Kids are funny

Sorry that it's been a long time... life got REALLY busy!

Okay so, I have these awesome friends. They live down the street and their daughters go to ballet at BNC. Really fun and sweet family. I will give them fake names to protect their anonymity (but frankly, if you know me or BNC, you will see through my ruse). So Phad and Sen have 4 little girls. They are 8, 6, 4, and almost 2. Really smart and cute kids.

So I knew the 4 year old (we will call her... uhm... Poxy) since she was very little. When she was a toddler, she was so afraid of these primary colored plastic bugs that you could put the in a circle around her and she wouldn't cross it. SO funny. It was a pretty effective baby gate. But I have to say, I think the youngest (we will call her... uhm... Kaherazade) is the funniest.

Disclaimer, I think Sen is pretty much the best mom I have ever met. She is SO giving me mom lessons when I have kids.

So Kaherazade says many funny things. Lately it is "Bunnies, kill me." What she means is she wants her dad to go out and knock off the bountiful bunnies that have taken over their neighborhood. The girl is serious about this. She found a slingshot and gave it to Phad to get the job done! Tonight, we were getting their house ready for Easter while the three older kids were sleeping and making Easter baskets for all four. Kaherzy saw the stuffed, pink and purple, bunnies for the baskets and she kept saying "outside, outside" like we needed to put the stuffed ones outside and kill them! She was so serious! We had to take the bunnies out of sight.

So Kaherzy gives us many band names when she babbles... we like "Bunnies kill me beyotch." Don't steal it. It's ours. Kaherzy says sh*t, beyotch, a**hole, and my fav... c*ck when she means to say talk. Sorry if anyone is offended but it's hilarious and those words are off limits when she gets old enough to remember.

Beyond anything, my favorite is when she knows they are going to ballet or when she sees me and says "Tayah, Tayah." That sweet voice, blue eyes... dude, I am a big puddle.

The coolest thing about hanging with little kids is how in the moment you become and have to be. You can't worry about bills or problems or tomorrow or yesterday... you are right there, right then. Same thing with animals, I think.

I love kids. :-)
And lordy, I have so many good stories to tell at these girls' weddings. :-)

So, Sen said I could spill the beans and anyway I am doing a superior job of protecting their identities... HA HA... but... Sen is pregnant again! Totally unplanned and she didn't know until the middle of last week but she is almost 6 weeks. I am actually hoping for a boy... Phad needs some support in that house... but you know that kid will be dressed in girl clothes because that is what they have on hand! :-)

The State of the Nation(‘s arts writers)

Okay. I get the economy is bad... trust me, I REALLY get it! But there has been this disturbing trend of laying off arts reviewers from major newspapers.

The LA Times has a section for Movie, TV, and Music reviews... no dance. Very little about dance on their online site. The Village Voice in NYC? Last I heard Deborah Jowitt, the dance critic, was laid off from the periodical. I hear she is still writing dance for them (she was a biographer of Jerome Robbins) but I don't think she is full time as a dance critic any more.

NYTimes? Anna Kisselgoff is a legend. She is still writing. But those are the biggies, guys. What about the locals?

Here is Denver we lost our full time dance critics a few years ago. Now they all wear multiple hats and are called "Arts Critics." And they do an enormous job. I am not knocking these hardworking folks but when a contact recently told me he couldn't make it because that weekend he had to go to a RollerDerby Dolls event, rock concert, and then a night club opening to cover for the paper, I decided that this has gotten out of hand. How can someone be an expert when they have to see so many different forms of entertainment to keep their jobs? They do a phenomenal job writing the articles but they don't get to connect to the work quite as well when they are running to the Philharmonic for their evening show, all in the same day.

The reason this came about is because our partner, Curious Theatre Company in Denver received this most AMAZING review by a writer for the Westword here in Denver. It is possibly the most beautiful review I have read. The show was incredible but this review, beautiful. Here is a link to the review - The Westword Eurydice

Final word, don't shove the arts to the side and call it okay. We may not be breaking news but we deserve column inches too.

Okay, off soapbox.

Why I feed my addiction to Facebook and how it made me better at my job.

Okay, I don't have an addictive personality BUT I am totally easy prey when it comes to social networking. I don't know why. I never got addicted to smoking or drinking or anything... except social networking. I mean to the point where I check it on my phone at night in bed and tweet "Good morning, Tweeps" in the morning.

On the surface, you may think that seems sick but it gets worse. I manage accounts all over the social networking world for various groups that I represent. That means that more than half my day is spent logging in to Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, Linked-in, etc. Rarely, (but it does happen) I get SNICS (Social Networking Identity Confusion Syndrome ... I just made that up) and comment on a friend's picture while signed into the wrong account but usually I only do what needs to be done for that group. I do, however, make all my personal friends be friends with those identities on FB. :-)

Right, so let's guess that I spend two hours of my work day on social networking sites (for my main job with Ballet Nouveau Colorado), two more hours a day researching new ways to network & reading articles and an additional five hours a week on sites like YourHub.com, Denver Metro Mix, and This Week in Denver. Break out your calculators kids, that is 25 hours a week spent online networking...

One could say that I have a problem if half my week is spent digging online but I disagree. My intimate knowledge of the way Facebook and Twitter work has only enhanced my ability to do my job. I sat at the National Performing Arts Convention (NPAC) in Denver last summer and listened to well established companies complain that they can't reach the newer generation. The generation that wants to "Go Green" and save the planet, the ones that refuse hard mailings, who are the newest philanthropists and theatre-goers, who can't remember what color the yellow pages are and Google you before they meet you... my generation.

You see, my need to devour information and be an early adaptor for technology has served me right as the PR Director for Ballet Nouveau Colorado. I didn't know I wanted to do PR until I realized it is what I do everyday anyway! I devour articles on the internet and in magazines. If someone has a new program... Friendster, Myspace, then Facebook... I want to be a part of it. I taught myself HTML coding so I could make my profiles look nice in the earlier days before they had the easy profile maker that inserts HTML for you. Anyway, I feel like I am going off on a bit of a tangent here. What I really wanted to say is, you can do it too.

Look, there are three steps to how I work.
Seek. Post. Trend.

Seek - You always have to be looking at what's next. Where are people getting their ideas from? How did you hear about this restaurant or bar or theatre group? Google a popular group in your town and find out where they have their events posted. THEN -

Post - Everywhere. I am not kidding. You better be on all the popular sites but get on every free listing you can. Goodness knows someone looks at it! THEN -

Trend - GET GOOGLE ANALYTICS ON YOUR WEBSITE! Or something comparable. Google's is free and easy to figure out. So, see what the trends are. Are you getting a bunch of hits off a website you never heard of? Go there. Figure it out. Post there.
Seek. Post. Trend.

So you read my rant about "new media experts." I am not claiming to be one but it works for me. The biggest thing I tell any group that approaches me for advice is this... if you are a generation or two above me, while not impossible, you may find this type of work daunting (I'm not being mean here... my boss was the one who said it). Hire a recent college grad who either currently knows your org or can learn about your org and have them manage this. The onus of responsibility does not rest solely on your shoulders. You don't have to learn HTML or tweet all day but you need to have someone in your org doing it for you!

Oh and P.S. I heart Facebook especially because I have found friends that I lost touch with over 22 years ago! Don't underestimate the power of the net, homeslice!

P.P.S. I hate that spell check wants you to capitalize "internet" I don't think it needs it anymore...

Have you noticed that everyone is now an expert?

Maybe not... if you don't live in the social networking/new media world, like I do.

I noticed the glut of "new media experts" on twitter. Nearly all of my nearly 600 following/followers has some connection with social media/new media/etc. And everyone is an expert or offering workshops or chances to maximize my networking ability. Cool. I want to do that. I want to learn how to use Facebook and Twitter and Yelp and blogs to it's highest capacity to do my job and promote my company...

So I go to workshops... I've been to quite a few by different people and organizations. (None from my tweeter friends. I think they have a bit more credibility in it but still...) And my conclusion? I could have led everyone of those workshops.

Nothing groundbreaking was revealed to anyone who knows how to use Facebook or write a blog. Now, I can understand that those introductory levels are important and without fail, 80% of the people at those workshops are Facebook virgins who aren't quite sure what will happen if you "poke" someone but come on! Can't there be an advanced level of these workshops... or are we all stuck at this knowledge level and no one knows much more that I do about how to use these tools to get donations or put Butts in Seats (BIS, yes, it's a real term) or drive awareness?

Frankly, I am starting to realize that, for the first time in my life, I am actually part of the pioneering generation for this type of marketing/promotion. None of us know what the world will look like next year or the year after or the year when the last newspaper folds. Right now, one of the biggest pulls for our show attendance is physical newspaper ads and articles. What will replace that when the Rocky Mountain News and Denver Post go out of business? Trying to stay ahead of the curve isn't easy.

And frankly, I don't despise the people who say they are social media experts and put on basic workshops on how to set up a myspace account but I wish everyone would just be honest and say, "We just aren't positive. We aren't sure what the BEST way is to maximize traffic to your site or sell tickets but here are a number of options that have worked in the past." We don't have enough historical data to give absolutes here.

The biggest lesson I want people who fall into that 80% who don't know how to write a blog or create a Facebook fan page to learn is that they need to hire a young person to help them. My boss and I have discussed this often. She feels that without me at this office, BNC wouldn't be where it is today. Where is BNC? At the forefront of current technology, on all the major what-to-do sites in Denver, all over Google. The best compliment I get is when people say to me, "I see you guys EVERYWHERE," because that is the key. You must have a person on staff who has the time and know how to put your company all over the internet.

Whew! That was my soapbox today. I guess I just wish people could say, "I don't know but we can all find out," instead of assuming an answer.

P.S. I hope this doesn't sound snarky. I know some really wonderful PR/Marketing new media experts who are really good at what they do. It's just the proliferation of them that makes me think...

Broomfield Chamber Business After Hours and what I learned

1. It is HARD to get food donated in a recession but people are really nice and want to help.
2. Restaurants change GMs like I change purses... In fact, one time, I called on a monday and got one guy and called the next day and got a new GM... grrreat!
3. Beer is harder to get donated in a recession! (Come on people, keep drinking, the microbrews need your support!)
4. Eldorado Water, Red Robin at Flatirons, California Pizza Kitchen at Flatirons mall, El Jimador on 84th and Huron, Old Chicago's in Broomfield, and WideFo.us are incredibly generous companies and you REALLY should support them and give them your business.
5. Raspberry EFFEN vodka is DAMN good in Red Robin's Freckled Lemonades!
6. No matter how many times you plan an event, you always forget something.
7. A full 15.5 gallon keg weighs approx 136 lbs and serves 161 12oz cups. I'm not kidding.
8. The Container Store is a really cool company and they really care about the communities they go into.
9. I'm really good at event planning.
10. Try the sun-dried tomato and broccoli fussili at California Pizza Kitchen... and you thought their pizza's were good... WOW! (Get chicken on it... yum!)

Okay, now I have to go clean up and I think I might sleep in tomorrow. That's what you get to do after a successful event, right? :-)

It’s my first time, be gentle…

Okay so here's the deal. I blog for work, I tweet for work, I tweet for me, I facebook, I myspace, I link-in... but I have never blogged personally.

I thought it would be an interesting experiment to try to blog. I do well with the 140 characters of Twitter... how will I do with a full blog?

We will see. I have promised myself I won't resort to blogs full of quotes (okay, sometimes... I love quotes) or links or "I am brushing my teeth."

So here's some back story and expectations.

I am a 27 (nearly 28) year old Public Relations professional in Denver. I work in the non-profit arts sector and love my work. [So look for blogs about PR, social media, marketing, networking, arts, dance, theatre, film... etc.]

I am in grad school, working on my masters in PR & Marketing. [More PR & marketing stuff, plus school trials and tribs.]

My father is a rabbi (seriously, follow his blog - Rocky Mountain Hai. It rocks.) and so I do a lot of work in the Jewish community. [Yes folks, that means Judaism, Jewish holidays, Israel, and Israeli politics, etc.]

I volunteer for Goodwill in Denver and my sorority, Gamma Phi Beta. [You'll hear about that I am sure. GPhi, volunteering, working with needy kids.]

I love yoga and am a bit of an addict. [Yup, you will hear when I master hurdler and if I fall out of my flying crow. Did I mention that birds of paradise is one of my favs? I'll get ya a picture.]

Lastly, I think, I am obsessed with a few things.
A. Angela Lansbury is my hero (hence Talia, She Wrote).
B. Fred Astaire, Ginger Rodgers, Gene Kelly... most films made between 1930 and 1955.
C. Agatha Christie and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (that means Hercule Poirot and Sherlock Holmes, people)
D. Old radio shows. I love the old commercials... Petri Wine, Clipper Craft Clothing...
E. Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me (on NPR)
[All of the above, free game for blogs.]

Okay, one more thing... I am going to try to not delve too deeply into my personal like (aka dating) because, well, it's personal and frankly, I know some people who would love to use that against me. But I have no doubt a few details will slip in. :-)

Alright, enough level setting. Nice comments appreciated.

I hope this blog works out. It's fun already!

-- Talia Davis