Kickstarter

Know Your City, a project of the Dill Pickle Club, will be a free phone app and Website providing a tour of downtown Portland's cultural heritage. Part oral history project, part "guide book," and part learning tool — the program will feature stories about people and places vital to the city.

WHY IS THIS PROJECT IMPORTANT?
Portland has been home to many ethnic groups and cultures over the years — including Native American, African American, Chinese, Japanese, Greeks and Jews, among others. Because of urban development, many of these groups have little physical remnants of their neighborhoods. Consequently, many visiting Portland for the first time — and even those that have lived here many years — are unaware of the city's history.

We want to bring these stories to the surface by presenting them in an engaging format — by using mapping and smart phone technology we will make this information widely available for people to design their own tours. We'll also make the project available to those without smart phones through a corresponding Website.

ABOUT OUR APPROACH
We believe history is best told by those who have experienced it. Unlike many history projects that aim to present authoritative, all-encompassing overviews, we are more concerned with providing substantive information from first-hand sources. We also believe the city does not have just one history — our approach is to feature multiple narrators representative of the city's many shared histories.

WHAT GEOGRAPHIC AREA WILL THE PROJECT COVER?
The initial version of the project will feature 12-20 sites in the downtown area, such as:

    •    Goldenwest Hotel
    •    Oregon Jewish Museum
    •    Skidmore Fountain
    •    Portland’s gay history
    •    Oregon Nikkei Legacy Center
    •    Street Roots
    •    Huber’s Restaurant
    •    Cast Iron District
    •    Union Station
    •    more!

Each site will have photos and text, along with short audio clips with selected guest experts who will speak to the cultural significance of each place.

WHAT WILL YOU DO ONCE YOU CREATE THE APP?
Kickstarter funding will enable us to pilot Know Your City. After the pilot, we will apply for grants to further expand the program. The initial version of the application will be created Winter 2012 and will launch later that year. Subsequent versions will allow participants to contribute their own stories, as well as expand the scope of sites to outlying areas.

WHAT IS THE MONEY FOR?
A breakdown of the project budget is as follows:
App Development (Matt Blair) — $3,000
Project Management/Oversight (Dill Pickle Club) — $2,000
Audio Recording (Elias Foley) — $1000
Honoraria for guest experts — $50 x 15 — $750
Drawings/Design (Kate Bingaman-Burt) — $500
Web Design — $500
Promo Video Production (James Wilson) — $500
Project Promotions — $500
Project Design — $250
Kickstarter Rewards — $250              
Sub-total — $9250               
KS Fees and Amazon Fees — $786.25
Total — $10036.25

WHAT DO I GET IF I PLEDGE?
Check out the backer rewards to the right to see pledge levels. More information on tour guides and other incentives follows. Thanks for supporting our work to broaden knowledge of Portland — past, present and future!

Know Your City T-shirt
Check out an image of the shirt here: http://dillpickleclub.org/shirt.jpg

Carye Bye is author of Hidden Portland, a small-run artist guidebook that has sold more than 1,000 copies in its first year. An expert on museums and collections in Portland, she has led tours by foot and bicycle for more than 10 years. More info here.

Michael Munk is author of The Portland Red Guide and has published widely in the Oregon Historical Quarterly, Pacific Northwest Quarterly, The Portland Alliance and The Oregonian, which listed him among Portland's "local literary luminaries." More info here.

Art for the Millions pamphlet 
Art for the Millions is a 28-page guided tour of Portland public works projects of the Works Progress Administration (WPA), a federally-funded program that provided relief to millions of idle workers during the height of the Great Depression. More info here.

Northwest Passage book
Northwest Passage is an 88-page book and audio CD highlighting the history of Portland’s burgeoning independent music scene. More info here.

WHO IS THE KNOW YOUR CITY TEAM?
Know Your City is a project by the Dill Pickle Club, in collaboration with:
App Designer & Developer: Matt Blair
Kickstarter Video Production: James Wilson
Kickstarter Video Music: Copy
Audio Producer: Elias Foley
Project Illustrator: Kate Bingaman-Burt
Project design and promotion: Julianna Johnson and Kate Giambrone