I know, I know. It’s been a while since you’ve heard from me. I’m sorry. I’ve missed you, too. As most of you know, I’ve been working a lot. But have no fear, I’m still here. (Oh, and I’m only working TWO jobs now!) But what many of you may NOT know, is that I am a proud staff member of the 2010 North Carolina Comedy Arts Festival (#NCCAF).

I was honored to perform at NCCAF (as a guest) last year in 2009. This year, I have the honor of performing again AND the privilege of serving on the volunteer staff. It’s been an amazing experience so far, and the festival hasn’t even started yet. I was charged with being the Sponsorship Coordinator. What does that mean? Well, basically, the North Carolina Comedy Arts Festival (the largest comedy festival of its kind in the COUNTRY) takes A LOT of work to put on… and we can’t do it alone. So, I have been working with local media outlets, businesses, and individuals to coordinate sponsorships, coupons, and discounts for our over 500+ comedians that will be arriving throughout the ENTIRE month of February. This is one of those positions that is a lot harder than it sounds, especially when resources are tight… for everyone. It has definitely been a learning process, but I know that I’ve worked hard and represented the festival well.

What else am I excited about?

For those of you who aren’t familiar with NCCAF (formerly the Dirty South Improv Festival/DSIF) – this year is the 10th anniversary and it is bigger and better than ever. Executive Producer, Zach Ward has put more time, money, blood, sweat, and tears into this festival than you can imagine – all to make it what it is. A condensed timeline: (DSIF) Festival was started in 2001 showcasing ONLY improv comedy, went to TWO weeks in 2009 adding standup comedy, and in 2010 has added sketch comedy and film and video taking the festival to an entire month.

In addition to that, something that I had wanted to do for Zach and DSI for a long time also came to fruition this week. I spoke with both the Mayors of Carrboro and Chapel Hill and talked to them not only about how important the festival is for the arts culture in the community, but also the impact is has fiscally on local businesses. I wasn’t sure if they were going to be able to do anything, but I had high hopes. And then I got the good news. I take that back, AWESOME news. It’s OFFICIAL: both Mayor Mark Kleinschmidt of Chapel Hill and Mayor Mark Chilton of Carrboro have formally and officially proclaimed February 2010 DSI Comedy Arts Month in Chapel Hill and Carrboro. (And Mayor Mark Chilton will be at OPENING night this Thursday the 4th to read his proclamation before the start of the first show.)

Awesome.

Oh, and DSI won 2009 Small-Business of the Year last week. Pretty cool, huh?

We’re kind of a big deal.

Okay, okay. So why am I rambling and what is my point? My point is that this Thursday, February 4th marks the start of a HUGE month of comedy here in North Carolina.

Do you live in and around the Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, Carrboro, Greensboro, North Carolina, and parts of Virginia area? Do you love comedy? Do you want to laugh… a lot?

Then you should come see shows.

Seriously.

Support you local, national, AND international comedy this month. Support your local comedy festival. Support #NCCAF.

Oh, and did I mention I’m performing? …Twice.

• Friday, February 5th, 7:30PM at the DSI Comedy Theater with DSI Witness News: (Facebook Event)
• Saturday, February 20th, 10:00PM at the ArtsCenter Mainstage with Made of BEES: (Facebook Event)

Want to know the rest of the schedule?

• Sketch Comedy – February 4-6
• Standup Comedy – February 11-14
• Improv Comedy – February 16-21
• Film/Video – February 25-27

I just want to reiterate how excited and how proud I am to be a part of such an amazing theater, company, and festival.

Questions? Let me know. Want to see a show but don’t know which one to come to? Let me know. Want to donate swag to performers in town? Let me know. Want to help out another way? Let me know.

I’ll make it happen for you.

Word.

Although this is a local-topic post, the message is relevant no matter what city you live in.

For the past two and a half months, I have been spending my early Wednesday mornings attending the Chapel Hill Leads Group. Three months ago, I didn’t even know what a Leads group was, let alone did I know about one to attend. Well, as I was cold calling businesses trying to network, I met a man by the name of Jamey Tippens, a local home inspector. As I spoke to him about being new to the area, networking, and the like, he told me about the Chapel Hill Leads Group and suggested that I come check it out.

So I did.

For those of you that don’t know, a Leads group is a meeting/forum for individuals and/or businesses to meet, network, and talk about their business and goals. In just two months, I have met some incredible people at the Leads group, so I’m very grateful to Jamey for encouraging me to check it out.

I even had the privilege of volunteering for a few hours at the annual Chapel Hill Leads Group Food Drive to benefit the Food Bank of North Carolina. We collected over $1,400 and enough food for 10,001 meals. That’s right… 10,001 meals. How awesome is that?

*Quick plug: for those of you in and around the Triangle, NC area, you should definitely come check out the Chapel Hill Leads Group. They meet EVERY Wednesday morning at Extraordinary Ventures in Chapel Hill. It’s FREE your first time, and only $5 a week after that (which helps to support the facility and pays for delicious goodies). It really is a GREAT way to meet new people, make friends, network, and learn about amazing new opportunities in business and career development. The group is really welcoming, fun, light-hearted, and well connected. They are really there to help you out.

If you don’t live in Chapel Hill, know that there are Leads groups that meet all over. I’m sure Google can help you find one in your area.

I also wanted to take a moment to plug the CHAPEL HILL LEADS GROUP BUSINESS AND CONSUMER EXPO.

When: Tuesday, November 10th

Time: 5PM – 9PM

Where: Extraordinary Ventures

Who: Anyone and everyone!

The BUSINESS AND CONSUMER EXPO presented by the Chapel Hill Leads Group will feature businesses from all around the surrounding Triangle and Triad communities.

Why not start your holiday shopping Early? Get gifts, food, clothing, and even services all in ONE location. Do a little networking! Bring business cards and make great new connections! Free admission and free catered dinner for ALL attendees!  Bring a friend. Network. Support local businesses. I’ll be there! Come see me!

Check out the event on FACEBOOK. Check out the event on EVENTBRITE.

Okay, back to my original point. Why is this relevant? In an economy such as this, many small and local businesses are struggling, yet small and local businesses put money back into the community. A community thrives through the strong support of small and local businesses.

Movements like the 3/50 project or LocalMotive are great for supporting the local economy. Check out movements in your area. Tell me: how are You helping to support your local economy?

Just food for thought.

Shop local. Buy local! See you at the Leads Expo!

All for now.

I promised this post was coming, so here it is. I can NOT talk about social media for a day.

I have been hearing some sad and somewhat disturbing buzz lately. In today’s technological society and with all this encouraged entrepreneurship, YES, many adults are throwing out the argument, “Today’s youth doesn’t need to go to college. A college degree doesn’t mean much anymore. It’s as common as a high school diploma. So just start your business, make millions, and forget about school.” Okay, that last part is an exaggeration, but definitely is not far from the truth of what many are arguing.

Right after I got my diploma. I was excited.

And many young entreprenuers themselves are starting to doubt whether or not they should go to college. The 16-year-old tech genius Daniel Brusilovsky wrote in a recent post that he was debating whether or not to apply for college. Brusilovsky was trying to decide whether or not college is the best four years of your life, or simply four years of wasted time. Especially considering how smart this kid is, it honestly bothered me that he would even THINK about not going to college. (Thankfully, he has closed the debate and he IS, in fact, going to go to college. PHEW!) Why would it bother me so much that a kid, one whom I have never met, is talking about not going to school? A lot of kids choose to forego college and pursue their dreams. Professional athletes (minus football players) are guilty of this all the time – especially in basketball and even young golfers.

So what do I really think? Now, I’m speaking from a place of being currently unemployed (except for doing freelance work and consulting when I can and my part-time retail job – which both combined don’t exactly pay my bills). I’ll be honest to say that it has been frustrating lately applying for jobs and either having “too much” education or “not enough” education. I feel like I don’t fall into the desired category. I’m in a category with the majority of Americans – I have a high school diploma and a college degree, nothing more, nothing less – therefore according to corporate America, I’m average.

Now, not to toot my own horn, but I don’t consider myself to be average. I worked really hard. I got really good grades in college. And instead of going to a party on Friday night, I stayed up late working in the Student Government (SGA) office trying to make a difference on campus (at Christopher Newport) and throughout the state of Virginia. I volunteered more than 10 hours a week and I even created an endowed scholarship in honor of my mother when I graduated. Immediately after graduation, I had the honor of being selected as a Governor’s Fellow and worked beside the Governor of Virginia for two months experiencing state government first-hand. After serving as a Fellow, I went on to teach high school English for two years. It may have been the most challenging experience of my life, but I learned some of the most valuable information I will ever need to know. Now I’m unemployed and I can’t find a job. But I am no where near complaining. Honestly. I wouldn’t change any of my experiences.

Okay, ultimately, what is my point?

Life is unpredictable. Your situation can change at any moment. And although things may be more difficult now, I know they won’t be like this forever. But if I ever decide to pursue further education, advance in my career, or even run for political office, I am going to be proud to know that I have my degree from Christopher Newport University (Go Captains!) to back me up.

The four (sometimes five, six, or sadly, even seven) years you spend in college are vital. Look, I’m not trying to sound like a Vitamin-C song, but truly, college is not just about the classes, or the number of hours spent in the library. I learned more information (that I’m going to retain) outside of the classroom than I ever did taking notes on John Milton’s Paradise Lost. The connections that I forged, the meetings I attended, the clubs I was a part of, and even the mistakes I made, all helped to shape who I am now. And that DOES set me apart from the masses.

So even if you’re 17 and you have a brilliant idea that is going to make you billions, go to college and hash it out there. Don’t gamble with your future, in that if you ever do fall on your face in your 30′s, you’ll still have that degree to prove you’re worthy.

I swear, if I hear one more man, woman, or teenager say college isn’t worth it, I’m going to have some serious words. (I’m not a fighter, so I’ll probably just give them a stern talking to. But at least they’ll be intimidated).

All for now.

READ: The FIRST EVER Deep Fried #TriangleTweetup at the NC State Fair (@NCStateFair) was awesome. I was excited that @colettewh came with me! Even though it took us almost an hour to find the unassuming white tent on the opposite side of the fairgrounds, we had such a blast. I met some awesome new people and I even saw some familiar faces (Hey, @1918, we Buckley’s gotta stick together!)

There were Twitter-themed swag bags, free state fair food (READ: chocolate covered bacon = NOT okay), prizes, free L’OREAL Paris makeovers, and even Twitter-themed FACE PAINTING. Mimi the Clown was awesome and did a great job decking everyone out in sweet Fail Whales, Twitter birds, and even RSS Feeds (@WayneSutton “gotta sport the RSS feed”). I took a picture of some of the awesome face paintings that Mimi the Clown did! (I particularly love the little girl’s AWESOME @ symbol on her forehead). Check out some of them here:

Tweeple Pictured:

• @WayneSutton
• @GwenSutton
• @1918
• @mollybuckley (that’s ME!)
• @colettewh
• @ashevilleallie
• @JoyNatalie
• @EllenLynch
• @JennaFleur

…and more! (Sorry kids! I don’t remember everyone’s Twitter handle, if you’re pictured and I didn’t list you, leave a comment with your name!)

All I can say is, I can’t WAIT for next year.

All for now.

I got to really thinking a lot this week. I have a post coming soon about education in general, but I wanted to really drive home this idea of educating YOURSELF. Especially with regards to social media (but honestly, this TIP can be applied to any topic or trade). Social media, as we all know, is changing every day. Three, even two years ago, people didn’t know what to think of social media, let alone understand it, implement it, and become an expert at it. That’s why I want to really emphasize how important it is to EDUCATE YOURSELF.

No matter how long you have been in your field, 10 minutes, 10 years, 10 centuries, you will never know everything. So take the time to go out and expand your horizons. Read a new blog this week, go to coffee with someone and learn more about what they do, attend a conference (Social Media Business Forum, anyone? I’ll be there!), go to a #Tweetup (DEEP FRIED #TriangleTweetup, anyone? I’ll be there!), or simply ask a question that you don’t know the answer to. It’s okay to ask questions. Trust me, as a former high school English teacher, I know that there ARE no dumb questions. It’s dumb to not ask if you don’t know. Ah, You get my point. Learn from someone else. Know that you don’t know.

So go out there, learn something new, and then share what you learned! Come back and comment on my blog and tell me what you learned - because I want to learn from You!  Watch the video. Learn something. Then teach me!

All for now.

MINUS SOUND RESEARCH 4

I just wanted to take a moment to plug an AWESOME art show coming up THIS FRIDAY. Check it:

This FRIDAY, October 9th, Wootini enthusiastically welcomes MINUS SOUND RESEARCH back to the gallery for their fourth annual show! MINUS SOUND RESEARCH is an art exhibition of visual art created by North Carolina musicians. The masterminds behind MINUS SOUND RESEARCH, Maria Albani (Organos) and John Harrison (North Elementary) strive to provide musicians with opportunities to present their creative visions through sculpture, photography, drawings, serigraphy, woodwork, and painting.

MINUS SOUND RESEARCH 4 will include the work of six artists:

Strange bassist Lincoln Hancock says of his visual work, “My mixed-media paintings interrogate color-mystical hues from the grace of nature, the artifice of advertising, and plastic graphic language.” Selections of Hancock’s music are available on Strange’s websitehttp://www.myspace.com/strange.

One of the two sound artists behind Phon, Drew Robertson also creates mixed media work. Robertson’s visual focus, however, is on sound, and how we interact with it. Robertson’s sounds can be heard at http://www.phonpage.com.

Maria Albani is co-curator of this exhibition and one-woman force powering her solo project, Organos. Albani uses paste,l chalks, and acrylic paints to create portraits and scenes of sprightly, often otherworldly beings. Sample Organos by visiting http://www.myspace.com/organos.

John Kurtz provides guitar, piano, and vocals for Bull City. He’s also created visual documents of the lives of animals in ceramic and mixed mediai. Bull City’s online home ishttp://www.bullcitytheband.com.

Mas Sato, bassist for The Sames, focuses on simple and sturdy design objects. His work fuses traditional Japanese aesthetics with modern fabrication and production techniques. A new project lives on at The Sames’ old site:
http://www.reverbnation.com/thesames

John Harrison is the second co-curator of the show, as well as a member of North Elementary. Harrison creates unique compositions through the use of acrylic and spray paints, in tandem with silk screening and stencils. North Elementary provides music for your listening pleasure athttp://www.northelementary.com.

Laird Dixon of Sharkquest has sculpted many figures thoughout his life which can be found as many resin pieces, dioramas, and chess sets (such as the chess set at the OCSC).

Where: WOOTINI GALLERY, Carr Mill Mall, Carrboro, NC

When: Friday, October 9th, 2009. 7PM-11PM (the opening, the show will run into November)

How much: FREE (unless, of course, you want to buy some awesome art)

Questions? Email me: molly@wootini.com

I’ll see you at the opening!

All for now.

I’m sure most of you Social Media geeks (no offense, I am TOTALLY a social media geek) have already seen this. I just thought I would share it on my blog. A lot of clients I work with wonder about how important social media REALLY is, or is it truly worth it to invest in something like social media. It is. And this video demonstrates a lot of the information that I have been preaching for a while.

What I love about social media is that it is ALWAYS changing. There is always something new and exciting happening. And I am never going to stop learning. I think that’s awesome. So, here it is… the SOCIAL MEDIA revolution.

All for now.

Well, I am now a resident of Carrboro, North Carolina (near Chapel Hill, Raleigh, and Durham). So, I feel that it is my duty to also promote other awesome events in my new area and not just events in Richmond.

Here’s the scoop: [all of the following information is from the IGNITEraleigh website.]

Ignite events were originally conceived as technology variety shows, but they have grown into much more than that. Ignite is about ideas. Ideas can change the world. And it takes less than five minutes to spread one.

Each presenter gets five minutes on stage with 20 slides that rotate automatically after 15 seconds Around the world communities have been coming together to share their ideas.

Ignite was started in Seattle in 2006 by Brady Forrest and Bre Pettis. Since then hundreds of 5 minute talks have been given across the world. There are thriving Ignite communities in Seattle, Portland, Paris, and NYC. Now we’re hosting an Ignite event in Raleigh, NC.

For more about Ignite events see http://ignite.oreilly.com

To see examples of past Ignite events see Ignite Portland http://www.igniteportland.com and Ignite Boulderhttp://igniteboulder.com. And here’s a post about 12 Lessons in Entrepreneurship that was presented at an Ignite event.

Ignite Raleigh is planned by OurHashtag, LLC
Wayne Sutton @waynesutton
Kipp Bodnar @kbodnar32
Jeff Cohen @dgtlpapercuts
Ryan Boyles @therab

If you’d like to learn more about Ignite Raleigh, you can contact them the following ways:
Email: contact@igniteraleigh.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/igniteRaleigh
Phone: 980-939-8956

So. Check it out. 5 Minutes. 20 slides. What will happen?

haustalk is a design forum that enables all citizens of Richmond to have an open dialog to discuss how design can be used to strengthen and improve the greater Richmond community. All business professionals, community leaders, students and teachers, activist, artist, and designers are encouraged to learn from each other. The discussion is a platform to persuade citizens to become more socially conscious and to take action to help Richmond move forward into the future.

Where: Gallery 5
200 W. Marshall St.
Richmond, Virginia 23220
Phone: 804 644-0005
Email: gallery5@gallery5arts.org

Wednesday, 29th of July
Gallery5, 7:00 PM
Networking EVENT: Making Sense of Social Media Marketing: Learn Tips on How To Use Social Media More Effectively.

Featuring:
Molly Buckley (that’s me!)
Writer, Editor, Social Media Consultant

Need more details? Please visit Thinkhaus’ newsletter: thinkhausdesign.com/inhaus/inhaus.html