who want to avail themselves of opportunities.



@SFlaBizBandell New Wynwood could price out hipsters who made it thrive
http://
Opportunities.
Just something to think about.

Dave
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Wazir Ishmael
Date: Tue, Aug 25, 2015 at 9:13 AM
Subject: RE: re Redevelopment in Hollywood, tonight's public meeting re proposed RAC, and the role of Tri-Rail Coastal

Hello David!

Thank you for the valuable input.  We will certainly reach out to the folks at Tri-Rail to ensure their participation in any future RAC events.

The rail portion could prove to be an integral component to the future success of the RAC and having spent time in Portland, Oregon and the UK I am very familiar with the incorporation of multi-modal opportunities as significant catalysts to development and redevelopment.

Once again, thank you for your insights and suggestion.

Sincerely,

Wazir Ishmael, Ph.D.
City Manager
cid:image001.png@01CE03C1.B20C11F0
City of Hollywood
2600 Hollywood Boulevard
P.O. Box 229045
Hollywood, FL  33020
Office:  (954) 921-3201
Fax:     (954) 921-3314
wishmael@hollywoodfl.org


Sent: Monday, August 24, 2015 4:06 PM
To: Wazir Ishmael
Cc: Patricia Asseff; Jaye Epstein
Subject: re Redevelopment in Hollywood, tonight's public meeting re proposed RAC, and the role of Tri-Rail Coastal

August 24, 2015 

Dear Dr. Ishmael:

I'm writing you today to follow up on an email -below- that I sent out last week 
to a few hundred concerned residents and Small Business owners in Hollywood
and Hallandale Beach regarding tonight's public meeting re a proposed RAC 
for Hollywood, a plan that includes U.S.-1, Pembroke Road and what I believe 
continues to be the greatly under-developed and under-utilized area along the 
FEC corridor, which could and should be a dynamic that adds much to the city's 
future success.

I quite realize that at this point that it's too late for the city to arrange for some 
well-informed reps from Tri-Rail to be present at tonight's meeting -so that they 
can add some valuable information to the mix so that everyone attending has 
THE most-recent and accurate information.
Rather, I'm writing in part today to encourage you to do whatever you have to 
do in the future to make sure that subsequent public meetings on this important 
subject include them.

That is, so long as they are prepared to state specifics, since my experience 
over the past few years as a longtime civic activist and public transit advocate 
-borne of experience in Chicago/Evanston/Wilmette and Washington,D.C./
Arlington County, VA- is that Tri-Rail seems to often hedge their bets depending 
upon whom their audience is.
Upbeat and somewhat specific to the local news media, but reticent and evasive 
when the public wants some specific answers to simple questions that are not 
available on their website and which their officials do not respond to.




---------- Forwarded message ----------
From:
Date: Thu, Aug 20, 2015 at 4:13 PM
Subject: Thoughts re role of Tri-Rail Coastal on HB/Hollywood development, per City of Hollywood community meeting on Aug. 24 for Regional Activity Center Re-zoning that includes U.S.-1 & Pembroke Road


My comments follow the announcement.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: News and Announcements <listserv@civicplus.com>
Date: Tue, Aug 18, 2015 at 5:38 PM
Subject: Community Meeting for Regional Activity Center Re-zoning - August 24


Email Notifications
Learn About Proposed Zoning Changes in the Regional Activity Center
The City of Hollywood invites you to a community meeting on Monday, August 24 at 6:00 p.m. at Hollywood City Hall, 2600 Hollywood Boulevard, Room 219 to discuss the planned re-zoning of the Regional Activity Center (RAC).

The RAC encompasses Downtown Hollywood and includes Federal Highway from Sheridan Street to Pembroke Road and Hollywood Boulevard from US-1 to Interstate 95. The Regional Activity Center land use designation is intended to encourage attractive and functional mixed living, working, shopping, education, and recreational activities, in areas of regional importance. To guide sustainable development, the City is undertaking ambitious zoning changes in the RAC to accommodate future growth, while preserving the character of existing neighborhoods.

The Hollywood Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA), Department of Community and Economic Development and Department of Planning have hosted a series of community meetings with residents living in and around the RAC to review the proposed zoning changes. This community meeting is open to all residents interested in the RAC re-zoning.  

For additional information, contact the Department of Community and Economic Development at 954.921.3271 or go to RAC Re-zoning.


      
I'm going to make some phone calls and find out who will be speaking
at this meeting next Monday at Hollywood City Hall.

I'm especially interested in finding out if anyone from Tri-Rail will be present
to publicly speak about the latest estimates and deadlines about the Tri-Rail
Coastal service, since from the looks of things, there doesn't seem to be anyone
locally following up on that and holding them to account in turning big words
into some tangible action.

Most of you know from experience that I'm someone who has been a longtime
public advocate for much-better public transit service and facilities in SE Broward
County, and have long lamented publicly at both City Halls how often Hallandale
Beach and Hollywood residents seemed to constantly take it on the chin on 
common sense matters that are relatively easy to resolve policy-wise and would
be supported by the public, but, for whatever reason, always seemed to lack an
advocate for the public at City Hall willing to push their own bureaucrats into action.
Perhaps because they are not considered sexy issues.

For instance, to mention but a few things I've written about frequently with
photos to show the sad reality of what SE Broward transit riders are forced
to put up with,

1.) How about making sure there are actually some bus shelters on the east
side of U.S.-1 in Hallandale Beach, instead of just one, located one block south
of Pembroke Road, practically in Hollywood? Really.

2.) How many years has the Buzz #1 Express to downtown Fort Lauderdale
-that begins at Aventura Mall on north-bound trips- used the two small bus
benches opposite the McDonald's on U.S.-1 as their ONLY Hallandale Beach
stop on the northbound trip, instead of the under-utilized SuperStop bus 
shelter in front of Gulfstream Park, opposite the Flashback Diner?

Yes, the expensive, under-utilized SuperStop bus shelter that the County
and the City of HB required Forest City and MAGNA/Gulfstream Park to build 
as part of the development agreement to create The Village at Gulfstream Park.
You'll recall that the developers said they'd provide shuttle service from that
site to the Tri-Rail station on Hollywood Blvd. -but they never did, did they?
NOPE!!!

Yes, as some of you may recall, that would be the same SuperStop that was 
used as a de facto home base by an army of homeless people for at least 
six-to-eight months from late 2013 to 2014, despite being located less than 
two blocks from Hallandale Beach City Hall and HB Police Dept. HQ.
Both looked the other way at what was happening, which made both bus riders
and bus drivers angry since it was pitch-black at night -on purpose. 
How did HB City Hall and HBPD ignore what was right in front of them???

3.) Honestly, how is it that so many years after the Hollywood ArtsPark was
created by Broward County that Hollywood residents have had to tolerate
ZERO bus shelters at Young Circle, near the Publix, to keep them out of the
sun & downpours?
That should have been done at least eight years ago, with advertising revenue
used to defray the costs of several attractive state-of-the-art bus shelters 
at the site that's not only where the largest number of passengers south
of downtown FTL get off and on, but also right near the two corners of the
Circle where Hollywood City Hall and the Hollywood business community
have long claimed that they wanted to see interesting upscale retail and
residential living located, to give the city some dynamic activity.

As I've written many times before on my blog and said aloud at transportation
forums throughout South Florida, one of the most positive things that can help
jolt the Hollywood and Hallandale Beach economies -not just the downtown
areas of Hollywood and HB but especially the under-developed and under-
utilized areas along the FEC tracks that are perfect for Transit Oriented
Corridor related development, i.e. mixed-use building with retail on the
bottom floor and reasonably-priced residential above- is reliable and safe 
Tri-Rail Coastal service to Downtown Miami and Fort Lauderdale.

(Yes, as many of you know from past conversations with me, because
I've seen how beautifully it works like a charm in Stockholm (especially
in the fascinating and trendy Södermalm neighborhood that I vacationed
in two years ago, which is everything that Coconut Grove and parts of 
Coral Gables near the University of Miami wish they were now but aren't.
We don't need to reinvent the wheel, just make it possible for it to succeed.)

Why? Because giving people the option to be able to relax in the morning and drink
their coffee/smoothies and read a newspaper or zone out on their devices on a train
before they get to work beats the hell out of driving to work thru frustrating gridlock.
And people will pay for that option.

I know because when I lived and worked in the Washington, D.C. area for 15 years,
my housing options always put a premium on access and proximity to the a Metrorail
station. That's why I lived where I did in Arlington County and paid a premium in rent
for the privilege of always being a 15-20 minute walk to a Metro station.
Those last seven years, that meant living in a great residential area of hilly Arlington
less than a mile from the Ballston Metro station, which itself was located below
a Hilton hotel and a block from the National Science Foundation HQ and several
federal govt. agencies.

(And as longtime readers of the blog know, that was the townhouse that President
Ford's daughter Susan used to live in, which still had the Secret Service intercom
system in it when I was there.)

As most of you know, I have long felt that Hollywood and Hallandale Beach could 
benefit from that Coastal service faster and in more tangible and positive ways than
any other two cities in Broward.
So why aren't we hearing from our elected officials about what's really going on with it?


Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)