Jordan Birnbaum

Project Ethos: Now THAT'S How You Build Community!

Aug 28, 2013

JP
Stage· 189 messages
Aug 28, 2013

In the 10 years I owned The Vanguard in Los Angeles, my favorite event of all was Project Ethos: Fashion. Music. Art. And it keeps getting bigger and better. Let's tawk with creator Jason Peskin about being at the center of a WORTHWHILE cultural phenomenon. projectethos.tv

Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:00 AM

Mr. Peskin I presume?
JP

Jason Peskin · 1:00 AM

Mr. Birnbaum! Am I typing in the right place?
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:00 AM

You are indeed. You always were a smart one...
JP

Jason Peskin · 1:00 AM

Haha man its been too long!
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:01 AM

So thank you for doing this! I know - I almost forgot that we are both members of the well-trimmed beard tribe.
JP

Jason Peskin · 1:01 AM

Hahaha awesome. Its my pleasure.
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:02 AM

So Jason part of what made me think to ask you to do this is because I have become really interested in building and developing various communities.
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:02 AM

And Project Ethos is one of the coolest communities I have ever been around
JP

Jason Peskin · 1:02 AM

Thank you for saying that
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:03 AM

So just for anyone who's not familiar, Complete this sentence. Project Ethos is:
JP

Jason Peskin · 1:03 AM

Project Ethos gives emerging fashion designers, musicians and artists a platform of exposure through live events and online
JP

Jason Peskin · 1:04 AM

Our live events combine a fashion show/concert/art gallery and is open to both industry and consumer
JP

Jason Peskin · 1:04 AM

our web series creates content based on these events and its participants
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:05 AM

So you basically produce 3 events simultaneously. You realize, of course, that most people consider it difficult to produce just one?
JP

Jason Peskin · 1:05 AM

yes i do realize. its a really hard thing to do what we do!
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:06 AM

So give me an idea of the inspiration. Where were you in your life when the idea first entered your consciousness?
JP

Jason Peskin · 1:07 AM

i was 24 and owned a small ad agency. doing pretty good but generally bored and unhappy with my work. i had produced some events when i got out of high school and thought it might be cool to get back into it. something with heart
JP

Jason Peskin · 1:07 AM

i was surfing the web and came across a designer looking to launch her line at a fashion show
JP

Jason Peskin · 1:07 AM

i had never done a fashion show but i had a lot of connections with venues and advertisers etc
JP

Jason Peskin · 1:08 AM

we thought it may be cooler if we did something a little different so we added music and art
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:08 AM

because just one wouldn't have been enough, obviously.
JP

Jason Peskin · 1:08 AM

haha yes
JP

Jason Peskin · 1:08 AM

im into innovation.
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:09 AM

OK, so what did you do? Did you stat calling venues yourself? did you call any friends to help? What happened next?
JP

Jason Peskin · 1:09 AM

i called my friends at sean healy presents
JP

Jason Peskin · 1:09 AM

they had venues all over town and were nice guys. open to ideas
JP

Jason Peskin · 1:09 AM

they hooked me right up with the el rey and we had a date
JP

Jason Peskin · 1:10 AM

then the pressure was on.
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:10 AM

so first, how did you find the bands? how did you find the artists? how did you find the designers? how did you find the models?
JP

Jason Peskin · 1:11 AM

once we had a date and venue, we pretty much just used myspace as our main resource. it was huge back then.
JP

Jason Peskin · 1:11 AM

we hit a million people up on there
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:11 AM

what year was this?
JP

Jason Peskin · 1:11 AM

also we went to all of our friends that had talent. remember im born and raised in LA with a lot of talented friends
JP

Jason Peskin · 1:11 AM

2005
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:12 AM

Cool - so did you have in your head a vision of how it would look? Or were you simply throwing a bunch of elements together to see what happened?
JP

Jason Peskin · 1:12 AM

we had a vision for sure. we knew the art would line the walls of the venue and a runway would extend out from their concert stage. then the band would be on the stage
JP

Jason Peskin · 1:13 AM

it fit perfectly.
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:13 AM

So do you think heading into the event that you had a handle on all of the logistical issues? Or did things come up you never considered?
JP

Jason Peskin · 1:14 AM

a lot of things came up. and it was really difficult to deal with just the shear amount of people involved. and all creatives on top of it
JP

Jason Peskin · 1:14 AM

my head was spinning.
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:15 AM

So what were some of the more serious people issues? was it a question of people's attention to detail, people's egos?
JP

Jason Peskin · 1:15 AM

all of the above bro. we had a designer just flat out not show up for one...
JP

Jason Peskin · 1:15 AM

and we had a dvd made of graphics and music that was play only
JP

Jason Peskin · 1:16 AM

a lot of attitudes
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:16 AM

So looking back on the first one, what was easier than imagined it would be, and what was tougher?
JP

Jason Peskin · 1:17 AM

what was easy was that I could not believe how many people were there. almost 800. thats insane with no big names etc. just a giant community of people all supporting something fresh. it blew my mind.
JP

Jason Peskin · 1:17 AM

the production was painful
JP

Jason Peskin · 1:17 AM

i put together the runway myself with my friends
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:18 AM

tinker toys?
JP

Jason Peskin · 1:18 AM

exactly
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:18 AM

I hope the models were light...
JP

Jason Peskin · 1:18 AM

it was all based on relationships and elbow grease then
JP

Jason Peskin · 1:18 AM

actually the models were a tad heavier back then lol
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:19 AM

So part of what I loved about Project Ethos is what you mentioned. I was so inspired by the appetite for original and edgy art. Plus the art was amazing.
JP

Jason Peskin · 1:19 AM

thanks man. we always try to bring something fresh and new
JP

Jason Peskin · 1:19 AM

even if its a little risque
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:20 AM

so, at some point during that event, did you think "Well, my life just changed."
JP

Jason Peskin · 1:20 AM

i did actually. i was standing there and watching the fashion show and hearing people scream for the designer and models like it was a rock concert - i knew we had done something that was different and i could feel the energy in the room
JP

Jason Peskin · 1:21 AM

it excited me and frightened me all at once
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:21 AM

★ Spotlighted from Rachel McDonnell

live music is ALWAYS the right choice! ;)

Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:21 AM

ain't that the truth?
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:22 AM

OK - so now that you were all hot and bothered (paraphrasing you), what were your next thoughts about moving Ethos forward?
JP

Jason Peskin · 1:23 AM

haha ok. my thoughts were, lets do another one. but i was not thinking about it being a business
JP

Jason Peskin · 1:23 AM

just knew i wanted to do it again. asap.
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:23 AM

★ Spotlighted from Rachel McDonnell

exciting and frightening I believe that is when you know you are found where you were meant to be :)

Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:23 AM

Operationally, what was the most important stuff you learned for the second event?
JP

Jason Peskin · 1:24 AM

operationally it was just making the behind the scenes smoother
JP

Jason Peskin · 1:25 AM

less frantic with models, better designers etc
JP

Jason Peskin · 1:25 AM

like lets improve in all areas
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:25 AM

bookings, rehearsals, promotions, the whole nine?
JP

Jason Peskin · 1:25 AM

yes the entire process was refined. we looked at what was good and what was not.
JP

Jason Peskin · 1:26 AM

it was so long ago i barely remember!
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:26 AM

how many people total were involved in the second show?
JP

Jason Peskin · 1:26 AM

working?
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:26 AM

yes
JP

Jason Peskin · 1:26 AM

a solid 100
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:27 AM

So given where you are now, you obviously did a very effective job of leading a very large group of people.
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:27 AM

The big question - what's the secret?
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:27 AM

How did you get buy in and cooperation from so many people?
JP

Jason Peskin · 1:27 AM

well the secret for me was spirituality. i learned very young about how to better control my emotions and actions. not to react and stay calm.
JP

Jason Peskin · 1:28 AM

i have been a student of the kabbalah centre for almost 10 yrs
JP

Jason Peskin · 1:28 AM

studied all religions and forms of spirituality since i was very young
JP

Jason Peskin · 1:28 AM

deepak chopra, lots of others
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:28 AM

Really, because I always found you to be totally neurotic! (just kidding)
JP

Jason Peskin · 1:28 AM

yes i am also like that too a bit cuz u have to be
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:29 AM

no doubt
JP

Jason Peskin · 1:29 AM

but when it comes to leading over 200 people in an event, you better be calm
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:29 AM

this is true
JP

Jason Peskin · 1:29 AM

u have to believe everything is going to work out. and have certainty. that spreads around
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:29 AM

So what were some of the tactics? Did you have very clearly defined roles for people?
JP

Jason Peskin · 1:30 AM

yes we had a director for each facet. fashion/music/art. then coordinators for each, and then assistants, and finally volunteers and interns
JP

Jason Peskin · 1:30 AM

each piece was a small army
JP

Jason Peskin · 1:30 AM

yet we all worked together
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:31 AM

So did you spend more time on operations, creative, or staff therapist?
JP

Jason Peskin · 1:32 AM

all of the above again. as a leader you have to be willing to get on your knees and tape wire down, all the way to doing an interview
JP

Jason Peskin · 1:32 AM

i did a little bit of everything
JP

Jason Peskin · 1:32 AM

im the glue.
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:32 AM

OK - so the second show went well. How did things start to change?
JP

Jason Peskin · 1:33 AM

we just went on doing it for fun for a while. i had other ventures so i didnt put all of my time into it
JP

Jason Peskin · 1:33 AM

not until about 2009 just before i met u
JP

Jason Peskin · 1:33 AM

thats when we actually got really serious about it
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:33 AM

by the way, when you say "we" for fun, how many people are the we? and who are they?
JP

Jason Peskin · 1:33 AM

for a while i didnt want it to be a business
JP

Jason Peskin · 1:34 AM

my team and i that were on those first events
JP

Jason Peskin · 1:34 AM

ricky, scott, brianne
JP

Jason Peskin · 1:34 AM

erica
JP

Jason Peskin · 1:34 AM

the old school crew.
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:34 AM

small group of you then. the OG.
JP

Jason Peskin · 1:34 AM

yeah it was about a half dozen of us
JP

Jason Peskin · 1:35 AM

but we all had "day jobs"
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:35 AM

So you decide to go for it -stop treating it as a fun side project and start making it your career. And you moved your event to Vanguard, right?
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:35 AM

how many had you done by then?
JP

Jason Peskin · 1:36 AM

we had done 7 of them
JP

Jason Peskin · 1:36 AM

our 8th was at vanguard with u
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:36 AM

Yeah -that was pretty awesome.
JP

Jason Peskin · 1:37 AM

you really took us in like family
JP

Jason Peskin · 1:37 AM

ill never forget the warmth of that place
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:37 AM

yeah, I'm pretty cool.
JP

Jason Peskin · 1:37 AM

well u had 500 action figures on your walls
JP

Jason Peskin · 1:37 AM

i knew u were my kinda guy
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:38 AM

interesting side note about me, but we digress
JP

Jason Peskin · 1:38 AM

:)
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:38 AM

you now had a thriving community of artists, designers, musicians and creative people of all sorts. How did that feel for everyone?
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:39 AM

was it like you discovered the island of misfit toys or something?
JP

Jason Peskin · 1:39 AM

it always put butterflies in my stomach and still does
JP

Jason Peskin · 1:39 AM

and in terms of the misfits - they turn into stars sometimes
JP

Jason Peskin · 1:40 AM

like Bruno Mars
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:40 AM

★ Spotlighted from Lucy Dyer

500? good lord!! :-O

Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:40 AM

★ Spotlighted from Rachel McDonnell

nerds rule! ;)

JP

Jason Peskin · 1:43 AM

did we lose Jordan
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:43 AM

hey pal I'm back
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:43 AM

I just had an internet outage
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:43 AM

you still here?
JP

Jason Peskin · 1:43 AM

here my man
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:44 AM

so I was taweking about the feelings that were running through the community. What were some of the elements that were responsible for keeping everyone together?
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:45 AM

★ Spotlighted from Lucy Dyer

give those hamsters a kick up the butt,tell em to run faster!

Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:45 AM

stupid Internet
JP

Jason Peskin · 1:45 AM

to start - positivity. we always made sure to be as positive as we could and be kind and helpful to one another
JP

Jason Peskin · 1:46 AM

even if we were under pressure or having a shitty day
JP

Jason Peskin · 1:46 AM

it goes a long way
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:46 AM

did that mean that some people would try to take advantage?
JP

Jason Peskin · 1:46 AM

always man
JP

Jason Peskin · 1:46 AM

but we remained assertive when we had to be
JP

Jason Peskin · 1:47 AM

ya see jordan people in the business are just arbitrarily rude or mean
JP

Jason Peskin · 1:47 AM

when people or artists would meet us they would be like " you guys are cool"
JP

Jason Peskin · 1:47 AM

we upheld this standard at all times
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:48 AM

So what about the artists themselves? What do you think they were getting from the community, non-tangibly?
JP

Jason Peskin · 1:49 AM

im trying to understand your question...
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:49 AM

lol sorry.
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:50 AM

I'm guess I'm imagining that communities like yours are hard to find, and I wondered if the artists were especially gratdeful to have found one another.
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:50 AM

★ Spotlighted from Rachel McDonnell

I'm sure that attracted a lot of really great people to your cause! Positivity and Kindness really do go along way.. especially in today's world. We need more of it! :)

JP

Jason Peskin · 1:51 AM

yes they always were. so much so that they never wanted to leave. they would want to be in the next show and we would have to say sorry we need to leave the slot open for new people
JP

Jason Peskin · 1:51 AM

so some would just join the team
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:51 AM

It's incredible how motivating a good community can be, isn't it?
JP

Jason Peskin · 1:52 AM

it is, because we all just want to be treated with some level of normalcy. and in LA people are just difficult sometimes
JP

Jason Peskin · 1:52 AM

so i think it was refreshing
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:52 AM

★ Spotlighted from Lucy Dyer

it can lead to self motivation too

JP

Jason Peskin · 1:52 AM

my parents are from back east so i brought that NY vibe as well
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:52 AM

not just in LA. On Earth. People are difficult.
JP

Jason Peskin · 1:53 AM

well you are right and we definitely were not perfect. we just were pretty nice compared to others
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:53 AM

So tell us soime highlights about how big and successful Project Ethos has become
JP

Jason Peskin · 1:54 AM

well we have a long way to go, because we do everything slow and steady and on our own pace. we believe in doing things for the right reasons
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:54 AM

★ Spotlighted from Rachel McDonnell

that's very inspiring to hear.. especially when many think being "cut-throat" is now the only way to be successful. :/

JP

Jason Peskin · 1:55 AM

we have now done shows in San Diego, San Francisco, Portland, Scottsdale, and Las Vegas
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:55 AM

and share some of the talent that has been involved
JP

Jason Peskin · 1:55 AM

also launched a web series online
JP

Jason Peskin · 1:56 AM

We got on a roll with music acts – LMFAO, Far East Movement, Bruno Mars and Miguel – all before they were topping the billboard charts.
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:56 AM

did youi pick the bands, or did you have the right people?
JP

Jason Peskin · 1:56 AM

we also have seen hundreds of paintings old and got designers placed in stores
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:56 AM

pretty badass.
JP

Jason Peskin · 1:56 AM

myself and scott warren our music director
JP

Jason Peskin · 1:56 AM

we worked as a team
JP

Jason Peskin · 1:57 AM

scott is a musical genius
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:57 AM

so Project Ethos is a real feel good story. Good people, good vibes, great art, and success.
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:57 AM

I'm really happy for you bud
JP

Jason Peskin · 1:57 AM

yes and plenty of drama too dont get it twisted
JP

Jason Peskin · 1:58 AM

anything brilliant takes struggle too
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:58 AM

yeah, but you know what else has drama? living.
JP

Jason Peskin · 1:58 AM

totally.
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 1:58 AM

so let's go out with some vision. what matters most to you for Project Ethos moving forward?
JP

Jason Peskin · 1:59 AM

i want our participants to be able to reach the most amount of people possible through our live events and web series. that means more shows worldwide and working harder and harder to get our online part of it huge. more exposure for the artists
JP

Jason Peskin · 2:00 AM

if we do it right online, we can get our artists exposed to a million people in one day
JP

Jason Peskin · 2:00 AM

compared to an event
JP

Jason Peskin · 2:00 AM

but the event will always be magical.
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 2:00 AM

so as soon as you're done reading this, you should be going here: projectethos.tv
JP

Jason Peskin · 2:01 AM

Thank you so much Jordan for your support as always!
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 2:01 AM

thanks pal - this was really fun. and I'm so happy your business is growing. gives me a little more faith in humanity.
JP

Jason Peskin · 2:01 AM

:)
Jordan Birnbaum

Jordan Birnbaum · 2:02 AM

thanks all for being here - you're the best!