I've landed in the desert

I'd prefer it if we didn't dwell on the fact that I haven't blogged in over 4 months. It would be nice if I could say I had been whisked off on a 4 month African Safari sabbatical... or perhaps living in a beach hut working on my tan but I've been doing neither of those things. I'm not going to tell you that the only thing consuming my time since March has been work... or that I come home in the evenings and feel like collapsing in a heap because my brain is so tired from answering thousands of questions about what kind of concessions I plan on selling at the upcoming show... or that I'm just plum tired.

Let's not dwell on that.

Let's get right to the meat and potatoes of this blog post.

I arrived in Phoenix (as in middle of the desert Arizona) earlier this afternoon for the International Association of Venue Managers (here on out referred to as IAVM) annual conference, Venue Connect. Conferences are great for so many reasons - I really could spend all evening writing about each reason. But for right now, right this very second, at 5:13PM PST, the number one reason this conference is great is because I'm feeling myself recharge. That eager spark that had started to dim while sitting behind my desk, answering question after question for the past year is start to gain some strength. Sure, tomorrow I'll probably tell you that the conference is great for the networking or education, but for right now, it's just that it's fanning the flame.

Last January I wrote one of my favorite blog posts from my hotel room in NYC while there for the APAP conference. My creative side was fed at that conference. I consider the IAVM conference one for the analytical side of my brain. This conference is for the organizational, operational, event logistics geek that lives within me. You know, one cannot live on ice cream sundaes alone, you also need your vitamins and that is what I'm getting this week.

The conference officially started today with a golf tournament (eh, not my thing) and a slew of meetings. Unfortunately, getting here from NWA (as is the same with getting almost anywhere from NWA) took the better part of my day, so I didn't get here quite early enough to sit in on meetings, but I'll kick things off into high gear with a very full day tomorrow. In fact, not to let down the "join every club and volunteer for every activity" person inside of me, I'll be speaking at the First Timers Breakfast. I have a 3 minute "2nd Year Testimonial" to grace the audience with and I'm quite chuffed. I'm hoping that during my 3 minutes, I can help ignite the spark that I'm here to feed.

After all, it was during the breakfast last year that I started to fall in love with my job instead of just having a crush on it.

(this is the first in a series of blog posts written while attending IAVM Venue Connect 2011 - let's see if I can keep this up all week)

follow me on Twitter @WoolyHands and keep up with my conference tweets with a #venueconnect search

To Take a Moment

I just need to take a moment...

... a moment to slow down, to breathe, to enjoy life as it comes, to watch a sunset, to listen to a thunderstorm. I just need to take a moment for myself.

Life has come fast and heavy since my last post. After returning home from the conference, work happened, snow storms happened, and an earthquake happened. Yes, you heard correctly and earth quake. I think it was the earth quake that actually set everything into place this week. For the past 6 weeks, I feel like I've been grasping at areas of my life that need rearranging. I've been jumping from project to project at work, not really able to complete any of them and the same could be said for my home life.

Around 11PM on Sunday evening, as I sat sleepily in bed watching the thunderstorm, what I thought was a loud clap of thunder startled me wide awake and I watched as the tall, spindly trees out my window swayed back and forth. What I know now to have been an earthquake somewhere near central Arkansas, was the one thing that seemed to jolt everything into place. For the past few days, projects at work are being completed, my desk is less cluttered, and piles of stuff at home are getting put away. It might sound extreme that I attribute all of it to the earthquake, but what else could it have been?

As I look forward to spring, I see many, many projects that I want to complete. I am not going to be able to get to them if I do not slow down to take a moment to breathe and to fall asleep to the sounds of a thunderstorm instead of the sounds of tv.

Moments are healing.

Take a few for yourself.

In the strangest of places

Sometimes you find things in the strangest of places. I've been in Manhattan since last Thursday at the APAP conference (Association of Performing Arts Presenters). This is my first time to attend this conference and I am attending as part of their Emerging Leadership Institute. It is here... in this HUGE haystack of a city that I have found the strangest of needles.

Allow me a moment... or a few moments... to explain.

Going into this I knew I would have a blast in NYC. I knew I would learn a lot. I knew my brain would be full and my feet would be tired. I knew all of that. Those things are the obvious outcomes of almost any well planned conference. I felt that way at the IAAM (now IAVM) conference for venue management this past summer. I left that conference inspired, ready to work hard and just ready for the next big day.

However, going into this I didn't know that I would be sitting in the most uncomfortable chair for three hours on a Monday morning completely reevaluating where I am in my career. If you've followed my blog for some time, or at least have the honor of being my ear when I need one, then you know I've gone back and forth about where I'm headed in life. Do I want to work for myself full time doing something creative (selling yarn, teaching classes, etc)? Do I want to jump right into the management of a venue no matter what that venue is (theater, arena, sports complex, convention center, small club, etc)? Do I miss working in Programming and directly with the artists and artist management? Do I want to move to the agent and management end of the performing arts? What in the heck does this 30 year old want to do and where in the heck do I need to live to do this?

But there I was. Sitting in that very uncomfortable chair in the basement... erm, concourse level of the Hilton New York facing the largest revelation I've had since college. I am exactly where I need to be. I'm in a position that will allow me to take the lead on projects that will propel the theater I work into the next big thing. I'm working for someone who values my professional development and presents these amazing opportunities to me. I'm working with people who want to see my succeed and who share the knowledge that will help me get to where I want to be. For the first time in quite a while, I realized that I know, without a doubt, that I am in the right industry. I know that in 30 years, if I'm still working in a theater, I will love what I'm doing.

It really is an amazing thing to come to that point in your career. This isn't the same thing as an "I LOVE MY JOB" moment - although, I've had about 1200 of those this week. This isn't the same thing as a "look what I get to do at work and you don't" thing - although, I've also had many of those this week. This is a deeper, reaffirming, from the very bottom of my toes "MY GOD - this is EXACTLY what I need to be doing and EXACTLY what I need to keep focusing my efforts on" kind of thing.

If that doesn't have a familiar ring with you then I don't know what to say. I'm betting that only people who have had that feeling before know what I'm talking about. It's a feeling that leaves you babbling about everything filling your brain to your coworkers. I just wanted to turn to everyone I talked to today and proclaimed "I'm in such a good mood... I'm so happy... everything is fan-freakin-tastic!". The adrenaline is killing me and yet, everything is so clear.

My job is not just going to be what I do for a living, it's going to be something I live to do. How exciting is it to work in the performing arts industry? Why waste an entire lifetime not realizing that?

I hope you're not hoping I've have some important life/career goal to conclude this post with. I don't have that. It isn't a goal that has me excited, but the realization that I am doing the right thing and that I will be great at it and I don't have to question if I'm happy with all of this.

Because I am happy and if we bump into each other tomorrow, I'm probably going to tell you all about it in person.

Sorry to be so bland...

I just reread my previous post. Sorry it's bland. I've lost my snarky writing style and I promise you this...

I swear, upon all that is holy and sacred in the blogging world, that I will make sure to find my humor and snark before writing another blog post.

Perhaps I'll find it in NYC next week.

It's here!

My sister and me after 3 days of getting ready to open our Flea Market booth

No, not 2011... although it is most certainly and without a doubt here... but I'm talking about the Junque Rethunque booth at the Fayetteville Trading Post.

My sister and I spent the better part of the past 3 days getting things hauled around, pulled out of storage, unpacked, cleaned up, priced and staged and we're quite pleased with the end result. Even though the booth is full, I already have a small collection of things to go into the space when some things leave the booth. This is going to be a fun ride!

I hope everyone had a fabulous Holiday season - no matter what you did. The Sweet Boy and I stuck around here and visited family members that live in the area. I can't believe we go back to work on Monday... honestly cannot believe it. 2 weeks has flown by and I'm already looking forward to the next long break.

I'll be headed to NYC on Thursday for business (sounds posh, no?) and will be there for 6 days. I've been wanting to go on this trip since starting this job 7 years ago. Good things come to those who wait, I hope. I probably won't blog until I get back so I hope everyone gets a good start to the new year and talk at you later in January.

Something new is in the works

It is with much excitement, giddiness and fanfare that I announce I've joined in on the Junque Rethunque adventure. This was a business that my sister and mom started a few years ago. As you might imagine, it went a bit by the wayside when my mom was diagnosed with cancer but it's been revived. My sister has been dreaming of owning her own shop for quite some time and has also been talking of starting out small with a flea market booth.

I texted her to check with some local shops yesterday and by noon today we had a space at a fairly new but very awesome flea market. We're quick like that.

We've been dreaming big ever since we signed up for the booth. However, unlike so many others, when we dream big, we go big. Our booth will consist of vignettes of vintage and vintage inspired items. It won't be full of junk mocking you will it's clutter, but instead will invite you to take a moment (or two) to browse. Perhaps you'll find something to add to your collection at home or maybe you'll find something that will inspire a new collection. Oh, look over there, it's some vintage lingerie lace perfect for your next project and go ahead and pick up that package of wooden spools just dying to be used for something. It's okay, we won't tell anyone ;)

So, come January, it's on at the Fayetteville Trading Post. Just look for the "Junque Rethunque" booth - you won't be sorry you did.

Keep up to date with all things Junque Rethunque at our Facebook page here.

Happy December

So all of you Amazon junkies (you know who you are) have you seen this? No, your eyes do not deceive you. Amazon has released what they call "Universal Wish List". This amazing new wish list is a way to add your Etsy favorites (or Art Fire or similar) to your Amazon wish list.

Let me preface this by saying I'm not all about the getting at Christmas. Those who know me know that I've been playing the part of Mrs Clause for the past few years. However, it is fun to get a present you WANT and not just one that you might like. My largest complaint about Amazon has been that all of my wish list items are commercial items. If I want something handmade and from Etsy, I have to put it on my Etsy wish list which only 2 people in my family seem to know about. Now I can just add those favorite items from Etsy on to my Amazon list and presto, the entire world can shop without worry that I will love my present.

So go one, go all, run over to Amazon and start adding all of the items from my shop... er... from everyone's shop to your wish list so those of us who play Mrs. Clause can feel good about shopping this year.

Go here to get started.