In Austin in November

I arrived in Austin at 4, and before 5:30 we were passing out tote bags and drinking tea on the front porch of this coworking space in Austin (people love porches in Austin). It's a full 20 degrees warmer here than in Chicago this time of year. We passed out about 150 tote bags, with all kinds of Austin-y things inside for travelers coming to the city. It's a great idea to give to house guests. One great way to find local stuff that isn't too expensive to give away, is to go on Etsy and search for something like a magnet, and search by location, sorting by the lowest price. Anyway, I made a collage of all the sight-seeing I did while I was there, for your pleasure!

I saw a beautiful tower of junk, a zombie marching band, lots of food trucks including a donut truck I ate from twice, and of course clear blue skys. 

Cool Signage Idea

Chalkboard skulls. Great signage to direct people to drinks, food, or the bathrooms. From Iamhome. 

Fete Market Favorites

Fete Market was in the Fulton Market district, at Room 1520, another cool Chicago venue. There were so many interesting vendors there, I took some pics of my favorites. From top left: The entrance, Arch Apothecary, Sir and Madame, Dorus Mhor, Dinner Party, a chandelier.

I had a hot chocolate that was ridiculous, from Hot Chocolate, who had a booth there. Look, it fits in this perfect little hole in the concrete wall.

What do I do?

A lot of people have never heard of the job title Community Manager, and I suppose it's one of those things like "Account Executive" in that one Community Manager with one company could differ very much from another. Even my boyfriend sometimes has a hard time figuring out what I do. I'll explain it, then, in two ways.

What do I do? 

I create and engage communities based around a company's presence and culture.

What does that mean? 

Well, it could mean cultivate an engaged online community with online events such as pop-up chat rooms, twitter events, and a beautiful and interesting virtual space that makes connecting with others fun and easy and meaningful.
It could also mean connecting people and cultivating passion among users in real life through on-brand events aligned with the values and mission statement of the company.
I am the local extension and human face of a company, and my purpose is to connect users to each other first, the company second, and the community third.

Event Planning 101 Infographic

I am trying out Piktochart this week, and I made you all an infographic! Meet my Events 101 Infographic! I designed this infographic to share the most basic planning steps for throwing a party for friends, clients, customers, or potential customers. I know it is not the prettiest infographic in the world. I am still learning! Here it is, click for larger:  

Cranberry

1. Better Homes and Gardens
2. Panettone boxes from Carluchos
3. Red barn from Per Ivar Somby's flickr
4. Inspiration from Alisa Burke's blog
5&6. Pinterest

A great event can come from a simple theme. I love the idea of putting a bowl of halved cranberries in the middle of a big table, and some different colored inks and handmade papers, and letting guests create their own art to take home.

If I had Panettone in the house I would probably make bread pudding with it.

The red barn picture was taken in Norway, and if you click on Per Ivar Somby's flickr link you'll see his photos of the Northern Lights, too. It makes me want to visit Norway!

What to Do the Morning of an Event

This is my pile for taking to the cooking class today. Thank goodness I'm taking a cab. I'm bringing extra pots, pans, measuring cups, bowls, and cutting boards for the chef. I'm also bringing branded pens and notebooks for people to write notes down during the class. The pile in front is small napkins, just in case, a pile of gift cards for the venue owner, who is giving us the use of his space for free (I also bought him this), a blue sharpie, some extra twine, the sign in sheets and a little picture frame with the company logo in it, and the mini-menus for the table (more about those later). Whew. Now for some useful information: The best way to make your morning stress-free when you have an event later that day, even in the evening, is to complete everything the night before and set it out in organized piles by the front door. 

Here are the only things you should be doing the day of the event: 

1. Re-confirming meeting times with staff, vendors, venues or calling people to tell them you are on your way
2. Working out
3. Getting ready (clothes should still be picked out the day before, ideally)
4. Eating a healthy meal
5. Calling or scheduling a driver or cab

That's it. Does it require super-human organization? No, just regular-human organization, and a good support system. 

Crafty Time: Printed Recipe Tags on Vintage Christmas Mugs

My assistant printed these little baby tags with a logo on one side and a recipe for the drink on the other side. The drink was a hot toddy, yum! I bought these vintage mugs for between 40 cents and 90 cents at the thrift store and washed them. People could pick out their favorite mug, get it filled up, take it home with them, and make the recipe on the tag at home! It makes events really fun when there's something for someone to experience there, take home, and then make or do again later with friends. 

A piled-up triangle banner with the logo on it, and a second one made from pretty origami papers. They are for a super-cute photo booth idea (photos later). It's super easy with origami paper, and you can use them over the top of another backdrop, like a vintage map, or in front of a fire place or across a whole room:

1. Mark the center of one side of the paper, and draw a line from the center point to one corner, then the center point to the other corner, making a triangle.
2. Grab some twine, i-cord, or string, and some clear tape.
3. Tapey-tapey the triangle to the twine, making the tape go from the top of the triangle all the way around the string to the back of the triangle.
4. Use pushpins to secure on the walls or ceiling

I bought my mason jars at the thrift for $2 each. They are neat and perfect for Hot Toddies, a whiskey-based drink. I filled them with cinnamon sticks, honey, lemon juice, and whiskey and let it meld together for a few hours. When the party folks started to arrive, we boiled water in a kettle and started pouring hot teas, then adding the whiskey mixture. Yum and super easy. In these pictures you can see my coworking space, The COOP. I'm opening my own coworking space.

Next I want to try making Hot Buttered Rum for a crowd.