Welcome To The House of Payne » Denver

Altitude With an Attitude

charleslpayne — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 23:56:17 +0000

While the Broncos owned Denver, I spent the weekend in Boulder at my new favorite basketball court. Jump shots Sunday are shaping up to be a Bronco good-luck charm!

And now we wait for the skies to clear. Here’s a cool photo of a summer storm burning off over the Teton’s cathedral view from my Labor Day weekend.

Shocking Sunday

charleslpayne — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 21:08:26 +0000

Right after Denver’s shocking turnaround in their first regular season game, I decided it was time to fix a broken light fixture in my apartment. As it turns out, a screwdriver, an electric current, and a rolling computer chair are a dangerous combo! But, even with time spent on my back like a Bronco’s Defensive lineman during the Bengal’s touchdown romp down the field, it would all end well!

Savor the top of the division:

Note: Psyched to get serious about sending again…

Presidential Halloween

charleslpayne — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 03:45:53 +0000

We are nearing the culmination of a very charged political season. One way to wager in on the madness is coming up at the end of October, days before any 11.4 madness: Political costumes are likely to be a frequent haunt this 31st.

The photos below were taken last summer. Not loaded in the least, so take form them what you will. But they have gotten me thinking about what to be this Halloween…something a little less partisan.

Vibrant Life

charleslpayne — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 23:33:55 +0000

Finding beauty in a city of half a million seemed difficult at first. With all of the extra traffic, city politics, and the universal challenges that humanity creates in tight living conditions, some days just aren’t as bright as the sunrise. But humanity is designed in duality: where there is evil there is good, and where there is sad there is happy. Even in the dirtiest dreariest places, it is possible to find vibrant life.

A city is not beautiful naturally, so we tend to hire structural playwrights: architects, designers, and artists to help offset the drab of the drive. Their job, besides functionality, is essentially to design a practical piece of art that appeals to the masses, does the city proud, and brings life to an otherwise bereft area. Obviously this is not an easy task.

As was the case with the prominent art structure pictured here, which was built to pacify rush hour traffic along I25 into downtown Denver

When this piece of art was constructed, it inherently created a couple of other slightly less cumbersome jobs for Denver citizens: the job of the climber to reach the summit versus the job of the security guard to police the structure.

But to understand the clash of these two post-production positions, we should first look back to why the structure was requested in the first place. Here, a myriad of reasons all describe improving quality of life in the city. Well, given the amazing vertigo of the route’s dizzying sequence, the intensely urban feel looming over the foot of the city, and the vibrant dance of color and sun every evening, I would say my quality of life is on the rise. So, given the duality of things, maybe a small fine for trespassing is worth the brilliance of the summit.

My Two Cents

charleslpayne — Fri, 09 May 2008 19:51:22 +0000

There are so many great things going on in this world, but there are also many saddening things. Given that we all have special talents and abilities, finding the best way to help empower the world to be the best it can be is an individual pursuit. I’m not a missionary who can spread happiness, or a scientist who can cure disease, but I am a person with ideas that can facilitate change. We’ll, it wasn’t my idea, but…

About two years ago, I was introduced to Jamie Van Leeuwen, the project manager for Denver’s Road Home. At the time, I had just started a new job as the account executive for rabble+rouser. Together with Christina Schroeder, the three of us began discussing an idea that was brought to the table by one of Jamie’s associates–the idea that parking meters could be used to collect funds for Denver’s homeless services.

Placing informative collection meters along downtown streets would give citizens an opportunity to contribute in the right way to the issues of homelessness before them. It would also give them a chance to learn about what Denver is doing to help end homelessness and why panhandling is not all it’s cracked up to be. It was estimated at the onset of Denver’s Ten-Year Plan to End Homelessness that Denver citizens were giving an average of $4.5 million to panhandlers each year, and that this was money that 90% of panhandlers were using to fuel their addictions to drugs or alcohol. The three of us agreed that this program provided the city with the ideal change agent for increasing awareness of and funds for Denver’s efforts to end homelessness.

As it turned out, there were a number of other community members that agreed with us. Over the next three months I worked with a small group of these inspired citizens, businesses, and volunteers to coordinate all of our unique talents into what is now Denver’s Donation Meter Program.

rabble+rouser was able to lend our strategic thinking to help message the program right. In addition, we utilized the design genius of our Creative Director, Shum Prats, to coordinate this messaging into a set of printable decals to adorn each meter.

While others rallied meter sponsors, selected meter locations, and coordinated the media, Public Works donated ample retired meters, which seemed to synthesize the teams efforts perfectly. I think all of us were very happy to have the chance to give our hand in aid to such a powerful program–one that would bring immeasurable awareness to Denver’s Road Home and raise donations from an unforeseen segment of the population.

Everyone occupies a place in time and space, and thus everyone has the opportunity to impact the world accordingly. I am lucky enough to have been at the right place at the right time to help facilitate a program that has, and will continue to, bring about great change for the homeless population in the city of Denver.