Knowhere Collaborative

09/12/2024

Imagine if Downtown Albany had a welcoming, engaging space that invited people with open arms to experience the city, as so many other well functioning cities around the country do?

On my trip last year to see dozens of cities, I was shocked by how easy it was to… wait for it… go the bathroom. And how easy it is to rent a scooter or a bike, and yes… even a kayak.

And so began a year long journey to try and figure out a solution to something so… stupid. You can’t have a good city if people have to beg someone to use a bathroom.

You can’t have a good city if you dump people into a parking lot wasteland and say welcome to us!

And you can’t have a good city without all the people charged with making it a better space living on islands disconnected from one another.

I truly love this idea. It’s the right thing at the right time in the right place. And thankfully there are still groups of people like CDTA and Discover Albany willing to fight the good fight.

Redburn Development and CDTA are partnering to make Kiernan Plaza a transportation hub for buses and more.

06/19/2024

This is Natalie Gillis.

We never met. The last decision of her life was to make sure the plane she was piloting didn’t hit any nearby houses. I read her name in the paper this morning and spent nearly two hours reading about her, the choices she made, the way she lived her life.

What a blessing she was to Planet Earth. Her sense of adventure seems to only be outmatched by a shocking level of humility. The way she wrote, the pictures she took, the journeys she embraced- what a powerful example of how life can and should be lived.

I’m an emotional being. I teared up reading her own words about the adventures she took in 2023, flying over volcanos and rainforests to document their existing and future conditions. How cruel that she should lose her life on a perfectly mundane weather day in a place where nothing bad ever happens.

I hope you’ll click on her profile and scroll. Check out some of the links. Consume the existence she sought. It is everything.

Throughout today I personally will have to deal with a bevy of naysayers, cranks, and self-important people that believe their highest achievement in life is the suit they wear or the dollar sign on their paycheck. These… people… feign empathy and community, but their personal actions rarely back it up. Don’t be like that.

Be like Natalie. She was awesome. My heart aches for her family and friends, but also for us, the general community that lacks this spirit in a very real way.

Thanks for showing the way Natalie. Rest well.

05/28/2024

Want $250?

We've posted a couple QR codes around the Albany Skyway and we're giving a little extra this time. To win, all you've got to do is to get out there, scan the code (you can do this using your smartphone camera), and submit your entry!

Pop onto the Skyway from two points:

(1) Downtown Albany | Just South of The Olde English Pub on Clinton x Broadway

OR

(2) Albany Corning Preserve | Just NE of Jennings Landing on the Hudson River Waterfront.

Check it out the waterfront and preview this year's home for this year's Alive at Five summer concert series by Albany Events, right here in Downtown Albany, New York.

For those of you who haven't been ~ The Skyway is an elevated park reconnecting downtown Albany to the Hudson River waterfront.

The Skyway converted what had been an underutilized exit ramp from northbound I-787 into an urban oasis that provides easy access to the Corning Riverfront Park.

Get out there and keep your eyes peeled! You can submit one entry per email address. :-)

Winner announced this friday!

05/19/2024

Our goal Saturday was simple: have some fun and promote our friends at Unbeetable.

We got more than we bargained for.

With hundreds of people coming and going throughout the four plus hour Mario Kart Tournament, we witnessed a few things missing from most places in society today: kindness and camaraderie.

From the 12-year-olds helping us fix technology issues (not kidding), to two pre teens making the Sweet 16, to father-son and husband-wife matchups, to a roaring crowd throughout that was full of… support… it was a day.

All afternoon you could hear tales of missteps on a course- typically reserved for sports conversations when it comes to competition- and the listeners leaned in with empathy and discourse. The sadness with which my new friend Lola told their glitch story will stay with me.

Honestly, it was just awesome to see a bunch of strangers gather in real life for a goofy and good reason. Can’t wait to do it again soon.

05/16/2024

It’s a meeeee, Mario!

Sort of.

Good morning friends!

We are getting slammed with questions on the Mario Kart tournament for Saturday, May 18th, at 12 pm at Unbeetable!

We are giving away $2,000 in prize money. Why? Why not!

Here’s the breakdown:

- Registration starts at 11am
- Races starts at 12 pm.
- We only have 64 spots available for this inaugural tourney.
- The Tournament will be done bracket style with people being placed in 4 random brackets, and everyone being given a random seed by pulling out of hat. It is a blind draw.
- The courses will be a surprise.
- It will be played on an N64 with a projection screen on the wall.
- Matches will be 1 on 1, single elimination. The highest finisher of the race will advance.
- It is free to enter, but please support the business while you are there.
- You will have 2 minutes to take the controller once your name is announced. If you do not appear, you will be disqualified and your opponent will automatically advance.
- Controllers will be provided. You cannot use your own.
- No cheat codes (you are being watched)
- All ages are welcome.
- You should be having fun. Competition is great, but don’t be a jerk.
- We may or may not have to add rules as we see fit. The tournament is meant to be fun and engage with people. Bear with us through any delays, as this is a first attempt at creating a new community.
- Seriously, support the business you are in- the food and drink are great- no outside food can be brought in.
- The full tournament will take several hours. If you think you’re good enough to win, plan ahead. If not, wait until next time.

We will update this post before Saturday if anything changes!

Good luck!

05/14/2024

Anyone else need a laugh?

As part of our insistence that we all get back out into the real world- that’s when you leave the house and have fun (I’m talking to myself), we’ve purchased 10 tickets to this comedy show being put on by my friend Erin Harkes tomorrow night in my adopted hometown of Schenectady, NY.

The only thing we ask is that you actually show up!

Erin and I were scheming up something for this fall the other day when she mentioned this show.

My naturally curious self asked… why did you get into comedy after such a long career doing the singer/songwriter thing?

“The undivided attention.”

Perfect.

Shoot us a message if you want some tickets. It’s first come, first serve, but we may make you swear a blood oath to make sure you go!

Schenectady, in real life, tomorrow night, at Katie O'Byrne's Irish Pub & Restaurant!

05/09/2024

Let’s have some fun! And win some cash!

In honor of the overall coolness of Unbeetable and the 3-year anniversary of Take Two Cafe, we are hosting a Mario Kart tournament on Saturday, May 18th at 12 p.m. at Unbeetable.

That’s right. A Mario Kart tournament. You know you know how to play. Drop the banana. Shoot the shell. Beat your opponent.

The rules are simple- first 64 people that sign up that day will play NCAA style bracket tournament.

Win 6 matches, you’re the champion.

Prizes?

First Place- $1,000
Second Place- $500
Third and Fourth- $250

Cost to play? Completely free!

May 18th. Downtown Schenectady! Live at Unbeetable.

The inaugural Mario Kart Tournament!

05/08/2024

“We really are a family. We are passionate about what we are, and it shows.”

Passion is an attribute easy to talk about and impossible to mimic. You have it, or you don’t. And Chelsea Heilmann has it for days. The 33-year-old Schenectady native has not one, but TWO, fully vegan restaurants one block apart in Schenectady. The first is the hilariously named Take Two Cafe, a moniker chosen after her first venture fell apart, she got back up and dusted herself off.

The Café will celebrate its three-year anniversary on May 18th.

The second is the recently opened Unbeetable- a barcade (a bar and an arcade) on Clinton Street that specializes in wildly creative cocktail menu, vegan comfort food, and a host of nostalgic and new video games. It’s the kind of hyper specific use that one would find in a large city that has enough density for everything to work. And instead, it’s in the heart of Downtown Schenectady. And thriving.

“I’ve always wanted a nighttime vegan restaurant, I’ve always wanted a bar, and I love games,” Heilmann says when asked about they why she risked everything to start a second venture. It’s been great so far. We have people that come in strictly for the food. We have people that come in strictly for the games. And then we have a lot of people that really do both. After work drinks, dates, parties. It’s been a lot of different crowds.”

I met Chelsea shortly after she returned from living in Australia in 2016. There are fewer people that bring a fierceness to their everyday lives quite like her. She is an accomplished world traveler, having seen more of what this planet has to offer than most, and having the unique skillset to capture it, and recreate it.

She is also wonderfully disarming in her self-deprecation, and loves to deflect any and all attention on to those around her.

Talk about your journey as an entrepreneur.

“Ha. How much time do we have?”

A brief pause.

“It’s not easy. It’s hard to start and stop. I have felt discouraged and angry and defeated. But if you crash and burn… whatever. You’re only back where you started. You have to try. Then you learn. It’s not worth just dreaming. You have to do it. Anyone can fail. You could get a job with the state and get fired. Failing doesn’t make you a lesser person, it makes you a stronger person.”

The majority of the 30 minutes we spend talking I’m sipping on a Campfire White Russian, watching people mosey in and out. A guy to the right of us is playing a very aggressive game of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Chelsea shifts her focus to the 18 people that work with her at the two creations.

“Eighteen people listen to me, that’s the most impressive part,” she says with genuine laughter. “I just really lucked out. At Take Two the people that have worked with me have been there from the beginning. This is really about how we spend so much time together, we all care about what we do. We are passionate about what we are and it shows.”

The crew has a camping trip on Memorial Day, an annual tradition where they rent out a house with a pool, drink beer, barbecue and play co****le. It sounds like they’re an actual family.

“Oh my God, we are. And we care about what we’re doing. Everyone is all in.”

What they are doing is creating, producing and delivering a new to this part of the world commitment. A vegan for 9 years, both establishments are fully- 100 percent- plant based. You want a coffee with cream, use the oat milk. I have personally witnessed many people suggest it can’t be true, the food tastes too good to be vegan. What could elicit an eye roll, instead conjures a smile.

“You know when someone comes in for the first time,” she says with a chuckle. “They’re either super excited or way hesitant. There’s something for everyone. Even if you don’t think so. You can always get a basket of French fries and a Miller Lite. But people are trying more and more, obviously bigger restaurants rolling on options is educating people to a degree. Each year it’s growing more and more, we are here for it.”

As part of the Take Two anniversary, Knowhere Collaborative will announce a special event tomorrow at 8 a.m.!

In the meantime, you can go check out either place- UnBEETable is located at 144 Clinton Street, and Take Two Café is at 433 State Street.

05/05/2024

05/04/2024

Friends! It's opening day at Huck Finn's Playland The weather is going to cooperate and guess what... we've hidden a QR code somewhere in the park! Scan for prizes!

Also, here's a two minute interview with Joe Masher on why he decided to make the leap into buying an amusement park. This plan oozes authenticity, and I can't wait to see how he does this year! Many of you may know Joe as the guy that stepped forward to save the Spectrum in Albany. Go out and support those trying make this world a better place.

05/03/2024

We promised initiatives... let's get going! Every day between now and September 26th we will be giving away a minimum of $25 to use at businesses in Downtown Albany. Some days it will be $50. Some days, $100. You never know.

All you have to do is scan the QR code and cross your fingers! The code is hidden somewhere along the Albany Skyway or in the park. We will move it every day. Or every other day. Or maybe never. Stay tuned!

Please share with your friends!

05/02/2024

Transitions are emotional.

When I hit post, it is the end of an era. Nearly 7 years ago I started the Do The Next Good Thing community as a way to remember my sister Laurie Bereza and to spread a little joy and humanity into a society that desperately needed it.

I think it worked. Or at the very least, it felt right. We spread a lot of love, we told a lot of stories, and in a very, very small way, the world became a little better.

Now, we are needed again. We are needed for a bigger mission. A more challenging journey.

Personally, I’m not convinced it will work. But I’m bringing all the energy I have to it.

The pessimism that permeates our society is toxic. And each and every day it feels a little more contagious. It’s a danger to my hometown, the region I call home. 400 years old in some spots so much of it has lost its footing for fifty years. Some cases more.

We’ve had fits and starts. We have many positive developments.

Genuinely we have a terrific amount of things happening. We have reasons to be optimistic.

We need many, many more.

How do we get them?

We need a community. A group of tens of thousands of people that are willing to shout down the pessimists and the keyboard warriors. You know the type. The ones that immediately jump on every story and talk about how stupid it is, bringing nothing to the table except doom and gloom.

I hate it. I’m done with it. We need people to step up and stop the nonsense.

And so welcome to the Knowhere Collaborative. A community of people committed to making this small section of our universe an overall better place to be. We are intent on having fun and helping people and becoming an absolute force for good.

When I hit the post button, I’m changing the name of this page. We will no longer be named Do The Next Good Thing, but we will bringing all that DTNGT energy until we win or lose.

Ready?

- Jeff Buell

04/30/2024

I look across the room at Keila Dos Santos and say…

“If we aren’t having fun, we are on the wrong path.”

I also say… “We are going to be able to give a master class on how not to start a company.”

And so it begins.

Friends, colleague, lurkers, and haters…

I’m thrilled to announce today the creation of Knowhere Collaborative.

The what?

Let me state a truth I see.

We are stuck in a post-Covid doom loop that is threatening all the strides we have made in our cities. Stuck. That’s the right word. And we need to unstuck it.

This idea has been kicking around my head for nearly a decade now.

There are three guiding principles for Knowhere. And three main sectors to partner with.

First the sectors: (very) small businesses, non-profits, and cities. That’s right. I’m starting a marketing firm with intended clients that don’t have marketing budgets. Brilliant.

And the principles:

- Encourage
- Engage
- Entertain

Sooo… what are you doing Jeff?

As my friendHeidi Knoblauch said last week…

“You want to catalyze the chaos.”

It was a statement. Not a question.

In the coming weeks, we will roll out a bunch of initiatives that are all based in one single theory. Get people back into the real world again, let’s find some space to love and cherish life, and let’s stop focusing on all the doom and gloom.

Let’s have some fun.

Will it work?

You know, I have no idea.

Which is why I chose this picture. It’s my favorite piece of graffiti inside Central Warehouse, a building I convinced a bunch people to buy in hopes of solving one of our region’s most obvious problems. I had big dreams for that thing. They will not come to fruition. But you know what will? The solving of the problem. The building will come down. The nightmare over.

The lesson?

You can’t solve problems unless you try.

This is a call to action. To anyone that wants to make this tiny part of the world a better place to be. We are assembling a team to do just that. In the coming weeks, you’ll see the basis for how we do it, but the intention is to grow and grow until we reach the inflection point of optimists outweighing the pessimists. Here. This place.

Welcome to Knowhere Collaborative.

04/29/2024

The farther removed from April 30, 2016 we become, the more Laurie Bereza’s bucket list sits atop my head.

It is a manifesto we should all live by. It is counter cultural to the poisonous narrative that has taken control of society. In a post Covid world, these are the 5 things you need to thrive.

Am I all of these things? Ha!! I’m the poster boy for how not to be this. So are you. Because we are all human, here for just a bit, transgressors, blindly making our way through the storm. It’s beautiful isn’t it?

And while I do often miss the mark, I also see so clearly that when I’m leaning into these 5 simple things, I’m the closest to my best self I can be.

My favorite part as the years pass is the insistence that even if you smile every day, two steps later you must also be happy. A stark reminder.

And then finally… my true guiding principle… number 100- love and cherish life.

I’ve contemplated the “space between” she left. Purposeful? Unintentional? A mind meld?

What does it mean? Maybe nothing. But then again.

I miss my sister. For 8 years now she’s been gone. I’m sorry if you didn’t know her, totally your loss. I’m sorry if you did know her, you have that emptiness I have.