**THIS WEEKEND: Thunder Drone! A live event with drones, drinks, and demonstrations! **
What is Innovation Hangar? (www.iHangar.org)
Innovation Hangar (iHangar) was first conceived as a rare physical space for creatives and entrepreneurs to meet and learn together. Our first two years has been incredible; a proving ground for our unique concept, a series of strong individual successes, more than a million visitors. We have learned a lot and though our concept has evolved, we are excited by the prospects our future holds. It would be hard to capture all that we do in one brief description, so please do visit our website – www.iHangar.org - to learn more about our unique venue, our many partners, and our diverse programming.
The Palace of Fine Arts, a 120,000 square foot architectural jewel, was built for the Panama Pacific International Exposition in 1915. This year-long celebration of innovation left our city with this monument to creativity and ingenuity more than 100 years ago. Today, we see a kind of poetry in once-again celebrating innovation here inside the Palace of Fine Arts, and we are proud to call this building home.
On any given day, you might find:
- A meaningful conference about bringing diversity to tech
- A career fair workshop for either adults being trained in internet of things, or H.S. seniors learning job skills
- Families playing ping-pong, toddlers building with engineering toys, or a local stroller brigade relaxing in our Imagination Playground
- Inspiring talks on entrepreneurism, and engaging conversations around documentary series
- Students learning and building the vehicles of the future
- 12 strangers meeting for the first time to discuss new ideas over dinner
- Two entrepreneurs meeting to talk about unique collaborations
As creatives and innovators, we are committed to ideals: celebrating the innovative spirit that defines the Bay Area, learning and growing through exploration and innovation, and working together for a better world.
Founders Dan and Bethany Shine envisioned iHangar to fill a need; a need for a physical space for innovation to thrive. They believed in their vision so much they invested not only monumental amounts of their personal time, but also invested personal funds to launch this concept. They got their family, kids, friends and neighbors involved; then built relationships with partners and not-for-profits and entrepreneurs.
Dan says, “At this point, everyone agrees we're on to something. We know exactly how we will impact kids and partners with the next $200,000, and we know how to change the playing field for dozens of social entrepreneurs with the next million dollars. Dollar for dollar, we are efficient and lean. Inclusive Innovation is our ethos, social impact is our yardstick, and everything else comes later. We are passionate. At this point, we can only thank our many supporters and partners for your remarkable support thus far, and ask you to join us and support us as we approach the future. Your next event should be here. Your team should work here. Your kid's school should visit here. This is the place you should learn about VR, drones, 3D printing, Space, and all things innovation.” (For more from Dan, click here.)
- With your help, we will be able to continue to bring the public these opportunities.
o FREE museum and indoor playground, with free public restrooms
o Discounted or free space for our not-for-profit partners to focus on excelling in content delivery - empowering organizations to build programs without the burden of other venue costs.
o Support for entrepreneurs in the form of physical space, introductions, public beta-testing opportunities, and more.
We couldn’t have done this without our core foundation of principles and partnerships.
• We believe in FREE access to the public.
• We believe in supporting entrepreneurs.
• We believe in life-long learning and education for all.
• We believe in inclusivity and access.
• We believe in social impact and sustainability.
• We believe in partnerships.
• We believe the Palace of Fine Arts should remain a community cultural and educational center, open to the public and visitors to San Francisco.
• We believe in community connectivity and empowering other not-for-profits.
• We believe if we have more than we need, we build a longer table.
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iHangar 2.0: Summer of STEAM
This year, 2017, is the 50th anniversary of the Summer of Love, here in San Francisco, and iHangar is taking our own little twist on this celebration by highlighting the current major San Francisco cultural movement: Innovation. Whether as a local or a visitor to San Francisco, where do you go to see innovation in action? What does innovation look like? How can you learn to be innovative?
This spirit of entrepreneurship and innovation is especially visible in the area of STEM/STEAM education. We believe hands-on, interactive, experiential learning and collaboration is the best way to celebrate what is happening in the San Francisco of today.
Our Summer of STEAM will feature anchor exhibits, programs and educational events, and our very-own entrepreneurs-in-residence. We are excited to share so many ideas:
• Science: The Space Station Museum is coming to SF! We are very excited to bring an Annex of the collections featured by TSSM in Novato, including a scale-replica of the Space Station, a lunar rover signed by a dozen astronauts, a real space suit, and much, much more.
• Technology: Our resident partner, Brick Simple, will be showcasing their Virtual Reality equipment and their new advances in experiential software through interactive demonstrations.
• Engineering: Landscape architect Lawrence Halprin fundamentally changed the way people interact with public spaces. We are delighted to bring a photographic exhibit of his work, created by and currently on display at The Landscape Architecture Foundation in Washington D.C.
• Art & Design: Featuring works by numerous artists, including holography, murals, and 3D printed sculptural works. Guests will be able to see the design that goes into a 3D printed work as well as iterations of the process.
• Mathematics: Math permeates science and technology, and will be on display in numerous ways integrated throughout our exhibits and programs.
What We Need & What You Get
When we started this adventure in 2014, before we even had the keys in hand in 2105, we had enough starting capital to get us through out initial lease term of about 18 months. We’ve been in the space now for more than 24 months and we have come to a critical decision time. We’ve decided this social and entrepreneurial experiment is worth re-investing in and we hope you can see the value, too. We need $200k now to be able to maintain our lease.
This fundraiser will both get us current and provide us with the option to renew our lease with the city. We are eager to renew for our next cycle so we can plan ahead and provide even more of the content and facilities we’ve been becoming known for during our launch phase.
The good news is we’ve been given an incredible matching grant! This entire $100k campaign will be matched dollar-for-dollar through a generous offering from a family foundation who believes in our mission and our work: The W Foundation. We are so thankful for their support.
Trust is built by doing what you say you’re going to do, and being honest. We believe in being totally transparent about our costs and expenses:
• We spend almost $50k per month just on our building: Rent, utilities, restroom supplies for public access, and related expenses.
• We keep our staff and other costs low by partnering with numerous organizations toward in-kind contributions. It might seem old fashioned or out of place in the high-dollar world of tech, but we like to barter! Here are just a few examples:
o We partner with a local construction company for projects and exhibit builds in exchange for shop space on site.
o Marketing and graphic design, including our website, are also provided in-kind through a resident partner.
o Rather than renting furniture, many of our event partners purchase similarly priced items for their events which they can donate them to us after the event is over. This way, we can use these items later and save our money for providing content.
We run a tight ship with a small high-energy staff but daily operational costs are great. Our partnership relations mean our real dollar contributions can go directly to the important work of keeping our 120,000 square feet clean, freely accessible to the public, and filled with fun Innovation-themed exhibits, events, programs, and learning opportunities.
Whatever funds we don’t raise through this campaign will be sought through other tactics: corporate sponsorship, donations and major gifts, and the like. Your help will go directly to keeping our doors open to the public for FREE! If we don’t reach our entire goal, your contributions will still go straight to supporting the programs and partners we have developed.
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Other Ways You Can Help
Some people just can't contribute, but that doesn't mean you can't help us succeed:
• Do you have a social media account? Share this campaign! Tell your friends about iHangar and the cool work we’re doing here at the Palace of Fine Arts
• Are you involved with a not-for-profit in need of events space? A big chunk of our revenues come from events – so, let your group know about our venue!
• Do you work for a company that offers matching funds? Contact maren@iHangar.org to get us on your companies list for future matching funds.
• Do you do something cool that would fit in here at our space? Come! Bring your talents and company to help us grow our exciting community of innovators and entrepreneurs.
The W Foundation believes in us enough to have contributed a generous matching grant; our Entrepreneurs-in-Residence believe in us enough to have tied their business’ success to ours; our many not-for-profit and event partners believe in us, and we hope you will, too.
IHangar is a 501 (c) (3) public charity. Your contribution is tax deductable (less value of perks received.) EIN #46-5647699
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