What's up & what's gone down :: March 2011

cat looking back at itself in mirror

A mostly monthly but certainly occasional round-up of what I've been up to and what's in the hopper. For full credits and details, see this entry.

Colleen of the future (stuff I'll be doing)

  • March L.A. Biznik Mixer at Jerry's Famous [Los Angeles; Wednesday, March 16] , Fun, free, low-key networking plus great tips, tricks and ideas from your fellow indie-biz folk. Join up here (free membership, which is nice), then sign up here.
  • Tongue & Groove [Hotel Café, Hollywood; Sunday, March 27 at 6pm; $5 at the door] I don't know what I'll be reading yet, but I've been tasked with providing levity for a dark and stormy evening. Me and the Goths, baby! Tongue & Groove is a long-running spoken-word (with occasional music) evening I've longed to be part of since I first went (on a real dark and stormy evening) over three years ago. Some SERIOUS writer-performer chops on display; I assure you, I'll be the worst one there. But still good! And light!
  • Strictly Business 3 - Chicago [Allerton Hotel, Chicago; Friday - Sunday, April 1-3] If you're a working or aspiring commercial photographer in the Chicago area or the Midwest, or you just didn't get it together to come to the other two stops on the trip, this is your last chance and you are an IDJIT if you miss it. No lie. The feedback from attendees and presenters alike on this iteration of the ASMP's biannual conference has been phenomenal, like, crazy-good.
  • L.A. screening of SHINE On [Blankspaces, Weds., March 23, 6:30pm] I saw an early cut of this Biznik-made short documentary about the unique path of the entrepreneur at CFC two years ago. It made me cry, in the good way. Bring Kleenex and your business cards.
  • SXSW Interactive [Austin, TX; March 10 - 14] My calendar is already pretty much full for this annual nerd spring break, and owing to my delicate state of health I'll be avoiding the big parties almost entirely. But if you see me walking around, please say "hi!" And if I actually can drag my ass to the Men with Pens party or the Copyblogger party, I'll do the same. Or something like that.

Colleen of the Past (stuff I did, or that was done to/with/about me)

I've been sick since late January, so I did diddly. Other than talk my ass off at SB3. Which, have I mentioned, was AWESOME? So instead of me making up a bunch of stuff, I'm going to link to a bunch of stuff people wrote about the event. Because there's a way these things work, and the best way to show it is to model it.

  • Brian Kaldorf wrote a comprehensive three-partseries on his experience at SB3. And included some very nice words about my talk and a nifty snap from the audience in this installment. (Narcissist at an all-photographer event? Like Christmas that lasts three days long.)
  • Felicia Perretti, super-dynamo of focused positive energy who will clearly rule the world one day, did a writeup that's rivals the weekend itself for pumped-up enthusiasm. Naturally.
  • Gail Mooney, whose workshop I haven't had a chance to catch yet, wrote a quick, clear-headed post on the value of SB3 whether you're speaking or "just" attending. (Spoiler alert: attendees are easily half of what makes a great conference truly great.)
  • Neil Corman included SB3 in his weekly roundup post, as well as a photo of the street from his hotel room. Which is about as much of Philly as I saw during those three days, excepting my visit to the incredible Mütter Museum. Neil also said my talk was responsible for an aha! moment, have I mentioned that I love you, Neil?
  • Andrew Fingerman from PhotoShelter also included SB3 in his roundup of noteworthy items and said nice things about me. (I am not paying these people, people! I swear!)
  • Gregory Benson, who was smart enough to buy a half-hour consult with me, also was smart enough to attend one of my favorite workshops at the conference, Sean Kernan's "The Artist Lost & Found," which I alluded to in my own weekly round-up last Friday. You can read his take on it here.

If you did a write-up and I missed it, please email me the link and I'll add it to the list. The Internet is forever! Or at least, as long as you pay your hosting bill!

Oh, wait! I did one really cool thing a while ago that became part of another really cool thing. David Trotter, fellow follower of all things Chris Guillebeau (we met at the December book signing) compiled a massive PDF of transcripts from a handful of his favorite interviews. And the one with yours truly is very much included! Fella has a knack for interviews, and knows a really interesting cross-section of people, so while I haven't read it all yet, I am going to! You can download it, free, without having to input any email or name nonsense, as God intended, right here.

Colleen of the Present (ongoing projects)

xxx c

Image by madnzany via Flickr, used under a Creative Commons license.