The Story of OPEN EXCHANGE MAGAZINE

The year was 1974. Bill Gates was still a teenager, an office computer would fill a room, and a good answering machine cost about $1,000 in today's dollars. The economy was in deep recession, returning Vietnam vets couldn't find work, and PhD's were driving taxis to pay the rent. Erica Jong's Fear of Flying was a bestselling feminist novel, and Archie Bunker was America's favorite TV bigot. Health food, yoga, and Eastern philosophy were practically unknown because Oprah and OPEN EXCHANGE weren't around to promote them yet.

Bart Brodsky, a recent UC Berkeley political science graduate and onetime student at the original Free University of Berkeley, knew that education could be more immediate, more relevant, more responsive—and definitely more fun! Bart wanted to teach classes about ecology and alternative lifestyles and knew other teachers had creative offerings, too.

Bart had ideas and energy but not a lot of money. For $1.50 he ran an ad for "Teachers Wanted" in a local flea market newspaper. He spent another $3.00 for 500 "Teachers Wanted" flyers that he posted around town. About 150 people responded, eager to teach yoga, auto repair, dance, Zen, guitar, anger management, biofeedback, progressive politics, massage, astrology—a varied curricula ignored or considered "taboo" by most school administrators.

Prospective teachers were asked to invest $10 or $15 risk money for each class listing to be published. Over 50 teachers ponied up, raising over $750, enough to publish a modest four-page, black and white catalog. Students began to enroll, and OPEN EXCHANGE was covering expenses—independent and community-based—from the very first session.

While socially progressive, Bart was old-fashioned about money. "The first free universities folded when they couldn't pay their bills. My folks taught me, 'Don't spend what you don't have, and pay yourself last.'" Teachers earned money from the start, but OPEN EXCHANGE staff was unpaid for about a year. Bart couldn't afford an answering machine so volunteers covered the phone while he distributed catalogs out of his old station wagon.

Janet Geis volunteered to help with production of the second catalog and soon became indispensable. With her background in journalism and corporate training Janet helped make the organization grow. By 1979 OPEN EXCHANGE was grossing almost a half million dollars annually. That year OPEN EXCHANGE registered over 17,000 students for 1,500 non-credit "mini-classes" held in homes, storefronts, and community centers throughout the Bay Area.

In 1980 OPEN EXCHANGE became a directory of professional services. Instead of sponsoring all its own classes, OPEN EXCHANGE would focus on publicizing the events, trainings, consultations, healthcare referrals, and products offered by local experts as well as other community-based organizations.

By the early 90s "Healthy Living" became a dominant theme, merging the avant-garde with the burgeoning mainstream interest in green living and fitness at every age. The publishers are privileged to have worked with some of the most innovative thinkers and cultural creatives of our time, luminaries such as Amy Goodman and Ram Dass, Marianne Williamson and Fritjof Capra, Suze Orman and Ed Begley, Jr., to name just a few.

Bart and Janet's greatest personal satisfaction, however, comes from birthing business start-ups, helping local people create work they love. Having authored two books on this subject, The Teaching Marketplace and Finding Your Niche, marketing and career consulting remain a key part of their ongoing mission.

What's their best advice for people in career transition? Janet says, "Go local. It's really a good time to offer a personal service, become a coach or natural chef or massage therapist. You can't outsource a back rub!"

This fall OPEN EXCHANGE inaugurates its thirty-sixth season as the Bay Area's most widely read healthy living resource directory, offering 1/3 million readers a unique forum for new ideas along with hundreds of listings in business and recreation, performing and fine arts, healthy lifestyles and personal growth.

To what do the publishers owe their longevity? "There's really no secret here," says Bart. "Work hard and offer good value. It's true for every profession. We've found our niche."

How long will it continue? "Janet and I are still in our 50s, and '50 is the new 30' as they say, so we could go on publishing for quite some time. Eventually a new generation will take over the editorial reins, of course. But as long as people are looking for ways to connect and there are great stories to tell, there will always be an OPEN EXCHANGE...."

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