Ardan Michael Blum
Ardan Michael Blum was born in Geneva, Switzerland. In 1992, he graduated from Bennington College and returned to his city of birth. Work followed. Summer jobs, internships and volunteer work.
Then love entered his life. Tragedy arrived soon after. He faced the death of the woman he adored.
As a healing process, Ardan Michael would start a charity to care for the elderly in memory of a beautiful social worker (he had hoped to marry).
Vivre Avec le 3ème Âge (translation "Living In/With The Third Age") was created. It would go on to organize many events!
The most important action achieved by the charity was a partnership with Logitech, IBM, Hewlett-Packard Europe and Microsoft to provide computers along with software free of charge to senior centers and nursing homes in French-speaking Switzerland.
About 300.000 Swiss Francs (see CHF/USD) worth of material were distributed. Then a website to allow seniors to share their life stories went online. More in French: Les Séfarades à Genève.
Together with the OSR (the Swiss National Orchestra), a special winter concert. This was a free event at Geneva's premier concert venue, the Victoria Hall, and attended by over 800 senior citizens! (View a 360 image inside the concert hall).
In the succeeding year, a 3-course dinner in the lovely Brasserie Lipp for 80 senior citizens was organized. This 10.000 dollar dinner was made possible thanks to the extreme generosity of the restaurant's owner.
Related: See inside the restaurant and a scan of the invitation card sent to the guests.
The Road to Palo Alto
Vivre Avec le 3ème Âge relied on the press to announce activities and express a need for sponsors and/or volunteers. Year-round funding for operational costs was lacking. Ardan Michael began learning how to surface on Google.
This turned into an 18 hour learning process per day. Soon people would be calling his charity to find out who handled the ranking on Google for his organization!
Then, if you did organic SEO for local terms. One customer followed the other through a snowball effect.
Clinics and private bankers emerged with interest in SEO. A new career was born. Search engine optimization would become a full-time job. Volunteer projects supporting senior citizens would continue for several years.
At the end of 2014 Ardan Michael left Europe and moved to Clyde Hill, Bellevue, Seattle. In 2015, Ardan Michael moved South to establish his Palo Alto SEO company A. Blum Localization Services.
Personal life
Ardan Michael has played the cello for over 40 years. He had the great privilege of studying with Bernard Greenhouse of the Beaux Arts Trio for 10 years, traveling to Cape Cod (for lessons at Bernie's home in Wellfleet), or to the Swiss city of La Chaux de Fonds (where the trio recorded in the town's empty concert hall which has great acoustics).
Ardan Michael was to study with Pierre Fournier, Paul Tortelier and his late and amazing father David Harvey Blum who had been a close friend of Pablo Casals and the author of the Casals and the Art of Interpretation.
Ardan Michael carries on his family tradition of loving Dachshunds. These hounds will draw him away from most matters; they are the result of the fine-tuning in Germany for a loyal, brave, headstrong, funny and independent creature.
In Palo Alto:
Ardan is a BPC (Block Preparedness Coordinator) with the Palo Alto Emergency Services.
– At the Palo Alto May Fete '22. (Ardan is center right with pink filter mask).