The Importance of Wearing Sunscreen

The Renaissance Festival Lesson (Part 1)
After 6 hours of standing in the sun under an umbrella while promoting my organization's product, I noticed I had a very tight feeling on my cheeks. My shoulders burned a little and I realized, I wasn't wearing any sunscreen.

Thinking that the umbrella would protect me, I didn't take under consideration that I was next to a body of water. The UV rays bounced off the water's surface. It served as a type of mirror. When I left the festival, I was literally ill for three days. I had sun poisoning.

Calle Ocho Lesson (Part 2)
It is extremely important to wear sunscreen on all exposed parts, not just the face or shoulders. I also learned my lesson a weekend later at the Calle Ocho Festival. I was wearing flip flops and thinking I had covered all my bases I started experiencing a burning pain on the top of my feet. There is nothing like a sunburned foot to make wearing shoes intolerable.

Venues for Promotion

It is much more cost efficient and less labor intensive to piggyback on an event taking place in the community than to create one from scratch. Many events take months of preparation, bargaining with vendors, and sometimes end up costing more than to put together than to make money. Most community events offer publicity for their sponsors, and a minimum sponsorship fee. For nonprofits, the fees are sometimes cut to 70% and sometimes even free.



Booths are offered to sponsors so that the general public can find out more about the services or products, thus creating awareness for a fraction of the price.

Don't get me wrong, not all community events are perfect. Some research is involved when choosing the right venue.

If the product has a particular niche, for example a gun show would be a bad piggyback event to sell jewelry, the exposure would be minimal.

Please Speak English

I know Miami is composed of 63% Hispanics, but that doesn't mean that we should change the official language to Spanish. I’m of Hispanic decent, I look Hispanic, just like the rest of my Hispanic looking family, and I do know Spanish so when I speak it, it’s usually directed at my grandmother and her older sister, but those are usually the only occasions that I actually use my second language unless it’s to speak to someone from another country.

So when I go to a Westland Mall and I am purchasing the Tony Bennett American Duets CD, why does the cashier (which it's plainly clear that she knows English) decide to address me in Spanish? I’m not one of those individuals that gets annoyed with Latinos who only know Spanish, but I’m one of those people that gets annoyed with Americans with a Hispanic Heritage who enable those individuals to interact in the community without ever making an attempt to learn the language of the land.

Be an Organ Donor

There are currently about 98,000 people on the organ transplant waiting list, waiting for a much needed life saving transplant. Every 13 minutes, three individuals on that list will go into severe organ failure. By the end of the day 17 people on the transplant waiting list will die. A person can find these statistic and more on the www.Unos.gov.

It is so important to become an organ donor and speak to your next of kin about your wishes. Even though you might have the information on your driver’s license it doesn’t mean that your wishes will be carried out. You mother, father, without knowing your wishes may say no if you don't discuss this with them. Unlike Europe, a person needs to opt out of being a donor while here in the states, US Citizens have to sign up to become a donor. There needs to be a change because if 10% of the population signed up to become organ donors, no one on the list would die. It is our social responsibility we owe to our family, friends and neighbors to become donors and who knows, maybe the life we save can be theirs.

To get more information, go to www.transplantfoundation.org or call 305-819-5645 and ask for me, Yessie Salomon. I'll let you know how you can make a different. Pass this message on, and save lives.

Pepper Spray As Effective As Gun

For a few years now, I have carried pepper spray in my purse. I never really expected I would ever use it until recently when I heard gun shots ring out in my building (the complex I live at isn’t in a bad area) and a few women have been mugged at gun point in the back parking lot.

As a single woman, living alone, I have to protect myself if I’m to live in an apartment complex where property management no longer provide discounts to law enforcement officers to live in the rental community.

It was a windy day and on these days, dust and pollen blanket the air and I am stuck with itchy eyes and a runny nose. Even though I was ill my curiosity made me wonder if the pepper spray bottle I carried (because I’ve had it so long) was still effective, so I tested the can outside and when I tasted the disgusting mist that bounced back to me I stopped in fear that it would get into my eyes. I went back into my apartment and decided to do my cleaning chores and after a series of sneezes I rubbed my eyes. I had forgotten to wash my hands. The pain I went through was instantaneous. I couldn’t believe that a small smidgen would have created such a horrible, blinding pain in one eye. I had my face under running water for over half an hour.

I suggest that all women and men buy a can of pepper spray and carry it with them for protection instead of buying a gun. I previously never had any respect for the weapon I carried with me, but I just realized how effective it would be in a real emergency. A great site to visit and get more information on how great pepper spray is

http://www.defensedevices.com/abpepspray.html

Stage Manager

How To Be The Perfect Stage Manager

There is no exact science on being a stage manager. All productions are different and have their good and their bad moments. The bottom line is staying cool under pressure to avoid sticky situations with the individuals you will be working within this production and possibly the next.

As a stage manager what is your purpose? Here are a few of your job duties.

1. Setting up rehearsal schedules. Talent may have commitments that they need to take care of. It is your job to make sure that rehearsals won't be compromised because someone couldn't make it on that day. Scenes do not have to be rehearsed in order. They can be mixed around.

2. During read throughs, keeping track of where the last person reading left off. It is not the director's job to be technical. It is his or her job to be artistic. You must be one your game or otherwise you will have know-it-all talent that will try to show off.
3. If an actor is missing, it is your job to stand in. You will have to read in the same manor that the missing actor would so the pace of the scene keeps going.
4. Track of light and sound cues. Once the show starts you will be in charge of calling out the cues to the light and sound engineers.
5. You are the prop master. You need to keep track of what props are at hand, and what props you will need.
6. Once the show starts, you are the person that checks on the arrival of cast and crew.
7. Cast Party is also your responsibility as well as getting the director a present from the cast and crew (it's tradition).

If you have previous experience being a stage manager, insert other tidbits of advise.