Mixing It Up

Sometimes you need to step away from the daily grind and try something new. That’s pretty much what I’ve been doing the past month:

1. Spoke at an “unconference”. As my most recent post stated, I gave my first presentation to a group of about 15 product developers, product managers, and others after giving a quick 20-second pitch to a group of about 100 at ProductCamp RTP on May 22nd. It was a fantastic success. I learned a tremendous amount about my own public speaking skills as well as learning how to teach and/or explain an idea to a group of professionals not only in a very different field than myself, but also much older & more knowledgeable about their fields. Our presentation ended up being voted the 2nd best presentation of the entire day (and you can listen to the audio of our presentation here and here). I genuinely did not expect that, especially being my first jaunt in the public speaking realm, but boy was I pleasantly surprised. It made my day to know that I could single-handedly contribute valuable knowledgeable to the community.
2. Started writing for iGrad.com. And then next thing I knew my little sister was moving in with me and turning my world upside down. She somehow convinced me to join a gym and sign up for a personal trainer with her the following week. So naturally I wrote about it and iGrad.com published it on their site on June 3rd! After the folks at iGrad asked me to submit something for their awesome new site helping college graduates transition into a post-college career & life, I knew it was right up my alley and I had to contribute! Hopefully I can continue submitting more pieces to help recent college grads when the inspiration strikes me.
3. Recruited Raleigh writers for a TNGG theme week. While contributing to The Next Great Generation is nothing new for me, I took on a larger-than-normal role coordinating the Raleigh, NC portion of Cities Week (which ran June 6th-13th) and writing an article of my own about why Raleigh is my home, sweet home :) It was pretty exciting for me to find other Gen Y peers who had opinions on the future of Raleigh who may not normally be given the opportunity to express those ideas to others. Giving someone else a voice for a change was awesome.
4. Volunteered at Bonnaroo. And then as that was all coming to an end, a really big opportunity fell into my hands. I was asked to volunteer for a local nonprofit called Grow and Share at Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival for almost an entire week, all expenses paid (including free entry–yea, pretty sweet deal!). With my part-time work schedule and my sister’s complete lack of employment we jumped at the opportunity unaware of, for the most part, what we were getting ourselves into (which ended up being a life changing experience). We were eager to try something new, and having never really camped alone in our lives (or for more than one night or in torrential downpours at that) or been to a large music festival (heck, we’d never been to any music festival), this was definitely something new. We learned of the trip on June 4th and were on our way to Manchester, TN by 5am on June 9th. We returned 6 days later on the afternoon of June 14th, cherishing running toilets & showers, water that doesn’t smell like rotten eggs, clean clothes, a soft bed, and above all air conditioning to get out of the 97 degree heat we struggled with every day. But in the end, we loved it. The music was great. We volunteered for a cause that practically sells itself. We bonded with each other and with new friends along the way. It’s been a long transition back into the “real world” again, but as I reflect I will have more to say… just you wait and see…