Manik Hossain

Christopher Iverson’s Bio: I was born in the NW in Oregon and graduated from Portland’s Franklin High School. I then went on to study at Portland Community College and Portland State University. While I received no formal degree I did study in many diverse subjects such as entrepreneurship, business, public speaking, psychology and foreign languages. In 1988 I started my first company called Premier Watersports, which specialized in personal watercraft rentals and instruction. During this time I helped to start and was elected to Director of the Oregon Personal Watercraft Association (OPWA). In my capacity as president of the OPWA I had many opportunities to speak in public and at our states capital in Salem during periods of legislative action. I also appeared in a Jet Ski video that was made for Kawasaki as part of a promotional campaign. I was very involved and active in the Jet Ski racing circuit. Having won many races and competitions I went on in 1989 to compete at the World Finals in Lake Havasu, Arizona at which I placed in the top third. In 1992 I started an alcohol-free all ages nightclub and café called The Park Avenue (it was Oregon’s first electronic dance music club) located in downtown Portland. Featuring Portland’s biggest dance floor, this club proved to be very successful and was filled to capacity on many nights during its legacy. Within this ‘conscious’ nightclub I opened one of America’s first juice bars which was also a ‘Smart Bar’ called Think Smart. This was my first introduction to growing and juicing wheatgrass and making fresh fruit and vegetable juices. This concept proved to be very popular and within a few months of opening we were featured in Willamette Week, the Oregonian and all of the local news channels, which ran very positive stories about this niche concept for healthy living. My great-grandfather had owned the building that the club and Smart Bar were located in and eventually I ended up managing the entire building. The upstairs four floors were converted into creative spaces for businesses, artists, musicians, activists and other types of entities. During the six years I was building manager I oversaw the operation of the whole building in every way, shape and form. During the six years at the building I started many businesses and was involved with projects such as: -Started a alternative newspaper -Co-produced cable access TV shows -Set up the ‘Activists Headquarters’ -Started the Alternative Health Center serving hundreds of AIDS and cancer patients -Organized Eco-friendly activism -Helped start an underground radio station serving 40,000 people with commercial free music -Chief petitioner for the 1996 Oregon Cannabis Tax Act, a statewide voter initiative -Produced several events and functions -Started several companies and projects with various people, friends and acquaintances -Appeared in all the major local newspapers, television channels and radio stations for a variety of different projects and causes. Also the first Mayan Calendars/Universal Time Calendars were created in our building by Portland P.A.N. (Planetary Art Network). Jose Arguelles lived and worked in the building in the late 90’s. This was an especially important time of activation for our global community. At the time the ‘epicenter’ was in our building in Portland, Oregon. In 1997 Willamette Week in its ‘Best Of’ issue featured our building calling it ‘the best place to have fun under one roof’. The building is still going after 25 years and a friend still manages it. In the spring of 1997 I moved to Europe and lived in both Switzerland and Amsterdam. I moved to Switzerland to conduct research with hemp/cannabis for food, fiber, essential oils, seeds and medicine. My company was one of the premier hemp companies in Switzerland for several years. During my seven yea

* Фактический адрес проживания определен с точностью до города: США, штат Мэн, Portland.