Father's Day Dive at La Jolla Shores

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As much as I love diving, it requires a level of motivation other sports just don't require. First there's your BCD or buoyancy control device, then there's your tank, octopus, regulator, wetsuit, mask, fins, and snorkel. And to top it all off you have to wear booties, gloves, a hood, and 6 mm wetsuit due to the cold temperatures here in San Diego. All in all, one of the best workouts you can have while escaping the rat race of land life.

Nik and I try to get out to the shores for a few dives any time we have the opportunity. Father's day was an especially nice day because we were able to squeeze two dives in on a beautiful day at the shores. Although the water was about 67 degrees and several PADI classes were taking place, we experienced good conditions. I guess I am biased, but I can't remember the last time i had a "bad time" diving.

Since I havent been able to justify the purchase of an expensive housing for my Canon GL2, we decided to use Nik's aging Canon s45 and underwater housing. We set the camera to video mode and closed the housing, crossing our fingers that we would have enough battery power to get through two dives - here are our dive logs:




The experience taking video and editing a small project was very positive and an investment in a camera housing is a consideration. Spending 1.5 hours underwater in a weightless environment is something I highly recommend. Put SCUBA diving on your "things to do before I die" list, its really worth all of the effort.

Candelas by the Bay

Last weekend, we had the pleasure of planning an event at Candelas on the Bay for the first time. Although the actual wedding was extremely stressful due to the lack of time we had to plan...5 weeks to be exact...the event as a whole was beautiful and left the bride & groom feeling like royalty. Guests were immediately greeted with appetizers and cocktails as they arrived at Candelas just before the ceremony. They were then escorted to the grassy beach front ceremony site which has an amazing view of downtown San Diego and the USS Midway Aircraft Carrier. The reception was held on the patio where guests were able to order their dinner from a customized menu. The food, service, and ambiance at Candelas on the Bay has to be one of the best I have experienced this year.

Coordination: Events by Design
Ceremony Officiant: Just Imagine Weddings
DJ: Events by Design
Flowers: Haydee's Creative Flowers
Cake: Jessie's Bake Shop

Our First Business Cards

Photo taken on the Blackberry Storm Smartphone

Like a proud father, I have to post a blog just to brag about our new business cards. Although Tre Media Group has been in business for almost three years, we have primarily been working as contractors for other comapanies with little need to brand the business. Now that we have become imcreasingly more busy, we felt it necessary to take the appropriate steps in creating our own company image. Within the past two months we have managed to develop a logo, launch a website, and finally print our very own business cards!

Although we designed the card ourselves I would like to give a special thanks to Heather at Village Print in San Marcos, Ca for assisting in the printing process. We decided to add an additional design element on the card called "Spot UV" which highlights different elements of the card. It's kinda hard to describe so you just have to see it for yourself...

2009 Childhood Obesity Conference

This week I attended the Childhood Obesity Conference at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel in Los Angeles, California. The goal of the conference is to provide information, resources, and networking opportunities to professionals who are currently grappling with the childhood obesity issue within our nation's homes, schools, and health clinics. I was honored to be selected as a speaker in the special breakout session entitled “Making a Difference: The Impact of School & Afterschool Wellness Policies."

I partnered with three AMAZING speakers including Dr. Missy Cody of Georgia State University, Gail Woodward Lopez of the California Department of Education, and Tracy Conkey of the California Dairy Council. I was asked to highlight some of the progress we have made in the San Marcos Unified School District as a result of developing and implementing a Local School Wellness Policy. During the presentation I discussed some of the enhancements we have made in the afterschool snack programs, student involvement via Nutrition Advisory Councils, and the culmination of these efforts in our District wide Wellness Policy Fair.

Following the session I received several comments on the validity and relevance of our presentation given the current economic state. Our programs in San Marcos focus on sustainable efforts through the reliance on student involvement, voulunteerism, and support from community partners which has very little impact on the school district's general fund. Although California is still ranked 48 in the nation in terms of funding for public instruction, the determination of our parents. teachers, and administrators have been able to sustain and improve the educational environment for students. Kudos to our AWESOME teachers in California!

I also had the opportunity to design the posters and exhibit materials for the Action for Healthy Kids booth. I am the Marketing Expert on the California AFHK Executive Committee and I have the fun job of developing pretty posters, newsletters, and consulting on social networking for the committee. I love graphic design and I take advantage of any opportunity to illustrate, conceptualize, or design marketing materials. I designed these two posters in Adobe Photoshop and they came out looking great!

Overall, the conference was a huge success! I had the opportunity to meet the Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell and many other leaders working to reduce childhood obesity in our country. The most influential thing that I will take from this conference is a quote from keynote speaker Dr. Eduardo Sanchez. "It is easier to build healthy children than it is to fix unhealthy adults." Let us not only provide children with the resources and opportunities to become healthy individuals but INSPIRE them to advocate health and wellness to their peers.

Pictures taken with the Canon EOS Rebel T1 i

Escondido Adventist Academy Graduation

This weekend I had the great pleasure of mixing sound for the EAA graduation ceremonies. The festivities began on Saturday morning for the Baccalaureate followed by class night that evening. The two day event concluded on Sunday afternoon with the commencement ceremonies.

The events ran smoothly with the exception of the senior boys performance during class night. I was told they would need three microphones for the special performance but when the time came it was a different story. The senior ensemble consisted of an acoustic, bass, and electric guitar, bongos, and 8 singers.

I pulled it together in true Events by Design fashion although I used up all 12 channels on my Behringer Europack Pro RX1202FX. It's a good thing our dj's come over-prepared.

This is my second year mixing sound for the EAA commencement and I look forward to the opportunity to do it again next year. The worst part about this gig each year is hearing when the graduates were born. 1991 was the birth year of most of the graduates and it makes me feel really old. Here's to the graduating class of 2009!

Sound: Events by Design
Videography: San Diego Digital Imagery

Roncone:Guyer Wedding

We had the chance to work with a super sweet couple this weekend, Bridgette Roncone and Dan Guyer. The bride was originally from Vista but now lives in Maryland with her new husband. An interesting fact that I learned from the Father of the Bride's speech...Bridgette used to play Pop Warner Football. I love that about her!

Although Saturday wasn't the ideal weather for a San Diego destination wedding, the event was still beautiful and everyone had a wonderful time. Guests were shuttled to the ceremony site at Luscombs Point (Sunset Cliffs Blvd.) on double-decker British Buses and were greeted by the amazing view. The reception was held at the Hyatt Mission Bay. This was definitely a fun crowd and the dance floor was packed the entire evening.

Thank you so much to all the vendors who helped make Bridgette & Dan's Wedding a huge success!

Coordination: Events by Design
Photography: San Diego Wedding Candids
DJ: Entertainment at Large
Flowers: Chris Gray & Violet