The alarm went off at 4:01am (every minute counts, amiright?) to get ready for an early flight to Phoenix to visit my family. (Richie and I decided years ago not to travel for the holidays, so we try to get to Phoenix in between Thanksgiving and Christmas to do festive…
Energy can be contagious. I remember a strategy from public speaking classes and teaching: when you start presenting, match the energy in the room. If you want to change it, gradually get to the energy level you want as you present. I’m not sure if this is still considered a good…
Last week, I traveled to the unseasonably-warm Redwood City, CA for CMX Summit, which is a gathering of community professionals across industries (but let’s face it: mostly tech) to do what they do best: connect. Sure, there are sessions where experts share their learnings and an exhibitor tent where vendors sling…
My friend Jim recently posted a Hemingway quote as an Instagram story and it caught my attention. The quote was, “When people talk, listen completely. Don’t be thinking what you’re going to say. Most people never listen. Nor do they observe.” I’ve been in a lot of workshops and trainings that…
Last summer, I attended One Rare Adventure, which is an adaptive camping experience for young adults (18-35) living with rare diseases hosted by the nonprofit One Rare. We camped at a site on the edge of Lake Superior and went on a couple kayak trips on the lake. I joined…
Gone are the days of watching daytime talk shows, movies my grandma recorded from the Disney Channel onto VHS tapes, or scratched-up DVDs when home sick. Now, we stream. In my last post, I half-jokingly suggested I’d share everything I watched and read while suffering from the ‘rona. Without further ado, here’s…
Hi, it’s been a while. The last time I posted, I shared an ebook I wrote in 2019 but never published. I made some updates to it, particularly because I wanted to add a section about COVID, and finally published it with a sense of urgency last month. The sense of…
Originally written in 2019, I’m excited to have FINALLY published this e-book with my tips for being a Meetup (big M) or meetup (little m) organizer! It’s a compilation of the advice I give when folks ask me for it, and it has a section about how Bull City Beer…
Have you ever had a day (or week or month or season) where there was just SO MUCH to do that you weren’t sure how you were going to do it all? And what happened at the end of it? You somehow managed to do it all, right? I was…
Do you have strong feelings about vocal fry? First, in case you’re unfamiliar, here’s what it is: “vocal fry is the shortening of vocal folds so that they close completely and pop back open to produce a frying or sizzling sound.” (According to the Voices.com blog.) It’s the low, scratchy or creaky…
