May 12, 2010, New York, NY - Ruby Veridiano (www.rubyisill.com) is a writer, speaker, arts educator, VJ/media personality, and most recently was announced a candidate as head blogger for Alicia Keys’ women empowerment campaign “I Am A Super Woman” (www.IAAS.com). The search is powered by Monster.com, and consists of four intense rounds of selection. The top ten quarter candidates will be flown to New York City to meet the Selection Committee for another round of interviewing. On May 26th, 2010, three semi-candidates will be flown to London, England to see Alicia Keys live in concert at the KCA Blackball and have a face-to-face interview with Alicia. On June 21st the Head Blogger will be announced on IAAS.com.

My entire career as a writer and an artist has been devoted to representing a strong female voice that could inspire and uplift women. By offering universal truths, I strive to be the bridge that unites all women together, offering them a space to let their ambitions take flight. Because of this, I know that partnering with Alicia Keys for “I AM A SUPERWOMAN” is the perfect opportunity to unite fellow sheroes across the world. – Ruby Veridiano

As a candidate, Ruby’s chances of getting into the top three spot will partly be dependent on the support of her fans and community.  By rating and leaving comments on Ruby’s blog entries, the judges will be motivated to keep Ruby through to each round.  Ruby’s profile on IAAS can be viewed here: http://www.iamasuperwoman.com/users/rveridano

An active member of the community, Ruby works tirelessly to create opportunities that will help women (and men), find their own “super powers” within, and embrace their full potential. The access to have a platform that will be heard by thousands of people through IAAS, is a responsibility that Ruby is ready to take on with pride and excitement.

For up to date info on Ruby’s progress in the interviewing process you can check twitter.com/rubymsuniverse

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About: Ruby Veridiano is a writer, speaker, arts educator, and VJ/media personality, born in Manila, Philippines, and raised in the Bay Area.  Through her writings, workshops, and video projects, she aims to create an empowering space for women in media.  From the beginning of her career as a spoken word poet with iLL-Literacy (www.ill-literacy.com), Ruby has traveled throughout the United States and Europe, inspiring young people to reach their full potential. Her self-published book of short writings and poems “Miss Universe”, was released in 2008, and scheduled for a re-release in the near future. Ruby is currently exploring the “Glamourbaby Trails” of Brooklyn, NY, and developing a curriculum for a girls club, with the organization Lit World (www.litworld.org), that will be launched in New York high schools this summer (2010). For more info visit www.rubyisill.com

About: IAAS (I Am A SuperWoman) was founded by Alicia Keys to ignite super women with empowering content, delivering vibrant and optimistic news, opinion, and entertainment at a supersonic pace. IAAS will give powerhouses everywhere one source to connect with each other–and the world. For more info visit www.IAAS.com

Jan 15, 2009

It’s been FOUR years since I moved back home to the Bay from New York, and two years after that, I decided I wanted to move to LA.  For various reasons I was side tracked from making the move, but it’s come to “now or never”.   I have all the possibilities in the palm of my hand, and minimal responsibilities to consider the pros and cons.

So here I go… off to another adventure, destination - Los Angeles!  My final frontier, and then I can say i’ve lived (it only counts if you’ve experienced every season), in three of the most exciting cities of the world!

Details about when and where I’ll keep to myself for now, but 2009 will bring me to my new home soon enough…

*update 2/17/11: The move to LA never happened, I stayed in the Bay and happily living in SF!

“In our obsessive wish to arrive, we often forget the most important thing, which is the journey.”  – The Pilgrimage, Paulo Coelho

Working with iLL-Literacy for the past two years has been a blessing and an amazing journey.  I often get on them about not taking the time to reflect on their accomplishments,  but hey, I can’t knock the hustle and the never ending determination to maximize their potential as artists, educators, and entertainers, which often leaves minimal time for reflection.

So let me take you through iLL-Literacy’s journey in 2008 and give you a brief summary of what was accomplished, the lessons learned in the process, the achievements, and what my role was in the adventure.

- “iLL-Literacy” name and logo legally trademarked 
- iLL-Literacy experiments performing with a live band and writing songs as a collective
- Dahlak (and I), negotiated (our first!) licensing deal with mycypher.com
- Ruby releases her first published work “Miss Universe”
- Dahlak releases mixtape “Live From The Boondocks – Commencement, A Kanye West Tribute”
- Ruby has earrings designed for Miss Universe by MADE Jewelry
- Ruby’s first feature on the cover of a magazine (OAKBOOK)
- Ill-Literacy tours nationwide on the “Natural Electricity” Tour

hmmm…. I might be forgetting some things, but considering I took a personal hiatus for more than half the year working with ANY clients, I must say that iLL-Lit did quite well with minimum help from Papa Lo. 

I want to highlight one particular accomplishment which actually began back in 2007 when I first signed on with iLL-Lit.  The first thing I did as their PR manager was to help them trademark their name and logo.  This process takes about a year, and we really couldn’t have picked a better time, because early 2008 iLL-Literacy was sent a cease and desist letter from another group with a similar name.  To make the long story short, iLL-Literacy was proactive and thorough with their paperwork and now legally own the name and logo “iLL-Literacy”!

For me personally, if I don’t ever get them on the cover of Fader Magazine, or a clothing sponsorship with Creative Recreation, or help them get booked on a stage at SXSW, at least I did help them secure their brand and gave them peace of mind, that no one can take away the name they have worked so hard to build. 

As an independent artist, the smartest thing you can do for yourself is to make sure you OWN all your work.  From your name, your logo, website, lyrics, beats, etc., legally owning all your work should be the first step you make when you’re ready to really make this a lifelong career.  The process is time consuming and can be very confusing, so you have to be serious about yourself and your art, or else you’re just wasting a lot of time and money.

Overall, 2008 was a good year for all of us, we worked hard, we played hard, and we continue to push each other in our careers and personal relationships.  Every year there is progress, which is a positive sign that independent artists DO NOT need a label to be successful.  What is needed, is strong management skills, open communication, accountability, organization, and a dope graphic designer (thank you soooo much Adriel!).  It is a team effort, a community effort, and although there are struggles, there is comfort in knowing that compromising yourself and your work is not a factor in the success.  I’m not saying, that getting signed is a bad thing, but you are definitely going to be trading off some freedom for luxury.   But why trade in your freedom, when you can have your cake and eat it too…

Yay! I’m so happy and proud of Miss Universe – Ruby Veridiano-Ching!!

Pick up Oakbook Magazine so you can have Ruby’s first magazine cover archived in your files.  They’re all over Oakland, check here for locations: http://theoakbook.com/MoreDetail.aspx?Aid=2691&CatId=15

For those of you outside of the Bay email editors@theoakbook.com for a copy.

www.theoakbook.com
www.rubyisill.com

When Ruby and I put together the marketing and PR plan for the release of her book “Miss Universe“, who knew it would include an exclusive earring designed by one of our favorite independent designers?!

Creating additional product to sell with the release of your own project will only enhance sales and branding, not to mention the cross promotional opportunities!  Keep in mind it’s important that the brand and product you go with make sense to your image and fan base.

With that said, check out MADE Jewelry’s  new collection “That Girl“, which includes the Miss Universe Earring!  MADE is currently the only online retailer where you can cop the book, and they even put together a special combo package so you can save a few bills when you buy both.

retail $44

retail $14

I’m already picking out a few pieces I need to buy myself for my bday and xmas

ps. fellas if you want to buy your special lady (mom, sister, significant other, friend, etc) something she’ll really love, go to MADE Jewelry’s site NOW before they sell out!

www.madejewelry.com
www.rubyisill.com

Just finished getting the thank you gift bags ready, now time to get myself dolled up for tonight!

Some really great videos recently came out, I thought I would share. The selection reflects the present times we are facing, beauty, love, and the future…

Trackademicks Remix ft Mike Baker The Bike Maker

ADRIEL LUIS

RUBY VERIDIANO-CHING
 

THiiiiS SHiiiiT iiS FuuuuuCKED uP  (she spits real knowledge, watch it!)

Many of the artists I have partnered with have a background in working with their respective communities.  Whether it’s through mentoring, educating, performing, organizing, etc., it’s safe to say they would not be where they are now, or have such a bright future if it were not for the community.

Many of you aspiring artists just getting into the game may not know where to start, who to go to for support, advice, opportunities, etc.  I encourage you to look within your city’s organizations, your community outreach programs, find a place you feel comfortable with and go from there.  Be genuine if you are going to be part of a program or organization, this is not advice to capitalize any selfish, egotistical needs you may have.

Tip – Community/Culture specific festival’s are a great place to gain experience performing in front of large crowds, negotiating booking contracts, and promoting yourself to an audience. Most festival’s take place in the summer, so you want to reach out to organizations mid spring for a performance slot, which means you should start researching which ones you’ll hit up for next year, NOW!  (ps. you probably won’t get paid, and you need to stay on top of communication, since many times these events are produced on a volunteer basis.)

One of the organizations in Southern California that has provided a space for Filipino American artists and communitites to gather and celebrate is goin down this weekend at Pt. Fermin Park in San Pedro, CA.  The 17th Annual Festival of Philippine Arts & Culture (FPAC) has become a yearly highlight for the Filipino community in the Los Angeles area, a place for family and friends, and yes… great networking aka community building!

Hella folks from the Bay will be there this weekend, including Kiwi, Nomi (Power Struggle), and Ruby Veridiano-Ching blessing the stage with their energy.  Bambu and DJ Phatrick will also be performing, along with many other prominent artists with special honors like DJ Rhettmatic, DJ Babu, and DJ Kuttin Kandi.  It’s gonna be a good one!

www.filamarts.org

When Ruby was deciding on the design of her book cover, she used her network to get in touch with a talented artist from Atlanta (via Brooklyn), Fahamu Pecou. He graced the cover of Ruby’s poetry and short writing book Miss Universe, with his skills on canvas, and here we are just a few weeks away from the Miss Universe launch date!

The timing has been perfect to start building up the buzz and press opportunities for Miss Universe with Fahamu’s San Francisco gallery opening, which is actually tonight! 

TIP – timing is everything when you’re promoting your project!  Which means communication is even more important! You want to make sure that all the different people, companies, promotional plans, etc. you have in place work together, and build up to the highlight of your release date.

I’m putting a timeline and checklist together for album/project releases, makes my life easier to be organized.

Here’s The list I came up with so far in regards to what promo materials you should have ready BEFORE (like two months before), the album is released: 

            – promo mix (top 5-7 songs from album mixed by a DJ for media promo)
            - social networking profiles current and consistent (myspace, facebook, imeem)
            - blog up and running, consistent with profiles
            - press photos
            - bio
            - one sheet
            - Industry Quotes for one-sheet
            - album promo copies (set aside minimum 100 to give away to press, industry folks, DJ’s etc)
            - music video(s) - 
            - radio edits of singles
            - promo flyers (for blog and album)
            - business cards

 Am I forgetting anything??  Holler.

ps. Ruby’s “Miss Universe” coming soon…