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Blog
Dog Walking with TAP-Chicago
Kick off spring with the TAP-Chicago community service team and lend a helping hand/paw to man’s best friends at Chicago Canine Rescue! We will be walking dogs and enjoying the outdoors around the Forest Glen Woods preserve. Space is limited! So sign up ASAP. First timers and experts are welcome.
The Chicago Canine Rescue was founded in 2001 to help find permanent homes for dogs considered too young, old, ill, or have special needs that would otherwise be euthanized at local shelters. There are currently 80 or so dogs at the Rescue that would love to your attention and care!
Details:
1. Volunteers must be at least 18 years of age. Photo ID is required.
2. Please print and fill out Chicago Canine Rescue’s volunteer waiver form
3. All volunteers must arrive on time at 10:00 am for mandatory orientation and dog handling instructions. No Asian time =P
4. You must register via Eventbrite link below to secure your spot as space is limited
Questions? Please contact Shannon Wen at swen904@gmail.com
To learn more about Chicago Canine Rescue, please visit:
http://www.chicagocaninerescue.com/
To learn more about TAP-Chicago, please visit:
http://www.tapchicago.org/
TAP Chicago – Cinco de Mayo Networking Mixer
Join TAP-Chicago and fellow Chicagoland young professionals for a Cinco de Mayo celebratory networking mixer on Thursday, May 3rd at Ronero Chicago. Ronero/Esco Bar is one of Chicago’s hottest bars/clubs with its upscale Latin American restaurant and speakeasy-style rum bar.
If you’re new to the area, looking to meet new young professionals or simply want to socialize with old friends, come out and help us celebrate Cinco de Mayo in style.
This will be an extra special networking session as we’ll also be sharing details on this year’s upcoming Lunar Ball celebration. Early bird tickets are on sale now!
Registered guests will enjoy a complimentary signature cocktail and passed appetizers (ceviche, empanadas and mini Cubano sandwiches).
Registration: $5 general admission and at the door. Get your ticket now on Eventbrite
Getting There: West Loop, close to Morgan El stops and several CTA buses.
Questions? Contact the organizers:
Yuange Yang – yuange@tapchicago.org
Kevin Chang – kevin@tapchicago.org
TAP-Chicago partners up with Exodus
After fleeing persecution or war in their homeland, refugees approved for resettlement arrive in the U.S. with nearly nothing. Separated from their families and friends, as they start their lives again in a foreign country, one of their most basic needs is setting up a new home and household supplies. Through Exodus’s Care Pack program, you’ll provide families an assortment of essential items during an in-person visit (1-3 hours) that shows love and hospitality to our refugee neighbors. We have already made some care packs; volunteers are welcome to contribute additional supplies to care packs if they choose.
Registration: Limited space, please register on Eventbrite at https://tapchicagoexodus.eventbrite.com
Getting There: We will first meetup up at a central location in Rogers Park for orientation and then split into various teams and carpool to different houses. More details will be provided for those who register.
Questions? Contact the Organizers
Kevin: kaiwen.sp@gmail.com
Quinn: qguan2@gmail.com
Exodus World Service mobilizes the community to welcome and befriend refugees by connecting volunteers with refugees through practical service projects and equipping leaders to advocate on behalf of refugees. Find out more about Exodus at http://exodusworldservice.org.
Asian American Business Leaders & Entrepreneurs 2018
On Thursday, February 15, 2018 join AMOA, 1871, and community partners at the 1871 Auditorium inside the Merchandise Mart as we hear from prominent Chicagoland Asian American leaders and entrepreneurs. The panelists will discuss their journeys to success and offer advice to those seeking to advance their careers or start new businesses. There will be a networking reception following the discussion and Q&A. Light food and beverages, both alcoholic and non-alcoholic, will be served.
Listen to a panel of prominent Asian American business leaders and entrepreneurs as they discuss their journeys to success and offer advice to those seeking to advance their careers or start new businesses. A networking reception with light food and beverages will follow the panel program and Q&A.
Get your ticket here.
Questions? please email: Connie Yip connie@tapchicago.org
3 Models for Event Partnership
At TAP-Chicago we frequently collaborate with different community organizations on a variety of projects and events. Sometimes it can be challenging to reconcile differing expectations about roles and responsibilities. While each event is a little different, here are 3 models we use when partnering.
The most common arrangement we use is a Marketing Co-sponsorship. In this case, one organization takes the lead and does the bulk of the planning. The lead org comes up with the event date, structure, and content, arranges the logistics, creates the marketing materials, staffs the event, and takes on the financial commitments and P&L. Often times, the lead org does much of the work before even approaching potential partners. The non-lead or co-sponsoring organization’s role is to market the event to their members and supporters the same way they would an event they organized themselves. Sometimes, the co-sponsor makes a financial donation or provides some day-of staff or other help.
While the contribution to the event organization is unequal, in a Marketing Co-Sponsorship we market the event with the two organizations as equal co-sponsors with both organizations similarly listed on the event flyer, facebook, webpage, registration page, etc. The only indication of the different roles to the public are incidental: for example, since the nametags, sign-in sheets, and staff for the event usually come from the lead organization, attendees might deduce the division of labor. Since the event is marketed the same way as the co-sponsor’s own event, there is informally a greater commitment to push turnout and there is usually a significant attendance from the co-sponsoring organization.
We commonly use this arrangement when one organization has stronger interest or better positioning to organize an event or when the scale of the event is small enough that it is more efficient for one organization to do the bulk of the planning with limited coordination with the other organization. Often, we will alternate lead organization responsibilities with a partner organization for a series of similar events.
A less common arrangement for us is a Planning Co-sponsorship where both organizations share responsibility for planning and decision making and finances are usually shared. Depending on the specifics of the event, we sometimes split each function with a joint team from each organization or split the functions between the organizations. Either way, the result is a more even sharing of responsibilities. We don’t usually do this much due to the high coordination costs in a volunteer setting and the need for a longer project timeline. However, we believe joint planning has the potential to yield stronger events and we seek these opportunities whenever they make sense.
Finally, another common arrangement is a Marketing Partnership. As in the Marketing Co-sponsorship, one organization has primary responsibility for an event. But for Marketing Partnerships, the partner org does not market the event as their own event. Instead, they present the event to their members as an external community event supported by the organization. Often times, the marketing for the event makes the different roles clear, whether it’s through logo placement or text description. Some situations where we use this arrangement are when there are a very large number of organizations involved in an event, when we’re not able to commit to extensive marketing because one of our events is too close to the partner event, or if we feel an event isn’t a close match.
Regardless of the collaboration type, the hope is that cooperation creates more high-quality, well-attended events that promote fortuitous interactions. And our goal for partner events is the same as for solo organized ones: to strengthen our communities through community service, professional development, cultural awareness, and leadership development.
So how does this line up with how you or your organization think about collaborations? Any suggestions or comments?
You can reach Hauwei at hauwei at tapchicago dot org.
5 Reasons You Should Create 2 Facebook Events for Your Group’s Joint or Co-Organized Event
by Hauwei Lien
When we host joint events with other groups, a recurring issue is whether each group should create its own Facebook event to market to members. It seems like a waste of time to create and maintain separate event pages. Why not create a single event and just post the link to each group? Here at TAP-Chicago we believe it’s almost always better to create multiple facebook events. Here’s why.
#1 Members receive an invitation to join the event. Creating an event allows you to add the entire group to the “Invited” list. There is no way to invite a group to an existing event, the option only appears during event creation.
#2 You can customize the event to include group-specific language and a tone that will appeal to members.
#3 People will actually see the event. When you post a link instead of creating an event, members with group notifications disabled don’t get any messages, they don’t get any notification of your event at all!
#4 People will get better notifications. When you create an event, members with notifications enabled receive a “PERSON invited you to EVENT” message instead of the more generic “PERSON posted in GROUP …” message.
#5 Perhaps most importantly, members can see the event in Invites and Events calendar. Posted the link? No invite, no calendar.
Until Facebook wises up and lets admins invite groups to existing events, creating multiple events is the only way to reach all your members on the world’s most popular social network.
Recap: TAP-Chicago Taiwanese Breakfast
On Sunday, TAP-Chicago hosted a Taiwanese breakfast event at Tamarind, where owner Lisa Ko made traditional Taiwanese breakfast food. Thanks to you guys, we had an amazing turnout, and are planning a part 2 next month! Check out our Facebook for event updates.
Thank you, Lisa, for making the event possible, and reminding us of our hometown.
What a great turnout!
The menu consisted of
碗粿 Wah Kueh (Steamed rice pudding with delicious savory topping)
油條 You tiao (Fried Donut)
花生湯 hua shen tang (peanut soup)
甜豆漿 Tian dou jiang (Sweet soybean milk)
鹹豆漿 Xian dou jiang (Savory soybean milk)
飯糰 Fan tuan (Taiwanese rice ball)
胡椒餅 Hu jiao bing (Pepper Pancake)
Nom Nom
Nom Nom Nom
Satisfied TAP-Chicagoans.
Click here for more nom nom pictures!
Special thanks to Lisa Ko for the amazing meal
Paul Ko for the pictures
Shannon and Phil for coordinating the event
and of course, all of our members who came out to enjoy food with us!
Recap: Project Vision
Thanks for supporting Project Vision‘s Fall Soiree & Silent Auction. Your support has helped benefit PV’s after school tutoring program, service learning projects, and college prep workshops. That’s a big difference you’re making!
The event took place in Co-Prosperity Sphere on 3219 South Morgan St, Chicago. A really good artsy space with a good vibe.
Items up for auction included a 5-Course Dinner for 2 at Oceanique, Kindle Fire, dinner for 2 at Table Fifty-Two, private wine tasting party for 6 at Lush Wine & Spiritsm, private jewelry party for 10 at Erin Gallagher Jewelry, original art work, and much more….
Project: VISION is a nonprofit organization that provides teens in the Chinatown and Bridgeport communities with free after school programs like homework tutoring, college-prep workshops, and service learning opportunities.
To continue to make a difference with Project Vision, consider volunteering your time! More information on Project: VISION can be found on their website.
Special thanks to Project Vision
Tamarind for the catered food
The DJ who helped set the mood
and of course, our lovely attendees
[Photos courtesy of Autmn Chim]
Taiwanese Beef Noodle Soup named “Best ethnic dish” second year in a row
This is just sample text to test posts on the TAP-Chicago website. Below is someone’s mom’s recipe for Niu Rou Mian, looks pretty legit. If you try it out, let us know how it is!
BROTH
2-3 lbs of beef shank
Water to cover
Green onion and ginger
Soy sauce/salt to taste
SEASONING PASTE
2 tablespoons of canola oil
2 teaspoons of sugar
6 tablespoons of Szechuan peppercorn
2-3 tablespoons of minced (or grated) ginger
1 head of garlic, cloves peeled and minced
2-3 star anise
2 tablespoons of spicy chili bean paste
1 tablespoon cayenne or Indian red chili powder (optional)
OTHER SOUP INGREDIENTS
1 lb tendon (optional)
½ lb of Chinese greens (I used Shanghai bok choy hearts)
Noodles (homemade or fresh store bought)
Green onions
Slivered zha cai (Szechuan pickled vegetable)
1. Place the whole beef shank in a large pot or Dutch oven with enough water to cover. Add about 4-5 stalks of green onion (well-rinsed) and 4-5 slices of ginger. Do not salt! This will ruin the flavor of the broth; you will be adding soy/salt at the very end. Cover and bring to a boil, then turn down to a strong simmer for about half an hour. Remove and discard green onion and ginger. Then take the shank out and carve it into largish chunks, placing these (along with any juices) back into the pot. You will want a very good serrated knife for this task, as the shank is very tough to cut.
2. Heat the oil for the seasoning paste in a medium-sized frying pan. Add the sugar and stir until completely dissolved and just starting to caramelize (you will see a golden brown color appear in the bottom of the pan). Then add the rest of the seasoning paste ingredients and stir vigorously for about 90 seconds. This will smell fantastic, and you will want to eat a bowl of beef noodles right on the spot. Not so fast, my friend, you’ve still got three or four hours left to go. Throw this delicious mixture into the broth pot.
3. If using tendon in your soup, simply boil it whole in a separate pot over medium-low heat until tender (about 2½ hours). Make sure to keep topping up the water level if necessary. Chop into bite sized pieces and add it to the main soup pot. Note that tendon will dissolve if you cook it for too long, so you may want to keep this aside if your soup isn’t close to ready yet.
4. Every recipe I read claims that after two hours of simmering over very low heat, the beef will practically be falling apart. This was not the case for me. Mine took about four hours, at which point it became so lusciously tender that it practically dissolved upon contact. It was well worth the wait.
5. About 15 minutes before serving, add soy/salt to taste. I added about 2 tablespoons of low sodium soy sauce and a quarter teaspoon of salt. Remove the peppercorns and star anise with a Chinese spider or skimmer. If you miss a few peppercorns, don’t worry. They’re edible, just a little bitter.
6. Prepare your noodles according to the package instructions. Shanghai noodles are available at most Asian markets, and work the best here. Or you can make your own, a surprisingly simple task that I document here. You have about six hours to kill anyway. Blanch veggies in the same pot of water. In your soup bowl, place a ball of noodles, followed by veggies. Pour about two cups of beef broth over, then add a few pieces each of beef and tendon. Scatter the top with slivered zha cai and green onions and serve.