Dec 192012
 

Athens’ Own Winter Newsletter

December 2012

In this issue:

  1. Wellworks holiday gathering
  2. Website and Web store
  3. New Products
  4. Other updates
  5. Intern news

 WellWorks Holiday Gathering

Athens’ Own attended the annual WellWorks Holiday Gathering on December 18, 2012. This was Athens’ Own’s 5th year attending this event. Constantine and Alyse were present to hand out samples of Cheese, Beef, Cashews, Coffee, and Jalapenos. The cheese was a crowd favorite!

As usual, Athens’ Own did not provide disposable cups for coffee samples. When we are asked why not, we explain that our company aims to reduce our carbon footprint, reduce waste production, and prioritize reusable resources. Constantine helped rally others to the cause by explaining that we are in the middle of the zombie apocalypse, and there are no disposable cups left. So if you want coffee, you should carry a cup with you! Nearly everyone who we discussed this idea with was interested and proud of our efforts to be more environmentally-friendly with our business practices. This also opens up a future opportunity for educational materials and/or signs, explaining this idea for anyone interested.

Athens’ Own at the WellWorks Holiday Gathering

An eye-catching display of products and Alyse’s efforts at artistic design made our table “the best it has ever looked”, according to Constantine, a sentiment echoed by many of the evening’s guests. We handed out nearly all of our flyers and brochures, and engaged many guests in discussion about the company, our products, and our practices. With a two-person staff this year, we were able to take turns visiting the other tables, saying hello to our friends and colleagues, and sampling other business’s goodies.

Athens’ Own will be evaluating the ongoing success of this event by monitoring our website traffic, online store orders, and public dialogue throughout the next few weeks and onward. We hope to continue our involvement with the holiday gathering in future years. We’d like to extend our sincere gratitude to WellWorks for inviting us to participate and for putting on such a great event!

 


Website and Web Store!

Athens’ Own Products for sale online now!

Athens’ Own officially launched our re-vamped website this month, including an all-new online shop. Using WordPress software, our new site includes information pages, community forums, blogs, polls, and newsletters. More updates to come include profile pages for our team members, multimedia pieces, interactive presentations, and videos.

The online store, powered by the Woocommerce plugin, currently has all Athens’ Own products available for sale. Customers can pay via paypal, credit/debit cards, or check, and we can ship to all 50 states, with the possibility of international shipping in the future. We have already received a few online orders, and we hope with added advertising, that volume will increase quickly. This new venture also opens up many possible future opportunities for interns, employees, and volunteers.

Visit the store here: www.athensown.biz/store

New Products:

– Now for sale at Seaman’s in Athens, and through Athens’ Own at the Broadwell Hill Learning Center.

– Bulk quantities available, contact constantine@athensown.biz for more information.

– Tasting notes coming soon!

Ohio Honey – Now available from Athens’ Own!


Other updates-

  • Dancing Tree distillery (Visit their site Here) has recently released their Coffee Liquor, made with our own Dawn Chorus Coffee! This local business is focused on the community food network, and we are pleased to be a part of this new product and their business family!
  • Miles McFadden has recently returned to the Athens’ Own booth at the Farmer’s Market, and has been sharing his cooking skills with our patrons. Along with our usual Dawn Chorus Coffee, Cheesy Grits, and Steel Cut Oatmeal, we have been serving Miles’ hamburgers with Ohio potato chips (from Shearers), and Frog Ranch pickles. Our friend Patricia at Adam’s Rib has been working with us to make cooked greens, which are a delicious addition to our famous grits. Thanks to Patricia and Miles for their cooking expertise and great additions to Athens’ Own!
  • Kaitlyn Bernaur, a long-time friend and contributer to Athens’ Own and the Broadwell Hill Community, recently gave our products their first ever professional photo shoot. Kaitlyn’s photos will be appearing soon as our featured product photos on the new website and store. Thanks again to Kaitlyn for her passion, talent, and outstanding dedication to Athens’ Own!

Intern news:

Mathew Learns about packaging Athens’ Own products

Athens’ Own intern Mathew Roberts returned this semester to continue his work with us. Mathew has been spending his time both doing hands-on learning and at-distance writing for various audiences. Some hands-on learning this semsester included packaging coffee and cashews, picking up grain from Jackie O’s, and making deliveries to various Athens’ Own Partners. Mathew’s writing this semester included a published profile piece in Ohio University’s College Green magazine about Constantine and Athens’ Own, as well as several strategic communications documents and team reports for Athens’ Own internal use. We are glad to have Mathew as a member of our team, and are looking forward to continuing to supplement and enhance his education through internship learning opportunities.

In other intern news, we are hoping to increase intern involvement with Athens’ Own throughout spring semester. We have been advertising via flyers and online postings, and welcome all interested applicants. Please check out our intern site (www.interns.athensown.net) or send an email to internships@athensown.net for more information.

 


 Thanks for reading! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from the Athens’ Own Team!


 

 

This newsletter was written and published on December 19.2012, by Alyse Carter, Athens’ Own Liaison/Public Information Officer.

Dec 192012
 

Report: Newsletter

The farmer’s market was another hot-spot of activity for the Athens’ Own team. I gave a brief report on my recent visit to the Do The Math! Tour. In talking about the divestment plan activated by the students at Ohio University, we noticed that many of the participants of the event have common big ideas, but are too separated. With many people deeply involved into different organizations all working towards a healthier and sustainable world, why aren’t these teams working together? Yet, many of the people I met on the trip are in pursuit of doing just that. The first direct connection was with the President of the student coalition for the Sierra Club, Caitlyn McDaniel. I was able to share contact information with her to form a partnership on the way back to Athens from the DTM! tour. Luckily enough, Constantine introduced me to Loraine McCosker, the advisor for McDaniel’s leadership in the Sierra Club. She invited me to the Sierra potluck dinner on Thursday (12/6) to network with more people. In doing so, we hope to create a co-sponsered film-showing (Athens’ Own and Sierra Club). The goal of this showing would be to gain membership to the Sierra Club OU student coalition while providing information on academic activism through an internship with Athens’ Own. Overall, this was an outstanding public relations and networking day for Athens’ Own. This is one more positive step in the evolution of our newly-developed initiatives. After a successful project, we will be hoping to develop a graphic of the “interwoven web” of Athens’ Own.

 

Reflection:

Meeting with Loraine to discuss our work and exchange information was my first step in networking with the Ohio University environmental studies community. I have discussed Dr. Debatin’s environmental journalism course, but he is a Scripps professor. Thanks to Constantine, I was able to be introduced to an amazing person and an amazing opportunity. Loraine forwarded me to Dr. Dabelko, the coordinator for the environmental studies certificate. It took me little time to commit to this idea because of my personal holistic goal to “Emerge deeper into the sustainability, environmental and local food community culture”{ recent update from (11/27/12)}.  I have thus far contacted both Loraine and Dr. Dabelko for meeting again. It’s been a successful semester to this point because I feel like I am more knowledgeable about the Athens’ Own mission and history.  I’ve dedicated a large amount of time hoping to recruit more students to join this work. Most of the feedback seems to stem from not having enough time. While I feel that the lack of time can be an issue for most people, I personally thrive to open up time for Athens’ Own each week at minimum because this is a lifestyle I have a STRONG passion for. It is a shame it has taken me so long to solidify this following for the remainder of my time in Athens, but I am glad I have still this year and at least one final year to develop my work and the Athens’ Own  team.

 

-Mathew Roberts, Athens’ Own Intern

Published 12/19/12