August 28, 2011 by jkunkler.

From The City Newspaper
on January 25, 2005

Archived at the City Newspaper

When Jo Ann Morreale hinted a few months ago that she might be getting out of the movie business, scores of city residents balked. While Morreale has operated the one-screen theater at the Clinton-Goodman intersection for more than two decades, the building itself has been a movie house for almost 90 years. Many who grew up frequenting the neighborhood haunt — known nowadays as The Cinema — can’t imagine life without it. But time has begun to take its toll.

One of the two air-conditioning units has problems, and maintenance costs in general have been rising. Late last summer, Morrealle put the building up for sale. The media flocked to her side, a grassroots “save the theater” group (coordinated by the South East Area Coalition) took hold, tickets sales jumped, and a surprised Morreale began to rethink her options.

Morreale charges only $3 for her back-to-back features, and one solution could be to raise prices. But Morreale says that would compromise her mission. “I wanted the intelligent, adult crowd that appreciated a reasonable price,” she says, “a place to spend an evening and still have change back from a $5 bill.”

To maintain her low ticket price, Morreale has always shown second-run movies — a policy that would seemingly place her in competition with the newer, larger Movies 10 discount theater on West Henrietta Road. Morreale’s clientele disagrees. They like going to the movies in their own neighborhood, they say. And while other area theaters charge several dollars for candy and popcorn, Morreale still sells candy bars for 50 cents and large popcorns for $2.

“There are no places like this anymore,” says Mike Thompson, chair of the Ellwanger Barry Neighborhood Association. Joel Kunkler, community development coordinator for the South East Area Coalition, says Morreale, a science teacher at Edison Tech, didn’t go into the movie business for the money. Rather, he says, it was for love of the trade. “Her primary thought process is not that the theater is a business,” he says. “It’s just a service she provides to the community.” With its resident cat, a room where people can store their bikes, and a baby room for families who don’t want to disturb other patrons, Morreale’s theater is indeed an old-school movie house.

A study conducted by SUNY Geneseo faculty and students last year indicated strong support for a movie theater in the Cinema’s southeast city neighborhood. “It complements the nightlife,” says Dan Buyer, executive director of the South Wedge Planning Committee. In the survey, the Cinema was listed as key to “the larger experience that people want to have when they come to the South Wedge,” says Buyer, “along with going out for a drink at Beale Street or going out to Lux.” While bars like Beale Street and Lux typically attract people in their 20’s and 30’s, Morreale draws an older audience. And of the 20 or so people attending a SEAC save-the-theater meeting recently, less than a handful were under age 40.

Morreale herself seems more concerned with maintaining her current audience than tapping a new generation. “Currently my target audience is not the college crew,” she says. “Kids don’t have time for a double feature.” And teens are even harder to draw, she says: “They want to see movies the first night they come out or the second night. After that, it’s old news.”

Nonetheless, Morreale and her supporters are looking for ways to diversify the Cinema’s offerings. Ideas floated at recent SEAC meetings included working with Rochester Institute of Technology students to create a website, expanding the theater’s offerings to include live performances, and hosting a lecture series.

Kunkler adds that while SEAC typically refrains from being involved with private business affairs, his organization believes both in the theater’s viability and in Morreale’s vision. “I think she does this because she loves movies and because she loves her community,” Kunkler says. “She doesn’t want get rich and fat from this.”

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August 28, 2011 by jkunkler.

Saturday, April 30th, 2011
House and Coyne have a full plate on Property Source Radio this Saturday with 2 guests. Rich Levin, a real estate “success” coach, and Joel Kunkler from the Rochester Housing Council.

Listen now.

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October 22, 2008 by jkunkler.

Posted on September 8, 2008 by justlists
(ref: Be the Change, by Michelle Nunn pg. 243-270)

If you work in the Internet industry and you see that a nonprofit’s Web site needs work, call them up and offer to fix it for free. That’s a huge help that doesn’t involve you ever leaving your chair. (Joel Kunkler - Rochester, NY)

This is an edited subset of the lists, other stories, and quotations contributed by hundreds of people across the United States that can be found in Be the Change! Change the world, Change yourself edited by Michelle Nunn, Cofounder and CEO, Hands On Network.

Buy it now at Amazon.

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April 1, 2008 by jkunkler.

All work and no life is not an option for Gen X/Y

Meghan Wier has worked awfully hard to create a balance between work and family, and she’s not about to drop it all just for a bigger paycheck.

“I have a system now where I work part time and partly from home because I have a son who’s 1 year old,” said Wier, 29, vice president of development for the software firm. “I’m constantly trying to figure out how to balance my work and my family. … I feel really lucky because I’m in a situation where I can have a professional career but also have my family and home life, too.”
What if someone came along with an offer of a bigger job? A bigger paycheck? Lots of exotic travel? “Frankly, I may just say it’s not worth it,” she said. “I’d weigh the opportunity, but it would be a very hard decision.”

Welcome to the outlook of Generation X and Generation Y — people like me, born between about 1965 and 1985 — children of the Boomer generation.

Let me be among the last to observe that the X and Y generations look at life differently. But let me be among the first to note some new evidence backing up that vast oversimplification when it comes to careers.

A study released this month found that only 52 percent of college-educated, Gen-X/Y men “wanted to move into jobs with more responsibility,” down from 68 percent among men at that same age in 1992. Among women, the study found a 21-percentage-point plunge.

Compared with past generations, Gen-X/Y employees are less likely to automatically climb the corporate ladder to the detriment of family and personal life. And it’s not from laziness. The study found Gen-X/Y employees work longer hours and deal with more work from home than previous generations.

Let me add the caveat that every situation is different. My own grandfather drove trains through Indiana for decades, spending days away from home. My work life can’t compare to that.

And a mix of social cross-currents are at play here. The study observes that Gen-X/Y workers endured the ’90s bubble at the beginning of their careers, and personally know of layoffs. Gen-X/Y employees are more often the kids of working parents.

We’re also of an age to personally observe a shift in the meaning of “promotion.” Our parents could often equate “promotion” with a more plush career life — a big office, a secretary and long business lunches.

Not anymore. Now, “You’ve been promoted” often means you’re doing two or three jobs.

“A lot of those higher positions never pay good enough to overcome how your life is so imbalanced,” said Christopher Burns, founder of the Rochester Young Professionals organization.

What’s more, this generation finds “balance” is not a preference, but a necessity.

“More people are in dual-income situations,” Burns said. “So you have to make sure there is someone to give little Frederick a bath, help with homework or read Puff The Magic Dragon.”

To reinforce how these generations do not seek balance from love of leisure, I’ll note the career of Joel Kunkler, 33, landlord services coordinator of the Housing Council of Rochester.

“I’m focused almost entirely on my career,” said Kunkler, who is single. “At some point, I’m going to have children, and I don’t want to have to do this level of work then. So I’m doing it now. Last night I left work at 1 a.m. and was back here at 8 a.m. … Hopefully, I’m putting myself in a position where, later on, I will direct others who have that same level of energy I have.”

So this week’s advice to the Gen-X/Y block is this: “You are not alone in working for balance above career. And you’re not alone in working very hard for it.”

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April 1, 2007 by jkunkler.

The new book, Be The Change! Change the World. Change Yourself, is available now!

Hundreds of people reveal how they find meaning and transform their lives by helping others.

Edited by Hands On Network co-founder and CEO Michelle Nunn, Be The Change! explores each person’s capacity to change the world through personal stories and advice from hundreds of citizens, business and government leaders, and celebrities. Be The Change! reveals how involvement in service can change not only the world, but also an individual’s life. Be The Change! also features stunning photography from Pulitzer Prize winning photojournalist David Hume Kennerly. Click here to visit our Be The Change! photo gallery.

Be The Change! also highlights the positive experiences and impact that result from volunteer leadership - when an individual decides not only to volunteer, but also to lead others in service. If you are interested in learning more about becoming a Volunteer Leader, click here.

A portion of all proceeds from sales of Be The Change! will go to Hands On Network.

See what others are saying about Be The Change!:

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March 26, 2007 by jkunkler.

April 5th: Volunteer Motivation

Description: Learn to determine motivational styles and create a motivating climate will help attendees place volunteers in jobs they want to do and where they will be successful. Understanding what people want and expect are keys to a successful volunteer program or experience. Participants will learn the best way to supervise and support volunteers based on their particular motivational style.

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