TeachStreet™

Used to be, the only celebrity who could claim to be “green” was Kermit the Frog.  Nowadays you can’t pick up a paper (or in my case, your wife’s People magazine) without reading about how everyone in Hollywood is sporting the green life.  But let’s face it, we can’t all be like Leo or Cameron.  I like Mother Earth too, but what’s a common dude to do?

After a quick browse on TeachStreet, I learned there’s no excuse: I can go green today.  For starters, there’s a landscaping course that teaches how to be ‘energy wise.’  I could learn how to make my own Biodiesel — and the class is walking distance from my house (two green thumbs up!)  There’s even a class on Solar Home Design — I’m curious to learn how they can make that work in Seattle (if you’ve taken that class, post a comment and let us in on the secret!!)

Maybe it’s not so hard to be green after all.  Here’s a sampling of what’s out there:

• Energy Wise Landscaping
• Make Your Own Biodiesel
• Solar Home Design
• Master Composting/Soil Builder Trainer
• Think Green!
• Basics of Commuting

From Vera’s to the Tractor Tavern, Ballard is full of Seattle landmarks, hangouts, and well, Scandinavians, too.

And though there are classes at the Nordic Heritage Museum for those looking to brush up on their Norse language skills this month, there are also numerous other classes in Ballard, both on and off Market, that don’t require the ability to read a single rune.

Creative Commons: Ballard Locks | Waqas Ahmed

• Golf Conditioning -Outrageously Fit.
  It’s about that time of year again! Outrageously fit offers one-on-one or small group training sessions by appointment for golfers looking to improve their strength, flexibility or posture. Call 206. 782. 2199 for more info.

• Belly Dancing Class - Ballard Health Center & Wellness Spa.
  Kyndra Bade teaches belly dancing Thursday nights from 8:30 - 9:30 pm at the Ballard Health Center & Wellness Spa. Call 206. 783. 0404 for more info.

• Tennis Lessons - Chris Lewis Tennis.
  Chris, who played his college tennis at Cal Berkeley, in addition to being a standout player, is also a standout coach. He’s been teaching in Ballard and around the Seattle area for over 5 years. Send Chris an email for more info.

• Glass Blowing Class - Blowing Sands Glass Studio.
  In addition to their gallery, Blowing Sands also has a studio for those looking to take classes. Stop by or call them at 206. 783. 5413 for more information about class times.

• Sewing Classes - Quality Sewing.
  Quality Sewing has locations all over town, but their Ballard shop has a number of classes for those looking to make bags, trench coats, shirts, or anything else. For more info send them an email or call at 206. 782. 9400.

And for those who can’t get enough of Ballard, here are some Ballard blogs worth checking out.

• Seattle P-I Ballard Reader Blog

• MyBallard Blog

• Ballardite Blog

• Ballard Blog

• Ballard Gossip Girl

Hello World — we’re so excited to welcome you to TeachStreet!

The last 6-9 months have been an incredible experience. While the TeachStreet idea is about a year old, the team has actually been developing the website for only about seven months, and we’re incredibly excited to share our efforts with you. We launched today with a directory of more than 25,000 classes, teachers, and schools across the Seattle metropolitan area. While building that directory was a herculean effort, we’re even more excited about the easy-to-use tools we’ve built, to help make it incredibly convenient for teachers and schools everywhere to get themselves set up on the web with a professional presence that helps them find more local students, more quickly.

First, we’d like to thank our friends and family for all of their support — we couldn’t have done it without you.

We’d also like to say a special thank you to our early investors and advisors — your belief in us is truly humbling. Thank you Erik and Maryam, Joel and Karen, Mike, Chris and Regan, Kim, Mom & Dad S., Jeff and Anne, Jason and Jamie, Dave and Saya, John and Sally, Dave and Sharon, Auntie Maine, and Gregg. To our later investors, we are equally humbled — thank you to Scott, Matt and Geoff at Madrona Venture Group and to Melinda, Steve and Jeff at Bezos Expeditions — we are so excited about your involvement in what we’re trying to build.

Wow… It’s starting to feel like an awards acceptance speech around here… I promise, I’ll sign off soon.

Next, thank you to the Seattle startup community — we’ve been propped up with advice and assistance on a moment’s notice over and over — thank you — we’ll strive to return the favor. And, to our advisors and consultants, you’ve been unbelievable.

Finally, I’d like to personally thank the members of the TeachStreet team: Katie, Fred, Scott, Leandra, Jon, Sam and Jim; plus Amanda toiling away at Grinnell. You’ve been unbelievable. I’m so excited about what we’ll be building together.

Onward!

Dave (and Zach the Dog)

p.s. We’ll leave you with two TeachStreet Launch Limericks, courtesy of Mama Gruv, Penny Gruver (proud ‘mom’ to our wonderful Katie Gruver!):

Is there something you’re itching to know?
Come on and give teachstreet a go
Just settle right in
and give us a spin
It won’t even cost any dough

There once was a place about teaching–
you could get there without any preaching
you just sit in your house
and you work that old ‘mouse’
and soon EVERYWHERE you are reaching!

Jim stands by the the TeachStreet “On” Switch… getting ready to flip it..

And at 1:18am, 1:21am, 1:28am TeachStreet went live!  Yee haw!!!

Let the party begin!

In addition to technology and espresso, Seattle-ites can take pride in another great local product: authors. From Theodore Roethke to David Guterson, a number of well known writers have, and do, call the area home. Perhaps the Northwest’s natural beauty inspires the great literature, but I think it’s more likely that great local writers are the product of great local teachers.

If this is true, the future of the Seattle writing community is in good hands with programs such as 826 Seattle. For those of you who are not familiar with 826 Seattle, it’s a nonprofit writing and tutoring center in Greenwood dedicated to helping kids, ages six to 18, improve their writing skills. Their mission, which is remarkably similar to ours here at TeachStreet, is to inspire learning by facilitating one-on-one opportunities between teachers and students.

Unfortunately, all of us here in the TeachStreet office are too old to take classes at 826 Seattle. However, Teri Hein, a Fulbright scholarship recipient herself, has created a great school with no shortage of opportunities for aspiring young writers who are the correct age.

In addition to their great programs, which include tutoring, writing workshops, and field trips, 826 Seattle has a wealth of great authors who are actively involved in the school, including David Eggers (author of A Heart Breaking Work of Staggering Genius) and Sherman Alexie (the world renowned poet and writer), just to name a few.

So if you are a literary Seattle-ite who has never heard of 826 Seattle, or never gotten involved, it’s well worth checking out. And if writing is a cause you believe in, there are a number of ways you can lend your support.

Maybe the number is 25, maybe it’s 40, but whatever the age is, the birth of a child marks the beginning of a new chapter in a parents’ life. It’s a demographic transition marked by numerous changes: parenting books, diaper duty, and of course the wagon-ization of what might have formerly been a sports car.

It wasn’t until the birth of my cousin, Remy, last month that I had seen this transformation first hand. All of a sudden, my cousin, Becky, in the panic of early motherhood, became full of questions.

• What do I do about medical insurance?
• How do I make sure Remy is getting the right things to eat?
• How will I find the best schools for him to go to?

Her list of questions went on, which got me thinking: where would a first time Mom go to have these questions answered? It didn’t take much poking around for me to realize that there are a number of great parenting resources here in Seattle.

In addition to local organizations such as Parent Map and Red Tricycle, Seattle Moms have somewhat of a one-stop-shop in SeattleMomBlogs.com.

Seattle Mom Blogs is much more than an amalgamation of blogs written by local Moms. It is a community where Moms share stories, ideas, and lend thoughtful, educated advice to one another. It’s a place where local Moms engage in open dialogues with one another and share common experiences.

In the creation of Seattle Mom Blogs, founding Mom bloggers, Jenny, Eve, and Kathryn succeeded in creating a diverse network of members which includes Ph. D’s, scientists, web developers, and full time Moms, just to name a few. And even though the Mom bloggers blog about Mom issues a lot, they also have a wide array of personal interests they blog about, too. Some of their most common interests are reading, cooking, and traveling, but you’ll also find scrapbookers and fashion professionals among them.

So if you’re a first time Seattle Mom, a veteran Mom, or just someone interested in sharing common interests, Seattle Mom Blog is a great local community to get involved with.

Starting in March of 2008 you will be able to buy Tigerade. It will actually be called “Gatorade Tiger,” but either way, you’ll soon have a choice to make when you buy your next 32 ouncer: “Be like Mike” or “Be Like Tiger.” If increases in PGA Tour TV ratings and Nike apparel sales are indicators, then I’m guessing many will chose the later. Tiger’s popularity has not just benefited corporate sponsors though; it has benefited everyone in the golf industry. In many ways, the effect Tiger has had on golf is similar to the effect Lance Armstrong has had on cycling. And somewhere on the hierarchy of those who have benefited from Tiger’s popularity are local golf coaches.

Tiger Woods Picture: Britannica.com

Yesterday I got a chance to sit down with one of Seattle’s best golf coaches, David Elaimy. Though Elaimy has built his teaching and seminar business on regular customers and little marketing except for word-of-mouth, newer teachers may need to be more proactive to generate students. To tackle the problem of finding students, let’s first ask the reverse question, how would a student find a teacher?

In the absence of a friend’s recommendation, a student would likely turn to Google. (Where else?) On the results pages they would find course listings and Yellow Pages or City Search style directories. Then, after not finding any sort of aggregated information such as teacher ratings, reviews, etc., the student would likely take a shot in the dark by going to the local driving range or golf course.

This process is not a problem for many coaches because often times, especially during the summer, good coaches have more students than openings. So really, whether they are conscious of it or not, the problem belongs to the student: the weekend golfer who wants to finally break 100 or the accountant who wants a few tips before the company golf tournament. So how are these people going to find a good teacher?

Alright, alright, you see where my framed question is going, but in speaking with David it became very clear that golf is a space where TeachStreet could really deliver a worthwhile service to students, especially because no one else is focusing their attention on the teacher/student connection. There are, however, some interesting newcomers and relative newcomers in the golf industry who focus on helping teachers and students in other ways.

Cybergolf.com: Mukilteo based Cybergolf, founded by Jeff Shelley, serves up its own channel of golf TV. Cybergolf TV episodes are 3-4 minutes long and are broadcasted daily. It is a well produced show that gives Sporstcenter a run for its money.

SmarterLessons.com: Subscription based value-add for teachers that includes calendaring, bill pay and email services. Essentially it’s a place where students can sign up for classes online.

The First Tee: A great organization with over 1.5 million participants that gets inner city kids involved in golf.