August 2009 at the Neighborhood Media Lounge

Project:

Media Arts Center San Diego is opening a new facility (dba Digital Story Station) in North Park which will bring media arts to the neighborhood through a unique media gift store, a cool media lounge where media artists can hang-out, and media workshops for new media artists.

Happenings:

August was mainly devoted to researching and making a presentation to the Board of Directors regarding the legal structure for the new entity. Upon arriving here on my first day, I had suggested that the new entity be a project of the current nonprofit corporation. However, there was much discussion about creating a separate for-profit corporation or LLC. I met with attorneys and business organization experts to acquire the necessary information to make a presentation on legal structures to the Board and a recommendation to the Board that the new entity should remain a project of the current nonprofit corporation. The Board of Directors adopted my recommendation. After the Board meeting, the Executive Director said that my presentation was brilliant. My previous legal background helped make the presentation a success.

Challenges:

It was a challenge to conduct the extensive research necessary and to meet with a variety of experts to support my initial suggestion that the new entity remain a project of the current nonprofit corporation.

Resources:

Document presented to the Board of Directors on August 13, 2009 is attached.

Concerns:

Funding sources for this project have not been secured or even identified. In September, I now have to turn my attention to identifying viable funding sources and writing applications for those funds. I am starting with the Foundation Directory Online (FDO) database.

Attachment	Size
Legal Structure Issues.doc	86.5 KB

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