TOMS Books for Bloggers

I came home from work yesterday to find a mysterious UPS note on my door with “Toms” scribbled in the sender line.  I haven’t ordered any shoes recently and I definitely don’t have any friends named Tom sending me care packages, so it took a second to sink in what it may be.  But I had never received any sort of email response about the Books for Bloggers contest I entered a few weeks ago, so still wasn’t certain. After some digging in my junk mail folder, I found the answer I was looking, and it looked a little something like this:

We’re stoked to have been selected to be a part of this program. The TOMS vision has been an inspiration ever since I bought my first pair of their shoes at the Austin City Limits Music Festival back when TOMS first started. Heck, I may have even bought them from Blake Mycoskie himself for all I know.

I’m eager to read this book, as I know I will find some good motivation on how to turn my little-big ideas into bigger-big realities.  I hope that each of our volunteers will also read this book and write reviews on here of what they take from it.  If any of you Austin2Angkor followers out there want to pick up a copy  of Start Something That Matters and join in on this informal book club, I’d love to publish your thoughts on here, as well.

As for the book giveaway–it only seems right that our team read the book first before coming up with an apt contest. Rest assured, we will be getting the Austin community involved in a creative way to help us further spread the word on our something that matters.

Shoot us an email if you want to take part in reading this!

Roni

Fun Fun Fun Fest Recap

Thanks to everyone who stopped by our tent this weekend to learn about what Austin2Angkor is all about!  We left each day with throats, eyes, nails, clothes, skin and hair full of dust, but we still managed to enjoy meeting so many new people. Several Cambodians actually spotted our flag and stopped by our tent over the course of the festival, as did folks who have traveled to Cambodia. It was so nice to share what we were doing with people who have had first hand experience there.

Not to mention the people watching from our tent–directly across from the entrance, near the comedy stage and right by an amateur wrestling ring–made the long hours quite entertaining!  Here are some of the views from our tent:

 

On Sunday night our new friend and neighbor, Ivory from Invisible Children, did us the honors of drawing the two winners of our South Congress prize packages. Big congratulations and thank you to our winners Erica Almaraz of San Antonio, TX & Marissa Davila of Edinburg, TX. Erica won our grand prize with a night at the Hotel San Jose, dinner at Botticelli’s, breakfast at Magnolia Cafe and shopping at Stag. Marissa will receive a $20 gift card to Snack Bar and a necklace from The Impeccable Pig. Giant shout out to all our fabulous South Congress donors!

We even managed to scarf a few stars of the Fest! We were literally this close |_______________________________| to scarfing Ryan Gosling!

Headlining Comedian/Actor Brian Posehn

and Lizardman!

Thank you Fun Fun Fun Fest for allowing us to be a part of the, well, fun–we hope to do it again next year!

Meeting Recap #7

April has been a huge success for Austin2Angkor as we  close in on $2,000! Thanks to everyone who has shown us love and support, we are excited for what the summer has in store.

Quick update on what we discussed at today’s meeting:

• We had a great time at the Crawfish Boil yesterday–thanks again to the Adams and Zittrer’s for allowing us to hold a special raffle at the event.

• Summer Raffle- Tickets are here and ready to be sold! At just $1 each, you can have a chance to win great prizes from Moonshine, Birds Barbershop, MYO Massage,  TacoDeli and many more as our list continues to grow. See a volunteer to sign up to win!  The drawing will be held at a special event on July 4.

• We’re working on our May Happy Hour with one of our favorite spots. This time we’ll have a specialty cocktail with proceeds going to our project! Details to be announced soon.

Screening Update

Thanks to everyone who joined us for yesterday’s screening of Enemies of the People. The film was a powerful testament to the atrocities in Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge, and we hope that those who attended left with a better understanding of what the Khmer people endured and continue to suffer the repercussions of.

Big thank you to Rob Lemkin and Thet Sambath for allowing us to share their work with the Austin community.

And another big shout out to the Alamo Drafthouse for donating the space and proceeds from the screening to Austin2Angkor.   Your team is the best!

Happy Khmer New Year!

Tomorrow marks the beginning of Chaul Chnam Thmey, the Khmer New Year, a three day festival celebrating the end of the harvest and impending rainy season.

To celebrate, Cambodians take time off work to visit with family and friends, play traditional games, clean their homes, and visit temples.

Here’s a breakdown of each day’s celebration (excerpts from wikipedia):

Day 1: Maha Songkran, derived from Sanskrit Maha Sankranti, is the name of the first day of the new year celebration. It is the ending of the year and the beginning of a new one. People dress up and light candles and burn incense sticks at shrines, where the members of each family pay homage to offer thanks for the Buddha’s teachings by bowing, kneeling and prostrating themselves three times before his image. For good luck people wash their face with holy water in the morning, their chests at noon, and their feet in the evening before they go to bed.

Day 2: Virak Wanabat is the name of the second day of the new year celebration. People contribute charity to the less fortunate by helping the poor, servants, homeless, and low-income families. Families attend a dedication ceremony to their ancestors at the monastery.

Day 3: Tngay Leang Saka is the name of the third day of the new year celebration. Buddhists cleanse the Buddha statues and their elders with perfumed water. Bathing the Buddha images is the symbol that water will be needed for all kinds of plants and lives. It is also thought to be a kind deed that will bring longevity, good luck, happiness and prosperity in life. By bathing their grandparents and parents, children can obtain from them best wishes and good advice for the future.

Austin2Angkor would like to wish the entire BFT team a Happy Khmer New Year, may the year ahead be full of health and prosperity!  We look forward to seeing you next year!

The BFT Team

Supporter Shout Out & Meeting Recap #6

Special shout out to all those who came out to our happy hour at The Local on Friday and to Anne & Hart Nelsen of Georgetown, TX.  Thanks to all of your generous donations, we have passed another big milestone: $1,000!

Quick update on what we discussed at today’s meeting:

• This Friday, April 15 from 1:30-3:30pm, cheesecake extraordinaire Shannon is hosting an office bake sale at Alliance Abroad Group.
• This Sunday, April 17 at 1:00pm is our special benefit screening of Enemies of the People. Get your tickets now by clicking here.
• On Saturday, April 30, we will be at Tracy’s annual legendary A to Z Crawfish Boil. We will be holding a special raffle for that event, so come out and join us for some grub, ritas and volleyball.
• Our raffle list is growing fast! Let us know if your company is interested in making a donation. It is an ongoing Summer Raffle event, and the big drawing will take place on July 4. Look out for tickets at our summer events.

Finally, we received this lovely greeting card from BFT Center over the weekend and thought we’d share. Look out for a special Khmer New Year post in a few days.

Cambodian New Year Screening of Enemies of the People

We are proud to announce that tickets are now on sale for the Sundance award-winning documentary Enemies of the People. We have teamed up with filmmakers Rob Lemkin and Thet Sambath to bring this incredible film to Austin for the first time in honor of Cambodian New Year.

The screening will take place at the Alamo Village on Sunday, April 17 at 1:00 PM. Tickets are $10 and all profits go toward Austin2Angkor. Advanced purchase is highly recommended and can be done here (click on the show time): http://www.originalalamo.com/Show.aspx?id=8283

We will also be kicking off our summer raffle at the event, which includes prizes from some of Austin’s finest establishments.

Big thanks to the Alamo Drafthouse for donating space for this special event!

Enemies of the People
A film by Rob Lemkin and Thet Sambath
An Old Street Films/Thet Sambath production
For more information on the film, visit www.enemiesofthepeoplemovie.com

Contest Winner

Congratulations to James Simmons of San Antonio,TX! He is the winner of our SXSW scarfing contest.

What a great shot!

Scarfing Campaign Finalists

Head to our Facebook page to vote for your favorite photos from this week’s SXSW Scarfing campaign!  We met some great new folks, attendees and musicians alike, and had great opportunities to share what we here at Austin2Angkor are doing.

“Like” your favorites and the winner will be notified on Wednesday, March 23.

 

The Antlers

 

 

Meeting Recap #4

Here’s a quick update on what we discussed at today’s meeting:

• Project details are now available on our website (see below) and Goal section of this blog.  We will be funding 3 community centers in 3 different communities, each of which will make a significant impact in the areas of illiteracy, malnutrition and poverty.  Downloadable detailed plans are also available for your viewing pleasure.

• www.Austin2Angkor.com is officially launched!

• “Like” us on Facebook to stay up to date on our upcoming events.

• Our “scarfing” campaign is now launched as we take to the streets during SXSW.  Pose for a photo in one of our scarves, get the most votes on Facebook, and you will win a krama of your own…there are only a handful left!

• Our beautiful postcards have arrived! They will be making their debut at SXSW so be on the lookout.  Here’s a sneak peek:

• Upcoming Events:
  • Friday, April 1– Our first Happy Hour at Red House. Details TBA
  • Sunday, April 17– Austin premiere screening of Enemies of the People at the Alamo Drafthouse. Tickets will go on sale in early April.
  • Saturday, April 30– We’ll be at the 8th Annual A to Z Crawfish Boil hosting a special raffle.  If your business would like to make a raffle donation, please drop us a line for details!