What: Only Birmingham’s biggest annual sports event, a football showdown between two historically black colleges, the Alabama State Hornets vs. the Alabama A&M Bulldogs. Well, some football: It’s also a parade, battle of the bands, series of parties and events and reunions and fun. Football somewhat optional.

Where/when: The game itself is at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at Legion Field. Tickets are $20 to $25 in advance, $30 to $35 on game day.

Other Classic-related events can be found on Urbanham’s calendar.

Weather: Saturday high, 57, with 70 percent chance of rain in the morning, clearing by kickoff.

Bottom line: With 30 sponsors, the event has brought in more than $800,000, a jump of 5 percent over 2008. That’s no small feat in a down economy. The event reportedly brings in $15.9 million into the local economy.

More info:

• Official site
• AL.com
• Twitter
• Google news

UAB, Birmingham Society of Human Resource Management team up for Wednesday event

Workforce Survivor, a free daylong career event, takes place Wednesday on the UAB campus for those out of work, or fixin’ to be out of work.

Part one is the Job Search Skills Camp, a series of workshops to help with resumes, interviews (including how to dress) and more. Although it is not a job fair, Birmingham human resource personnel will be on hand to answer questions and network.

The camp takes place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at UAB Hill University Center Great Hall. [map]

Part two is old-fashioned networking, with hiring managers from area companies. Attendees are encouraged to bring resumes or business cards to the event, which will have food, cash bar and door prizes.

The networking event takes place from 5 to 8 p.m. in UAB Bartow Arena’s Green and Gold Room. [map]

The Birmingham Society of Human Resource Management and UAB Career Services are putting on both events.

Additional information:

• event site
• schedule
• flyer [pdf]
• registration

Shop, Save and Share starts today

Normally, we shy away from rampant consumerism. However, you gotta eat, and have clothes, and maybe an iPod or two.

Our friend Holly at the Lollar Group let us know about Shop, Save and Share, a program that saves you 20 percent off more than 500 retailers and restaurants, including Best Buy, Bromberg’s, Old Navy and Richard Joseph Salon Spa.

Donate $40 to receive the discount card, which is good today through Nov. 1. You can purchase the card online or through select retailers. (Note: Participating retail partners may limit or exclude specific items from the discount during the event.)

Donations support the Junior League’s 31 community projects in health, finances, safety and education.

For more information, visit the Shop, Save and Share page.

Birmingham Business Alliance to recognize nonprofit work

YPNow, formerly the YP Roundtable, wants to recognize leaders within the Birmingham-area nonprofit community with the recently announced Birmingham Leadership Awards. The new program will single out individuals younger than age 40 and nonprofit organizations based on self-nominations.

YPNow brings representatives of area nonprofit organizations together, in partnership with the Birmingham Business Alliance, to discuss and take action on issues related to young professionals and volunteerism.

Winners receive an award plaque, a mention in Birmingham Magazine and the Birmingham Business Alliance newsletter and the chance to participate in the awards’ process in 2010. The awards ceremony will take place from 5 to 7 p.m. Dec. 1 at the Summit Club downtown.

Applications must be postmarked by Nov. 20. It is free to apply and to attend the ceremony.

• Application [pdf]
• Awards ceremony registration
• More on the YP Roundtable

While Birmingham mayor Larry Langford faces his big day in court, it appears another former public servant is facing his own legal trouble.

This week, Jefferson County officials issued arrest warrants for City Stages’ president George McMillan and executive director Denise Koch on bad check charges. McMillan — a former state senator, representative and lieutenant governor — started the annual downtown music festival in 1989.

The event filed for bankruptcy in June, days after its lackluster 21st performance and ending more than $1 million in debt.

The Jefferson County district attorney’s office has been investigating the pair for weeks, after vendors filed complaints. The vendors included a security company and performers, all who received only partial payment.

The misdemeanor charge could mean up to a year in prison or fines, but those served with warrants could make good on money owed.

McMillan released this statement through his attorneys:

Certain persons are attempting to use legal channels outside the federal bankruptcy process in an attempt to redress City Stages checks that were dishonored for insufficient funds. These and other debts of CIty Stages are being addressed in the pending bankruptcy proceedings involving the Birmingham Cultural & Heritage Foundation, Inc., the nonprofit foundation that issued the checks.

To the extent necessary, attorneys for those who signed checks on behalf of the Foundation will respond accordingly to any allegations that may be made outside of the bankruptcy proceedings regarding any dishonored City Stages checks.

Meanwhile, McMillan’s event planning company, McMillan Associates has continued business as usual, producing last weekend’s Fiesta in Linn Park, the 11th annual Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival in September and this month’s Sloss Fright Furnace.

In fact, the company site still boasts: “To avoid the staleness that threatens every mature brand, we assist City Stages in continually re-inventing itself in terms of the patron’s experience.”

Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival updates …

• Awhile back, a long while back, we promised numbers from May’s Birmingham Shout gay/lesbian film festival. Here’s where we stand:

Officials at the Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival, which runs the annual event, declined repeated requests for revenue figures form the two-day event. Shout festival director Ralph Young said that attendance increased 250 percent from 2008 to 2009, though it’s unclear how he arrived at this figure.

He states that 2009 attendance was 710 (135 on opening night and 575 the following day). In 2008, the one-day festival attracted 285 attendees, but this accounts for only a 149 percent increase. For comparison, the 2009 festival had 13 feature-length films and a shorts block, while 2008 had five films and one short, and 2007 had 14 films and three shorts (over three days).

Ticket prices for 2009 were $20 to $25 for opening night and $20 for all day Saturday, or $12 per film.

Chloe Collins, Sidewalk’s executive director, said:

“The Alabama Moving Image Association [Sidewalk’s umbrella organization] presents numerous events throughout the year (Sidewalk, Shout, Scrambles, Teen Filmmaking Challenge etc.), and each of these events have expenses and incomes, making up the total AMIA budget.

“Like most nonprofit organizations who host multiple events throughout the year, AMIA provides the expense and income information for the entire season, as requested by the various organizations from whom we seek funding and as required by law.”

Other Sidewalk updates:

• The festival launched a three-week Kick the Bucket online fund-raiser with a goal of $10,000. Despite extending the campaign by a week, it appears the effort fell short by a considerable amount. The last update said it had raised $2,861 as of Aug. 31. Update: The campaign raised $5,864.
• Speaking of fund-raisers, Theatre Downtown is donating all proceeds to Sidewalk from its 8 p.m. Sunday performance of “Come Back to the 5 & Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean.” Performances take place at Birmingham AIDS Outreach, 205 32nd St. S., Ste. 101, Lakeview [map]. Tickets — $17, $12 for senior citizens and students — can be purchased online or by calling (205) 306-1470.
• The schedule, originally to be posted Aug. 10, should be posted Friday on the site, according to today’s e-mail newsletter.
• Lastly, the November Sidewalk Scramble has been moved to this month, with entries to be screened at this year’s festival on Sept. 25-27. Registration, $50, closes 5 p.m. Monday, with competition taking place Aug. 28-30. For more information, visit the Scramble page.

Update Aug. 21: Sidewalk schedule delayed till next week. The word from organizers:

The Sidewalk Staff is pleased to announce that we have secured a new screening venue, giving us a grand total of 8, all located in downtown Birmingham. Because of this exciting development, we are now having to reorganize the official schedule and will not be able to post it today.

In addition, we’ve had some exciting developments with our Opening and Closing Night films, special screenings, and more. So, beginning on Monday, we will be giving you updates every day next week, beginning with the Sidewalk Minute on Fox 6, starting at about 7:50am. Stay tuned to your inbox, sidewalkfest.com, Facebook, and Twitter to stay on top of all things Sidewalk.

To whet your appetite, here’s a sneak peek at some of the films we’ll be showing at Sidewalk:

• “Etienne”
• “Dear Lemon Lima”
• “We Fun”
• “Lightning Salad Moving Picture”
• “Autistic Like”
• “Modern Love is Automatic”

• • •

More Sidewalk coverage.

Last weekend’s disappointing ticket sales leave event $1 million plus in red

The Birmingham News reported via e-mail and Twitter that “Music festival organizers say City Stages will not return.”

And according to the News’ site:

The Birmingham Cultural and Heritage Foundation, the nonprofit organization behind City Stages, is “irretrievably insolvent,” and intends to go out of business, according to a statement released today by festival organizers.

City Stages can’t pay its expenses from this year’s festival, because revenue was “drastically below expected levels,” the statement says. Organizers pointed to the economic crunch, hot weather and low attendance, among other factors.

The downtown summer music festival, started in 1989, featured a wide variety of musical acts and quickly became Alabama’s largest music event. In recent years, the festival has been plagued by recurring debt, asking for and receiving $250,000 last week from the City of Birmingham. Last weekend marked an all-time low in day passes sold in the festival’s 21-year history.

Updated June 26: The final debt tally? More than $1 million, leaving vendors high and dry.

Also:

• Why festival president George McMillan should have stepped down in 2008
• City gave $700,000 in cash and services to festival in 2008
• An analysis of  the 2009 festival’s numbers and economic impact

Could the festival have been saved?
What are your favorite City Stages memories?
Should festival president George McMillan have stepped aside sooner?
How will this impact Birmingham culturally and financially?
Sound off in the comments.

• • •

City Stages officials released this statement [original PDF]:

City Stages Statement of Intent to Go Out of Business

For 21 years, the Birmingham Cultural and Heritage Foundation, Inc., a nonprofit organization, has been producing the annual City Stages Music Festival, which has consistently drawn hundreds of thousands of attendees from all backgrounds and cultures to downtown Birmingham to enjoy three days of live entertainment from national and local artists, a children’s festival, arts and crafts, and a festive atmosphere, all in a family friendly event

The Foundation has given back to the City of Birmingham and the state with an economic impact in the tens of millions of dollars and has provided scholarships, music camps, and other valuable benefits to the City and the region. Most of all, City Stages changed the landscape of downtown Birmingham’s Linn Park and the surrounding area for one weekend during the year, in a way that helped to unite the community. We are proud of our heritage and the long-term success of the festival and what the Foundation has been able to accomplish over the last two decades.

However, due to the recent economic downturn, weather challenges, low attendance, low ticket sales, and other factors, revenue from this year’s Festival was drastically below expected levels and insufficient to pay the expenses of the Festival. Coupled with the substantial debt the Foundation has carried from previous years, the inability to meet the expenses of this year’s event cannot be overcome. Therefore, we regret to inform the community, our loyal sponsors and vendors, and the many volunteers who have lent their time, talent and effort to this endeavor that it is no longer viable to continue this Festival.

The Foundation is now irretrievably insolvent. With great sadness, pursuant to a resolution adopted by its Board of Directors, the Foundation is in the process of officially going out of business and legally terminating its existence. City Stages has come to an end.

We would like to thank all of the artists, corporate sponsors, vendors, festival attendees, the City of Birmingham, Jefferson County, State of Alabama, local small businesses, board members, community organizations and all of the other many volunteers and partners who have worked with City Stages over the past 21 years. The Foundation would also like to express its regret that the drastic reduction in revenue from this year’s event has made it impossible for the Foundation to satisfy its debts.

It appears vendors such as Bottletree Cafe, which provided catering and shut down its restaurant/bar for five days, will not be fully reimbursed.

Rebecca Davis, promoter for the club, mentioned via Twitter:

“PLEASE come out and support Bottletree!! We won’t be getting paid what we were owed for the catering and hospitality we did for City Stages.”

(Hat tip: Bham.fm.)

More from Bottletree Cafe on its blog:

• “Bottletree caters the last ever City Stages”
• “Bottletree and City Stages”

• • •

A few more updates:

• ABC 33/40: “Some vendors say they were paid but their checks bounced. Others, like Bottletree, only got half of their money and don’t know how they are going to pay their staff.”
• The Terminal: Scott Schablow’s musical tribute to City Stages’ passing
• Black and White (published before festival’s termination): McMillan “makes perhaps his boldest and most repugnant claim, i.e. that his efforts with the festival were done ‘for this city.’ “
• Black and White (published before festival’s termination): “With all of the financial problems this event has suffered over the past nine years, somewhere, somebody should have put a stop to the idea that City Stages had to compete with every other festival in the region.”

• • •

Complete City Stages coverage.

City Stages is almost ready to go, except for one small problem. It’s short by $250,000.

Festival organizers asked the City of Birmingham to make up the shortfall on Tuesday, which the City Council approved. This comes on top of $300,000 in cash and services already given by the city for this year’s three-day downtown annual music festival.

City Stages has said via Twitter that “Each dollar invested @citystages means 10 to 20 dollars for the city.” Its site makes a similar claim: “City Stages contributes between $10 and $20 million to the area economy each year.” It adds, “City Stages provides over $1 million in direct tax revenue paid by the festival to date.”

Yet, despite repeated attempts to obtain documentation for these claims, the festival public relations representative sent only reports made in 1999, 2000 and 2001 [reports in PDF]. It is unclear who prepared the reports at the Birmingham Regional Chamber of Commerce or Greater Birmingham Convention and Visitors Bureau, or how the methodology was determined.

Those figures from up to 10 years ago represent a period with high attendance levels and lower ticket prices. The assumptions — rather than actual figures — include number of attendees and estimated daily expenditure per attendee, creating economic impact estimates for each year:

• 1999: $29.2 million
• 2000: $14.7 million
• 2001: $16.7 million
  

Meanwhile, the festival’s tax documents from 2007 [PDF] shed a little more light:

• The festival paid $124,903 in licenses plus payroll and sales taxes that year.
• Festival president George McMillan drew compensation of $105,909, with a salary of $22,334 and an expense account of $83,575. He worked an average of 25 hours per week.
• By contrast, then-festival director Kristie McCullough made $52,568, with a salary of $50,208 and an expense account of $2,360. She worked an average of 40 hours per week.
  
• McCullough Advertising received $23,333 in 2007 and $19,883 in 2006 for advertising and marketing services. Guy McCullough was vice president of the board.
• The budget shortfall was $425,262 from a budget of nearly $3 million. The previous year’s shortfall was $1.1 million.

Birmingham faces a leaner budget this year, with greatly reduced funding for most arts and nonprofit groups. Should the city continue to give money to the festival without requirements? What impact does the festival and its potential disappearance have on the city?

• • •

The festival takes place Friday through Sunday in downtown Birmingham. Tickets are $45 for advance three-day passes (sale ends today), $28 per day, free for age 12 and younger or 60 and older. The lineup includes Doobie Brothers, Indigo Girls, REO Speedwagon, Young Jeezy, Styx and En Vogue. The weather: highs in the low to mid-90s, lows in the mid-70s, with few clouds.

• • •

Also:

• Birmingham magazine: “Something’s got to give. I don’t think anyone’s denying that: City Stages is in debt, and they too are admitting that change may be necessary.”
• Birmingham News: Even editorial writer Joey Kennedy and the board can’t pin down the festival’s generated tax dollars (see comments).
  
• Birmingham News: City Stages Unplugged, free preview from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday in Linn Park, with Shirock and Dragonfly.
  
• Black and White: lineup previews of Friday | Saturday | Sunday
• Bham.fm: “In the words of David Bazan (Pedro the Lion), ‘If it isn’t making dollars, then it isn’t making sense. If you aren’t moving units, then you’re not worth the expense.’ ”
• Birmingham Weekly: all stories tagged “City Stages”
• WBHM (90.3): “Tapestry” one-hour City Stages special
• The Terminal: “I’d argue that people need to bring suggestions for real solutions to the table before completely bashing the festival and saying it needs to go.”

• • •

Complete City Stages coverage.

Nonprofit organizations look for new recruits at Birmingham Museum of Art

Tonight’s third annual YP Expo comes at a critical time. Nonprofit organizations need help with funding and volunteers more than ever while weathering the economic downturn.

This is where you come in.

It started with a YP Roundtable in October 2006, a meeting of young professionals active as volunteers in the Birmingham area. The idea: Network among groups, work together to make a difference.

The YP Expo gives these groups a chance to recruit new faces to their causes. The free event takes place from 5:30 to 9 tonight at the Birmingham Museum of Art [map | event details].

How can you make Birmingham a better place to live? Start here.

A tip: Register in advance, and bring your printed ticket with you to bypass the potentially long line at the door.

Friday marks the final final deadline for the digital TV transition. As we reported in February, you know, before the original deadline, broadcast stations around the country would convert from analog to digital signals.

This transition includes all stations in the Birmingham market.

You the viewer have a few options:

• Watch cable.
• Watch satellite.
• Install a converter box.
• Read a book.

Don’t blame us when you wake up Saturday morning to watch informercials or fishing shows, only to find static clogging up your VHF and UHF tubes. Instead, check our easy guide to making the conversion to DTV. And welcome to the 21st century.

A few exclusive updates on the Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival from tonight’s monthly Sidewalk Salon:

• As mentioned on our Twitter update, the July edition of the Scramble filmmaking competition has been canceled. Organizers said they wanted to concentrate on the main festival for Sept. 25-27. The July contest would have lasted 10 days, rather than the typical 48 hours. The next Scramble will take place Nov. 6-8, with screening date to be determined.

• No numbers available yet on this past weekend’s Birmingham Shout gay/lesbian film festival. Look for them on Wade on Birmingham later this week.

• Five of the six venues for Sidewalk 2009 have been locked in, says executive director Chloe Collins, all familiar sites to festivalgoers:

• Alabama Theatre
• Carver Theatre
• Birmingham Civil Rights Institute
• Alabama Power
• McWane Science Center

The sixth venue will be either the previously used Hill Arts Center (a k a the Alabama Showplace, next to the Alabama Theatre) or a new-to-Sidewalk venue, the Harambe Room at Wee Care Academy [map].

• Regions Bank will not repeat as title sponsor for the festival. Collins says organizers are not actively pursuing title sponsors, instead going after a wider group of smaller sponsors. However, she did not rule out the possibility of another title sponsor. The 2008 festival marked the first time any title sponsor was in place.

• Organizers have restructured membership packages into four levels (Limestone, Iron, Fire and Steel) with a separate one for students and military members (Coal).

• • •

More Sidewalk coverage.

Programming alert: Yours truly will be on tonight’s edition of “Tapestry,” the weekly arts and culture show on WBHM (90.3 FM).

It airs at 6:30 tonight, and repeats at 11:30 a.m. Saturday.

Of course, if you don’t own a radio, you can hear the program online. Our post over at the Birmingham Blogging Academy site goes into more detail about the show, the other interviewees and the in-studio taping.

Often in this space, we focus on Birmingham’s present and past, but perhaps not often enough on its future.

Where is the city headed? Where do we want it to be in 50 years?

The Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham marks its 50th anniversary on May 11. This nonprofit organization is a public endowment, a savings account for the community, using gifts from donors to make grants to nonprofit organizations in Jefferson, Shelby, St. Clair, Blount and Walker counties.

As part of its anniversary celebration, the foundation has launched Imagine, a blog to capture the wildest dreams for Birmingham. What could happen? What should never change?

Foundation officers asked dreamers, including Wade on Birmingham, to write and share their vision. (The utopian one, not the apocalyptic sentient-robots-enslave-humanity future.) Here’s an excerpt of our contribution, “A walk to the library”:

April 27, 2059

…

On the way, I see children hurrying to Miriam Witherspoon Elementary, the nation’s top-rated public school. It must be Science Fair Day, because they’re all carrying fusion-powered gizmos and genetically engineered slaw.

The air is clearer than I ever remember. Thank goodness we curbed power plant emissions and car exhaust through smart planning and regulation. Everyone can breathe more easily, and spend their time on things other than trips to the doctor and the pharmacist.

Read the rest of the story and then contribute your own.

What do you want for Birmingham in the next 50 years? Tell us in the comments.

An outsider takes the reins at downtown festival

[Share on Facebook | Twitter]

The first executive director was a co-founder, serving for eight years. The second rose through the ranks, serving for two years.

The third started Friday.

[Wade on Birmingham:
EXCLUSIVE: Sidewalk hires Chloe Collins as Executive Director]

Chloe Collins has pored over the budget, fielded dozens of congratulatory e-mails and met with board members and volunteers alike. In taking the reins of the Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival, she inherits a 10-year-old film festival with a nearly $10,000 budget shortfall and less than five months until show time.

“The biggest challenge I can see is just getting my arms around what all is involved,” Collins says. “As I learn more, I’m realizing there are lots of people who play such an important role with the festival, and those people haven’t gone away.”

In this exclusive interview, Collins discusses what’s ahead for the festival and how she went from casual moviegoer to executive director. She talked with us in person last week.

(more…)

We spoke this afternoon with Chloe Collins, the new executive director of Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival, a follow-up to our exclusive story from Wednesday.

Here’s a video teaser of the soon-to-be-published story. Collins discusses her vision for the annual downtown film festival.

• • •

More Sidewalk coverage.