It is too early to function and your eyes can barely stay open. Standing next to a handful of other people, who look equally as tired, you wonder what the hell you got yourself into. You cannot remember the last time you have been awake this early.

"Welcome to operation rapid response! Arms up, level with your shoulders. Elevate your knees to your hips on each kick. Keep your back straight. Keep going!" START fitness instructor Bianca Buresh yells.

Suddenly you're running in place and the blood starts flowing. There's really no time to think because the instructor transitions quickly through exercises. Today's work-out consists of thirty minutes of indoor training, then thirty minutes outdoors. Many boot camp classes can be both indoors and outdoors and can be for people of all fitness levels. Today's indoor training class focuses on muscular strength, stamina and overall aerobic conditioning while outdoor training includes running, sprinting and focuses on developing aerobic efficiency.

Loud music begins playing in the background. You start to wake up. The music helps you get focused motivated. "Mountain climbers! Lets get down on the ground!" Bianca yells out. She shows everyone what to do by getting in the push-up position and alternating her right knee to your chest and then the left knee, then tells everyone to do the same and as quickly as possible. Thirty seconds of this and you're back on your feet jumping up, then dropping to the ground doing push-ups. Twenty more repetitions! Jumping, dropping to the ground, push-ups; it feels never-ending. Bianca instructs everyone to shout 'hoorah' after the last push-up. Everyone begins counting down from ten and then finally you get to the last push-up. Yes, almost finished!

"I didn't hear everyone shout hoorah!" Bianca says. "You're going to do ten more repetitions! Don't forget to yell hoorah this time." There are no breaks to get water or let you catch your breath. It's up to you to excuse yourself to do either of these. Once the indoor session is finished everyone hurries outside.

Instructors at START fitness do not yell at people to do an exercise and are trained to motivate and coach people by demonstrating proper exercise techniques. Boot camps are not just for the military anymore. Many boot camp fitness groups are located around San Francisco, usually downtown, along the Embarcadero, at Crissy Field and in the Marina district. People actually pay to attend these intense fitness boot camp classes.

Army National Guard Staff Sergeant, Ken Weichert, and his wife Stephanie Weichert, founded START fitness, one of San Francisco's first civilian boot camps. The boot camp formed in 1997 and is the longest running boot camp in the country. It is a group exercise program and incorporates military-style workouts.

Imagine jogging alongside a six-time soldier of the year, master fitness trainer and veteran of Operations Iraqi Freedom and Desert Storm. Probably not in one of your top three things to daydream about, or imagine yourself adding to your Tuesday's to-do list. For a small group of individuals living in San Francisco, this has become their favorite way to work out.

Sgt. Ken has devoted his life to promoting fitness, resilience, leadership and getting people into shape. So move aside yoga classes, there's a new, bad-ass fitness group in town. Maybe there's something about a tall, military-looking guy that really motivates an individual to push themselves as hard as they can. These military trained instructors are one of many reasons boot camps are becoming more popular.

The training techniques used by START fitness instructors are also practiced by the U.S. military. Ken and Stephanie have trained thousands of soldiers through Operation Fit to Fight, a fitness instructor training program they started. This program was was created to train soldiers for basic combat training. Many exercises from this program are similar to those in that are in START fitness workouts. Ken and Stephanie also produce health and fitness programs for GX Magazine ( a National Guard Magazine), and programs for the National Guard and Military websites.

The exercises are created to target target specific muscle groups and a person can burn between 600 and 800 calories in one sixty-minute class session.

Sgt Ken has been has served the military for seventeen years and travels around the country to train soldiers before they are deployed. Ken is usually in San Francisco for one week out of a month.

So, you just wrapped up the first thirty minutes indoors of the fitness boot camp class, now you're outside and it's time to work out for another thirty minutes. Bianca instructs the class to do lunges uphill for one block then continue jogging uphill another three blocks until you reach Lafayette Park located at Sacramento and Gough Streets. There, the class jogs up a flight of stairs, does push-ups at the top, jogs back down and is told to do suicides. This continues until the end of class.

Your muscles are shaky and you feel a little nauseous but you can't help but smile and feel good about yourself.

According to multiple Yelp reviews, the START fitness boot camps,"really kicks your ass!" Whether you make this a daily routine is up to you. Six in the morning is early, but at least you get it out of the way and still have time for school and work. Maybe thinking about all the bad food you want to eat this season will be enough motivation.

Yan Pu, 26, is a Minnesota native now working full-time for a venture capital firm who really, really enjoys going out, Pu is the co-president of the San Francisco chapter of Philanthro Productions, a non-profit group started in Los Angeles in 2007. The organization throws events after choosing another non-profit to partner with through a rigorous screening process. They market their events, which are aimed a younger crowd, similar to nightclub promoters.

"The problem is that people are overloaded with charities," says Pu. "It's hard to know which is worthwhile. Philanthro chooses for you while setting up a trade-off: you get to spend time with your friends while giving back."

Co-founder, Andrew Geisse, says he'd like to see that number tripled. "More qualitatively, I hope we are able to expand into more cities, but we are very cautious about this process," says Geisse. "The purpose is to keep improving on our ability to deliver our mission. I'd like to see each city throw an event that the original founders never thought Philanthro would be able to do."

Geisse's wishes have come true in some sense. On November 13, Philanthro Productions participated in a multi-city event benefiting Pencils of Promise, an international non-profit that focuses on building and supporting schools in developing countries.

It is through these sort of large-scale events that Geisse truly feels Philanthro's impact. "One of our first events in L.A. was for Susan G. Komen," Geisse says. "They're a huge organization and the money that Philanthro raises out of a single event is a drop in the bucket of their operating expenses. But, we got over 800 out to our event, educated them about breast cancer and used the event as a platform to build our own Race for the Cure team, which ended up being over 100 people."

The San Francisco Bay Area is a city where many non-profits begin as it is a welcoming platform to try new ideas. Another fairly new-comer to the philanthropy scene is Reason to Party, based out of San Francisco.

Reason to Party often holds events at beautiful venues like the St. Regis Hotel. They recently held a benefit party for We Players, a theatrical group that performs on Alcatraz, at Medjool Restaurant.

Under his pristine Dolce & Gabbana sneakers and well-manicured outfit, hides an incredibly excited and exuberant young man named Arsen "Ari" Kalfayan, the co-founder of Reason to Party. Kalfayaen comes from a financial background as a former account executive for Fisher Investments. The UC Davis graduate is also part of the CrowdFlower team. Kalfayan's typical day includes servicing Fortune 100 Companies and creating new opportunities within that space.

While working at CrowdFlower, Kalfayan wanted to create something for twenty to forty-something-year-olds to do that was productive, fun and beneficial. Perhaps this inspiration came from his mother who is known for helping others; Kalfayan has a history of being involved with his community and political scene since middle school.

"They are getting something they'd already want to do, and giving back," Kalfayan says about people that attend Reason to Party events.

Walking up the first flight of stairs at Medjool, Kalfayan is stopped at least three times by guests of the We Players benefit party. Kalfayan is certainly the man of the hour, if not the night.

Events like these make anywhere from $5,000 to $10,000 a night. Although the events are successful, Reason to Party cannot expand until it receives its official non-profit status--the organization plans to go after corporate sponsorships.

"We've already had meetings at Wells Fargo, Google and Genetech," Kalfayan rattles off a few big names. "The concept really sells itself. People want to give back; they just need that extra push."

Social networking sites play a big role in marketing for both organizations. Reason to Party is fueled 100 percent by social media and grass roots efforts. "It's totally viral," says Kalfayan.

Philanthro Productions also utilizes Facebook, GoogleBuzz and Twitter several times a week. The San Francisco Chapter currently has 825 "likes" on Facebook. They keep people interested by posting videos of musical artists performing at the events as well as photos from all the events.

Pu has not heard of Reason to Party. While she acknowledges that there are many other non-profits in existence with a similar business model, she believes Philanthro's ability to generate the most return on their events makes them a stand-out organization.

"For every dollar spent throwing an event, we are able to generate $14 in contribution to our partner non-profit," says Pu. "We try to stay efficient in our spending so that approximately ninety percent of proceeds go straight to the non-profit. We also pride ourselves on educating the patrons at our events with creative production elements."

The Pencils of Promise event will do just that, says Pu. One way is through decorations, the event will have napkins with facts about Pencils of Promise and the places it will affect. A live stream of all the parties will also be featured using Justin.tv. "We want [the guests] to know why they are here and where their money is going."

Laos is one of the places attendees' money will go to for this particular event. Philanthro Productions teamed up with Pencils of Promise (PoP), based out of New York City, to create a nationwide party to benefit building a school and supporting the SHINE program. SHINE stands for Sanitation, Hygiene, Identity, Nutrition and Environment, and it will be implemented into the schools built in Laos, Guatemala and Nicaragua.

Mimi Nguyen, 26, remembers her first trip to Laos during the rainy season to help build another school in 2009. "You know, most of the time you are campaigning and you're not on the ground putting the hammer to the nail. But, the moment you do, you realize the fruits of your labor," says Nguyen.
On August 15, Nguyen decided to make the move to be a full-time member of the PoP movement as Director of Development.

"It was very difficult not to think about Pencils of Promise every single hour," says Nguyen.

Both Nguyen and Pu agree that working in the non-profit world gives more than a good feeling at the end of the day. A new skill set is something that both women agree is gained.

"Externally, you can inspire others to get involved," says Pu. "But, internally we help develop volunteers. You can learn different skills that you couldn't necessarily learn at your daytime job. You can take a leadership role in a pressure-free setting and make contacts with people in the fields you are interested in."

Nguyen gushes about the ability to meet many people in different industries and the opportunity to learn from them. But she also appreciates the intrinsic value she feels with her team members. "It's almost like going back to school," Nguyen says. "As if there is a project you're insanely excited to work on in a team setting and you know that no one has any other desire than to meet this mission."

The hard work put in by PoP and Philanthro is apparent on Saturday night as people line up around the corner at Azul Bar & Lounge in Union Square for the multi-city challenge; the doors have only been open for thirty minutes. Passers stop inquisitively asking what is going on and some even end up joining and buy their tickets at the door.

Two rows of Christmas lights are strung atop the alleyway where several informational tables are set-up. Every guest is given a pencil with a dollar amount attached to it and some have a chance to win a drink ticket. He or she must go to one of the tables and figure out how much that amount can do for a child. Ten dollars supports thirty-one days of education and $250 provides a teacher's salary for one year.

Geisse stands amazed with fellow Philanthro members admiring the crowd composed of people in their mid-twenties and early thirties. The Pencil of Promise event is a culmination of all the knowledge gained since Philanthro's birth, says Geisse.

"We didn't know anything about how to throw an event at a club in the beginning," says Geisse. "It feels great to see this. Everybody who put together this event did this on their nights and weekends or they are trying to sneak out for a call during the day."

Inside Azul, people are buzzing with excitement around the bar and cozy dance floor. The music is pumping and the guests are excited about Ashkon Davaran, Internet celebrity--thanks to YouTube--and the Giants fans, who will be performing. Adam London, 27, the other co-president, introduces the surprise performer before stepping away.

In 2009, London became involved with Philanthro when a college fraternity brother introduced him to the non-profit to help run development sponsorships. "I was passionate about raising as much money as possible," says London. The Pencils of Promise event raised over $7,500, which very close to London's hope of hitting the $10K mark for a night.

London also hopes to "coolify" Philanthro and volunteering in general. He believes San Francisco's eclectic culture will make this possible and London is excited for coming year to say the least. "I love that we have a consistent following, but my style is more to push the limits and try new things," says London. "We can't always throw club events. Some people would rather go to an art auction or a wine tasting."

London encourages college students to get involved with a cause they believe in and suggests some local programs such as Habitat for Humanity, Greater San Francisco, Real Option for City Kids (ROCK SF) or the soup kitchen at Glide Memorial.

"Pick a program or non-profit that aims to fix a problem you think needs fixing and volunteer your time," says London. "You'll be amazed how good you feel after."

SF State currently has 2,000 international students enrolled with the largest being from Business department. SF State's M.B.A. program takes the eighth position in the U.S. for Greatest Opportunity for Minority Students according to the Princeton Review's "The Best 301 Business Schools: 2010 Edition". SF State also boasts almost 300 clubs and organizations.

Noah Kuchins, International Exchange Programs Advisor at SF State, believes that San Francisco is an ideal location for many people, which may account for the high enrollment rate. But, it's not just a fluke thing. "The administration has put an emphasis on creating a campus diversity and that includes an international atmosphere," Kuchins says.

One of the ways is through the International Education Exchange Council (IEEC). The IEEC creates a unique structure for American students and international students, whether they are here for a semester or their entire college experience. More than 100 universities have students who want to study abroad, says Kuchins. Since 1994, the IEEC has allowed students to create connections.

Katrine Vinter Troelsen is an exchange student from Denmark who came to San Francisco to improve her English language skills. The blue-eyed marketing major is co-chair of the IEEC public relations committee. "The IEEC makes you much more involved in on-campus activities and also you meet a lot of new people--both American and International," Troelsen, 23, says. "Thought it takes a lot of work, it is fantastic to experience such teamwork and joy among students. It also makes you feel that you are never alone."

"The IEEC is always organizing things," says Victoria Kondrashon, 21, a cinema major for University of East Anglia in England. "It helps draw students together." Arriving at a new school, let alone in a new country, can be daunting. Many of the international students studying during the fall semester had one expection of San Francisco and after arriving it had changed quite a bit. One student, Greg Jackson, 20, had friends who had visited California previously. "They told me San Francisco was like the less vain sibling of Los Angeles," said Greg Jackson.

Although some students like Hayley Burrows from Brunel University in England did not have much of an opinion of San Francisco, but instead came with an open mind. "I'm the kind of person to go and seek out my own friends," says Burrows, 20. "[The IEEC] is an immediate community, which I liked and I now feel like I have connected better with the American students."

Whether you prefer to make friends on your own or if you're the type of person that needs a bit of a push the IEEC seems to meet all needs according to Jesper Norby, 25, from the Danish School of Journalism. "While I've met plenty of people through other channels, the IEEC provides a great platform for social interaction with people all over the world," says Norby. "I don't think I would have had as good an experience if it wasn't for the IEEC."

San Francisco's garage-psych scene is bursting at the seams, despite flying somewhat under the national radar. Thee Oh Sees are definite heavyweights, constantly recording, touring, and kicking ass in just about every imaginable way. The Fresh & Onlys are another local act that has not slowed in putting out great music. Their third release in three years is no exception and their relentless ability to carve out solid tracks is unquestionable. Leaning to a more psychedelic side, White Cloud is a band on the up and up, catching the ears of those eager to find something organic. Their sound is reminiscent of the old but fascinatingly different.

The Fresh & Onlys can sometimes be found playing on the same bill as Thee Oh Sees--partly because the two groups both occupy space on Los Angeles-based record label In The Red. The fellow tattooed rockers have a distinctively different sound, though obviously garage-derived. Their talent is ultimately found in songwriting abilities, and their surf and pop-infused cuts will have you bobbing your head in approval. Catchy melodies and whaling guitar riffs help create a rock and roll vibe that is not overplayed or gimmicky. A mess of reverb surrounds the stage as they blast in and out of songs and helps add to the subtle mysteriousness. Tracks rarely span beyond three and a half minutes, so a typical set offers a good range of tunes. And though female background vocals heard on some of their albums are absent from their live shows, the band fills the space with enough psychedelic, vibrato-soaked guitar that you will quickly forget. The Fresh & Onlys are unique in their aesthetic and purposefully melancholy.

White Cloud are well on their way to establishing themselves amongst their neighboring contemporaries. Local writer Christopher Holmes is right on the money as he writes in Asterisk Magazine, "White Cloud is an evolution, a development of sound. Not a sound trying to fit into a previous mold effected or shaped by anything else." Their music is like a lucid dream you wish you never had to wake up from. Their ability to deeply engage without theatrics or shtick is refreshing and enthralling.

On stage, James Murphy appears visibly possessed as he keeps time, paradoxically floating around his modest drum kit while dynamically booming. Shiv Mehra alternates between ambient flutters as he jumps around the neck of his guitar, unleashing a fully sustained rawness that fills the room with fuzz. Patrick Vacchio adds a layer to the soundscape that enriches and drives songs as he bounces between a synthesizer, sampler, and violin bass. All the while, Nick Capello's keen ear for infectious melodies, sort of Gregorian chants on ecstasy, help to mesmerize even more. The resulting vibe is wild yet contained as their sound is heavy but manages to flow with grace. White Cloud is scheduled to release a full-length album in the coming weeks.

Thee Oh Sees, The Fresh & Onlys, and White Cloud represent only a sliver of what San Francisco has to offer in the way of local music. Though they share obvious parallels through psychedelic garage rock, it is impossible to compare one to another--comparison should be avoided completely.

The best part is that you can experience this scenario on an increasingly common evening in the streets of San Francisco as the mobile food revolution evolves the way we enjoy meals socially. Local food vendors are re-imagining two things San Franciscans hold dear - a good meal for a good price.

"We try to make all of our events different because they all attract a different crowd," Matt Cohen, founder of Off the Grid and the SF Cart Project, says. "The largest is on Friday evenings at Fort Mason where we usually have live music, a bar, and extended hours. Upper Haight starts off with a lot of families then changes into more students as the night goes on."

This diverse crowd represents just how furious a momentum food carts have picked up over the past few months. Mobile vendors, who used to seemingly live in isolation in the late-night streets of the Mission District with bacon-wrapped hot dogs and in the ice chests of Dolores Park on a sunny afternoon are now the same generation of food providers that serve business people in the Financial District, pre-partiers in the Marina, and a bevy of students and hipsters in the Upper Haight daily. Off the Grid is a pioneer in this trend, holding weekly mini-festivals that attract gourmet trucks and hungry stomachs alike with five different locations in nearly every corner of the city.

Off the Grid: Upper Haight is the newest of these spots, setting up shop on Stanyan Street just outside the East entrance of Golden Gate Park. Though each unique location has a core group of trucks that you will reliably find parked and open for business each week, Cohen keeps the lineup exciting with new vendors at most events.

Cohen's influence and dedication to bringing street food to the masses has manifested itself into a full-blown revolution. With a background in education and business, he has spent the past few years consulting for local food start-ups. This interest evolved into helping a number of food carts, including all those who participate in Off the Grid events, in getting proper permits and licenses so that they can legally and efficiently operate their business at various locations throughout the Bay Area. This is a process independent vendors can often have a hard time resourcing on their own without the proper network that consultants like Cohen can provide.

According to a recent San Francisco Chronicle article, talk amongst city supervisors of a newly proposed bill may make it less expensive and more inclusive for small, developing food trucks by issuing annual permits, giving permission to operate in multiple locations, and reducing the initial fee by almost a third. With these updates in place, mobile food businesses would be able to set up normal, regulated hours of operation and have a better chance of establishing a set following in a given location.

Local organizations are taking notice of the need of aid for prospective vendors and none more so than La Cocina, a non-profit food business incubator. The organization's key purpose is to help low income food entrepreneurs learn the basics of running their business and provides them with resources and training to see their ideas to fruition.

"Mobile food businesses have a much lower entry point than a brick and mortar restaurant," says Julie Flynn of La Cocina. "Most of the time, vendors lack the resources."

La Cocina launches many successful street food businesses in the Bay Area through a process of education and instruction that begins with prospective clients working through an application process. If accepted, La Cocina will help entrepreneurs take their concepts and develop a business plan, work on a marketing strategy, and ensure that the quality of their product is as high as possible. If applicants are not accepted, they will still provides them with valuable feedback and suggested resources to pursue so that they can continue moving forward with the next step of their business.

Flynn insists that although the city is saturated with restaurants and continues to grow in terms of brick-and-mortar eating establishments, there still is nothing like the satisfaction locals get from eating outside, something the California food scene smartly takes advantage of.

This past summer, La Cocina organized the second annual SF Street Food Fest, held in the Mission District. The event, which combines stand-alone food trucks as well as local restaurants and bars participating in street food specific-menus, drew a larger crowd than its previous inaugural year. The first National Street Food Conference, held in San Francisco in conjunction with the festival, hosted panel discussions and presentations on the mobile food industry from educators, writers, entrepreneurs and consultants in the field.

"It was a major access to markets and sales for businesses in our program," says Flynn. "We built a lot of momentum and are excited for the years to come."

The overwhelming appeal can be partially accredited to the sheer affordability of artisan, organic food in a less stuffy atmosphere than a fancy city eatery. And with the growing number of locations and mid-day stops, food trucks are becoming almost as convenient and ever more tasty than a repetitive lunchtime run to your neighborhood Starbucks for a refrigerated sandwich.

"It's convenient and the food is good," says Sean, a street taco consumer. "The trucks are easy to find and the events are all well-documented."

After reading about an Off the Grid event in an issue of SF Weekly, he made his way to a Civic Center gathering and later happened to walk by a recent Off the Grid event at the McCoppin Hub just off Valencia Street. A current SOMA resident who moved here from Chicago, he feels that the mobile food presence of this city is unmatched.

Little Green Cyclo is a new addition to the local street food scene, operating for just under two months. With the goal of providing affordable, organic and authentic Vietnamese street food, Monica Wong, Quynh Nguyen, and Timmy Perez have formed a street food dream team with respective backgrounds in finance, cooking and graphic design. Together, they have created a website and eco-friendly food truck that operates in San Francisco on a daily basis and at Edgewood Eats and Moxsie Street Eats events in Palo Alto.

"There are lots of Vietnamese spots in the city, but we really wanted to offer good food that was healthier and organic," says Wong.

Wong's parents owned and operated the first Chinese restaurant in downtown Boston when she was younger, and though she built a career in finance, the culinary start-up bug inspired her to return to her roots. Wong and her partners sought out help from Cohen when they decided to launch their truck, based in South San Francisco, and the business grew from there.

Little Green Cyclo, who take their name from the French derivation of the word "pedi-cab," offer Vietnamese fare like Bahn Mi sandwiches, sweet potato fries, and tofu dishes.They use fresh, locally sourced ingredients picked up at the Ferry Plaza Farmer's Market. As important as an affordable plate is their commitment to overall tasty, nutritious food.

Coffee vendors are also taking advantage of the ground they can cover in the mobile market. Curbside Coffee operates out of a single truck and serves coffee, tea, and espresso drinks that are all sourced from local roasters. Started by Jordan Greene, formerly of Peet's Coffee, and his business partner, the mobile coffee shop serves local pastries from Christopher David Macarons and Sandbox Bakery. According to Greene, Curbside hopes to build an established morning location soon, likely somewhere in the Financial District. With a passion for the craft of quality coffee, Greene's simple mission is to deliver quick, quality coffee to the masses in a city where the coffee scene has become a mass of aesthetics and fancy coffee houses.

The mass consumption of street food could likely be because both the quality and the affordability of the food are hard to beat anywhere else in the city. $2.75 veggie tamales from El Norteno taco truck, $3 Filipino pork tacos from Senor Sisig, and $3 salted caramel or tiramisu cupcakes from Cupkates are but a few selections patrons can choose from at a single Off the Grid event, and leave full.

"Off the Grid has about 9,000 followers on Facebook right now, so marketing is almost done completely through the Internet," says Cohen. "We're targeting a more sophisticated food audience, and it all spreads from there."

This illustrates another key reason why this new breed of food pioneers has attained such recognition in sometimes just a matter of months. Aside from limited print advertisement and commercial exposure, blog activity and live feeds run by a few employees do the work of an entire marketing team. It is free and simple to use and those in the food industry are beginning to wise up to the ways in which their food and brand can reach a wider audience with just the click of a key.

For food truck businesses still in their early stages, an online presence is vital in building the customer base and taking advantage of the free marketing and advertising tools that the Internet and social sites offer. Both Little Green Cyclo and Curbside Coffee have active Facebook and Twitter accounts, through which communication to the public has been fundamental.

Both Wong and Greene agree that social networking is crucial for mobile businesses as it is often the key connector between the schedule of a consumer and the location of a vendor on any given day.

Even the Los Angeles Times has taken notice of the food revolution going on up North. As far back as a 2009 post, their travel blogger Susan Derby wrote that "...the two best ways you can liven up the San Francisco visitor experience are by taste-testing the city's varied edible offerings and by strolling about outdoors. Now you can perform both actions in one fell swoop by chasing around food carts."

Street food is quickly become just one more unique San Francisco characteristic, changing the food landscape one motor at a time.

Edson looks intently between her two Dell monitors and talks through her headset with a firm voice. She keeps a headset on so her hands can be free to type at all times. After about a year of working at TechLink Systems, Edson was promoted to recruiter where she quickly broke the company record for being the fastest to place an employee at a job.

Currently six months in as a recruiter, Edson believes her job provides the ability to learn about other people's careers and different industries. The job is considered flexible where the outcome of your work is defined by how much effort you put in. This means, putting in extra hours may deliver better results.

TechLink Systems is a privately held recruiting company that acts as a middleman between prospective employees and hiring companies. TechLink CEO Jane Kim and her two siblings manage branches in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and New York. According to TechLink's website, their goal is to "provide contract and contingency placements of highly skilled professionals to organizations nationwide." Some of their major clients are within the finance, engineering, information technology, health sciences, industry and government, and science/chemistry industries.

Each recruiter has a monthly goal to place at least one to five employees at a job, whether it is a permanent or temporary position. In some ways, being a recruiter may be viewed as a professional nanny for adults looking to work. Potential employees, or "candidates" as the recruiters call them, should feel appreciative for having guidance throughout the job obtaining process.

In the heart of San Francisco's Financial District, Edson steps out of her morning meeting focusing on her daily tasks with a cup of coffee beside her. Throughout a typical day, she will receive up to four positions to fill. These positions are given by vendor managers, for example, Kelly Services and Manpower, who act as middlemen between TechLink recruiters and their clients, some being Google and Johnson & Johnson.

Edson then looks through her file of old candidates, which she refers to as a pipeline, to see if anyone is interested and qualified to work the positions she is told to fill. If not, she creates a new search string and types a bunch of keywords into job boards such as Monster, Careerbuilder, and LinkedIn among others. These job boards all provide access to people's resumes.

After reviewing numerous resumes, Edson will find potential candidates she thinks are suitable for the various positions and starts making phone calls to them. These calls are an important step in the process as they resemble mini-evaluations to make sure the candidates are not fabricating their resumes.

"I'll ask questions like 'what's your experience using product X?' or 'what was the turnout after using this certain program?,'" Edson says. She makes about twenty to thirty phone calls a day.

After the phone call, if a candidate sounds fitted for a position, Edson submits his or her resume to the client. She looks over the resume to make sure it is in the client's requested format. If anything needs to be altered, Edson will make changes on the resume herself to save time. After submission, a waiting game happens where the client may not give feedback until a month later. In the meantime, maintaining relationships with the candidates is important so that they do not lose interest.

"Anyone can recruit, not everyone can be good at it. It takes patience and perseverance to not have candidates talk over you," Edson says. "Especially as a junior recruiter, credibility over the phone is big. You have to establish this [credibility] from the beginning and focus on the opportunity being given."

Edson also has to send an informative email to the candidate with notification of submission and overall details about the client and job description. If the client is not interested in the candidate, he or she is put in the pipeline and informed of future opportunities. However, if the client is interested, Edson calls the candidate back and sets up an interview. TechLink recruiters aim for a 30 to 40 percent interview ratio out of the people they submit.

After an appointment is set, Edson sends the candidate an email with interview tips, focusing on things to avoid, things to say, what to research about the company, and a confirmation of date, place, and time. Edson explains that this mandatory step can boost a candidate's confidence and settle the nerves before an interview.

"If you know what your clients are looking for, you know what they want. You can give extra insight to your candidate like, 'you only have a twenty minute interview, so focus on these five specific things,'" Edson says.

Just because the interview goes well does not mean the recruiting process is finished. If the candidate is an extremely qualified individual, they may have different job offers from several other recruiting companies. In this situation, Edson would have to use her sales skills and convince her candidate that TechLink's offer is better than any other.

Waiting and sitting around is not tolerated in the recruiter world. To be successful, you constantly stay on top of the game and fill in the position before another recruiting company may get to it. On certain nights, Edson works late in the office, even past two rounds of janitors. By these hours, only the sounds of her keyboard and the janitors sweeping remain. Edson's persistence of working voluntary twelve-hour shifts shows in the outcome of her work.

Even after a job position is filled, it is the recruiter's responsibility to maintain the candidate's status and record. The recruiter is the go-to person for the rest of the candidate's contract with the company.

"TechLink is the candidate's employer. Everything, including work hours, needs to be approved by TechLink first. Checks, benefits, and health insurance are all given by our company," Denise Oyama, TechLink's adminisitrative coordinator says.

After a candidate receives employment from a TechLink client, the process is still not over. Oyama rounds off the final steps, on top of doing administrative office work and assisting all of TechLink's employees. Oyama sends the candidate authorization forms for background checks that may include drug screening, criminal history, education, past employers, residence history, credit history, and claims.

The screening companies actually call employers and schools to verify dates and degrees. In addition, the drug screening companies request a standard urine test which can check for five to ten types of drugs. For medical environment jobs or labs, a tuberculosis test may be required.

While waiting for approval, Oyama organizes paperwork for the candidate to fill out. The first set are TechLink documents which include an offer letter, tax forms, an I-9 form, data records, and emergency records. The second set of paperwork varies in length depending on the client. All the finished paperwork is sent to the employer before the candidate begins work.

As this process is only for one hypothetical candidate, TechLink recruiters may go through this procedure a number of times per day with overlapping situations. This environment forces TechLink employees to think on their feet and practice tremendous organizational skills.

Edson and Oyama both agree that TechLink's recruiting process is a teaching experience, "Sometimes it's about trial and error. You learn from your mistakes and there's nothing you can't do if you aim high."

Founded in 1776, San Francisco has a long and rich history that includes major events like the California Gold Rush and the devastating earthquake of 1906. Many, like Fassbinder, believe lost souls from such historic events continue to roam the city streets. He has been leading the San Francisco Ghost Hunt Walking Tour around the city's Pacific Heights neighborhood for more than twelve years. "[This tour is] a chilling adventure that will introduce you to San Francisco's most notorious ghosts," says Fassbinder.

San Francisco is the seventh most haunted city in the nation, according to Haunted America Tours, an online website dedicated to finding the nation's most haunted places and scariest ghost tours.

But what is a ghost? "I've come to believe that ghosts are energy forms created by extreme emotion, somehow stuck in time," says Fassbinder. These so-called energy forms have been haunting the Pacific Heights area for over a century, including the Queen Anne Hotel, the starting point of Fassbinder's tour.

The Queen Anne Hotel at 1590 Sutter Street looks like a pretty, pink dollhouse to those walking the streets of the Pacific Heights neighborhood. An exemplary form of early Victorian architecture, the Queen Anne was built in 1890 by Senator James G. Fair. The building was originally used as a preparatory school for young women called Miss Mary Lake's School for Girls. Miss Mary Lake, the head mistress, ended up with a broken heart when the finishing school closed after only nine years. In 1980, it was converted into a hotel and now contains one permanent guest: the ghost of Mary Lake.

Mary Lake's spirit is said to reside in her old office--Room 410. According to recorded accounts, guests are said to have awoken, after falling asleep on top of their bed covers, with a blanket tucked warmly around them. Mary Lake cared for her students in a similar manner. Ghosts are also known to manifest themselves in the form of cold air spots. One such spot is said to float through the halls of the Queen Anne, exactly how Mary would once patrol the halls. Mary has never caused harm or inspired fear. "Mary is the friendliest ghost I've ever met," says Linda Petery, a guest of the hotel who once stayed in Room 410.

Along with cold spots, spirits can make themselves known by manifesting into smoke-like apparitions. San Francisco City Hall is one haunted location riddled with such ghosts. Rob Spoor, a tour guide for the free City Guides Ghost Walk through City Hall that takes place every Halloween, has experienced first-hand the sight of an apparition.

One evening after a tour, Spoor left the Board of Supervisors Chamber, turning off all lights and locking up behind him. He quickly realized that he had forgotten his binder of ghost stories sitting on one of the wooden desks. As he returned to the room, a small, bright white orb of light caught his eye. Spoor circled it and tried to find a possible cause, but failed. "There was no possible source of light," says Spoor. "Then it just faded and disappeared. One ghost was making itself known to me, and I was quite happy."

This isn't the only time Spoor has met a ghost. During one of his ghost walks last year, Spoor was speaking with some guests when he felt a poke in his back. Assuming it was a poke from someone wishing to pass behind him, Spoor stepped to the side and waited. When nobody emerged from behind his back, Spoor turned around and found the space empty. "There was nothing strange about it, just a poke in the back," says Spoor. "I believe it was just a playful ghost letting me know he or she was there."

According to reports compiled by Spoor, workers within City Hall have been treated to many paranormal encounters. From doors and cabinets banging shut, lights turning on and off by themselves to dark shadows seen roaming through hallways with no earthly explanation, the ghosts within City Hall love to make themselves known. Such consistent activity can be linked to the land's past, says Spoor. The ground beneath both City Hall and Civic Center Plaza was once home to the city's largest cemetery. The remains were sloppily dug up and moved to Colma to make room for construction. It is believed that these disturbed spirits linger around and within the structures now sitting on the land.

Along with his tour of City Hall, Spoor has also been leading a ghost walk through the haunted Palace Hotel, located at 2 New Montgomery Street, for the past ten years. Spoor's primary thrill when telling ghost stories is trying to get people to open their minds. "People should keep an open mind because you cannot always explain away these stories," says Spoor.

The former site of Mary Ellen Pleasant's mansion is another spooky San Francisco location. Mary Ellen, some know her as the Voodoo Queen of San Francisco, resided at the intersection of Bush and Octavia, where the Healing Arts Building now stands. The mansion was referred to as the House of Mysteries, where she and her followers would practice dark voodoo magic.

A row of large Eucalyptus trees remains along the sidewalk outside where this mansion once stood. Mary Ellen planted these trees, where she would have once been seen furiously shouting and madly pacing back and forth. Passers on this corner sometimes felt a sharp slap of pain on the back of their heads, as gum nuts from the trees were inexplicably thrown at them. "The nuts have been thrown at myself and my tour guests many times," says Fassbinder. "When this happens, we know Mary Ellen is with us."

If you are an amateur ghost hunter hoping to catch a glimpse of a spirit, Fassbinder has advice for you. "It helps to get the ghosts' attention by talking about them by name," says Fassbinder. "But don't mess with their surroundings, 'cause then you'll just annoy them."

There is one ghost who holds the title of San Francisco's most famous spirit, according to Fassbinder. Flora Summerton was a bright young woman who lived in the city at the turn of the twentieth century. At the age of 18, Flora ran away from her comfortable, affable home to avoid an arranged marriage. The lonely ghost of Flora has been sighted numerous times roaming along California Street near Octavia Street miserable over having gone from riches to rags. "A whole cable car full on passengers along the California Street line once saw her," says Fassbinder. "And a little girl on my tour did too, describing her as 'the girl made out of cigarette smoke.'"

Spoor says it would be impossible not to be haunted with so many stories and evidence about ghosts within the city. "It would be pretty amazing to even consider that it not be," says Spoor. "Considering the history, it would be inconceivable that we wouldn't have a significant haunted history."

Despite this, there remain many nonbelievers. "It's just such a happy place," says Jamie Wells, a San Francisco State student who has lived in the city for five years. "The city as a whole is so bright, it's hard to believe it's haunted." Fellow San Franciscan, Sherisse Utodor shares the same sentiment; "I don't believe in weird things," says Sherisse. "To me, ghosts are like the tooth fairy or the Easter bunny."

Through ghost walks, however, believers have been made. Alica Huerta took the ghost tour of City Hall, going in a skeptic and coming out a believer. "So many people have had experiences, it has to be true," says Huerta. Spoor agrees that there is just too much evidence not to believe. "All types of people have the same stories, year after year," says Spoor. "There's so much consistency. Clearly there's got to be something to it."

For those brave souls willing to tempt the ghosts of San Francisco into making them believe, Fassbinder would love to have you. "I want us all to have a real supernatural encounter," says Fassbinder. "I will do my best for you to raise the spirits."

For more than twenty years the Brown Bag Theater Company at SF State has offered theater students a unique experience. Taught as a regular class, students are given the opportunity to star in, write, produce, and essentially build plays from the ground up. While participating in Brown Bag is not required, theater arts and drama majors who choose to are given valuable experience which mirrors that of professional theater companies.

"Brown Bag is about simulating the repertory theater experience," says Hopps, a sophomore and theater arts major at SF State. Brown Bag is exposing students such as Hopps to a real world of theater. Originally from Los Angeles, Hopps took part in his first production in fourth grade. He spent his middle and high school years acting solely in musicals, until he signed with a talent agency at the age of fifteen. After shooting numerous commercials and acting as a film extra, Hopps came to SF State knowing that acting was something he wanted to pursue. Now into his second semester with Brown Bag, Hopps loves the well-rounded quality of the company.

"I love doing the hands-on stuff, and seeing what you build become the world you act in," says Hopps. He is referring to how everything that is seen in Brown Bag is student-built and produced. From the writing and directing of each show, the operating of lighting and sound, to the construction and arranging of each set; the students do it all. "I love that everything you see in Brown Bag is done by students," says Hopps. "It's just cool."

The twenty-two to twenty-five student actors and six directors who participate in Brown Bag are auditioned and chosen by professor and supervisor Bill Peters before the start of each new semester. Sophomore Elaina Garrity is one actress who can be seen in Brown Bag productions this Fall. Beginning with dance classes at the age of four, jumping into musicals, and finally landing in plays, Garrity came to college knowing exactly what she wanted. "You fall in love with [theater], and you have to major in it. There's no other choice," says Garrity.

Garrity starred in The Interview alongside Hopps, in which she played the character Laura. Commanding the stage, Garrity marches from one end to the other, the sound of her black high heels clapping furiously on the hard floor as her long, sable hair swings animatedly from left to right. Shouting and soothing alternately, Garrity's Laura attempts to bring Hopps' writer character Michael out of his grief-driven rut. "I really love the collaboration of it," says Garrity, referring to acting in such Brown Bag plays. "It's so open and resourceful. And it's a fun experience that gives you a lot of exposure."

Kenny Toll, a senior at SF State majoring in theater arts, is one of the six student directors who was chosen to join the Brown Bag Theater this semester. Toll has directed The Interview as well as The Nina Variations so far this Fall. Having previously spent two semesters acting in the company, Toll is now enjoying his first semester as a director. "It's great because you're really being taught how to put on a full-scale show," says Toll. "And as a director, you can really take it to whatever level you want."

Coming from a theater background, Toll has always been close to the arts. Growing up, he would run around and play on stage while his mother helped to design costumes and his father built sets for various productions. "Acting is my first love. I've never wanted to be anything else," says Toll, who knew he wanted to be an actor at the age of seven. Now into his third semester of Brown Bag, Toll believes the campus theater company is something special. "There's nothing else like it, or as well done, at other school," says Toll. "It definitely stands out on its own."

Taught as a regularly scheduled class, Brown Bag does have requirements that each student must meet. Actors must work on the technical side of one show, which can include monitoring the lights and audio during a performance. They must house manage one show as well, passing out programs and making sure there are no outside disturbances while a show is being run. For every play they are involved in, students are also required to assemble and disassemble the set; loading and unloading them from the theater every Friday and Saturday as they finish one production and begin preparing for the next. Most importantly, each actor in the company is required to act in three of the twelve to fourteen productions produced per semester, while each director must act in one, and direct two.

With these requirements, on top of the eight to twelve hours of rehearsal actors put in every week when preparing for a performance, it is safe to say that Brown Bag is a huge time commitment that requires some sacrifices. "You have to give up time for other classes," says Hopps. "You've got to make those choices because it's a priority."

"I made sure nothing conflicted with the [Brown Bag] schedule, but have sacrificed my social life," agrees sophomore Casey Robbins.Amanda Denison, a junior at SF State, says she has had to sacrifice spending time with her family, but believes Brown Bag is worth the price you pay.

"I made sure I had time to do it," says Denison. "You feel so rewarded after every show." Denison teaches acting at the Young Rep Theater Company in Walnut Creek when not in school and says she began acting when she was in her mother's womb.

"I feel at home when I'm on stage," says Denison. "You're free to not be yourself for a little bit." For Denison, however, Brown Bag is about the bonds you make with your fellow actors. "It's all about the connections you're making," says Denison. "Brown Bag gives you the chance to feel intimate with all of your cast mates."

Brown Bag shows run each week, Wednesday through Friday from noon to 1p.m. in the Brown Bag Theater. The students in Brown Bag are required to see every play produced at least twice, one of these performances being a special preview that occurs every Tuesday for members of the company only. The actors and directors will receive feedback and constructive criticism about their work, while also sharing the experiences they have throughout the production. "The Tuesday show is the most terrifying part," says Toll, "but also the most rewarding." These previews are one part of Brown Bag that really bring the actors together.

For the students of Brown Bag, the company is not strictly a class-it is a family. "You really bond in acting," says Robbins. "The class really connects." The students will have bonding sessions that include movies or grabbing lunch, according to Hopps, who believes it is important to feel comfortable with your fellow cast mates. And for Garrity, "the best part is just being goofy with a bunch of your friends in the back."